Chapter 4 The Showdown: "Can you please stop taking advantage of me?"...
Tang Yi thought that after that meal, the two would just pass each other by, so she gave a perfunctory "best wishes" and quickly deleted him from her friend list.
Who could have imagined that the second meeting would come so quickly, and that the other person would transform into my boss?
Seeing Chairman Zhang's gaze turn in their direction, Tang Yi quickly put her phone away, and without changing her expression, she preemptively said, "It's already been added, Mr. Zhang. I'll show you around your office later."
Seeing this, Zhang Minglang didn't expose her, but instead observed her expression with great interest, seemingly quite interested in her unusual flustered look.
"Alright, if there's nothing else, you can leave." Hearing Chairman Zhang's order, Zhang Minglang finally looked away, slowly got up, and followed Tang Yi's slender figure out of the board office.
Inside the elevator, Tang Yi stood with her back to the tall man behind her, staring blankly at a floor button, deeply reflecting on her unprofessional reactions just now.
Zhang Minglang glanced at Secretary Tang's expression through the elevator reflection. Seeing that she didn't seem angry, he slowly asked, "Secretary Tang, when do you plan to add me on WeChat?"
Tang Yi seemed to snap out of a daze, quickly realizing what she had done, and turned around to reply, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Zhang. I was rude yesterday. I'll add you back now." After saying that, she looked down at her phone, then looked up, smiled squintingly at the man, and said, "Please accept my request."
However, Zhang Minglang, staring at her delicate face and familiar fake smile, picked up Qiao. He crossed his arms, leaned forward slightly to meet Tang Yi's gaze, and as if deliberately trying to provoke her, he spoke slowly and deliberately, "What if I don't want to add it now?"
Add it or not, load the goods.
Tang Yi couldn't help but mentally grumble, but she maintained a smile and replied, "I completely understand, Mr. Zhang. If you don't want my WeChat, could you please give me your phone number? I can send you a text message with work arrangements." As she spoke, she actually opened her phone's notes app, looking expectant.
Sending a text message? How could she even think of that? Why not just send a message by carrier pigeon?
Zhang Minglang chuckled, just as the elevator doors opened with a "ding." He didn't give her another glance and strode out.
Seeing this, Tang Yi also started walking to follow, her high heels making a series of sounds on the floor.
Although the colleagues at their workstations had received their appointment notification emails a few minutes earlier, they still couldn't help but peek out from their computers to steal a glance when they saw the new president in person, and they all started whispering among themselves.
Upon seeing that the new boss was a handsome and promising young man, Tang Jiaxin frantically exchanged glances with Li Da, who was also watching the drama unfold.
"Mr. Zhang, this is your office. The secretarial desks are just outside. You can give me any work assignments directly." Tang Yi grabbed the armrest of the president's office and pushed open the door, stepping aside to let him in.
"Can you please stop taking advantage of me?"
Tang Yi: "?"
"...I don't understand what you mean."
"How can you be a secretary with such a bad memory?" Zhang Minglang deliberately spoke in riddles, and only when he saw that she really couldn't remember anything did he bring it up. "I said last night that we are the same age, and I am not old enough to be called 'you' (formal)."
Tang Yi was furious upon hearing this. She closed her eyes, suppressing the urge to retort, and silently chanted in her mind: He's the boss now, he's the boss, he's the boss...
After saying that, Zhang Minglang began to look around the office. The air was fresh and the temperature was pleasant. He then turned his head and glanced at the few people peeking out from the work area. Remembering something, he asked, "Where is your workstation?"
Tang Yi's expression and mindset had returned to normal. She held out her palm to indicate her workstation, which was the closest to the president's office.
Zhang Minglang nodded in acknowledgment.
"Then... please familiarize yourself with the environment first. There will be a board meeting at 9:30 this morning in Conference Room A on the 15th floor. I will print out the relevant information for you later, and I will notify you of the meeting at 9:25 sharp."
Tang Yi immediately got to work, swiping her fingers across the tablet to bring up her schedule.
After closing the glass door, Tang Yi returned to her workstation and began organizing and printing documents.
Inside the office.
Zhang Minglang walked around. The green plants were so fresh that there were still water droplets on the tips of the leaves, showing that they had just been tended to. Through the huge floor-to-ceiling window in front of him, he could overlook most of City A.
He faced the floor-to-ceiling window, one hand in his pocket, the other pulling out his phone to check messages.
