Ni Jingxi: "My dad has been away for so long, it's not necessarily a coincidence that he'll come back in these few days."
Huo Shenyan said nothing, but reached out and pulled her into his arms, gently stroking her back for a long time before whispering, "He will come back. His little star is still here."
Ni Jingxi rested her cheek on his broad shoulder, her heart filled with tenderness.
Even her grandmother had told her bluntly that her father was never coming back. He hadn't returned for so many years, and the place he went to was so dangerous.
Ni Jingxi had heard these words countless times since her father disappeared.
Even knowing that they meant well and hoped she would look forward, she would still feel uneasy.
For so long, she was the only one who believed her father would come back, until Huo Shenyan appeared. From the moment he learned about this, he kept telling her that he would stay with her and wait for her father to return.
Too many people told her she should give up.
But after she persevered alone for so long, finally, someone was willing to wait with her.
*
I guess it's because it's Friday, but there were especially many people late today. The check-in area at the entrance was particularly crowded, with long queues. As the time was about to expire, the people at the back were getting impatient and stamping their feet.
Hua Zheng was still panting when she carried her bag to the table.
When Ni Jingxi turned to look at her, she saw her take a few deep breaths before crying and saying, "Twelve floors, I'm scared of twelve floors in one go."
The office building where the Shanghai People's Daily is located is quite old, and there are only a few elevators.
Every morning there's a long queue downstairs to get on the elevator, and if you arrive at work right on time, you're almost guaranteed to miss it.
Fortunately, Ni Jingxi has always had good habits and always arrives at the company twenty minutes early.
As Hua Zheng spoke, Wu Mengni, wearing a fitted dress, strolled past, arm in arm with a Chanel woman. She had come in with another colleague.
My colleague exclaimed, "Sister Mengni, your Chanel is so beautiful! The color matches your clothes so well!"
Wu Mengni said in a nonchalant tone, "I specifically brought this bag to match this outfit."
As Wu Mengni walked by, she glanced at Ni Jingxi with a smile, but her eyes held a malicious intent.
When the team held a meeting in the morning, which was a routine matter, everyone sat at the conference table with their laptops and listened indifferently.
To everyone's surprise, as the meeting was about to end, team leader Lao Zhang looked around and said calmly, "By the way, why haven't we finished that interview assignment from the advertising department yet?"
Everyone paused for a moment.
The print media industry has declined so much that there are not only fewer advertisers than before, but they have also become arrogant and demanding. As long as these demanding advertisers make a reasonable request, the advertising department will comply with it in every way.
This is the interview assignment: the owner of a health supplement company wanted a newspaper to publish an interview with him.
This wasn't considered difficult, so the advertising department readily agreed.
The interview assignment was thrown at him, but Wen Tang, who was good at conducting interviews, naturally looked down on this country bumpkin and felt disgusted with him. He didn't want to go at all.
Things were naturally delayed.
But for some reason, Team Leader Zhang brought it up today.
The crowd looked at each other, unsure of what to say. To be honest, nine out of ten of these health products are scams. Of course, you could call them scammers, but they even have a legitimate health product registration number issued by the state.
But everyone knows what this industry is all about.
Honestly, no journalist with any sense of purpose wants to do this dirty work.
Old Zhang looked around several times, about to speak, when Wu Mengni, who was sitting down, tossed her hair and said with a smile, "Team leader, may I offer a suggestion?"
"Go ahead," Old Zhang said. He always talked about democracy, and he was happy to receive suggestions from others.
Wu Mengni gave an embarrassed laugh: "I think these kinds of interviews should be given to the younger members of the team. Firstly, it can give them some experience, and secondly, it can let the newcomers help the seniors with some of the work. Otherwise, some newcomers have been in the team for so long and are still only doing odd jobs like carrying things and running errands."
Ni Jingxi had been sitting quietly in the corner, listening to their discussion.
After Wu Mengni finished speaking, her other colleagues all looked at her, their eyes filled with sympathy and schadenfreude.
Everyone knows that Ni Jingxi offended Wen Tang. Although no one knows how she offended him, Wen Tang has been assigning her all sorts of errands lately.
I never expected that not only would they make things difficult for her at work, but they would also try to annoy her with errand-running tasks during meetings.
If we're talking about Ni Jingxi graduating from a prestigious university like A University, and having abilities that surpass those of others who joined the newspaper at the same time, there's no one else who can compare to her.
Wu Mengni deliberately tried to disgust her, but in reality, her professional skills were completely outclassed by the girl who had only been with the company for a year.
However, everyone knows that Wu Mengni is just a pawn; it is Wen Tang who really wants to mess with Ni Jingxi.
Finally, Hua Zheng couldn't hold back any longer and said, "Jing Xi's abilities are obvious to everyone. Even the editor-in-chief praised her for her excellent writing skills."
She's still just a young girl, she can't keep her composure.
Wu Mengni glanced at her and laughed, "Did I say anything about Xiao Ni? Don't wrong me."
Hua Zheng glared at her angrily. When it came to disgusting methods, these old folks in the community were definitely far superior to her.
Ni Jingxi twirled the pen between her fingers, her face calm, and remained silent.
Feeling she had the upper hand, Wu Mengni was determined to give Ni Jingxi a hard time, and continued, "I think the young people in our company are a bit impetuous these days. Back in the day, we all had to work our way up step by step. I think newcomers should act like newcomers, learn humbly, listen and observe more, and not always think about taking shortcuts."
No one spoke; the entire conference room practically became Wu Mengni's private domain.
Until a crisp 'snap' sound was heard, almost instantly everyone turned their attention to the source of the noise.
