23. Mei Xiao
During everyone's lunch break, Ling Ling went to the corridor of the building's fire escape and stared blankly. She should have been grateful to be able to turn her hobby into a career. But the threshold to displaying her talents actually depended on how well she managed interpersonal relationships, which made her extremely disappointed. The crisp sound of high heels approached from afar. She originally thought it was just a strange colleague who was climbing stairs to lose weight during lunch break, so she deliberately lowered her head and pretended to ignore it. But unexpectedly, a cheerful woman's voice called her by name. "Ling Ling, right? You sit here like you're cultivating immortality. Have you had any sudden realizations?" Ling Ling sat on the steps with her knees hugged, looking up at the woman who came in with a bad attitude. She had a neat bob haircut and was wearing a dark green professional suit from HOGO BOSS. Her eyes were full of playful scrutiny. "I... just want to take a break." Ling Ling smiled awkwardly, afraid that her careless words would cause unnecessary speculation. "As a newcomer, you can't claim authorship, and the company can't let clients know the planning was done by a new hire. You should understand that, right?" The woman smiled kindly, but her words were blunt. "Of course," Ling Ling said, her voice weak, like Lin Daiyu who had just buried some flowers. But she changed the subject, challenging him, "Are you so weak under pressure?" This suddenly ignited Ling Ling's fighting spirit. "Everyone's energy is focused. Does Tuo Wu want us to use all sorts of tricks in our internal struggles, or does he want us to keep our creative inspiration flowing?" She felt a flicker of regret as she finished. She had no idea where this woman came from. If she were Bai Yuefu's person, she'd be in big trouble. "Can you understand it this way: workplace struggles are just a training ground for business battles? If you can't even handle a few shrewd colleagues, how can you convince the higher-ups you're mature enough to win over clients with unique strengths?" Hearing the woman's words, she relaxed her guard and continued, "Internal fighting is internal consumption. Daily exhaustion with interpersonal relationships only drains your thinking. Whether you're resilient when following up with clients depends on the company's resources and your passion for the industry, not on who wins the internal battle." "Haha, okay," the woman laughed heartily. "Then follow me from now on. I'm Mei Xiao, the head of Creative Team A. Report to our department this afternoon with your belongings." The crisp clacking of high heels echoed again. The woman patted her shoulder and gracefully departed. Ling Ling remained seated on the concrete steps, digesting the news the woman had just announced. She had heard about "Creative Team A" when she first joined the company. Externally...
During lunch break, Ling Ling wandered off to the building's fire escape corridor, lost in thought. She should have been grateful to be able to turn her hobby into a career. But the fact that the threshold for displaying her talents depended on her interpersonal skills filled her with deep disappointment.
The crisp sound of high heels approached from afar. She had initially assumed it was just a strange colleague climbing stairs to lose weight during lunch break, so she deliberately lowered her head and pretended to ignore it. But unexpectedly, a cheerful female voice called her by name.
"Ling Ling, right? You've been sitting here like you're trying to cultivate immortality. Did you suddenly realize anything?"
Ling Ling sat on the steps, knees hugged, looking up at the unfriendly woman. She had a neat bob haircut and wore a dark green HOGO BOSS business suit, her eyes filled with a playful scrutiny.
"I... just want to take a break." Ling Ling smiled awkwardly, afraid that her unintentional words would cause unnecessary speculation.
"It's impossible for a newcomer to have the right to authorship, and the company will not let the client know that the planning was done by a newcomer. You should understand this principle, right?" The woman smiled kindly, but spoke bluntly.
"Of course." Ling Ling's weak tone sounded like Lin Daiyu who had just buried flowers.
The other party suddenly changed the subject and asked provocatively: "Are you so bad at handling pressure?"
This suddenly aroused Ling Ling's fighting spirit: "People's energy is focused. Does Tuo Wu want us to use all kinds of strange tricks in the internal struggle, or does he want us to have endless creative inspiration?" After saying this, she felt a little regretful. She didn't know where this woman came from. It would be terrible if she was Bai Yuefu's person.
"Can you understand it this way: workplace struggles are just training grounds for business battles? If you can't even handle a few mean colleagues, how can you convince the higher-ups that you're mature enough to win over clients with their own merits?"
Hearing the woman say this, she relaxed her guard and continued, "Internal fighting is internal consumption. Being exhausted by dealing with interpersonal relationships every day will only drain your mind. Whether you're resilient when following up with clients depends on the company's resources and your passion for the industry, not on who succeeds in the internal struggle."
"Haha, alright." The woman laughed heartily. "Then you'll be following me from now on. I'm Mei Xiao, the head of Creative Group A. Come report to our department this afternoon with your belongings."
There was the crisp sound of high heels again, and the woman patted her shoulder and walked away gracefully.
Ling Ling remained seated on the concrete steps, digesting the news the woman had just announced. She'd heard about "Creative Team A" when she first joined. The official name was so long she couldn't remember it, but everyone called it that internally. It was the most prestigious department in the company's planning system, roughly speaking, responsible for landing big deals and making big money. It was said that the female head of Creative Team A was also the boss's confidante, Fang Tuowu. All sorts of resources were poured into it, and it was the center of everyone's attention.
*~*~*~*~*~*~
Angry footsteps came from behind. Mei Xiao, who was making coffee in the tea room, knew who was coming without turning around.
"Mei Xiao, what do you mean?" Bai Yuefu questioned her.
Mei Xiao chuckled and said, "What you're seeing is me carrying out my instructions. Is it that hard to understand?"
"How can you rely on your good relationship with the boss to transfer my people at will?"
