123. Two hundred thousand per class
Ling Ling looked from the pavilion to Mr. Fang in astonishment. She hadn't expected him to know she'd done it. Since joining the company, she'd kept her edge to herself, never daring to mention her foolishness. Mr. Fang, however, said calmly, "I was standing right here, saw the whole thing, and immediately decided to hire you. Brave, compassionate, understanding, bold and innovative, vibrant and distinctive—I think you perfectly embody my vision of what a creative director at Tuo Wu should be. Thankfully, you've performed well over the years, and I wasn't wrong about you." She hadn't expected her journey to this point to have such a connection with him. The hot chocolate flowed into her, warming her whole body. "Mr. Fang, thank you for giving me so many opportunities." Any words of gratitude seemed frivolous, any expressions of loyalty clumsy; this simple statement was all she could offer. Mr. Fang continued his conversation calmly, "We achieve each other's success. I don't think it's pedantic to talk about ideals in our careers. It's like marriage, which is indeed a combination of sex and reproduction, but wouldn't it be better if we added a little more warmth and sentiment? I decided to use you because I saw that when you were making advertising plans for clients, you didn't just focus on short-term product sales, but had a long-term vision. Because what clients really need is the promotion of their own brand image, not just advertising that highlights a certain product. The purpose of our creativity is not to praise what a new smart product can do, but to praise what creative people can do with its help. I think that when you were selling our plans, you also conveyed our company's passion for every advertising plan. Clients will recognize us more because they are also emotionally invested in their products. The emotional connection with clients and the insight into the humanity of advertising audiences are what I value most about you." This conversation with Mr. Fang gave Ling Ling more strength, and she was more adept at her subsequent work. Every time she saw Mr. Fang, Ling Ling felt more relaxed, able to crack a few jokes with him, even engage in a few arguments. Until one day, he summoned her to his office, his voice heavy. He told her something that she thought would completely destroy her future at Tuowu. Mr. Fang pushed a courier envelope towards her and said, "This is what I received this morning. It's Bai Yihan's resignation letter, along with a recorder. She negotiated with me, demanding a severance pay of 200,000 yuan, or she'll release this recording." "200,000 yuan? If she's going to give me n+1 compensation, the maximum I'll get is 50,000 or 60,000 yuan!" Ling Ling said indignantly. Fang...
Ling Ling looked at the pavilion in astonishment, then at Mr. Fang. She hadn't expected him to know it was her doing. Since joining the company, she had been restrained and didn't dare to mention her foolish bravery back then.
Mr. Fang calmly replied, "I was standing right here, watching the whole process unfold, and I immediately decided to hire you. You're brave, compassionate, understanding, innovative, and full of character. You're a brilliant, distinctive individual—you perfectly align with my vision of what a creative director at Takuwu should be. Thankfully, you've performed well over the years, so I didn't misjudge you."
She had never expected that she would have such a connection with him along the way. As the hot chocolate flowed into her body, she felt warm all over.
"Mr. Fang, thank you for giving me so many opportunities." Any words of gratitude seemed frivolous, any words of loyalty seemed clumsy, she could only say such a simple sentence.
Mr. Fang continued calmly, "We complement each other. I don't find it pedantic to talk about ideals in our careers. Marriage, for example, is indeed a union of sex and reproduction, but wouldn't it be even better if a little warmth and romance were added? I decided to hire you because I saw that when you create advertising proposals for clients, you focus not just on short-term product sales but on a long-term perspective. What clients truly need is a promotion of their own brand image, not just advertising highlighting a specific product. The purpose of our creative work isn't to celebrate what a new smart product can do, but to celebrate what creative people can do with its help. I believe that when you sell our proposals, you convey the passion we put into every advertising project. This will lead to greater client recognition because they, too, are emotionally invested in our products. Your emotional connection with clients and your insight into the human nature of your advertising audience are what I value most."
This conversation with Mr. Fang gave Ling Ling more strength, and she was able to handle her work more smoothly. Every time she saw Mr. Fang, Ling Ling felt more relaxed, and she could joke with him and even argue with him.
Until this day, he called her to his office with a heavy voice. She thought that what he said would ruin her future in Tuowu.
Mr. Fang pushed a courier envelope towards her and said, "I received this this morning. It's Bai Yihuan's resignation letter, along with a recorder. She negotiated with me, demanding 200,000 yuan in severance pay. Otherwise, she'll make this recording public."
"200,000? If she compensates according to n+1, it would be at most 50,000 or 60,000!" Ling Ling said indignantly.
Mr. Fang pressed his hand, signaling her to calm down, and then said, "I've already listened to it this morning. Now listen again."
He turned on the recorder, and 80% of the voice coming from it was Ling Ling's voice. She was so shocked that she held her breath:
There's a post where she dissed her former boss: "I've been interacting with that Gu Chaoqun for the past two months, and every day it's really pushing the boundaries of my understanding of how stupid an adult can be. At first, I thought he'd only be stupid enough to go beyond the Second Ring Road. Then, I thought he'd go beyond the core functional area of the capital. Then, I thought he'd be stupid enough to go beyond the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region! Turns out, he's even stupid enough to go beyond national borders. Today, in my mind, he's truly stupid beyond the Earth, and all I can do is help him 'soar into the vast universe'! ... I've kind of summed it up - Mr. Gu's three-piece set: picking peaches, giving needles, and making accusations."
