Chapter 44 Transfer

When they arrived at the underground parking lot, Jiang Yu had already started the car and was waiting for Shen Mengqing.

After Shen Mengqing settled into the passenger seat, Jiang Yu, looking guilty, said to her, "Why did you take so long? I finally found an excuse to escape from Sister Wei's sight. I was so worried about being discovered by her in this parking lot while I was waiting for you."

"I was a little delayed because I hadn't finished dealing with some things," Shen Mengqing said. "Our appointment was at 7:40, so we can still make it."

Jiang Yu glanced at the red and green navigation route: "Let's hope so, this spot is a bit congested."

In the first year of becoming friends, Shen Mengqing and Jiang Yu made a pact that as long as they were both single, they would spend Singles' Day together every year.

They even always chose to date at Western restaurants frequented by couples, where others would have surprises for their boyfriends, while they would give each other romantic gestures.

After a long and congested journey, they arrived at the restaurant they had booked. Both of them, without prior arrangement, wore dresses and gracefully sat down in their chairs.

The atmosphere at this Western restaurant is nice; the tables are spaced far apart, so it's not too noisy, and you can't hear other people talking. The music playing is also deep and moving R&B.

The two casually ordered a couple's meal and chatted while drinking lemon water from their glasses.

Jiang Yu asked Shen Mengqing curiously, "How's your work as a secretary going lately?"

Shen Mengqing shrugged: "It's alright."

"You and Yu Xin, really didn't spark anything?" Jiang Yu blinked and looked at her.

Shen Mengqing was speechless and glared at Jiang Yu: "It's one thing for others to talk, but why are you getting involved in this kind of gossip?"

Jiang Yu said, "No, I'm just asking from the perspective of your good friend. From what I've observed, Yu Xin might actually like you. Don't you have any feelings about it at all?"

Shen Mengqing fell silent.

She had been in close contact with Yu Xin for more than six months, so even if she noticed something unusual about Yu Xin, she could attribute it to their past special relationship.

After all, their experiences inevitably led to a different way of getting along than with other people, which is understandable.

Besides, she has finally gotten used to the change in her roles as boss and secretary, and she can no longer consider other emotions.

It's good to be in this state right now, only talking about work and money, without any emotional involvement.

“Even if I were there, I wouldn’t mean it,” Shen Mengqing said seriously.

As soon as she finished speaking, a new message popped up on her phone.

Shen Mengqing clicked on it and saw that it was sent by her boss. She originally wanted to just close it and stick to her bottom line of not checking work messages after get off work hours, but then she saw a bright [transfer] button on it.

?

Unable to contain her curiosity, she clicked on the link and found that Yu Xin had transferred 30,000 yuan to her.

He also added a note:

Don't misunderstand.

"The salary for the secretary position for the past two weeks."

...

Who misunderstood?

Shen Mengqing recalled the days he had exploited her, and she knew she would accept the money with a clear conscience, but she didn't plan to accept it now.

Let's talk about it later.

Jiang Yu accidentally glanced at her phone screen and saw the conspicuous bright-colored transfer box.

She put down her fork and asked Shen Mengqing in surprise, "Qing, who transferred money to you today?"

Shen Mengqing quickly put down her phone: "Oh, someone borrowed money from me and hasn't paid it back."

"Why did they have to choose today?" Jiang Yu sensed something was amiss; there was something very wrong.

Shen Mengqing: "Don't overthink it, he's my brother."

That's a really useful reason.

"Oh, oh." Jiang Yu shrank back into her seat, still somewhat doubtful. "I thought you had received a gift."

Shen Mengqing choked, as if she had indeed received a gift.

She declined Li Qinghe's dinner invitation over the phone. Using her as an excuse was one thing, but having dinner together on a holiday was another.

Li Qinghe is excellent in every way, but Shen Mengqing only treats him as a friend.

She couldn't explain why she didn't feel anything for Li Qinghe. Perhaps it was like the last time they raced cars; she only wanted to enjoy the thrill of high speed, while Li Qinghe cared too much about her feelings and drove at a conservative pace. The two of them couldn't be on the same wavelength.

She planned to return the gift to Li Qinghe next time, as she felt uneasy about keeping it.

