TNSFC – Chapter 31

Before Que Yining arrived, Zhang Shiyu sent a message.

【Zhang Shiyu】: Boss, the coffee has been delivered to the people on the ninth floor as you said. Miss Gu also asked me to thank you on her behalf.

【Que Yining】: On her behalf? She left?

【Zhang Shiyu】: Yes, she took a call and left.

【Zhang Shiyu】: So I returned to the office.

Que Yining’s tense nerves relaxed at once, and she leaned back in her seat, frowning.

She put the lipstick back in her bag and sighed softly.

She had thought the other person would wait for her, at least until they could meet and she could treat her to coffee. But before she even arrived, the person had already left.

【Que Yining】: Did she say anything else?

【Zhang Shiyu】: No.

【Zhang Shiyu】: Boss, I also bought you a coffee. It’s on your desk. Are you almost here?

【Que Yining】: Yes.

Que Yining looked at Gu Shanxue’s chat window on her phone, tapped on it, and her fingers hesitated as they hovered over the keyboard.

Should she ask or not?

But asking why the other person didn’t wait for her before leaving felt inappropriate to Que Yining. After all, she felt her relationship with Gu Shanxue wasn’t close enough to warrant such questioning. Besides, Gu Shanxue definitely wouldn’t have intentionally not waited for her, especially since she knew Que Yining was coming.

Just as Zhang Shiyu said, the other person took a call and left. Perhaps she had something urgent to attend to. Sending another message might seem a bit unreasonable.

Reason told Que Yining that she should express her thoughts lightheartedly, perhaps with a joke. But… just yesterday, the atmosphere had been so good when Gu Shanxue agreed to go to the hot springs with her!

Why did she leave today without sending her a message, merely asking Zhang Shiyu to convey her thanks? She could have told her directly that she had to leave the company for something.

Que Yining still sent Gu Shanxue a message, starting with a crying cat emoji.

【Que Yining】: I said I’d treat Miss Gu to coffee, but Miss Gu left to get busy before I arrived. I should have gotten up earlier, then I would have made it in time.

【Gu Shanxue】: Hasn’t Miss Que already treated me?

【Que Yining】: Hmm? Are you talking about the coffee I had my assistant distribute? That was to treat your team. If I’m treating Miss Gu, of course, we need to find a place to enjoy it slowly.

There was silence on the other end for a while; the “typing” indicator appeared and then disappeared.

【Gu Shanxue】: This was sudden. There were some company matters to attend to. I’ll treat you next time.

Que Yining’s mood warmed up a bit, and a slightly cheerful smile appeared on her face.

【Que Yining】: I’ll still treat you next time. I owe you this one, Miss Gu, don’t try to take it from me.

【Gu Shanxue】: How can I always let you treat me?

【Que Yining】: Among friends, there’s no need to distinguish between yours and mine.

【Que Yining】: But if Miss Gu really wants to keep score, then I owe you one, and you treat me once. How about that, fair enough?

Gu Shanxue, even through the screen, could almost see Que Yining’s slightly mischievous eyes, and her lips curved upwards silently.

Her fingers tapped on the screen, responding to the other person.

【Gu Shanxue】: Okay.

Que Yining whistled. Perfect. Although she missed out this time, she got two opportunities in return. A good deal.

At this moment, the car arrived in front of Que Yining’s company. Que Yining paid the fare and entered the building.

The office was busy, and Xie Yanhuai had even been roped in to interview job applicants.

Que Yining didn’t hesitate to continue hiring headhunters, wanting to recruit more talent.

Que Yining entered the dedicated interview office, nodded to Zhang Shiyu and Xie Yanhuai, and sat in the main seat, wanting to observe the interview process.

The next interviewee to enter was a young man in his twenties, wearing round glasses and a suit. He looked somewhat reserved. After walking in and seeing Que Yining staring straight at him, he became even more awkward, almost tripping over his own feet.

He was applying for a modeling position. He stammered a bit when he spoke and appeared very introverted.

Although the air conditioning was on indoors, the temperature wasn’t high. Yet, this applicant was sweating on his forehead, seemingly overly nervous. It appeared his stress tolerance and mental fortitude weren’t very good.

However, Que Yining wasn’t hiring a modeler to do sales. Seeing him sweating so profusely, she asked Zhang Shiyu to hand him a tissue.

When Zhang Shiyu walked over and took out a tissue, the man flinched slightly and accepted it with trepidation.

“Geng Liyun, right?” Que Yining exchanged an amused glance with Xie Yanhuai, both entertained by his reaction. “Don’t be so nervous. This is an interview, we’re not going to eat you. Relax.”

Geng Liyun pushed up his glasses, nodded in acknowledgment, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

After the interview, Zhang Shiyu told him to go back and wait for the results. As she watched him leave, she remarked to Que Yining that he was quite timid.

Que Yining smiled without saying anything, then interviewed two more people before leaving when she received a call from Ye Su.

She had previously mentioned needing to hire another assistant to share Zhang Shiyu’s workload. Ye Su recommended a few people to her. After reviewing their excellent resumes, Que Yining chose one.

They quickly arranged a meeting, and the interview went smoothly. The candidate, named Li Suyin, appeared to be an exceptionally capable professional woman.

Her demeanor was much more seasoned than Zhang Shiyu’s; she wasn’t nervous at all. She knew her strengths. After the interview and signing the contract, she quickly settled into the assistant role and threw herself into her work.

