Chapter 31 Open Communication: "I know you were wronged that time."...

The monthly meeting is held right after the rest day.

The store manager came downstairs, took the microphone, and asked everyone, "Is everyone from all departments here?"

Several departments had staff taking leave, which was common, but no one in the design department had taken leave, yet two people were missing: Zhang Wuliao and Qiu Dabai.

After the department managers reported their numbers, the store manager, being relatively mild-mannered, asked Zhang Xiaoli, "Were you delayed on the way?"

Zhang Xiaoli, as the department manager, smiled apologetically and said, "It's possible. I'll make a call and ask again."

The store manager said, "It's okay. It's not safe to answer the phone while driving. Let's go ahead and talk to the department manager after the meeting. Tell them to be more careful in the future and not to be late."

"OK."

The meeting had been going on for about ten minutes when Zhang Wuliao and Qiu Dabai entered together. Because it was a large meeting, there wasn't enough room for everyone to sit in the conference room, so they all gathered in the lobby on the first floor to stand and hold the meeting.

Zhang Wuliao and Qiu Dabai walked in, each carrying a bag of takeout soup noodles.

Qiu Dabai had little expression and seemed slightly flustered, while Zhang Wuliao, as the most senior designer, had a thick-skinned smile on his face. "Sorry, we're late."

The store manager, standing at the front, frowned slightly but said nothing and continued the meeting.

Zhang Xiaoli quickly whispered to them, "Get back to the team quickly."

The two of them slowly joined the design department's queue.

The aroma of soup noodles wafted through the entire queue, gradually permeating other corners.

He Xin swallowed hard and whispered to Bai Yeke next to her, "It's so sinful. I only ate a red bean bun in my rush to leave this morning, and I'm starving now. What size are these? They smell so good."

Bai Yeke has been making noodle soup a lot lately. After smelling it, I'm 70% sure it's "spicy stir-fried braised beef".

He Xin's eyes widened, and she swallowed hard again, completely lacking any self-control. "They're eating too well."

The aroma of steaming noodle soup and toppings wafted throughout the first floor, gradually altering the atmosphere of the meeting.

The store manager was speaking at the front, and each department was reporting on their work. The process was the same as always, but when the meeting ended today, everyone was surprised to find that it lasted a full seven minutes less than expected.

The estimated meeting time is fixed, but in reality, meetings almost always run over time. This is the first time it has ended early.

Everyone felt that the meeting was rather rushed.

He Xin took Bai Yeke's arm and went upstairs back to the design department. "This doesn't feel right. I just feel uneasy."

He Xin couldn't explain it clearly, but Bai Yeke understood very well. She gradually saw the situation more clearly: "The good tradition of respecting the elderly has gone astray."

"Huh?" He Xin didn't hear clearly; Bai Yeke's voice was too soft.

"It's nothing," Bai Yeke simply said.

Colleagues from various departments crowded around me, chattering and expressing a variety of emotions.

"He really is an old comrade. He just walked in so casually, and with a smile, nothing happened."

"That's incredibly daring. They even brought breakfast with them. Even if they sneaked out to buy it after the meeting, it would be better than bringing it in in front of everyone. Isn't that a slap in the face to the store manager? They're ignoring the rules."

"Tsk, if it were me, I would definitely feel guilty. The department manager would scold me to death after the meeting for daring to be late for a big meeting and being so high-profile."

"You don't know this, but I heard that there was a small internal conflict in the design department. On one side was Designer Bai, and on the other side were those two from today. The store manager stood up for those two from today without hesitation."

"Wow, is that true? Designer Bai is the most powerful person in our store right now. It's all because of her that our store is the most popular among the other branches!"

"That's outrageous. No wonder those two were so high-profile! They must be confident that the manager won't do anything to them."

"In other shops in our industry, it's all about youth; our shop is a bit strange!"

"Isn't that good? Since the manager has this attitude, we'll just have to play it safe from now on!"

"Hehe, yeah, after years of hard work, you become an old comrade and can finally enjoy life."

...

Not long after the conference ended, He Xin couldn't help but whisper to Bai Yeke, "Ugh, I'm really hungry. Have you had breakfast? How about we sneak out and get some noodles?"

"I'm still hungry," Bai Ye said jokingly, teasing her, "Are you craving something?"

"Sigh." He Xin sniffed. "No, the whole design department smells like that."

Zhang Wuliao and Qiu Dabai ate with great relish.

Bai Yeke reminded He Xin, "Not today, Manager Zhang will definitely check very thoroughly."

He Xin, who had been smiling, changed her expression upon hearing this. "That's true, I guess she's holding back her anger."

Zhang Wuliao and Qiu Dabai have humiliated Zhang Xiaoli, the department manager, and are increasingly disregarding her.

If Zhang Xiaoli discovers someone sneaking off to buy soup noodles again, she will unleash all her pent-up anger on that unlucky fellow.

Bai Yeke's phone vibrated; it was the store manager calling. She answered, and the manager told her to come to the office.

Bai Ye simply replied, "Okay."

He Xin was still craving noodle soup, and asked listlessly, "Who is it?"

"without."

