Yang Ruoqian knew the system would appear.
It had that atmosphere.
A day of clean files.
A competitor selling confidence badly.
Owners doing preparation for free.
Finance smiling in a way that claimed not to be smiling.
These were all natural disasters.
At nine, the panel opened.
Unpaid owner labor assessment initiated.
Yang pointed at labor.
"Labor outside Xplendi is not ours."
The system replied:
External labor can reduce internal spending conditions.
"It is not on payroll."
No response.
The silence felt judgmental.
At ten, finance arrived with a report.
Yang disliked reports more when they were organized.
This one was very organized.
Corrected-before-submission files: increasing.
Paid preparation requests: 0.
Priority requests: 0.
Pre-check support cost: 0.
Venue suitability disputes: decreasing.
Yang looked at the report.
"Where is the cost?"
Finance pointed to a small line.
Internal review time per complete file: slightly lower.
"That is not cost."
