Chapter 286 Impersonating the President's Secretary
Just then, the conference room door was pushed open.
Mr. Wang frowned as he looked at the two young women who walked in one after the other and said, "Are all young employees these days so unruly? Don't they know how to knock?"
One of the two who came in was a girl named Lily, one of Zhang Haoyang's group members.
Mr. Wang had some impression of her, so even though he didn't know the other girl, he treated them both as employees in his department.
After saying that, his gaze unconsciously lingered on the tall girl next to Lily. Her outstanding appearance and figure truly caught his eye.
Little did they know, the others present were stunned.
“Mr. Wang…” Lily said timidly, “I…I just briefly told Mr. Lu’s secretary what happened…”
Mr. Wang immediately seized on his most pressing concern, his face darkening as he demanded, "You actually went to see Mr. Lu? What do you mean! You don't respect me, your department head, do you?!"
"President Lu's secretary?" Zhang Haoyang, Si Ya, Yu Teng, and Li Weiwen all said in unison.
Mr. Wang also came to his senses and looked at the young beauty next to Lily again. "Wait a minute, I've seen Mr. Lu's secretary before, she doesn't look like this... Who are you?!"
"Well done, Ning Jinli," Si Ya mocked, "You dare to impersonate the president's secretary in the blink of an eye? Have you no shame?"
Mr. Wang looked surprised. "You know her?"
Zhang Haoyang scoffed, "Ha, we all know each other, because she's also our college classmate. We bumped into her in the lobby downstairs about an hour ago. She's not a president's secretary, and she's not even an employee of our group."
"Sister...you...you're not the president's secretary?" Lily was dumbfounded.
Ning Jinli calmly replied, "Yes, I am not."
Lily was struck dumb. She had thought that even if she couldn't find President Lu, having his secretary come over to help clarify the situation would be of some use. But she never expected that she would make such a big blunder.
Ning Jinli looked at Yu Teng and Li Weiwen, whose expressions were complicated, and said, "On the way down the elevator with Lily, I heard her tell me the general outline of what happened. When I got to the office just now, I also asked a few people. I have a good understanding of the situation, so don't worry."
The two hesitated to speak, partly because they felt bad about involving her.
On the one hand, because they didn't know what kind of relationship she had with Shennong Pharmaceutical Group, they were also worried that she might not be able to solve the problem and might instead cause her trouble.
After all, there are different levels of connections. Even if you can get them a job, it doesn't mean you can solve their problems.
In short, the two of them are feeling extremely uneasy right now.
Mr. Wang found Ning Jinli's words baffling. "No, what are you doing, an outsider from this company, meddling in all this?"
At this moment, not only was General Manager Wang completely bewildered, but many of Si Ya's university classmates were even more confused than him in the group video call she initiated.
Someone typed a question in the group:
"What's going on?"
"Si Ya, what are you doing?"
"Can you explain this to us...?"
"..."
Siya saw these questions, her eyes darted around, she got up from her seat, and then appeared in the live video feed.
Anyway, the phone is on the table, supported by a file rack, so it won't affect her being in the shot. How can she not show her face when she's in the limelight?
To let the students watching the scene via video know what was going on, she walked over to Zhang Haoyang and said to Ning Jinli, "Yu Teng and Li Weiwen made a mistake and were about to apologize to Haoyang. But you, you actually tried to impersonate the president's secretary to help them out. Anyone with a brain wouldn't do something so stupid, right? Do you think we're all idiots? Besides, our department's President Wang is right here!"
Now, the students who were on the video call understood.
Although we don't yet know what mistakes Yu Teng and Li Weiwen made, or why they apologized to Zhang Haoyang, judging from what Si Ya said and the video footage, we're about to get some juicy gossip.
Si Ya mocked Ning Jinli, then immediately turned her attention to Lili, "And you, you're an idiot too. You wanted to go and tattle on President Lu, fine, but you ended up finding a fake secretary. Are you trying to make us laugh to death?"
Lily clenched her hands, her mind blank, feeling flustered and embarrassed, too ashamed to lift her head.
Zhang Haoyang then spoke up: "Ning Jinli, you're just here to accompany them for the interview. This is none of your business. I'm too lazy to bother with you for impersonating the president's secretary. Get lost."
