Under One Person: The End of Technique, Company Building

When Zhuge Qi came out of Zhao Fangxu's office, it was already dark.

The motion-activated lights in the corridor turned on one by one, casting a long shadow over him.

He stood at the top of the stairs, not rushing down, but taking out his phone from his pocket and glancing at the time: 7:42 PM.

Working overtime is the norm for people in the Extraordinary Personnel Affairs Department.

But Zhuge Qi never worked overtime in the office too late; he valued "efficiency."

The work that needs to be done should be completed within the specified time. If it cannot be completed, it means there is a problem with the process. If there is a problem with the process, it needs to be optimized, rather than trying to impress yourself by wasting time.

This is his consistent way of doing things.

Back on the sixth floor, the entire office area of ​​the Department of Extraordinary Persons was empty, with only the light in the duty room at the end of the corridor still on.

Zhuge Qi walked to the door of his office, pushed it open, and went in. He didn't turn on the main light, but only turned on the desk lamp.

A warm yellow halo spread across the table. He sat in his swivel chair, loosened his tie, leaned back, and stared blankly at the ceiling for a while.

None of the three tasks assigned by General Manager Zhao were easy.

Assist the North China division in cleaning up the mess left by Quanxing, evaluate Zhang Chulan, and use this as a warning to others.

These three tasks seem to be parallel, but Zhuge Qi knows in his heart that the real core is the second one—evaluating Zhang Chulan.

Zhuge Qi went through all the information about Zhang Chulan in his mind, and then temporarily put the thought aside.

Eat one bite at a time, and do things one by one beforehand.

He picked up the internal phone on the table and dialed an internal short number.

It rang three times before the other end answered.

"Hello, this is the duty room." A young voice replied, sounding a bit flustered as if he had just been pulled back to reality from his phone screen.

"Xiao Zheng, it's me." Zhuge Qi's tone was calm and kind. "Still not resting?"

There was a visibly surprised sound on the other end of the phone, then the tone instantly brightened: "Section Chief! You haven't left work yet? I'm on duty here, not tired at all."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work," Zhuge Qi said. "Could you help me find the contact information for the duty room in the North China region? Also, when Xiao Li comes to work tomorrow morning, have him come to my office first."

"Okay, section chief, I'll check it right away and send it to your phone immediately."

"No rush, take your time," Zhuge Qi said before hanging up the phone.

Less than half a minute later, the phone vibrated. Xiao Zheng sent over the duty phone number for the North China division and several related contacts, with clear notes, and even thoughtfully added a note: "The duty officer for the North China division tonight is Xu Si."

Zhuge Qi glanced at it, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

This young Zheng is quite thoughtful.

Instead of making a phone call, he first turned on his computer, accessed the template library of the company's internal document system, and began drafting a notice regarding the head office sending personnel to the North China region to assist with the work.

This kind of thing could have been handled by the office, but Zhuge Qi always believed that when it came to cross-regional coordination, especially work with a supervisory nature, the wording of the first notification was extremely important.

The wording was too strong, which might cause resentment among the subordinates, making them feel that headquarters was there to interrogate them.

The wording was too mild, failing to serve as a warning and instead giving the impression that headquarters didn't take the matter seriously enough.

Proper judgment is always the most important thing.

Zhuge Qi went to North China not to show off his power, but to solve problems.

To solve a problem, you must do it in a way that solves the problem.

……

The first thing Zhuge Qi did upon arriving at his office the next morning was to have his secretary, Xiao Li, take the notice he had drafted the night before, get it stamped, and send it out.

Xiao Li is a young woman in her early twenties who just joined the company last year. She is efficient, but sometimes she doesn't think things through quickly enough and needs Zhuge Qi to give her some instructions.

"Section Chief, send this notice to the North China region. Which departments should be copied to?" Xiao Li stood in front of the desk with the printed notice in hand.

Zhuge Qi was reviewing today's work briefing. Without looking up, he said, "Mainly send to the North China Division, and copies to the Company Office, Policy Research Office, and Supervision Department."

Xiao Li quickly jotted down notes in his notebook, then asked, "Should I make a call to North China to discuss things first?"

"Yes, we will." Zhuge Qi looked up at Xiao Li and said seriously, "When you call, be careful with your tone. Just say that my schedule is set and we're leaving the day after tomorrow. Tell them they don't need to prepare anything special and that work is the priority."

"Yes, Section Chief." Xiao Li nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait a minute." Zhuge Qi called her back, thought for a moment and said, "If Xu Si answers the phone, just say what you mean directly. He's a straightforward person, beating around the bush will only make him overthink."

If Xu San answers the call, emphasize "assisting with the work"; he's thoughtful and will understand.

Xiao Li blinked, thinking to himself that the section chief even gave different versions of who answered the phone; his attention to detail was a bit too much. But he still obediently replied, "Understood, Section Chief."

After Xiao Li left, Zhuge Qi continued reading his work report.

About twenty minutes later, there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in."

The person who pushed open the door was Old Zhou, the office director, a veteran in his fifties who had worked for the company for most of his life before the establishment of the Extraordinary Personnel Affairs Department and was one of the most senior people in the department.

"Director Zhou, please have a seat." Zhuge Qi gestured to the chair opposite him.

Old Zhou didn't stand on ceremony and sat down, placing a document in front of Zhuge Qi: "Section Chief, this is the summary of information you requested regarding Zhang Huaiyi and Zhang Xilin's life in Tianjin. We've obtained everything we could, but it's from a long time ago, so some records are incomplete."

Zhuge Qi opened the document and read it page by page.

Actually, I already have the original memories and am quite familiar with the information about this grandfather and grandson, but I still need to retrieve the files again.

Besides leaving a record of the work, it's also necessary to confirm that some details won't go wrong.

Details matter.

Zhang Xilin, originally named Zhang Huaiyi, was a disciple of the Celestial Master's Mansion on Longhu Mountain. During the Jia Shen Rebellion, he left his master's sect and colluded with the Quanxing heretics, resulting in his expulsion from the Celestial Master's Mansion.

His whereabouts became unknown after the Jia Shen Rebellion, and it is suspected that he changed his name and went into hiding.

He later settled in Tianjin under the name Zhang Xilin, and had a son, Zhang Yude, and a grandson, Zhang Chulan.

The document contains several old photos taken by the company on the streets of Tianjin in its early years. The images are blurry, and only the profile of a thin old man can be seen.

Zhuge Qi looked at the photo and remained silent for a few seconds.

"Section Chief, there's one more thing." Old Zhou lowered his voice a little, "Another incident happened in North China last night."

Zhuge Qi put down the documents and looked at Lao Zhou: "What is it?"

"Zhang Xilin's grave has been dug up."

"Oh?" Zhuge Qi chuckled. "It seems some people are having a headache again."