gossip
“Last Friday morning, someone saw Mr. Pan driving you to work, and there are even photos,” Vicky said, taking out her phone to show the photos. “I was wondering if you stayed at his house on Thursday.”
"How could that be!" Zhu Shiyi felt a pang of guilt. "Who said that?"
It's certainly very possible, but she can't say.
This is far too easy to let one's imagination run wild.
“I’m not quite sure, Xiaolan told me,” Vicky added. “And another thing! That’s not fair, Shiyi. You and President Pan actually knew each other half a year ago.”
Zhu Shiyi was genuinely shocked this time: "You knew that?"
“Everyone knows already,” Vicky said, opening the official WeChat account. “Look, there was a video of you on the account from six months ago.”
Zhu Shiyi frowned.
WeChat Official Account?
I couldn't help but think of Li Xuan. Recently, he had work that involved this year's public WeChat account.
Without any evidence, Zhu Shiyi did not express her opinion yet. She only told Vicky that she decided to intern at MEETING precisely because she had been to a campsite in Qincheng.
......
Zhu Shiyi hadn't been sitting at her workstation for long when Fan Jun came to find her again: "Shiyi, is it convenient for you to come over for a moment?"
"Okay," Zhu Shiyi assumed he had some important work to discuss. She followed Fan Jun into the office, to a secluded corner. "What is it?"
Fan Jun moved his lips, seemingly hesitant: "You, Vicky, and I eat together every day, so we're practically friends, aren't we?"
Zhu Shiyi was completely baffled. In her eyes, Fan Jun was just an ordinary colleague, someone she could have lunch with.
"What do you mean 'half'?" Zhu Shiyi smoothed things over, "They're just friends."
She answered immediately, mainly because the question didn't mean much to her.
“Then I’ll be frank,” Fan Jun said, his head lowered and his brows slightly furrowed. “Shiyi, what is your relationship with President Pan…?”
Zhu Shiyi squinted, stretched his head, and said somewhat speechlessly, "It's nothing."
Fan Jun looked incredulous: "Really?"
Recalling the photos taken without her consent and the WeChat public account from six months ago, which are undeniable facts, Zhu Shiyi added, "I knew Mr. Pan before, but we weren't close."
She wasn't lying when she said that.
Fan Jun squinted, revealing several wrinkles on his cheeks. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything, looking very distressed.
"Just say what you want to ask," Zhu Shiyi said.
He's already come to me for a private chat, so a few more words won't make a difference.
“That’s right,” Fan Jun stammered, clutching his sleeve, “some people are saying that you and President Pan are dating.”
Zhu Shiyi subtly curled her lips into a smile.
This may not be true now, but it's hard to say what will happen in time.
“Some people also say that you and President Pan…” Fan Jun pursed his lips.
With his appetite piqued, Zhu Shiyi pressed, "What did you say?"
"...There was an improper relationship between him and a woman." He turned his face away, seemingly finding it difficult to speak.
Zhu Shiyi: ......
She chuckled lightly.
"Some people's hearts see everything as dirty." She was indirectly denying it.
Fan Jun quickly waved his hand: "I didn't say that. I've never thought that way. I've heard others say that about you, but I don't believe it either."
Zhu Shiyi gave a fake smile.
Don't believe me? Then why ask her?
"Shiyi," Fan Jun said, raising his voice, "you should try to stay away from other men at the company, especially male leaders. Otherwise, if any rumors spread, you'll be the one who suffers."
Zhu Shiyi's expression was complex.
A madman. He interferes in other people's lives under the guise of concern.
In the 21st century, are there still people who think that if a man and a woman stand together, there must be some improper relationship between them?
"Thank you for your concern, but both Director He and Director Zhong are women," Zhu Shiyi said politely, but secretly retorted, "I hardly ever see any male leaders in the company."
She turned and walked away.
That's right, she took Fan Jun's words to heart: in the workplace, you should stay away from men.
......
This was Zhu Shiyi's first day at work, and also the first time she had been falsely accused of having a romantic relationship with someone else. It would be a lie to say she wasn't angry at all.
But she didn't care too much. After all, apart from Fan Jun, no one else came up to her and asked if she had an improper relationship with the leader.
When a normal person sees a beautiful young man and woman alone together, their first reaction is to assume they are dating, rather than suspecting that one is keeping the other as a mistress.
People who smell bad are indeed a minority.
Zhu Shiyi was too lazy to change other people's minds; some people just would think that way, and no matter how much she explained, it was useless.
