Dawn of Life

Through today's conversation, Sheng Xing became even more determined to get Lin Yue to leave as soon as possible. He increasingly felt that he had less and less control over Lin Yue.

As Lin Yue left Shengxing's office, she passed the break room and overheard several female employees whispering. She instinctively stopped at a spot not too far away, wanting to hear their conversation more clearly.

I thought it was true, as Shengxing had said, that gossip about her and Xiao Feng was circulating all over the company recently.

"The formaldehyde smell in the company is too strong. It makes my eyes hurt and my throat uncomfortable every day. Look at my arms, they're covered in red rashes." As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves to show the other two people.

"Sigh, I'm trying to conceive now, and my husband says I should just quit my job. Otherwise, if something really happens to the baby, I won't be able to explain it to my family."

"Don't worry, I went to see Lin Yue last time. I asked her to help us apply for working from home, or rent shared workstations near the company."

"You're overthinking it. I talked to her before, and she showed me the formaldehyde test report, stating unequivocally that it met the standards. The implication was that if something went wrong, the company wouldn't care."

This was indeed a tricky matter for Lin Yue. From the company's perspective, operating in this way would not only increase costs but also lead to low work efficiency and low collaboration costs.

However, formaldehyde does pose some risks to women trying to conceive. Especially as the weather gets warmer, formaldehyde levels will continue to fluctuate.

On her way home that evening, Lin Yue suddenly received a call from Gao Ming. Lin Yue frowned and reluctantly swiped the car's infotainment screen.

After the divorce, Gao Ming never called her. The only time he would send her a message was when she forgot to pay the rent a few times, and he came to urge her to pay.

"Lin Yue, this afternoon a client took a liking to our house and offered 600 million. Based on the current market value, I think that price is quite reasonable. Why don't you take a day off tomorrow, and we can go to the real estate agent together to discuss it further?" Gao Ming's voice was loud and clear, unable to hide his joy.

Lin Yue turned the steering wheel, somewhat annoyed: "I don't have time tomorrow. Didn't we agree on a one-year commitment? It's only June now. Can we wait until August?"

Gao Ming insisted, "We agreed that you would move out after a year, but if there's a good price, we should sell it."

Lin Yue said impatiently, "I'm very busy with work right now. I'll move out after a year, and then we'll consider selling the house. I'm driving, I'll hang up now."

He hung up the phone after saying that.

Two more days passed, and the female colleague who was trying to conceive still hadn't received a reply from Lin Yue. So she started frequently taking leave and becoming increasingly passive at work.

This quickly sparked discontent among various teams, especially the department heads who had been persuaded by Lin Yue not to use gender-based risks for layoffs during the previous round. So they bypassed Lin Yue and Xiao Feng and went directly to Shengxing. In this matter, they undoubtedly blamed Lin Yue and implicitly assumed Xiao Feng would favor her. Therefore, they simply went to Shengxing to lodge a formal complaint.

This suited Shengxing perfectly. He summoned Xiao Feng and, embellishing the story, analyzed the implications of the incident: "See? No matter how much you try to distance yourself from Lin Yue, in the eyes of your employees, you're protecting your ex-girlfriend. If Dasheng's employees think this way, do you think the people at Wenxing headquarters will think the same way? Will their trust in you diminish?"

Xiao Feng didn't want others to call him a heartless man, but he knew that letting Lin Yue leave Dasheng was the best solution at the moment. This applied to Wenxing, Dasheng, and Jin Yingying alike.

Soon, Lin Yue was summoned by Sheng Xing once again.

Lin Yue entered Sheng Xing's office, and Sheng Xing, without any preamble, asked, "Are you aware of your female colleague's recent frequent absences? What's your opinion? Do you have any countermeasures?"

Three questions in a row, coming on strong. Lin Yue thought that since they were talking about work, she should respond in the same way and manner as if they were talking about work.