Compared to the other couples enjoying their date time in the restaurant, Shen Mengqing and Jiang Yu ate much faster. They chatted for a while and finished the set meal in less than an hour, leaving the restaurant with lingering satisfaction.

Shen Mengqing took a taxi home as usual. It was late at night when she finished washing up and lay in bed before she accepted Yu Xin's transfer.

Soon, a message came from the other side.

Dog-headed Boss:

"If you don't want to receive it, then don't. It's so late, the message notification sound is disturbing me."

cut.

Shen Mengqing locked her phone, closed her eyes, and prepared to sleep.

Since he complained about the noisy message notifications, she decided not to reply and kindly told him to get some sleep.

-

A new day.

Shen Mengqing woke up twenty minutes earlier than usual. She took out the most expensive black suit she had ever bought from her wardrobe and changed into it while still sleepy.

After washing her face in the bathroom to wake herself up, she carefully applied a full face of makeup.

The shareholders' meeting is this morning, and many shareholders wanted to appoint her as their secretary. She is now definitely a thorn in their side and will inevitably be made things difficult for them.

After arriving at the company by taxi, she rushed to the conference room, tested the equipment, and then worked with HR to set up name tags and bottled water.

When Yu Xin entered the conference room, Shen Mengqing was yawning sleepily. He sat down in the head seat and said in a cool tone, "Didn't get enough rest?"

He was dressed even more formally than usual, in a pure black haute couture suit, exuding a cool and aloof air.

"Hmm," Shen Mengqing mumbled a casual reply.

Yu Xin rested his arm on the table, flipping through the meeting materials as he said, "A date that late, he asked for it."

Shen Mengqing ignored him and, after everything was ready, sat in the back seat and waited for the shareholders to arrive.

She had reviewed the information of each shareholder beforehand, and now that they were face to face, Zhang Tu's father, Zhang Ming, was especially easy to recognize. The two of them had the same arrogant look on their faces, looking down on people as if others owed them money.

Most shareholders were lukewarm towards Yu Xin, but occasionally two or three who seemed to have a decent relationship would go up to him and exchange a few pleasantries.

At exactly nine o'clock, the meeting began on time.

Yu Xin was the keynote speaker at the meeting. As the newly appointed chairman, he had to report on the future development plan to reassure the shareholders present.

The agenda proceeded smoothly, and no one raised any objections during the presentation. Until the last page was finished, Yu Xin's gaze swept across the shareholders' faces, as if waiting for them to ask questions.

Shen Mengqing could tell that most shareholders were fairly satisfied with Yu Xin's proposal, with only a few looking at each other, none of them wanting to be the first to speak up.

The room fell silent. After what seemed like an eternity, Yu Xin, as if his patience had run out, coldly uttered, "If there are no objections, this meeting is now adjourned."

"Wait a minute!" Zhang Ming spoke up, "I want to ask President Yu a question that's not on the same topic."

Yu Xin crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair: "Mr. Zhang, please speak."

"I'd like to know the hiring criteria for the position of company secretary," Zhang Ming said, glancing at Shen Mengqing from afar.

Yu Xin stared at Zhang Ming and said indifferently, "I remember Li Fan sent all the candidates' resumes to everyone for review."

“I know that, but who knows if you’ve rigged the selection process?” Zhang Ming got excited and blurted out, “Although the shareholders also voted, it wasn’t a real-name system, so the votes are easy to manipulate. Moreover, as far as I know, there are a lot of rumors in the company about President Yu and Secretary Shen. If those rumors are true, then this result will be hard to convince the public.”

Yu Xin's eyes deepened: "President Zhang, I understand your concerns, but isn't it a bit ridiculous to bring up such trivial after-dinner conversations in a meeting? To put it another way, the most important consideration in selecting a secretary is the compatibility of their abilities, which has nothing to do with what you're saying."

Zhang Ming scoffed: "Ridiculous? The position of company secretary is so important. If someone makes a mistake in their personal conduct and causes a negative impact on the company, can you bear the loss of our rights as shareholders?"

Yu Xin raised an eyebrow: "Of course. And I think Secretary Shen is perfectly capable of doing the job."

