"The client is coming on Wednesday night. You should tag along and learn something."
Upon hearing An Zhiyi’s words, He Xin and Zhao Meng both looked up at him.
Qiao Yuxian also looked at him without saying anything. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖑~𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖾~𝖓𝖊𝖙
An Zhiyi packed up his things, noticed she wasn’t responding, and looked up at her: "What? You don’t want to go?"
Qiao Yuxian smiled, but before she could speak, He Xin said, "An, she’s just an intern. Wednesday’s client is very important."
"I’m just letting her come along to learn," An Zhiyi replied, looking at He Xin.
"But that’s not within her learning scope right now," He Xin argued. "To receive clients of this level, she at least needs to be a formal employee."
"Am I harming her by letting her learn more?" An Zhiyi asked coldly.
He Xin stayed silent.
"As her team leader, I have the right to assign her any task," An Zhiyi continued, then turned to Qiao Yuxian, "Isn’t this a reasonable assignment?"
Qiao Yuxian smiled with her eyes: "An’s arrangements naturally have their own reasoning."
He Xin and Zhao Meng both looked at her.
An Zhiyi cast a brief, disdainful glance at her: "Wednesday’s client is crucial for us. If anything goes wrong, the entire team will suffer. So, weigh it yourself, and serve them well."
Qiao Yuxian slightly raised her eyebrow, smiling without speaking.
Zhao Meng, listening to his words, frowned slightly.
An Zhiyi also didn’t say anything further, taking his belongings and leaving directly.
The meeting room door opened and then closed.
The three people remaining in the meeting room exchanged glances.
Zhao Meng’s voice suddenly turned cold: "What did he mean by that last line? What kind of tone was that? Did he intend for you to do something, or does he think you will do something?"
He Xin looked at Qiao Yuxian without speaking.
Qiao Yuxian slowly folded her design draft, saying, "We’ll know by going on Wednesday."
"You really want to go, huh," Zhao Meng said.
"Mm," Qiao Yuxian replied, "Don’t worry. If I’m upset, I’ll bash their heads in."
He Xin laughed, "Relax. I’m also going on Wednesday. Nothing will happen."
Zhao Meng looked at her.
He Xin said, "Relax."
"With your skinny arms and legs, I still trust her more," Zhao Meng suddenly remarked.
"I..." He Xin choked, looking at her own thin arms and legs, then looked at Qiao Yuxian, "Aren’t hers skinny too?"
"She’s much stronger than you," Zhao Meng added.
Qiao Yuxian didn’t pack up her things either, smiling softly but deeply at the two of them.
The two were still staring at each other when they suddenly sensed someone watching them, and they both turned to look at Qiao Yuxian.
Qiao Yuxian regarded the two, "Just one weekend passed, how come it feels like you two got closer behind my back?"
Zhao Meng didn’t say anything.
He Xin looked at the two of them, "Ahem, let’s not chat during work hours, hurry up and get out."
With that, she left first, leaving the two of them inside.
Qiao Yuxian watched He Xin’s departing back, then looked at Zhao Meng: "Brother Meng, what’s going on? Why do I feel like something’s off? What happened these last two days?"
Zhao Meng noticed her gossipy expression and chuckled, "She stayed at my place for two days."
Qiao Yuxian covered her mouth, eyes wide in surprise, and after a few seconds, she stepped forward and said, "And then?"
"And..." Zhao Meng placed a hand on her forehead and pushed her head back a bit, "What do you mean ’and then’? She stayed a couple of days before coming to work, what ’and then’ are you expecting?"
Qiao Yuxian looked at her.
Zhao Meng chuckled, patted her shoulder, mimicking He Xin’s tone, "No chatting during work hours, hurry and get out."
Then she left the meeting room too, leaving Qiao Yuxian to ponder alone if there would be an "and then."
How likely was it that an "and then" would occur?
Qiao Yuxian pondered in the meeting room for a minute before being called to the director’s office to be scolded.
She was reprimanded for about ten minutes, and as she came out, it was Zhao Meng’s turn to go in.
Moreover, before Qiao Yuxian left the office, the director kindly reminded her, "There is a small balcony outside."
Qiao Yuxian glanced at him before closing the door.
Just a moment ago, he was delivering soul-wrenching critiques, making you feel worthless. Now he’s kindly suggesting somewhere for you to go cry, smiling with a face full of benevolence.
Qiao Yuxian glanced at him, pressed her lips together, said nothing, and gently closed the door as she left.
Watching Zhao Meng go in, she gave her a look of sympathy before returning to her workstation to start revising her translation draft.
Lin You and Xu Qingqing both peered at her from their computers, checking if she was crying. Xu Qingqing even had tissues ready for her.
But they found Qiao Yuxian to be no different, except her expression was slightly stiffer than usual, with no extra reaction.
After a while, Xu Qingqing asked in a low voice, "Qiaoqiao, are you alright?"
Qiao Yuxian looked at her, sniffed, and pretended to reply in a sad tone, "I’m fine."
Seeing that she was okay, Lin You asked, "What mistake did you make?"
Qiao Yuxian sighed, "I made a mistake with a period, missed and typed it in Chinese."
Lin You and Xu Qingqing gave her a look devoid of sympathy, full of: "Kid, making such a low-level mistake, you need more scolding."
Seeing their expressions, Qiao Yuxian declared firmly, "I definitely won’t make that mistake again."
Lin You and Xu Qingqing nodded, "Don’t worry, a few more scoldings will fix anything."
Qiao Yuxian: "......"
"If you didn’t cry, then Director Qian went easy on you," Xu Qingqing said.
"I just don’t like crying," Qiao Yuxian replied.
Xu Qingqing waggled a finger, "In our department, there’s no such thing as someone who doesn’t like crying. There’s plenty of time."
Qiao Yuxian’s mouth twitched as she thought: Who wants that kind of plenty of time, ugh.
Although Qiao Yuxian and Zhao Meng weren’t brought to tears by the scolding, they were slightly dispirited compared to usual.
This Qian Huai, Director Qian. When he scolds, his anger is like rivers and mountains, each word a piercing blow to the heart, deep into the soul. Even after a day, the echo of his voice lingers, impossible to forget.
Makes you eat a few bites less, can’t fall asleep, the more you think about it, the more upset it gets.
Qiao Yuxian felt it was a miracle that neither she nor Zhao Meng cried.
In the afternoon, even after work, they couldn’t leave.
Qian Huai not only scolds but also increases workload.
Additionally, he said, one more mistake and they’re out of the Gu Group.
So the two stayed for overtime.
And...they were the last to leave after overtime.
Zhao Meng didn’t drive today, so she took the usual taxi with Qiao Yuxian, which often picked up Qiao Yuxian.
First, they dropped Zhao Meng off at home, then finally sent Qiao Yuxian back.
By the time she got home, it was already past midnight.
But the living room lights were on, and Gu Yanjing was waiting for her...