Financial Workplace Survival Guide – CH 049

Chapter 49 ☆, Being Merely A Wife Is A Threat.

The investment banking department of the Haining branch was specially established because Haining City had a relatively developed economy.

When Zhao Xi was in charge, the investment banking department was under his direct supervision. Unlike the head office, the branch office’s investment banking department did not have secondary departments; it operated in a team-based system. Except for a few particularly large projects that Zhao Xi personally handled, the team leaders each had their own areas of expertise, so they essentially worked independently.

To put it bluntly, whoever had the most powerful clients was the boss. Unless the department head had extremely strong resources, the team leader would only follow orders, not direct commands.

The investment banking team managed the most profitable projects at the Haining branch and generally earned the most. Even if they did not seek an official position, many people still preferred to work in investment banking. If you had good connections, regardless of who the general manager was, everyone would give you some respect.

For example, Zhao Xi at the time had the backing of the AA+-rated state-owned enterprise Jingcheng, and he also had several well-maintained high-credit-rating companies. When he was in charge of the Haining branch, the investment banking department made a fortune with him, and the senior managers in the investment banking department generally received higher bonuses than the heads of the sales departments.

Then Fu Meng arrived, and things changed.

She had no prior business experience and was parachuted in, which already drew considerable criticism. Her subordinates didn’t listen to her at all; even worse, when the head office’s investment banking department needed Haining’s cooperation on a project, they would directly contact the team leader in charge.

Fu Meng had worked tirelessly day and night for so long, barely managing to complete her task, which was far inferior to Zhao Xi’s.

The selection of personnel was even more arduous. After much effort, they managed to recruit a few newcomers from other departments, attempting to cultivate them into their own team from scratch. However, based on Xin Xin’s current understanding, Yang Manman, on whom Fu Meng had placed high hopes, had also turned against them.

It wasn’t that Xin Xin was kicking someone when they were down; in her opinion, Fu Meng shouldn’t have been parachuted in in the first place.

With good luck, a decent resume could pave the way for promotions. With bad luck, the resume failed, and many failed because of this.

Xin Xin speculated that Fu Meng probably initially wanted to gain some experience so that she could take advantage of Lin Chong’an’s transfer back in the next few years.

But no one expected that Lin Chong’an would be relegated to the sidelines after his fight with Chen Gang. When the kings of hell fight, the underlings suffer.

Xin Xin agreed to work on the project with Fu Meng.

In her view, having more opportunities to interact with clients was always a good thing. While Fu Meng was still around, she would use Fu Meng’s connections to get to know new resources. If Fu Meng were gone, these resources would simply fall into her hands.

It was entirely beneficial and without any harm.

But Zheng Zaochuan was a little worried when he heard about this. “Go so far? I heard that you have to go to the production site for inspection. There is no signal once you enter the mountains there, and the weather is unpredictable. Why do you have to go to the site?”

Xin Xin was cautious in her work. While some underwriters only looked at third-party valuations when dealing with bonds, Xin Xin usually wanted to see the actual operating conditions of the factory and the collateral. This was Zhao Xi’s habit—he didn’t fight unprepared battles.

Xin Xin wasn’t worried about the production situation; she was just going to check on things. After all, Fu Meng was there too, and her hometown was definitely a place she’d be relatively familiar with, so what could possibly happen there?

Zheng Zaochuan, like a worried old father, condescended to pack Xin Xin’s luggage, providing everything from mosquito repellent, motion sickness medicine, and insect repellent to winter and summer clothes.

Xin Xin was both amused and exasperated. She took out the things that Zheng Zaochuan had thoughtfully packed into the box and set off lightly.

Zheng Zaochuan thought for a while but was still not entirely at ease. He took out Xin Xin’s coat, sewed a small pocket inside the inner pocket, and stuffed two hundred yuan into it.

“Take it with you. Just in case something unexpected happens, you’ll always have a little money hidden away. A cunning rabbit has three burrows, after all.”

Xin Xin was touched. Watching Zheng Zaochuan sew the pocket for her stitch by stitch, she felt both moved and tender, and at that moment she almost fell in love with him. She had an urge to hug Zheng Zaochuan, but ultimately she restrained herself.

For adults, the initial attraction often turned into a “never mind” attitude.

The flight to Jinshi took several hours. Even though she was used to traveling all over the country, Xin Xin felt that the air was very dry as soon as she got off the plane, with the atmosphere of an old industrial area.

Perhaps because she was back in her hometown, Fu Meng visibly relaxed, changed her clothes, and happily took Xin Xin to meet a client.

Jin City was an industrial city with a high GDP per capita. Broadly speaking, there were two types of people: those who worked in the mines and were wealthy, and those who herded livestock and were also wealthy. As for why Fu Meng lived such a miserable life, that remained unknown.

“Hello, Mr. Zhang, this is my colleague, Xin Xin.”

Xin Xin quickly shook hands with the man whom Fu Meng called Boss Zhang. He was not tall, was about fifty years old, and had a very kind smile, giving people a very good feeling.

On that day, after introducing his company, Mr. Zhang warmly invited them to visit the city’s attractions together.

Before Xin Xin could refuse, Fu Meng smiled and said, “I’m a local; I’ll show her around. We should focus on work on weekdays, and tomorrow we’ll go to the factories and pick a few with high output.”

Mr. Zhang seemed a little surprised. “You’re from the Northwest; you don’t look like it.”

