Chapter 3 — A Day as a Janitor

Shen Zhao An raised a hand and tapped his fingers lightly against the polished surface of the mahogany conference table. His gaze swept coldly across the room.

"Who approved this?"

Zheng Huai Ren cast a sidelong glance at Luo Qian. Without missing a beat, Luo Qian stepped forward and said, "Chairman Shen, this is merely a routine personnel adjustment."

Shen Zhao An leaned back, his eyes narrowing. "Routine enough that a veteran department manager who retires tomorrow is sent to scrub floors today?"

Luo Qian bit her lip, struggling to maintain her composure. "Her former position has already been fully handed over. The logistics department happened to be temporarily short-staffed, so we arranged for her to assist for a single day."

Shen Zhao An flipped the transfer order to the final page. "Whose signature authorized the official stamp of the Administrative Center?"

Zheng Huai Ren straightened his posture in his chair. "The seal was processed through the standard administrative workflow. I only granted approval in principle."

I looked directly at him. He refused to meet my eyes.

Shen Zhao An pressed on, his voice dangerously low. "What does 'approval in principle' even mean?"

Zheng Huai Ren offered a tight, dismissive smile. "I have nothing personal against Qin Yu Zhen. We are simply carrying out necessary organizational optimization."

A sharp intake of breath echoed through the conference room. He had used that exact phrase during the day, and now he was repeating it at night, as if sheer repetition could transform a malicious fabrication into undeniable truth.

Shen Zhao An slid the document across the table toward me. "Qin Yu Zhen, tell us your side."

I remained standing, my spine straight. "The transfer order is real, and the seal is genuine."

Luo Qian seemed to exhale a quiet sigh of relief.

"However," I continued, the steady timbre of my voice cutting through the tension, "the procedure was critically flawed."

Her expression instantly tightened again. From the side pocket of my utility cleaning cart, I retrieved a transparent plastic document folder. Inside lay the temporary shift schedule from earlier that day, a copied sheet of the attendance sign-in log, and a single photocopied page of outdated corporate regulations.

Zheng Huai Ren frowned deeply. "When on earth did you copy these internal documents?"

I looked him in the eye. "When the sanitation staff cleared the wastepaper bins, I sorted the discarded materials according to the strict protocols for handling confidential paperwork."

Luo Qian immediately slammed her palm down on the table, her face flushing with anger. "Retaining those documents like that is a direct violation of company security policy!"

I stared coldly at her. "Director Luo, discarded confidential documents are supposed to be fed directly into the shredding bins, not haphazardly mixed with ordinary domestic trash."

I placed the regulation excerpt flat on the table. "You personally signed your name to acknowledge this specific rule during last year's compliance training."

Luo Qian’s lips trembled slightly, but no words came out.

Shen Zhao An picked up the single sheet of paper, scanned it quickly, and said, "Continue."

"According to company bylaws, any transfer involving a change in rank must be personally confirmed by the employee, archived by the labor union, and accompanied by a three-month grace period where salary and benefits cannot fall below the previous standard," I stated clearly, pushing a confirmation slip forward across the table. "They only coerced me into signing a receipt for starting a new assignment. There was no wage confirmation and no labor union record."

Pan Ming’s fingers twitched nervously against his knee. Shen Zhao An caught the movement.

"Pan Ming."

Pan Ming jerked his head upward in surprise. "Chairman Shen, I am only responsible for financial auditing."

"Auditing what?"

A sheen of cold sweat immediately beaded on Pan Ming’s forehead. "Auditing the standards for her retirement settlement."

"Based on whose standards?"

Pan Ming looked desperately toward Zheng Huai Ren.

Zheng Huai Ren lowered his voice, speaking with forced authority. "Based on the standard entry-level position."

A harsh, humorless laugh escaped Shen Zhao An’s lips. There was no warmth in it whatsoever. "Qin Yu Zhen has given thirty-two years of service to Yuan Tai, serving as a department manager for twenty-six of those years, yet you calculated her final settlement based on a generic entry-level position?"

Luo Qian mustered a shred of courage. "Her position on her very final day was sanitation worker."

The conference room fell into a silence so profound that it felt suffocating. Somewhere nearby, I heard someone awkwardly misplace the lid of their teacup.

Shen Zhao An slowly raised his eyes. "Who taught you to behave like this?"

Luo Qian’s face turned utterly pale.

Zheng Huai Ren hastily intervened. "Chairman Shen, this was merely a proposal under internal discussion; it has not been officially implemented yet."

I calmly placed my smartphone on the table. "In that case, let us all listen to the discussion."

The color drained entirely from Zheng Huai Ren’s face.

I tapped the screen, and the recording began to play. His arrogant voice echoed clearly through the quiet room.

*“Just let her endure today. Tomorrow, process her paperwork at the lowest possible tier, and withhold her severance bonus for now.”*

Immediately following came the sound of Luo Qian’s voice. *“What if she decides to file a formal complaint?”*

Zheng Huai Ren’s cold scoff filled the space. *“An old woman on the verge of retirement—what kind of waves could she possibly make?”*

Not a single person in the room dared to move. Even the low hum of the air conditioner seemed to have ceased. Shen Zhao An pressed his hands heavily against the table, his knuckles gradually turning white.

The recording had not yet finished. Ma Cheng’s distinct laughter rang out from the device.

*“Veteran employees care about one thing above all else; what they fear most is losing their reputation at the end of their lives. She certainly won't dare to make a fuss.”*

I reached out and pressed stop on the phone. "The remainder of the recording simply captures the sound of me sweeping up cigarette ash, though if Chairman Shen wishes to hear that as well, I am happy to play it."

Ma Cheng sat at the very end of the conference table, his face burning a deep, humiliated red. He had never imagined that he would be dragged down into this mire.

Shen Zhao An did not even spare him a glance. His gaze remained locked entirely on Zheng Huai Ren.

"Is this your idea of organizational optimization?"

Zheng Huai Ren could no longer remain seated; he stood up abruptly. "Chairman Shen, I admit my choice of words was regrettable, but this was purely an internal exchange between colleagues. It cannot be regarded as formal evidence."

I reached into my bag again. "Official evidence is also available."

I opened a weathered, worn ledger. "Registry volume number seven from the year 2021: Ma Cheng’s family members visited company premises during restricted hours, yet the visit was deliberately omitted from the security logs."

I pulled out a thick stack of signed requisition slips. "In the year 2019, an abnormal batch of procured goods was admitted into the inventory. Ding Lei signed off on the receipt, and Vice President Zheng co-signed the temporary freeze order."

Ding Lei bolted upright from his chair. "Qin Yu Zhen, stop biting people indiscriminately!"

Without a word, I calmly flipped the ledger to the next page.