Chapter 5 Fainting: Did Zhu Meng recognize her and stand up for her? ...
Jiang Shan opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to retort, but due to the dizziness caused by low blood sugar, his mind was a little foggy, and he couldn't think of anything to say for a moment.
The reason she rejected Xu Qing last time was that she didn't want to put on an act with him after get off work.
If we really want to talk about it, she might not be without fault.
But this time, she did indeed "play on her phone" in front of everyone during the meeting.
If you explain it as "I have low blood sugar and I don't have any food on hand, so I'm ordering takeout to eat to tide me over," it sounds like an excuse for being caught using your phone.
They start work at eight and have a meeting at ten. Can't she eat at a time outside of the meeting?
"I'm sorry, it was my fault for checking my phone during your reporting time."
Admitting mistakes is a sign of maturity. It was wrong of her to look at her phone during the meeting, and there's no excuse for that. But not making excuses doesn't mean she won't explain the situation clearly.
If we are falsely accused of "playing on our phones" for no reason, wouldn't that be too weak?
"I was looking at my phone because..."
"Just admit your mistake, why make excuses?" Perhaps emboldened by Zhu Meng's tacit approval of his earlier request, Xu Qing interrupted Jiang Shan into the microphone on stage, his mouth twisted, "You..."
Just as he was getting into the swing of things, Zhu Meng's assistant, Gao Ming, suddenly raised his hand.
It's a gesture to be quiet.
Xu Qing's mouth was still on the word "you" when he was suddenly stopped. His teeth were sticking out, and his eyes widened in disbelief, creating an absurd and comical scene.
The conference room, which had been filled with the buzzing noise of microphones, suddenly fell silent as everyone looked at Zhu Meng.
Zhu Meng, who hadn't uttered a sound since entering the meeting room, had his long, slender, fair hands folded on the desk, his sharp eyebrows slightly raised.
"What did she reject you for?"
Upon hearing Zhu Meng's words, not only was Xu Qing stunned, but Jiang Shan also looked puzzled.
Is the point that she rejected Xu Qing?
"...Huh?" Facing Zhu Meng's slowly narrowing, sharp eyes, Xu Qing swallowed hard twice. "You mean this? Oh, I kindly invited Jiang Shan to my birthday party, but she made all sorts of excuses. She was deliberately trying to make things difficult for me..."
He stopped mid-sentence, feeling guilty, and couldn't finish his sentence.
Those present, if not seasoned veterans of the workplace, at least had several years of work experience.
Anyone with a discerning ear can tell that a "birthday party" is just a facade, a way to build relationships.
I'm not going; I'm just too lazy to give them face.
It's not to the point of being labeled as "disrespectful".
Zhu Meng raised an eyebrow, interrupting Xu Qing's hesitant words.
"Was attending your birthday party a KPI set for her by the company?"
Of course not.
Jiang Shan answered in his heart.
Finally free from being forced to answer, she relaxed a little and began to observe the man in the suit sitting in the high seat.
Did Zhu Meng recognize her and stand up for her?
After all, he looked cold and aloof, not like someone who would meddle in other people's business.
But if he recognized her from the beginning and decided to repay her kindness, why did he let Xu Qing speak ill of him and only enter the room to question her when she was driven to the brink?
Did he want her to think that he was playing the hero and saving the damsel in distress?
She does have a bit of cunning.
However, if they are willing to put in the effort for me, then so be it.
Jiang Shan extended his index finger, pushed up his glasses, and silently lowered his head, concealing the fleeting amusement in his eyes.
This man, he's not taking advantage of it.
Xu Qing opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but facing dozens of pairs of eyes in the conference room, he hesitated and didn't dare to speak.
Clearly, his answer was the same as Jiang Shan's.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Zhu, I... I didn't mean to slander Jiang Shan." Xu Qing's lips flew across the page like a wound-up toy. He leaned forward slightly, trying to salvage the situation. "I was just furious with Jiang Shan. Actually, I forgave her last time she did that, but I didn't expect my cowardice to embolden her..."
Jiang Shan sneered inwardly.
Who is showing weakness, and who is going to escalate the situation?
Xu Qing's ability to distort the truth is quite impressive.
Zhu Meng leaned back in his chair, placed his hands on the armrests, closed his eyes, and pursed his thin lips into an unapproachable line.
He looked like he was resting with his eyes closed, unwilling to listen any longer.
His secretary, Gao Ming, glanced down at his watch, smiled, and said, "Excuse me."
“Xu…” Gao Ming squinted at the name tag hanging on Xu Qing’s chest, and finally finished writing the name. “Xu Qing, your reporting time is over. Let’s move on to the next one.”
Xu Qing's face flushed red and then turned pale. He stood there blankly on the stage, like an ancient tree rooted in the soil. It took him a long time to grab his speech and rush off the stage, managing to squeeze out a mumbled "Excuse me."
He rushed to the door like the wind, then abruptly turned back. Jiang Shan was hit twice by the air he stirred up, his nose stung, and he suddenly sneezed.
She rubbed her nose and listened to Gao Ming's words from above.
"Miss Jiang, it's your turn."
Yes, Xu Qing has "finished her report," so it's her turn now.
Dozens of eyes turned to him at once, and the pressure surged like a tidal wave. Jiang Shan's heart sank. He slowly stood up, took a deep breath, and tried his best to walk steadily onto the stage.
For the past three months, she has worked diligently and never slacked off. She even cleaned up a lot of messes for Xu Qing. Most of the achievements Xu Qing mentioned on stage were done by her. Unexpectedly, Xu Qing took all the credit and even turned around and blamed her.