"President Zhang." Shen Mengqing couldn't sit still any longer when he saw the attack coming straight at him. "First of all, those rumors are completely unfounded. Before I became the secretary of the board of directors of Yusheng, I had already received an offer to be the assistant to the board of directors of Santong. Even if I hadn't been elected, I could have gone to work at Santong. I didn't need to rely on anything else to get this job."

"Secondly, as Mr. Yu said, my personal ability to undertake secretarial work has nothing to do with these rumors. I have a six-month probationary period. I believe that Mr. Yu and HR have developed a work evaluation system. I welcome all shareholders to supervise me. If my work performance does not meet the standards, I will have no objection even if I am not formally employed during the probationary period."

"As for his character, this isn't my first year working at Yusheng. I can find out by checking his past annual performance reviews or asking his former colleagues and clients."

Shen Mengqing's words were neither humble nor arrogant, but rather upright and frank, making Zhang Ming's use of unverified rumors to attack him seem extremely low.

She had said everything she wanted to say, so Zhang Ming crossed his arms, gave a disdainful snort, and said, "Then let's see if you can get a permanent position."

After Shen Mengqing sat down, Yu Xin raised his head and his sharp gaze swept over the other shareholders with their various expressions. This time, no one stood up to speak.

"Let's adjourn the meeting," he said calmly.

After the shareholders left in twos and threes, only Yu Xin and Shen Mengqing remained in the meeting room.

Shen Mengqing stood up from her chair and tidied up the remaining trash on the table. Yu Xin remained seated, motionless, watching her silently.

After tidying up the other places, only the unfinished bottle of water in front of Xin remained. Shen Mengqing walked over and said politely, "Mr. Yu, would you like to drink this water?"

"I'm not drinking anymore," Yu Xin said in a deep voice.

Shen Mengqing: "Okay."

She casually tossed the mineral water bottle into the trash can: "Then I'll head back now. When you leave, remember to put your chair back in its place."

As soon as she finished speaking, she was about to leave when Yu Xin suddenly grabbed her wrist.

Shen Mengqing felt the force of Yu Xin's hand on her arm, turned her head, and looked at him in confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Yu Xin couldn't explain what was wrong with him. He had gone to great lengths to get her to stay, and she had performed every secretarial task admirably, yet he felt inexplicably empty inside.

Especially last night, he couldn't stop thinking about Shen Mengqing and Li Qinghe's date every minute of every day. No matter how much he tried to distract himself with trivial matters at work and worked like a madman, he couldn't cut off the strange emotions that had seeped into his brain.

It was as if the more perfectly she played the role of his secretary, the further apart they grew.

Yu Xin met her slightly annoyed gaze and said in a cool tone, "Shen Mengqing, do you really want to be Yusheng's secretary?"

His question seemed absurd. Shen Mengqing frowned slightly, her red lips parted, and she said, "Otherwise what?"

What is this? Is it an additional interview after I've been hired?

"Would you like me to explain to you again how your work experience matches the job requirements, your insights and perspectives on the position, and your career plans for the next few years?" she said irritably.

Yu Xin released his hand: "No need."

Shen Mengqing glared at him, and was about to leave when the tip of her shoe got caught on the three-pronged wheel under the chair. She lost her balance and fell straight forward.

She wanted to reach out and grab the edge of the table, but because there was a shareholders' meeting that morning, the cleaning lady had wiped the table spotless and smooth, so her fingers slid directly down the tabletop into the air, with nothing to provide any friction.

Just as she was leaning forward halfway, an arm grabbed her waist and pulled her back.

She leaned against a firm, strong chest, still slightly out of breath from fright.

Yu Xin was still half-embracing her from behind when the door was opened before he could pull his hand away.

"Mr. Yu, there's a client on the phone."

Before Chen Mo even entered, his voice preceded his arrival. Upon seeing the two people's strange posture, he hurriedly grabbed the doorknob and closed the door, then stared intently at them.

Shen Mengqing snapped out of her daze and took several quick steps to the side, moving away from Yu Xin.

She had thought that Assistant Chen would leave the room after witnessing this scene, but to her surprise, he just stood there silently watching, his gaze sweeping over the two of them, seemingly oblivious to the awkward atmosphere.

These two are both incredibly dim-witted.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Xinzi: My secretary's salary is still too low, limiting my financial resources (not really).

Two dim-witted brothers