Chapter 9 The Banquet "Is this your understanding of unfamiliarity?"
At 7 p.m., Zhang Minglang, who had been forced to discuss work with his beloved Secretary Tang for the entire dinner, sat in the back seat and was driven by a professional driver arranged by Tang Yi, and they set off on time for the banquet hotel.
When she was in a formal work setting, Tang Yi became very alert and resumed her serious demeanor.
From the moment she entered until she sat down, she skillfully repeated her years of work experience, like a robot with a pre-programmed routine, as if she would never make a mistake.
The round table was filled with high-level executives, and Tang Yi had already done her homework, so there wasn't anyone she couldn't name.
Since taking her seat, Tang Yi had been constantly watching Zhang Minglang's gaze. Whenever she sensed that his gaze lingered on a particular spot for an extended period, she would immediately whisper the name of that executive to him.
Secretary Tang suddenly stopped smiling, not even a forced smile. She had been working diligently ever since she entered the room, and hadn't even glanced at him.
"This is General Manager Liu Cheng, the Marketing Department Manager." Her soft voice reached his ears, and Zhang Minglang nodded casually.
He didn't tell her that he was actually just staring blankly ahead, wondering why Secretary Tang wasn't smiling anymore.
After he had basically recognized everyone at the table and was about to look away, he suddenly felt as if a strong gaze was focused on him from somewhere.
Seemingly noticing Zhang Minglang's gaze, the man turned his gaze to him almost imperceptibly and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
Zhang Minglang slowly withdrew his gaze without responding, and therefore did not notice the gloomy look that flashed across the other person's face.
“That’s General Manager Zhao Linrui, who became the group’s vice president last year,” Tang Yi’s calm voice rang out again. Zhang Minglang raised an eyebrow, leaned slightly closer to Tang Yi, and asked in a low voice, “Are you two very familiar?”
Tang Yi's heart sank. She glanced at him, but couldn't see anything amiss, so after a moment's thought, she shook her head and replied, "We're not very familiar. Is there anything you need?"
"It's nothing." Zhang Minglang glanced at Lin Rui, who was looking at him again, and straightened up thoughtfully.
"President Zhang, congratulations! Under your leadership, Junmao will surely reach new heights!" President Yang stood up first, raised his glass in a toast, and then said a few more polite words.
While dealing with the situation, Zhang Minglang noticed that a few of the older senior executives had subtle expressions of disdain on their faces, seemingly looking down on President Yang's flattering manner.
Zhang Minglang wasn't stupid; he could naturally sense the disdain and distrust of these seasoned veterans in the group towards him, this newly arrived "connected" individual. Among them were also many younger members who were taking a wait-and-see approach.
Interestingly, Zhang Minglang paid close attention to Zhao Linrui's attitude and found that the vice president was just smiling and looking at everything on the table, his eyes flickering behind his glasses, as if none of this concerned him.
The dinner party proceeded amidst undercurrents of tension.
It was a rare gathering for the executives, and quite a few of them, their faces flushed and drunk, began to talk at length.
Tang Yi was repeatedly toasted by Zhang Minglang and drank quite a bit. At this point, she felt a little uncomfortable in her stomach, so she told Zhang Minglang and quietly left the table to go to the restroom.
The door behind her separated the smoke-filled private room, and Tang Yi was finally able to breathe some fresh air.
After she finished using the restroom, she placed her hands on the sink and tried to take deep breaths to suppress the discomfort in her stomach.
"Are you alright, Secretary Tang?" A male voice suddenly rang out. Tang Yi was caught off guard and her shoulders trembled as she turned around.
Zhao Linrui looked at her with a slightly apologetic expression and said, "I'm sorry, I think I startled you. I saw that you didn't seem to be feeling well when you came out of the private room, so I thought I'd come out to check on you."
Hearing the other party's untimely concern, Tang Yi silently took a small step back, politely but distantly saying, "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Zhao, but I'm not feeling unwell."
