As Chen Man walked to her office, several coworkers watched her with barely concealed glee.
Liu Qing, who had joined the company at the same time as her, leaned over and asked, “What’s going on? Is Director Gao going to fire you?”
“Mm.”
As Chen Man nodded, the other coworkers stirred with excitement.
“Is the new President laying people off? I knew there’d be big moves!”
“The vibes have been off lately. Haven’t you noticed even the Director is showing up to work on time now?”
“Damn, does anyone have any real intel on President Liang? Am I going to get kicked out before I even get to see what he looks like?”
Panic spread through the office.
But there were also those who relished her misfortune. Zhou Liangliang leaned against her desk with a cup in hand: “You’re always so good at sucking up, always rushing to grab every task. Must make you sick to your stomach now! Want me to help you pack up your things?”
She had gone to the same school as Chen Man and joined the company a year later. From day one, she’d been unfriendly to Chen Man—every time she shared food, she would deliberately skip over Chen Man.
Chen Man looked at her calmly. “You’ve been nursing that cup of water since this morning. I’m afraid you don’t have the time.”
“You!” Zhou Liangliang snorted coldly. “What are you putting on an act for? You’re getting kicked out anyway.”
Seeing this, the other coworkers all chimed in on Zhou Liangliang’s behalf. “Chen Man, Liangliang means well. How can you be so passive-aggressive?”
Liu Qing tugged at Chen Man’s sleeve, playing peacemaker. “Let’s all say less. Get back to work!”
Zhou Liangliang clapped her hands. “We’re all coworkers here—let’s help her pack up and see her off!”
She produced a dusty cardboard box from who knows where, clapped her hands clean, and waited to watch Chen Man leave in disgrace.
Just then, a coworker called out, “Chen Man? Someone upstairs called and asked you to go to the conference room on the eighth floor.”
“Okay.”
Chen Man walked toward the elevator, a chorus of gleeful chatter rising behind her.
“Anyone want to bet whether she’ll cry? Acting all cold and aloof every day, like she’s such a big deal!”
The conference room was already full, with only the head seat left empty.
When Chen Man entered, a dozen pairs of eyes from both sides of the long table landed on her all at once.
The Hengtuo executives all turned to look, and Gao Xiangyan furrowed her brow tightly. “What are you doing here? Is there something else?”
This was the first executive meeting since the acquisition, attended only by core personnel from both sides. She was just a junior employee in the Business Development Department—she had no qualification to be there.
Before Chen Man could answer, the door behind her opened again. Yang Jun stepped aside, and the tall, slender figure of Liang Jinfeng walked in.
Without glancing sideways, he headed straight for the head seat, as if he hadn’t seen Chen Man at all—as if he’d forgotten that he was the one who’d asked her to attend.
So was she there to verify those tedious numbers, or was she the fulcrum by which Liang Jinfeng would pry apart Gao Xiangyan and the others’ unity?
Chen Man lowered her eyes slightly and found a seat in the corner.
Gao Xiangyan’s face turned dark. She shot Chen Man looks, signaling her to get out, but Liang Jinfeng’s presence was too overpowering—she didn’t dare say a word.
Once Liang Jinfeng took the head seat, Yang Jun made an inviting gesture. “The meeting will now begin.”
The Finance Director opened the projection, and the screen filled with dense tables.
“This is the revenue data for the past three years.” He pointed at the screen, speaking rapidly. “In Q1, due to market fluctuations, we dropped three points. In Q2, we adjusted our strategy and rebounded by five point six points. In Q3…”
The Finance Director droned on and on over the PowerPoint.
Liang Jinfeng’s face was expressionless as he flipped through a thick due diligence report, filled entirely with cross-shareholdings and related-party transactions.
“On-balance-sheet debt is 1.3 billion,” the Finance Director said, glancing at Liang Jinfeng, who didn’t even raise his head. “Plus another 800 million in off-balance-sheet project financing guarantees.”
Liang Jinfeng leaned back in his chair, his face blank. Out of the corner of his eye, he looked past the crowd at Chen Man, who had her face tilted upward, her gaze fixed on the projection screen, her expression earnest.
Even when others asked questions and gave various answers, her eyes never strayed.
She wasn’t even taking notes.
It seemed she couldn’t keep up at all.
