The CEO would not want to attend the meeting, would he?
Shen Yan always felt that Zhou Xing was setting her up, but she had no evidence.
However, their General Manager, who seemed to have social anxiety, did not want to attend the meeting, which made sense.
It was very much in line with his character; unlike other leaders who enjoyed speaking during meetings, he didn’t.
It was almost like grandiose speeches.
A few days ago, they had a specialized meeting, and the vice president in charge of the marketing department was the host.
When the agenda reached the sales plan, he suddenly started reminiscing, talking about how they had created a sales miracle when they were young under the leadership of the old General Manager, selling out an entire development project in one day.
Shen Yan, who was taking meeting notes, listened for a long time but didn’t catch the main point, and didn’t know if she should include it in the meeting minutes.
But with a commitment to being fact-based, she wrote everything down.
Their General Manager Fan was no different in this regard.
General Manager Fan seemed to have gotten some news and learned that their CEO’s office had been having weekly meetings recently.
He strongly requested to join every week from now on.
The people in the CEO’s office were like: ….
Zhou Xing initially wanted to find an excuse to refuse Fan, but after thinking for a moment, he realized that the purpose of their weekly meetings was to help Shen Yan overcome her fear of speaking up.
Introducing Fan into the meetings could indeed serve as a way to encourage her to improve.
So, Zhou Xing didn’t refuse. He sent the schedule for next Monday’s regular meeting to Fan Mingxu.
Speaking of which, Fan Mingxu had mentioned attending their morning meetings today, but it was likely he would forget by next Monday.
Since the day Shen Yan learned about this, she has started feeling nervous. She even started blaming her school for scheduling the graduation photo shoot on Tuesday, wishing they had done it on Monday so that she could have a legitimate reason to take a leave.
Originally, after two weeks of practice, Shen Yan felt that if she just read her script next week, she would be able to speak without feeling nervous.
But Fan’s sudden addition made her uneasy.
She kept revising her speech over and over again.
On Friday evening, around 8 PM, Shen Yan had almost finished her work.
She just hadn’t completed the daily reports, but Zhou Xing had already communicated with the department heads.
After they finished their reports, they would send them directly to Shen Yan on WeChat.
She glanced at the progress of Xing Ning and Qian Xiafeng.
They were almost done with the vouchers.
The three of them had agreed to have a late-night snack together in the cafeteria.
While waiting for Xing Ning and Qian Xiafeng, Shen Yan continued to revise her speech. She thought that Fan Mingxu was annoying.
What was he doing attending their department’s meetings for no reason?
She didn’t think the original speech was bad, but she was just very anxious and kept wanting to make changes.
While she was repeatedly deliberating whether to include a particular “de” or not, Yu Xinnian came over.
He stood beside them and asked, “Did I drive today. Do you want me to give you a ride back to school?”
Yu Xinnian, Xing Ning, and Qian Xiafeng were in the same department, and they had the same graduation photo shoot schedule.
A University was located in the suburbs, and it would take about an hour to get there by subway, with a transfer in between.
Having a car ride would save a lot of effort.
Shen Yan thought Yu Xinnian was quite enthusiastic, but she declined, saying, “I’ll pass.
I still have to come to work on Monday.”
Yu Xinnian curiously asked, “Aren’t you taking graduation photos?”
Shen Yan replied, “We’re taking them on Tuesday.”
She preferred to take them on Monday so she could avoid Fan Mingxu.
After Yu Xinnian asked, Xing Ning and Qian Xiafeng finally finished sticking the vouchers.
To show their appreciation for Yu Xinnian offering them a ride, Xing Ning and Qian Xiafeng decided to treat him to a late-night snack.
Yu Xinnian was quite pleased to hear this and quickly called Li Hefeng to join, joking, “Old Li, you’re mooching off me.”
Li Hefeng: …
So, Yu Xinnian and Li Hefeng joined Shen Yan and the others as they took the elevator up and entered the company cafeteria.
When they reached the entrance of the cafeteria, Yu Xinnian was incredulous: “You’re treating me to the company cafeteria?”
Xing Ning said, “Yep, eat whatever you want, just swipe my card.”
Yu Xinnian snorted, “I didn’t study much, don’t try to fool me, isn’t late-night food free?”
Xing Ning replied, “But you still need to swipe the card.”
Even though it’s free.
This logic made perfect sense.
Li Hefeng, who overheard this, chuckled and said,
“They have barbecue, instant noodles, and fried skewers. The variety is pretty rich.”
Yu Xinnian: …
Although Yu Xinnian felt a bit tricked, the company’s late-night food was not only diverse but also quite delicious.
It was said that the chef in their cafeteria was hired from a five-star hotel by Mr. Lu from the CEO’s office.
After eating and drinking their fill in the cafeteria, Yu Xinnian took Xing Ning, Qian Xiafeng, and Li Hefeng back to school in the car.
Meanwhile, Shen Yan, who was about to leave work, received several messages on WeChat with a “ding ding ding.”
Shen Yan received the daily reports from all the departments on WeChat.
After hesitating for a moment, she went back to the meeting room with the centralized office, opened her laptop, and finished the daily reports for the day.
She also tidied up her things, making space for Jian Hong to sit at her desk on Monday.