"Xiao Yi, I applied to the higher-ups to transfer you here, why won't you agree?" Seeing her coldness, Zhao Linrui finally couldn't help but take a step forward.
He lowered his voice, his tone almost pleading: "I was wrong back then, and I know I was wrong. As long as you're willing to be my secretary, I'll do anything you ask."
Tang Yi's face turned pale. She remembered what had happened back then, and felt even more nauseous. She had nowhere left to retreat, her back pressed against the cold marble tiles of the sink, the chill seeping through her clothes and spreading throughout her body.
Zhao Linrui reached out and tightly gripped her slender white wrist, but Tang Yi almost reflexively shook him off.
"Mr. Zhao, please show some respect!" Tang Yi said sternly, emphasizing her words.
Just as Zhao Linrui was about to step forward again, a light but powerful male voice came from behind.
"Mr. Zhao, are you trying to poach my employees?"
Hearing Zhang Minglang's voice, Tang Yi felt a faint sense of security. Taking advantage of Zhao Linrui's dazed state, she quickly bowed and left the sink, walking towards Zhang Minglang, stiffly smoothing a strand of hair that had fallen behind her ear over and over again.
Zhang Minglang took a step forward without making a sound, shielding her behind him. Tang Yi stopped and looked up at his broad shoulders and back in front of her.
"Excuse me, Mr. Zhang, I was a little drunk. There was a misunderstanding with Secretary Tang just now, but it's resolved now." Zhao Linrui quickly concealed the gloomy look on his face and even smiled. The reflection in his glasses made Zhang Minglang squint slightly.
He noticed that Secretary Tang hadn't returned to his seat for so long, and then he saw that Zhao Linrui's seat was empty. Recalling the other man's strange look and his unfathomable, insincere smile, his heart sank, and he quickly left to look for him. But as soon as he stepped out, he saw this man pulling and tugging at Secretary Tang at the restroom door.
Zhang Minglang was inexplicably annoyed and, almost without thinking, stepped forward and said that sentence.
Zhao Linrui slunk away from the scene.
Only then did Zhang Minglang have time to observe Tang Yi's condition. He turned to look at her, and Secretary Tang seemed no different from before, except that she pursed her lips more and occasionally bent down to smooth out the wrinkles in her clothes.
Zhang Minglang stared at her stubborn head, seeing that she seemed to be struggling with her clothes and didn't seem to intend to explain anything to him, and a nameless anger rose in his heart for no reason.
He sneered, his tone as cold as ice: "Is this your understanding of unfamiliarity?"
If Zhang Minglang hadn't noticed Tang Yi's hands pause for a fleeting second while tidying up her clothes, he would have almost doubted that she hadn't heard his sarcastic remarks.
His anger flared even more, and he was about to speak when he suddenly noticed a bluish-purple ring around the fair skin of her wrist as she smoothed her hair.
Zhang Minglang's heart tightened, and all his anger vanished instantly. Without thinking, he grabbed Tang Yi's arm and asked in a slightly urgent tone, "How did you get hurt?"
Tang Yi finally managed to take her eyes off the clothes.
She met Zhang Minglang's gaze expressionlessly, pulling her hand away and hiding it behind her back, before saying, word by word, "This has nothing to do with you, and nothing to do with work; it's my private matter."
These words reignited his anger, which he had just managed to quell, mixed with a hint of inexplicable irritation. Her businesslike, aloof attitude was even more infuriating than any argument.
Zhang Minglang put his hands in his trouser pockets, using this to suppress a certain impulse to cross the line. He scanned her from head to toe with an almost harsh, scrutinizing gaze.
“In this company, every employee’s condition is relevant to me, especially anything that might affect work efficiency or cause unnecessary trouble.” His voice was cold and hard, devoid of any concern, as if he were only expressing a superior’s dissatisfaction with a subordinate. “I’ll ask you one more time, was this injury inflicted by Zhao Linrui?”
