Another team member, probably under thirty, also male and slightly overweight, was referred to by the HR staff as Manager Tang. Later, Gu Nuan learned from others that this senior colleague had another nickname: Donald Tang.
He was plump and stout, almost the spitting image of Donald Duck from the cartoons.
"Team Leader Fang, Commissioner Tang, this is Gu Nuan," said the HR staff.
Team Leader Fang, wearing a pair of glasses that seemed like those for presbyopia, looked at Gu Nuan, saw she was a woman, and his face clearly showed displeasure as he said, "Wasn’t it mentioned that a male colleague was joining the Merchandising division?"
"Yes, he went to Team One. The director said Team One was short-staffed."
Damn! Team Leader Fang threw down the notebook he was holding and cursed, "He must be great at sucking up to the director behind the scenes! Doesn’t he consider how many people are in his team, how many are in mine? Last time I let him have his way, and now again?"
The HR staffer could only turn red with embarrassment on the spot. Seeing Team Leader Fang curse outright and being of a lower rank himself, unable to offend Team Leader Fang, he managed to squeeze out a statement as if he were washing his hands of the responsibility, "Anyway, I’ve brought the newcomer here, don’t say I haven’t given you people. Whether you can guide her well is up to you. This person was personally approved by Director Chen to stay."
The mention of Director Chen undeniably carried some authority.
Team Leader Fang sat down in his office chair, his face still clearly unhappy.
Mercantile work is hard; it’s not like a sales lady who can just stand in the product area. It involves running around looking for customers, a physically demanding job. Why bring a woman here? Why not send her directly to sales?
Team Leader Fang’s eyebrows twitched, seemingly pondering something. After the HR person left, he said to Tang Qingzhong below, "Take her under your wing, start with familiarizing her with the workflow here."
"Sure." Donald Duck-like brother Tang, always seemed far more approachable than the always stern-faced Team Leader Fang.
Gu Nuan wasn’t sure whether she should breathe a sigh of relief just yet; she felt like she had been kicked to a place the whole company most resented, and now the people here resented her too.
Gu Nuan looked at the desk Tang Qingzhong pointed to; it was covered with dust and piled with files. It was obvious that it had been neglected for a long time, let alone prepared for a newcomer. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢~𝔫𝔢𝔱
In a large company, there was none of the welcoming like in schools, not to mention having senior colleagues showing you around like hostesses. It was good enough to be given a broken desk to sit at.
Unable to find an office chair, Gu Nuan had to first clear the files from a plastic stool and move it to her desk.
This team must have heard about her by now. Gu Nuan didn’t know what they thought of her, but knew that when Tang Qingzhong started to communicate with her with a notebook, he was immediately scolded by Team Leader Fang.
Team Leader Fang liked to curse. Gu Nuan thought this might be why he was disliked by the company staff.
After all, this was a domain of white-collar and gold-collar workers. In other words, it was a gathering place for hypocrites. Everyone seemed like European aristocrats, wearing ties and suits. If they were to curse like drunkards all day, wouldn’t that ruin the entire image?
"Why waste time , can’t you learn to use hand signals for her? She’s deaf, and understands sign language the best."
Tang Qingzhong and Team Leader Fang must have worked together for a long time, but Tang’s face still turned red, not because of the scolding from Team Leader Fang, but because he felt it was embarrassing to say this in front of a newcomer like Gu Nuan.