After the meeting ended, the doors of the conference hall swung wide. The senior executives, led by Yu Nian, filed out first, followed by the employees, who emerged feeling a mixture of relief and lingering trepidation.
As for Yu Nian, ever since her startling answer back in the hall, she could sense numerous eyes surreptitiously tracking her from within the crowd, though she remained indifferent to them.
“President Yu!”
Just as she exited the hall and was about to board the elevator, a hurried voice called out from behind. Simultaneously, she caught the faint, familiar sound of a younger woman’s voice.
“Forget it… don’t…”
“No! I have to ask…”
Yu Nian turned around and saw exactly what she expected: Mai Suisui and Shen Qingqing approaching her in a messy tug-of-war.
Her gaze swept imperceptibly over Mai Suisui before landing on Shen Qingqing, who was still being tugged by the sleeve. She asked calmly, “Is there something you need?”
“Don’t say it…”
“Fine, stay out of this!”
“President Yu, ever since you arrived at the company, I’ve always believed you were a boss with a human touch, someone worth following. In fact, what you said and did today proved I wasn’t wrong. But I truly cannot understand your final decision!”
Shaking her arm to break free from Mai Suisui’s grip, Shen Qingqing marched up to Yu Nian. As she spoke, her voice was thick with suppressed anger and sheer bewilderment.
“President Yu, you clearly know how much Suisui sacrificed for this opportunity. You even gave her a lot of help before. Why did you answer Director An’s question that way back there?”
The moment Shen Qingqing threw the question out, Yu Nian noticed the surrounding area fall quiet.
A group of employees not far away had stopped their excited chatter at some point, turning their heads cautiously to watch. An Yingchuan, standing beside her, folded his arms, his gaze flitting between Yu Nian, Shen Qingqing, and the silent, head-bowed Mai Suisui in the back, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
Yu Nian didn’t answer Shen Qingqing immediately. She tilted her head slightly, her gaze passing over the furious girl to land on the silent figure behind her.
As if sensing her gaze, Mai Suisui looked up slightly. Those amber eyes, which had left such a deep impression during their first meeting, crashed straight into hers once more.
Without a doubt, her gaze was filled with the same profound confusion.
She had clearly followed her instructions…
So why… did she choose to give up on her at the end?
“My opinion was based solely on my personal judgment.”
After only a brief moment of eye contact, Yu Nian retracted her gaze and looked back at Shen Qingqing. Her tone was gentle and flat, as if stating a simple fact: “Mai Suisui’s argument didn’t actually move me, so I gave that answer.”
Shen Qingqing’s fists clenched silently. She stared at Yu Nian’s cold face and gritted her teeth, asking, “Do you think an answer like that is acceptable?!”
“And what kind of answer were you expecting?”
Before Yu Nian could speak again, a scolding voice suddenly cut into the conversation.
The previously furious Shen Qingqing froze and instinctively looked back, her clenched fists loosening.
Jin Enna, carrying a stack of documents, walked up to them and glared coldly at Shen Qingqing.
“Don’t take someone else’s kindness for granted. If the person answering that question today hadn’t been President Yu, but someone else—me, for example—would you still be standing here this angry?”
Jin Enna’s words stunned nearly everyone who heard them.
Even the employees who originally had issues with Yu Nian’s decision became thoughtful upon hearing this.
In the back, Mai Suisui bit her lip unconsciously. She didn’t look at Jin Enna, but kept her eyes fixed on the silent Yu Nian.
In the eyes of many, Yu Nian’s silence seemed to be an endorsement of Jin Enna’s words.
“But… but…”
“No ‘buts’!”
Jin Enna cut off whatever Shen Qingqing was trying to say and frowned at her: “Regardless of the reason, none of this justifies you questioning your superior here.”
Having said her piece, Jin Enna ignored Shen Qingqing’s reaction, grabbed her by the arm, and started walking away.
“I…”
“Shut up! One more word and I’ll have you fired. Just go home and stop causing trouble here.”
The two of them left, bickering all the way.
Yu Nian watched their departing backs, then turned her head to look at Mai Suisui, who was still standing there. Without saying a word, she turned and continued toward the elevator.
As one of the more successful members of her starting cohort, Mai Suisui believed that, given her abilities, her career had been relatively smooth sailing.
But that didn’t mean she had never failed.
Mai Suisui had failed before; she had made mistakes and lost to others.
No one is a saint, and every workplace veteran starts as a rookie. So, failure is normal.
However, for Mai Suisui, her previous failure to compete with Xu Wenliang for the position of Group One leader felt somewhat absurd.
In fact, it could be called a farce.
She could ignore a farce, but this time…
…
Inside a bar’s private room.
Shen Qingqing sat by the restroom door and started wailing: “Suisui, I’m sorry, it’s all my fault, boo-hoo…”
“Hit me, okay? Just hit me to vent your anger.”
“If that’s not enough, just yell at me!”
“Waaah…”
Mai Suisui let out a helpless sigh: “I really don’t blame you. It was a vague opportunity to begin with; I wouldn’t have felt right even if I had gotten the position.”
“This is the best outcome. Besides, don’t blame Yu… President Yu. At least when I go back to Group One, I don’t have to worry about Xu Wenliang targeting me. It’s a question whether he can even keep his job.”
“Once Xu Wenliang is gone, do you think I’ll fail when I compete for group leader again?”
“This is already the best outcome, Qingqing… the best outcome,” Mai Suisui murmured, rubbing Shen Qingqing’s head.
She said she didn’t care, but she was still somewhat unwilling to let it go.
After Shen Qingqing finished throwing up, Mai Suisui, accepting her bad luck, hauled the heavy girl onto the sofa.
“Alright, you’ve had too much to drink. How about I take you home?”
