Financial Workplace Survival Guide – CH 033

Chapter 33 ☆, A Love That Intrudes.

Zheng Zaochuan was right. Xin Xin was desperate and had to exploit everyone she could, then fight a desperate battle.

The next day, Xin Xin quickly gathered her grievances and calmly called Zhao Xi.

The call connected quickly, and Zhao Xi said gently with a smile, “Xin Xin, what’s wrong?”

Xin Xin spoke quickly, briefly reporting the matter, “Mr. Zhao, this matter is now in my hands. What will happen to me if headquarters finds out?” Zhao Xi’s tone shifted from relaxed to serious, and he made a cautious judgment. “It doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong between you and Yang Rui. The company only cares about who has greater value.”

Xin Xin humbly asked, “What should I do?”

Zhao Xi thought for a moment. “I’ll report this to the boss first. This isn’t your place. Let Yang Rui or Chen Lisha handle it. It’s inappropriate for you to go alone.”

When something happened, Yang Rui avoided her more than anyone else. To put it bluntly, whoever was responsible was the loser. Yang Rui could act with a clear conscience, but Xin Xin couldn’t.

However, Zhao Xi truly was a Daluo immortal. Two hours after the phone call, Chen Lisha arrived, bringing Yang Rui with her.

Thankfully, Rose’s condition hadn’t worsened, and she slowly regained consciousness, though she remained silent. After inquiring about the child and learning that she had miscarried, she burst into tears.

Xin Xin felt sympathetic, and Chen Lisha offered some official words of comfort. Rose ignored them, so Chen Lisha summoned Xin Xin and Yang Rui to discuss countermeasures.

Yang Rui’s irresponsibility was well known, and Chen Lisha had turned a blind eye. Now, however, the time had come to address it. “I’ll do my best to support the family’s understanding. I’ll apply to the head office for the maximum compensation. As long as the family doesn’t make exorbitant demands, you should agree and avoid making a big deal out of it.”

Xin Xin understood that this must be the head office’s intention. Zhao Xi was truly taking this matter to heart.

Yang Rui tried to distance himself from the matter, complaining, “What bad luck! She’s hiding a serious illness. What does that have to do with me?”

Xin Xin, furious, retorted, “She didn’t jump ten centimeters more during the calisthenics break. That’s not the case.”

Seeing the two about to argue, Chen Lisha intervened, saying, “Okay, now’s not the time for internal strife. Solving the problem is the most important thing.”

That day, Rose’s husband came to the hospital. Xin Xin neither shirked responsibility nor concealed the facts, explaining the situation impartially.

Rose’s husband, Wang Zhi, was an engineer. He looked dark and thin, not the kind of person who would exploit an opportunity to extort money.

Seeing her family arrive, Rose burst into tears and choked out, “The child is gone.”

The man, also heartbroken, forced a smile as he comforted Rose, “The child is gone. You’re the most important person. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Xin Xin had heard rumors that many people at the company had felt sorry for Rose. Rose was quite beautiful and had no shortage of suitors. She wondered how this unremarkable man could ever gain her trust.

People called it love-brainedness.

But seeing her today, Xin Xin was deeply moved. In today’s society, everyone was afraid of being at a disadvantage. Romantic relationships could be based on all sorts of material conditions—finance, work, appearance—being in love seemed naive and a joke.

But at this moment, Xin Xin suddenly realized that only love could allow two people to move forward with hope even in times of pain.

The compensation negotiations went very smoothly. Rose hated Yang Rui and made two demands of the company: compensation according to work-related injuries and a mandatory punishment for Yang Rui.

Previously, Rose had concealed her pregnancy due to rumors of layoffs, and she also somewhat considered that she would be working under Yang Rui, so it wouldn’t be easy to confront him directly.

But because of this incident, she’d finally come to terms with it. What was she afraid of Yang Rui doing? In her dreams, she secretly hated herself. At worst, she could just have had some money deducted, but why bother with her own body? But now that things had come to this, the guilt she felt for mistreatment had festered into a deep hatred, which she vented entirely on Yang Rui.

She believed Yang Rui’s punishment was for violating company rules by arbitrarily deducting bonuses to settle personal grudges.

Hengyang Securities’ performance evaluations were performance-based, focusing on the overall return on investment for both institutional and individual clients, in addition to the performance scores for back-end and back-office operations. Deducting performance during work breaks was unheard of and truly constituted abuse of public power for personal gain.

The head office dispatched a dedicated person to address the matter.

Zhao Xi called Xin Xin back. “I reported this to Chen Gang, and he’s quite angry. I also reported your transfer due to the conflict between you and Yang Rui. Chen Gang personally called Chen Lisha and said the person handling the matter has arrived. Just handle it normally. To be honest, this really has nothing to do with you.”

Xin Xin felt a sense of relief upon hearing Zhao Xi’s words, and she thanked him sincerely, “Master, thank you.”

Zhao Xi was stunned for a moment, and only the quiet sound of breathing filled the line. After a moment, he smiled wryly and said, “When everything’s fine, you call me Mr. Zhao all the time, which is very distant. But when something goes wrong, you call me Master in a pitiful way.”

Xin Xin’s frayed nerves relaxed, and she sincerely thanked Zhao Xi. It had nothing to do with romance; it was simply for the care and guidance he had given her over the years. As Mary had said, Zhao Xi had spoiled her. She’d assumed she deserved protection, that she was supposed to make progress based on her achievements. Every time Zhao Xi failed to keep his promise, she’d harbored resentment.

