The Green Tea Supporting Girl Is Still Playing Her Role Today (GL) - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Although the company did not issue a formal notice, everyone soon knew that Xie Zhifei had poached Gu Zhizhang’s secretary. Discussions about this matter were everywhere, and the water cooler area was particularly lively.

During lunchtime, Lin Zhimin shared the rumors from the water cooler with Wen Pinghan. “I heard that the incredibly impressive Gu Zhizhang and our young lady are childhood sweethearts, so he lent his confidante to the young lady.”

Wen Pinghan: “…”

“Some people also say that they have had a great relationship since childhood, a perfect match of talent and beauty, and that they are about to get engaged.”

“Pfft, cough cough.” Wen Pinghan nearly choked to death on a piece of tofu.

“Don’t eat so quickly.” Lin Zhimin said.

“Why are the rumors getting more and more outrageous?” Wen Pinghan took a sip of water.

“There’s no way around it. Stories of talented scholars and beautiful ladies are what everyone loves to hear, especially when the protagonists are two equally powerful figures?” Lin Zhimin chuckled foolishly. “You have to admit, our young lady has great taste.”

“She doesn’t like Gu Zhizhang.” Wen Pinghan directly doused Lin Zhimin, who was fantasizing about a romantic love story, with a bucket of cold water.

“Ah?” Lin Zhimin’s face stiffened, and she looked at her doubtfully. “How do you know?”

“She admitted it to me herself.” Wen Pinghan said.

“She even told you about this?!” Lin Zhimin drew in a sharp breath and looked around in surprise before lowering her voice. “Is it true? What kind of relationship do you two have? Why would she share this kind of gossip with you?”

Wen Pinghan was about to respond when Lin Zhimin suddenly looked behind her and lifted her chin, signaling her to turn around. “Speak of the devil, and Secretary Fang arrives.”

Wen Pinghan turned her head and saw Fang Ningshu walk into the cafeteria with an expressionless face. Curious and gossipy eyes were cast toward her from all around, but she ignored them completely, went straight to get her meal, and did not talk to anyone.

This was completely different from the Secretary Fang that Wen Pinghan had seen in the Gu Corporation cafeteria before.

It seemed that after leaving Gu Zhizhang, she simply could not be bothered to pretend anymore, though it might also be that she had not yet recovered from her heartbreak and thus had an unapproachable demeanor.

Wen Pinghan finished her meal and returned to the office with Lin Zhimin, reminding her, “If you hear any more idle talk in the water cooler area, clarify it.”

“Fine. I thought it was a big piece of gossip, and everyone was about to start shipping them, but then you tell everyone it’s fake. So sad.” Lin Zhimin sighed.

“What’s so fun about shipping them?” Wen Pinghan muttered. “They don’t even match anyway.”

“This isn’t a match? Then what kind of person do you think would be worthy of our young lady?” Lin Zhimin asked curiously.

“Um…” Wen Pinghan thought for a moment and found that she could not come up with a standard answer. She just said, “Anyway, it should be someone who loves her very much.”

“That’s the same as saying nothing.”

There was a meeting at two thirty in the afternoon, attended by the sales manager and all higher-level management. Xie Zhifei hosted the meeting.

Wen Pinghan sat in her office for a while and saw that the time was approaching, so she gathered her paper, pen, and cup and was just about to stand up when she suddenly noticed that the colleague next door was touching up her makeup.

She paused for a moment, thinking that they were all colleagues who saw each other every day and that there seemed to be no need for it, but then she remembered that Xie Zhifei dressed up like a flower every day…

She opened her bag, took out a tube of lipstick, touched up her lipstick, and only then stood up to go next door and wait for the colleague to go upstairs together.

After everyone arrived in the conference room, they each started discussing. Usually, the regional managers held meetings for them, but this time President Xie came personally, so they all guessed that there was some major event or big project to announce.

When the colleague next door asked for her guess, she pondered and said, “It might be the talent program.”

“Really? Then that’s fine. As long as it’s not a criticism session, I’m okay with it!”

The sound of high heels came from outside the door, and everyone turned to look at the entrance. Xie Zhifei walked in, followed by Secretary Liu and the new Secretary Fang.

“Good afternoon, everyone.” Xie Zhifei stood at the head position with a smiling face and greeted everyone, then pointed to Fang Ningshu and introduced her. “This is Fang Ningshu, who previously worked at Gu Corporation. From now on, she will formally take over Secretary Liu’s work.”

Fang Ningshu nodded, and everyone applauded to welcome her.

After taking their seats, Xie Zhifei first had each department report on last quarter’s performance and made plans for the projects of different departments. She also set the goals for the next quarter and assigned the several projects in her hand to them.

“The last thing is about the talent program.” Xie Zhifei glanced at Fang Ningshu, who then distributed a copy of the planning document she was holding to each of them.

“The board of directors has already formally approved it. The assessment is not limited by seniority or position; everyone can participate. Those who pass the assessment have two paths to choose from. One is advanced studies. The company will fund you to study abroad, but you must work for our company for five years after graduation. The other is to work directly on projects. I will form a special team where you can participate in all the projects I handle personally, with pay based on performance, but correspondingly, it will be very demanding. However, you will get exposure to bigger cases and networks, and promotions will prioritize selections from among you.”

The conference room immediately erupted, with everyone whispering excitedly to each other, their faces full of uncontainable excitement. Both choices were undoubtedly excellent options, but there was one threshold: whether they dared to strive for it.

