This is really something unusual.

Hou Yuncheng kept flipping through the pages for more than half an hour before snapping back to reality and realizing—Bai Xiaosheng was still there.

With an apologetic expression, Hou Yuncheng smiled at Bai Xiaosheng and said, "Look at me, I get lost in thoughts when I see good things. Sheng, since you’re back, why don’t you take a rest now? I’ll have someone send over the investigation materials and the list to you later, so I won’t keep you."

Hou Yuncheng was already quite frank about sending him off.

After saying this, Hou Yuncheng shook the few pages in his hand and said with a smile, "I’m going to study this carefully today. Even though this trip didn’t result in a partnership, just this gain alone makes it worth it!"

Bai Xiaosheng chuckled and promptly took his leave.

Returning from Hou Yuncheng’s office, Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying were waiting in the room for him.

"Xiaosheng, Director Hou wasn’t upset with you, was he? We went on this business trip, didn’t secure a deal, and only brought back a report of our findings. It’s indeed a bit hard to explain. However, it’s not our fault that Mr. Brown avoided meeting us," Lin Weiwei couldn’t help but say.

Lei Ying also looked at Bai Xiaosheng with a concerned expression, eyes inquiring.

"There’s no problem with Director Hou. In fact, he was quite pleased with the report we wrote," Bai Xiaosheng said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

"While I was at Director Hou’s, I met Mr. Jia Chengshan. He went to negotiate with another rare earth company and got some results too," Bai Xiaosheng explained everything to the two of them.

Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying were initially stunned, then surprised, and soon enough, they got a bit angry.

"That Mr. Brown actually fooled us and went to steal our business!" Lei Ying said in a deep voice.

Lin Weiwei also exclaimed, "This is so underhanded! Why would he treat us like this? Just because we investigated a few of his companies, if there are issues, he should self-reflect! I don’t believe he’s completely unaware of issues from his executive VP; if he truly is, he should’ve thoroughly investigated. Yet he blames us, what is this!"

Lin Weiwei was quite emotional.

"Maybe Mr. Brown felt we were too unyielding, and it shattered his perfect retirement plans, so he retaliated in this way, which is somewhat understandable," Bai Xiaosheng consoled Lin Weiwei. "After all, he’s old; sometimes they tend to have little tempers, we should understand."

Mr. Brown, after all, is a venerable stalwart of the group. Bai Xiaosheng figured that since he was to inherit Zhenbei Group, he needed to have a generous and forgiving heart.

"So, should we just let this go?" Lin Weiwei couldn’t help but pout and mutter, "We’ve never suffered such unjust schemes or such losses. We never provoke others, but we don’t let those who pick trouble off the hook..."

This young lady sometimes had quite a childish temperament and couldn’t stand being taken advantage of.

"Let’s just leave it at that, we’ll endure it, take a step back," Bai Xiaosheng said, "I believe after this gain, Mr. Brown will leave it be."

"And if he doesn’t..." Lin Weiwei sneaked a glance at Bai Xiaosheng, mumbling under her breath.

"Then we’ll see," Bai Xiaosheng replied helplessly.

He wasn’t willing to deal with hypothetical situations before they happened.

"Let’s not think about it anymore, it’ll only frustrate us more," Lei Ying suggested to Lin Weiwei.

Lin Weiwei didn’t say anything further.

"By the way, Director Hou mentioned they’ll send over the latest list and materials of companies to be inspected in a while. We can study them and see which companies we can visit. Besides collaborating with our group’s companies, forming ties with other enterprises can be opportunities," Bai Xiaosheng tried to shift the topic, smiling.

After all, they were here to visit various places in Africa, seeking business opportunities through cooperation rather than "fighting". It was better to quickly bring focus back to the main topic.

Speaking of which, Bai Xiaosheng exercised his inspecting rights within the group and identified ten problematic large enterprises in North America and Africa. The Red Lotus hadn’t yet calculated his score.

It was likely because the headquarters investigation wasn’t complete and no official outcomes had been released yet.

As Bai Xiaosheng thought of this, he heard a "ding".

