Chapter 176 was targeted. "Who would have thought that the new..."
"Who would have thought that the newly transferred director would be a witch! I'd heard before that witches are troublesome and difficult to get along with; our days ahead are definitely going to be tough!"
"Do we even need to think about the future? From today onwards, life will be tough. Look at what this witch has done to us this morning."
"That's right, that's right. This whole morning, the witch has been making us clean the office and the hallways. We haven't done anything productive."
Lunchtime, in the cafeteria.
Mingxi, Wang Dajie, Yu Xiaomin, Xiao Li, and a few other junior staff members sat together, whispering and complaining.
The witch they were talking about was none other than Tang Hong, the newly transferred director of the office.
Before Tang Hong was transferred here, she worked in a textile factory. Some of the people in the office had dealt with her before, and their opinions of her were mixed. However, most people said that she was not easy to get along with. Before, they didn't understand why, but after this morning's ordeal, they finally understood why.
As the saying goes, a new broom sweeps clean, and Tang Hong, upon arriving at work today, acted swiftly and decisively, implementing sweeping reforms. The first thing she did was rearrange the office layout and have everyone do a thorough cleaning.
Mingxi and the others were busy moving tables and wiping windows all morning, so much so that they didn't even have time to drink a sip of water.
Actually, it's not wrong to ask everyone to clean up; paying attention to hygiene is a good thing. The reason everyone is full of complaints is because Tang Hong is unreasonable.
Before the year-end holiday, Director Shen led everyone in the office in a big cleaning, and then took a break. Now that they've just returned from work, there's a lot to do and everyone's busy. It just doesn't seem right for Tang Hong to abandon her regular work and mobilize the whole office to do a big cleaning.
Sister Wang was afraid that Tang Hong didn't know that the office had been thoroughly cleaned before the New Year, so she reminded her again. As a result, Tang Hong pointed her finger at her and scolded, "Are you the leader or am I the leader? I told you to clean up, can't you just clean up properly?"
Sister Wang is also a senior colleague, one of the most experienced in the office. When Director Shen was in charge, he was not only polite to Sister Wang, but he also never dared to be so disrespectful, directly criticizing her in front of everyone in the office.
Tang Hong started doing this kind of thing as soon as she arrived...
It really makes everyone feel uncomfortable.
Yu Xiaomin poked at the steamed bun in front of her with her chopsticks, pouting as she said, "I can't stand it this morning alone. I miss Director Shen so much. I wish Director Shen could come back."
Mingxi: "I miss Director Shen so much too."
When this topic came up, everyone fell silent. Although Director Shen was a serious person, he was much better than Tang Hong.
Sister Wang sighed as she saw the young people's long faces. Although she missed Director Shen, these kinds of personnel arrangements were not something they could decide.
She took a deep breath and said, "Let's eat, or the food will get cold."
Mingxi hung her head, picked up her chopsticks, and started eating.
I still have to go to work this afternoon, and I won't have any energy if I don't eat enough.
After finishing their meal, everyone returned to the office side by side. As soon as Mingxi entered the office, he saw Liu Wenhong standing sideways with her back bent, half-standing next to Tang Hong, chattering away.
As soon as they entered, Liu Wenhong immediately fell silent and stood at attention.
Tang Hong, however, raised her head and gave Mingxi a deep look.
Mingxi, not understanding why, smiled and greeted, "Hello, Director Tang."
Tang Hong responded indifferently, looked away, and without giving Ming Xi a friendly look, turned around and went back to her own private office.
Mingxi was confused; what did this mean?
Why does it seem like Director Tang has a problem with her?
Surely not?
She only met Tang Hong today.
Mingxi didn't think much of it, only that she had misunderstood. But when the meeting started in the afternoon, just as she was about to raise her hand to speak, she heard Tang Hong say something meaningful.
"Ahem, I've heard that some young people in our office aren't doing a very good job, but they love to show off. They always try to steal the spotlight whenever something happens. This kind of behavior is not good and needs to be corrected. Young people should be more down-to-earth."
Mingxi frowned.
Something's not right.
