After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Bent by the Villainess (GL) - Chapter 23

Since moving into the new residence and having her own parking space, Su Yiming stopped having the driver pick her up and drop her off.

Every working day morning, she would personally drive Xia Chuci to the subsidiary building, then head to the group headquarters for work. When it was time to leave work, she would arrive precisely to pick her up.

If she was too busy and truly couldn’t spare the time, she would arrange for the driver to do the pick-up and drop-off.

What kind of small assistant gets chauffeured to and from work every day, and in the latest Porsche no less? This is too high-profile! In the long run, this is bound to attract gossip.

So, Xia Chuci stated righteously: A small assistant must look like a small assistant. No small assistant takes a Porsche to work every day. Taking the subway is the correct way to go. We absolutely cannot have special treatment.

Su Yiming didn’t object. Then, the next day, she switched to an ordinary Mercedes-Benz.

Xia Chuci was mortified: The point isn’t the car’s brand or model, it’s the act of chauffeuring!

Forget it. They weren’t on the same intellectual level. There was a generation gap. She couldn’t win the argument, so she had no choice but to obediently enjoy Su Yiming’s thoughtful service.

After a month of adjustment, Xia Chuci finally felt she had adapted to the current work pace. Perhaps it was because she had Su Yiming as her backing, but Assistant Zhang was especially lenient with her.

In contrast, Assistant Zhang was strict, even harsh, towards Miaomiao, who was also an assistant.

This morning, as Xia Chuci stepped into the office, she sensed something was wrong.

The entire office was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was buried in their own work, with cautious expressions. They even walked on tiptoes, afraid of making the slightest noise.

When things are unusual, something strange is afoot. Being cautious is always right.

Xia Chuci lightened her steps and returned to her desk, trying her best to minimize her presence, and went about her work methodically.

Before her chair even warmed up, she received a summons from Assistant Zhang.

Xia Chuci pulled herself together, grabbed her notebook, quickly walked to Assistant Zhang’s office, and performed the standard routine: knock, bow, greet—all in one go.

Assistant Zhang’s face was full of anger, and a slight aura of menace permeated the air.

Xia Chuci couldn’t help but shiver. She dared not say much, obediently waiting for instructions to avoid inviting trouble.

“Chuci, next month is the company’s anniversary celebration. You will be assisting with the execution of the dinner banquet.”

Xia Chuci pretended to be serious, taking notes in her notebook for show, and nodded to indicate she had received the assignment.

Miaomiao’s already reddish eye sockets instantly overflowed with tears. She sobbed aggrievedly: “The banquet used to be my responsibility…”

Assistant Zhang slammed a document onto the desk, interrupting her, and said coldly: “You better clean up the mess you created. Are you expecting me to wipe your backside?”

Miaomiao knew she was in the wrong but still didn’t give up: “This was my oversight, and I’ll find a way to resolve it. But… are you truly comfortable entrusting such an important matter as the anniversary banquet to a newcomer…”

Assistant Zhang glanced at Xia Chuci, who was quietly watching the drama unfold, and shifted the focus onto her: “Chuci, this important task of the anniversary banquet is given to you. Can you handle it?”

Crap. When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer.

Xia Chuci quickly discarded the notion of it being none of her business and actively cooperated: “I will go all out.”

How could she dare to refuse? If she uttered a single “no,” she would surely be burned by this fire.

The anniversary banquet was an extremely important event. The big bosses from the group headquarters would all attend, and there was no room for error.

The fact that Assistant Zhang handed such a crucial task to her, a newcomer, precisely when Miaomiao made a mistake clearly meant she was sidelining Miaomiao. She really didn’t know what Miaomiao had done to infuriate Assistant Zhang so much.

Xia Chuci turned to look at Miaomiao, then turned back to Assistant Zhang.

Assistant Zhang gave her a meaningful look—a look of high expectation mixed with a hint of watching a good show.

