Financial Workplace Survival Guide – CH 083

Chapter 83 ☆, The Secret in the Box.

When she was very young, Xin Xin believed that love should be transparent, ethereal, and belong to the soul. She felt that people should recognize their true love in a moment of soul-stirring tremor.

When she first started working, Mary asked her, “What’s your ideal type?”

What exactly was the “type”?

Xin Xin answered without hesitation: “Soulmate.”

Mary scoffed and scoffed, “Hypocrite. I don’t believe you would like a Quasimodo who only knows how to recite poetry.”

At that time, Xin Xin felt that she would fall in love with a person’s soul before the physical. Just like Esmeralda, who ultimately fell in love with kindness, she would also fall in love with the quality of kindness.

At that time, she certainly would not had thought that having a cold dinner together after physical pleasure was a romantic thing.

But now, she suddenly realized that lust was the main component of love.

Regardless of the doubts and confusion she had experienced before, on that night, as she and Zheng Zaochuan nestled together, kissed gently, and finally drifted off to sleep, she felt at peace and fulfilled.

A real hug and body heat were the best proof of love.

Zheng Zaochuan spent the weekend preparing to return to Haining. Before leaving, he kissed Xin Xin and informed her of his itinerary, saying, “I will definitely be back this weekend. Once the handover’s completed there, I will be stationed permanently in Jiangcheng.”

Xin Xin bit him and threatened him fiercely, “If I hear another woman answering your phone again, I will pack my bags and leave, and I will never come back.”

Zheng Zaochuan solemnly replied, “Absolutely not.”

Xin Xin accepted his promise.

Soon, Xin Xin noticed that Zheng Zaochuan was awkwardly trying to express how seriously he took the argument. For example, she saw messages from Zheng Zaochuan every hour she went to work.

The message contained little to no content, but it was accompanied by pictures and text.

He would take a photo before a meeting, with the caption: “Meeting about to begin.”

Or, before entering the factory, would take a picture of the entrance and add a note: “I want to go in and see the handicraft production line.”

Xin Xin was both amused and exasperated. She did not think that was what she meant, nor was she fixated on checking up on him. She just hoped Zheng Zaochuan would have the concept of a “girlfriend.” She hoped he would tell her what he was doing after getting off work or when he was not busy, or let her know if his schedule changed.

Moreover, Xin Xin’s job was not exactly easy, so she did not have much time to date Zheng Zaochuan.

At the end of the day, Zheng Zaochuan felt aggrieved and complained to Xin Xin via video call.

“Why were you ignoring me?”

“Because I’m very busy today.” Xin Xin organized her thoughts. “I think you did not understand what I meant. I just thought that you should let me know if something happened, not that you should report to me all the time.”

Zheng Zaochuan pouted, “You are really hard to please.”

Xin Xin laughed. “When I wasn’t your girlfriend, why did you not think I was difficult to please?”

Speaking of this, Zheng Zaochuan felt even more aggrieved. “When you were not my girlfriend, you ignored me, but you never threatened to leave me.”

“Huh?” Xin Xin exclaimed in surprise, “I’m not even with you; how could I threaten you?”

Zheng Zaochuan laughed. “Yes, back then all you did was threaten me, to demote me from a friend to a client.”

Xin Xin did not expect that Zheng Zaochuan was really vengeful.

Fortunately, after this little hiccup, the relationship went smoothly. Like any bored couple in love, they would video chat at night and watch each other work overtime.

As their relationship warmed up, the weather also got warmer, and summer was just around the corner.

Zhao Xi was promoted as he wished, and transferred to head the Credit Business Department. Compared to investment banking, margin trading and securities lending were not as profitable, but they were also less risky. Compared to his previous work in risk control, credit business was more core.

Xin Xin guessed that Zhao Xi wanted to stay in this position for a few years, either to become the head of a subsidiary or to be promoted directly to vice president.

Zhao Xi’s career development was textbook-worthy; he had almost surpassed all his peers, and a meteoric rise to power was a certainty. As long as he did not do anything reckless, his future was limitless if he followed the established path.

This time, Zhao Xi kept his word.

He was transferred a month ago, and the business had just been streamlined when Xin Xin was transferred there. Xin Xin was directly in charge of the credit business, specifically the Financing and Securities Lending Department, and was appointed as the team leader.

Xin Xin encountered new difficulties.

To facilitate Xin Xin’s work, Zhao Xi assigned a team of young people who had only been with the company for less than two years. The good thing about these young people was that they did not act like they were seniors, but these young people graduated from prestigious universities and had not experienced the harsh realities of the workplace. They each had their own arrogance and strong personality, making them a different kind of difficult to manage.

At the same time, Xin Xin also encountered the same sweet trouble as all those who use connections: everyone praised her for having chosen the right person to associate with. But everyone was also jealous of her for having chosen the right person to associate with.

Jealousy would breed evil and also would spread rumors.

On the surface, everyone respected Xin Xin; after all, everyone knew she was Zhao Xi’s woman. But behind the scenes, many people speculated about their relationship with the utmost malice.

Xin Xin soon discovered that being in charge at the head office was much more difficult than when she was in Haining. In Haining, people in her department only talked badly about her behind her back, but they still did their jobs as usual.

