The conference room was large, with a brown oval table in the center. An Zi Yan and Manager Cui sat at the front on opposite sides, while everyone else chose seats of their own. The split was painfully obvious. Nobody wanted to sit near anyone from the other side. Mai Ding sat behind An Zi Yan. President Wang came in and took the middle seat, looked first toward An Zi Yan’s side and then toward Manager Cui’s, and spoke with a stern expression. “What exactly is going on with Public Relations? Do I need to divide you into two separate departments?” This was nothing like the President Wang Mai Ding usually knew. Did leaders have to change personalities on command to seem decisive?
The conference room fell silent. President Wang continued, “Nobody has anything to say? Have you all gone mute?” Manager Cui interlaced his fingers on the table. “President Wang, this has nothing to do with us. We’ve been focused on our work. Why would we bother arguing with the younger generation? I’m not saying there’s necessarily a problem with how An Zi Yan manages his subordinates, but he is still young and lacks experience. He lets them behave however they want.” An Zi Yan stared at the ring finger tapping against the table. “Behave however they want? What did you people do?” He turned slightly and looked back at his subordinates. “Did you drag the seniors into the restroom and molest them?” Several people failed to hold back their laughter. While nobody was watching, Mai Ding kicked the leg of An Zi Yan’s chair to tell him to be serious. Everyone on the opposite side looked livid, and Manager Cui was especially furious. “Watch how you speak!”
“That’s my only interpretation of ‘behaving however they want.’”
“Don’t play word games with me.”
“Enough, both of you.” President Wang slapped the table. “The relationship inside Public Relations is worse than the relationship between Public Relations and other departments. Are you deliberately trying to become a joke? What kind of face am I supposed to have in front of the other executives?”
“President Wang, you’ve seen it yourself. I think promoting An Zi Yan to this position was questionable from the start. Look at what Public Relations has become since he took that seat. I think An Zi Yan should go back to working under me and gain more experience. There are plenty of managers in Public Relations qualified to sit in his position. Old Li, for example…” President Wang interrupted him. “Old Cui, are you questioning my judgment in promoting An Zi Yan?”
“Of course not. President Wang, you’ve misunderstood me. I admit An Zi Yan has performed exceptionally since joining the company. It’s difficult not to notice him. Naturally, you had your own considerations. I’m thinking about Public Relations too. Strong individual performance doesn’t necessarily mean someone can manage well. I only want him to gain more experience so the other departments won’t have anything to say about his promotion. I’m considering this from your position too, President Wang.”
Mai Ding clenched his hand and listened nervously. Was An Zi Yan going to be demoted? He wanted to climb onto the conference table and kick Manager Cui in the face. An Zi Yan should say something and defend himself. If President Wang really demoted him and put him under Manager Cui again, Manager Cui would make his life unbearable. Mai Ding did not dare imagine it. An Zi Yan, protect yourself. But An Zi Yan merely lowered his head and stared beneath the table. Had Manager Cui’s words actually discouraged him? It made sense. An Zi Yan had been spoiled by his family and friends for most of his life. Maybe being criticized like this by Manager Cui was difficult for him to take.
Mai Ding, panicking behind him, straightened up to get a look at An Zi Yan’s expression. Th-this… this bastard was playing a game on his phone under the table!!! This isn’t school anymore. Take it seriously!!!
President Wang fell silent. Everyone held their breath, anxiously trying to guess what he would say next. Whether An Zi Yan was promoted or demoted could be decided with one sentence from President Wang. He held the highest authority over Public Relations.
“Old Cui, don’t take me for some senile fool. Do you think just because I don’t visit Public Relations often, I know nothing about what happens there? I know what Zi Yan has done. You say he isn’t qualified, but not long ago he led these young people and handled the defective-product incident exceptionally well. President Yang hasn’t come bothering me again either, thanks to him. And it isn’t only his work I know about. I know what you’ve done too.” President Wang preserved Manager Cui’s dignity and did not explicitly mention the recent out-of-town case. The other executives might not know the details, but as the person in charge of Public Relations, how could President Wang fail to notice that An Zi Yan had gone on a business trip? Manager Cui’s face reddened and he fell silent, but inside he began resenting President Wang too. He had not expected President Wang to allude to that incident just to slap him in the face. Apparently working through President Wang would get him nowhere. In the past he had shown President Wang some respect. Now it seemed he would eventually have to push him out too. Manager Cui was enormously ambitious. Being a manager in Public Relations had never been enough for him. He had been eyeing President Wang’s position for a long time, and the current situation forced him to accelerate his plans.
President Wang turned to An Zi Yan. “And you. I promoted you. Don’t create problems for me.”
An Zi Yan put his phone on the table and finally spoke. “You want everyone in Public Relations to love one another like family? I don’t think that’s possible. Instead of forcing people who can’t stand each other to work together, we might as well separate the work.” President Wang gave a cold snort at the suggestion, openly skeptical. “I’d like to hear what brilliant proposal you have.”
“Starting today, Manager Cui doesn’t get to assign work to my subordinates. Whatever his group takes on has nothing to do with us. Naturally, we won’t interfere with the seniors’ work either. Each side handles its own business. I also hope Manager Cui won’t bother me again, for example by handing me useless material and asking me to clean up his unfinished mess.”
“You!”
“It’s only an example, Manager Cui. Why are you getting so worked up?”
Manager Cui steadied himself. “Don’t forget that Public Relations has been held up all these years by the experience and ability of these senior employees. Your people have only been with the company a few years and usually handle miscellaneous work. Don’t get carried away and embarrass yourself in front of the other departments.”
President Wang cut them off. “And what exactly will Public Relations become if you do this?”
“For now, this is the only workable option. I’m sure Manager Cui and the seniors won’t want to lose to the juniors, so they’ll work even harder. Competition creates efficiency. If efficiency improves, the department’s results improve. Once the results improve, what are the other executives going to use to make fun of your Public Relations Department?”
President Wang rubbed his chin and looked at Manager Cui. “Old Cui? What do you think?”
“Fine. If we don’t have people dragging us down, that’s exactly what we’d want.”
“Then we’ll try it. But if you make a mess of this, Zi Yan, you’re going to pay for ignoring my advice and pushing this proposal.”
An Zi Yan shrugged. President Wang walked out, and the meeting ended. Everyone finally relaxed. Manager Cui and the senior employees left with grim faces, while the younger employees cheered like peasants who had just been liberated from a landlord, excitedly talking about never having to watch the seniors’ moods again. Mai Ding’s palms were soaked with nervous sweat. An Zi Yan said quietly, “Find all ten alarm clocks for me.”
After something that nerve-racking, he had nothing else to say? All he cared about were those ten alarm clocks? Mai Ding thought furiously as he watched An Zi Yan’s back. A man focused on his work always gave off an irresistible kind of charm. Sitting behind An Zi Yan just now and watching him speak decisively and calmly with President Wang and Manager Cui had felt a little like sitting beside a basketball court watching your lover play. When your lover scored, you secretly wanted to grin and think, Look. That’s my man.
Mai Ding tilted his head and thought: My man really is ridiculously handsome.
An Zi Yan held the elevator doors open. “Hey, you with the surname Mai. What are you grinning like an idiot for? Get in.”
“Okay.”
Mai Ding ran toward An Zi Yan. In the crowded elevator, the backs of their hands rested closely against each other.