Chapter 327: Chapter 327: She’s Not a Good Person Either!
Zhou Xiaoying did not like Han Na.
Although Han Na usually acted restrained in the project team, Zhou Xiaoying felt that Han Na neither had outstanding talent nor a sense of responsibility and commitment, plus being an adversary to Maeve, which made her wary of those in Maeve’s group.
The next morning.
Lin Qi clocked in for work as usual.
But upon entering the project department, she found the whole place eerily quiet, not everyone was at their seats.
Lin Qi took out her phone and checked the time.
It was already time to clock in; why wasn’t the department fully staffed?
Lin Qi looked at Maeve’s seat and noticed it was somewhat messy, with papers piled up on the desk as though she had been in the middle of organizing them but then got called away.
Han Na was bending her head low, engrossed in her work, appearing somewhat absent-minded.
Lin Qi approached her and asked, “Han Na, where is everyone from the department?”
Han Na lifted her head and pursed her lips, “Last night, someone reported to the senior management anonymously that Ms. Mia, taking advantage of her position, embezzled public funds and committed tax evasion…”
Lin Qi was somewhat surprised: “What?”
Han Na added, “Lin Qi, you went to bed early last night, so you’re unaware of the major changes that have happened in our team.”
Early in the morning, Maeve went to the HR department to resign.
However, because she was part of the project management, the resignation process was very complicated, also involving the “Confidentiality and Non-Competition Agreement” she had signed with the company. If she quit now, she would not be allowed to work for any related companies in the field for two years, or else it would be a breach of contract.
The original treatment planned by HR for Maeve was a demotion and reassignment to the distribution room.
The work in the distribution room was simple but busy, involving the daily printing, copying, faxing, and mailing of documents for various departments, as well as handling the receipt of deliveries and takeouts for all staff at Huace Headquarters. It was one of the most basic positions at the headquarters, dealing with all the menial and exhausting tasks, with a monthly salary of only 5000, on the same level as a security guard’s job.
Maeve was quite displeased in her heart, but could only grit her teeth and accept this decision.
When she was promoted, as a team leader of the project group, she was handling projects that may involve Huace’s trade secrets, therefore she had signed a “Confidentiality and Non-Compete Clause” with Huace. The contract stipulated that she could not work in the same industry for two years after leaving the job. Thus, if she really resigned, for the next two years, she would be either unemployed or could only work in the service industry.
Tied down on both sides, she might as well accept the demotion; after all, although the work in the distribution room was hard and the salary was low, the benefits at Huace were decent, with full coverage of the “five insurances and one fund”.
Maeve knew that by offending Lin Qi, she had destroyed half of her career.
Even if she went for interviews for related jobs in the future, her reputation in the industry wouldn’t be good!
However, to make matters worse, she had been reported!
Over the years, Maeve had made quite a lot of money in Huace’s project team.
She had also engaged in some grey-area business in the past few years.
Every quarter, the project team would distribute funds to the smaller teams, sometimes millions, sometimes tens of millions, even up to a hundred million.
Maeve would then secretly misappropriate these public funds into her personal accounts for stock speculation or involvement in some risky investments in the grey market.
Take money laundering, for example.
She set up a shell company outside, the type that’s an MCN business.
Nowadays, live streaming platforms are highly developed, and she invested in one. She specifically purchased traffic on the platform to support internet celebrities after taking over the project team’s quarterly investments. She funneled money into the traffic pool to promote these internet celebrities.
Hatching an internet celebrity takes a very short time; often within a week, a trending internet celebrity can be created.
Later, through live-streamed sales and collecting rewards from platform streams, once the principal is recuperated, the funds are returned to the company account. She then took a cut from the rewards and sales income, making a hefty profit!
Beyond that, she gained stock market trade information through internal channels, learning in advance about stocks likely to rise and used company funds to speculate in stocks, making a fortune from nothing!
But this is illegal!
She has been lucky these past few years, hardly ever making a loss on her investments, but after someone blew the whistle with their real name, the Huace Board of Directors immediately dispatched an investigative team, taking Maeve and the related team members in for questioning!
If they truly uncover the fact that she embezzled company funds, she won’t be able to avoid jail time!
Unless, she pays a large sum of money!
The scariest part is, if she really evaded taxes, just the late payment fees and the fivefold penalties would be enough to finish her off!
Because most of the people from Maeve’s team were taken in for questioning, for a while, the whole department was in a state of panic, fearing getting implicated by Maeve.
A few members under Maeve were dragged into the mess because they helped her divert some company funds without knowing what they were getting into, and they too were taken away for questioning.
Upon hearing this, Lin Qi was somewhat shocked: “She really has some nerve, doesn’t she? To commit embezzlement like that?”
Who would have thought, Maeve also has quite the “business acumen,” using such crooked paths to her benefit.
Han Na said: “I guess, it was Zhou Xiaoying who reported her! She always had issues with Ms. Mia and maybe, she had evidence of Ms. Mia’s embezzlement all along but didn’t report it before because Ms. Mia held a high position in the project team. Now that Ms. Mia has offended you, she took advantage of the situation…”
Lin Qi chuckled: “How is it called kicking someone when they’re down? Embezzling funds, evading taxes—if Maeve really did these things, then it’s her own fault first and foremost.”
Han Na said: “What about Zhou Xiaoying? Her power is even greater than Ms. Mia’s. I don’t believe she’s completely clean.”
From a distance, Zhou Xiaoying’s light voice carried over: “Why don’t you report me and see how it goes?”
Han Na was startled, and she looked up at the doorway.
Zhou Xiaoying was standing at the entrance, her face expressionless.
Han Na did not expect to be overheard by the person concerned and nervously looked at the computer screen.
Zhou Xiaoying walked over to her and said coldly: “Weren’t you just doubting if I was clean or not? Why don’t you say anything now? How about you go and report me and try?”
Han Na said: “I… I didn’t mean it that way.”
Zhou Xiaoying said: “So, what did you mean? I don’t like beating around the bush, nor do I like people talking behind my back. Han Na, let me tell you plainly, it was I who reported Maeve. Indeed, I had evidence of her embezzlement a long time ago, but due to issues involving many corporate secrets, I couldn’t deal with her for the time being. In fact, two weeks ago, I submitted the whistleblowing materials to the Huace executives. How did this turn into kicking someone when they’re down in your mouth?”
Han Na let out an “oh” and said no more.
Zhou Xiaoying turned to Lin Qi and kindly warned: “Lin Qi, stay away from such despicable people in the future. Speaking ill of others when they’re not around, birds of a feather flock together. She was part of Maeve’s team, so she’s not a good person either.”