Chapter 14 Prejudice: Occupational prejudice seems to be impossible to eradicate...
A manager suddenly walked up behind them and greeted them, and Zhang Minglang then leisurely turned his gaze away from Tang Yi.
"...The bar environment isn't very good, some colleagues might not be used to it." Tang Yi smiled with narrowed eyes, reminding him with her eyes not to go too far.
“Ah,” he pretended not to see, looking as if he had just realized something, and said lightly as if talking to himself, “That’s true, after all, Aunt Chen Lian also said that you never go to bars.”
Tang Yi nodded fiercely: "Yes."
Seeing her somewhat exasperated expression, Zhang Minglang silently curled the corners of his lips.
It's really funny to tease Secretary Tang.
Over the next two weeks, all departments entered the final, intense stage of project completion.
Let alone other colleagues, even a workaholic like Tang Yi could only grit her teeth and bear it under such pressure.
Everyone has been working overtime for a long time now. If nothing unexpected happens, this weekend will be ruined too.
"Ouch, I'm so tired..."
No sooner had Zhang Minglang left for a meeting than Tang Jiaxin began wailing and howling.
She sprang up from her seat and rushed to Tang Yi. Clinging to Tang Yi's arm, she wailed, tears streaming down her face, "Secretary Tang! Great God Tang! Could you please say a few words to General Manager Zhang and give us, your humble servants, a couple of days off…?"
Tang Yi found it amusing to see her acting like such a clown.
She gently patted Tang Jiaxin's shoulder, then looked up at her listless colleagues and comforted them, "Hang in there, everyone, things will get better soon. I talked to General Manager Zhang today, and we'll be planning a team-building activity in October to help everyone relax."
Hearing this only piece of good news, everyone finally regained some spirit. Tang Jiaxin reluctantly dawdled back to her workstation and continued her grueling typing.
Around 5 p.m., Zhang Minglang returned from a meeting. He had already pushed open the office door when he suddenly remembered something, turned around, and stopped in the corridor in the middle of the office area.
"Everyone has worked hard during this period. We will have a normal holiday tomorrow and the day after, so please take a good rest for a couple of days."
Upon hearing Zhang Minglang's deep voice, his colleagues all looked up, exchanging disbelief.
In the month or so since General Manager Zhang joined the company, he has always been aloof and businesslike, even quieter than Secretary Tang. I never expected to hear words of concern like "thank you for your hard work" from him.
Tang Jiaxin was the first to react, letting out a small cheer, which eased the atmosphere in the office a bit.
Everyone started excitedly chattering and discussing it.
"Alright, let's get back to work." Zhang Minglang spoke up at the right moment, and everyone barely managed to suppress their excitement.
The moment he stepped into the office, Tang Jiaxin quietly became excited.
"Finally, I have a day off! Waaaaah!! Secretary Tang, I love you!"
"Why thank me? This is Mr. Zhang's decision, it has nothing to do with me."
Tang Yi smiled, subtly garnering Zhang Minglang a wave of goodwill.
Seeing her colleagues exchanging glances to express their gratitude for General Manager Zhang's "wise and understanding" behavior, she felt relieved, picked up her cup, and quietly got up to leave the chat area.
Of course, she didn't mention it to anyone; it was she who suggested the holiday to Zhang Minglang that morning.
Telling a little white lie at the right time, delegating credit, can help your boss win people over and contribute to internal unity.
This was based on her experience from several years of work, and it was something she was very good at.
Tang Yi finally finished her work for the day before the end of the workday and clocked out promptly at 5:30.
"Have a nice weekend, Secretary Tang."
Tang Jiaxin passed by her on her way home from get off work and greeted her cheerfully.
"The same to you."
Tang Yichao nodded to her.
The setting sun was generously casting its rays upon the earth, its warm yellow light pouring down on her without reservation, turning her windswept hair golden.
Bathed in sunlight, she walked lightly out of the Junmao gate, as if enveloped by a transparent barrier, isolated from the noisy traffic and crowds around her.
On Saturday, after returning from his morning run, Zhang Minglang sat down at his computer in his study to read the emails sent by his assistant, Zhou.
Although he had been busy with work for the past few weeks, he never forgot to investigate the matter between Tang Yi and Zhao Linrui.
He frowned as he went through the letters that Assistant Zhou had collected about Zhao Linrui's and Tang Yi's employment, including detailed information such as Tang Yi's leave records since she started working.
It took him the entire morning to finally get the basic information right.
Zhao Linrui joined the company a year earlier than Tang Yi and rose through the ranks to become vice president after many ups and downs. He is now in his thirties and unmarried. From the projects he is in charge of, there is nothing wrong with him.
There's nothing wrong with it at all. After all, these are official documents, with no other practical reference.
Zhang Minglang felt a throbbing pain between his eyebrows. He put down the documents, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh.
I had long anticipated that investigating such old cases would not be an easy task.
He stared blankly for a while, and then an idea came to him.
Zhang Minglang dialed the number, and Assistant Zhou answered immediately.
"Next week when you start work, focus on investigating the forums and social media platforms you use daily to see if there are any comments from leaders or colleagues related to Junmao. Ask Zhao Linrui about them."
After receiving a positive reply, he hung up the phone, leaned back in his chair, and covered his eyes with his arm as he meditated.