"President Sheng, I understand this matter. I have some ideas, but they're not fully formed yet. So I'd like to discuss it with my direct supervisor, President Xiao, first, and then report back to you once I have a definite plan. Is that alright?"

Sheng Xing naturally understood the probing in Lin Yue's words, so he sat up straighter and said, "President Xiao has gone back to Fengda Consulting to handle some matters these past few days. I'm handling his work while he's away."

Lin Yue saw that Sheng Xing's attitude today was completely different from last time. It seemed that he and Xiao Feng had reached a consensus, so there was no point in her struggling any further.

Sheng Xing stared intently at Lin Yue, sighed, and said in a tone that was both gentle and helpless, "Lin Yue, I have no choice. The department complained because you rejected the clause in Qu Liang's layoff plan that included laying off female employees of marriageable and childbearing age, which led to the company's current predicament. So you need to take responsibility for this. Your relationship with the company ends here, and I can't protect you anymore."

Lin Yue's lips curled into a mocking smile. She brushed a strand of hair from her forehead, met Sheng Xing's gaze, and said, word by word, "President Sheng, you approved the layoff plan, so why is it my responsibility in the end? Also, which company rule states that a female employee can be fired by HR for being uncooperative? You don't need to come up with such a flimsy reason to make me leave. Just pay the due severance pay if you fire someone without cause."

Sheng Xing looked at Lin Yue and suddenly felt a little dazed. For a moment, he seemed to see the shadows of Qin Lan and Liu Zheng in her, but it seemed that Lin Yue was even more difficult to deal with than them.

So he coughed twice to make himself look even more embarrassed, and said, "You know the standards for the last layoffs. Headquarters is monitoring every single expense now, so I can only give you the standard 0.5N."

Lin Yue's mind raced. She'd been with the company for eight years, and 0.5N only covered four months, which amounted to 100,000. That was definitely unacceptable. However, she wouldn't go to labor arbitration because she had to consider the background check later, so she couldn't confront Shengxing head-on. She decided to imitate Shengxing's tactics—playing helpless, right? Anyone could do that.

"President Sheng, I have an attachment to the company and don't want to put you in a difficult position, but you know it's not easy for me to raise my son alone. You also said that my abilities are not a problem, so this resignation is entirely the company's responsibility, and according to the Labor Contract Law, it should be paid according to the 2N standard. I have been with the company for 7.6 years, and if N is calculated as 8, then I need to be paid 16 months' salary in one lump sum, which would be 40 yuan. However, out of gratitude for your promotion, President Sheng, we will agree on the N+1 standard, which is 9 months' salary, or 22.5 yuan."

Although Lin Yue appeared pitiful, citing labor contract law and appealing to his emotions, Sheng Xing, being a shrewd businessman, couldn't possibly feel any pity for an employee about to leave. His mind was solely focused on negotiating the compensation issue with Lin Yue. It wasn't a small sum.

He leaned forward slightly, his gaze fixed on Lin Yue, and said resolutely, "Lin Yue, although N+1 is the legal standard, every company is different. It would be strange for a CEO like me to haggle with you. I can only give you a special approval of 15, which is already quite a lot, equivalent to a manager's annual salary. If you're still not satisfied, then there's nothing I can do."

15—based on her understanding of Shengxing, this was indeed his expected amount. The fact that Shengxing could offer this figure so quickly meant he didn't want to get entangled with her further on this matter. But Lin Yue was unwilling to give up. Every penny was crucial to her family's livelihood; she couldn't back down.

"President Sheng, 20 is my bottom line. I'm truly grateful to the company. Otherwise, with my years of HR experience, I could have gotten much more through arbitration, but I don't think it's necessary to go that far. Besides, I guess you're firing me mainly because I'm Xiao Feng's ex-girlfriend. You've given me too much, which I can't explain to headquarters. But if things get out of hand, won't it affect your and Xiao Feng's reputation in the cultural circle?"