Ning Jinli smiled slightly, "Based on what I understand, you and Si Ya bullied Lili first. Yu Teng and Li Weiwen happened to be here to discuss business and ran into them, so they stood up for Lili. You are the ones who are in the wrong, but you turn around and ask them to apologize? Aren't you afraid of ruining your future by doing this?"
"Hahahaha!" Zhang Haoyang laughed out loud. "Ning Jinli, who do you think you are? An outsider coming to our company to lecture me? Who's right and who's wrong is none of your business to tell us what to do! Who do you think you are!"
Si Ya chimed in with a mocking laugh, "That's right! I've never seen anyone so clueless about their own limitations. Open your eyes and look! Our department head, President Wang, is sitting right there!"
Ning Jinli shifted her gaze to President Wang, her eyes filled with scrutiny.
Previously, when Lu Jueming reported some situations in the group to her, he also mentioned the managers of various departments, which naturally included this man in the publicity and marketing department.
Based on Lu Jueming's description, President Wang is capable of managing a department effectively.
However, this person has a flaw: he likes to hear flattery from his subordinates, and he shows some favoritism when handling matters within the department.
Lu Jueming has already put this person on the list of those to be placed under observation. If his problem doesn't cause too much of an impact, then he can continue to be the department leader, after all, no one is perfect.
But if he causes a major problem, he will have to be removed.
Clearly, Mr. Wang was completely unaware of these matters.
"President Wang, I've heard of you," Ning Jinli said slowly. "I'll just ask you one question: regarding what happened between the two employees today, do you intend to handle it impartially or show favoritism and cover up wrongdoing?"
Mr. Wang looked incredulous. "Young lady, don't you understand the situation at all? I'm the boss here! How I handle internal matters is none of your business, you outsider! Why are you interrogating me with such an arrogant tone?!"
Ning Jinli said, "Please answer my question."
Mr. Wang slammed his fist on the table. "What the hell am I supposed to answer you for! Zhang Haoyang, is your college classmate out of her mind? What a waste of such a beautiful face and figure!"
“That’s right, that’s right, she has some mental issues,” Si Ya said with a laugh. “President Wang, let me tell you, she might be faking it. Back in college, she always pretended to be a pure and innocent beauty, and now her condition has worsened. She’s developed a histrionic personality disorder and is always putting on airs. In the end, she even put on an act in front of you, making you laugh at her.”
She said this not only to Mr. Wang, but also deliberately to her classmates in the video chat group.
She wouldn't miss any opportunity to put Ning Jinli in a bad light.
Mr. Wang sighed and said helplessly, "Forget it, I'm too lazy to argue with her. You guys just go about your business."
Zhang Haoyang glanced at Ning Jinli with a cold smile, "Since you don't want to leave, fine, then stay here and watch Yu Teng and Li Weiwen apologize to me. I don't care."
He then withdrew his gaze, raised his head, straightened his chest, and said to the two people in front of him in a commanding tone, "Come on, kneel down."
Yu Teng and Li Weiwen's faces turned pale, then blue, and then flushed red.
The two of them didn't want Ning Jinli to know about this, but Lily inexplicably invited them over, mistaking them for President Lu's secretary.
They both felt sorry for Ning Jinli, but also felt that kneeling down to apologize to Zhang Haoyang in front of her was too...shameful.
It's good that she wasn't there, since they had already made up their minds.
But now that she was there, the two of them found themselves in an extremely awkward and complicated situation.
Zhang Haoyang stared at the two men's extremely complex expressions and said jokingly, "Oh... I almost forgot, Li Weiwen, you like Ning Jinli, and you even confessed to her last night but failed, hahaha! As for you, Yu Teng, I remember you also had feelings for Ning Jinli during college. What, now you think kneeling down in front of your crush is too embarrassing?"
His words struck a nerve with both of them, leaving them speechless and their veins bulging on their faces.
But Zhang Haoyang wasn't going to hold back. He issued an ultimatum, leaning closer and lowering his voice, "Don't forget what I told you before Ning Jinli came in. Do you want your ridiculous, almost non-existent dignity, or do you want your future? These days, if you have a criminal record on your file, it's hard to find a job, especially for top graduates from prestigious universities. It's practically ruining your life..."
His voice was like the whisper of a demon, viciously stimulating and humiliating the two men who were already on the verge of collapse.
Yu Teng and Li Weiwen were no longer able to think. The immense, invisible pressure made them feel as if all their strength had been drained away, and their legs were trembling as they were about to kneel down.