"Mr. Zhang, I want to say this to you again, this matter has nothing to do with you, I can handle it myself, and I also ask you not to bring personal grudges into the workplace."
Tang Yi suppressed the slight tremor in her voice and tried her best to appear calm: "You have been away from your seat for too long. This is a welcome banquet for you, and it is not proper for you to be away like this. I will accompany you inside now."
After saying that, she ignored Zhang Minglang's expression, took a deep breath, turned around and beckoned a passing waiter to order more dishes for the private room.
Just like punching cotton, Zhang Minglang could no longer question her. After all, Secretary Tang's words were watertight, leaving him with no way to refute them.
The two walked side by side into the private room in silence.
As soon as the door opened, Tang Yi quickly composed herself and greeted the executives with a smile, "Everyone, Mr. Zhang was worried that you might not be enjoying your meal, so he ordered a few more new dishes for you. Please eat and drink to your heart's content."
The executives were flattered and thanked Zhang Minglang, who was standing next to Secretary Tang.
The two returned to their seats, each lost in their own thoughts, and did not exchange another word.
Amidst the clinking of glasses and the exchange of toasts, Zhang Minglang, under the guise of tilting his head back to drink, casually glanced at Secretary Tang beside him out of the corner of his eye.
She sat upright, her smile not reaching her eyes, as if nothing had happened, and her departure just now was truly only to order a few dishes.
Back home, Tang Yi had no energy to check unread messages on her phone. Exhausted, she casually placed her handbag on the entryway cabinet and went to the bathroom to run a shower.
Lying in the warm water of the bathtub, Tang Yi finally had the mind to carefully recall everything that had just happened. The sudden encirclement, the relentless questioning... everything happened so suddenly that she was caught off guard and powerless to deal with it.
After the incident with Zhao Linrui years ago, it was former CEO Lin who stepped in to help her resolve it. Now that CEO Lin has left the company, Zhao Linrui can't contain himself and wants to poach Tang Yi to keep her by his side.
If Zhang Minglang hadn't intervened, she would have used her usual method to ask him to leave under the pretext of work arrangements within the group.
However, Zhang Minglang unexpectedly appeared out of nowhere, directly pointing out his true intentions without showing any mercy...
This is really a headache.
Tang Yi sank even deeper into the bathtub, took a long breath, and thought of the instructions Chairman Zhang had given her in the board office the afternoon before Zhang Minglang joined the company.
“My grandson is very straightforward, just like me back then, decisive and speaks his mind. He has offended countless people at the branch office with his mouth. Old Lin and I are old brothers, and I have long heard that you are thorough and meticulous in handling matters, which is why I thought of having you work with him so that you can help him to be more patient and deal with these things for him.”
That day, Chairman Zhang leaned against the sofa and earnestly laid out his thoughts.
She could see the complex emotions in the old man's eyes, a mixture of satisfaction and resentment towards his grandson. Therefore, after leaving the office, she...
He then pondered a solution as he walked.
Back then, I worked under Ms. Lin, a serious and hardworking woman. She was meticulous in her words and actions, never joked with her colleagues in the workplace, and always maintained a rigorous and aloof attitude.
Now that a new president has taken office, according to Chairman Zhang's description, he is a free-spirited young man, and his behavior is likely to be somewhat reckless. It would be normal for him to have a bit of a playboy's temper or a mischievous streak.
Based on her years of professional experience, Tang Yi finally decided to deal with things as they came, sometimes going along with things and sometimes offering advice.
Unexpectedly, within just one day, Zhang Minglang's various behaviors were exactly as predicted, much like what Chairman Zhang had said.
After thinking everything through, Tang Yi felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. Her brain was already overloaded, so she sank into the warm water, too tired to think about how to face Zhao Linrui and Zhang Minglang anymore.
A note from the author:
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