"Sister, you are not young anymore, so your experience is not so limited? Good relationships can allow me to take shortcuts, so why should I waste my time going around in circles with you?" Mei Xiao sipped his coffee nonchalantly.
Bai Yuefu took a deep breath and readjusted herself. "Okay, then let me explain to you: we are a formal enterprise with a modern governance structure and standardized operations. There are procedures for human resource allocation. Don't use your local tyrant methods to mess up our rules. Whoever makes the rules is the one who breaks them. There will be no more in the future!" Bai Yuefu said it in a very insidious way, and even mentioned Mr. Fang as well.
Mei Xiao also became righteous and stern. "Manager Bai is right to be worried. If you had used the time you spent blocking me to go back to your workstation and organize the official documents, Ling Ling's transfer order signed by all relevant departments should have been placed on your desk. I'm not trying to steal your position. I'm just transferring in a small character to do odd jobs. Could it be that Manager Bai thinks she is capable of the task? Besides, if touching her can't affect your dignity, it naturally can't undermine the boss. What do you think? It's a small matter, why are you so angry? The rules in our industry are not about human resource allocation, but whether there are clients and what cases can be solved. These past few days, my subordinates have negotiated a new account for Kuang Sheng, and we can't handle it all, so we will transfer it all to your team this afternoon."
Kuangsheng was a newly popular imported sportswear brand. Bai Yuefu's Team B would undoubtedly be overjoyed if they could secure a client like this. However, she still didn't want to compromise her status and agree too easily. "You're trying to steal Ling Ling from me, and she's already carrying Ningshi with her. Don't think I don't know what you're up to!"
"Oh, you're right." Mei Xiao pretended to be thoughtful and said, "I can still pry Ling Ling away even if I don't give you anything, so why should I give her to a wealthy man for free? I originally wanted to do you a favor so that we wouldn't have to fall out, but it seems your emotional intelligence really doesn't allow you to make friends! So forget it."
Mei Xiao casually held the coffee cup and turned to leave, but was stopped by Bai Yuefu awkwardly.
"Hey - hi..." She felt a little embarrassed to speak again.
Mei Xiao said generously: "Okay, I'll give it to you! I've asked Bai Yihan to prepare the handover list, you can just take it. Mr. Bai, that's Kuang Sheng~"
Mei Xiao drew a dollar sign in the air with his fingertips, then walked around Bai Yuefu who was blocking his way and walked away gracefully.
Ling Ling spent the entire afternoon in the art room checking promotional posters for Ningshi's new product with the art directors. When she finally finished and returned to her workstation, she saw that the office supplies on her desk had been packed into a used express box with a transfer order on top.
Just as she was puzzled, Qu Xiaojiang sneaked up to her and whispered to her, "Lingling, you are really capable. How did you get yourself into Group A?"
"Me? I didn't. I only met Ms. Mei from Group A once in the corridor before. At that time, she asked me to come with her. I just thought it was like you saying you want to treat me to a meal. It was just a polite gesture and had no effect. Who would have thought it would come true, and so soon!" Ling Ling had never expected things to develop like this.
Qu Xiaojiang said to her in a dramatic tone, "Let me reenact Black Widow's behavior an hour ago: She suddenly ran up to me, threw me this empty cardboard box, and said, 'Put all of Ling Ling's stuff in here, put the transfer order on top, and have the tech guys reset the password for her office computer. When she comes back, just grab the stuff and leave!'"
Qu Xiaojiang vividly portrayed Bai Yuefu's jealousy and cruelty, then shrugged fearfully.
"Fortunately, I never save personal letters and pictures in my office computer, otherwise I would be a sacrifice here forever... Then this is a sample of Ningshi's latest poster, I will give it to you." Ling Ling handed the scroll that she had been holding in her hand to Qu Xiaojiang, but he did not dare to take it.
"Take Ningshi with you to Group A, otherwise why would 'Black Widow' hate you so much! But President Mei is really open-minded. He actually gave Kuang Sheng to Group B. You have just been in the company for less than a year, and your value has increased so much!" Qu Xiaojiang drooled with envy.
"What should I do if my office computer is locked? When I get a new computer in Group A, can you still send me the various manuscripts I made for Ningshi?" Ling Ling was worried that her future work would be difficult to carry out.
Qu Xiaojiang waved his hands at her fearfully, "I wouldn't dare. Black Widow did this to get back at you. I still have to hang around in Group B. But you better hang around over there too. If you can save me, get me out!"
Ling Ling sighed helplessly. As a rookie in the workplace, she didn't have the energy to fight. She had no choice but to admit defeat and said, "Even though she's like this, I can't just leave without even saying goodbye."
"I advise you not to go. With her level of character and emotional intelligence, why bother yourself with that?"
But Ling Ling still couldn't do anything that went beyond her moral bottom line. She held the cardboard box and walked into Bai Yuefu's open office door. The assistant was asking her to sign some documents.
"Mr. Bai, I saw the transfer order. I will report to Group A now. Thank you for your care during this period." Although Ling Ling spoke timidly, her voice was loud enough for her to hear.
Bai Yuefu didn't even look up, let alone look at her directly. She just lowered her head and said "hmm" indifferently, and continued to sign her documents.
Ling Ling had no choice but to politely say, "Then you go ahead and do your work. I'm leaving now."
Ling Ling walked dejectedly towards the elevator. Fortunately, Group A and Group B were on different floors, so they wouldn't have to share the same restroom and printing room every day, making for awkward encounters. She had no idea what Mei Xiao's plans for her meant, or what the future held for her.
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