Financial Workplace Survival Guide – CH 048

Chapter 48 ☆, Clearly Marked Prices, Honest and Fair Dealing.

Yang Manman told a story with tears streaming down her face.

According to her, ever since she joined the investment banking department, she had almost never left work. She was either on a business trip or on her way to one, and working overtime late into the night was a regular occurrence.

Besides the fact that the investment banking department was inherently busy, Fu Meng was a demanding person who didn’t separate public and private matters.

In her world, taking a vacation was almost equivalent to committing a crime, and the pressure on the entire investment banking department of the Haining branch even exceeded that of the head office.

If that was all there was to it, then it seemed like they could still manage.

Unfortunately, Yang Manman had very striking eyebrows, which inevitably led some clients to have ulterior motives towards her. Fu Meng’s attitude towards this was to ignore it, and she even deliberately arranged for Yang Manman to meet with clients who have ulterior motives.

The most recent one was a meeting with the owner of a steel company.

This boss had considerable influence in Haining, and their company wasn’t the only brokerage firm interested in partnering with him. It was unclear how Fu Meng managed to poach him from other brokerages, but the responsibility for client maintenance and daily communication fell to Yang Manman.

“He gave me a bag, and I wanted to return it, but he didn’t give me the chance. Later, he often asked me out to dinner under the pretext of work, and I made excuses not to go. Fu Meng forced me; she knew what he was thinking, but she insisted that I go.”

Xin Xin’s scrutinizing gaze fell on Yang Manman’s face. Yang Manman was very beautiful and distinctive. Although her eyes were not particularly large, they were long and narrow, with a touch of alluring heroism. She herself had realized her advantages and would deliberately emphasize these features in her daily makeup and clothing.

“What do you think?” Xin Xin pondered for a moment before asking Yang Manman directly.

Yang Manman looked up and said, “Of course I don’t want to. These people are disgusting. Today they take advantage of being drunk to touch my hand, and tomorrow they take advantage of seeing me off to put their arms around my waist.”

Xin Xin smiled. “Why not refuse if you don’t like it?”

Yang Manman paused for a moment, then sneered, “I thought you were different from others, but I didn’t expect you to be the same. You mean, if I didn’t seduce them, they wouldn’t treat me like this?”

“I didn’t say that.” Xin Xin carefully considered her words. “Your accusations against Fu Meng are very serious. Did Fu Meng really explicitly tell you that she needed you to use your looks to please them?”

“How could that be? But her attitude says it all.”

Xin Xin pondered for a moment. “Then what do you want me to do? Do you want to leave the investment banking department or go back to the sales department?”

This time, Yang Manman remained silent.

After a long while, she finally looked up at Xin Xin and said, “I hope she resigns. I’m doing very well in the investment banking department, so why should I be the one to leave?”

Xin Xin understood immediately and smiled, “Then it’s up to you each to rely on your own abilities; it’s a matter for your own departments.”

Yang Manman stated her purpose: “If you don’t help her, she won’t be able to turn her life around.”

Xin Xin was almost astonished by Yang Manman’s naiveté. They were all colleagues, but only in a cooperative relationship. What was this talk of helping or not helping? “I didn’t help her. I was just doing my job within my responsibilities.”

To put it bluntly, Fu Meng’s ability to bring in projects was her skill and her value. As long as the underwriting fees were sufficient and distributed to the sales department, it didn’t matter to Xin Xin who got them. Moreover, Yang Manman was currently far inferior to Fu Meng.

Seeing that she had not won Xin Xin’s affirmative support, Yang Manman gritted her teeth and simply said, “I am younger and prettier than her. I will not sell myself like her, but I will be the final winner.”

Every new generation thought they could crush the old ones on the beach.

Xin Xin gave a wry smile. Fu Meng was the same, and so was she. In the midst of this open and covert struggle, it would ultimately just be another round of Ashley and Chen Lisha.

Girls like Yang Manman was not uncommon; they used their beautiful looks and alluring figures as weapons, but these weapons was ultimately unreliable. Therefore, they must be extremely vigilant and maintain an exceptionally aloof demeanor to avoid giving others leverage against them.

But if she did not want others to covet her, she should have refused that expensive bag in the first place.

Xin Xin chuckled self-deprecatingly and said that even she herself had received bags from people like the beautiful Yang Manman and Mary.

When Ethan first joined the company, he said half-jokingly and half-disdainfully, “Those young girls in the sales office—don’t be fooled by their meager salaries of less than ten thousand yuan; the bags they carry are all worth tens of thousands.”

The financial industry was a vast field. Apart from a few top elites such as investment bankers, venture capitalists, and fund managers, most people were just ordinary people. Regardless of whether you graduated from a top 10 university in China, if you did not had some unique characteristics, you’d blend into the crowd from day one in the company.

Some people relied on family resources for a living; they only needed to go to work, and they could still do well with a nine-to-five job. Everyone said the customer was God, but for them, God was their own parents.

Some people made a living off their looks; their beautiful appearance combined with above-average emotional intelligence allowed them to provide customized emotional value to clients. If you found a good backer, you could live off them for a lifetime.

The hardest thing was to make a living through your profession; your hand might be worn down to the bone, but you still needed a bit of luck. When you’re under someone’s roof, you had to bow your head. But if you did not want to rely on your looks, you had to show some attitude.

For the vast majority of people, it was a winner-takes-all game; it was either you eliminate me or I eliminate you.

