One day, while Mai Ding was handling a task Guo Ping had assigned him, Liu Wei rushed in and went straight into An Zi Yan’s office. The moment he pushed the door open, he said, “We have a problem. Something’s wrong with the new product. We’ve already received quite a few customer complaints.” An Zi Yan fell silent for several seconds before waving a hand at Liu Wei. “Got it.” Feng Fei Meng appeared in the doorway as well. “Yan, upper management just called. There’s an emergency meeting.” An Zi Yan stood and called Gao Shuang, Guo Ping, and Fan Shao Jun to come with him. Mai Ding did not need anyone to explain how serious it was. He stood too, wanting to follow, but An Zi Yan did not even turn his head. “You stay.”
“But I…” Before Mai Ding could finish, they had already left him behind. He had been with the company for a while now. He did not understand why he could not go with them.
Meanwhile, the conference room was like a battlefield, thick with the smell of gunpowder as the departments blamed one another.
“When you were manufacturing the product, you should’ve noticed the problem in the first place. We fucking worked on this for so long. If we recall the product now, do you know how much damage that’ll do to the company’s reputation and finances?” someone from Marketing shouted.
“We manufacture according to what Development and Design give us. How is all of this suddenly our fault?”
“If it isn’t your fault, whose is it? Ours?”
The Finance manager remained neutral, crossing and uncrossing long legs in high heels, utterly uninterested in the spectacle. Arguments rose and fell through the smoke-filled conference room. Whenever someone attacked Public Relations, Guo Ping and Fan Shao Jun joined the battle too. In front of them, An Zi Yan leaned back in his chair with his arms folded and stared at the red-faced people. “Are you done arguing? When are we getting to the point?”
“You little brat. If Old Cui from Public Relations weren’t away, when would it ever be your turn to speak?”
“Did you piss yourself from fear? You probably thought sitting in your office and putting on a show would be enough. Public Relations better come up with a solution. What rotten luck. Maybe you won’t even keep your job.”
Every arrow turned toward An Zi Yan.
Downstairs, the Public Relations office was hardly quiet either. Several senior employees talked freely as though none of it concerned them.
“Serves him right. He’s only been in the position three months and already ran into a disaster. He’s probably panicking. Look at his reaction just now. He was too scared to say much.”
“Manager Cui won’t rush back to help him either. He was already furious that some young newcomer got promoted so quickly.”
“Exactly. What makes him so special? He got a few deals through connections. Who knows whether those were even real. Maybe he has some powerful backing. Let’s see how capable he really is.”
“If he screws this up and gets demoted, let’s see how arrogant he acts then.”
Sitting not far away, Mai Ding kept reminding himself not to cause An Zi Yan any more trouble. Let them say whatever they wanted. How ugly would it be if Public Relations started fighting internally too? Mai Ding wanted to stay beside him, yet An Zi Yan himself had explicitly told him to remain behind. What kind of person was Mai Ding in An Zi Yan’s eyes? Maybe reckless, nagging, rigid, frightened whenever peaceful life changed. Did he have too many flaws to be trusted enough? Mai Ding had always wanted to work harder, be more serious. Should he punch himself for being greedy? He did not only want to be An Zi Yan’s good lover. He wanted to be his good subordinate too.
An Zi Yan remained expressionless in the face of the mockery. He stood and pulled open the conference-room door. People from the other departments immediately reacted. “Running away now?”
“I didn’t come here to listen to noise. So I’m leaving.”
“Wait. How can Public Relations leave? You’re supposed to give us a solution. Otherwise, what’s the point of the company having Public Relations? To feed you for free?”
An Zi Yan’s lips lifted slightly into a cold smile. “What can you do if I drag this out and refuse to handle it? At most, upper management keeps pressuring me. And if we call Manager Cui back now, that’ll waste even more time, won’t it?”
“What kind of attitude is that? If you don’t want to work for the company, just say so.”
“I don’t think I’m the one who doesn’t want to work for the company. So, are we going to argue or discuss the problem?” An Zi Yan offered the two choices. The conference room fell silent. He returned to his seat. “How many units of the new product have been sold so far?” The Marketing manager opened a file and handed it over.
The moment the seventh-floor elevator doors opened, the noise inside could already be heard. Mai Ding, who was always teaching An Zi Yan to be polite and tolerant at work, failed completely when it was his own turn. He had ended up arguing with those coworkers. People were stubborn in strange ways sometimes. If he liked someone, he wanted everyone else not to hate that person too. To his surprise, the younger employees under An Zi Yan had joined the argument against Manager Cui’s veteran PR staff. As the scene became increasingly heated, Mai Ding suddenly sobered. This had started because of his private feelings. What exactly had he done?
“Without us, what do you think Public Relations can accomplish? Manager Cui’s away and now you think you can show off? And you, newcomer, what the hell are you? No ability at all and already trying to suck up to the boss?”
“I…”
At some point, An Zi Yan had appeared in front of Mai Ding, blocking the accusations and the hostile stares. He looked at the senior employees. “No work left to do?”
“They were the ones…”
“I don’t want to hear pointless explanations, and I don’t want to hear arguments like this. Picking on someone with as little presence as Mai Ding isn’t exactly going to give you a sense of achievement.” An Zi Yan walked toward his office. Just as he was about to close the door, he stopped. “Almost forgot to remind you. If you’re dissatisfied with me, come directly to me. But before you do, think carefully about whether you’ll regret it, because sooner or later, the entire Public Relations Department will be mine.” Never mind everyone else’s reaction. Even Mai Ding wanted to rush up and punch this arrogant superior! Couldn’t he be a little more restrained? Who threatened everyone before even getting promoted? This would definitely reach Manager Cui. Worse, what if someone secretly complained to President Wang that An Zi Yan was already planning to take his position? What would President Wang think?
While worrying, Mai Ding caught sight of someone from the corner of his eye. His face went pale and he turned away, praying it was not who he thought it was. Unfortunately, his prayers were rarely effective. Now Mai Ding started praying President Wang had not heard An Zi Yan’s words. Quiet sneers came from the senior employees behind him. Mai Ding could not help wondering whether they had gone silent because they were seriously listening to An Zi Yan or because they had already noticed President Wang. Mai Ding stared fixedly at President Wang, trying to read something from his expression, but President Wang’s face remained stern. Guo Ping, Fan Shao Jun, and the others noticed him even later than Mai Ding did and immediately pretended to be extremely busy with work. Without saying a word, President Wang walked straight into An Zi Yan’s office. The door closed, and the blinds over the floor-to-ceiling glass were drawn.