After finishing this, it was almost 10 PM when she left the meeting room, but there were still a few colleagues working overtime.
She couldn’t help but think, working overtime until nine or ten every night, by the time she got home, all she could do was wash up and sleep.
The next morning…
Although the company had flexible working hours, everyone was still in the same meeting room, and it was around 10 AM by the time they got to the office.
It was a situation where you open your eyes and you’re at work, then close your eyes when you’re done for the day.
In the afternoons, when she went out to deliver the electric scooter to Zhou Xing, it felt like she was just out for a bit of fresh air.
Before, Shen Yan had felt despair over working five days a week for eight hours a day, but after a week of such high-intensity work, she realized how good her office was and how comfortable her previous job had been.
Thankfully, she would be returning to her normal nine-to-five life next week, with the occasional overtime.
Just thinking about it made her happy, and on the way home on the electric scooter, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Because she had to prepare for the Monday meeting with General Manager Fan attending, Shen Yan spent the weekend full of anxiety, revising and memorizing her speech at home.
She really wished Monday would never come.
But how could that be possible?
On Monday morning, in the small meeting room next to the CEO’s office, General Manager Fan sat in the center, Zhou Xing sat on his left, and Sister Meng sat on his right.
When Shen Yan walked into the small meeting room, she almost thought she had accidentally entered a structured interview.
Zhou Xing pointed to the seat directly across from General Manager Fan and said to Shen Yan, “Sit here.”
Shen Yan:?
But her colleagues Jian Hong, Teacher Cheng, Teacher Wang, and Mr. Lu quickly found their seats, leaving the one in the middle empty for her.
Shen Yan: …
She sat down with a stiff face.
Zhou Xing didn’t give her any time to prepare and directly said, “Xiao Shen, you start.”
Shen Yan:?
Why wasn’t this going according to the usual rules?
Didn’t they usually start from the far left or far right?
All she could do was think, “The sooner I start, the sooner it’s over,” and she began reading her speech in front of everyone.
She thought she would be more nervous because of General Manager Fan’s presence, but perhaps due to the practice from the past two times, when she sat there and started speaking, her heartbeat didn’t accelerate as much as before.
She was able to read the words in the speech.
Her speaking speed was under control.
When she was almost done, Shen Yan remembered what the interview teacher had taught her.
She should make eye contact with the “interviewers.”
She tried looking up at General Manager Fan, Zhou Xing, and Meng Gulan.
She immediately regretted it. Why did she look up?
Why couldn’t she just finish reading the speech?
She noticed that General Manager Fan was frowning.
Shen Yan’s heart immediately started racing, and nervousness surged over her.
Fortunately, it was near the end of her speech when she saw General Manager Fan frowning.
Although her heart was pounding, she forced herself to finish reading the speech.
After finishing, she could still hear her heartbeat, “thump-thump-thump.”
She had no idea what had set off General Manager Fan’s frown.
Was it because she hadn’t given him access to the downstairs office area?
Before Shen Yan could figure it out, she heard General Manager Fan speak: “Xiao Shen, your work content from last week and your work plan for this week, why is it so formal and flowery?”
Shen Yan: “Huh?”
Before she could understand what General Manager Fan meant, he continued: “Xiao Zhou, this kind of approach won’t work in the weekly meeting.”
Shen Yan:?
Zhou Xing still smiled and said, “General Manager Fan, please give us your guidance.”
Fan Mingxu said, “The speech material Xiao Shen prepared, the good parts could be used for Xiao Yu’s weekly speech.
From the beginning, it was prepared with a lot of effort.
You’re just increasing the burden on the grassroots employees.”
“Xiao Yu” clearly refers to Lu Yu.
And he was blaming Zhou Xing.
Shen Yan felt like she couldn’t control her expression anymore.
This was so intense, so exciting.
It felt like things were about to explode.
Shen Yan glanced at Meng Gulan, who was sitting across from her.
Sister Meng’s expression was a colorful mix, full of drama.
Before, Fan Mingxu had always acted high and mighty towards Zhou Xing, but he still maintained a respectful elder attitude on the surface.
Who would have thought he would suddenly make a move at the small weekly meeting?
Zhou Xing’s expression remained unchanged as he asked, “General Manager Fan, do you think we should continue with our weekly meetings?”
Fan Mingxu pondered for a moment.
He was always the type to give a stick and then a candy: “The weekly meeting is necessary.
I think your idea is very good and should be promoted across the entire company.”
Shen Yan thought to herself, is he praising Zhou Xing, or setting him up?
If others from different departments knew that they were having weekly meetings because of Zhou Xing, would they team up to get rid of him?
“However,” Fan Mingxu’s tone shifted.
“How to control the level of excitement in employees’ weekly meeting speeches is something you need to keep thinking about.”
After hearing this, Shen Yan couldn’t quite grasp it.
Was General Manager Fan praising her or scolding her?
It was the first time she had been told her speech material was too exciting, that she had over-prepared.
This was the first time she realized that materials might need to be modified in reverse.
Zhou Xing spoke up to help Shen Yan, “General Manager Fan, you might not be aware of Xiao Shen’s capabilities.
For Xiao Shen, writing a speech like this is a piece of cake.”
Shen Yan:!
Was he praising her, or setting her up to fail?