Ni Jingxi slammed the pen she was holding onto the conference table.
She slowly raised her head to look at Wu Mengni, her eyes slightly narrowed: "When you're putting on this damn senior act, at least learn to be a decent human being first."
...
The entire conference room fell into a deathly silence, and everyone's face was filled with disbelief and astonishment.
Even Wu Mengni herself didn't immediately jump up in anger.
It's not that people are naive; this girl is just too unconventional. In the workplace, there are far too many cases of people who, relying on having been with the company for a few years, act like they're in charge and lecture newcomers.
Many newcomers silently endured it, and in the end, everyone pretended to be on good terms.
So when Ni Jingxi showed that "you're nothing but a fart" attitude on her face and in her eyes, everyone was stunned, completely dumbfounded.
Moreover, her tone and eyes were so spot-on that they really gave people the feeling that you should never mess with her.
When Hua Zheng came to her senses and turned to Ni Jingxi, she felt that she had never really known this young lady before.
She initially thought Ni Jingxi had a cool personality, but now it seems that this isn't just cool, this is the Queen!
Finally, Wu Mengni came to her senses. She suddenly stood up from the chair, and because she stood up too quickly, the wheels on the chair slid backward and crashed into the wall with a bang.
She retorted angrily, "Who are you talking to? Who gave you the right to talk to me like that? How dare you be so arrogant... who do you think you are..."
Wu Mengni was truly furious, and her words began to flow incoherently. She was indeed a veteran at the newspaper, but unfortunately, her abilities were mediocre. Wen Tang was a rising star in the company, and she could only occasionally meddle with the newcomers.
Who knew that today I would feel like I'd been caught off guard and had my life taken aback? I thought I was someone she could easily bully, but she slapped me in the face in front of everyone.
Ni Jingxi didn't care about her attitude at all. When Wu Mengni stopped speaking because she couldn't catch her breath, she looked at her and said, "If I make a mistake at work, you can point it out directly. But there's no need to play some tricks anymore, because everyone knows what's going on. And don't really think you have some amazing skills. It's just because everyone is watching you put on a show."
A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she couldn't hold back any longer.
At this moment, Wen Tang's face showed annoyance, because Ni Jingxi was referring to "you all," not "you."
Everyone in the group could see that she was behind Wu Mengni's back, causing trouble for Ni Jingxi.
Wu Mengni wanted to speak, but the team leader, Lao Zhang, who had been silent until now, coughed twice and said with a laugh, "Alright, alright, this is a meeting, not a place for you to argue. No matter what your opinions are, I think the most important thing is work. Work must come first. Don't let all this nonsense get in the way."
The expressions on everyone's faces were quite varied.
Old Zhang's words, seemingly impartial, were actually biased. Ni Jingxi said someone was playing tricks, and he also said to stop making trouble all the time, which was a veiled accusation that Wen Tang and her group were up to something.
Although Wen Tang was a popular figure at the newspaper, she belonged to Lao Zhang's team. She was usually arrogant and had an absolute authority in the team. Over time, even Lao Zhang, the team leader, who was usually as tough as clay, would eventually develop some temper.
This was a good opportunity for him to give Wen Tang a warning.
Moreover, compared to Wu Mengni, who spends all her time gossiping and has mediocre professional skills, Ni Jingxi, a pretty, capable, and quiet girl, is much more likable.
Old Zhang sometimes thinks he wishes his own daughter were like that.
However, when he occasionally looked at Ni Jingxi, he felt that this girl had too much of an aura, especially the energy she had just shown. He thought to himself, "Forget it, my girl can't do that."
After the meeting adjourned, everyone left the conference room.
Hua Zheng had a million words she wanted to say. Although she was usually loud and boisterous and seemed to be at the forefront of any conflict, she felt that she was just a paper tiger, nothing more than paper.
As soon as they returned to their table, Hua Zheng immediately leaned over and couldn't help but ask, "Jingxi, you're amazing! How dare you scold her like that?"
Ni Jingxi clicked the mouse a few times and printed several copies of the manuscript.
As she released the mouse and prepared to get up to retrieve the manuscript, she seemed quite relaxed, casually replying, "If I insulted her, would the publishing house fire me?"
Hua Zheng blinked. Of course not.
Ni Jingxi: "Then why should I put up with her?"
Hua Zheng: "..."
Wow, that makes so much sense, it's so true!
Author's Note: Ni Jingxi: You can keep pretending with me!
*
Chapter 8
The task of conducting the final interview ultimately fell to Ni Jingxi.
Actually, Lao Zhang may seem like he doesn't care about anything and lets Wen Tang, a deputy group leader, step on his head, but he's been at the newspaper for so long, so he's definitely not an incompetent person.
The reason Ni Jingxi dared to directly confront Wu Mengni in the meeting was simply because she saw Lao Zhang frowning constantly while Wu Mengni was speaking.
During a meeting, before the team leader had said a word, this nobody put on airs and lectured everyone.
Moreover, the last few words Lao Zhang said clearly showed his bias towards Ni Jingxi.
So he assigned the interview to Ni Jingxi, which was also a show for Wen Tang and the others, simply to make them feel that he had helped punish Ni Jingxi.
However, before leaving, Lao Zhang called Ni Jingxi to his office.
Before speaking, he glanced at the public office area outside and said, "This interview is just an assignment. Just do your job well."
Finally, after thinking for a moment, Old Zhang said, "I've always thought you're a man of few words but capable of getting things done. You don't need to listen to what some people say; the most important thing is your work. I still have high hopes for you."