Chapter 3

translated by astrid83

After Ni- jie left, there had been no recruitment.

Only the cashier was left in the Finance department, which was in a complete mess 1 .

Cheng Yanqing endured and endured, then finally couldn’t endure it any longer and tactfully asked the HR Supervisor if she could recruit someone as soon as possible.

The HR Supervisor indicated that she would rather go without than have anyone substandard.

Cheng Yanqing thought back to the job posting he saw two days ago when he searched the company’s name on the website.

—Not only have to be well versed in labour law and know how to handle labour disputes, but also have to be able to do financial statements. Have more than ten years of experience as an accounting supervisor, and still have to audit the operation contracts. Needs to have all the credentials, yet the salary was not even 10,000 2 …… In such a big first-tier city, it would be pretty good if someone was willing to take this up, and you would rather go without than have anyone substandard?

They just didn’t want to recruit someone.

Or that they pinned their hopes on a fool falling from the sky.

……

In the afternoon.

Cheng Yanqing passed by the pantry and saw Wu Lin with her assistant huddled in the corridor chatting with great enthusiasm.

He was not a gossipy person, but he had vaguely heard his name.

“Manager Wu, your daughter has graduated for almost three years already, right?”

“Yes, that’s right, it’s a real headache. The amount of money she spends every month is more than what she earns. A single bag, but she just had to buy a Chanel one; the brands of her clothes, oh , I looked at them but I couldn’t even understand them, all of them cost several tens of thousands……”

“Really ah , then does she have a boyfriend yet?” 3

“Not yet ah, what to do, I just let her do as she likes.”

“I think Little Cheng is pretty good, and his outward appearance is also quite comely and refined……”

“What comely and refined; his skin is thin and fair, in addition, he’s not tall, I think he’s a bit of a sissy!”

Once Cheng Yanqing was mentioned, Wu Lin’s tone became faintly contemptuous: “ Ai , he graduated from a degree mill 4 , has a dull personality, with no skills and his salary is 6,000 yuan a month tops. Besides…… heheh did you know? I heard he is from XX small county town, a poor area, all his relatives and friends have nothing. Don’t even talk about a house, I reckon he can’t even afford a car, how can he be worthy of my daughter ah ?”

🅂🅄🄿🄿🄾🅁🅃 🅃🄷🄴 🅃🅁🄰🄽🅂🄻🄰🅃🄾🅁 — 🅁🄴🄰🄳 🄰🅃 🄵🄾🅇🄰🄷🄾🄻🄸🄲 . 🄲🄾🄼

Wu Lin’s character of loving to gossip is well recognised by the company.

Even so, Cheng Yanqing was still stung.

Every time her mouth opened, it would be “poor area” or “small county town”.

Are the bunch of you born in the big city that extraordinary?

Cheng Yanqing opened the pantry door with one push. Seeing him, Wu Lin and her assistant quickly shut their mouths. However, very soon, they changed their appearance to one of being frightened and righteously confident.

“The next time you come in, knock on the door to let people know, okay?”

“Exactly yah ! Scared me to death, you don’t know how to be polite at all.”

The assistant followed suit and patted her chest, her alarm not settling yet.

Cheng Yanqing poured hot water into his mug.

En , he was but a young man, and it was not good to lower himself to the level of women that are getting on in years.

Despite this, Cheng Yanqing was still in an angry mood, doing his very best to restrain himself.

However, Wu Lin did not appreciate the kindness shown, her gaze sharp and very unfriendly.

She crossed her arms, holding an appearance of “as it should be by right”, looking as if it was Cheng Yanqing who had done something wrong instead: “Little Cheng, don’t blame me for speaking bluntly. If you wanted to come in to get a drink just let us know, what does this kind of sneakily crouching outside to eavesdrop appearance look like? It’s going to be looked down upon by others, you know…… I believe that you have also attended a few years of school, how come the things that you do are this inferior to show in public 5 ?”

“I didn’t eavesdrop on you, it was you who’s speaking without thinking 6 behind others’ backs.” Cheng Yanqing turned the tap off, nonchalantly replying: “If you don’t usually do shameful deeds, you wouldn’t be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door at midnight. Your daughter is high-class and honourable, I can’t reach that level.”

“You—” Wu Lin did not expect him to retaliate and became hopping mad: “Who did shameful deeds ah ?”

“I’m warning you oh , don’t talk rubbish—”

The assistant next to her chimed in and echoed: “That’s right, that’s right, little boys at a young age shouldn’t have too poisonous 7 a mouth oh ……”

One mouth is no match for two mouths.

Cheng Yanqing felt that there was no point, and did not say anything more, turning back to return to his workstation.

……

He had originally thought that this matter was simply just made to be not so pleasant for everyone, and it would not have any follow-up. Moreover, Wu Lin as the leader, this matter was also started by her, she should be having a guilty conscience. Unexpectedly, it was absolutely not over yet.