Tang Hong deliberately said these things when she was about to raise her hand to speak; it was clearly aimed at her, wasn't it?
She pursed her lips, lowered her hand, and sure enough, Tang Hong showed a satisfied look on her face when she lowered her hand.
As the meeting ended, Mingxi walked at the back of the crowd. Yu Xiaomin leaned over and whispered in her ear, "What happened? Did you offend a witch?"
Although Yu Xiaomin wasn't the most perceptive, she could still tell that Tang Hong's words during the meeting were all aimed at Mingxi.
In addition, when assigning tasks earlier, Tang Hong also handed over all the most tiring and tedious paperwork to Mingxi. This work was previously assigned to her and Xiao Li by Director Chen, and the two of them did it, but now Tang Hong has given it all to Mingxi.
She also set a time limit, telling Mingxi to hand it over to her before she gets off work tomorrow night.
It's almost time to leave work, and there are only 24 hours left until tomorrow night's end of the workday. Tang Hongming is clearly putting Mingxi in a difficult position.
Therefore, Yu Xiaomin asked out of curiosity whether Mingxi had offended Tang Hong.
Mingxi shook her head: "No."
Yu Xiaomin: "What does the witch mean by that?"
Mingxi shrugged, unsure of Tang Hong's meaning. She returned to her desk, her head spinning at the stacks of documents. But since it was a task assigned by her superior, Mingxi took a deep breath and buried herself in her work.
Tang Hong, who was in the office, saw this scene and proudly raised her head.
Hmph, so what if she's Director Shen's confidante? She still has to listen to her obediently.
Tang Hong was transferred from a textile factory. Moving from a textile factory to a government department can be considered a promotion.
However, Tang Hong knew in her heart that her promotion this time was entirely due to good luck. If the previous director, Director Shen, had not fallen ill suddenly and there had been no other suitable candidate, she would not have been the office director.
Tang Hong was parachuted in, her position unstable, and she had no one to lead the way in the office. She also heard that Ming Xi in the office was a confidante personally recruited by Director Shen. When Director Shen was in office, she always exploited the other people in the office and paved the way for Ming Xi, planning to put Ming Xi in the position of office director when she retired.
They immediately decided to make an example of him.
Mingxi is that chicken; she wants to suppress Mingxi so that everyone else in the office can see how powerful she is and establish her authority.
Making the people in the office do a thorough cleaning and criticizing Sister Wang in front of others in the office is also part of establishing her authority.
As for whether his subordinates will be unhappy or have objections.
She didn't care.
What can they do if they have opinions? She's the leader. Even if they're unhappy, they have to listen to her.
Mingxi was unaware of Tang Hong's thoughts; she was still busy organizing the materials.
Although she knew that Tang Hong was making things difficult for her by assigning her so much work and setting a deadline, Tang Hong was, after all, her boss. If she didn't complete the work, she would be giving Tang Hong a handle to use against her and an excuse to talk back.
Mingxi buried her head in the pile of documents, concentrating intently. When she looked up again, it was already dark outside.
She was startled and instinctively reached for the time, when she heard a voice beside her say, "It's already eight o'clock."
Mingxi was taken aback: "Wei Ning, what brings you here?"
She exclaimed in surprise, "When did you arrive? Why were you so quiet? I didn't even notice you were here!"
"I arrived a while ago." Wei Ning said with a hint of resentment, "I came to pick you up after get off work, and waited for you at the door for a long time, but I didn't see you come out. I did see Sister Wang, who is often with you. She told me that your boss assigned you a lot of tasks and that you would probably have to work overtime today. She told me to come in and wait for you, so I came in."
He originally intended to stand next to Mingxi and see when she would notice him, but to his surprise, Mingxi was so focused on her work that she didn't notice him even after he sat there for more than two hours.
Mingxi felt both helpless and amused, and poked Wei Ning's arm, saying, "I didn't notice you. Couldn't you have made a sound to let me know you were here?"
Wei Ning shook his head: "That won't do. A mature and capable wife won't interfere with a woman's work."
Mingxi covered her mouth and laughed. Wei Ning was hardly a mature and capable wife.