To be honest, thanks to the rumors, her work has become much easier, and she no longer has to run around doing odd jobs.
Zhu Shiyi learned another trick: When you really have some relationship with the boss, but your colleagues are unsure, you should play dumb, neither admitting nor denying it, keeping things ambiguous so that others can't figure you out and won't dare to bully you.
With fewer miscellaneous tasks at hand, Zhu Shiyi had more time to pick up the practice project she hadn't touched for several days.
After a whole day of struggling, I finally managed to come up with this plan.
The next morning, Zhu Shiyi handed the plan to Zhong Qi.
Two hours later, Zhong Qi called her into his office.
“It’s mediocre,” Zhong Qi said, scrolling the mouse wheel. “Your proposal isn’t convincing.”
“Why would the target customers buy it? Why choose this campaign plan? And what about the pricing strategy and the reasons?” Zhong Qi pointed out one by one. “The risk contingency plan is too crude.”
Zhu Shiyi agreed and silently left the office.
Their conversation was overheard by someone with ulterior motives.
While passing by the tea room during his lunch break, Zhu Shiyi heard a man and a woman chirping crickets.
"That person's abilities are really mediocre; her marketing plan got criticized by Director Zhong again!"
"Indeed. Hey, tell me, with Zhong Bu being so busy, when does he ever have time to train newcomers?"
"She's a nepotism case. Her relationship with President Pan is definitely not simple. That video on Qincheng's WeChat official account, that video of so-and-so, was filmed by President Pan! I was the one who got the source files back then."
“There’s definitely a connection. Otherwise, why would I drive her to work in the morning? Also, I heard that Mr. Pan went with the person in charge of the field project.”
Zhu Shiyi realized that "that person" was her.
She didn't refute it; there was nothing she could do, what they said was true.
Aside from the term "connected person" which doesn't quite apply to her at the moment, she could be considered to have a relationship with Pan Yue, but she wasn't a "connected person" in the company. Her relationship with Pan Yue was personal, and they had never been involved in any work-related conflicts of interest.
“I just remembered something. Last month, General Manager Pan inexplicably showed up at our department’s routine meeting and insisted that Brother Xuan was stealing credit. I think the company just wants Brother Xuan to take the blame so that someone else can get a project. Maybe it’s for a promotion? Anyone who wants to be a leader has to get a project done.”
Zhu Shiyi laughed himself to death.
That's quite an imagination, though she won't admit it.
"That's quite possible. It's hard to believe she didn't have connections!"
"So what if they're connected to us? In the workplace, everyone knows this, but you can't harm others for your own benefit."
Zhu Shiyi: ?
What harm?
Did she harm Li Xuan?
"Sigh, if the company continues like this, it's definitely going to go bankrupt. Take President Pan, that workaholic, for example. He used to refuse the advances of the daughter of the big boss of a partner company, but now..."
"What are you talking about—" Zhu Shiyi pushed the door open, smiling broadly. "I'm a leader parachuted in? How come I didn't know that?"
The colleague was taken aback, then laughed awkwardly, "Just kidding, I was just saying, sorry, don't take it seriously."
“I took it seriously,” Zhu Shiyi spread her hands, her face earnest. “So when are you going to give me a promotion and a raise?”
My colleague's lips twitched, and we remained silent.
"Is it really necessary..." Colleague A whispered.
"As for," Zhu Shiyi's smile faded, his gaze turning somber, "spreading rumors and slander are both illegal, aren't they?"
The two colleagues looked embarrassed, made up some excuses and left, leaving only the frosted door they casually tossed aside, its gleaming light dazzling.
......
Zhu Shiyi silently sat back down at her workstation, curled up in front of a pillow, and lay down.
Damn it, it's one thing to talk about her, but work is so boring. With such blatant gossip right in front of you, it would be superhuman to resist chirping a few words to relieve the boredom.
But she really couldn't stand them talking about the company, Zhong Qi, or Pan Yue.
The boss has some personal feelings, how did that lead to the company going bankrupt?
She couldn't let things continue like this; she had to report the situation to He Qiong. Before that, she needed to verify the source of the information.
Following the clues Vicky had given her, just as lunch break was ending, she went to find Meng Xiaolan: "Sister Xiaolan, can I ask you something?"
Meng Xiaolan seemed taken aback for a moment: "Sure."
She kindly pulled up a chair for me: "Sit down. What's up?"