Just then, Ning Jinli stepped between the two men and firmly took their arms with both hands. "Let's go, don't pay any attention to Zhang Haoyang."
Her voice was soft, yet it seemed to carry a certain power.
This gave Yu Teng and Li Weiwen a sudden sense of confidence.
With her intervention, the two stopped trembling and did not kneel down.
"Ning Jinli!" Zhang Haoyang's eyes darkened. "I'm not going to hold it against you because we were classmates and you're a girl. Don't push your luck!"
Ning Jinli said calmly, "I didn't really want to argue with you, which is why I decided to take them away first. As for what happened between you two today, there will be a resolution later. I want to remind you that any action you take will affect the final outcome."
Zhang Haoyang didn't even consider the meaning behind Ning Jinli's words, and was convinced that Ning Jinli was just being unreasonable because she was a woman.
Given the current situation, Mr. Wang chose to remain on the sidelines and observe.
Anyway, he had already given Zhang Haoyang the authority to handle the matter, and he didn't want to get involved in the messy relationships between these people.
"Ning Jinli, are you absolutely certain that Haoyang won't lay a hand on a woman?" Si Ya pointed her finger at Ning Jinli's nose. "If he doesn't lay a hand on her, I won't be so polite! I'll count to three, and you'd better get out of here, or I'll teach you a lesson!"
"one!"
"two!"
"three!"
After counting to three, Ning Jinli showed no reaction.
Si Ya immediately slapped him across the face.
Snap!
Ning Jinli casually grabbed her wrist, preventing the slap from landing.
This scene was also clearly captured by a mobile phone placed on the conference table.
The students watching through the video chat group were astonished and were all discussing it in the group.
"What's wrong with Ning Jinli? How dare she confront Zhang Haoyang and Si Ya?"
"She wasn't like this before, was she?"
"Yeah, back in college, even when Si Ya bullied her, she didn't fight back. How come she's so tough now?"
"Again, she looks pretty cool."
"Sigh... It's cool, but the consequences are probably serious. Don't forget what happened at the party that night. Zhang Haoyang's background is incredibly powerful. Ning Jinli wasn't there at the time, otherwise, she wouldn't dare to be so outspoken now."
"..."
The group chat was buzzing with excitement, and many people expressed concern about Ning Jinli's actions.
Of course, there were also some people who supported Zhang Haoyang and Si Ya, who took this opportunity to praise the two of them again, and said that Ning Jinli was courting death.
Si Ya's wrist was gripped. She tried to break free but couldn't. She angrily said, "Ning Jinli! Let go of me!"
Ning Jinli said seriously, "I can let go, but I'm warning you, I don't want to fight anyone, and you'd better not do it either."
"Let her go!" Zhang Haoyang commanded forcefully.
Ning Jinli calmly released her fingers.
But in that instant, Si Ya didn't hesitate to slap him again.
Snap!
A crisp slap rang out.
But the person who got slapped in the face was Si Ya.
Her right hand was still in mid-air, her eyes wide open, and her left hand slowly touched her cheek. When her fingertips touched her skin, a sharp pain spread from her left cheek to her entire head.
She didn't even see how Ning Jinli made her move; she only saw a blur before her eyes and her mind went blank.
Yu Teng, Li Weiwen, and Zhang Haoyang, who were standing nearby, managed to catch a glimpse of Ning Jinli's slap, which came after she struck first.
No one could believe that Ning Jinli would turn around and slap Si Ya.
Several seconds passed.
Zhang Haoyang snapped out of his daze and hurriedly hugged Si Ya, looking at her blank eyes and rapidly swelling left cheek with heartache. "Xiao Ya... Xiao Ya, are you alright?"
Si Ya burst into tears instantly and screamed, "She...she hit me! How dare she hit me!"
The people present were shocked, and the classmates in the video chat group were also stunned, staring at their phone screens in disbelief, even pausing their chat.
“I warned you,” Ning Jinli’s eyes turned slightly cold, “but you wouldn’t listen.”
Si Ya realized that her phone was still broadcasting live to her classmates, and they must have seen her being beaten. She became furious and embarrassed.
"Ning Jinli! You damned bitch! I'll fight you to the death!"
She roared in a frenzy, raised her high-heeled foot, and kicked Ning Jinli in the stomach with all her might!
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