After seeing that Mingxi had finished laughing, Wei Ning asked, "It's getting late. Haven't you finished your work yet? Do you want me to go home and get your lunchbox to bring you food?"
Mingxi shook her head, stretched, and said, "No need, I've almost finished tidying up. I can finish the rest tomorrow when I'm at work. Let's go home."
She packed her things, took Wei Ning's hand, and said, "Let's go home."
"good."
Wei Ning rode his bicycle to take Ming Xi home. A few days ago, it snowed, and the road was covered in ice and snow, so Wei Ning didn't dare to ride fast and the bicycle moved slowly.
"Why are you suddenly working overtime today? Are you already this busy right after work resumed?" Wei Ning's voice drifted over from the front.
Mingxi: "It's not that we're busy, it's that our new director is sick. Didn't I tell you yesterday that our Director Shen is sick, and a new director was transferred from above? The new director took office today, and as a result, his three fires have all landed on us..."
Mingxi started complaining, and Wei Ning frowned as he listened: "What's wrong with your new director?"
Mingxi: "I don't know, and I feel like she's deliberately targeting me. Even Xiaomin came to ask me if I had offended Tang Hong, even though I only met her for the first time today."
Wei Ning slammed on the brakes, helping Ming Xi think. Seeing that Wei Ning had stopped riding the bicycle, Ming Xi asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Wei Ning: "I'm afraid the reason your new director is targeting you isn't because of Director Shen."
The steel rolling mill is a large factory with thousands of employees, and not all the leaders are of one mind. Even within the factory office alone, there are several factions. The factory director and the deputy director don't get along, and among the workshop leaders, some are aligned with the factory director, some with the deputy director, and some remain neutral.
It's not uncommon for employees who were once favored by the new leader to be sidelined when a new leader takes over.
The new leader establishes authority, eliminates dissidents, and cultivates his own confidants.
Having seen a lot in steel rolling mills, Wei Ning quickly figured out what was going on.
Mingxi was taken aback, but then she realized what was going on.
Everyone knew that she had been exceptionally recruited by Director Shen, so she naturally sided with Director Shen. No wonder Tang Hong gave her a hard time as soon as she arrived.
This is not hard to understand. It's just that Mingxi has never worked in a workplace with complicated interpersonal relationships, so she didn't think of this option at first.
Now that Wei Ning has said it, she understands.
Mingxi said helplessly, "So I've become Tang Hong's tool for establishing her authority."
She shook her head and said, "Forget it, I'll just be a tool. As long as Tang Hong doesn't cause trouble, I don't care."
She didn't have much ambition, nor did she think about getting promoted to a leadership position; she just wanted to work steadily and peacefully.
Wei Ning: "Then be careful. I think your new director is going to be difficult to get along with. You might have a lot of trouble."
Mingxi waved her fist: "Hmph, she's not easy to get along with, and I'm not someone to be trifled with either. If she goes looking for trouble, I won't put up with her."
She wasn't afraid of Tang Hong at all. If she really angered her, she would hit or scold her as she pleased.
If things really get really bad, she can just quit; after all, she doesn't live off this salary alone.
Ming-hsi said that running a family business is just something to be carefree about.
Hearing Mingxi say this, Wei Ning felt relieved.
He knew Mingxi wouldn't wrong herself, but he still added, "Then don't hold back, and don't let yourself be bullied."
Mingxi: "Don't worry, I definitely won't."
Mingxi returned home with Weining. It was so late, and Zhao Sulan thought she had gone out with Weining today. When she saw her return, she couldn't help but scold her.
"Where did you go to play? Why didn't you tell me beforehand? I was so worried."
Mingxi pouted, looking aggrieved: "Mom, you've wronged me! I didn't go out to play. I came back so late because I was working overtime at the office!"
Mingxi recounted how the new director made an example of her, using her as a tool to establish his authority, which forced her to work overtime until this late.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Sulan felt extremely distressed. Knowing that Mingxi hadn't eaten yet, she immediately went to the kitchen to cook for her.