Xia Chuci felt a cold sweat break out, her mind full of scrolling comments saying, “I cannot accept this blessing~”

At this moment, the System, which had been quiet for a long time, sent a mission:

【Friendly Reminder: Advanced Mission has been released! Please click to accept.】

Xia Chuci: Huh???

Immediately, a box popped up on her screen, displaying:

【Advanced Mission: Find the key character to unlock the critical mission and capture their attention. Friendly Reminder: This person will appear at the Anniversary Banquet.】

However, there was only an “Accept” option below.

Xia Chuci: …System, if there’s only one option, please delete the user choice item, thank you!

System: 【Please click to accept!】

Xia Chuci rolled her eyes. The System chimed: 【Mission acceptance complete. Wishing you an immediate victory!】

Hmph, you’re so annoying!

Xia Chuci asked: Who is the key character to unlock the critical mission? Or what are their characteristics? There are so many people attending the banquet, you have to give me some hints.

System: 【The time is not right. No comment. Please be understanding!】

Heh heh. Please kindly roll!

The preparation work for the anniversary banquet required the involvement and assistance of all departments. Xia Chuci, as a low-ranking newcomer who was not skilled with words, faced obstacles everywhere.

Everyone had their primary duties. The anniversary banquet tasks were just extra work for others. Doing well brought no benefits, but doing poorly would lead to criticism. Few fools were willing to do such a thankless job.

Although she could “wield a chicken feather as an imperial decree,” directly assigning tasks to people in various departments, the results would likely not be good. The perfunctory attitude and dragged-out efficiency would be enough to give her a headache.

Assistant Zhang only handled the big picture; the specific execution required her to implement everything. Coupled with Miaomiao’s sarcastic remarks and other colleagues’ fear of offending people and reluctance to help openly, the situation was undoubtedly getting worse.

At 8 PM, the empty office only contained a starving Xia Chuci, revising the banquet proposal.

While desperately typing on the keyboard, she dragged the System, this utterly despicable capitalist, out and cursed it over and over again in circles.

Only Su Yiming’s arrival rescued her from the misery of the proposal and pulled the System out of her circle of curses. Both the person and the System were moved to tears and snot.

“I brought something delicious. Eat something first. How can you have the energy to work if you don’t eat?”

Su Yiming opened the food container and, seeing Xia Chuci’s troubled expression, advised: “It’s useless even if you pull all your hair out. Be a good girl, come and eat. After you eat, I’ll help you with the work.”

Xia Chuci immediately brightened up. Following the scent, she flew over, excitedly pouncing into Su Yiming’s arms, flirting and trying to please her: “How can there be such a good little angel like you in the world? Without you… how could I live…”

“Ha, then we must be together forever, or if you die, where would I find such a cute little baby!”

“Cough~” Xia Chuci was shocked by her words. Is this kind of cheesy talk popular between girlfriends now?

Su Yiming brought the soup to her mouth, saying: “Eat slowly, don’t choke.”

Xia Chuci didn’t overthink it and took a big sip of soup from Su Yiming’s hand, finally suppressing her inner surprise.

She secretly glanced at Su Yiming. The other party looked composed. Good. It must be normal for good friends to say such intimate things.

It was a good thing they were both girls. Otherwise, Xia Chuci would have thought she had inadvertently attracted another admirer, after all, the female lead’s halo attracts romance. She had a track record, so she couldn’t be blamed for overthinking.

After eating and drinking, with Su Yiming’s guidance, Xia Chuci finally finished revising the proposal. The feeling of “being tutored one-on-one by an excellent student to complete homework” was like having a cheat code—it felt incredibly satisfying.

It had to be said that the gap between them was huge. The work that was giving her a major headache was as simple as a primary school assignment to Su Yiming. Even though they graduated from the same university, in terms of knowledge, experience, and breadth of perspective, how could she, an unknown person who had never seen the world since childhood, compare to a favored daughter of heaven who was being groomed as the group’s successor?