That day, I happened to witness Liu Zhang and Tang Yi having a conflict. Judging from the reactions of the colleagues around me, everyone must have some understanding of the matter, especially Liu Zhang.
Zhang Minglang thought to himself that he would find an opportunity to ask Tang Jiaxin and Li Da about this matter when he went to work next week.
There's no need to rush.
He propped himself up and tidied up the scattered documents on the table.
On the other hand, after working non-stop for several weeks, Tang Yi rarely allowed herself to sleep for an entire morning.
Around 1 p.m., she was finally awakened by the bright sunlight streaming through the curtains. She struggled to get out of bed, grabbed a hair clip from the bedside table, loosely tied up her long black hair, and slipped on her slippers to go into the bathroom to wash up.
Having lived alone for many years, cooking is not difficult for her. She rummaged through the nearly empty refrigerator and found a few eggs and half a cucumber. As she chopped the vegetables, she pondered what to do in the afternoon.
The sunlight streaming through the blinds bathed her in a soft glow.
After a quick lunch, Tang Yi suddenly had some free time. She sat cross-legged on the sofa, wrapped herself in a thick blanket, and idly scrolled through her phone in a corner, letting the TV play the dialogue of some unknown drama.
Sun Yuyang then pleaded and begged on WeChat when she would have time to go to Heaven.
Tang Yi has been too busy lately to go to a bar, so she just made up an excuse about having to work overtime.
The screen flashed, and Ms. Chen Lian's call appeared on the phone.
She paused slightly, but still chose to answer the phone.
"Have you been very busy lately?"
Chen Lian's stiff tone came from the other end of the phone.
Tang Yi responded, but had no intention of starting a new topic.
"How are things going between you and that Xiao Zhang?"
Upon hearing the name "Xiao Zhang," she didn't immediately realize who it referred to, and thus paused without replying.
"Why aren't you saying anything? Did you blow it again?"
Her mother's bossy tone was really irritating to her. She gave a cold laugh and replied sarcastically, "It's over. He looks down on my job. Are you satisfied with that answer?"
Chen Lian across from him was easily provoked, completely losing her usual elegant and composed demeanor towards outsiders.
She loudly questioned Tang Yi about the meaning of her words, what was so sarcastic about her, and after a series of transitions, she went on to talk about how miserable her life was, how a university professor had raised a daughter who had to grovel and work as a secretary.
The words became increasingly harsh, and Tang Yi lost patience and hung up the phone abruptly, throwing it onto the glass coffee table with a thud.
Occupational bias seems to be something that can never be eradicated.
Even between a mother and daughter.
Chen Lian was still receiving a barrage of calls, and WeChat messages kept popping up at the top of her phone.
Tang Yi simply reached out and grabbed the phone, then pressed and held it to turn it off.
The screen went black in an instant, and she stared blankly at herself on the phone until her eyes stung so badly that she almost cried.
The afternoon passed by in a daze.
She kept falling asleep and waking up, having many dreams intermittently.
She dreamed of the phone call she received at her workstation that day, she dreamed of the transparent fish tank shattering on the ground, she dreamed of the trembling in her voice that she tried to suppress, and she dreamed of the warnings given to her by Chairman Zhang and General Manager Lin.
All her colleagues seemed to know was that she worked meticulously like a machine, and that she was emotionally stable and never chatted or gossiped with her colleagues.
No one knew that she also got tired at work, and that she would get angry and scared when she encountered unfair treatment in the workplace.
After working for many years, she worked diligently and quietly, and with her outstanding professional skills, she shed the "pretty face" label and became the excellent "Secretary Tang" in other people's eyes.
She became invincible, as if no one cared about her emotions anymore.
No one is willing to sacrifice their own interests and pay a price that would turn everything upside down in order to uphold so-called fairness.
She reached for her phone on the coffee table, pressed a few buttons but nothing happened, then remembered that she had turned it off at noon.
The screen lit up, and unread messages flooded the entire screen like a tidal wave. In the darkness, the phone's faint light illuminated her fair face.
Tang Yi selectively ignored Chen Lian's messages and missed calls, opened WeChat, and painstakingly searched through a pile of irrelevant information for the useful parts.
She increasingly felt that creating a work account was a wise decision, as it could not only be used to separate work and life, but also to add unfamiliar men on blind dates on WeChat.
Just like when I added Zhang Minglang and then deleted him.
Tang Yi still finds that day dramatic when she thinks about it now.
She smiled and shook her head, trying to shake the embarrassing memory out of her head.
She doesn't know when it happened, but when she thinks of Zhang Minglang, all she remembers are their childish bickering, countless eye contact, and their tacit cooperation at work.
Keeping up with his ever-changing personality wasn't easy, but at least his presence brought a little bit of light to her dull and boring black-and-white work routine.
Although they hadn't worked together for very long, it felt like they had known each other for years. They easily became familiar with each other's personalities and cooperated seamlessly.
A series of coincidences brought them together.
Not in the mood or with the energy to cook, Tang Yi got up from the sofa, washed an apple casually, and sat down at the bar that was specially built during the renovation. She picked out a bottle of red wine from the entire wall of wines and poured it into a stemmed glass.
For a moment, the only sound in the empty and quiet house was the crisp sound of liquid flowing into the glass and hitting it.
She swirled her cup, leaned on the table, her shoulders slightly hunched, and stared blankly out the window.
A note from the author:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