A voice echoed in his mind.

"Upon exercising inspecting rights, ten problematic enterprises have been identified. The group’s handling results are now posted, detailed as follows..."

One message after another rapidly scrolled through Bai Xiaosheng’s mind.

They detailed the handling results of the heads of the ten problematic enterprises, ranging from demotions to dismissals and even prosecutions, with varied outcomes.

Bai Xiaosheng was momentarily taken aback.

This was something he had just thought about, and results had already appeared... certain thoughts can’t be entertained too casually.

At that moment, the door to Bai Xiaosheng’s room was also knocked upon, someone outside announced that they were sent by Director Hou to deliver something.

Bai Xiaosheng was engrossed in "listening", so he casually motioned for Lin Weiwei to go collect the items.

Seeing Bai Xiaosheng deep in thought, Lin Weiwei didn’t dare disturb him and got up to handle it.

Lei Ying also waited quietly.

...

Bai Xiaosheng continued to "listen" to the Red Lotus "broadcast" information—

"Now beginning to calculate scores, specifics are as follows..."

The issues uncovered in the ten companies varied in severity, and the scores Bai Xiaosheng earned were naturally varied. Several fraction points combined, resulting in a bizarre total score of 8.45.

Bai Xiaosheng then heard Red Lotus’s voice, "Using rounding method—rounding principle, the host’s final score is eight points, bringing the total career president level score to twenty-eight points, seventy-two points short of the vice-chairman level, please continue to work hard."

Upon receiving this result, Bai Xiaosheng was momentarily stunned and then a bit frustrated.

The difficulty of gaining this score was immense, even fractional points appeared, yet in final calculation, the Red Lotus "generously" used rounding, taking whole numbers, and deducted nearly half a point!

"I ask, are you a cunning merchant! You’re deliberately hindering my promotion!" Bai Xiaosheng couldn’t help but express his anger at the Red Lotus in his mind.

Complaining to the system was clearly not a wise move.

The Red Lotus didn’t respond at all.

After Bai Xiaosheng finished complaining, the Red Lotus suddenly responded, "Please continue to work hard—"

Though the voice should have been devoid of emotion, Bai Xiaosheng sensed a hint of schadenfreude.

Suddenly, Bai Xiaosheng was left speechless.

"I’ll endure!" Bai Xiaosheng had no choice but to "swallow his pride".

"Xiaosheng, are you okay?" a cautious voice came from beside him.

Only then did Bai Xiaosheng snap back to reality, seeing Lin Weiwei watching him cautiously.

Lei Ying, too, looked at him questioningly.

"I’m fine, did you get the things back..." Bai Xiaosheng quickly diverted the topic.

Lin Weiwei handed the received materials to Bai Xiaosheng, from which Bai Xiaosheng divided two pages for them, "Let’s all take a look and discuss where to go tomorrow..."

...

Before bed, Bai Xiaosheng, Lin Weiwei, and Lei Ying finalized the companies they’d visit the next day.

The night passed without further words.

The next morning, Bai Xiaosheng and the team, led by the "guide" arranged by Hou Yuncheng, visited the selected companies in nearby cities for inspection.

Not until the afternoon did Bai Xiaosheng and the others return to their accommodation.

The day’s inspections were tiring, but rewarding. Bai Xiaosheng and his team reached intentions with several companies, pending formal contract signing later.

The three were in good spirits and even found a quaint restaurant near their lodging for a wonderful meal that evening.

On the third morning, while Bai Xiaosheng was organizing the day’s itinerary and planning the contract signing with the companies discussed the previous day, Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying began receiving a series of phone calls.

Initially, Bai Xiaosheng didn’t think much of it, peacefully drinking coffee, pondering his concerns.

It wasn’t until Lin Weiwei, slightly alarmed and angry, rushed back, with Lei Ying wearing a sullen expression, that they caught his attention.

"What happened?" Bai Xiaosheng promptly put aside his matters and asked.

Lin Weiwei, flustered, exclaimed, "Xiaosheng, there’s a problem! Those companies that agreed with us yesterday, they all called today. They’ve all backed out!"