He hadn't accepted Tang Yi's friend request on WeChat yet. Remembering his behavior in the elevator, he chuckled to himself, wondering how he'd suddenly become so childish. Just as he was about to accept the request, a text message appeared at the top of his phone.
He initially thought it was spam, but his eyes caught sight of the words "General Manager Zhang," and his eyelids twitched. He clicked on it almost as if possessed.
"Mr. Zhang, this is Tang Yi. I'm so sorry, I just realized your WeChat ID is your phone number. I'm sending this message so you don't forget it..." The following text was the work arrangement she had just verbally described.
?
Zhang Minglang was out of ideas.
I thought it was just to tease him, but I didn't expect him to actually do it.
He scoffed, the slight pang of guilt and conscience that had just surfaced vanishing without a trace with the text message. He used to be the one getting scolded for being stubborn, but now he'd finally met his match.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and an even more stubborn man than Zhang Minglang walked in carrying documents.
"Mr. Zhang, this is the list of board members and the company's departmental assignments. I've compiled it for you, please take a look."
Tang Yi walked in steadily, placed the bound documents in her arms and the coffee in her other hand on the desk, then straightened up, smiling, looking very happy: "You should have received the work assignment?"
Zhang Minglang turned around, stared at Secretary Tang who had succeeded in his plan, and replied through gritted teeth, "Received."
“Okay.” Tang Yi nodded in response, glanced at her watch, and continued, “It’s 8:56 now. You have about 30 minutes to briefly understand the composition of the board of directors. Also, I don’t know what kind of coffee you like, so I made you a basic cup. Drink it while it’s hot, and feel free to call me if you need anything.”
After speaking, Tang Yi saw that Zhang Minglang had no reaction, so she bowed slightly and turned to leave.
However, she had just returned to her workstation and hadn't even sat down when the door to the president's office opened. She saw Zhang Minglang with a stern face and a teasing look in his eyes.
"Secretary Tang, come in."
After saying that, he turned around without hesitation, leaving her with only the back of his head.
Tang Jiaxin was stunned, and she naturally saw President Zhang's dark face. She quickly took out her phone and typed furiously in the "Gossip Squad" group chat: "Did you guys see President Zhang's face? It's terrifying."
Someone in the group quickly responded:
"I feel sorry for Secretary Tang."
+1
"agree!!"
"Sigh. I feel so sorry for myself. Is my new boss really that bad-tempered...?"
"The first day of remembering President Lin."
In the office, Tang Yi walked in and saw Zhang Minglang lying in the boss's chair, listlessly flipping through documents. Seeing her enter, he gestured with his chin towards the untouched cup of coffee on the table and said, "Take it away."
"Is there anything Mr. Zhang is dissatisfied with?"
“What kind of secretary are you? Making decisions without even asking the boss’s preferences,” Zhang Minglang raised his eyelids and deliberately dragged out his words. “I only drink unsweetened coffee, and I don’t drink hot coffee. Take it away and pour it out, and make a new cup.”
"Okay, I'm very sorry." Tang Yi seemed unaffected, diligently picked up the coffee and walked out.
Five minutes later, she returned to the CEO's office with a fresh cup of coffee. This time, however, Zhang Minglang took a sip and made a new request: "Too bitter. Redo it."
Tang Yi had expected this. She revealed the sugar packet hidden in her other hand, tore it open, poured it into the coffee, stirred it a few times with a spoon, pushed it towards Zhang Minglang, and gave him a cold, emotionless smile: "Please."
This time, Zhang Minglang was speechless, and his earlier thoughts of playing a prank on him vanished instantly.
He picked up his coffee without a word and took a sip under Tang Yi's persistent gaze.
"How was it, Mr. Zhang?"
Zhang Minglang glanced at Tang Yi's seemingly expectant but actually knowing look, and waved her away.
At 9:30, the board meeting was held on time in Conference Room A.
At the meeting, Mayor Zhang officially appointed Zhang Minglang as the company's president, and Zhang Minglang finally behaved himself in this setting. After listening to the speeches of the shareholders, he roughly understood the various factions within the company.
After the meeting ended, the shareholders left the conference room one by one. Tang Yi also stood up from her seat near the door in the back row, smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress, walked behind Zhang Minglang who had also stood up, and left together.
"Mr. Zhang, the staff cafeteria is on the third floor. Are you going to eat at the company cafeteria or..."