Some of her complaints were about her boss: "So what if the boss hired me with such a high salary? I thought Tuowu was a private company with no background, relying on the founder's hard work to get to where he is today. The boss would have a keen eye, but I didn't expect him to spot this pig. He actually let Gu Chaoqun do this for so long, causing the company's most important project to be in a mess. Just based on his ability to judge people and things, I'm beginning to doubt his judgment on the company's major strategic decisions."
There were also things she and Gu Chuqi had secretly laughed at about the client that were overheard: Chuqi said, "Before the female boss came, I heard her assistant say that their boss was as beautiful as a painting." Lingling said, "She is as beautiful as a painting, like the New Year picture, the one holding a koi fish. Haha!" Chuqi said again, "I know the female boss's weakness. If I want to win this order, I have to keep praising her beauty. I didn't expect that this aroused her fighting spirit to become a strong woman with both beauty and wisdom. She kept revising my script and always bossing me around. Yesterday, she even asked me to help her search for which weight-loss pills to take!" Lingling comforted her, "Then tell her that what she really needs is not weight loss, but dehumidification." Chuqi asked, "Why?" Lingling replied, "Because there is water in her brain!"
…
Ling Ling was horrified. Almost every conversation she had at the company had been recorded. Only the long, meaningless parts had been cut out, but the complaints about her boss and clients had been retained, and the clients' names had been revealed in many places. Ling Ling felt a cold sweat on her head, and her palms were clammy and cool.
Seeing that she was not in a good state, Mr. Fang turned off the recorder.
"Mr. Fang, I... I'm sorry, I..." She didn't know what to say. She sounded quite talkative in the recording, saying things that she should and shouldn't say. What else was there to explain now? She might as well just write a letter of resignation. Just write a cover page and you don't need to write the content, because it felt like she had said everything she needed to say in the workplace in her life in the recorder.
Mr. Fang, however, maintained his usual composure. He waved his hand and said, "It's okay. It's just everyday work chat. The scary thing isn't the content, but the people who would think of secretly recording other people's conversations. You're also a victim. Do you know the story of the mutton informant in the Zizhi Tongjian? It tells the story of Wu Zetian banning slaughter, fishing, and shrimping. But Minister Zhang De's family celebrated the birth of a boy with a lamb. His colleague Du Su hid a piece of the meat in his arms during the banquet and reported Zhang De. But Wu Zetian didn't punish Zhang De. Instead, she reminded him, 'You must choose your guests carefully.' So I won't blame you, don't worry."
"But, Bai Yihan must have a backup of the recording. If you don't agree to compensate her 200,000, what if she really forwards it to our clients? Now is the time when advertisers are re-planning their promotional budgets at the beginning of the year. If this kind of chaos happens at this time, it will cause huge losses to the company!" Ling Ling said worriedly.
Mr. Fang said calmly, "You can sue her as a victim of surreptitious recording. I can also sue her for damaging the company's interests and violating confidentiality regulations. Her employment contract with the company hasn't been terminated yet, so it's unwise for her to engage in such behavior. It will be too much for her. However, I will still give her the money. It won't be as little as 50,000 or 60,000 yuan, nor will it be as much as 200,000 yuan. I'll ask the company's legal department to talk to her. As a media professional, we always aim to keep things peaceful. We don't want to make a big deal out of bad things."
"Then... thank you, Mr. Fang." Ling Ling still felt that she had caused a big mess and felt very sorry. "Please punish me. I originally thought you would fire me."
Mr. Fang smiled brightly and said, "I spent almost 200,000 yuan just to teach you a lesson. How could I bear to fire you? Honestly, I find these recordings quite amusing. Even in your daily chats and complaints, you maintain the humorous quality of a creative worker. Put these good ideas into your writing in the future. Okay, get back to work."
Ling Ling was a bit dazed for a moment. After such a big incident, Mr. Fang just let her off so easily? But she still said her goodbye respectfully and trotted downstairs to her office. She didn't want to stay on this floor for even a minute, for fear that her boss would change his mind.
Ling Ling ran back to the office, still in shock, but saw the back of a woman sitting on her swivel chair. She was fiddling with the metal ornaments on the desk without any hesitation.
Ling Ling walked around to see the woman's face before she breathed a sigh of relief. "Hao Shengnan, why are you so free? You come to our company on a weekday to scare me!"
"What's wrong?" Sheng Nan, sitting with his legs crossed in her luxurious office chair, saw her pale face and sarcastically said, "When I first came here, I heard from your colleagues that you went to see the boss. Could it be that you were caught having an office romance by the boss's wife?"
"The boss lady has passed away many years ago." Ling Ling collapsed on the sofa and drank some hot water to calm herself down.
"So he was so horny that you turned pale?" Sheng Nan looked as if he was determined to kill her.
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