Chapter 26: Trapping the Department Manager

"Cold Wind" sent over a long message, clearly listing out the answers to all the questions.

"In my impression, Chen Qi is quite a low-key person, not one to show off. Among the top students, he’s one I find rather agreeable. His personality seems pleasant too—he gets along well with his classmates. I’m not sure about his personal interests, and I don’t know if he’s ever had a girlfriend, since we’re not close. As for his family background, I’d say it’s fairly ordinary, and he’s never done anything particularly sensational at school..."

Chen Qi finished reading calmly, his expression unchanged, not even flinching when he saw the part about his supposedly ordinary family background.

He had already steeled himself for this answer.

A phone he’d used for years, nothing special in his wardrobe, a bank balance barely breaking five figures...

These small details had long hinted at this conclusion.

So, he really was just a fake rich kid.

But where, exactly, had things gone wrong?

He was sure his memories were correct; the day before he transmigrated here, he’d gone to the rooftop with a crate of liquor after learning his family had gone bankrupt.

The call log with his father was still on his phone.

After digesting this information, he confirmed with "Cold Wind": "You’re sure his family situation is just average?"

"Absolutely," Cold Wind replied quickly. "There are actual rich kids and even third-generation heirs in our class, but Chen Qi definitely isn’t one of them."

"Why are you so sure?"

"He’s pretty frugal, rarely buys new clothes, and since sophomore year he’s been giving private lessons during the holidays to earn his living expenses."

Chen Qi pondered for a moment, then asked a few more questions before finally saying, "Who are the classmates he gets along with best?"

Without hesitation, the other party sent over a list of names.

Chen Qi picked up his old phone and checked his contacts—sure enough, all those people were there.

"Alright, that’s enough." After confirming the information, Chen Qi transferred the remaining two thousand yuan, deleted the contact, and fell into deep thought.

Twenty minutes later, "Ostentation" also sent his message. Chen Qi read it carefully; the content was almost identical to the previous one, which at least proved that the information was likely true and objective.

Just as before, after a few follow-up questions, he transferred the rest of the payment and deleted the contact.

After a moment of silence, he hesitated over whether to confirm all this with a couple of the classmates he was supposedly close to. After some thought, he gave up on that idea.

The question he’d been most curious about—the rich heir issue—was already answered. The rest didn’t matter so much; he doubted that information would have much to do with him in the future.

But what still puzzled him was: if he truly was a rich heir, why in the world would he live as an ordinary person? Even working as a tutor to cover his expenses?

What was going on? Was he deliberately keeping a low profile, or did he genuinely not know how wealthy his family was? Could there have been some major falling out with his family?

Chen Qi was troubled.

He was desperate to know some basic facts about himself. He could let go of the rest, but he had to get to the bottom of his family background—otherwise, he’d always feel uneasy, afraid of saying something he shouldn’t or making a fatal mistake.

After a while, seeing he was getting nowhere, he decided that tomorrow he’d confront Manager Zhao and see if he could fish out any useful information.

He could clearly sense he was receiving special treatment at Blueprint, but after thinking it over these past few days, he couldn’t imagine any reason, apart from family background, that would prompt a company of this size to look after him so closely.

He’d initially planned to take his time, push the boundaries a bit, and see how far Manager Zhao’s patience extended. But after learning all this, he no longer had the patience.

…

The next day.

After arriving at work, Chen Qi went straight to Manager Zhao’s office.

"What’s up?" Seeing Chen Qi’s serious, heavy expression, Manager Zhao was at a loss.

Chen Qi looked at Manager Zhao and asked directly, "Manager, did President Xu ever tell you to give me special attention?"

Last night, he’d thought back carefully and realized just how many loopholes there were in his arrival at Blueprint.

He was a new employee, yet Manager Zhao had bent over backwards to help him, both with people and with money, even though he hadn’t thought much of him at first. It was highly abnormal.

And recalling what Sister Hong from HR had said about the general manager personally interviewing him, he was now convinced it must have something to do with the general manager.

Speaking of the interview, he also remembered a small detail from back then.

He’d applied for a position in the Creative Department; logically, Manager Zhao, as the head of the department, should have been the main interviewer and ultimate decision-maker. Yet during the interview, Manager Zhao had seemed distracted, barely interested, not even bothering to ask questions; in the end, he only asked one reluctantly after President Xu prompted him.

He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but looking back, it was clear—Manager Zhao must have known his opinion didn’t matter in the slightest, that the interview was just for show.

"Huh?" Manager Zhao was clearly taken aback by Chen Qi’s question, then shot him a look full of disdain. "What are you imagining? Why would I go out of my way to help you? Can you not be so self-absorbed?"

Chen Qi stared at him blankly, not interested in arguing. He played his trump card, speaking with casual indifference: "If you won’t say, I’ll just resign now. If President Xu asks, I’ll tell him you made me leave."

He was throwing caution to the wind.

If he could bluff something out, all the better. If not—if Blueprint’s trust in him really had nothing to do with Xu Bunan and was simply based on his credentials—then he’d just quit.

As for his original purpose in coming to Blueprint, he wasn’t too concerned. He hadn’t turned in the KUKU phone commercial yet; he could still trade that for the resources he needed.

Besides, the main reason he’d come to Blueprint in the first place was because he was broke and hoped to meet a few celebrities and sell a couple of songs to improve his life. But now, that was no longer necessary.

The bonuses from "Washing Mom’s Feet" and the upcoming KUKU phone commercial were already enough to free him from financial worries.

So, he had nothing to lose and plenty of confidence in playing hardball with this department manager, whom he actually rather liked.