Dawn of Life

Lin Yue's heart tightened suddenly, and the blood rushing to her chest surged to her head. She stood up abruptly, the chair making a screeching sound as she moved. She stared intently into Gao Ming's eyes, her gaze filled with anger: "Are you out of your mind? Who I'm with right now is none of your business!" Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth.

Gao Ming's face darkened further: "You didn't start an affair before you were even divorced, did you?"

"Shameless!" Lin Yue felt a churning in her stomach. She suppressed her discomfort, clenched her fists, and stared intently at Gao Ming.

At this moment, Xiao Feng, who had been observing silently from the side, stood up. He gently picked up his coat hanging on the back of the chair, draped it over Lin Yue's shoulders, then put his arm around her shoulder and whispered comfortingly in her ear, "Take it easy." Then, he turned to Gao Ming and said, "Buddy, now that you're divorced, you're both free. Keep an eye on your current woman. I'm taking Lin Yue with me."

After saying that, he put his arm around Lin Yue and left the restaurant. Lin Yue numbly followed him to the front desk to pay the bill, then opened the glass door and walked out. A cool breeze blew in from outside, but her blood was still surging within her, so she didn't feel cold at all.

The car was silent. Lin Yue lowered her head, biting her lip tightly. The scene from just moments ago kept replaying in her mind, her anger and grievances having nowhere to go. At this moment, she felt not just sadness, but more of the rage of betrayal. It was as if her long-established sense of self and dignity had crumbled into pieces in an instant.

Xiao Feng turned to look at her: "If you want to cry, just cry. Don't hold it in."

Hearing Xiao Feng's voice, Lin Yue's suppressed emotions seemed to find an outlet. A mocking smile appeared on her lips as she said, "I don't want to cry at all, just pure anger, and even a little disgust. And how can this man be so morally corrupt, yet still have the audacity to manipulate others? I walked too fast just now; I should have thrown that drink on his face, like in those TV dramas."

Hearing Lin Yue say this, Xiao Feng was suddenly amused and said half-jokingly, "Are you blaming me for not doing the right thing by rescuing you? Should I have waited until you finished splashing me, and then the three of you were all fighting before I stepped in, and maybe even punched your ex-husband a couple of times for you?"

Lin Yue finally came to her senses. She realized that getting carried away with her emotions was a recipe for disaster. Completely absorbed in venting her feelings, she had forgotten that the man beside her was a business partner she had only met twice, and that he had a close relationship with Shengxing.

Thinking of this, she suddenly felt a little deflated, then turned to look at Xiao Feng and said, "Mr. Xiao, I'm sorry you had to see this today. Also, could I make a request? Please don't tell my colleagues about my divorce yet; I'm not fully prepared."

Xiao Feng stared at her intently for several seconds, then said, "Okay."

When Lin Yue got home, her parents and Xiao Yu were already asleep. She thought it best not to tell them about Gao Ming's affair, so as not to upset them.

Lying in bed that night, she couldn't sleep again; her stomach ached terribly. The faces of Gao Ming and Ma Hongli kept flashing through her mind, then Xiao Feng's. The former evoked anger and resentment, the latter embarrassment and worry.

She didn't sleep well again that night, and she looked terrible in the mirror. She applied a thick layer of foundation to cover her dark circles because she had a very important meeting that day.

The "Competency Model" project is nearing its end, and the marketing center's judging panel has finally been brought together: Shengxing, Liu Zheng, Shi Potian, Lin Yue, and Xiao Feng.

After Xiao Feng took over Dasheng's consulting project, Shengxing made an explanation in the management group. Then, Lin Yue accompanied Xiao Feng to conduct one-on-one interviews with senior executives from various departments. The interviews were just a formality. Everyone from top to bottom was well aware of the company's current problems, but this formality was necessary to facilitate future work.

At the very least, the executives need to know that the company is willing to listen to their voices. Whether or not their opinions will ultimately be adopted is another matter, but the company's respect for them must be shown first.

Of course, the executives are all shrewd people; they know what to say and what not to say. They tell you what they want you to know, but they may not tell you what you actually want to know. After several days of interviews, Xiao Feng and Lin Yue were exhausted, but the useful information was pitifully scarce.

In the workplace, many management actions are indeed just formalities. But you still have to do these formalities. For example, this time, not a single one of the more than thirty senior executives can be left out. He may not say it, but if you don't contact him, he will feel that the organizers have not given him the respect he deserves.

Having already met beforehand, Xiao Feng's appearance at today's meeting seemed perfectly reasonable, requiring no prior explanation or special introduction from Lin Yue. Although Liu Zheng scoffed at Shengxing's decision to have a consulting firm intervene in the company's internal management, since Shengxing was currently in charge of human resources, he only superficially cooperated.

Lin Yue, the meeting's moderator, first reviewed the project background of the "Competency Model," then emphasized the importance of today's meeting and the expected outcomes. The company particularly enjoys holding meetings, but often these meetings are merely for the sake of holding meetings, ostensibly to facilitate information exchange and reach consensus. In reality, however, they become venues for shifting blame, shirking responsibility, and avoiding accountability.

Lin Yue was uncertain about today's meeting. She had sensed their attitude from previous meetings with Liu Zheng and Shi Potian – constant excuses and resistance. But this was her project; if it wasn't wrapped up soon, it would be delayed, affecting her year-end performance review. Therefore, at the beginning, she emphasized the meeting's agenda, objectives, and required outcomes.

After laying the groundwork and mobilizing the team, she looked at Shi Potian and said, "Then the rest of the time will be handed over to President Shi. The managers and supervisors of the marketing center will report according to their job levels based on the competency model."

Shi Potian opened the PPT and the first thing he saw was a team job level overview table. The marketing center management sequence had a total of 12 people, including 4 managers and 8 supervisors.

Lin Yue frowned when she saw the evaluation results Shi Potian had projected onto the television. Before the meeting, Lin Yue had discussed with him the "271" principle, which stipulated that a team's job level distribution should meet certain criteria. Simply put, this meant 20% senior, 70% intermediate, and 10% junior. Lin Yue had analyzed the pros and cons beforehand; if a team didn't fall within this normal distribution, it meant the evaluation was unreasonable or there were management problems.

But the version submitted today was clearly not the one they had discussed beforehand; the senior-level titles had reached 50%. Lin Yue was certain that Shi Potian knew what this assessment meant, but he still made the assessment, which meant that it was intentional, and he was preparing to confront him directly at the meeting, and Liu Zheng would also support him.

Lin Yue thought to herself with worry, "As expected, I knew this project wouldn't be so easy to finish."

After Shi Potian finished his report, Lin Yue first raised questions from a rule-based perspective, stating bluntly that such an assessment was highly unreasonable. She then repeated what she had already discussed with Shi Potian at the meeting. As Lin Yue spoke, she felt Shi Potian's gaze upon her.

But she deliberately avoided it, knowing his expression must be extremely unpleasant. Shi Potian had indeed helped her with Zhang Wei's matter last time, but today, as the host and PM, she had to expose the problem. Besides, she hadn't promised or agreed to give him any leeway on the project last time.

Then she heard Shi Potian call out "Lin Yue" by her full name. She couldn't tear her gaze from the PPT and meet his eyes. She knew he had officially declared war on her.