New Client in the President’s Office - Chapter 46

Uh… Shen Yan was stumped by the question.

She couldn’t exactly say she thought she was attending the meeting on behalf of Assistant Zhou, and didn’t expect the meeting to have originally been meant for President Lu.

She recalled the meeting notice again, and it turned out it did say “person in charge of the enterprise project.”

That made Shen Yan even more convinced that Gong Jia might be Lu Yu’s rumored crush.

If the one who should’ve attended was the project lead, then… well, Lu Yu was busy.

He had just been called to a 16th-floor meeting by Zhou Xing.

But if she directly said that Lu was tied up with an internal company meeting, would that come across as disrespectful to the Finance Office?

Sensing her hesitation, the woman from the Finance Office smiled and said, “It’s okay, I was just asking casually.

I figured you were probably assigned here.”

Shen Yan nodded quickly, feeling that this lady was truly beautiful and kind.

Even a polo shirt couldn’t hide her beauty.

The woman glanced at the sign-in sheet and continued chatting: “You’re Shen Yan? I’m Gong Jia.

Gong as in the dragon family Gong, and Jia like in ‘Shanghaojia’ (the snack brand).”

As she spoke, she pointed toward her nameplate on the table.

Shen Yan looked over it was the “Jia” from Shanghaojia.

Shen Yan couldn’t help but chuckle at her humor.

While they were chatting, other staff from various companies and banks gradually arrived.

Shen Yan observed that most of them were young, and not all looked like managers or project leads.

At exactly 3 o’clock, the meeting began.

Gong Jia was the host and sat to the left of her boss.

Right before the meeting started, Shen Yan had a flash of gossip radar and messaged Zhou Xing: “Is Lu Yu’s crush named Gong Jia?”

Zhou Xing was probably busy, he didn’t reply before the meeting began.

The first item on the agenda was company presentations.

Lu Group was the second to go.

When Lu Group was suddenly called, Shen Yan realized that she had spent the whole time obsessing over “Gong Jia” and forgot to even read through the speech Zhou Xing had given her!

Her mind had been entirely occupied with gossip, and she completely forgot the main task.

How could she make such a rookie mistake?!

She was doomed.

Doomed.

Her brain went blank.

At that moment, she heard someone calling her name.

“Xiao Shen.”

After reading out “Lu Group,” Gong Jia noticed Shen Yan didn’t respond and called her again, signaling it was time to start.

Shen Yan looked up and met Gong Jia’s gaze, and seeing the encouraging look in her eyes, Shen Yan felt herself snap out of it a little.

She nodded to Gong Jia, picked up the printed speech, and began to read it word-for-word.

Because she wasn’t familiar with the content and worried she might mess up the intonation, she read very slowly.

With her slower pace, she felt she read it better than she had during previous weekly meetings.

Once she finally finished reading, she let out a deep sigh of relief and started scanning the room for reactions.

Seeing that no one looked particularly surprised or displeased, she finally relaxed.

Looks like she passed.

When she looked up toward the conference table, she saw Gong Jia secretly give her a big thumbs up.

Shen Yan thought to herself, their President Lu is blessed to have such a wonderful crush.

Thinking that, she tapped the screen of her phone again.

Zhou Xing had finally replied.

She hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was appropriate to use her phone during the meeting.
But she really couldn’t help herself.

She could only comfort herself by thinking: handling some work matters during a meeting is quite normal.

She would just take a quick look at Zhou Xing’s reply.

Thinking this, she unlocked her phone and opened the chat with Zhou Xing.

[Zhou Xing: Impressive.]

Having received Zhou Xing’s affirmation, Shen Yan couldn’t help but sneak another glance at Gong Jia.
The more she looked, the more envious she felt of their President Lu.

She replied with just one message.

Shen Yan: President Lu is really lucky.

She didn’t expect Zhou Xing to respond instantly this time.

Zhou Xing: If President Lu succeeds, you’ll have played a part in it.

Shen Yan: …She really should be focusing on the meeting and not chatting with Zhou Xing here.

Even though she was genuinely curious, she wanted to keep talking with him.

She forced herself, with sheer willpower, to lock her phone screen.

To make herself concentrate, she turned to her notebook and began jotting down notes on the other companies’ speeches.

She listened closely to the project introductions from the other companies,

And after hearing them, she understood why the LINK project was being taken so seriously.

This project sounded much more forward-thinking compared to the others.

If it could be implemented as planned, it could even help District T upgrade its entire industrial structure.

She also understood the main point of today’s meeting:

All the companies present were key financing projects under the Finance Office for this year.

The Finance Office would assist them in obtaining financing from major commercial banks.

As for the LINK project, its scale was so large that a single commercial bank might not be able to fund it alone.

Therefore, the Finance Office would coordinate with banks to help secure the funding.

Shen Yan could also see why Zhou Xing had to attend.

The LINK project was the crown jewel of District T’s initiatives.

No matter how she performed at the meeting today, it wouldn’t change the fact that the project would receive financing.

Still…

Shen Yan optimistically thought she should consider taking the national civil service exam again in the second half of the year.

Maybe she could pass this time.

But the moment the thought surfaced, she shook it off.

