Chapter 260 Wan Liqing’s Anger
Xia Ning’s eyelids jump, she vaguely guesses something, “Hum. I know. I will go to handle it soon.”
Li Baoer is surprised, “You know it? How do you get the information? Wait, you are not coming back. You may tell me what to do.”
“I am fine here. I will get prepared and go back to the company. If you heard something, don’t tell others. Don’t tell others that you listened to that stealthily, either. Wait for me to come back to handle that. Well. I may hang up. I may get things in order and go back soon.”
Then, before Li Baoer responds, Xia Ning has hung up.
Unsurprisingly, they took action when Xia Ning was away.
Xia Ning was merciful on them and made concessions to them every time. Since they have decided to take action, she will launch her moves, too!
Xia Ning thinks for a while. She dials Gu Luan’s phone.
“Oh. Aren’t you on vacation? Why do you call me?” Gu Luan sounds quite worried.
“Director Gu, I want to ask you in advance. If I need someone to help me and make some sudden transferring, will you agree?”
“Yes, I will.” Gu Luan replies at once, “I will cooperate with you. Don’t worry.”
Xia Ning gently smiles, “Thank you. I am coming back to attend the meeting…”
“Wait!” Gu Luan stops her at once, “You don’t feel well. You may stay at home. I will take care of what happens here.”
“I am fine. I may need to come back to handle some things by myself. Or, I always bother you with many things. It is not good. I may hang up now.”
Xia Ning hangs up the phone. She takes some deep breaths and makes efforts to get up. Dizzily, she brushes her teeth and washes her face. She dresses herself and walks downstairs to the parking.
“Hello, Mrs. Yi!”
The sudden voice scares Xia Ning. She wakes up from sleepiness. She collects herself and sees that Zhang Hai stands at the door of the parking and salutes her politely.
Xia Ning twitches her lips, “Zhang, why are you here?”
“Mrs. Yi, Commander Yi told me to wait here for orders. May I ask where you are going?”
Xia Ning feels helpless. Is Yi Yunrui going to keep her on track all day long?
She sees from Zhang Hai’s expression that she has to kill him before she goes across him. Xia Ning says, “I want to go back to my office. So, I need to drive my car…”
“The car is already in front of the military compound. I will drive you to your company. Mrs. Yi, please go this way.” Then, Zhang Hai points at the gate of the military compound, where knight XV is waiting like the guard of the door.
Time is tight. Xia Ning doesn’t want to argue. She goes hurriedly towards the gate, “Zhang, drive faster, I am in a hurry.”
“Yes, Mrs. Yi.”
World Era Weekly will have a regular meeting every Friday and all the staff have to attend it. They will report and conclude the work for the week and make plans for the next week. Actually, it is a weekly communication meeting for all the staff.
Gu Luan carefully listens to the reports of every director, supervisor and employees under them. He puts on a mild but nice smile. He seldom speaks. He only nods. It is hard to tell what he is thinking about.
There are almost five hundred people, including the management group and normal employees in the seven major departments. Though less than one-third of them will report in the meeting, it takes a long time for them to finish.
“Thank you all for your cooperation.” Gu Luan’s assistant Zhou sees the reporting is finished. She stands up and says, “Now, we are going to move to the topic of Excellent Employees Selection in April. Please watch the screen. This is the name list of candidates recommended by all departments. We are going to hold the selection ceremony in Fu Li Hotel at 8:00 PM on Sunday. Please attend the ceremony on time…”
Not waiting for his assistant to finish the words, Gu Luan lifts his hand and Zhou stops speaking at once.
Gu Luan takes a sip of coffee. He says, “It is busy recently. I heard that some colleagues even got sick. So, the company is not going to disturb your rest. The planned ceremony at eight on Sunday is canceled.”
Hearing this, people start to discuss. The department directors look at each other confusedly, wondering what Gu Luan is planning.
“Everyone knows, we select an excellent employee and report to the headquarters every year. On one hand, it affirms your achievement. On the other hand, it also provides a promotion opportunity for everyone. Thank the fourteen colleagues on the screen for all your contribution to the company during the previous year. In order to make it fair, we will confirm the excellent employee today!”
Gu Luan’s words make the discussion even fiercer. All the time, the Excellent Employee Selection is the most exciting event among others. The candidates will go on the platform to give speeches and performances of their talents and practical skills. They will need to spend some time preparing for that. However, as Gu Luan says, it is going to be decided today. That means all the election activities and modes will be conducted on an instant basis!
The candidates show different expressions. They surely know what Gu Luan means. But the problem is that an important person is absent. That is the director of the Entertainment Department, Xia Ning.
She asked for a leave today. Director Gu says that it will be decided today. Does that mean…
“Excuse me!” When other people are discussing, Hua Tangli speaks, “Director Gu, I have a question.”
“You may ask.”
“Our Director is absent today. I am afraid that it is unfair.”
