Dawn of Life

Lin Yue had never intended to announce her divorce in this way, but it seemed to be the only way to put an end to the matter. She composed herself, steeled her resolve, and said, "Listen, I divorced a long time ago. Both Mr. Xiao and I are currently single, and we're just friends. It's none of your business to gossip about this!"

Su Ling gave Lin Yue a thumbs up, then turned to the two female colleagues and said, "Now you can apologize, right?"

One of them quickly pulled the other along and nodded to Lin Yue, saying, "President Lin, President Xiao, we're sorry!" Then they ran off in a flash.

As the crowd dispersed, the farce came to an end, leaving Lin Yue, Xiao Feng, and Su Ling standing there. Su Ling broke the awkward silence with her usual silvery laughter, then patted Lin Yue on the shoulder, gave Xiao Feng a meaningful look, and said, "Hey, I won't be a third wheel, you guys chat!" With that, she slipped away as if she had oiled her feet.

Lin Yue smiled awkwardly at Xiao Feng and said, "I'm sorry, it's my fault for not setting a good atmosphere in the company."

Xiao Feng stared at her with interest, then waved his hand and said, "I think it's quite interesting. It's normal for handsome men and beautiful women to be close to each other."

Lin Yue opened her mouth slightly and said, "Huh?" Then she said, "Then I'll go get busy." She then prepared to quickly escape this strange and ambiguous atmosphere.

She had only turned around and taken two steps when Xiao Feng's voice came from behind her again: "Lin Yue, it's Christmas Eve today. I came here specifically to see you. How about we have dinner together tonight?"

Hearing his firm and magnetic voice, Lin Yue stopped in her tracks and turned to meet his gaze. Those deep eyes were even more captivating now, and she knew, of course, what it meant to agree to his request. At that moment, the encouraging voices of Su Ling and Qin Lan, Gao Ming's doubts, and her mother's expectations all rushed towards her.

She smiled at him and said, "I have a very important conversation later, which will probably end around seven o'clock. If you'd like to wait for me..."

Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Feng interrupted her with a very firm voice: "I do."

Upon hearing those three words, Lin Yue's heart skipped a beat again. She shook her head, warning herself, "This isn't a good sign. It's just a meal; don't overthink it."

Lin Yue had an appointment with Qian Minmin today, and it was indeed an important conversation. As a manager, she had to keep her promises. Although it was a little later than expected, she still managed to fulfill them. Thinking of this, her steps towards the meeting room became lighter.

With a few minutes to spare before their appointed time, she decided to go directly to the conference room to wait for them and sort out her afternoon's plans. Was the afternoon's incident an isolated incident or something deliberately orchestrated? She wasn't very familiar with the two people who stirred up trouble, and their words were clearly fabricated.

But what was this person's motive? Just because she worked on a salary adjustment project? That's clearly illogical. HR handles many projects, many of which are directly related to employees' interests, and it's impossible to satisfy everyone.

Lin Yue believed that no one would risk losing their job by spreading rumors about a human resources director, unless the topic had already been discussed privately and was mostly presented in a plausible manner, with about 70-80% of the truth before daring to spread it.

Lin Yue's intuition told her it was someone close to her, but who could it be? Zhang Wei was already gone, could it be that his ghost was still haunting her, leaving behind some remnants?

Just then, Qian Minmin pushed open the conference room door on time, but her complexion seemed even worse than during their first conversation, and she once again sat directly opposite her. Lin Yue didn't stop her, because this time she didn't need to rely on rhetoric or distance to build rapport; she wanted to offer her tangible benefits. In the workplace, when interests are at stake, personal relationships pale in comparison.

Qian Minmin felt particularly strange today, her face showing resistance mixed with timidity. She kept her head down from the moment she entered, not daring to look Lin Yue in the eye.

Now that the person was already seated across from her, Lin Yue could only temporarily set aside her doubts and get straight to the point, speaking gently but firmly: "I told you last time that I would help you get a raise, and President Sheng has finally agreed this time. So I'm here to formally inform you of this news: a special 15% raise, effective this month."

Qian Minmin looked up, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes, but it disappeared in an instant, replaced by regret.

Lin Yue thought she was not satisfied with the ratio, so she continued, "Because this is a special approval, your percentage is already very high. There are only a dozen or so people in this batch in the company. I will send you the list later. You need this detail when you calculate your salary. You can also confirm what I just said."

Qian Minmin remained silent for a while, then sighed deeply, looked up to meet Lin Yue's gaze, and said, "Thank you, but I probably don't need it anymore. To be honest, I was quite disappointed when I didn't get a raise last time, so I complained to a friend, and they introduced me to a new job opportunity. It's a HR manager position with a much higher salary than here. I'm not really confident about a full-fledged management role, but I've already accepted their offer, and it was a friend's referral, so I can't break my promise."

This news was unexpected for Lin Yue, yet it seemed to make sense. That's how it is in the workplace; if there's a mismatch in time, space, and form between the rewards the boss gives to the employee and the employee's expectations of the boss, then it's useless.

Qian Minmin's incident taught Lin Yue a lesson. Having just been promoted to director, and lacking any real authority with the boss, she easily made a promise to her subordinate.

Although she saw this promise as leaving room for possibility of fulfillment, the employees wouldn't accept that. Since she made the promise, worked hard, and delivered results, failing to deliver is failing, regardless of the reason; in her eyes, she's broken her promise. No one will follow a boss with no credibility.

Lin Yue knew Qian Minmin's personality; she was always cautious. Since Qian Minmin had already said she was leaving, there was basically no room for negotiation.

Seeing that Lin Yue remained silent for a long time, her brows furrowed as if in deep thought, Qian Minmin felt a pang of guilt. She sighed softly and said, "President Lin, I actually admire you quite a bit. We're about the same age, but you've done better than me in many ways. If we hadn't become superior and subordinate in such a chaotic state at Dasheng, perhaps we would have gotten along very well. Don't worry about the handover; I'll stand firm until the very end."

Lin Yue nodded and said, "Yes, I know I can't keep you here anymore. Let's each strive for our own future and meet again at the top someday." She spoke sincerely. At this age, relationships between people, without the entanglement of interests, rely on mutually attractive energy fields. Qian Minmin's energy field was compatible with hers, making this ending somewhat regrettable.

After discussing some handover-related matters, Lin Yue took the initiative to end the conversation. There was someone waiting for her outside, and although he was willing to wait, she couldn't be too demanding. Just as she reached the door and placed her hand on the doorknob to turn it, Qian Minmin's voice rang out behind her again.

"Lin Yue, I want to say sorry to you." Qian Minmin said softly, but her voice was full of guilt.