Dawn of Life

But when she gets busy with work, she quickly puts all of that aside.

Another issue that's causing Lin Yue some trouble is Qian Minmin's salary adjustment. Since their last discussion about this, the atmosphere between them has changed. Qian Minmin still does the tasks assigned to her, but she's not as readily available as before. Privately, she always adopts a distant, unapproachable attitude, and she's been taking leave much more frequently.

Lin Yue knew she had to find a way to bring up the issue of a salary increase with Shengxing as soon as possible; that was the crux of the problem. Until that was resolved, she could only leave it as it was for now.

The pre-sale officially began on December 15th, with weekly data reviews and strategy adjustments. The data from the first two weeks was not ideal, showing a 45% decrease compared to the same period last year.

Shengxing began to feel anxious, personally attending every post-mortem session. Besides the market downturn this year, the decline in data was also due to human factors. Several key members of the project team resigned abruptly, citing the impact of the company's mergers and acquisitions and Zhengshi Trading's high-salary poaching of talent.

Shengxing brought in Lin Yue and instructed her to quickly identify employees at high risk of leaving the company recently, instructing her to retain them regardless of whether she offered bonuses or raises. Lin Yue and the business director quickly identified dozens of high-risk employees, ultimately confirming more than ten key positions with high turnover rates due to salary issues.

Lin Yue included Qian Minmin on the list. Sheng Xing questioned this when he saw it, and Lin Yue explained earnestly, "Qian Minmin came up with the activity incentive plan. If she leaves now, it will have a negative impact on the entire activity team."

Shengxing took one last look at the total cost of the salary adjustment, gritted his teeth and agreed, then told Lin Yue to handle it.

Because the scope was relatively small, and for absolute confidentiality, only Lin Yue and the business director, along with a few others, participated in the entire salary adjustment process. Qian Minmin was unaware of it. On Christmas Eve, after handling the salary adjustments for the business department, Lin Yue prepared to discuss her raise with Qian Minmin.

Feeling a bit sleepy in the afternoon, Lin Yue decided to go to the company's break room to make herself a cup of coffee. The break room had a water dispenser and a coffee machine on one side, and a counter on the other with various teas and a rice cooker containing a bowl of white fungus soup that the auntie had been making.

There was also a small room inside, which used to be where the cleaning staff kept their supplies. Lin Yue specifically instructed the administration to tidy it up for this event, and put in a coffee table and a soft little sofa.

Lin Yue made herself a cup of coffee and sat on the small sofa to rest when she suddenly heard someone come in, followed by the voices of two female colleagues. One of them said to the other, "Ugh, this is so boring. We didn't get a raise during the last job grade adjustment or this special raise." Their voices weren't loud, but Lin Yue could hear them clearly through the curtain.

She remarked that secrets really do never stay hidden forever. Fortunately, although not many people received a pay raise this time, the core members of the event team were all covered. Overall, Shengxing achieved its goal of retaining staff during the event.

Salary discussions are forbidden in the company; if she were to walk out now, the two people outside would be fired immediately. However, these kinds of things are truly unavoidable, and usually, people turn a blind eye. Since it's during an event and a big commotion isn't advisable, she decided to conceal herself. She leaned against the wall, holding her breath, completely still.

Another voice rang out, slightly angry: "It's all that HRD Lin Yue's doing, have you heard? She has a husband and children, and she's having an affair with that consultant. Several colleagues have seen them having dinner together after get off work. And someone even saw them hugging and kissing in public."

Lin Yue suddenly felt a surge of anger rush to her head, her heart pounding wildly. This feeling was exactly the same as when she suddenly saw Gao Ming and Ma Hongli last time—disgusting, like swallowing a fly. Judging from their tone, there must be others in the company spreading rumors. She had always been upright and honest, and could not tolerate this kind of anger under any circumstances.

Moreover, if rumors aren't stopped, they'll get out of control. So, suppressing her emotional and physical discomfort, she took out her phone to record the conversation.

