The door had barely swung open when Li Xian came barreling across the small apartment.
"Daddy!"
Li Feng barely had time to set the files down before she crashed into his legs, arms wrapping around them with everything she had. He looked down at her, the tension from the day leaving his face all at once.
"Xian." He reached down and scooped her up in one motion.
Li Xian shrieked with delight, grabbing onto his shoulders as he lifted her high above his head. Her laughter filled the small apartment, bouncing off every wall.
"Again! Again!" she demanded.
He lifted her again. Then again. Each time her laughter got louder.
Zhao Lihua looked up from the kitchen.
"Welcome back," she said quietly.
"Mm," Li Feng replied.
She turned back to what she was doing. He didn't watch her go.
Li Xian grabbed his face with both small hands, squishing his cheeks together, pulling his attention back to her.
"Daddy stayed away too long," she said seriously.
"Is that so," Li Feng said, his voice coming out funny from his squished cheeks.
"Yes," she confirmed, nodding with great authority.
Then her eyes went wide as if she had just remembered something very important. She wriggled out of his arms and ran to where the grocery bags sat.
"Wait! Wait Daddy!"
She came running back, thrusting three chocolate bars up at him with both hands.
"Xian got these for Daddy!"
"For me?" Li Feng asked.
"Yes! Yes!" Xian said, thrusting them forward again.
Li Feng took them from her small hands. Something settled quietly in his chest. Receiving gifts was second nature to him. People had always given him things — always wanting something in return, always sucking up. But this felt different. There was nothing behind it. Just Xian.
He took one for himself, smiling. Handed one to Xian.
"The last one is for Mummy," he said.
Xian's eyes lit up. She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the kitchen.
"Mummy! Mummy!" she called out, holding the chocolate bar up as high as her small arm could reach. "Here!"
Zhao Lihua stared at it.
What kind of sorcery is this, she thought.
She had jokingly asked for one of those bars before he got home. Xian had refused without a second thought. It's for Daddy. She had been firm about it.
And now here it was.
She collected it, gesturing for Xian to come to her. She tapped her lightly on the nose.
"Let Daddy rest," she said softly.
Li Feng glanced over at her briefly.
"The lunchbox this morning," he said simply. "Thank you."
Zhao Lihua blinked, caught off guard for just a moment.
"Mm," she replied quietly.
He picked up his files and went straight to the room.
Li Feng sat on the edge of the bed, files beside him. He picked up his phone and dialed.
The call connected.
A long sigh first. Then —
"Mr. Liii." Chao Yiran said.
"Today's session will be moved forward," he said simply.
"Really?" Her voice jumped with excitement. Then she caught herself, clearing her throat. "I mean — oh. That's completely fine."
"However," Li Feng continued, "you won't be missing anything. I've prepared materials and a short test."
Silence.
"You —"
"Eight o'clock."
He ended the call.
Meanwhile, Zhao Lihua had finished setting the dinner table. Li Xian sat in her chair, Baozi tucked under one arm, already eating her food without a care in the world.
Zhao Lihua was about to sit down herself when her gaze drifted to the bedroom door.
He must be hungry, she thought.
"Mummy, where's Daddy?" Li Xian asked, not looking up from her food.
"Hmm." Zhao Lihua smiled softly. "I'll go get him."
She walked over and gave the door a small knock. No answer. She knocked again. No answer.
The door drifted open slightly under her hand.
She hesitated. Then slowly pushed it open just enough to look inside.
Li Feng was coming out of the bathroom at that exact moment. A white towel wrapped around his waist, another hanging loosely around his neck, water still on his skin.
Their eyes met.
Zhao Lihua's cheeks flushed red. She pulled the door shut immediately.
She stood there for a moment, hand still on the door, staring straight ahead.
"...Dinner is ready," she said quietly through the door.
Then she turned and walked straight back to the table without another word.
After a while the bedroom door opened. Li Feng walked out in more comfortable clothes. He pulled out a chair at the dining table and sat down.
Zhao Lihua kept her eyes on her food, cheeks still visibly red. Li Feng said nothing either. Even he was feeling a little awkward.
Li Xian ate her food happily, completely unbothered, swinging her legs under the chair.
The next morning at Chen Long Logistics.
"Mr. Li, good morning." Tao Jun said as Li Feng sat down across from him in his office.
Li Feng placed his bag down and folded his hands on the table.
"I found some irregularities in the records."
Tao Jun leaned forward slightly.
"Already?" He let out a small laugh. "Mr. Li the records go back three years. You only took them last evening."
"I know."
Tao Jun studied him for a moment. He wasn't trying to be rude but he couldn't help it. Even the previous auditors had taken weeks before coming to him with anything. This young man was sitting across from him the very next morning speaking about irregularities.
"Mr. Li with respect—"
Li Feng reached into his bag and pulled out his laptop. He turned it to face Tao Jun.
Tao Jun leaned in.
The screen was filled with mapped out records. Charts, timelines, transaction logs all connected and laid out clearly. It was immediately obvious that someone had spent the entire night going through everything methodically.
Tao Jun was quiet for a moment.
"You did all this last night?"
"The numbers on the surface are correct," Li Feng said calmly. "Accounts match. Transfers are logged. Taxes are in order. Everything checks out." He paused. "But there is a pattern."
Tao Jun looked up at him.
"Small losses. Every quarter. Always just below the audit threshold. Always shifting between different departments." Li Feng's finger moved across the screen. "Whoever is doing this is intelligent. They are not stealing. They are bleeding the company slowly."
The office was quiet.
Tao Jun sat back in his chair, eyes still on the screen.
"I want to request a full internal investigation," Li Feng said. "Quietly. No announcements."
Tao Jun was silent for a long moment. His eyes moved back to the screen — the charts, the timelines, three years of records mapped out overnight by a man he hadn't wanted to hire.
He let out a slow breath.
"How long will you need?"
Li Feng closed the laptop.
"However long it takes to find the person who authorized those payments."