311: Chapter 311 Taking Kickbacks

"No, they didn't do anything wrong; they were asked to leave for no reason at all."

After she spoke, the private room became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

After a long while, Shen Yan's voice rang out in the room.

"Who's behind this?"

Wu Ya took a deep breath and replied, "The people from the Technology Department."

"After I discovered this, I immediately went to secretly question the veteran Employees who were forced out. From them, I heard that many Employees in the Technology Department are currently taking kickbacks."

"Of course, one-sided testimony isn't enough to prove anything, so over the past two days, I secretly obtained the financial reports from the Finance Department and have been verifying them."

Shen Yan nodded and asked, "What are the results of your verification?"

Wu Ya pursed her lips and replied, "It's true. Many veteran Employees in the Technology Department are taking kickbacks from the project."

"Screech!"

The chair made a loud scraping noise against the floor.

Chen Guangke slammed the table and stood up in a fit of rage.

"They actually dare to secretly take project kickbacks while we're away from the Branch Company! Who gave them such audacity!"

Hearing this, Wu Ya sneered and replied, "It's not just project kickbacks. They've even been having the company reimburse all of their personal expenses."

"As far as I know, many veteran Employees who were unwilling to collude with them have been driven away. Nominally, those veterans resigned on their own, but in reality, they were marginalized and forced to leave."

Chen Guangke's entire face turned red with anger.

"Then why has no one reported this to us until now?!"

"The Employees still at the company might be too afraid to report it, but don't tell me the ones who were already let go were too scared to tell us either?!"

Wu Ya sighed.

"Can you not be so naive?"

"Those veteran Employees just didn't want to work at the Branch Company anymore; it's not like they wanted to leave the entire industry."

"Forget it, what's the point of explaining so much to you? In short, I'm still investigating this. I don't want to alert the target before I have complete evidence."

"That's also why I didn't mention this to you in the office today."

Chen Guangke opened his mouth to speak, then turned to the calm Shen Yan and asked, "What do you think?"

Shen Yan replied flatly, "What else would I think? I'm thinking with my brain, of course."

Hearing the answer, Chen Guangke's face was full of confusion.

"Aren't you angry at all?!"

"They're taking kickbacks behind our backs in the company!"

Shen Yan looked at Chen Guangke with a half-smile and said, "Isn't this normal? The three of us have been busy with the artificial intelligence project, leaving them unsupervised. Naturally, some improper thoughts would arise."

Chen Guangke: "..."

"Are you really just going to watch them shit all over us?!"

As the words fell, Shen Yan looked at Chen Guangke with an expression of disgust.

"Could you please not use such vulgar language?"

Chen Guangke pursed his lips and sat back down.

"I'm in a fit of rage right now and can't say anything pleasant. Regardless, I am absolutely not going to just stand by and watch them lord it over us!"

"I want to show them who the real boss of the company is!"

Shen Yan: "...Isn't the real boss of the company me?"

Chen Guangke waved his hand impatiently.

"Oh, whatever, it's basically the same thing. Tomorrow, I'll contact the HR Staff and clear all those kickback-taking parasites out of the company..."

Before he could finish, Shen Yan directly rejected his proposal.

"No."

Chen Guangke blinked, not quite understanding.

"Why?"

Wu Ya let out a long sigh beside them.

"I finally understand why Brother Shen was so reluctant to let you take charge of the Branch Company."

"If he really sent you here, the Branch Company would collapse under your leadership within a month."

Hearing this, Chen Guangke's face instantly flushed. He gritted his teeth and said to Wu Ya, "You can insult my character, you can insult my morals, but you cannot insult my ability!"

Wu Ya looked at him with a contemptuous gaze and said, "Don't worry, I'm not insulting your ability. I'm insulting your brain."

"With a brain like yours, I'd be impressed if the Branch Company lasted a month under your control."

Chen Guangke wanted to retort, but he couldn't think of a good comeback in the moment.

Finally, he asked Wu Ya huffily, "So why exactly?!"

Wu Ya shook her head and replied, "Those veteran technical Employees taking kickbacks are all the key technical staff for the Prosperous Appointment project."

"If we just dismiss them haphazardly, no one will be able to fix the bugs if something goes wrong with our project."

Chen Guangke said anxiously, "But isn't there still me? I'm also a core Employee of the Technology Department for this project!"

Wu Ya gave Chen Guangke a pointed glance.

"It's obviously not that simple. Besides that, they also hold a lot of critical information regarding the project."

"Even though we had them sign non-disclosure agreements, people's hearts are fickle. You can't expect veteran Employees who are already taking kickbacks not to do something underhanded."

As soon as she said this, Chen Guangke immediately fell silent.

Although he was loath to admit it, what Wu Ya said made sense.

But he really couldn't stomach just letting those veteran technical Employees continue taking kickbacks.

"I don't believe you guys don't have another way to deal with them. Tell me quickly, how do you plan to handle them?"

Hearing this, Wu Ya glanced at Shen Yan.

"To be honest, I haven't come up with a good solution yet. Brother Shen, do you have any ideas?"

Shen Yan spoke slowly, "I do have a way to deal with them, though it might not be very fast."

Chen Guangke's eyes lit up, and he said, "That's fine, as long as we can take care of them!"

Wu Ya nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Shen Yan stated his thoughts directly.

His idea was actually quite simple: to gradually diminish the power held by those veteran Employees.

The reason those veterans dared to take project kickbacks so blatantly was simply because they controlled the most core data and technology of the project.

Once they lost the authority they relied on, they would be useless.

After hearing Shen Yan's plan, Wu Ya asked thoughtfully, "But what if... they refuse to give up the permissions they hold?"

Shen Yan curled his lips, his eyes full of a smile.

"Refuse to give them up?"

"No matter how much power they have, you are still firmly positioned above them. If they truly refuse to let go, then they'll just have to face a lawsuit from the company."