Little did they know, there were many leaders like Yang Rui in the world. All the success was his; all the mistakes were his subordinates’ fault. Zhao Xi had treated her with all due kindness.

“Zhao Xi, I was ignorant before. I sincerely want to apologize. I shouldn’t have blamed you so carelessly.”

As soon as these words left her mouth, Zhao Xi felt a sudden surge of disappointment.

“Xin Xin, I’d rather you blame me. When you blamed me before, so willfully, I knew you expected more from me than from your superior. When you said that today, I truly felt you only treated me as your superior.”

Xin Xin was stunned. She felt this from the bottom of her heart, but she hadn’t considered the emotional shift she had experienced. Ever since she met Zhao Xi, they had at least been honest and trusting with each other. While it hadn’t reached the level of a romantic relationship, it was still a precious superior-subordinate relationship. In the past, her expectations of Zhao Xi far exceeded those of a superior.

Fortunately, Zhao Xi didn’t insist, comforting Xin Xin, saying, “If you have any questions during this process, feel free to call me. Xin Xin, don’t worry, I’ll do my best to protect you.”

Xin Xin felt reassured.

Besides Zhao Xi’s assurance, Rose’s attitude also touched Xin Xin. Before Rose woke up, Xin Xin had already considered the worst-case scenario: Rose would insist that she had told Xin Xin about her pregnancy and that Xin Xin’s concealment had led to all this.

But when Rose woke up, she openly admitted that she had kept it a secret because she was worried about the impact of her pregnancy on her work and feared complications at this critical juncture. It was Yang Rui’s formalistic approach at the company, forcing her to exercise vigorously, that had led to this situation.

Xin Xin apologized to Rose and Wang Zhi, but they simply said, “It’s not your fault. You don’t need to apologize.”

The matter was resolved, and Xin Xin returned home on time.

Zheng Zaochuan was happy for Xin Xin. “You see, while we’re not afraid to assume the worst about human nature, sometimes people make completely different choices. Some may have no boundaries, but there are also many who will choose kindness without hesitation.”

Xin Xin thanked Zheng Zaochuan, “Zheng Zaochuan, thank you for these past two days.”

A gloom crossed Zheng Zaochuan’s usually cheerful expression, and he asked without thinking, “Are you also this polite to Zhao Xi?”

Xin Xin was puzzled. “I’m even more polite to Zhao Xi. He even said today that I only treated him as my superior.”

Zheng Zaochuan smiled wryly. “Sure enough, we’re in the same boat.” Then, something else occurred to him. “Where’s your little fat boy? Even with all this trouble, he hasn’t been paying attention to you lately?”

Xin Xin exclaimed, “Oh, yeah, I forgot to reply to his WeChat.”

Zheng Zaochuan watched helplessly as Xin Xin diligently replied to the WeChat message. He inexplicably remembered that Xin Xin had also forgotten to reply to his WeChat message during her hospitalization.

As if to console himself, “Okay, at least you know to ask for my help now. Looks like my status has risen a bit.”

Xin Xin replied to the WeChat message, responding, “It’s always been high, Zheng Zaochuan. I love you so much.”

Zheng Zaochuan froze for a moment, then turned to see Xin Xin happily replying, seemingly oblivious to what she had said. With a hint of resignation, he muttered quietly, “It’s all fake. You’re talking to other men and saying you love me.”

Xin Xin didn’t hear what he said. Zheng Zaochuan complained, but his body was honest.

That day’s dinner, unprecedentedly, went from three dishes and one soup to five.

Xin Xin was so satisfied with the meal that she almost kowtowed to Zheng Zaochuan right there.

Zheng Zaochuan declined her generous gift, half-jokingly saying, “Just agree to one condition, and it’ll be my way of repaying you?”

Xin Xin, in a good mood, asked, “What condition?”

Zheng Zaochuan thought for a moment and said, “Don’t see Gao Ling again, okay?”

Xin Xin was stunned. “Why?”

This time, Zheng Zaochuan didn’t look away. He stared at Xin Xin with his dark, bright eyes. “Xin Xin, if Zhao Xi doesn’t have a number here, can you look at me? I’ll get one first.”

Xin Xin’s heart was beating uncontrollably. She hated Zheng Zaochuan’s inexplicable possessiveness and his ambiguous yet distant manner, but she had to admit that she was moved.

“I’ve been watching you.”

Xin Xin avoided his gaze, her WeChat chat still focused on Gao Ling.

Gao Ling remained calm as always.

When Xin Xin apologized, saying she hadn’t replied to his WeChat message because of something going on at the company. Gao Ling calmly replied, “Then you go ahead and get busy. Take care of yourself. Remember to contact me when you have time.”

Xin Xin realized at that moment that perhaps what she wanted was a love that intruded.

It was destructive, unbridled, and reckless.

The next moment, Zheng Zaochuan leaned in, his moist lips dominating her scent. She unconsciously let down her guard, their lips entwined in a burning, lingering passion. Their breathing became chaotic for a moment, and Xin Xin thought dazedly, “Let’s just leave it at that. Let’s not question each other’s sincerity. Let’s just be friends who kiss, not define our relationship.”