“Waaah…”
Mai Suisui rubbed her forehead in exasperation. After a moment’s hesitation, she pulled out her phone and found a saved number.
“Hello? Sister Na? Yes… she’s drunk. I don’t know exactly where she lives. Can you come pick her up?”
A moment later, a black GLC pulled up in front of the bar.
“Get in.” Jin Enna looked coldly at the bleary-eyed Shen Qingqing.
“…” Shen Qingqing sniffled and shouted, “I’m not getting in! I’m very angry right now!”
“Jin Enna, I’m not going to be your lackey anymore!”
Mai Suisui’s expression became a bit strange.
Jin Enna gritted her teeth and dragged Shen Qingqing into the car by her arm.
During the process, Shen Qingqing howled and struggled violently, but she went quiet after Jin Enna smacked her bottom a few times.
Mai Suisui’s expression became even stranger.
“Thanks. Should I give you a ride back since it’s on the way?” Jin Enna looked at Mai Suisui with a polite smile.
Mai Suisui waved her hands hurriedly: “I live right nearby. You should get her home quickly.”
“I’m taking her back to my home,” Jin Enna corrected politely.
“Right, right, right,” Mai Suisui nodded perfunctorily.
Jin Enna took a deep breath, silently started the car, and drove away.
After seeing them off, Mai Suisui returned to her empty home, turned on the lights, and lay straight down on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Habitually, she raised her hand and began to nibble on her fingernail.
This was an old habit Mai Suisui had when she was frustrated. She had actually fixed it long ago, but today she was exceptionally tired, so she fell back into old patterns involuntarily.
The second hand of the clock on the wall moved faithfully with a faint, clear ticking sound.
Fortunately, her self-indulgent gloom didn’t last too long.
She checked the clock again; it wasn’t that late, but she had no desire to keep working.
When your mind is in turmoil, it’s the least productive time. Rather than forcing yourself, it’s better to adjust your mindset first—this was her personal experience from years of work.
She took a shower to clear her head, only to find that while her head was clear, her heart felt more and more wronged.
Right now, she really wanted to find a “tree hole” to vent to.
Mai Suisui blinked and suddenly remembered she had an old phone she hadn’t used in years, which still had the campus SIM card she got in university.
Since that was the case, she would use that phone number as her outlet.
What was the number again?
“173xxxx and then what?”
“9, right, it’s 9.”
“So why did you reject that older sister?”
On the other end of the phone, Yu Qiu blinked curiously.
Yu Nian explained: “I think I made it quite clear. Her speech didn’t move me. Even if it hadn’t been me, do you think others wouldn’t have realized it? Her self-promotion sounded plausible, but it was actually a shell game of concepts.”
“I believe that after a year or two in that position, she would be no different from a normal director. If possible, I’m sure the company would love to replace all employees with people like her who take promotions without raises. But the fact is, that’s impossible.”
“If we set this precedent, countless people would follow. What would the company’s future look like then? Who would want to come here? And if it’s just her alone, what’s the point?”
“Therefore, overall, letting her take that position now would do far more harm than good.”
After finishing her explanation, Yu Nian turned away, ready to end the topic.
But Yu Qiu suddenly asked another question: “I heard from Ms. Zhang Yueqing that… when you graduated and joined your first company, the topic of your personal PPT presentation was also ‘Selling Yourself’?”
Suddenly, Yu Nian fell into a memory.
But she soon shook her head and explained: “Yes… but back then, I also attached a project proposal I had completed. I remember that project eventually brought the company about three million US dollars in profit.”
“So, did you reject her because you felt she wasn’t excellent enough?”
“Yes. At least for now, she isn’t qualified to sit in that position.”
“Then why don’t you help her?”
“Hmm?” Yu Nian was startled.
“She is, after all, the person who stood on your side first. Although it was partly because she was forced by others, don’t you always say you care about results, not the process?”
Yu Qiu folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at the person on the screen. “So, since you believe she will become excellent in the future, but isn’t good enough right now, why don’t you give her a hand?”
Just as Yu Nian was about to argue, her phone let out a “ding.”
Who would send her a message out of the blue this late at night?
With a hint of confusion, she tapped to see the content of the message, and her whole body froze for a moment.
[So annoying… if I were just a bit more excellent, would the result have been different?]
“Sister…”
A call came from the other side of the video. Yu Nian waved her hand. “I have something to do, let’s talk later.”
She hung up the video immediately.
She squinted at the number, which wasn’t in her contacts. Why did it look familiar?
Where had she seen it?
Yu Nian stared at the word “excellent” and suddenly connected it to the person her sister just mentioned. She nodded as if having an epiphany.
Wasn’t this number the one she saw on Mai Suisui’s resume earlier today!
“…”
Speechless for a moment, Yu Nian clicked her tongue as she looked at the message.
“Wanting to become excellent is fine, but the problem is… where did she get my private mobile number?”
But what followed made her expression quite strange, even a bit dazed.
[Work is so hard.]
Yu Nian let out a cold snort.
[I don’t want to work hard anymore. I really want a beautiful older sister to drop from the sky and sugar-mama me!]
Yu Nian: …Is she implying… me?
[The weather has been bad lately, and my mood is feeling very oppressed because of it.]
Yu Nian: It is a bit.
[OMG! Jin Enna and Shen Qingqing are actually in that kind of relationship!]
Yu Nian: What relationship? Can you be more specific?
There were even messages like [Arghhhhhhhh] and [The bed is so comfortable], which were completely meaningless…
If it were just those, she would have ignored them, but she changed her mind because of the last message.
[That person named Yu is not a good person!]
Yu Nian’s brows furrowed. She realized the situation was not simple.
She pondered for a moment and tentatively sent a question mark back.
[?]