“Am I useless? I can’t even handle a small matter like this. If I become your assistant in the future, I’ll probably just hold you back. Are you really not considering finding someone else?”

“Who said that? You are very smart. You just need more experience. No one is born knowing everything. Besides, your position with me is irreplaceable.”

Although she knew Su Yiming was comforting her, Xia Chuci genuinely appreciated it. The frustration from the day was largely dispelled by this little angel, Su Yiming.

The next morning, the rejuvenated Xia Chuci, with the printed proposal in hand, bravely knocked on Assistant Zhang’s office door.

She confidently reported the culmination of her and Su Yiming’s wisdom, line by line. Assistant Zhang praised it highly and instructed her to proceed according to the plan.

Xia Chuci first went to the Head of the Publicity Department to discuss the stage setup for the banquet.

However, Department Head Liu of the Publicity Department stated that it was peak business season recently, and he couldn’t spare the time to help. So, he assigned his assistant, Li Siyu, to assist her with this matter.

Li Siyu was a twenty-seven-year-old slightly plump girl. She was warm and cheerful, and her entire demeanor felt like a spring breeze, which also lifted Xia Chuci’s spirits.

The two discussed the detailed budget for the banquet stage, lighting, sound effects, and hosting arrangements. After repeated confirmations, Li Siyu said: “I’ll contact a few advertising companies first and give you a preliminary plan before next Wednesday. This week is truly too busy. I sincerely apologize.”

“Not at all, not at all. You’re so busy, and I’ve added such a huge workload for you. You’ve worked really hard. Once this project is finished, I must treat you to a good meal.” Xia Chuci quickly replied.

“Hehe, don’t say that. It’s what I should do. So it’s settled. You owe me a meal.”

At the mention of food, Li Siyu’s smiling eyes became even smaller.

Xia Chuci straightened her back, patted her chest, and said boldly with a laugh: “No problem.”

The initial success greatly boosted Xia Chuci’s morale. She immediately went to the Head of the Marketing Department to discuss the catering for the banquet.

Originally, this kind of matter should have been the responsibility of the company’s Human Resources and Administration Department. However, since the subsidiary had been established for less than a year and the staff size was small, the HR and Admin Department currently lacked high-level management. It only had one HR specialist responsible for onboarding and a receptionist/administrator, all young women who couldn’t handle such an important task.

Therefore, the anniversary banquet catering was assigned to the Marketing Department because Department Head Dai Xiumei of the Marketing Department had previously served as the Administration Manager at the group headquarters, possessing rich administrative experience and being familiar with major hotels.

As luck would have it, when Xia Chuci arrived at the Marketing Department office, she learned that Dai Xiumei was away on a business trip, so she had no choice but to call her.

It rang several times before the call was answered. After a brief self-introduction, Xia Chuci stated the purpose of her call.

She had expected Department Head Dai to readily agree, or at least, like Department Head Liu, send a subordinate to liaise with her. Instead, the reply was a polite refusal.

“Little Xia, you see, I’m traveling to different cities all day, busy negotiating with clients. Where would I find the time to take on this job? Do you think you could find someone else to do it?”

“Department Head Dai, I know you are very busy. How about this: you don’t have to personally follow up on this project. You have so many capable assistants under you; just send someone to do it.”

“To be honest with you, Little Xia, my subordinates are all sales professionals. They’ve never done logistics or administrative work. If I let them do it, they’ll surely mess it up for you, and you’ll have to clean up the mess anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to just find someone else? Don’t you agree?”

This left Xia Chuci completely speechless. The subtext was: I don’t have time to get involved in this, and my people don’t want to step into this muddy water either.

Everyone was actually well aware that such purely helpful tasks offered no benefits if done well, but if messed up, one would attract all the trouble. An old hand in the workplace like Dai Xiumei naturally avoided such things whenever possible.