Yellowhead and Joyes were both sitting upright on the guest sofa. I quickly gathered up my scattered thoughts and sat down on a sofa next to them.
He finally came over, and I kept praying in my heart that even if he didn't look like Takeshi Kaneshiro, he certainly wouldn't look like Jiu Kong. It was strange, though, that I was still thinking about such trivial things at a time like this. While he was asking Huang Tou'er about the business department, I quickly looked him up and down, and was immediately captivated by his set of perfectly white teeth. He looked quite young, around twenty-eight or twenty-nine, with slightly dark skin that had a healthy, sun-kissed glow, which contrasted beautifully with his gleaming white teeth. His eyes, however, seemed somewhat melancholic, but this didn't detract from his appearance; instead, it added a touch of mystery. I couldn't help but secretly applaud this masterpiece of nature.
"Li Hao? The top salesperson in the business department?"
"Yes, yes, she's the cream of the crop in our sales department. Every case she handles is a success, and the key is her 100% success rate in recovering payments. Both the success rate and the amount recovered are unprecedented in the history of our department!" Yellow Head began to enthusiastically boast to me in a suspiciously excited tone, completely ignoring my stunned silence. His fabricated 100% recovery rate was particularly shameless, even making Joyes look incredulous.
“I understand her situation,” thankfully the general manager interrupted Huang Tou’er’s speech before I was completely stunned. “I plan to transfer a frontline staff member to be my assistant. After reviewing the materials, the HR department recommended Ms. Li Hao. After reviewing Ms. Li Hao’s materials, I think she is suitable for a trial period. So I called you all here today, firstly to meet her in person, and secondly to inform everyone to make proper handover and arrangements. The transfer will take effect immediately.”
"Wait a minute, I want to clarify one thing before I agree to the transfer: what will my compensation be like?"
Joyes was clearly unprepared for our business team's meticulous scrutiny. She assumed that besides immediately accepting this promotional transfer, I wouldn't have cared about anything else. Seeing my mercenary demeanor, she stared blankly for a full six seconds before revealing a look of disgust and pursing her lips, saying, "From the effective date of the transfer, your salary coefficient will be increased by three percentage points. Are you satisfied?"
"Then I'd better stay in the business team." I stood up without thinking.
"Why?" the general manager finally asked me.
“I currently earn commissions from my sales work, but after the job transfer, those commissions will be gone. Based on my worst month's performance, I would lose at least 2,000 yuan in income each month, which I can't afford.”
I saw a sudden glint of shrewdness flash in the general manager's eyes, but he quickly withdrew. I could sense that my rudeness had affected his mood. I knew I was done for; I might really be fired for 2000 yuan. But if I had to do it all over again, I would still resolutely fight for that 2000 yuan a month, because I firmly believe I'm worth it.
"Okay, I agree. I will give you a special allowance of 3,000 yuan from my salary every month. However, if I find that you are not competent after a month, you must resign unconditionally, and the company will not provide any compensation."
"Okay, deal." I agreed without any hesitation. Three thousand more a month, it's worth the risk, even if it comes from the general manager's salary or the company's HR department.
Just as I was about to leave, I suddenly remembered something and quickly turned back to ask, "General Manager, what is your surname?"
"Thump!" The yellow-haired guy walking in front of me fell to the ground. I was surprised that he could make such a big noise even though there was such a thick carpet on the ground.
“My surname is Lin, and my Chinese name is Lin Yingshuo. You can call me Willson.” After he finished speaking, the corner of his mouth twitched unnaturally.
"See you tomorrow, General Manager Willson." I still know the proper etiquette and understand that politeness shouldn't be taken too seriously.
As soon as the door to the general manager's office closed behind them, Joyes' face immediately darkened. She said to Huang Tou'er, "Manager Huang, could you please come back to my office with me and get a company organizational chart? Make a copy for each salesperson. It's one thing to do well in business, but it's really rude of you not to greet your boss face to face."
"Yes, yes, yes," Huang Tou'er answered three times.
I quickly lowered my head to avoid being burned alive by Yellow Head's venomous gaze if I looked up.
Part One, Chapter Three
It's already 11:33 PM Beijing time, and I'm still typing away at my computer. This is my fifth day at the head office, and my fifth night at this large desk. From the very first minute I officially took over as an assistant, the workload has been like the Qiantang River tide in August of the lunar calendar, one wave after another, with absolutely no hope in sight. However, I must compile the data I have on hand into a market research report on fast-moving consumer goods in East China and submit it as an electronic file to the "plague god," General Manager Lin, before 9:00 AM tomorrow.
The skills I learned when I took the intermediate statistician exam came in handy at this moment. In four days, I successfully transformed tons of data into clearly organized tables and text using various statistical formulas. Now, all that remained was to organize it into a written document. Although I was incredibly tired, the thought of the "plague god's" sullen face, which never smiled, and the meager monthly allowance of three thousand yuan, kept me going. Finally, I typed the last two words into the computer, quickly saved the file, checked it again to make sure everything was correct, emailed the file to the workstation authorized for the "plague god," and that was it—all done.
I slumped into my chair, feeling utterly dehydrated, too exhausted to even utter a curse like "Fight the capitalists!" Looking around, I realized I was the only one left in the office; it was eerily quiet, a far cry from the hectic scene of the day. I tried to close my eyes to ease the strain on my tired eyes from my contact lenses, but as soon as I did, the phone on my desk rang, startling me so much I nearly dropped the cup I was holding. It was so late; I wondered who had guessed I was in the office. Before I could even speak, Xia Mengmeng's loud voice came through: "You're still at get off work, Miss? Do you have to work so hard?"
I sighed: "You're not calling so late to check on my attendance, are you? So, what did you find out this time?"
