Dawn of Life

Lin Yue could certainly see Sheng Xing's dissatisfaction, but the fact that he hadn't vented it at the all-staff meeting meant that he was still biased towards her.

Before Sheng Xing could speak, she said, "President Sheng, I should have reported this to you in advance, but I remembered that you said before that as long as it was the result, I could decide on the other personnel arrangements myself."

Furthermore, you've been quite busy lately, so I decided to report directly to you at the meeting. Also, since I've just been promoted, some colleagues on the team aren't very familiar with me yet and are still taking a wait-and-see approach. I wanted to use this meeting as an opportunity to show everyone my working style and your support. This will be more conducive to the progress of future work.

Having been flattered, Shengxing didn't know how to begin what he had prepared, so he could only nod and say, "You decide for yourself, just submit the results later."

Then, he turned to Zhang Wei and asked, "What have been your work priorities lately?"

Zhang Wei's face flushed red. He couldn't very well admit that he had nothing to do. Before today's meeting, he could have said it was a problem with Lin Yue's work arrangements, but now it seemed more like a problem with his own incompetence.

Seeing that Zhang Wei remained silent, Sheng Xing turned to look at Lin Yue. Lin Yue scratched her head, looking troubled, and said, "Zhang Wei's strengths are useless in the current situation of the company."

He pretended to ponder for a dozen seconds, then looked up at Zhang Wei and said, "Or, you can make a plan based on your own strengths and the company's current situation. After all, you're a manager, so your planning ability is definitely not a problem. Once you have the plan, we can schedule a time to report to President Sheng and me, and then we'll make further arrangements."

Although Zhang Wei was filled with resentment, he also knew that he was at a disadvantage, so he could only nod silently.

With that, Zhang Wei's matter was considered resolved. A manager with no work to do couldn't possibly cause any trouble. As for how long he could stay at the company, it would depend on what kind of solution he could come up with, or how long Shengxing was willing to keep such an idle person.

Although it seemed like they had won the battle, Lin Yue felt extremely tired.

Previously, working under Qin Lan, she only needed to do the work. Although she could handle interpersonal relationships within the team, it was limited to departmental information sharing and cross-team collaboration. And even if she couldn't manage something, someone would always cover for her. Now, however, she has to rely on herself for everything and pretend to be relaxed and capable in front of her superiors and subordinates.

As she dragged her weary steps to her doorstep, she suddenly heard an unusually noisy noise coming from inside the house.

Listening carefully, Lin Yue could barely distinguish Liu Cuiying's shouts, Lin Haifeng's sighs, and Xiao Yu's cries. Lin Yue's heart clenched. She remembered that her mother had indeed been better for a few days after her last conversation with Liu Cuiying. However, she soon realized that many of her mother's ideas and habits were deeply ingrained and difficult to change.

For example, she likes to encourage Xiaoyu, and she often says things like, "Baby, you did a great job on this."

Because she herself received a repressive upbringing, she didn't want something like this to happen to Xiaoyu. But every time Liu Cuiying heard this, she would sarcastically say from the side, "He's so old, isn't it only right that he does this little thing?"

Lin Yue quickly opened the door, and what greeted her eyes was a chaotic scene in the house. Her question, "What's going on here?" caught the attention of Liu Cuiying, Lin Haifeng, and Xiao Yu.

Lin Yue frowned deeply at the chaotic scene before her. She glanced around and saw Xiao Yu sitting on the floor, his face streaked with tears, a sight that broke her heart. Then she looked at Liu Cuiying, her face contorted with anger, while Lin Haifeng sighed helplessly beside her. The atmosphere in the room was oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

Lin Yue quickly walked to Xiao Yu's side, knelt down, gently wiped away the tears on his face, and then tenderly picked him up from the floor and placed him on the sofa. Before she could even ask anything, Liu Cuiying began a barrage of scolding: "Look at this child, he's getting more and more unruly! I just said a few words to him, and he started throwing a tantrum! I was doing it for his own good, but he just won't listen to a word!"

Lin Yue took a deep breath and tried to speak calmly, "Mom, don't get angry. What happened?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Cuiying's anger flared even more. Pointing at Xiaoyu, she loudly berated him, "I've told him eight hundred times not to play with Lego on the bed! I just made the bed last night, and he climbed up again to play, making a complete mess everywhere. How is he supposed to sleep tonight?!"

Xiaoyu loves building with Lego, and Lin Yue fully supports his hobby, believing it can cultivate his hands-on skills. She also asks Xiaoyu to help her build some ornaments or pen holders to put on the table. A few days ago, she saw a very nice Ultraman Lego set that could light up, so she bought it for him on a whim. He used to build on his desk and dining table, but that wasn't convenient for him to find the parts, and a few times the parts fell to the floor and couldn't be found.

Later, he moved his "battleground" to the bed, because the bed in the second bedroom was next to the bay window, and removing the cushions from the bay window created a lot of space. Lin Yue knew about this but didn't particularly stop him, because compared to Xiao Yu's hobby, tidying up the windowsill and a few Lego pieces that had fallen onto the bed wasn't a big deal.

Lin Yue felt a pang of helplessness. She recalled her own childhood, how every time she made a mistake or didn't do well enough, she was met with her mother's merciless scolding, and the feeling of being rejected was still vivid in her memory. She didn't want Xiao Yu to suffer the same pain. She stood up and looked at Liu Cuiying, saying, "Mom, Xiao Yu is still young. Just talk to him nicely, don't always be so harsh with him."

Upon hearing this, Liu Cuiying's eyes widened as if she had heard something unbelievable: "I scolded him? I was disciplining him! You spoil him like this, what kind of future will he have!"

Lin Yue's face also turned grim. She tried hard to control her emotions, but her voice still rose a few decibels unconsciously: "Mom, your parenting methods are outdated. I don't want Xiaoyu to live in the shadow of being suppressed like I did when I was a child!"

These words were like igniting a powder keg. Liu Cuiying glared at Lin Yue, her face flushed, and said, "You've forgotten your mother now that you have a son. I never wanted to come to Hangzhou in the first place. You're selfish; you've made a mess of your own life, and now you're dragging me down with you."

Lin Yue felt her mother's words were like knives, relentlessly stabbing into her heart. She knew her marriage had failed, so she used her busy work to numb herself. During the day, she was like a female warrior, not letting anyone see her vulnerability.

But who knows how she got through those emotional outbursts? In the dead of night, she would lick her wounds again and again like a wounded kitten. But her mother, the person she loved most, would tear open her wounds again and again and sprinkle salt on them.

She stood up and looked straight at Liu Cuiying, but because her eyes were already filled with tears, she could no longer see Liu Cuiying's expression. She could only feel her own heartache and the warning pounding in her heart that it could not bear.

She heard her own voice, trembling with tears, say, "Mom, if you really don't want to stay in my house anymore, then just leave."

Liu Cuiying was stunned at first, then stared at Lin Yue in disbelief. Only two words echoed in her mind: "my home" and "get out." She then turned to Lin Haifeng and cried loudly, "See? She's all grown up now and thinks we're old and useless. She said a few words to the child and she wants to kick me out!"

Lin Yue felt a tightness in her chest, making it hard to breathe. Her mind was racing; Xiao Yu's cries, Liu Cuiying's scolding, and Lin Haifeng's sighs as he comforted Liu Cuiying all rushed towards her. Then she heard a loud bang as Liu Cuiying slammed the door shut and left.

Lin Yue felt her mind go blank, and the room suddenly fell silent. Lin Yue looked at Lin Haifeng and called out, "Dad~"