I Really Didn't Mean to Make Money

“President Chen, is there anything else you’d like us to handle?”

Seeing that the discussion had come to an end, Song Xia asked cautiously.

President Chen seemed unusually distant today, which made her tread carefully with her words.

“There is.”

Chen Mo replied without hesitation. He hadn’t even brought up the punishment yet—of course there was still something to do.

“Please go ahead, President Chen.”

Song Xia straightened up, sitting at attention.

Chen Mo looked at both Song Xia and Su Dan, cleared his throat, and began.

“Here’s the situation. While Mingri Group focuses on running the business, we also have a responsibility to give back to society.”

“You’re both aware that Mingri Group established a foundation. We’ve already sent out several survey teams across the country to identify impoverished individuals.”

Since the start of the year, Yang Xingguo had led the survey teams on their missions and had already returned twice.

After a few rounds of fieldwork, the team members had become quite familiar with the process. So, the original team was split up, with two people assigned as team leader and deputy leader to form new survey groups.

Currently, there were three teams operating in the field.

With more teams, the pace of identifying impoverished individuals had significantly increased.

Just before Song Xia and Su Dan arrived, Chen Mo had received a message from Yang Xingguo. He reported that a group of elderly people—those still physically capable and willing to work in Jiangcheng—had been identified and organized.

A team could be formed to bring them to Jiangcheng.

After all, many of these elderly individuals had never traveled far from home in their entire lives. Asking them to buy tickets and travel to Jiangcheng on their own carried a high risk of them getting lost.

Upon seeing the message, Chen Mo immediately thought of a fitting punishment.

He would assign Song Xia and Su Dan to lead the team responsible for picking up these elderly people.

They weren’t all located in one place, and this trip would likely involve multiple transfers and long hours on the road.

Traveling like that was exhausting.

Yes, this was a great punishment.

No—wait.

How could this be called a punishment? This was public welfare. So what if it was a little tiring?

They would be accumulating merit!

As Chen Mo spoke, Su Dan and Song Xia both nodded along.

They were already aware of the foundation and the survey teams sent across the country to locate impoverished individuals.

But they didn’t understand what that had to do with them.

Their confusion was cleared up by Chen Mo’s next words.

“After extensive surveys, the foundation has compiled a list of elderly individuals who are willing to come to Jiangcheng. There are also a few left-behind children among them.”

“It’s too risky to have them travel to Jiangcheng on their own. So we need to organize a team here in Jiangcheng to bring them in safely.”

“This is public welfare work. It’s about doing good and accumulating merit. I wouldn’t entrust this kind of task to just anyone.”

“However, the two of you turned things around at Nanhe Coffee and brought it back on track. That’s a major achievement worthy of reward.”

“So, the responsibility of leading the team to pick up these elderly individuals will fall to you.”

“While you’re on the road, you’ll also get a chance to see the beautiful landscapes of our country, broaden your horizons, and do some good. Isn’t that a wonderful thing?”

Chen Mo finished speaking and looked at Song Xia and Su Dan with a smile.

This trip could take as little as two weeks, or as long as a month.

Either way, for that period of time, he wouldn’t have to worry about them.

“President Chen, if we leave, there won’t be anyone managing Nanhe Coffee,” Song Xia said with concern.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to take on the responsibility. She was just worried that with Nanhe Coffee only recently stabilizing, her absence might cause setbacks.

“No need to worry. Nanhe Coffee is already running smoothly. Each store has a manager responsible for daily operations. Nothing major will go wrong. And if anything does come up, you can always handle it through video conferences.”

“It’s not a big issue. Just go with peace of mind.”

“Also, this trip will be considered a business assignment. Your salaries will be paid as usual, and you’ll receive a daily travel allowance of 500 yuan.”

“That settles it, then. Go back and start preparing. The list of people you’ll be picking up will be sent to your phones shortly. Based on the number of individuals and their locations, you can decide how many people to include in your team.”

“You can recruit team members from among employees of various branches. Their compensation will be the same—regular salary plus a daily travel allowance of 500 yuan.”

Chen Mo’s tone was firm, leaving no room for refusal.

Recruiting from the company’s own staff was something he had just thought of on the spot. The system didn’t restrict it.

This way, the travel allowances would also help deplete some of the System Funds.

“Understood, President Chen.”

Seeing that Chen Mo had made up his mind, Song Xia and Su Dan didn’t argue further and nodded in agreement.

“We’ll go make preparations now.”

“Good.”

Chen Mo nodded instinctively, but then suddenly remembered something very important.

That’s why anything related to public welfare had to be kept under wraps.

Just last month, he’d nearly caused trouble for Nanhe Coffee’s profits after being exposed for doing public welfare work.

So now, he had to tread carefully.

Even something as simple as helping stray cats and dogs had caused such a stir when it got out.

If news about the Foundation were to be leaked too…

Chen Mo didn’t even want to imagine the consequences.

He had already issued strict orders to the Foundation: when doing public welfare, they were forbidden from revealing anything about the company or himself.

But he hadn’t given the same reminder to Su Dan and Song Xia.

Thinking of this, he quickly called out to stop the two just as they were about to leave.

“When you’re out doing public welfare, make sure not to reveal anything about the company.”

“Understood, President Chen.”

Song Xia and Su Dan nodded, their eyes full of respect.

There were so few people like President Chen—doing good deeds without seeking recognition. Unlike some, who made a big show online over the smallest act of charity.

Everyone knew what kind of motives were behind that kind of behavior.

After leaving the CEO’s office,

the two of them entered the elevator. On the way down, it stopped at the 22nd floor.

Wei Yan and Fang Chang stepped in.

“Manager Song, Manager Su, here to report work?”

Wei Yan looked a little surprised to see Song Xia and Su Dan in the elevator, but quickly recovered and greeted them with a smile.

“Yes, just finished a quick report. Manager Wei, Manager Fang, are you two heading out?”

Song Xia smiled as she responded.

She and Su Dan had attended several meetings at the company headquarters, and with all the team-building events they’d done together, they were all fairly familiar with each other.

“Oh, is it already noon? We’re heading to the cafeteria for lunch.”

Wei Yan lifted his phone and showed the time on the screen.

“Manager Song, Manager Su, I imagine you don’t often eat in the cafeteria. Want to give it a try today?”

Song Xia and Su Dan exchanged a glance, then nodded.

“Sure. In fact, I have something I’d like to ask Manager Wei about.”

Song Xia said with a smile. Earlier, when they visited President Chen’s office, he had been unusually distant. That kind of attitude was something she had never encountered from him before.

She couldn’t quite figure it out.

But Wei Yan was widely known within the company as the person who understood President Chen best.

She figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.