Return of the Celestial King

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Collecting Debts

A short while later, Zhou Kexin walked into the office building, whistling. She seemed to be in a good mood.

Suddenly, her expression froze. She widened her eyes for a closer look.

"Huh? Is that Qin Tuo? Didn’t he leave?"

She walked over and saw that it was indeed Qin Tuo, going through the new employee onboarding process in the HR department.

"Qin Tuo, what’s going on? What are you doing here?"

Zhou Kexin asked, still unwilling to accept it.

Qin Tuo replied casually,

"Didn’t I pass the interview? So I’m here to complete the hiring paperwork."

"What? You actually passed the interview? How is that possible!"

Zhou Kexin’s eyes instantly went wide as saucers, her expression a mask of disbelief.

But then, she quickly covered her mouth and glanced around.

’I need to get out of here, fast. I can’t let anyone see me associated with this guy...’

With that thought, she guiltily slipped away.

Zhou Kexin ran straight to the sales department office.

"Wang Lei, didn’t you say you were going to get rid of Qin Tuo? How is he in HR completing his hiring paperwork?"

Zhou Kexin demanded the moment she entered.

Wang Lei sat in his chair and spread his hands, a helpless look on his face.

"Ke Xin, President Wang personally asked for Qin Tuo to be kept on. What can I, a mere sales manager, do?"

This time, Zhou Kexin was utterly astonished.

"Oh, you’re not pulling my leg, are you? That guy’s just a country bumpkin with no connections. How could he possibly know the President?"

Wang Lei’s face was also full of confusion.

"I know, I find it strange too, but that’s how it is. What can we do? By the way, are you sure you have his family background right?"

Zhou Kexin immediately shook her head without hesitation.

"No way. I’m very clear on this. To be honest with you, I’ve even met his family. His parents are just simple, poor folks. No one impressive has come from his family for three generations."

Wang Lei said, puzzled,

"Then I don’t know. Maybe the kid just got lucky and President Wang took a sudden liking to him."

"Sigh, that must be it. Damn it, my good mood for the day has been completely ruined by that country bumpkin. So annoying!"

Zhou Kexin couldn’t help but complain as she sat down in Wang Lei’s lap.

Wang Lei said with a sly smile,

"Don’t worry, darling. I’ve already spread the word to the people in the sales department that this Qin Tuo is an ex-convict. Everyone will ostracize him. I doubt the kid has the thick skin to stick around after that!"

Hearing this, Zhou Kexin’s eyes instantly lit up.

"Haha, Wang Lei, you’re brilliant! I can’t believe you came up with a plan like that."

Wang Lei nodded, his face full of smug satisfaction.

"Of course. Besides, the kid will be working under me from now on. I’m his direct supervisor. If I want him gone, I have at least a hundred ways to do it."

"Mm, I’m counting on you for this, Wang Lei!"

Only then did the tension on Zhou Kexin’s face finally ease.

Meanwhile, after finishing his onboarding paperwork, Qin Tuo was led to the sales department by a staff member.

The moment he stepped into the office, he saw everyone look up at him.

Their gazes were filled with doubt, suspicion, and even contempt...

Qin Tuo, however, paid them no mind and walked straight in.

Just then, a wave of discussion began to ripple through the office.

"See him? That’s the guy. I hear he’s done time!"

"What, he’s been to prison... an ex-con? How can someone like that get a job at our company? That’s unbelievable!"

"Yeah, the kid must have some connections. But he’s still an ex-con. How are we supposed to work with someone like that? What terrible luck!"

As they chattered freely, they shot looks of contempt at Qin Tuo.

Qin Tuo had heard these kinds of things many times before, and he couldn’t be bothered to care now.

He found his desk, sat down, and casually glanced around.

Seeing Qin Tuo sit down, the people in the two adjacent seats quickly stood up and walked away, faces full of disgust.

It was as if getting too close to Qin Tuo would cause his bad luck to rub off on them.

Just then, Wang Lei walked in with that same sly smile.

When the sales staff saw Wang Lei arrive, they all quickly stood up and straightened their clothes.

Wang Lei coughed twice and said, like a smiling tiger,

"Listen up, everyone. Today, we welcome a new colleague. His name is Qin Tuo. Let’s give him a warm round of applause!"

Everyone’s expression froze for a moment, but when they saw Wang Lei leading the applause, they caught on, and a spatter of applause broke out.

But the welcoming looks in their eyes were filled with doubt and fear.

After all, he was an ex-con, and everyone was afraid that kind of person would cause trouble.

When the applause died down, Wang Lei gestured with his hand.

A young man who looked even younger than Qin Tuo, with a very meek and timid expression, walked over.

Wang Lei ordered,

"Liu Ping, starting today, you and Qin Tuo are a team."

Liu Ping nodded timidly.

"Yes, Manager Wang."

Wang Lei chuckled and patted Liu Ping’s shoulder.

"From now on, you must cooperate well with Qin Tuo and do a good job. Don’t you dare disappoint me!"

As he spoke, he shot a meaningful glance at Qin Tuo, his face clearly full of malicious intent.

Qin Tuo didn’t read too much into it; he was more concerned about what his upcoming work would be.

After Wang Lei left, everyone returned to their desks.

However, many people were pointing at Liu Ping and Qin Tuo, their eyes full of schadenfreude.

Qin Tuo was wondering about this when Liu Ping happened to walk over.

"Hi, I’m Qin Tuo. Looks like we’re partners from now on."

Qin Tuo took the initiative to greet him, having noticed that Liu Ping seemed to have a timid and introverted personality.

"Hello, Qin Tuo. I’m Liu Ping. It’s... a pleasure to work with you..."

Liu Ping stammered.

Seeing that Liu Ping was a low-key and humble person, Qin Tuo had a pretty good first impression of him.

"By the way, Liu Ping, why are they all looking at us like that?"

Qin Tuo asked, gesturing to the people around them.

Liu Ping heaved a deep sigh and said helplessly,

"Qin Tuo, you know... the two of us probably won’t last long here."

Qin Tuo didn’t understand. He had just joined the company, so why was he already being told he wouldn’t last?

"Oh? Why is that?"

Liu Ping didn’t say anything, simply opening a drawer and pulling out a huge stack of files.

Qin Tuo picked one up and saw that they were all account records.

Liu Ping said with a bitter smile,

"President Wang has already said that if these accounts aren’t collected by the end of the month, both of us will be fired."

Qin Tuo frowned.

"There are so many accounts. How could we possibly collect on all of them?"

Liu Ping deeply agreed, but his face was filled with helplessness.

"I know, right? But our team is the one that specializes in handling these problematic accounts. You don’t know this, but several people have already quit before us."

Qin Tuo picked up the account statements and took a closer look.

Only then did he realize that the debtors were all notoriously difficult characters!