"Sister Xiaolan, I won't beat around the bush," Zhu Shiyi thanked her and sat down, then showed her the photo. "Do you know who took this photo?"
She made up a vague excuse: "I happened to run into Mr. Pan that day, and he gave me a ride to work. Neither of us thought much of it."
Zhu Shiyi flashed a bright, fake smile: "And now this has turned out like this."
"Oh, this," Meng Xiaolan said apologetically, "I actually took the picture. That day, my husband was driving me to work when he suddenly told me that someone looked a lot like my boss. When I looked, I realized it was President Pan."
She grinned and said, "I just took a picture and posted it in a small group chat for our long-time employees. I didn't think too much about it at the time; I was just gossiping a bit."
Zhu Shiyi nodded. She understood; she definitely had to follow her boss's gossip.
"Later, Brother Xuan posted a video on his WeChat official account, and when we saw it, the person in the video was none other than you." Meng Xiaolan smiled teasingly, not saying much, but her expression said it all—she really wanted to hear the gossip.
“Oh, I see,” Zhu Shiyi said evasively. “It was all a misunderstanding. I did know President Pan before, but we weren’t close.”
She used the same line she had used to explain things to Vicky to deal with Meng Xiaolan.
......
"...That's how it is," Zhu Shiyi told He Qiong everything she knew. "Sister Qiong, I personally don't care, but this matter affects the work atmosphere of the department, as well as the positive image of the company and President Pan, which is why I came to tell you."
She was afraid that He Qiong would try to smooth things over, so she deliberately downplayed her own importance in her words and exaggerated the macro-level impact of the matter on the company, forcing He Qiong to take it seriously.
She didn't specify which colleague it was, so as not to make He Qiong think she was complaining.
He Qiong frowned slightly, pursed her lips, and smiled: "Thank you for thinking of the company. I'm sorry to have troubled you."
"It's almost time to get off work, you should go home first. Let me think about it and get back to you tomorrow, okay?"
--
I'm not in a good mood.
In the evening, Zhu Shiyi went to wash up early to cleanse herself of the day's grime.
With no one around, she was finally able to ignore her surroundings and lament in a defeated manner.
This whole thing is a mess, and I don't know if it will end well.
Glancing at the ukulele sitting obediently in the corner, Zhu Shiyi felt a little relieved. She picked up the little piece of wood and gently touched it.
Pan Yue's iron tree was also a piece of wood.
When will it finally bloom?
......
Cupid heard her wish, and he summoned the goddess of flowers to shower the world with the awakening of spring.
Beside the bed, the phone screen transformed into spring flowers, vibrant and bright.
Zhu Shiyi was alarmed.
This flower is far too bright.
Pan Yue actually played a video for her!
Zhu Shiyi sat up abruptly and looked down at himself.
Childish lace-trimmed bear pajamas.
She rushed to the mirror on the table, where she saw greasy hair, a sallow face, and dark circles under her eyes.
Ahhh!
Zhu Shiyi went absolutely crazy.
No, absolutely not!
......
Desires from the depths of one's heart quietly take hold.
But this is a gift from the goddess of flowers...
Zhu Shiyi stared blankly at him.
A bolt of lightning struck her head, and on a sudden inspiration, she pulled open the storage cabinet.
......
"Hi!" Zhu Shiyi called out to Pan Yue, waving awkwardly in a low voice.
Pan Yue narrowed his eyes, his expression complex: "...Are you...the person in question?"
“Yes! It’s me, Zhu Shiyi,” she patted her chest, “the real deal.”
In the photos, Zhu Shiyi is dressed elegantly with her hair up, looking energetic and neat.
Except for the charcoal-black face mask spread out on her face.
Pan Yue covered his lips with his hand, hiding the corners of his mouth that were turned up.
Two seconds later, he looked up, his expression serious: "Okay."
Zhu Shiyi chuckled.
She's so clever! She even came up with such a brilliant idea.
Zhu Shiyi touched her face, smoothing out the wrinkles in the face mask. Afraid of the mask shifting, she only dared to open her mouth slightly, her words muffled, but the joy in her voice and expression was unmistakable.
"What do you need me for?" she asked sweetly, with anticipation.
“It’s nothing,” Pan Yue said, his expression returning to normal. “I’ll just listen to your daily report.”
Zhu Shiyi was speechless for a moment.
......
Wooden man.
The gods showered love upon humanity, yet he chose to hold up an umbrella.
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