Gu Luan slightly blinks his eyes, “Hum. I knew she asked for a leave today. It is all right. We will do what is supposed to do all the same.”
The other directors glance at each other to exchange their opinions. It seems that something wrong happened between Gu Luan and Xia Ning.
Gu Luan puts down the coffee cup. He says to everyone, “In today’s election, the mode will be a little different. But it is for fairness. In the first part, every candidate will tell us the proudest or most touching event in their work in the previous year. You will have ten minutes to prepare for it. During the time, I hope there won’t be any talking among all the people to ensure a fair election.”
Hearing Gu Luan’s words, Assistant Zhou understands at once. She goes back to her seat and prepares for the evaluation and calculation.
The thirteen candidates are busy preparing their stuff at once. In an instant, the meeting room becomes so quiet that it seems as if even a fly’s passing will be heard.
Soon, ten minutes passed. The thirteen candidates take turns to tell their stories. The stories may be exciting, sad or happy…they have their characteristics. But they all end up the same. The speakers shed some tears to end the stories.
Gu Luan listens to them quietly. He doesn’t make any comments.
When all the thirteen candidates finish their stories, Gu Luan doesn’t say anything. Everybody is unsure about which one he likes, which one he dislikes, which one he admires and which one he doesn’t admire.
After quite a while, Gu Luan gives a sigh. He lifts to look at the audience and says word by word, “If I say the excellent employee is Xia Ning, do you agree?”
What Gu Luan says is like a stone thrown into the water. It causes great waves!
There are louder discussions. Some are praising. Some are criticizing. And some say words that too humiliating to be repeated. All kinds of voices are heard. Assistant Zhou sees the messy condition. She turns to look at Gu Luan. Gu Luan is calm as if he has expected it. Assistant Zhou swallows her words on the tip of her tongue.
All the time, Gu Luan always has his own ideas and style. He never does things as other people expected. However, it is undeniable that Director Gu is the most tactical director in World Era Weekly’s history.
People discuss for a while and get quiet. They look at Gu Luan confusedly.
It was told long before that Xia Ning was already elected, but none of them ever guessed that Gu Luan would speak out so frankly.
Hearing Xia Ning’s name, Wan Liqing feels her heart aching. She clenches her fists.
She is jealous of Xia Ning. She hates her very much!
What on earth did Xia Ning do to make Luan care for her so much? He even does so in front of everyone, paying no attention to the consequences.
“I disagree!” Wan Liqing suddenly says, “The annual excellent employee has to be selected based on fair and just principles. Selection of all these years earned their honor from everybody. Director, you think Xia Ning is an excellent employee. Please tell us the reasons, so that everyone can be truly convinced.”
What Wan Liqing says is just like the locomotive of a train. Since they have got the locomotive, they make the following cars one by one.
“I agree with Director Wan from the news department. Director Gu, please tell us the reasons.”
“Yes. Director Gu, please tell us the reasons.”
…
The situation tends to be out of control. Leng Weiwei, who is silent, stands up suddenly. She glances at the audience coldly.
Not expecting that the cool Lei Weiwei will give some reactions, everyone shut up at once.
Lei Weiwei is cool. She is an obvious comparison to Gu Luan’s being enthusiastic. They do things differently, but they are both excellent talents.
“Director gave his conclusion. He must have his reasons. What are you making so much noise for? It is humiliating if it is heard by our peers!” Leng Weiwei pauses here. She turns to Gu Luan, “I am convinced of Director Xia’s ability. As to the selection of her, I agree. However, I hope Director Gu can share with us the reasons, so that everyone can be convinced. It will also be helpful for Director Xia to carry out her work in the future.”
Gu Luan lifts his eyebrows. He nods and wants to speak. At the time, Wan Liqing says, “Chief Editor Leng agrees. I disagree!”
The audience are surprised. Everyone knows the previous relation between Wan Liqing and Gu Luan. In the whole company, only Wan Liqing dares go against Leng Weiwei and Gu Luan. Wan Liqing speaks out her opinion. Leng Weiwei speaks out her opinion, too. But they are the opposite. It is going to be interesting.
Gu Luan slightly lifts his thin lips. He is not angry or anxious, “Director Wan, please tell me why you disagree.”
“OK. I will give my reasons. Firstly, Director Xia has been working in the company for about three years, while she was basically on holiday for half a year. Secondly, she quitted last month for no reason. Thirdly, Xia Ning causes too many troubles and humiliates the company. Finally, she got her position with special strategies!”
The final reason in Wan Liqing’s list causes another discussion among the audience.
Gu Luan darkens his eyes. He stares at Wan Liqing. He is clear what Wan Liqing is implying.
“Good.” Gu Luan responds indifferently. Then, he suddenly turns to the Entertainment Department, “Supervisor Wu, Supervisor Guo, Supervisor Hua, what’s your opinion? Do you agree or disagree?”