22
Please Call Me Director
Qin Ruoshi had always been the center of attention since childhood. Hearing Li Junze’s words, the corners of her lips lifted slightly. “I know.”
“That’s good.” Li Junze couldn’t help but defend himself. “I don’t believe women are inferior to men. Take you, for example—earning a Ph.D. from the Ivy League at such a young age makes you far more outstanding than the other male colleagues in the department.”
“Thank you.”
Qin Ruoshi was flipping through a book on artificial intelligence, her curly hair naturally cascading beside her ears, making Li Junze’s heart itch with longing. Seizing the opportunity, he extended an invitation: “Would you like to have dinner together after work?”
Qin Ruoshi looked at Li Junze. “Thank you for your kindness, but I’ve already made plans to have dinner with Tingchuan, so I’ll have to pass for now.”
Li Junze composed himself.
His goal was to find a suitable woman to marry as soon as possible. If Qin Ruoshi had a hidden relationship with President Fu, continuing to pursue her would clearly be unwise.
He decided to ask directly, “Ruoshi, between you and President Fu…”
“Oh, Tingchuan is practically like a half-brother to me. I forgot to mention it earlier.” Qin Ruoshi’s tone was light, as if she had just recalled a minor detail she hadn’t had the chance to share.
Li Junze could barely suppress the smile tugging at his lips. His guess was right! Qin Ruoshi seemed so lovely and vibrant—there was no way she would ever meddle in someone else’s marriage.
With that, he felt confident to continue pursuing her.
“Then let’s plan for another time. I won’t disturb your work any further.” After saying this, Li Junze moved back to his own workstation.
After he left, Qin Ruoshi’s gaze lingered on a few lines in the book.
Although Fu Tingchuan had feelings for her, until everything was settled, she couldn’t afford to give anyone any leverage. Using the “brother” excuse as a cover was the perfect solution.
…
In the afternoon, Lin Yuxi reviewed the results of their previous discussion and promptly convened the first research group meeting.
She boldly overturned the research direction previously proposed by Li Junze, replacing it with her own recent discoveries over the past few days.
“I believe we should focus on improving the algorithmic models for natural language processing, rather than continuing with the previous direction,” Lin Yuxi declared. Dressed in a white suit, she appeared both sharp and polished, her words carrying a hint of Lin Fangfang’s influence.
“I disagree!” a man with prominent cheekbones and a square-round face exclaimed loudly.
Hearing this, Li Junze secretly suppressed his delight. Zheng Zhiwei had always been extreme in character, arrogant, and particularly disdainful of women. It was he who had openly opposed Lin Yuxi’s appointment as director earlier in the office.
Having such a vocal dissenter indirectly helped restore some of his own dignity.
Faced with Zheng Zhiwei’s rebuttal, Lin Yuxi wasn’t too bothered; in fact, she felt somewhat relieved. She had been worried about not having a platform to articulate her views. “Then tell me, what are your reasons for opposing?”
Zheng Zhiwei paused, taking a moment to organize his thoughts. “The research has been ongoing for almost a month. If we overturn it now and start over, won’t all our previous efforts go to waste? Besides, I don’t think our model needs improvement. We should focus more on data cleaning instead.”
“First, sunk costs should not factor into major decisions—I believe everyone here understands that. Second, during our previous test runs, our model showed significant gaps in the natural language processing module, with several metrics performing poorly. Data cleansing has always been Cloud Atlas’s strength, and there’s little room for further improvement.” Lin Yuxi spoke calmly and clearly, her words resonating with precision.
Zheng Zhiwei hadn’t delved into the specifics and was unaware of the test results. Lin Yuxi’s rebuttal left him visibly pale with anger.
Sitting nearby, Qin Ruoshi stepped in to speak: “Yuxi, in matters of emotion, sunk costs should indeed be considered. But this is a professional setting, and our project has a deadline.”
The deadline was just a month away, and Lin Yuxi knew it. However, that didn’t mean they could cut corners in their research.
She glanced at Qin Ruoshi and corrected her, “In the workplace, please address me as Director.”
Qin Ruoshi choked back her words, as if a walnut were stuck in her throat. Her complexion, though slightly better than Zheng Zhiwei’s—perhaps due to her blush—still showed her discomfort.
Li Junze had initially intended to voice his agreement, but seeing the first two being thoroughly dismantled by Lin Yuxi, he abandoned the idea.
With no further objections, Lin Yuxi continued her critique: “Even in a professional context, sunk costs should be taken into account. Persisting in the wrong direction will only lead us further astray.”
She knew very well that Qin Ruoshi’s earlier remarks were a veiled jab at her marriage, urging her to let go of her emotions sooner rather than later.
Silence fell over the room. No one dared to voice dissent, and Qin Ruoshi’s face began to flush with suppressed anger.
Li Junze felt a pang of sympathy. Wasn’t it said that women should support women? Lin Yuxi seemed utterly unfeeling, having climbed to the director position only to treat her female colleagues so harshly.
The two colleagues who had remained silent prayed inwardly that they wouldn’t collapse from overwork during next month’s overtime.
As if reading their minds, Lin Yuxi added, “Don’t worry, there won’t be any overtime. I’ve always prioritized efficiency. If the work can’t be finished, I’ll take responsibility.”
The two colleagues were overjoyed. Firm where necessary, gentle where appropriate—Director Lin seemed remarkably wise.
“Oh, and a well-rested mind works better. Starting today, the R&D department will reinstate the midday break,” Lin Yuxi added with a smile.
Damn! The two colleagues nearly rushed forward to hug her. They were already falling for their new director! She was infinitely better than the previous Director Chen.
Seeing that time was almost up, Lin Yuxi wrapped up the meeting, asking, “Does anyone else have anything to say?”
“No!” the two colleagues chorused, completely ignoring the other three.
“Alright, let’s all do our best,” Lin Yuxi said, then picked up her laptop and left the conference room.
The two colleagues hurried after her, eager to bask a little longer in the fresh “work aura.”
Qin Ruoshi sat silently in her seat, her expression far from pleasant. Noticing this, Li Junze offered comfort, “It’s alright, Ruoshi. The director just has a bit of a temper—it’s not personal.”
Hearing the title “director” only made Qin Ruoshi feel worse. Chairman Lin and Lin Yuxi—two women who couldn’t hold onto their men—clinging to each other for support. How utterly shameful.
“Pah!” Zheng Zhiwei slammed the table and stood up abruptly. “How dare some arrogant woman try to order me around? I, Zheng Zhiwei, will never coexist with her. Just wait and see!”
Qin Ruoshi lifted her gaze to Zheng Zhiwei’s flushed face and neck, a sudden thought crossing her mind: compared to a weak man like Li Junze, an impulsive man like Zheng Zhiwei seemed more suitable to be used as a pawn.
No matter. There was still a month left—she could take her time observing and making her choice.