“I’m done for. Sigh, I shouldn’t have gotten married and had kids so early.” The colleague complained to Wen Pinghan. “With elders above and kids below, I have no time or energy to strive anymore. You, on the other hand, can. Are you going to give it a try?”

“Um.” Wen Pinghan looked down at the planning document, a spark lighting up in her eyes, and she smiled. “I still have a mortgage to pay.”

The colleague laughed. “I really envy you young people. You’re young and full of drive. I have high hopes for you. Go for it!”

“Thanks.”

“HR will issue the formal announcement in the group later. You all pass it on to your subordinates too, and submit the lists of participants from each team to HR before the end of the month. Meeting adjourned.” After Xie Zhifei finished speaking, she organized the materials on the table.

Everyone chatted as they walked out of the conference room. Wen Pinghan and her colleague lagged behind. As she passed by Xie Zhifei, she suddenly heard a pretentious cough. She looked at her doubtfully.

“Cough.” Xie Zhifei covered her mouth and coughed again, sneaking a glance at her and giving her a meaningful look.

“My pen seems to have fallen. I’ll go back and look for it. You go ahead.” Wen Pinghan said to her colleague.

“Okay.”

Wen Pinghan returned to her seat from earlier, searched here and there, and only when the office was left with just Xie Zhifei did she lift her head and ask, “What’s up?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to ask if you want to have dinner together tonight?” Xie Zhifei looked at her from a distance with a face full of smiles.

“You’re not working overtime today?”

“Um!”

Wen Pinghan walked up to her. “But I have to work overtime.”

“That’s really unfortunate.” Xie Zhifei tilted her head up. “But I can wait for you.”

“I’m not sure when I’ll finish.”

“No problem. You can’t starve to death in the office.”

“Fine, then I’ll try to finish early.”

“Okay.” Xie Zhifei stood up, winked at her, and said, “See you tonight.” Then she left the conference room first.

Wen Pinghan smiled.

That evening, Xie Zhifei sat in the office, listening to Secretary Liu explain the daily work to Fang Ningshu, while she buried her head in reviewing documents. After a while, she checked the time again and continued looking at the documents.

After another while, she switched to another set of materials to review. After finishing, she logged into QQ on her computer, went to the farm to steal all of her dad’s vegetables, and while shoveling manure in his ranch, her phone finally received a message.

She sprang up from her chair.

The two secretaries looked at her doubtfully.

“You two keep working. Don’t mind me.” Xie Zhifei grabbed her bag and left quickly.

“It’s like this. Although President Xie seems very reliable most of the time, she occasionally has… um…” Secretary Liu could not find the right adjective.

“Moments of acting crazy.” Fang Ningshu followed up.

“Yes, that’s the meaning.” Secretary Liu smiled awkwardly.

In the corner of the dumpling shop, Wen Pinghan picked up a dumpling with her chopsticks, dipped it in vinegar, and said, “After waiting this long, you’re really just here to eat dumplings?”

“Yeah, did you think I eat lavish meals every time?” Xie Zhifei opened her mouth and took a big bite of a dumpling, then smiled innocently.

“At least four dishes and a soup.” Wen Pinghan had eaten at her house before, and the auntie always prepared at least four dishes and a soup per meal, if not more.

“So I have to come out to change up the flavors.”

“Was it really that easy for the board to approve that talent program?” Wen Pinghan asked.

“Of course not. Some conservatives worried that these young talents would divide up their piece of the pie, so they insisted on sticking to the original promotion channels.” Xie Zhifei smiled slyly a couple of times. “But I have someone backing me.”

“Director Xie.”

“Yes, actually he also wanted to make some changes, but there are too many shareholders and too many constraints, so he took this opportunity to communicate in advance with a few people he has good relations with and supported me at the meeting. With one singing the lead and the other harmonizing, we finally got the approval after half a day.” Xie Zhifei said.

Wen Pinghan imagined the scene. Although she had not been there in person, her mind inexplicably conjured up an image of Xie Zhifei being high-spirited at the meeting, engaging in a battle of words with a group of old men. Then she looked at Xie Zhifei now, eating dumplings without a care in the world, and a smile unconsciously bloomed on her face.

Xie Zhifei did not know what she was smiling about but laughed along with her, like two fools grinning at each other.

In less than half a month, Fang Ningshu had thoroughly grasped Qisheng’s internal operations. Next came Xie Zhifei’s personal life. Secretary Liu only told her about some habits in the company; the rest she had to figure out herself.

On the day Secretary Liu went to headquarters, Fang Ningshu officially became Xie Zhifei’s secretary.

“The coffee is well brewed.” Xie Zhifei drank the coffee she had made and gave a thumbs-up in praise. “I heard you know how to hand-grind coffee. Later, I’ll order a machine to put in the water cooler area.”

Fang Ningshu: “Is there anything else you need?”

“Yes, there’s one very important thing I need you to do.” Xie Zhifei said seriously.

Fang Ningshu braced herself, knowing that this was both a sign of trust and a test to see if she could handle the first major task after taking office, so she asked, “What is it?”

Xie Zhifei beckoned her over.

Fang Ningshu stepped closer to the desk, and she heard her lower her voice. “Go check if Manager Wen is still working overtime.”

“?” Fang Ningshu looked at her doubtfully.

“Keep it low-key when you inquire. Don’t let others know I sent you. She doesn’t want colleagues to know about our relationship, so be clever about it.” After Xie Zhifei finished instructing, she leisurely continued drinking her coffee.

Fang Ningshu was puzzled. “Aren’t you two having a secret affair or something?”

“Pfft—” Xie Zhifei spat out a mouthful of coffee.

Love security officially online!