It's truly a story of the farmer and the snake.
Jiang Shan took a deep breath and slowly but firmly walked onto the stage.
In fact, she knows every single slide, every single sentence, and every single picture by heart. She can recite them perfectly even with her eyes closed.
But with so many eyes watching, it's inevitable to feel nervous when it's time to go on stage.
Not to mention that she is now experiencing a recurring episode of hypoglycemia, her head is spinning, and her vision keeps going black and black.
It's practically the hardest mode in any game.
It seems the only option is to be concise and swift.
"Knock knock." Jiang Shan gently tapped the microphone, whose indicator light was on, twice to confirm that it was working. Just as he was about to start his opening remarks, he suddenly realized that he had forgotten to bring his speech.
Looking down, she saw three snow-white A4 sheets of paper lying alone on her seat.
She reached into her pocket, but unfortunately, she hadn't brought her phone with the electronic copy.
"Miss Jiang, is the PowerPoint presentation stuck? Or something else?" Perhaps seeing that Jiang Shan remained silent for a long time, Gao Ming turned to look at his boss, and as expected, receiving a signal, immediately took a step forward. "Do you need my help?"
It's not that the PowerPoint presentation is stuck.
It is a pillar of strength, a speech draft that can be kept in mind to alleviate the awkwardness of a speech.
Jiang Shan gently closed his eyes, and then everything went black.
These past few nights, she has been reciting her lines in her mind without notes while falling asleep, demonstrating a 100% grasp of the entire PowerPoint presentation and speech.
Since they're already so familiar with each other, why can't she try speaking without a script?
In the past, every time he held a speech, he would read it on stage with his head down, not daring to look at the audience. He didn't make a single mistake, but he also failed to impress anyone. The unremarkable scenes of going on and off stage replayed in his mind. Jiang Shan opened the PPT with one hand and slowly curled his five fingers into a fist with the other.
...She herself should be worthy of her own belief.
"No need, thank you."
Jiang Shan cleared his throat, forcing a professional smile despite his dizziness: "Dear leader, dear colleagues..."
She was a little nervous at first, and habitually stared intently at the PowerPoint presentation, flipping through several pages before finally mustering the courage to look at the audience.
Hey, they were listening quite attentively.
The countless gazes that converged upon him rekindled a long-lost sense of confidence in Jiang Shan's heart.
She spoke more and more fluently until she shifted her gaze to Zhu Meng, and her heart skipped a beat.
Zhu Meng had been staring intently at the PowerPoint presentation.
But he saw something and suddenly beckoned to Gao Ming. Gao Ming bent down and covered their faces with his hand. The two seemed to be communicating, but Jiang Shan couldn't see their mouths and couldn't guess what they were talking about.
Excuse me for interrupting.
Sure enough, after a short while, Secretary Gao quietly called for a halt: "This report also appeared in Xu...Xu Qing's report earlier, and it was signed by his name, but here it is signed by your name. President Zhu would like to ask, who exactly wrote this report?"
Hmm, good question.
She deliberately included this report in her presentation, just waiting for this question.
Jiang Shan blinked calmly.
"I did it."
Gao Ming grunted in agreement and turned to look at Xu Qing: "Xu Qing, what do you say?"
Xu Qing was huddled in a corner texting his family, his eyes red as if he had just been crying. Suddenly called out, he stood up abruptly, like a good student, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"I've never done this kind of report before, so I asked Jiang Shan for help. But she didn't have the patience to teach me; she just wrote the whole report herself before sending it to me..."
Gao Ming interrupted without any politeness.
"So you mean this report was entirely done by Miss Jiang, and you were just standing by and supervising?"
With Zhu Meng above him, Xu Qing didn't dare to argue in the end. He stammered, "I'm sorry, I thought..." but was interrupted by Zhu Meng's cold "I know." Xu Qing shrank back like a quail and dared not utter another word.
Jiang Shan presented the PowerPoint presentation in a proper and orderly manner, just as rehearsed. Zhu Meng asked her a few questions and then waved for her to return to her seat.
Feeling dizzy and lightheaded, Jiang Shan barely managed to move his legs, which had gone numb from standing on the stage, back to his seat in slow motion, like a scene from a TV drama.
Whether it was the stress of the final promotion or a severe case of hypoglycemia, her heart was restless, pounding like a meteorite falling to the ground, as if it were about to leap out of her chest.
Zhu Meng whispered some instructions, and Gao Ming listened attentively before relaying them.
"Both of you performed admirably. The company still needs to discuss who should stay. We'll give you an update tomorrow."
Each has its own merits?
Jiang Shan stumbled.
Fortunately, he managed to grab the conference table and regain his balance.
Zhu Meng doesn't wear glasses, so her eyesight should be pretty good, right? How could she be so blind as to mistake her for Xu Qing?
Xu Qing bowed with delight: "Thank you for your appreciation, General Manager Zhu. I will certainly serve you to the utmost..."
His mouth was clearly still opening and closing, but Jiang Shan couldn't hear what he was saying; all he could hear was a continuous buzzing in his ears.
"The land, the land!"
Jiang Shan vaguely caught his name and slowly turned around, only to see Zhao Yi calling out softly and with great effort.
"Quickly tell Mr. Zhu thank you, you've worked so hard!"
Jiang Shan tried his best to open his lips.
Unfortunately, her lips seemed to be glued together, unable to move.
Before she could even speak, everything suddenly went black.
His body went limp and he fell forward. Before losing consciousness completely, Jiang Shan only heard Zhao Yi's heart-wrenching cry: "Jiang Shan—"
A note from the author:
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