Like Wei Ning, she instructed Ming Xi while cooking: "Your boss is unreasonable, so don't put up with her. If it really doesn't work out, we can just quit and come back to work at the matchmaking agency. Anyway, the matchmaking agency has been doing pretty well lately."
Mingxi: "I know, Mom. Don't worry, I won't wrong myself."
-
The following evening, before leaving get off work, Mingxi placed the report she had just finished on Tang Hong's desk. Tang Hong opened it and after only two pages, she threw the document on the desk.
She looked up at Mingxi and said in a deep voice, "I said in the meeting before that young people should not be thinking about showing off, but should be down-to-earth and do their jobs well step by step. Why didn't you listen to me?"
Mingxi looked bewildered. She couldn't understand why she was trying to show off when she was just submitting a report as Tang Hong asked.
She didn't tolerate Tang Hong's behavior and raised her voice to ask, "Director Tang, I don't understand what you mean. Why do you think I'm trying to steal the spotlight?"
Tang Hong snorted heavily: "You put together a whole year's work report for me in less than a day. Isn't that showing off?"
She said matter-of-factly, "The learning assignments issued last year alone were a thick book. How could you possibly have compiled them in just one day? You probably just made up a report to complete my assignment, didn't you?"
Mingxi couldn't help but want to laugh.
So Tang Hong knew that one day wasn't enough to prepare the report?
Mingxi: "I'm sorry, Director Tang. Although as your superior I shouldn't contradict you, I don't want to bear your unfounded accusations. You asked me to compile the report yesterday, so I worked overtime, staying in the office until dark last night. To submit the report on time and not delay subsequent work, I didn't even leave the office for lunch today to finish it. If you've carefully read the report, you should know that its contents are not fabricated, but rather a summary based on last year's work guidelines. If you still think I only completed the task on time to show off, then we can seek judgment from our superiors."
Mingxi spoke with neither arrogance nor servility, and her words were reasonable and well-founded. Everyone in the office was a witness to her hard work. Compared to Mingxi, who worked so hard that she forgot to eat and sleep, Tang Hong, who knew there wasn't enough time, still assigned tasks.
Furthermore, Mingxi's suggestion to seek redress from the leaders really put Tang Hong in a difficult position.
Going to the leaders about this is definitely not going to work. The higher-ups aren't stupid; they can tell at a glance that Tang Hong is just making trouble out of nothing, and they might even criticize her.
If you don't go to the leader and give in to Mingxi, you'll lose face big time, and the leader's authority will be ruined.
Liu Wenhong was so angry that her teeth ached. She hadn't expected Mingxi to be so difficult to deal with.
She stared intently at Mingxi for a long time, then suddenly stood up and closed the office door.
To make an example of Mingxi, she deliberately left the door open when criticizing her, wanting everyone else to hear.
But she hadn't achieved her goal, and she was about to lose face, so she couldn't let anyone outside hear what was happening inside.
Tang Hong closed the door, forced an awkward smile, and said ingratiatingly, "Ahem, I misunderstood. Xiaoming, you don't have such a bad temper. Let me apologize. What I said just now was a bit sharp, but I was only doing it for your own good. I joined the company when I was about your age, and I couldn't help but want to teach you a few things. Don't think too much about it, just go back and work hard."
After she finished speaking, she opened the door and pushed Mingxi out before she could say anything.
Mingxi snorted and went back.
When Yu Xiaomin and Sister Wang saw Mingxi coming over, they asked curiously what was going on. They had heard the commotion in Tang Hong's office.
Mingxi didn't give Tang Hong any face at all and directly told her about Tang Hong's attempt to make things difficult for her.
Sister Wang and Yu Xiaomin both pursed their lips, also disapproving of Tang Hong's behavior.
They could also see that Tang Hong wanted to establish her authority. However, Tang Hong was too impatient. Before the handover of work was even completed, she started messing around with things, disrupting the work plan that Director Shen had arranged. Everyone wasted a lot of time familiarizing themselves with the tasks again, and the work progress was delayed.
Now Tang Hong is nitpicking and finding fault with everything. Even though Tang Hong is targeting Ming Xi, they are all employees under Tang Hong, and they all feel a bit resentful and secretly dissatisfied with Tang Hong.