Fu Meng smiled sweetly, revealing a hint of shyness, and said in her hometown dialect, “I am honest and trustworthy. When I was in school, you sponsored me, and I studied for free for three years.”

Xin Xin had never seen Fu Meng chat so easily and freely before.

From the moment Fu Meng first joined the company, Xin Xin felt that she was like a fully armed warrior, ready to fight at any time. Her demeanor today was truly different.

After finishing her work, Fu Meng, for the first time ever, invited Xin Xin to go shopping together.

Jin City’s urban area iwas small, and there weren’t many people. Xin Xin listened to Fu Meng introduce the iconic buildings in the city square, her childhood school, and her childhood food memories.

“Where did you live?”

Fu Meng walked along playfully, kicking stones as she went, as if she had regressed into a little girl who hadn’t grown up. “My home is a four-hour drive from the city. I came to the city to study in high school, but my home is in the county.”

Xin Xin nodded, unsure how to start a conversation.

Since starting work, the distance between her and her colleagues had been very delicate. She once felt that maintaining a friendship with a girl was extremely difficult. Asking too many questions would blur boundaries, and accidentally touching on someone’s past hurts would be even worse. Asking too few questions would leave the relationship too shallow, making casual conversation impossible.

But Fu Meng insisted on crossing this boundary: “Hey, Xin Xin, do you look down on me?”

The question seemed out of the ordinary, and Xin Xin shook her head innocently, “No.”

Her denial was completely genuine; Xin Xin didn’t have that much emotion. Besides, since many things didn’t affect her own interests, she didn’t feel they were related to her.

Fu Meng continued, “I’ve already thought it through. After this project is completed, I’ll talk to Chen Gang. If he lets me off the hook, I’ll continue. If he doesn’t, I’ll try my best to pass the exam before I turn 35. If I can, I’d like to become a village official.”

Xin Xin never expected Fu Meng to have such a plan. It was like being in a completely different industry. At their age, most people who left the company would still work in the financial industry.

Moreover, they graduated when the capital market was at its peak and did indeed earn high salaries for several years. It was hard to go from luxury to frugality. Xin Xin simply couldn’t imagine how she would adapt to going from an annual salary of hundreds of thousands to a monthly salary of 3,000.

Fu Meng told Xin Xin about her grand ambitions. She said that when she was a child, she admired village officials the most because everyone respected them when they walked around the village.

As she spoke, Fu Meng suddenly tilted her head and looked Xin Xin up and down. “Have you ever lived in the countryside?”

Xin Xin answered honestly, “No.”

Fu Meng smiled mysteriously and said, “I knew it. Over the years, I can guess what kind of environment you grew up in and what kind of people your parents are with just one glance.”

Xin Xin lowered her guard. “What? You’ve also started a fortune-telling side business?”

Fu Meng stuck out her tongue. “No, it’s just a matter of practice. Poor kids like me have to learn to read people from a young age. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up in an abyss. You know what? When I first met you, I guessed that you must come from a well-off family. Your parents were both strict and loving towards you. You’re one of the happiest women. You don’t show any signs of hardship in your personality or appearance.”

This assessment was accurate, but Xin Xin did not entirely agree with the theory that one’s family of origin was the sole determining factor.

“But children from similar families can also have different personalities.”

Fu Meng sighed, “Yes, unfortunate families like ours tend to produce different strange personalities.” Then, she abruptly brought up Zhao Xi: “Xin Xin, I’ve always wanted to explain this to you. I got into some trouble back then; it was about Lin Chong’an. Zhao Xi didn’t hesitate to get a marriage certificate with me to protect me.”

Xin Xin was taken aback, not understanding why she needed to learn these things.

“I’m really selfish. I wanted Lin Chong’an’s love, and I also wanted Zhao Xi’s love. I needed to be loved so much. I know you might despise me, but I really love them. My feelings for them are genuine. I also know that if it weren’t for me, Zhao Xi would definitely like you a lot.”

This was a rather niche statement.

Xin Xin never imagined that the word “true love” could be associated with “them.”

In Fu Meng’s world, “true love” had been redefined. And this “true love” wasn’t unique; even Mary would probably be shocked by it.

Even now, Fu Meng still looked quite young. Dressed in sportswear, she resembled a recent college graduate if not looked at closely. Slender and petite, she always carried a hint of a smile.

It was unclear whether she wanted to clear Zhao Xi’s name or simply wanted someone to confide in.

Fu Meng told Xin Xin her story in a very straightforward manner.

Everyone said that Fu Meng won Lin Chong’an’s favor by handing him a Danshen, a traditional Chinese medicine, at a meeting. But that was not actually the case. They had already crossed paths long before that.

Fu Meng got her job opportunity by asking Lin Chong’an for it.

Upon graduation, Fu Meng and Zhao Xi looked for jobs together. Zhao Xi came from a well-off family, so finding a job was only a matter of time. His time wasn’t measured in money; his family had bought him houses in both Jiangcheng and Haining, and whether working at a branch office or headquarters, his living expenses were practically zero.

But Fu Meng could only stay at her boyfriend’s house, where she had to be taken care of in her daily life. At her most pitiful moment, she couldn’t even afford the fare to her job interview.

Zhao Xi once suggested that he go to work so that Fu Meng could focus on being his wife.

Perhaps in Zhao Xi’s eyes at the time, this was a promise, but in Fu Meng’s eyes at the time, it was a threat.