Financial Workplace Survival Guide – CH 064

Chapter 64 ☆, Doubts Arise.

In theory, Xin Xin had already been transferred to the Internal Control Department, and Yang Manman’s matter was Fu Meng’s responsibility. However, in reality, considering the cause and effect, Zhang Qiao and Yang Manman, who were involved, were both people she heavily relied on during her tenure as head of the department.

Furthermore, although the company intended to promote Zhang Qiao after Xin Xin was transferred, making him the undisputed head of the department, the formalities had not been completed yet, leaving the head position vacant with only deputy Zhang Qiao in place.

Both morally and logically, Xin Xin bore significant responsibility for the investigation and subsequent handling of this matter.

She was very distressed because of this. Ever since Zhao Xi was transferred, she and Yang Manman seemed to be incompatible, and many troubles were related to her.

Workplace sexual harassment was a very delicate issue, and many women had actually experienced it. Most harassment left no evidence: intentional or unintentional physical contact, verbal harassment at drinking parties, and inappropriate behavior under the influence of alcohol—these invisible discomforts put women in a very passive position.

If you did not speak up, you would be left with a bitter pill to swallow, and you would definitely suffer in silence. If you did speak up, it was often difficult to get a proper resolution, and you might even find yourself in a worse situation. At best, you would be the subject of gossip; at worst, you would be the target of rumors.

This discomfort had been going on for a long time, and there was almost nothing that could be done about it, but generally speaking, cases as serious as rape were relatively rare.

Xin Xin abhorred this. If it were someone else, she would have genuinely helped them, at least offering the greatest emotional support.

But since this person was Yang Manman, Xin Xin inevitably hesitated in her attitude.

Even if the two had no prior conflict, they had certainly had some disagreements. Moreover, Xin Xin’s first thought was to protect Su Qi from her department. Coupled with her understanding of Yang Manman, she had a preconceived notion that Yang Manman might genuinely have had ill intentions, leading to a more passive approach to the matter.

Su Qi’s attitude was very firm. When asked, she said that Yang Manman insisted on going to the second event herself, and she had done everything she could. She did not think the matter had anything to do with her. If the two of them had had a good relationship, they would not have acted so coldly at this time.

Xin Xin felt that perhaps she was right; Yang Manman had brought Su Qi there from the beginning to divert attention from the trouble.

Fu Meng astutely gleaned the key information from Su Qi’s words: “Are you closer to Zhang Qiao or Yang Manman?”

Su Qi paused for a moment, then said confidently, “I work in the same department as Mr. Zhang, so we interact a lot, and I am definitely closer to him. Ms. Xin knows this too.”

Personally, Xin Xin did not want to involve Zhang Qiao, so she interrupted Fu Meng’s question.

“Ms. Fu, Su Qi also said that she does not know much about this matter. Let’s wait for the police investigation results. Actually, it’s not good for anyone if too many people know about this.”

Xin Xin appeared gentle, but her tone left no room for argument.

Fu Meng could only manage a forced smile. “Okay, we will discuss anything else later.”

As soon as they left the office, Xin Xin messaged Mary, “Are you free? I have something to discuss with you.”

Mary simply replied with one word, “Okay.”

When Mary arrived at Xin Xin’s office, Xin Xin could not wait to ask her, “How exactly did you handle the matter between you, Zhang Qiao, and Han Canghai?”

Mary shrugged. “I have not dealt with it. They are all friends. I do not have a boyfriend right now.”

Xin Xin had always thought that Mary’s decisive and abrupt breakup meant she had already decided to reconcile with Han Canghai. Unexpectedly, this led her to a profound realization, causing her to abandon her obsession with acting in romantic dramas.

Mary’s point of view had shifted.

“Are you really planning to become a celibate?” Xin Xin asked with a smile.

Mary thought for a moment, “I’ve hardly ever been single for long before. Recently, I’ve found that I am happy not to worry about love or live for another person. Maybe I used to look for passion in a very one-dimensional way. Love is not the only thing that can excite people.”

Xin Xin gave her a thumbs up. “Not bad, you’ve attained enlightenment.”

It was often said that there were no true friends in the workplace, and everyone was just a casual acquaintance. But ten years later, their relationship had only grown stronger. This mutual understanding, trust, and support, coupled with their willingness to help each other in crucial moments, had surpassed almost any other relationship they had with anyone else.

Without Xin Xin saying a word, Mary knew what she was going to say.

“You summoned me here because of Yang Manman?”

Xin Xin nodded honestly and calmly told Mary that she had seen Zhang Qiao and Yang Manman walking on the street. She neither embellished the story nor speculated about the reasons.

Mary thought for a moment, “There are two possibilities. One is a personal relationship, which could be friendship or an unrequited love. The other is a working relationship, which could be unrelated to this matter.”

Xin Xin nodded. From Mary’s expression, she understood that Mary had understood what she meant.

Su Qi said that Yang Manman told her that Zhang Qiao originally wanted to go, but it was just to lie to her.

This statement could be true, or it could be an excuse she made to justify herself after Yang Manman was subsequent troubles. The truth of the matter depended on Zhang Qiao’s actual relationship with both of them.

Xin Xin could have asked Zhang Qiao directly, but she decided to discuss it with Mary first.