Bai Yeke remained calm and got up to leave.

She had a feeling that the store manager wanted to talk to her about something.

Bai Yeke walked to the door of the store manager's office, knocked on the door, and waited.

"Come in."

Bai Yeke turned the doorknob and stepped inside, and the store manager said, "Close the door behind you."

"sit."

Bai Ye sat down obediently in the chair in front of the manager's desk, looking directly at the manager without much expression.

"Hehe." The shop manager put on his usual gentle expression again. "How have you been lately?"

"fine."

"I know you were wronged that time." The store manager looked at her deeply, still smiling.

Bai Ye put on a polite smile and didn't say much.

The store manager then continued, "What do you think about Lao Zhang and Lao Qiu being late today?"

"It's not appropriate to comment on the senior's affairs." Bai Yeke said in a very serious tone, as if she had been taught a lesson well last time.

"Hehe." The store manager chuckled again. "Relax."

"Actually, I knew you had been wronged that time, and I didn't want to handle it that way either, do you understand?"

Bai Yeke's eyes fell on the table. "The store manager has a different position, so of course we will follow the leader's arrangements."

The store manager continued, "Yes, you saw what happened today. The two of them were late in front of everyone in the store, which had a very bad influence. Although I didn't criticize them on the spot, I really disapproved of it. It also set a bad example for the whole store, making everyone feel uneasy and resentful."

Bai Ye didn't say anything.

The store manager looked at her and said, “They were once the store’s heroes. Our store is very humane, so I have been quite lenient and generous in dealing with them these days, but this is not without limits.”

"And the most crucial thing in dealing with them is that once they're gone, we need a top-notch designer who can take over our store."

"Xiao Bai, your reputation is undeniable, and your design skills are quite good. It's just that your attitude needs to be more grounded in order to lead the team."

Upon hearing this, Bai Ye looked up at the store manager, her eyes flashing slightly.

The store manager looked very solemn, as if he had high hopes for her.

Finally, the store manager said, "I will train you more in the future. You should seize the opportunity, be down-to-earth, and understand?"

"I see."

The store manager smiled with satisfaction.

If it were the old Bai Yeke, she would definitely be filled with trepidation and confusion.

But now, with Yi Sheng's warning to her, she fully understands the store manager's various subtexts in this situation.

On the surface, the store manager wanted to stabilize the team and was wavering between her and the duo. The reason for her wavering was that she was too young and naive, so she needed to be more down-to-earth. But the store manager's heart was with her.

In fact, the store manager was not wavering.

The store manager is inclined to help her up and will definitely help her up.

But the store manager's words today were meant to motivate her, making her more committed to her work and to the store manager.

The store manager told her that once she was helped up, she should be completely devoted to him and should never act like the duo who "abuse their seniority".

Today, the store manager's first purpose was to express his attitude and direction, give Baiye a little something to show for it, and to lay the groundwork so that he could firmly hold onto the person.

"By the way, I have a client here, could you take over?" The store manager immediately added her to a VIP group. "He's a repeat client who did home renovations with us before."

"good."

"Okay, if anyone asks you what you're doing here, just say you've been arranged for a VIP visit," the shop manager casually instructed.

“Okay,” Bai Yeke said softly.

Back in the design department, He Xin casually asked, "Hey, where did you go?"

A little distance away, Zhang Wuliao was watching her, and the man was smoking by the window.

"Time for noodle soup." Bai Yeke was wearing her new suit jacket today, so she wasn't afraid of the wind.

"What?!" He Xin exclaimed in surprise, "How could you be so disloyal, going alone without me?"

"Bringing you along is too high-profile; the two of us are too conspicuous."

"Waaah!" He Xin cried out in regret, then suddenly realized, "No, you're lying to me. There's not enough time."

Bai Ye smiled and, out of the corner of her eye, Zhang Wu wandered around like he was taking a stroll until he reached their vicinity. She then said, "I've arranged a client."

Zhang Wuliao looked speechless and annoyed.

"Oh..." He Xin suddenly lost interest.

Bai Ye could casually open the VIP group to check out the new customer information.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" He Xin glanced at it casually, "I think I've seen this profile picture before."

He Xin looked unwell and serious.

Bai Yeke handed over the phone a little, puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"Holy crap!" He Xin was so sure this time she almost cursed, "It's that pervert!"

"What is that?"

He Xin felt disgusted just thinking about it. "Do you remember a few months ago I took a job with a perverted guy to renovate a house he bought for his mistress? That perverted guy even tried to sleep with me!"

"It's him?" Bai Yeke also vaguely remembered him and felt a chill run down her spine.

"Yeah! But wasn't he incredibly stingy?" He Xin wondered, "How come he has money to buy a new house and renovate it so quickly? Does he have a mistress?"

"I thought he was just pretending to be rich because he was poor, but this time he actually managed to get our upper management to assign you as the designer?!"

He Xin looked at Bai Yeke with a complicated expression, "You have to be careful, after all, he has a criminal record, and you are so beautiful."

"..."

Bai Ye felt even worse after hearing this.

What's going on here? She's been having one problem after another lately, never getting a chance to catch her breath.