Dawn of Life

Qin Lan: "I have an appointment with someone near your house this afternoon to discuss some things. After we finish, it will be dinner time. If you have time, we can have dinner together."

This was the first time the two had met since Qin Lan resigned. Lin Yue often liked Qin Lan's posts on WeChat Moments, although Qin Lan mostly shared things related to studying and news. Lin Yue would also send her holiday greetings via text message. Several times Lin Yue wanted to message her to ask how she was doing, but she worried about bothering her and making her feel like she lacked boundaries.

So when Qin Lan took the initiative to ask her out, she agreed without hesitation. Although Qin Lan had reminded her last time that Shengxing intended to lay off the entire HRBP team, and she had suspected that Qin Lan and Liu Zheng had done it on purpose, this was not enough to shake Qin Lan's position in Lin Yue's heart. Many of her professional and management skills came from Qin Lan. It's no exaggeration to say that Qin Lan was not only her mentor and friend, but sometimes even her pillar of support.

Of course, since the two are now in different positions, she needs to be somewhat wary when she meets Qin Lan, but what does it matter? Even if she loses when sparring with a master, she can still improve her "martial prowess".

In the afternoon, while going to the break room, Lin Yue quietly shared the news with Su Ling. A hint of surprise and doubt flashed in Su Ling's eyes. When Qin Lan was still employed there, Lin Yue and Su Ling often talked about her. In their minds, Qin Lan was like a leading lady—born in a small county, a graduate of an ordinary second-tier university, yet she managed to overcome numerous obstacles to secure a job at a major company through campus recruitment, and then rose from a management trainee to HR manager. Later, she was headhunted by a high-paying headhunter to Dasheng, where she grew the team from a few dozen people into a company with over a thousand employees.

It seemed a little regrettable when they left Dasheng, but Lin Yue always felt that this was perhaps Dasheng's biggest regret, and she always believed that someone like Qin Lan could definitely turn the tide.

When Lin Yue arrived at the agreed-upon restaurant, Qin Lan was already seated by the window, waiting for her. The warm yellow light in the restaurant bathed Qin Lan, adding a touch of gentleness to her capable demeanor. Upon seeing Lin Yue, Qin Lan gave her a familiar smile.

Afterwards, Qin Lan asked the waiter for a menu, and while looking at it, she casually chatted with Lin Yue: "How's work lately? I heard you were promoted to HR director."

Lin Yue placed a piece of pork rib in the bowl, nodded, and said, "Actually, it's quite difficult for me to cook now, and there are still many shortcomings. I finally understand how comfortable it was to be under your protection before!" Then Lin Yue looked up at Qin Lan and asked softly, "Boss, how have you been lately? Are you alright?"

As Qin Lan ladled soup for herself, she said, "I've been looking into startup projects lately, and my initial idea is to start a human resources consulting company."

Generally, companies don't hire a senior HR director at the beginning because the cost is too high. However, there are many directional issues at the start of a company, and the boss also wants to lay a solid foundation.

At this point, companies often partner with consulting firms, hiring a consultant who doesn't need to be physically present in the office but simply provides professional consulting services. A human resources specialist is then hired to handle the specific tasks. This model typically charges by the hour, with payments made monthly. Additionally, some companies in their mid-to-late stages of development, facing strategic transformations or management bottlenecks, find their existing HR departments unable to manage the issues and will seek more specialized consultants to solve them. In this case, fees are usually charged per project.

For HR professionals, career development typically reaches its ceiling after reaching the position of HRD (HR Director) in a company, with variations depending on the company. After that, there are usually two paths for further advancement: one is to transition to business management, moving from HR management to business management; the other, like Qin Lan, is to hone their HR expertise to the highest level and then begin undertaking consulting projects.

Lin Yue was genuinely happy for Qin Lan. She had excellent professional skills, an impressive resume, and had even completed an MBA in the past two years, which made up for her lack of formal education.

When they had eaten about half of the meal, the two were still casually chatting about their recent situations. Although the atmosphere was harmonious, Lin Yue always felt that Qin Lan's sudden invitation to her was definitely not just a simple reunion.

Their relationship used to be quite good, but because of their different levels, it was at most a little more than superior-subordinate, but definitely not at the level of friends. Lin Yue carefully considered every topic Qin Lan brought up, wondering if she wanted to get her involved in starting a business together. But she quickly dismissed the idea, because Qin Lan's startup project was currently only in the research stage, and she didn't have any experience in that area.

Just as Lin Yue was filled with confusion, Qin Lan finally revealed the purpose of their meeting. Upon hearing this, Lin Yue felt her heart sink instantly, and she finally understood why Qin Lan had saved it for last – perhaps he didn't want to spoil her meal.

Qin Lan picked up a piece of beef brisket and put it in her bowl. Suddenly, she looked up at Lin Yue, stared at her face for a few seconds, and said, "President Sheng is currently recruiting a human resources director." Qin Lan's voice was very calm, as if she had just remembered it casually.

Lin Yue's expression froze slightly, her smile visibly stiffening. She then picked up her cup and tilted her head back to drink the water. Although she knew Qin Lan had already noticed her emotional change, she still feigned composure and replied, "With my qualifications, I am indeed somewhat lacking to serve as the HRD of Dasheng."

She picked up her chopsticks and scanned the dishes on the table, suddenly losing her appetite for all of them. So she put down her chopsticks, picked up a piece of watermelon, and took a small bite. The icy watermelon made her heart feel even colder.

There's still a month left in her three-month probation period with Shengxing. Is he in such a hurry to replace her? She quickly thought to herself, is Shengxing planning to demote her or just fire her outright?

At this moment, she felt a deep sense of frustration. During this time, she had worked hard to unite the team and advance the project. She carefully recalled her several important work reports with Shengxing, and soon she had her answer. Shengxing was still dissatisfied with her handling of Liu Zheng; he wanted her to be at the forefront, to become a tool in his fight against Liu Zheng. But she always tried to keep the two of them together. It seemed that their problem was no longer simply a clash of working styles, but a zero-sum game of competition.

Lin Yue looked up at Qin Lan, her mind filled with questions. How did Qin Lan know? And what was Qin Lan's purpose in telling her this?

Qin Lan didn't answer Lin Yue's seemingly soliloquy remark. She was waiting for Lin Yue to process and digest the news on her own. Now that she felt it was about time, she continued, "Shengxing talked to a candidate a few days ago, and I happened to know him. So when he came to me to ask about Dasheng, I already knew about it."

Lin Yue asked, "Then it must have been recommended by someone you know, right?"