Zhang Minglang was still pondering the contents of the meeting, and replied while looking straight ahead, "Don't worry about me, you can go."
Tang Yi nodded, walked ahead to press the elevator button, and followed him back to the work area. Zhang Minglang walked into the office without saying a word.
Tang Yi had been busy all morning and was finally able to sit down for a while.
She opened her tablet, organized the meeting minutes, printed them out, and handed them to Zhang Minglang. Then, she went to the staff canteen with Tang Jiaxin and Li Da, who had been waiting impatiently.
"How was it, Secretary Tang? What were your impressions of getting up close and personal with the new boss on your first day?"
Tang Yi turned to look at her two gossipy colleagues and replied expressionlessly, "Everything's normal. What's wrong?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, it has to be Secretary Tang," Li Da said admiringly, giving a thumbs up. "We were terrified when we saw President Zhang's dark face this morning."
"Yes, yes, luckily we're just doing odd jobs like organizing files, we don't have to go upstairs." Tang Jiaxin nodded vigorously.
Upon hearing this, Tang Yi chuckled lightly, shook her head, and did not express any opinion.
She always adhered to the principle of not gossiping or discussing her work, but Li Da and Tang Jiaxin had already started chattering behind her back.
Seeing that the two were getting more and more engrossed in their conversation and their voices were getting louder and louder, Tang Yi reminded them, "You two should talk less."
Upon hearing this, the two of them snapped out of their daze, quickly shut up, and buried their heads in their rice.
After lunch, the three returned to their workstations to prepare for a nap. Tang Yi suddenly noticed that a workstation that had been empty for a long time was filled with documents.
When the other colleagues returned after dinner, they also noticed this and began to speculate whether a new intern was coming.
"That shouldn't be the case, it's not even the fall recruitment season yet, is it?" Li Da muttered.
Tang Yi didn't pay much attention and went to her workstation to sit down. Just as she was about to take a nap, the door to the board of directors' office opened, and Zhang Minglang came out, followed by a young man in a dark blue suit.
"Everyone, let me introduce you. This is Assistant Zhou," Zhang Minglang said.
"Hello everyone, I'm Zhou Le. I was at the branch office this morning helping General Manager Zhang with follow-up matters, and I'll officially start working here this afternoon." Assistant Zhou stepped forward, bowed, and said with a smile.
Everyone applauded in welcome.
After everything was settled, Assistant Zhou looked up and around. He saw Tang Yi sitting alone at her desk, dressed appropriately, and looking calm and composed with a blank expression. He guessed that she was President Zhang's new secretary.
Having worked diligently for President Zhang for so many years, I never expected that a new competitor would appear as soon as I arrived at the head office! After a moment of quiet heartache, Assistant Zhou still walked towards Tang Yi's workstation.
Tang Yi was thinking of saying hello to Assistant Zhou after her lunch break when Yu Guangzhong saw him coming and stood up in advance.
Assistant Zhou quickened his pace, extended his hand to her, and said with a smile, "You must be President Zhang's secretary? Hello, hello, I'm Zhou Le, nice to meet you!"
Tang Yi's expression remained unchanged, and she extended her hand in response, "Hello. I'm Tang Yi. I hope it will be a pleasant collaboration."
After exchanging greetings, the two returned to their respective workstations, each lost in their own thoughts. Zhou Le felt even colder upon seeing her attitude.
That's it. It seems our new competitor is not only experienced but also has a humble yet assertive attitude; he's clearly not a simple character.
He glanced at Secretary Tang furtively and discovered that she wasn't taking a lunch break at all; instead, she was... looking at her computer! She was working!!!
Assistant Zhou immediately sprang up from his chair as if he'd been injected with adrenaline, turned on his computer, and began organizing the branch office's information.
His old habit had resurfaced; he was wildly imagining and fantasizing in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he felt that since coming to head office, he had to work even harder to ensure that General Manager Zhang would continue to value him. He absolutely couldn't let General Manager Zhang lose faith in him and turn his trust to Secretary Tang!
While Assistant Zhou was already engrossed in a whole youth-oriented, action-packed anime, Tang Yi was staring at the black screen of her computer, which wasn't even turned on, repeatedly replaying Zhang Minglang's deliberate "difficulties" from that morning in her mind.
Her fingertips tapped the table unconsciously.
Should I give him coffee with 30% sugar or no sugar in the future?
A note from the author:
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