Dawn of Life

Seeing that she didn't speak, Xiao Feng continued earnestly, "If it's convenient, I'd like to ask you to take me to the staff cafeteria for a light meal, and also to check on the team's current situation."

This is indeed a good place to get a sense of the team atmosphere from the side. Lin Yue was a little embarrassed, realizing that she had misunderstood.

She nodded, took out her meal card from her bag, and said, "Let's go!"

The two walked side by side out of the office toward the cafeteria. Along the way, Lin Yue felt many of her female colleagues casting glances at her. She knew, of course, that these looks weren't directed at her. She turned to look at the man standing beside her; he seemed unfazed by it all, his thin lips slightly pursed, exuding an elegant air. Lin Yue sighed inwardly, "This man certainly has the charm to easily seduce women."

After seeing Xiao Feng off, Sheng Xing called Lin Yue over. She knocked on Sheng Xing's office door with her laptop, thinking that she should report on her communication with Xiao Feng.

"Great, this outfit suits you very well today," Shengxing said with a smile as soon as she entered the office.

Lin Yue was startled by these unexpected words. It was the first time Sheng Xing had used such an opening line, which meant that he was in an exceptionally good mood. After a moment of surprise, Lin Yue just smiled awkwardly.

Sheng Xing continued, "I just spoke with Xiao Feng on the phone. He spoke very highly of you, saying you are professional, upright, and very tactful in your speech."

Lin Yue stared at Shengxing with suspicion, wondering who this Xiao Feng was. How could he so casually evaluate the client's contact person in front of the big boss on their first meeting?

Seeing that she didn't speak, Sheng Xing composed himself and said, "Lin Yue, trust those you employ, and don't employ those you don't trust. I'll be frank with you, the company doesn't have much money left. The partners are all harboring their own agendas, and after much deliberation, I've discussed a merger with Wenxing Group!"

"Dasheng Company has developed rapidly in recent years, but this is only based on surface data. The company's actual financial situation is not optimistic. In particular, the market environment has been poor in recent years, and the company's senior management is not united. Various factionalism has caused serious internal friction within the company."

Lin Yue's feelings were complex at this moment, a mixture of worry and a little bit of secret satisfaction. It turned out the boss knew all along, and had always blamed the poor company atmosphere and lackluster performance on the management of human resources and business leaders. Today, he was finally willing to reveal the truth so openly.

Sheng Xing's voice was very soft, his tone extremely slow, revealing no emotion whatsoever. It was completely different from his usual self; there was no shrewd calculation, no half-smiling probing, only the helplessness of a middle-aged man in a high position. Suddenly, Lin Yue was moved. For a moment, she didn't know how to express herself, simply waiting silently for him to continue.

Sheng Xing slowly rose and walked heavily to the water dispenser. After a moment of silence, he turned and placed the empty cup back on the table, then sat down again, his eyes filled with a resolute determination. "After the acquisition, they promised to continue operating the company according to my philosophy. But before that, I must reorganize the company's management, and those executives whose development philosophy doesn't align with the company's will have to leave."

Lin Yue tentatively asked, "President Sheng, do you already have a specific list of those executives whose philosophies clash with yours?"

Sheng Xing didn't answer her directly, but stared at her silently, as if the answer needed to be given by Lin Yue herself. Lin Yue knew that Sheng Xing still didn't trust her, which made the consultant's behavior today understandable. He was someone Sheng Xing trusted, and the "consulting project" was just a front; he wanted to use this project to infiltrate the company with external consultants.

However, they needed a contact person familiar with the company's business, and whether it was lucky or unlucky, she was chosen by them.

After a pause, seeing that Lin Yue remained silent, Sheng Xing continued, "Vice President Liu, please keep a close eye on things. Also, regarding the company's acquisition, currently only you, me, and Xiao Feng know about it. Be sure to keep this information confidential."

Lin Yue knew that from this moment on, the three of them would be tightly bound together because of this shared secret. At the same time, she needed to take a tougher and more direct approach to the conflict between Liu Zheng and Sheng Xing.

And then there's Xiao Feng. Since he's Shengxing's most trusted person, they either have deep-seated interests or a past personal relationship. As for the exact nature of their relationship, Lin Yue isn't quite sure yet. But at least in the company's acquisition project, she can completely trust him. Because in order to keep her job and successfully pass her probationary period as director in a month, she now has to fully support Shengxing in completing the acquisition.

Lin Yue planned to meet with Xiao Feng again to explain the company's current problems to him in more detail. Moreover, the "Competency Model" project was about to be completed next week, and the teams reporting to Shengxing had all finished their grading.

The team that reports directly to Liu Zheng is still awaiting grading. Lin Yue has tried to schedule several meetings but hasn't been able to, as Liu Zheng has been traveling for work recently. Lin Yue suggested that Liu Zheng participate online. However, both Liu Zheng and Shi Potian insist on waiting for Liu Zheng to return to the company for an on-site evaluation. Lin Yue feels that the project's completion won't go smoothly.

Lin Yue thought to herself, now that Xiao Feng has intervened as a consultant, she can share all the details with him in advance, and then she can leverage his help. It doesn't matter if he's an outsider consultant and plays the bad cop.

So she sent Xiao Feng a WeChat message: "Mr. Xiao, when is a convenient time for you? I'd like to schedule another meeting to discuss the company's situation. Last time we were in a rush, and a lot of information wasn't shared."

Upon seeing the WeChat message, Xiao Feng couldn't help but smile knowingly. He knew, of course, that it wasn't a sync failure, but rather that she hadn't intended to sync it last time. Nevertheless, he replied cooperatively, "It was indeed too rushed last time. How about you come to my company at four o'clock this afternoon? I'll send you my location."

Lin Yue knew that Xiao Feng wanted to communicate at his company, which would ensure better confidentiality of the information. She quickly replied with an "okay".

Her phone buzzed with a message. She glanced at it while driving; it was a picture sent by Liu Cuiying. While waiting at a traffic light, she opened the picture. It was a screenshot of Gao Ming's WeChat Moments. The image showed two hands clasped tightly together, with the background showing the driver's and passenger's seats of Gao Ming's car. The caption was simply a rose emoji.

This was clearly a post on her girlfriend's WeChat Moments that she had forced to make an official announcement. Lin Yue felt a pang in her heart.

Then, she opened a 60-second voice message from Liu Cuiying, whose tone was clearly displeased. The message was roughly asking her, "Does Gao Ming have a girlfriend? When did this happen?" Lin Yue did not reply to her mother's WeChat message and continued driving.

She thought to herself that it had nothing to do with her that he had a girlfriend now, but the fact that they had only been divorced for less than two months, whether it was infidelity during the marriage or a seamless transition, made her feel disgusted.

Xiao Feng's company wasn't far, but she got distracted while driving and took the wrong route, resulting in her being late again. Thinking about Xiao Feng's relationship with Sheng Xing, she parked her car and hurriedly headed towards his company.