Chapter 211

Chapter 211: I Know Him Shu Mingyue returned to her office, pulled out her chair, and sat down. She tossed the USB drive onto the desk and glared at the man before her. "What kind of garbage did you people produce? If you can't do the job properly, pack your things and get the hell out!" The deputy manager of the project team stood before the desk with his head lowered, speaking timidly, "President Shu, please calm down." "So you're the new deputy manager of the project team? You're the one who reviewed and approved this project proposal?" Shu Mingyue leaned back in her office chair, squinting as she sized up the newly appointed deputy manager standing before her. "Yes..." Sun Xiang, the deputy project manager, was drenched in sweat and replied nervously. As the company's president, Shu Mingyue didn't need to personally handle trivial matters like reviewing and approving project proposals. Yang Peng, the project manager standing nearby, lowered his head and said, "President Shu, Sun Xiang just arrived. He might not be familiar with your standards yet, so..." Before he could finish, Shu Mingyue cut him off sharply: "Whether it's not knowing my standards or getting in through the back door without the actual capability—you both know the answer in your hearts!" Both the manager and deputy manager felt their hearts skip a beat simultaneously. "You—" Shu Mingyue pointed at Sun Xiang, the deputy project manager. "You're fired. Get out right now. I don't want to see you again." "President Shu, please give me another chance!" Sun Xiang dropped to his knees with a thud. "Get out!" Shu Mingyue barked furiously. Sun Xiang wept bitterly, "President Shu, I have elderly parents and young children to support. I can't afford to lose this job. Please give me another chance, I beg you. I'll do a good job on the project proposal. Please don't fire me..." Shu Mingyue's eyes turned cold and sharp. Without wasting another word on Sun Xiang, she picked up the intercom phone on her desk and made a call. "Send a few security guards to my office and throw Sun Xiang out." Her assistant replied, "Yes, President Shu." Sun Xiang was still kneeling on the ground, pleading desperately. Shu Mingyue turned a deaf ear to him and shifted her gaze to Yang Peng, the project manager standing to the side. "Yang Peng, how many years have you worked at the domestic branch?" Cold sweat beaded on Yang Peng's forehead as he replied in a low voice, "Four years." "You're quite capable, I'll give you that." Shu Mingyue's tone shifted, and the cold ruthlessness in her eyes deepened. "But you've crossed my bottom line." Shu Mingyue hurled a stack of A4 documents at Yang Peng's face. "You used your position for personal gain, pulled strings for your own relative, brought an incompetent person into the company, and even propped him up as deputy project manager. Fine, just fine! You can get out with him too!" After Shu Mingyue's project proposal had been rejected by Jiang Shixu, she had gone through it meticulously. She had reviewed all the project proposals Yang Peng had previously been responsible for. Every single one had satisfied her, so out of trust, she had stopped reviewing the proposals Yang Peng had approved. But who would have thought Yang Peng would abuse his authority as project manager to pull strings, bringing his brother-in-law Sun Xiang into the company and elevating him to the position of deputy project manager? Shu Mingyue would never concern herself with appointments to such minor positions. But it was precisely this minor player who had cost her the opportunity to collaborate with Jiang Shixu. Shu Mingyue was furious. Yang Peng stood motionless as the documents slid off his face. "President Shu, this was my oversight. Those days I was busy following up on the Yunsheng project and didn't devote enough time and energy to this one. I didn't know you planned to use this project to discuss cooperation with Jiangshi Group." "Not knowing gives you an excuse to lower your standards? Not knowing gives you an excuse to be negligent?" Shu Mingyue wasn't buying Yang Peng's explanation. "Not only did you fail to do your own job properly, but you also brought an incompetent person into the company and put him in the deputy manager's seat. You have nothing to say for yourself after being fired. Get out!" The man said nothing more. His hands clenched tightly, and beneath the lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses, a cold glint flashed. The next second, a knock came from outside the door. Shu Mingyue: "Come in." Zhao Chen, the president's assistant, led two security guards in and dragged Sun Xiang, who was still kneeling on the ground, to his feet. Zhao Chen glanced at Yang Peng, the manager standing to the side. Yang Peng said coldly, "I can walk out on my own." With that, he turned and headed for the door. The two security guards dragged Sun Xiang, the deputy project manager, out of the office. Sun Xiang struggled and shouted loudly, "President Shu, please give me another chance! I'll work hard, I promise!" Shu Mingyue pressed her lips together, her face dark and grim, ignoring him completely. Only after Sun Xiang had been dragged out did Shu Mingyue speak coldly to her assistant Zhao Chen: "Notify everyone. Meeting in the conference room in ten minutes. I'm going to reappoint the project manager and deputy manager." "Yes, President Shu." ...... Under the supervision of the newly appointed project manager, the entire project department worked overtime for a week straight, finally producing a project proposal that satisfied Shu Mingyue. Shu Mingyue took the new proposal to Jiangshi Group to see Jiang Shixu. Since returning to the country, she had visited the Jiangshi Group headquarters building several times. The new young receptionist at the front desk, Xiao Min, had come to recognize her. Seeing her, Xiao Min greeted her warmly: "Good afternoon, President Shu." Shu Mingyue stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the twenty-seventh floor. The twenty-seventh floor was one floor below the president's office. Only Jiang Shixu's private elevator could reach the top floor, so every time Shu Mingyue came to see him, she could only wait in the reception room on the twenty-seventh floor until he finished his work. Just as Shu Mingyue stepped into the elevator, Ruan Chutang walked into the headquarters of Jiangshi Group. She had finished drafting the complaints for the cases Jiangshi had commissioned and needed the legal representative to sign and stamp them with the official seal. Thinking it wasn't far away, she decided to make the trip herself. She remembered that when Jiang Shixu came to the law firm to sign the contract last time, he had brought the company's legal representative—someone Chu Tang didn't recognize. Before coming, she had specifically called Jiang Shixu's assistant, Lin Sen, but he hadn't picked up. Probably in a meeting and unable to answer. When she reached the lobby, the receptionist Xiao Min stopped her. "Miss, who are you here to see?" "I'm here to see Jiang Shixu." Hearing Ruan Chutang say this, Xiao Min instinctively gave her a second look. Could this be another one of the president's romantic interests? In her three months at Jiangshi Group, she had intercepted countless such women and had grown somewhat numb to it. Assuming Ruan Chutang was another of the president's admirers, Xiao Min's attitude turned impatient. She asked flatly, "Do you have an appointment?" Chu Tang shook her head. "No, but I—" I can call your president directly. Before she could finish, Xiao Min cut her off: "Without an appointment, you can't see our president. Please leave." Chu Tang didn't get angry. She only said calmly, "I know him." "Heh." Xiao Min let out a mocking laugh. "Every day, random women come looking for the president, all claiming to know him. I've heard it so many times my ears are growing calluses. I suggest you just leave and stop wasting your effort here—our president isn't someone you can see just because you want to."