After the adjournment, Rex called Louie into his office for a private conversation. Louie sat across from Rex, casually crossing his legs. He was aware that if Rex's female secretary saw him, she would likely be surprised as no department manager had dared to sit with crossed legs in front of Rex before.
"Louie, do you have any questions for me?" Rex took out a Yuxi cigarette and tossed it to Louie. After lighting his own cigarette, Louie pulled out a Zippo lighter and started lighting up. Rex's gaze lingered on Louie's Zippo, a model he had never seen before.
Seeing Rex's interest in the lighter, Louie chuckled and tossed it to Rex, saying, "President, despite your wealth, you can't buy something like this. It's a Zippo made exclusively for the American market."
"Really?" Rex ran his fingers over the surface of the lighter. The tactile sensation was indeed different from the Zippos he was familiar with. He tried igniting it a couple of times, and the ignition effect was far superior to ordinary consumer-grade lighters.
Observing Rex's fascination with the lighter, Louie nonchalantly remarked, "President, consider it a gift from me. I have plenty of them."
"Louie, what's your background?" Rex didn't say whether he'd accept or refuse the gift. He held the lighter in his hand, scrutinizing Louie.
"Just a small figure, no big ambitions, just an ordinary person who wants to live a stable life." Louie smiled, exhaled a plume of smoke, flicked the ash into the ashtray, and continued, "President, earlier you asked if I had any questions for you. Indeed, I have one. Since you know my background, why did you arrange for me to be the department manager of the Organization Department? I suspect you understand better than I do that I won't contribute much to this department. I'm not a very 'loyal' employee."
Rex revealed an unusual smile. He leaned back, crossing his hands in front of his chest, and said meaningfully, "Louie, you haven't sat in my position, so you don't know the responsibilities it entails. I need to invest a great deal of effort in preventing internal factions within the group and promoting cooperation among various departments. This Organization Department is the unit I've established to resolve conflicts between the production and marketing departments. It's more accurate to call it a firefighter than a leader. With the existence of this department, conflicts between the marketing and production departments will be redirected to the Organization Department. Edith is a responsible and assertive person, and I appointed her to lead this department because of her expertise in this area. As for you being the department manager, haha, that's based on my understanding of you."
Louie tilted his head, not understanding the meaning behind Rex's words. He asked, "Understanding of me?"
"Of course, or else I wouldn't have entrusted you with this department position. You don't engage in office politics, and, most importantly, you don't care how others perceive you. To put it bluntly, I didn't expect you to achieve outstanding results as this department manager. You just need to bear the complaints from various parties." Rex added, "Edith recommended you, which aligns with my intentions. Otherwise, I wouldn't have appointed you to this position."
"President, it's not that simple. You're clearly using me as a scapegoat. I'll be the one handling all the arguments in the Organization Department. I'm the troublemaker in this department. Let's keep it simple." Louie stood up after saying this, stretched his arms, and added, "Alright, President, I'll take care of the disputes. Now, tell me when I start. Oh, and one more thing, arrange a beautiful female assistant for me. After all, I am a department manager."
Rex chuckled as he looked at Louie, leaving him somewhat uneasy. Louie wondered why the old man was making a fuss about wanting a female assistant; it wasn't that big of a deal. Just as Louie was about to offer an explanation, fearing Rex might misunderstand, Rex said, "Louie, aren't you afraid of my little Isabella getting angry?"
"Her? President, we haven't even crossed paths yet, and you're talking about this matter." Louie laughed, "Whether I'm willing or not, it depends on her, not me."
Louie walked out of the president's office and headed towards the elevator. He was going back to the marketing department's floor. Next Monday, he would report to the Organization Department's office on the thirteenth floor. The personnel appointment would come soon.
Upon reaching the marketing department's floor, Louie had just stepped out of the elevator when he spotted Kathleen in her police uniform, pacing near the elevator and occasionally glancing towards it. As soon as Kathleen saw Louie emerging from the elevator, she approached him. Before Kathleen could speak, Louie preemptively said, "Officer, I know what you want to talk about. It's about waking you up in the middle of the night yesterday. I admit it was my fault, but there's no need to find me during my working hours."
Kathleen raised an eyebrow and hmphed, "Louie, I'm not here for that matter. We can settle the score for last night's incident another day. Today, I'm looking for you for a different reason." Kathleen spoke while glancing around. When she saw someone looking their way, she sneered, "If you don't want your subordinates to know about your affairs, I suggest we discuss this in your office."
Louie smirked, "What do I have to be afraid of?" Despite his words, Louie headed towards his office.
Once inside his office, Louie sat on his chair and lit a cigarette for himself. "Officer, what's the matter?" he asked.
"Louie, I want to know what you were up to last night. What did you do?" Kathleen circled around Louie's desk and stared at him, questioning.
"What did I do? What can I do? Just fooling around with a little lady in the wild. I don't think that's illegal, right?" Louie replied nonchalantly.
Kathleen sneered, "Louie, I'm here today to talk about last night. I don't care who you were with. What I want to ask you about is the two suspects." Kathleen leaned in closer to Louie's desk, her voice rising a few notches, enunciating each word, "I want to know how you knew those two were suspects."