SCHS - Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Wen Shixue calculated everything, but she never expected that before the circle even started turning, it would hit her Lao Wen. But what did this have to do with her dad? She didn't believe Wen Lianchang would be involved in this matter.
Wen Lianchang's attitude had been made clear at the board meeting: he wouldn't interfere with her managing the company and tacitly approved of how she handled anyone who tried to interfere with her. Everyone knew Chairman Wen firmly stood by his daughter's side, so how could he secretly trip her up behind her back?
Qin Zhen was also skeptical. Wen Lianchang had always been a man of his word. Since he had promised to let his daughter have free rein and wait two years to see the results, he would never go back on his word and play dirty tricks. Moreover, he doted on his only precious daughter so much, how could he bear to scheme against her and harm her?
Qin Zhen pondered for a moment. So, either Wen Lianchang was truly involved in this matter, or someone was using Wen Lianchang's name to do something improper. It had to be investigated quickly.
Wen Shixue stared intently at Tao Wanwan, saying calmly, "Miss Tao, since you've said this much, why not tell us everything? You don't need to worry that I can't handle it. I can tell you clearly, I manage my own company, I protect my own employees, and even my dad can't interfere with me."
Qin Zhen looked up from behind her, meeting her gaze with a hint of hesitation, as if wanting to say those four words: Convince by virtue?
If this was truly Wen Lianchang's doing, would Wen Shixue really uphold righteousness and "convince by virtue"? Qin Zhen was unsure, thinking she wouldn't, yet also thinking she would, because deep down, she was a fearless troublemaker...
Wen Shixue raised an eyebrow at Qin Zhen, not responding, and it was unclear if she understood her meaning.
Qin Zhen sighed almost inaudibly. Having such an unpredictable boss was truly a headache.
Tao Wanwan looked back at Wen Shixue's eyes with dejection, but in those clear eyes, she perceived an unprecedented determination. Wen Shixue wasn't joking; she genuinely wanted to know, in her capacity as boss, why she was resigning and wanted to do something for her. This made her pause.
The superior before her was young and beautiful, and like many of them, she was new to the workplace and lacked experience. But she was sincere and serious, and even upon hearing her father's name, she didn't timidly abandon the idea of protecting her employees.
Perhaps... she was trustworthy.
Tao Wanwan suddenly felt a surge of courage from her. Her fingers awkwardly and stiffly gripped the hem of her shirt. After taking a deep breath, her voice noticeably rose a few octaves: "President Wen, Jiang Lei, that bastard Jiang Lei harassed me!"
Wen Shixue and Qin Zhen were both startled.
Tao Wanwan poured out the grievances she had kept bottled up: "He's been touching me inappropriately lately under the guise of checking my work, sending those... sending those messages to harass me, and even asking me to be his mistress." Remembering those disgusting memories, her eyes filled with tears of injustice, and she looked at the people opposite her with red eyes, clumsily defending herself, "He said I was trying to seduce him because my clothes were short, but I wasn't, I was just wearing clothes I thought were nice and comfortable..."
It was her first job, and encountering something like this left her panicked and bewildered. She had lost her composure, running around like a headless fly, yet too timid to tell anyone. On one hand, she was ashamed to speak of it, and on the other, she was afraid of harming others in the department, because Jiang Lei was not just anyone, but the Head of the Design Department who could decide their fate and whether their work would reach Wen Shixue.
She was forced to swallow her anger, but she hadn't completely given up on seeking help from someone who could control Jiang Lei, like Qin Zhen or Wen Shixue. But that thought didn't last long before Jiang Lei saw through it and, with a few dismissive words, made her powerlessly abandon the idea of seeking help.
"I was sent by headquarters. Do you know who is in charge at headquarters? You want to report me? With you being just a small designer, do you think it will be useful?" Jiang Lei asked her this.
Even if Tao Wanwan was foolish, she could understand the meaning behind his words. He was telling her not to waste her effort, that no one at Chenfeng could control him, and his backer was Wen Lianchang, the true master of the Wen Corporation—even Wen Lianchang's daughter couldn't do anything to him!
The more Tao Wanwan listened, the more despair she felt. The only ray of light before her was extinguished unexpectedly, and she felt disoriented as if falling straight down, with a bottomless abyss behind her.
All of this clung to her like a nightmare, causing her spirit to wither. Every day she resisted going to work, resisted opening her phone, and never found a moment of peace. Even drawing design drafts, which she used to love the most, couldn't pique her interest.
Finally, she had the idea of resigning—if she couldn't overcome it, she could escape. Escape Chenfeng, escape this city, and start a new life and a new job.
But before she could escape, Wen Shixue came to her, allowing her to finally cast aside that layer of shame and
muster the courage to voice her grievances. Her tears also couldn't be controlled and fell straight down, large teardrops pattering onto the back of her hand. Her voice was choked with fear and sobs: "Help me, President Wen, help me..."
"You said you could handle it..."
As she sobbed uncontrollably, a pair of hands with distinct bone structure, fair and smooth as jade, reached out, holding a plain white tissue in the palm. She looked through her blurry, tear-filled eyes, and in her hazy pupils, Qin Zhen's tall figure was reflected—the person she had once wanted to ask for help...
"Don't worry," Qin Zhen gently patted her back. "We will handle it."
Her voice was soft, yet full of a sense of security, making Tao Wanwan feel for the first time that her image was so tall and imposing.
