When the chef heard He Lang had arrived, he hurried out. The first thing he saw was He Lang holding a pair of chopsticks, picking up a piece of meat from a serving pan.

Upon seeing this, the chef visibly panicked.

"Mr.—Mr. He, what brings you here?"

He Lang stared at him, chewing the meat in his mouth with an impassive expression. It was so salty he couldn’t swallow it and ended up spitting it into a trash can.

"This meat... Would someone care to explain this to me?"

The chef stammered, "Mr. He, the meat today turned out a little salty. I accidentally put in too much salt."

He Lang looked at him coldly. "Just today?"

The chef immediately panicked and shook his head. "Mr. He, I haven’t been feeling well lately. My hand trembles when I add the salt. It really wasn’t intentional."

He Lang smiled, his gaze dropping. In a cold voice, he said, "If you’re not feeling well, you should go home and rest."

With that, he turned and walked away. The chef scrambled after him, pleading, "Mr. He, I really didn’t mean to! Please give me one more chance. I promise it won’t happen again."

Hearing the commotion, everyone in the cafeteria turned to look. It was only then that Xue Xingjun noticed He Lang was there, and he immediately ran over.

"Brother-in-law."

He Lang glanced at him, and Xue Xingjun gave him a slight nod.

He Lang ignored the chef and walked off.

The chef stood rooted to the spot, watching He Lang’s retreating figure, unsure of what to do. He gripped his apron tightly, shot a look at the onlookers, and retreated into the back of the kitchen.

Once inside, he slammed his apron down on the cutting board.

The woman who served the food hurried over. "Old Qian, what are we going to do? Mr. He isn’t going to fire us, is he?"

Qian Youwang said with irritation, "How should I know? Didn’t Wang Qiang say Mr. He wouldn’t be here today? Why’d he suddenly show up?"

The woman replied, "Did you forget Mr. He’s brother-in-law and his father are both here? I told you not to be so obvious. It’s all over now. You can find another job if you leave, but what about me? At my age, it was hard enough finding this one."

Qian Youwang was starting to feel a pang of regret. The pay here was higher than anywhere else, and Mr. He was always kind to his subordinates. On their very first day, he had told them that as long as they worked hard and honestly, they would have a secure job for life.

But people are easily tempted. They cooked so much meat every day, only to see it all eaten by the employees. One time, Qian Youwang had a lapse in memory and salted a batch of meat twice. He discovered that after the first few people tried it, everyone else would take very little meat, or skip it entirely. This left almost half a pan of meat leftover. They were allowed to eat the leftovers or take them home—the only rule was that nothing should go to waste.

That half-pan of meat would be divided among the kitchen staff, with the chef always taking the largest share. Back home, all his family had to do was add some vegetables, and they’d have a fine meal. That was how they got a taste for the scheme, but they only ever did it when Mr. He was away.

A security guard at the gate, who had been hired more recently, was a distant relative of Qian Youwang. When Qian Youwang asked for his help, the guard didn’t think it was a big deal and agreed.

The guard likely never imagined that he would lose his job just for telling the kitchen staff about Mr. He’s whereabouts.

Two days later, the entire kitchen staff had been replaced.

That’s when the employees realized Mr. He had lost his temper and fired everyone in the kitchen.

Everyone began whispering amongst themselves.

"Mr. He usually seems so pleasant. I never thought he’d be so ruthless with the kitchen staff."

"What do you know? As long as we don’t mess up, Mr. He is perfectly nice. The man has to run a huge company; of course he needs to have principles. Otherwise, everything would descend into chaos."

"Exactly. I’ve been meaning to say it for a while, actually. That Chef Qian’s cooking was only average anyway. Half the time the meat was either bland or salty as hell. Who else would he fire?"

"I think Mr. He was making an example of them, warning the rest of us not to take things for ourselves."

When Zhang Yunlei heard this, his heart began to race. He recalled all the snacks he had been secretly eating these past few days. He had figured that even if inventory came up short at the end of the month, he was a relative of the boss, so they probably wouldn’t make a fuss. But now that he heard the boss had fired the entire kitchen staff, he suddenly wasn’t so sure.

He agonized over it for a few days before finally confessing to Xue Xingjun.

Xue Xingjun looked at him. "And what good does telling me do?"

Zhang Yunlei asked, "Then who am I supposed to tell?"

"Tell your group leader. Then they can deduct the cost from your wages."

Zhang Yunlei grew anxious. "How can they deduct it from my wages? I barely make anything as it is. If they take that out, I’ll have nothing left."

Xue Xingjun drew out his words. "Oh, I see. You’re telling me because you want me to pull some strings for you, is that it?"

Zhang Yunlei fell silent, but that was exactly what he had meant.

Xue Xingjun scoffed. "Then you’ve come to the wrong person. I treat everyone the same. Besides, if my brother-in-law found out, he’d yell at me. And you know he’s been in a bad mood lately. It’s either you pay for it, or you get fired. You choose."

Zhang Yunlei glared at Xue Xingjun, fuming. "Do you have to act all high and mighty? We’re family, for crying out loud!"

Xue Xingjun held up a hand. "My last name is Xue."

’Who’s family with you?’ Xue Xingjun thought. ’Cozying up to me never means anything good.’

’If I’d known this would happen, I never would have told him,’ Zhang Yunlei fumed. Once his anger subsided, he went to find his group leader.

When Han Group Leader heard just how much Zhang Yunlei had pilfered, he was stunned silent for a long moment.

"I’m telling you, Comrade Zhang, do you think this is your own private pantry? Everything here is inventoried. If one or two items go missing, we might assume a customer took them by mistake. Management can understand that. But you’ve taken this much. We can’t just let that slide."

Zhang Yunlei said resignedly, "So just dock my pay, right?"

"What kind of attitude is that? What did Mr. He say at the company meeting a few days ago? He repeatedly warned everyone to keep their hands to themselves. Were you not listening? To put it bluntly, what you did is called stealing. It’s illegal, you know that? Even Assistant Xue—Mr. He’s own brother-in-law—has to pay when he takes something from the supermarket. Who do you think you are?"

Zhang Yunlei was taken aback.

Seeing his silence, Han Group Leader assumed he had realized his mistake. He sighed. "Seeing as you came forward on your own, I’ll just deduct it from your pay this time and won’t report it. But if there’s a next time, you’ll see what happens."

Zhang Yunlei nodded, still in a daze.

Xue Xingjun then ran to tattle to He Lang, recounting the entire story with great animation.

He Lang said with an amused laugh, "Aren’t you worried he’ll go and complain to your sister-in-law?"

Xue Xingjun shook his head smugly. "Not a chance. My sister-in-law isn’t a fool; she’d probably be the one scolding him. Besides, he’s the one who was in the wrong. He’s got some nerve, daring to steal like that."

He Lang smiled and shook his head. "You seem awfully pleased that he got put in his place."

Xue Xingjun nodded. "Of course I am. That kid’s not trustworthy. Last time, my brother and the others went out and asked him to wash the pots. Not only did he do a lousy job, but he also broke two bowls! It killed me. If I’d known, I would’ve washed them myself."

In truth, Xue Xingjun had misunderstood Zhang Yunlei. It had been the first time in his entire life that Zhang Yunlei had ever washed dishes.