However, the young people at headquarters were all cunning and calculating. On the surface, they were very cooperative, but behind the scenes, they delayed their work and even reported to higher-ups without authorization.

After a period of time, Xin Xin was attacked from both sides.

“Is he difficult to manage? Should I call a meeting to discuss this?” Zhao Xi noticed this and was somewhat worried.

Xin Xin wasn’t in a hurry. “No need; it’s just normal friction. If you’re going to stand up for me, then I’d be suspected of bullying others.”

Zhao Xi smiled faintly, “Is it not nice to feel like a fox borrowing the tiger’s power?”

Xin Xin shrugged. “There’s a price to pay for borrowing someone else’s power.”

The price was that we all prosper together and we all suffer together.

Compared to investment banking, margin trading was much easier to conduct, but marketing it was extremely challenging. Although there were not many securities companies piloting margin trading, the pool of companies with high credit ratings and financing needs was limited. Furthermore, Jiangcheng was not a place Xin Xin was familiar with, making business development very difficult.

The path of winning people over with ability was extremely difficult.

Fortunately, Zheng Zaochuan’s company had already opened, and he had settled down in Jiangcheng, so he did not have to travel back and forth anymore. He was still providing basic support in the field of technology, mainly collaborating with some cultural industries and research institutions to develop projects such as digital cinemas.

Seeing Xin Xin constantly running around in high heels, Zheng Zaochuan hesitated for a long time before finally asking, “Does Zhao Xi really enslave you like this? Doesn’t he like you?”

Xin Xin narrowed her eyes, suddenly becoming suspicious. “Why do you think Zhao Xi likes me?”

It was really strange; back in Haining, Zheng Zaochuan inexplicably felt that Zhao Xi and she were dating.

Zheng Zaochuan’s expression was very strange and awkward. His beautiful eyes darted around Xin Xin’s face furtively, and he hesitated before saying, “Actually, when I first met you, I thought you two were together.”

Xin Xin asked in confusion, “Why? We, as superiors and subordinates, are not allowed to date.”

Zheng Zaochuan nodded. “I know. I thought you two were having a secret, underground relationship.”

Xin Xin was still skeptical. “What gave you this misconception?”

Zheng Zaochuan coughed lightly. “Did we not go stargazing? Remember?”

“I remember, I asked you to do some business with me, and you suddenly wanted to go stargazing.”

Zheng Zaochuan said, “I went to your company to find you the next day.”

Xin Xin’s memory was already hazy. “What did you want from me?”

Zheng Zaochuan did not say anything but suddenly pulled a box out from under the bed. Xin Xin stuck her head out curiously and saw that the whole box was full of photos.

There were photos of her profile looking at the stars, photos of her sleeping soundly, photos of her working at Zheng Zaochuan’s company, and photos of the two of them eating hot pot together. She recognized some of these photos, but she had no recollection of most of them.

Xin Xin looked at the small box of photos with suspicion and exclaimed, “Zheng Zaochuan, do you still do things like taking photos secretly? Why would you do something so perverted?”

Zheng Zaochuan lowered his eyes. “I don’t know why, but that time we looked at the stars, I took a picture of you by chance, and I thought it was really beautiful. Believe it or not, I just thought I took a picture of you that looked especially good.”

After her initial surprise, Xin Xin casually flipped through the photos, saying, “You took the pictures, fine, but to print them out is just too horrible.”

In fact, Zheng Zaochuan did not know why either.

Initially, Xin Xin and he were stargazing together when he accidentally captured a photo of Xin Xin’s profile while taking pictures of the stars. He originally intended to share this photo with Xin Xin, but for some reason, she looked incredibly serene and beautiful under the starry sky, as if she were surrounded by a soft, haloed glow.

Suddenly, a part of his heart involuntarily spasmed, and he suddenly did not want to share anymore.

He was caught in a bitter battle between two women.

During those days, Xin Xin’s photo kept flashing into his mind, and as if possessed, he opened the photo again. This time, he suddenly decided to develop the photo and give it to Xin Xin.

However, when he took the photo to Hengyang to find Xin Xin, he saw Xin Xin making coffee for Zhao Xi, and Zhao Xi watching Xin Xin from the side.

It was said that love could not be hidden.

Although Zheng Zaochuan seemed rough and careless, he possessed a strange, almost animalistic intuition. When Zhao Xi looked at Xin Xin, he clearly felt intense love and admiration.

He did not expose the relationship between Zhao Xi and Xin Xin but quietly hid the photo back in his bag. Then, pretending nothing had happened, he walked over with a smile and blocked Zhao Xi’s view of Xin Xin. “Mr. Zhao, I’ve read the project proposal. There are no problems. Let Xin Xin come over to handle things next time.”

Even now, Zheng Zaochuan could remember that after finishing his business meeting that day, he waited at the entrance of Hengyang. When he saw Xin Xin walking out of the company after getting off work, he pretended to be passing by and parked his car right in front of her.

“Hey, Star, let’s go eat hot pot together.”

Xin Xin looked at Zheng Zaochuan with a bewildered expression, and the next moment, she got into his car without any hesitation.

No one knew that Zheng Zaochuan’s palms had become damp in that brief moment.

Liking.

As if they had known each other for a long time, he casually yet domineeringly made his request: “Could you please pretend to be my girlfriend and help me solve a problem?”