Seeing the situation, Lucia frowned.She stepped forward to stand directly in front of Emma and raised
her hand to gesture to the group.
"Be quiet.Please calm down, guys.Let's find out what's going on first."
If they went on like this, the problem would not be solved no matter what they said.
Hearing her words, the group got less and less noisy.
In the end, everyone fell silent.
Lucia looked at Emma and opened her mouth to ask, "Why didn't the Finance Department approve it,
Emma? Did they tell you the reason?"
Emma held the documents in her hand and said in a low voice, "They said our documents were
incomplete."
An impatient colleague next to her took the documents from Emma, checked them and said with a
frown, "Incomplete? Last month, we applied for a budget with the same documents when we needed to
buy a batch of office supplies, and they approved it.Why wouldn't they give us the money this time?"
Other colleagues took the documents to check and echoed, "Yes, I did the same thing before!"
Lucia took a look at the documents, feeling confused as well.
They had been doing the same thing on a regular basis, and there was nothing wrong with it.
"I think the Finance Department is doing this on purpose! They are finding quarrel in a straw, because
they don't want us to get the quarterly bonus!"
"Come on! Let's all go together and ask the Finance Department why they won't give us the money!"
With those words, the colleagues immediately agreed and they all tried to rush out.
Lucia saw that things were not right.She frowned and hurriedly went forward to stop them.
"Calm down, guys!"
If they really stormed over because of this matter, they would fall into trouble.
Besides, the last thing the company wanted was a conflict between departments, and it wouldn't do
them any good at work in the future!
"Now it's the Finance Department's fault, but if we go over there like this, it'll be our fault!"
Lucia raised her voice and said that, and her colleagues fell silent.
Guy said in the group, "We can't just let the Finance Department bully us!"
Lucia gritted her teeth and said in a serious manner, "But fighting and quarreling with them over there
won't solve the problem.If Carter were here, do you think she would allow you to do that?"
They all got quiet as soon as Lucia mentioned Carter.
Carter was not in the company now.
Some colleagues in the department were already in a restless mood, and they would get angry at the
slightest thing.
Seeing that they were all silent, Lucia took a deep breath and continued, "We should send someone to
the Finance Department to talk to them at this time and ask why they won't give us the money.If it's
really our problem, we'll solve it as soon as possible."
When she said that, some colleagues, who were somewhat sensible, nodded their heads in
agreement.
A female colleague who had always been close to Lisa looked at her and suggested, "Why don't you
go and ask, Lisa?"
"Yes, Lisa, why don't you go and see what's going on?"
Lisa had been hiding behind the group, and a trace of displeasure crossed her face when she was
suddenly named.
She took a glance at Lucia, looked down and flicked her freshly done nails without any concern, saying
leisurely, "Why should I go? The Finance Department is not targeting me this time."
Then, she stepped aside with an air of indifference.
The others were puzzled and looked at each other.
They didn't understand what she meant.
Lucia was also confused.
However, Lisa had obviously looked over at her just now, so did she have something to do with this
incident? Suddenly, her mind flashed back to the conversation she overheard last time between those
two female colleagues, who said that Irene was the niece of Mike, the General Manager of the Finance
Department.
Could it be that Mike found out about what had happened last time, so he was deliberately using the
business to put pressure on the Administration Department when he was actually targeting her? This
idea crossed her mind, but Lucia did not have time to think carefully.
At this point, she had to go to the Finance Department as a representative and find out what was going
on if Lisa was not willing to do it.
She took a deep breath, looked at her restless colleagues, and said, "I'll go.You can get back to work,
and I'll tell you if I find out anything."
The others were relieved to hear that she was willing to go.
Emma was a bit hesitant and asked, "Lucia, do you want me to go with you?"
Lucia smiled at her as if to comfort her and said in a softer voice, "It's okay.I'll just go by myself.You can
take a break."
It was not a matter of how many people were there when it came to this kind of thing.
After saying that, she took the documents from Emma, left her department and went to the Finance
Department.
Outside the Finance Department, she knocked on the door and went directly to the Supervisor's Office
to ask about what was going on.
"David, I'm Lucia from the Administration Department.I'm here for..."
Before she finished her words, David waved his hand straight away and said with an impersonal
expression, "You're here for the budget, right? I've already told your colleague.I can't approve it
because your documents are incomplete."
Seeing how impatient David was, Lucia looked down at the documents in her hand, took a deep breath,
and asked patiently, "Our department has always done it with the same documents before and you've
never said they were incomplete, so why can't you approve it this time?"
David gave her a glance and said in a cold voice, "Because the management was lax before, but now
the new rules stipulate that all documents must be complete.If anything goes wrong, what are we going
to tell the company leaders?"
Lucia gritted her teeth and continued to ask, "But the Marketing Department has gotten their budget
approved with the same documents, why does the Administration Department..."
David's face darkened and he said harshly, "The Marketing Department is different from the
Administration Department.Besides, you don't even have the signature of your supervisor, so how can I
approve it?"
David wouldn't budge no matter what she said.
It was clear that he wouldn't give them the money.
Seeing that, Lucia frowned as she sensed that something was wrong.
In the past, even if there were any minor problems, the departments would compromise with each
other, but this time the Finance Department's attitude was so resolute that she had to think more about
it.
Could it be that Mike had actually told David to make things difficult for them? Lucia gritted her teeth,
not knowing what to do.
Just then, David waved his hand and said, "You can come back when your supervisor signs them."
Carter was away on a business trip and she wouldn't return until days later.
If they failed to get their budget approved in time just because of that, they wouldn't be able to
complete their task and their quarterly bonus would be gone.
Lucia was desperate.
She looked at David and said word by word, "David, I think you know very well that if you don't give us
the money now, we won't be able to finish the task and it will affect our quarterly bonus.Think about it,
we have so many people in the whole Administration Department.They won't be happy if the bonus is
gone, will they?"
"What does it have to do with me if they're not happy?"
Lucia took a deep breath, stepped forward, and stared squarely at David with her almond eyes.
"They've been working hard for months and looking forward to the bonus.If I go back and tell them that
the Finance Department will not approve the budget, maybe some of them will go to the President's
Office.If things get serious, Mr.Adams will definitely have it investigated.Then, it will affect the Finance
Department, and maybe even the bonus of your department."
It was obvious that David hadn't expected Lucia to say that.
He frowned and asked, "Are you threatening me?"
Lucia turned the corners of her mouth upward in a faint smile.
She looked quite sure and confident as she said, "No, I'm not, but I hope you can think about the
interests of both departments.If anything goes wrong at this point, not only the Administration
Department will suffer for it."
David was no fool.
When he heard what Lucia said, he knew that she would not give up, and he didn't dare to put the
quarterly bonus of the whole Finance Department at stake.
Although his superior Mike told him to do that, he still had to consider what was more important at the
moment.
Seeing his expression, Lucia knew that David changed his mind, so she handed over the documents
and curved her lips in a smile at him, "Thank you, David."
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