After the two had finished their back-and-forth conversation, she put away her phone and prepared to go out to confirm their faces. Because there were many people in the company, she could only cover the supervisors and core employees in the business department; she needed to go out and memorize what these two people looked like.

She lifted the curtain, stood before them, her eyes wide with anger, and glared at them. She snapped, "Which department are you from? Aren't you all working enough? Everyone else is already so busy, and you still have time to gossip!"

The two female employees had clearly forgotten that the rest area in the break room had been cleaned up. They immediately recognized Lin Yue, their faces flushed, and they wanted to run away as quickly as possible.

Lin Yue took a big step forward, blocking their way, and held up her phone, saying, "I've recorded your conversation and memorized your faces. You'd better produce evidence before you leave work today, or you'll have to post a public apology to me on the company intranet. Otherwise, I'll take the evidence to the company's higher-ups and sue you for defamation. Please leave!"

One of the female employees gritted her teeth and replied, "You're a director, and we're just lowly specialists. Everyone knows you have great connections with upper management through that consultant; they'll definitely help you!"

The commotion was so loud that several people quickly gathered around. Seeing that things had come to this point, Lin Yue knew she had to make things clear. As someone responsible for managing the company's atmosphere, how could she tolerate such a rotten apple in the team? If this kind of thing was left unchecked, it would be like a rotten seed sprouting a string of decaying vines and evil flowers.

So she began to argue with them righteously. Although she disliked conflict, once her bottom line was crossed, it was a different story.

She crossed her arms, glaring fiercely at the two people in front of her, and said, enunciating each word clearly, "Only people with dirty hearts think so negatively about others. Who gave you the audacity to spread rumors about the company's HR director? People like you, with your filthy hearts and disruptive team atmosphere, I'll not only make sure you lose your jobs here, but I'll also make sure that everyone in my HR circle won't want to hire you!"

Those watching rarely saw Lin Yue in such a state, and they were all stunned by her aura, unconsciously holding their breath for the two people. One of the timid female colleagues began to apologize quietly, trying to pull the person who had just spoken away.

The other one shook off her hand, took half a step forward, seemingly determined to fight to the death, and provocatively said, "If you're innocent, why are you afraid of what others say? You're only getting angry because we've hit the nail on the head!"

Lin Yue almost laughed in anger; this was some kind of psychological warfare. Just as she was about to speak, a familiar voice rang out: "Are you a monkey sent to make us laugh? Listen to your own logic! Someone with your IQ dares to spread rumors!"

Lin Yue looked in the direction of the sound and saw Su Ling push through the crowd to her side, followed by Xiao Feng, whom she hadn't seen for almost half a month. Su Ling had seen Xiao Feng discussing things in Shengxing's office a little over an hour ago, and after learning about Lin Yue's situation, she went and dragged him out. The onlookers, seeing the male protagonist had also appeared, all craned their necks and pricked up their ears, eagerly starting their gossip-watching mode.

"If you don't apologize, just call the police!" After saying this, Xiao Feng turned his gaze to his phone screen and said loudly, "When a citizen's right to their name, image, or reputation is infringed, they have the right to demand that the infringement cease, their reputation be restored, the impact be eliminated, an apology be made, and they may also demand compensation for their losses."

While Xiao Feng's words had a deterrent effect on the perpetrator, the audience wasn't entirely convinced. It was clear to everyone that Xiao Feng wasn't trying to clear his own name, but simply supporting Lin Yue. At this moment, someone in the crowd whispered, "I think this Mr. Xiao seems to have a thing for Ms. Lin, but isn't Ms. Lin married..."

The voice wasn't loud, but it was enough for Xiao Feng, Su Ling, and Lin Yue to hear. Xiao Feng and Su Ling both stared at Lin Yue, as if waiting for her to say something. Lin Yue, of course, understood Su Ling's gaze; she was blaming Lin Yue for being too self-conscious about her divorce and for caring too much about what others thought, which was why she hadn't publicly announced her divorce. And it was obvious that Xiao Feng was also in a bit of an awkward position.