If everyone chose to work in a particular industry in order to sell value…

The value that the financial industry sold became particularly clear: some people value the present value, some value the future value, and some value the discount rate.

Those bosses saw it all; they’re very shrewd. They could test a woman’s bottom line and value with even the smallest favor.

Xin Xin received her first bag from an entertainment business owner she and Zhao Xi knew.

Compared to other industries, business owners in the cultural industry seemed more likable. They wouldn’t look at you with that blatant glare; instead, they’d ask you a few more questions, starting with your hometown, talking about its culture, and mentioning movies that were filmed in your hometown. A few words were all it took to build rapport.

When Xin Xin was in charge of this project, she didn’t realize that this Boss Gao had a soft spot for her. After all, every time he was surrounded by beautiful women, they all had faces that could be on screen.

Until one day, Xin Xin received a package, which contained a very well-packaged bag.

At that time, Xin Xin was quite naive. She opened her phone and searched for an image, only to be shocked by what she found. Then, Boss Gao called. He dispelled her doubts with a few words, saying that his daughter liked it and that Xin Xin would definitely like it too.

Xin Xin, looking rather naive, said, “Mr. Gao, I can’t accept this gift. I’ll deliver it to your company today. If your daughter likes it, then give it to her. I have my own father too. Although he can’t afford such an expensive bag for me, he’s a very good man.”

That Mr. Gao seemed somewhat displeased. “If you can’t even give me this much face, how can we discuss the project?”

Relying on her youth and ignorance, Xin Xin recklessly refused, saying, “Boss Gao, I can only assure you that my professional abilities are not a problem. If you think I lack tact, I can apply to Mr. Zhao to have someone else work with you.”

The bag was eventually returned, but Xin Xin was still in charge of the project.

To this day, Mr. Gao remained as Xin Xin’s client. Xin Xin later met Mrs. Gao and her daughter, and the whole family became Xin Xin’s clients. Most business owners who had reached this level of success might resort to some form of coercion or bribery.

But he wouldn’t be clingy or persistent; there were plenty of women, and none of them were special. However, if he succumbed to temptation even slightly, he’d give others an opportunity. When opportunity knocked, how many people truly remained unmoved?

Zhao Xi witnessed everything but neither stepped forward to protect Xin Xin nor to mediate the matter. Only much later did he look at her with a smile and say, “You’ve encountered someone who doesn’t hold grudges. If you encountered someone who does, you’d most likely have to leave the investment banking department.”

Xin Xin didn’t care. “If you want to leave, then leave. There’s always a way out.”

This confidence allowed her to progress very smoothly later on. Compared to girls who could use their looks to seek personal gain, Xin Xin’s progress was neither particularly good nor fast, but it was steady.

So from the past to the present, she had never felt that she did anything wrong.

But Mary disagreed, saying, “You’re ignoring your own abilities. Your focus and learning ability surpass many people’s. Besides, women like you are most likely to give men the impression of being decent, good people. Your chances of meeting good people are far greater than those of women like us.”

Xin Xin was not exactly a striking beauty, but she was tall with fair skin, a delicate oval face, and small, slightly hooded eyes. Her nose was high and straight, but the tip was somewhat blunt. In a word, she was “just right.” Any more and she would have been too alluring; any less and she would have been too silly.

Women would not feel overly competitive towards her, and men would not harbor strong wicked thoughts towards her.

Xin Xin neither confirmed nor denied this, maintaining that people in contemporary society had choices. It was only when one lacked resolve that others saw an opportunity to take advantage.

Mary laughed and said, “You said I always like this kind of rigid, honest man. The reason is simple: because of my appearance and my personality, I encounter a much higher proportion of scumbags than you. Anyone who is interested in me has already imagined what it would be like to be in bed with me the moment they see me.”

That was true; Xin Xin felt that most of the men she’d met in her life had been good people. Even the less-than-ideal ones were at worst normal people.

Mary sided with Yang Manman in this matter, saying, “You think she suffered all this because she didn’t firmly refuse. But you never considered that her pressure might be far greater than yours.”

Xin Xin was convinced. “Then do you believe what she said about Fu Meng?”

Mary shrugged. “To be honest, this has nothing to do with you or me; it’s a matter between them.”

But ironically, this matter was related to Xin Xin.

No sooner had Yang Manman had a long talk with Xin Xin than Fu Meng arrived.

The project in Jinshi was nearing completion, and a final on-site inspection was needed. Fu Meng had just returned from out of town; she hadn’t even had time to go home after getting off the plane and came straight to find Xin Xin, travel-worn and exhausted.

Looking at her exhaustion, which even her nearly ten-centimeter-high heels and expensive foundation couldn’t conceal, Xin Xin felt a pang of sympathy for her, almost like a sense of shared sorrow.

“Sit down and talk.”

As soon as Fu Meng sat down, she leaned her head back against the chair, closed her eyes, and said, “Xin Xin, it’s just a week. Let’s make a trip together. I know you’re busy too, but please help me out; I really can’t find anyone else.”

Although Fu Meng never mentioned the internal problems of the department, Xin Xin could roughly guess what they were.

Xin Xin once thought that some people in this world were really lucky, either because they had found a good partner or because they had met a particularly good benefactor.

If you tried to accomplish something on your own, you would fail and be disappointed. But if you tried to accomplish something on your own, even without any backing, you wouldn’t be crushed by falling rocks when your backing collapsed.