Qin Zhen's hand gently stroked her thin back, and she said calmly, "But we still need your cooperation."
As third parties, they needed to be more rational than anyone else and couldn't just believe whoever cried the most pitifully. Whoever reported had to provide evidence. Once it was confirmed that Jiang Lei did indeed engage in harassment, they would definitely give Tao Wanwan justice and absolutely not tolerate Jiang Lei.
Tao Wanwan could understand. She was overjoyed that Wen Shixue and Qin Zhen could handle this matter for her, so how could she not cooperate? She quickly opened her chat history with Jiang Lei and handed her phone to Qin Zhen. Although looking at it again still made her feel sick, this time she was especially grateful that she had kept this evidence.
Qin Zhen carefully checked it and confirmed that the person who sent the indecent harassment messages to Tao Wanwan was the same Jiang Lei who had once patted his chest in a meeting and guaranteed Wen Shixue that with him there, the Design Department would be fine.
Most ironically, his profile picture was a photo of him with his wife and daughter, a family of three looking happy and harmonious.
In the chat history, Tao Wanwan had more than once advised him to restrain himself and reminded him that he had a family, but he didn't care. Instead, he would use it to tease Tao Wanwan, thinking she wanted to marry him.
Qin Zhen's delicate brows furrowed slightly. She handed the phone to Wen Shixue for her to review. Wen Shixue quickly scanned it, frowning as she asked, "Are you sure it's Jiang Lei?"
Qin Zhen nodded.
Wen Shixue said she understood, then handed the phone back to her to keep as evidence. She then said seriously to Tao Wanwan, "Don't worry, since this happened in my company, I will definitely handle it and absolutely won't let you suffer this injustice for nothing."
Tao Wanwan's face lit up with joy, her eyes slowly curved into a smile, and she nodded vigorously, smiling exceptionally sweetly: "Okay! Thank you, President Wen and Vice President Qin!"
Wen Shixue thought for a moment and said, "However, there's something you must understand clearly."
"The department heads at Chenfeng were transferred from other companies by headquarters, not directly appointed by my dad. As for backing them up, that's even less likely. Your Chairman Wen isn't so busy that he needs to handle every single matter."
The transfers from headquarters were just normal job rotations. Usually, a special personnel selection meeting would be held to determine the composition of the new company's team. People were selected based on their ability and suitability for the position; those who were suitable were put on the list. Because his subordinates had experience and could do well on their own, Wen Lianchang didn't attend such meetings every time; he would only confirm the list after the results were out, either approving or rejecting it.
Moreover, the personnel selection for Chenfeng was already finalized and everyone was in place before Wen Shixue was chosen as CEO. If it had started after she became CEO, for his daughter's sake, Wen Lianchang would definitely have personally selected people, perhaps even inserting various people he trusted.
This Jiang Lei dared to borrow the tiger's might because he surely knew Tao Wanwan was a newcomer who didn't understand the inner workings and was easy to deceive. He might have also wanted to scare Tao Wanwan into abandoning the idea of seeking help from higher-ups, and Tao Wanwan indeed did as he wished. But this couldn't be blamed on Tao Wanwan; the position of department head was crucial, and saying such serious things would scare anyone.
Wen Shixue added, "Do you want to know who, besides me, was directly appointed by Chairman Wen at Chenfeng?"
Tao Wanwan looked at her with curious, watery eyes. The answer was obvious.
Wen Shixue raised her hand and pointed beside her: "Look, she's standing right next to you."
Tao Wanwan was startled and stiffly turned her head to look at Qin Zhen, who had just given her a tissue. Qin Zhen nodded politely and calmly at her—she suddenly felt that the distance between them had once again become an insurmountable chasm.
Wen Shixue said sternly, "Vice President Qin, the only person at Chenfeng who can directly complain about me to my dad, hasn't even said my dad is backing her up. How can Jiang Lei, someone who hasn't even met my dad more than a few times, say such a thing?"
Was her Lao Wen's name something others could just use?! And it even scared the little girl into not daring to speak up!
Wen, the Troublemaker, Shixue was very unhappy about this.
The deceived Tao Wanwan finally realized at this moment that she had been tricked. She stood there dumbfounded for a long time, unable to speak. Qin Zhen saved a copy of the evidence and returned the phone to her. Clutching the phone tightly, she asked nervously, "What should we do next?"
Wen Shixue and Qin Zhen were now her backbone; she would do whatever they said.
Wen Shixue thought for a moment: "Let me find the company's treasure." Then she bent down and rummaged under the desk.
Tao Wanwan looked
confused: "What's that?"
Our company has a company treasure?
Then she heard Wen Shixue reply, "The Seventy-Two Transformations Bat of Teaching You How to Behave." And she watched with wide eyes as Wen Shixue coolly pulled out a formidable baseball bat from under the desk, with the character "εΎ·" (virtue) stuck on it.
Tao Wanwan was shocked: "???"
There's such a company treasure???
Qin Zhen asked helplessly, "What is this Seventy-Two Transformations now?"
Last time it was still the idol's philosophy??
Wen Shixue said "Oh" and explained, "I'm a relatively considerate person. Whatever kind of bat is suitable for the other person, I use that kind of bat. Isn't that the Seventy-Two Transformations?"
Qin Zhen: "..."
Such consideration isn't really necessary...
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