Li Suyin took over half of Zhang Shiyu’s tasks, freeing Zhang Shiyu from the exhaustion of working overtime every day.

However, even with a little more free time, Zhang Shiyu didn’t just relax. She constantly stayed in touch with Que Yining and kept learning new things.

While Que Yining was listening to Qiao Yuchu talk about which hot springs were good, Zhang Shiyu knocked on her office door.

“Alright, that one then. See you then. I’m hanging up now.”

Que Yining hung up the phone and gestured for Zhang Shiyu to speak.

Zhang Shiyu looked somewhat troubled as she reported on the matter she was hesitant about.

Zhang Shiyu: “It’s about a newly recruited modeler.”

Que Yining: “The very nervous one with the little round glasses?”

Although it wasn’t good to give people nicknames, she had to admit he had left quite an impression on her.

Zhang Shiyu smiled, shook her head, and said, “No, it’s a new interviewee. Her work ability is good, and we were planning to hire her, but…”

Que Yining looked at her: “But what?”

Zhang Shiyu: “She’s a woman, twenty-eight years old, married for two years. During the chat, she mentioned she might have children, but she would work hard…”

Zhang Shiyu, also a woman, knew the difficulties working women faced, which was why she was hesitant to ask for instructions.

Que Yining was silent for a moment, twirling the pen she had beside her.

She had no intention of eloquently expressing dissatisfaction with the social system, but the reality of society was such that working women had to put in more effort than men to gain recognition. Capitalists always thought about how to extract value, and hiring an employee who was very likely to become pregnant was very unprofitable for them.

Some working women would deliberately use maternity leave to their advantage, but not everyone was like that. Que Yining once had a business partner who, even at six months pregnant, was still fiercely negotiating with her at the table, stubbornly holding onto profits. She was one of the toughest opponents Que Yining had ever negotiated with. The sight of her prominent pregnant belly had startled even Que Yining.

After leaving the negotiation table, Que Yining asked her why she wasn’t resting.

She said she didn’t dare to rest. She was about to reach the vice president position, but because of her pregnancy, the company’s attitude towards her had changed, and her promotion had been delayed. She didn’t want to back down, so she had to fight hard.

She even said self-deprecatingly, “Never mind six months, I’ll reply to your messages even before I go into the delivery room.”

Que Yining had actually forgotten what that business deal was about, but she could never forget that self-deprecating smile.

She had her family background to support her, so even if maneuvering was difficult, others would treat her somewhat better out of respect for her family. But Que Yining was well aware of the disdainful mockery towards her gender hidden behind their attitudes.

Que Yining: “Is her ability good?”

Zhang Shiyu nodded: “Yes.”

Que Yining: “Then hire her. As long as there are no issues with her character, ability comes first.”

She placed the pen on the desk, making a slight sound as it landed.

Zhang Shiyu smiled and nodded: “Okay, I’ll go inform her right away.”

This was just a small interlude in Que Yining’s life. She soon forgot about it, shifting her thoughts from work to Gu Shanxue.

Because it was time for her and Gu Shanxue’s appointment to go to the hot springs. They had already set a meeting time, and Gu Shanxue would come to pick her up directly.

Que Yining was at home packing clothes when Qiao Yuchu, who had agreed to go with them, suddenly changed her mind.

“Why aren’t you going?”

Que Yining put the call on speakerphone, selected some clothes, and put them in her bag.

Qiao Yuchu’s tone was a bit down: “I’m in a bad mood.”

Que Yining: “Had a tiff with your little girl?”

Qiao Yuchu snorted coldly: “What ‘my girl’? She’s not mine. Anyway, I’m just not presentable enough, I guess.”

The more she spoke, the angrier she got, with a hint of grievance: “Tell me, when have I, Qiao Yuchu, ever put so much effort into someone? My ex-boyfriends, even your brother, I never cared this much. And what do I get? Disliked.”

Que Yining soothed her: “Calm down, Xiao Qiao. You can’t always be angry; it’ll make you ugly.”

Qiao Yuchu’s tone was mournful: “I’m already like this, and you still have to twist the knife.”

Que Yining: “Nonsense. What happened? Tell me about it.”

Qiao Yuchu: “I wanted to pick her up and hang out, give her a surprise, so I went to her school to find her. But when she saw me, she ignored me. Her classmate asked if she knew me because I was looking at her, and she said she didn’t. Ha, how funny. Damn it.”

Que Yining: “And then you lost your temper on the spot?”

Qiao Yuchu’s voice was muffled: “Am I that kind of person? If she said she didn’t know me, then she didn’t. I just left. So pathetic.”

Que Yining frowned and reminded her: “It hasn’t been that long, Xiao Qiao. Don’t get too invested. You two aren’t in a relationship.”

To put it nicely, Qiao Yuchu was the young girl’s benefactor, saving her from dire straits. To put it bluntly, it was a transaction, one buying, one selling. And the other party was doing it out of financial desperation. She might feel grateful, but she could also feel humiliated; it depended on the person.

At any rate, Qiao Yuchu was the original owner’s good friend and had also helped Que Yining after she transmigrated. So, Que Yining naturally reminded her when she could.

Qiao Yuchu sounded relatively calm: “Yeah, I know. I’m not going to the hot springs. I won’t need the clothes either. I had someone send them to you; they should be arriving soon. Just consider it my contribution to your pursuit. Go for it, sister!”

Clothes?

Just then, the doorbell rang. Que Yining said goodbye to Qiao Yuchu, hung up, and took the box that had been delivered into her hands.

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