As expected, Tang Hong's attempt to make an example of someone failed, and she quickly turned to other methods to establish her authority.
As everyone was about to leave at the end of the workday, she suddenly emerged from the office, cleared her throat, and said, "After these past two days of work, I've noticed a problem: the discipline of our office staff is quite poor. They always like to arrive on time and leave early, which is a very serious issue. Starting today, I'm going to strictly enforce the rules and prohibit all tardiness and early departures. Everyone must arrive ten minutes early. Arrive early so you can finish everything before work starts—going to the restroom, getting water, etc. Once get off work begins, you'll be working diligently. The same applies to leaving the office; leaving before the designated closing time is prohibited."
"Hey Liu Wenhong, get me a notebook and write this down. Starting tomorrow, write down who isn't at their workstation during work hours, or who leaves early. I'll report it as half a day of absence."
Liu Wenhong immediately stood up with a beaming smile: "Hey, Director, don't worry, I guarantee I'll complete the task."
Liu Wenhong proudly raised her head, looking quite pleased with herself for being entrusted with an important task.
The others, on the other hand, looked utterly dejected.
Their office is mostly staffed by women, many of whom are married. They usually have to take their children to daycare or school in the morning, arriving at work just in time. It's not intentional; they're just busy getting up in the morning, dropping their children off at school, and then rushing over, which means they're almost at work by the time it's time to go.
The same goes for evenings. It's not that people intentionally want to leave early; it's just that school lets out at that time, so leaving a few minutes early is just enough to pick up the kids.
Moreover, it's only a few minutes in advance, and everyone knows that. At most, it's ten minutes in advance, which won't make much difference and won't delay the work.
Tang Hong's overreaction caused a lot of trouble for everyone, which naturally made them unhappy.
Everyone was unhappy at that moment, and someone muttered, "Director Shen never had so many demands before."
Tang Hong's eyes sharpened instantly, and she said loudly, "Director Shen is Director Shen. I don't know what Director Shen was like before, but now that I'm the director of this office, you all have to listen to me."
Liu Wenhong fawned, "Yes, Director Tang is right. Now that Director Tang is the director, everyone should listen to him!"
Tang Hong gave Liu Wenhong a satisfied look, and Liu Wenhong was instantly overjoyed.
Mingxi curled her lip; these two were birds of a feather, their stench was the same.
Tang Hong: "Besides being late or leaving early, there's also the issue of taking leave. From now on, you have to come to me in person to ask for leave. I'll give you a leave slip before you can leave. Without my leave slip, no matter what the situation, it will be considered unauthorized absence from work. Not only will your salary be deducted, but I will also report it and issue a disciplinary action."
This only made the already reluctant group even more resistant. Who could guarantee that no one would encounter special circumstances or need to take leave urgently?
Not everything can wait until Tang Hong issues a leave slip.
Tang Hong didn't care what anyone thought. After she finished speaking, she picked up her bag and left for get off work, leaving everyone in the office full of resentment.
Sister Wang was slamming the things in her hands, making a loud crashing sound, as if she wasn't tidying up but venting her anger.
She muttered, "This Tang Hong is really making a big deal out of nothing, even punishing people for such a trivial matter. I just don't believe she would dare to punish someone for such a small thing."
Mingxi: "Hey, Sister Wang, don't be angry."
Sister Wang: "How can I not be angry? Look at what she said, is it reasonable? I understand that I'm not late or leave early, but can't I just send a message to ask for leave? She insists that everyone have to come to her to get a leave slip, otherwise it's considered absenteeism? What, if I have a fever and am sick and can't get out of bed, do I still have to come here to ask her for leave, otherwise it's considered absenteeism?"
Sister Wang said angrily, "I'm not going to ask for leave. I want to see if she dares to punish me."
Mingxi knew that Sister Wang was just saying that out of anger.
However, she also felt that Tang Hong's request was too demanding.
Everyone has their worries at some point.
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Author's Note: Sorry I'm late, I'll make up for it with 10,000 words a day tomorrow.
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