Mary thought for a moment and said cautiously, “I do not think he and Yang Manman have a personal relationship, because he has been very attentive to me lately, and he said he’d wait for my final decision. But you know how men are; it is not impossible for him to be pursuing you while also professing loyalty to someone else.”

Xin Xin smiled and joked, “You are really something. A true warrior is one who recognizes the truth of life and still loves it. You are the same; you always recognize the truth of love, but you are always passionate.”

Mary chuckled and said, “What kind of love is it if it is not bloody? It is so boring if men and women do not have any dark side and it is all just open and honest ‘I love you, I love you.'”

Xin Xin thought of herself and Zheng Zaochuan, “Zheng Zaochuan and I probably have not started going bloody yet. I am actually quite enjoying this boring state right now. I hope God will bless me so that it is only boring and not bloody.”

Mary laughed and said, “Good luck. Quick, call Zhang Qiao over now; I will treat you to coffee.”

With Mary’s approval, Xin Xin felt reassured. Although it could not be ruled out that Zhang Qiao had some entanglement with Yang Manman during his emotional distress, at least for this moment, Mary had endorsed Zhang Qiao’s character.

The coffee had been delivered long ago, and the ice was about 80% melted. Zhang Qiao arrived late. Mary had gone back to do some work in between, and now she was back in Xin Xin’s office listening to the story.

“Hi!” Mary greeted Zhang Qiao through her straw; she had almost finished her drink.

Zhang Qiao nodded to Mary and looked at Xin Xin, “Ms. Xin.”

Xin Xin handed him the coffee. “Here you go, busy man. What are you busy with?”

Zhang Qiao looked extremely anxious, like the kind of anxiety one felt after being bombarded by numerous KPIs.

“I am completely overwhelmed. Today was a bad start to the quarter. Su Qi and I have been questioned by all sorts of people. I have not even had a drink of water all day.”

Xin Xin and Mary exchanged a glance.

“That is really kind of you. You will have to explain this to us again.” Xin Xin explained the reason: “Your appointment document has not been issued yet, and this incident happened at this juncture. It just so happens that I am handing over my work, so let’s get in touch first and not involve the people in the department.”

Su Qi was also in charge of external publicity for the Sales Department. If she got into trouble, the Publicity Department would need to be replaced, which would had a significant impact on the department.

Zhang Qiao naturally understood the implications. He downed half a cup of coffee in one go and slowly recounted what he knew.

“Yang Manman and I have always had a pretty good relationship. We’ve worked on projects together before, but we do not really keep in touch privately. She contacted me a few times afterward, but it was not anything serious. She just said, openly or subtly, that Fu Meng was being unfair to her.”

Xin Xin secretly rejoiced that she had not forced Yang Manman to stay; otherwise, she would have been the one being gossiped about behind her back.

Mary commented, “Speaking too frankly with someone you do not know well, and yet you speak ill of your direct supervisor; your purpose is definitely to spread information. You’ve probably told others as well as me.”

Xin Xin once summarized the common practice of confiding in others in the workplace into several scenarios.

The first type was where you genuinely consider each other friends, helping each other out or exchanging a few words of witty banter. This kind of relationship was rare and required years of acquaintance, good character, and no conflict of interest. For example, her and Mary.

The second type was the naive newcomer who, upon encountering a colleague who showed them kindness and small favors, would begin to open up completely. This behavior was extremely risky and could easily make them an unwitting target or victim.

There was also a third, most common, and most malicious method. This involved speaking ill of others to create a desired atmosphere and achieve the goal of attacking them. The advantage of this was that it allowed one to portray themselves as a victim and to build a shared circle by expressing their true feelings.

To speak too frankly with someone you barely know and to tell everyone about your troubles was mostly a way to confuse people and create ambiguity.

Xin Xin had unknowingly suffered because of Yang Manman in the past. Later, when she went to the sales department, Yang Manman was caught by Xin Xin forming an alliance with a group of people who fabricated scandalous news about her.

But regardless of how much of the other things were true or false, it was true that she invited Zhang Qiao to dinner on the day of the accident, and it could be considered that she lied to Su Qi.

Zhang Qiao took out his phone, which showed a WeChat message from Yang Manman inviting him to dinner.

“Mr. Zhang, I am having lunch with some clients this afternoon. Would you do me the honor of joining me?”

Xin Xin leaned over to look at the message. It was sent around 4 PM, but Zhang Qiao had not replied.

“I did not see it. I was working overtime that day, and it was past eight o’clock when I got off work. I called her, but she did not answer. I thought I’d talk to her the next day. I did not expect this to happen. I should have gone.” Zhang Qiao was genuinely annoyed.

Mary glanced at the text message and asserted, “She did not really want to invite you. If she really wanted to invite someone, she would have called again even if you did not reply.”

That made sense.

All three simultaneously considered the possibility that Yang Manman had planned this all along. But this idea was far too malicious; who would risk their reputation and be raped to scheme against someone else?

After discussing it for a while without reaching a conclusion, Xin Xin was at least certain that the people she knew were all alright. So she naively thought that perhaps this matter had nothing to do with the Sales Department.

At that moment, no one expected the so-called butterfly effect, how much influence a person’s unintentional behavior could have on others.