"Do you know, our general manager is an incredibly eligible bachelor! He's the chairman's youngest son, a master's graduate from MIT. The chairman originally wanted him to stay at the Hong Kong headquarters to oversee the investment department, but for some reason, he insisted on applying to be the general manager of the advertising company in Guangzhou. Not only is he handsome, but he's also rich, and most importantly, he's—unmarried! He's truly a once-in-a-lifetime ideal husband!"
I couldn't help but yawn: "I don't know if he's a perfect husband, but I do know you're a hopeless romantic."
Xia Mengmeng's string of profanities in both Chinese and English on the other end of the phone gradually faded from my ears. I only vaguely heard her saying that a handsome Taiwanese guy had been relentlessly pursuing her lately. Sigh, I think she's just experiencing a surge of lonely female hormones, and her longing for a man is driving her to delusions. In my hazy state, I saw my mom handing me my favorite dish, braised mushrooms with bamboo shoots. My mouth watered as I was about to take it when I realized that the delicious food had somehow turned into data—all numbers. I was terrified and turned to run, but I couldn't move. Looking down, I saw myself standing in a huge pile of RMB, unable to move. This made me ecstatic! I wanted to sleep with RMB in my arms. I lunged forward, only to feel a sudden emptiness. The feeling of weightlessness immediately woke me up. I opened my eyes and saw that what had happened in the dream was now a thousand years in the real world—the sun was shining brightly outside the window. I stretched vigorously, and for a moment, I thought I was sleeping in my rented little house. I rolled over, but suddenly fell to the ground. Sitting on the floor, rubbing my backside, I tried to wake myself up as quickly as possible. It took me a minute to recall falling asleep in my office chair, but I couldn't remember how I got onto the meeting sofa. Oh well, I'd submitted the report anyway, so I could relax today; my mood started to improve. Just as I was about to stand up, I noticed a men's suit jacket lying on top of me—it looked strangely familiar. Whose was it? When I realized this suit belonged to "the plague god," I was startled. Without conscious thought, I immediately jumped up, grabbed the crumpled suit, and felt a mix of sadness and joy. Sadness because why couldn't rich people buy better fabric for their clothes? Joy because I'd gotten away with it unnoticed. I checked the time; it was already 8:50. The cleaning lady, Aunt Zhang, was already opening the door. I quickly crumpled the pitifully wrinkled designer suit into a ball and threw it back into "the plague god's" office, then casually greeted Aunt Zhang warmly.
"You stayed up all night again yesterday? Young girls like you will ruin their health if you keep staying up all night like this. Look at those dark circles under your eyes, they look awful," Aunt Zhang kindly advised me.
I smiled and said, "Yes, yes," as I walked towards the restroom, thinking to myself, "Who wants to have scabies if they have hair?"
After washing my face with cold water in the restroom, my skin felt a bit tight, and I instantly felt refreshed. When I came out, I felt almost like I was completely transformed. But then, incredibly unlucky, I ran into Joyes. The faint scent of Kenzo's Icy Seaweed perfume on her made me feel utterly ashamed, and to make matters worse, she gave me a sharp look and coldly said, "Ms. Li Hao, as the managing director's assistant, while I don't expect you to dress in the most expensive clothes, changing your outfit every day is basic office etiquette."
I opened my mouth to explain, but the beautiful woman didn't care about my explanation at all. She didn't look at me again and turned to go into the restroom.
I shut my mouth and left, feeling bored, consoling myself, "So what?"
I had just sat down at my desk when the pager on the desktop rang: "RUBY, please come in."
Three seconds later, it dawned on me that Ruby was the English name Ms. Joyes had given me, saying it would make communication easier at work. But I still felt like it was a name for a dog.
I jumped up and walked quickly toward the general manager's office, still feeling a little guilty thinking about that suit.
"Your report is well written." I had just sat down in front of him when he said that. Although he didn't even look at me when he said it, I felt incredibly happy.
"However, some parts are too repetitive. While examples are important, sometimes too many can be superfluous. Instead of spending so much time finding so much information, you should write a more professional report. Wait for me in the conference room in ten minutes for the Business Development Department meeting."
"No problem." Although this was my first time attending a meeting as the "plague god's" assistant, I didn't take it too seriously.
He then pulled out the suit that I had crumpled into a mess and said to me, "Could you please have Colly take it to the dry cleaners? I don't even recognize it anymore."
I suppressed the urge to chuckle, nodded, picked up my suit, and walked out, feeling incredibly stifled.
When I entered the conference room, it was already packed with people. My appearance didn't attract much attention; most people just glanced at me casually before going about their business. I scanned the room and noticed there were only two chairs left by the table, so I found a seat closer to the door and sat down.
"You're the new assistant, right?" a long-haired guy sitting next to me suddenly asked me.
"Yes. My name is Li Hao, oh no, my name is Ruby."
"Joeyce must have changed your English name, right? She hasn't made much progress in the last two years. Hello, my name is A-Ce, the 'Ce' in 'galloping on horseback,' and I'm the head of the business development department. I'll call you A-Okay."
"I'm more used to people calling me Li Hao by my full name," I said honestly.
"Okay, Li Hao. Feel free to come to me anytime if you need any help." He handed me a business card. This was the first person who genuinely treated me well since I started working in this office. Everyone looked down on me, this lowly salesperson who'd flown in from nowhere. Even the general manager's assistant was still on probation, so everyone ignored me. Luckily, I had plenty of work to do, so I didn't mind too much, but I still felt a little awkward and missed the bustling sales hall. Whether A-Ce's words were sincere or just polite, they still warmed my heart.
The "plague god" pushed open the conference room door and walked in. The conference room immediately fell silent as soon as he entered; you could hear a pin drop.