She didn’t want to study for exams anymore.

And besides, her romanticized view of work had long faded.

Work is just suffering!

It doesn’t matter where you work or what job you have.

She looked at Gong Jia calmly and confidently hosting the meeting, and thought.

If she accidentally passed the exam and ended up like Gong Jia, sitting at the head table hosting a meeting…

That would be way too much pressure for her.

Finally, the meeting ended.

Shen Yan was the first to stand up, eager to leave the conference room.

She couldn’t wait to open the chat with Zhou Xing:

Shen Yan: Why would I deserve any credit?!

Are you saying President Lu didn’t succeed?

Zhou Xing replied quickly.

Zhou Xing: I think you do.

Are you done with the meeting?

Shen Yan: Just finished.

Zhou Xing: Then just head straight home.

I’ll complete the process in the system for you.

Shen Yan: Thank you, boss.

Zhou Xing: How did the speech go?

Shen Yan: I think… pretty normal?

Zhou Xing: Okay, I’ll go ask President Lu, give him a chance to talk to Gong Jia.

From Zhou Xing’s words, Shen Yan sort of figured it out.

It seemed like their President Lu was trying to pursue Gong Jia?

Shen Yan: Wishing President Lu the best, Gong Jia is honestly amazing.

Zhou Xing: How so?

Shen Yan: While I was giving my speech, she encouraged me with her eyes!

Sitting at his desk, Zhou Xing saw this message pop up in the chat and couldn’t help but recall during the last few weekly meetings…

Shen Yan wouldn’t even look back then.

Looking at it that way, she really had made progress.

Zhou Xing: Weekly meetings do help.

Now you can even make eye contact while speaking.

Shen Yan had just come out of the elevator when she saw this and froze.

Was Zhou Xing thinking of starting more weekly meetings again?

She immediately began strategizing in her head how to “manage upward”

And discourage him from getting that idea.

She did not need more growth, thank you very much.

Shen Yan: Zhou-ge, I’ll be self-motivated.

I’ll work hard to overcome my speech issues on my own.

Zhou Xing saw her message and couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

He didn’t believe it at all.

Just then, Lu Yu came back in from outside.

Seeing Zhou Xing laughing weirdly at his desk, he leaned over and asked,
“What are you laughing at?”

Zhou Xing got startled by Lu Yu’s voice, quickly locked his phone screen, and shot him a look.

“Why do you walk without making a sound?”

Lu Yu: “…I walked normally. You were just too into it.”

Zhou Xing couldn’t argue with that.

Lu Yu: “Laughing so happily, are you in love or something?”

Zhou Xing: “…I’m worrying about your romantic prospects.”

Lu Yu: “? What are you talking about?”

Zhou Xing: “Go ask Gong Jia how Xiao Shen’s speech was today.”

Lu Yu frowned. “Is that necessary? It’s not like you don’t have Gong Jia’s contact info.”

Zhou Xing: “I’m not that familiar with her.”

Lu Yu argued back, “I… don’t have a connection with her either.”

Zhou Xing: “As the CEO, showing concern for your employees’ performance also reflects your respect for the Financial Office, doesn’t it?

Otherwise, if you skip every single Financial Office meeting, it’s hard to explain.”

Lu Yu had no rebuttal for that.

Zhou Xing pressed on while the iron was hot: “We can’t let the Financial Office think we don’t respect them, right?”

Lu Yu finally gave in: “Alright then, I’ll go ask.”

Zhou Xing thought to himself, another mission accomplished without taking credit.

Lu Yu took a couple of steps toward his office, then backed up and asked Zhou Xing,

“You and Xiao Shen…?”

Zhou Xing: “Huh?”

Lu Yu: “You care about Xiao Shen this much… is that… appropriate?”

Zhou Xing: “???”

Lu Yu continued,

“You’re her superior, after all. It’s like a teacher with a student… an adult with a minor.

It’s just… not right, you know what I mean?”

Zhou Xing was shocked:

“What are you even saying?”

Lu Yu thought it over and finally decided to shut up:

“Never mind, forget I said anything.”

Zhou Xing: …

He didn’t want to admit this out loud, but this was the second time he’d heard that comment recently.

The last time had been from his cousin.

After that whole “misunderstanding” at A University, his cousin had looked at him in complete disgust:

“Bro, how could you hook up with someone in your own office?

And your subordinate, no less!

Are you sure she’s not just doing it because you pressured her?

That’s workplace manipulation!

You’re abusing your position. This is seriously shady.”

His cousin’s words had come out so fast, Zhou Xing hadn’t even had a chance to clarify.

Though right after that tirade, his cousin was yelled at viciously by Zhou Xing’s aunt,

who demanded to know if her son wanted his cousin to end up forever single.

Zhou Xing quickly stopped his aunt, then carefully explained the whole thing to his mom, his aunt, and his cousin:

He and Shen Yan were not actually dating.

That whole “girlfriend” story had only been said to help her get rid of her ex.

But once he cleared that up, his cousin immediately relaxed.

And started pestering Zhou Xing for Shen Yan’s contact info.

Then his mom got angry instead,

And she started yelling at him nonstop.