After work, Cheng Yanqing got onto the subway and suddenly received a call from the chairman.

🅂🅄🄿🄿🄾🅁🅃 🅃🄷🄴 🅃🅁🄰🄽🅂🄻🄰🅃🄾🅁 — 🅁🄴🄰🄳 🄰🅃 🄵🄾🅇🄰🄷🄾🄻🄸🄲 . 🄲🄾🄼

In the call, the chairman informed him that he had an urgent matter and must return to the office quickly.

His tone was solemn, vaguely carrying a condemning meaning.

The chairman’s surname was Cai, and everyone calls him Chairman Cai.

Cheng Yanqing had been with the company for two years, but the number of times he had seen Chairman Cai could be counted on his fingers.

Chairman Cai did not come to the company much, but his presence was strong, and discussions pertaining to him were not in the least bit little.

Stingy, lacking foresight, goes back on his words, □□ 8 ……

And still had a mistress who had been with him for twelve years.

The mistress had been relying on Wu Lin to help cover for her all along.

Chairman Cai snuck out every few days to fool around with his mistress without being exposed, was all thanks to her mouth that could describe black till it becomes white 9 , duping anyone; she could deceive Mrs Cai into thinking that her husband was earnestly discussing with clients out there.

……

Cheng Yanqing found it strange.

—Ever since he had handed the affairs in his hands over to his son, Chairman Cai had withdrawn to the second line of duty 10 and rarely inquired about the company’s state of affairs. Usually, he would only visit every half a year to discuss how to refine the company’s operations according to the profits made.

It was currently still a long way from “half a year”.

As he mused over it longer, for some reason, an ominous premonition started to bubble forth from the bottom of Cheng Yanqing’s heart.

Back at the office, it was brightly lit.

Under normal circumstances, senior leaders would leave a little later than the ordinary staff.

"

"

Manager Li had also not gotten off from work yet. His sitting posture was tall and upright, figure slender, and was taller than the computer monitor by a head. With a slight lift of his gaze, he would be able to see anyone who comes and goes from the office. Seeing that Cheng Yanqing had turned back, he asked: “Didn’t take something?”

Manager Li’s tone was always gentle.

At this moment, it was even better than usual.

Passing through the gentleness, a wisp of an ambiguous feeling of deep attachment seeped out.

When their eyes met, Cheng Yanqing would always show an unconfident and flustered look, red faintly surfacing on his ears.

In fact, these days, the two had already become quite close.

Manager Li often invited him to his home for a drink.

🅂🅄🄿🄿🄾🅁🅃 🅃🄷🄴 🅃🅁🄰🄽🅂🄻🄰🅃🄾🅁 — 🅁🄴🄰🄳 🄰🅃 🄵🄾🅇🄰🄷🄾🄻🄸🄲 . 🄲🄾🄼

Manager Lee was not like an ordinary worker.

He has a high-class mansion downtown, with his own garden and swimming pool. Spanning more than a hundred square feet, he heard that the monthly maintenance fee reached thousands. Although it was decorated to be sumptuous, the rooms had no personality to them and were also in a dark grey tone. The emptiness made it seem overcast, cold, and cheerless.

Cheng Yanqing had gone over to be a guest at first, but later he was unable to stand it. He went to the supermarket to buy some vegetables and beef to make a few simple homemade dishes. Only then did the ice-cold living room have a lingering wisp of the smell of cooking.

Who would have thought that with this one time, it was as if Manager Li had started depending on him.

With one came another, and with another came a third 11 , the invitation came quite a few times in succession.

Cheng Yanqing was not very good at drinking, after half a glass down his stomach, he would feel too dizzy to walk.

He might just as well spend the night at Manager Li’s house.

In the haze of sleep, Cheng Yanqing only remembered the soft bedding, soft-spoken intimate whispers, and the sheets that were permeated with the smell of the sun’s warmth; reassuring and refreshing.

“No.” Cheng Yanqing shook his head and said obediently like a little rabbit, “Chairmain Cai is looking for me.”

“ En .” Manager Li didn’t pursue it any further and his tone was gentle: “Quickly go bah .”

……

Pushing open the conference room door, Cheng Yanqing’s body went rigid.

The ominous premonition came true.

Sitting inside the room, apart from the chairman, was also a smug face — Wu Lin.

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Footnotes

一锅粥 — lit. a pot of porridge ~1,563 USD note: both of them are speaking with some shanghai?? dialect/verbal habits so I might not be 100% accurate aaa original: pheasant university, slang for an institution that literally sells a piece of paper (which is the degree/diploma) that is usually useless 上不了台面 — lit. cannot be placed on the tabletop(public view), meaning better to be kept under the table 枉口拔舌 — lit. twisting mouth and pulling out tongues lit tl is poisonous, but it meant to say his mouth shouldn’t be saying malicious things can’t find the original phrase before it got censored 把黑说成白 — meaning twist the truth meaning to resign from a leading post and assume an advisory post meaning time and time again