The meeting ed three hours later. Liang Jinfeng was the first out the door. Gao Xiangyan had wanted to confront him, but saw that Chen Man was already following behind Liang Jinfeng.
Director Wan frowned: “Is she President Liang’s person?”
Gao Xiangyan: “I didn’t notice before…”
Director Wan turned to the Finance Director and asked, “That working paper on the equity structure—it’s been destroyed, right?”
“Destroyed right after I finished organizing it. But from the looks of it, Young Master Liang seems ready to get serious.”
Director Wan said nothing, walking out while making a phone call. “President Liang, about moving the funds offshore…”
The office was done in gray tones, sparsely furnished, with old chairs and desks. It was clear that Liang Jinfeng had only recently taken over Hengtuo Capital and hadn’t yet had time to renovate the facade.
Yang Jun placed a stack of due diligence reports on Liang Jinfeng’s desk, glancing at Chen Man’s empty hands, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.
Chen Man said, “There’s a problem with the operational data. Of the five benchmark power stations listed, two used their 2022 peak generation-hour figures. I remember the local meteorological bureau’s irradiance records—2023 was a five-year low for that region. Actual power generation should be 11% to 14% lower than what’s in the PPT.”
Yang Jun stared at Chen Man in astonishment.
Liang Jinfeng finally spoke, his voice low but carrying a scrutinizing edge. “Including the ones in my due diligence report that never got invested in—you remembered all of that?”
Chen Man nodded.
“Such a good memory?” Liang Jinfeng looked at her, an unreadable glint flashing in his eyes. “Starting tomorrow, you attend every meeting.”
The taut string in Chen Man’s heart finally loosened. She didn’t have to leave.
She left Liang Jinfeng’s office and returned to the Business Development Department. From far off, she saw Zhong Kaihui standing together with Zhou Liangliang.
The two of them looked like old acquaintances, chatting and laughing.
Zhou Liangliang said, “Senior, your cooking is really good. I normally don’t eat carbs, but I couldn’t resist.”
“You’re already slim enough with a great figure. If you lose any more, how are the other pretty girls supposed to survive?”
Zhong Kaihui smiled gently, thoughtfully handing Zhou Liangliang a napkin. What he was holding out before her was Chen Man’s lunchbox—the one she had always used to bring Zhong Kaihui his meals.
Watching Zhou Liangliang’s affected manner, Chen Man suddenly understood why Zhou Liangliang was hostile toward her.
She had never enjoyed any affection from her husband, yet she had suffered the malice born of his indiscriminate terness.
Zhou Liangliang spotted Chen Man standing by the elevator and said in a sweet voice, “But I’ve already eaten. Doesn’t that mean your wife’s lunch is gone? That’s not right—I shouldn’t eat any more.”
“It’s fine, go ahead. I made extra—my wife could never finish it all anyway.” Zhong Kaihui was very generous about it.
And so Zhou Liangliang picked through the lunchbox with her fingers again, choosing a few more dishes to eat.
“Wife, you’re done with your meeting? You must be hungry. I’ve been waiting for you for so long—you’re finally out.”
Zhong Kaihui spotted Chen Man, hurried over, and eagerly presented the lunch box to her.
“It’s all your favorite food. Look how thin you’ve gotten lately—you really need to eat more and take better care of yourself.”
Zhou Liangliang chimed in, “Senior brought this here specially for you. Such a good man truly makes one envious. You’d better eat plenty—I just had some, and it’s really delicious.”
This was the first time Zhong Kaihui had ever brought her a meal, and yet it was leftovers someone else had already picked through.
Chen Man ignored him and walked toward her workstation.
Zhong Kaihui followed closely behind, more attentive than ever. “Wife, are you going to eat here? How about we go to the break room? I haven’t eaten either—let’s eat together.”
Chen Man’s coldness made Zhou Liangliang pout. She had seen this couple a few times back in school, when she and Senior Zhong were in the same department.
Zhong Kaihui was fairly handsome, good with words, gentle, quite popular, and had always treated her well. She had always believed Zhong Kaihui liked her.
Then, out of nowhere, she saw Zhong Kaihui and Chen Man together as a couple. It made her feel that Chen Man had snatched her suitor right out from under her.
She raised her voice. “Senior, since you happen to be here, why don’t you help her pack up her things? She made a mistake and has already been fired.”
At these words, the smile on Zhong Kaihui’s face froze for a moment.