Water and Fire~Chapter 90.2: The Man Under the Sophora Tree

 

Chapter 90.2: The Man Under the Sophora Tree

During the day, while working at Liya, aside from necessary business, she began to discreetly distance herself from Liu Lifeng, no longer brazenly confronting him or being confronted by him as before.

Having vaguely sensed his feelings, she knew they wouldn't bear fruit with her, and she felt she needed to distance herself from him.

Since she couldn't respond to his feelings, she might as well not give him any room to pursue them, lest she end up hurting both herself and others.

From then on, whenever she went to review financial data with Tang Jie at the accounting firm, she no longer called Liu Lifeng. Instead, she asked Qin Qianyu to go with her.

After reviewing the financial data with Tang Jie that day, Chu Qianmiao and Qin Qianyu chatted as they walked back from the accounting firm's due diligence office to their own.

Qin Qianyu's conversation turned to Liu Lifeng.

"I've noticed Liu Lifeng has been looking down these past few days, like he's been heartbroken. Do you think Cui Xijie's departure was such a big blow to him?"

Chu Qianmiao was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "It's probably quite a big deal. After all, they ate together every day. He'll probably need some time to recover."

Later, Chu Qianmiao became familiar with the methods and key points of working with accountants, and no longer needed Qin Qianyu to accompany her every time. During this process, she and accountant Tang Jie got along very well.

Tang Jie, 30, is highly skilled and is the on-site manager for the accounting department. Chu Qianmiao has learned a lot of practical financial experience from him.

Recently, through her work with Tang Jie, Chu Qianmiao has noticed that while Dou Shan, Li Ya's annoying secretary, has stopped bothering her, she's still busy, constantly harassing Tang Jie.

Tang Jie isn't as lucky as she is, having a responsible and capable leader. Tang Jie's leadership exposed Chu Qianmiao to a different kind of boss, the exact opposite of Ren Yan.

No matter what the company requested, even the most outrageous, Tang Jie's boss would readily agree to it and assign tasks to Tang Jie to carry out. If Tang Jie and his team failed to complete their work on time, their project bonuses would be docked. To avoid having their bonuses cut, Tang Jie and his team were extremely frugal with their sleep schedules and worked tirelessly overtime.

And every time a task was completed, Tang Jie's boss, instead of praising them, would smugly remark, "See? You push your potential to unleash it. You always complain about not being able to finish it, but you always manage to complete it." So, you just need to be pushed. Once you push your potential, it will be unleashed.

When Tang Jie was on the verge of collapse, he couldn't help but complain to Chu Qianmiao while making coffee in the tea room, "My boss only saw that we completed the work on time, but did he see how we did it? We couldn't even sleep. Honestly, we envy you guys at your brokerage firm for having a leader like Mr. Ren, who backs you up and makes sure no one dares to bully you. Look at us, our boss doesn't protect us. That's why even Dou Shan, the lousy secretary to the chairman's assistant, can boss us around. To be honest, Manager Chu, if I hadn't just had a child and the pressures of life, I really wouldn't want to quit." He swirled the coffee in his cup to cool it down quickly and said to Chu Qianmiao, "Hey, Manager Chu, you have so many options. Can you give me some advice? How can I manage myself so I don't go crazy after completing this project?" Chu Qianmiao looked at Tang Jie, who had pulled another all-nighter to finish a report. His beard was unshaven, his hair was disheveled, and his dark circles and bags under his eyes were almost drooping down to his cheeks.

Think of Dou Shan's ability to annoy people, and add a boss who was extremely cooperative with her annoyance. What kind of workplace purgatory would that be? She looked at Tang Jie with pity. If a stay-at-home dad kept going like this, by the time the project was finished, his son would probably mistake him for a grandfather.

"Actually," Chu Qianmiao thought for a moment and said, "the problem with your boss is that he's not on-site, so he doesn't understand the complexities of handling Li Ya's specific situations. He also doesn't understand the sheer volume and difficulty of the work. He just talks and does things remotely, so of course he thinks it's easy. So you should let your boss know that your job isn't easy at all—it's extremely difficult. Ideally, let your boss experience it firsthand, so he can feel the difficulty."

Tang Jie looked at Chu Qianmiao eagerly and asked, "Manager Chu, how can I make him feel it?"

Chu Qianmiao rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just quit?"

Tang Jie's face showed some hesitation. "Actually, my current salary is pretty good. If I moved to another firm, it might not be as high as it is now."

Chu Qianmiao said, "Don't worry, if you resign, according to the strangeness of this project, no one else can handle it, only your leader can do it himself. When the time comes, he will have tasted all the suffering you have suffered, and he will be anxious to call you back, flatter you, coax you, and give you a raise. Just treat these few days as a vacation for yourself, go home and spend time with your children." After a pause, she said, "Let's take a step back and say that even if your leader doesn't call you back, of course I think this possibility is very small, he can't handle the situation without you.

If you want to change jobs here, you can go anywhere with your business skills. The pay will be a little lower at first, but it'll increase over time."

Tang Jie gulped down a cup of coffee, not even complaining about the heat. He had made up his mind.

That afternoon, Qin Qianyu returned to the office with some big news after a short outing.

"I heard Tang Jie was being pressured too much by Dou Shan, and his boss kept trying to get him work. So, he angrily resigned and bought a ticket back to Beijing this morning."

Chu Qianmiao looked up and sighed in agreement. "Ah, what happens next? If Tang Jie leaves, the accounting department's progress will practically collapse. The remaining people have little experience and are completely dependent on Tang Jie. Qin Qianyu continued, "I've been trying to get other accountants to tell me. One young woman tearfully told me that they were all panicked after Tang Jie left. Their leader, they say, was furious, accusing Tang Jie of lacking professional ethics and integrity, and rushed over while scolding him. There wasn't enough time to hire someone on short notice, and the other accountants weren't skilled enough to handle Li Ya and his crew, so the leader had to fill Tang Jie's shoes." "

That afternoon, the leader arrived.

He reportedly berated Tang Jie for an hour in the accountant's due diligence office before calming down and getting back to work.

At work, besides occasionally answering questions from other accountants, he also had to deal with issues from brokers and lawyers, and most importantly, he had to contend with Dou Shan's endless stream of questions.

It's said that by that evening, the leader had stopped beating Tang Jie. The next day, he began to miss Tang Jie. By the third day, the leader had experienced all the hardships and difficulties of this project and understood the incredible pressure Tang Jie had endured to complete his work amidst internal and external challenges. Of course, he also understood the kind of person Dou Shan was, a source of utter despair.

On the fourth day, his eyes watered, the leader called Tang Jie, apologized, sympathized with his past suffering, and begged him not to resign and return to the project. He promised him a raise and assured him that he would defend him against any unreasonable demands from Dou Shan in the future.

Thus, Tang Jie gave himself a four-day vacation. After four days, he returned to the project, refreshed and ready to replace his boss. Before his boss left for Beijing, he patted him on the shoulder, nearly choking up as he spoke. He said, "Xiao Tang, you've worked so hard! Everything I said on the phone will count. Don't worry."

After his boss left, Tang Jie summoned Chu Qianmiao to the tea room. He presented Chu Qianmiao with a large gift bag of snacks, saying, "My wife says all girls love these, so I'm giving them as a token of my gratitude. When we return to Beijing, my wife and I will treat you to a meal to express our sincere gratitude."

Chu Qianmiao beamed as she accepted the gift bag. "Brother Tang, please don't be so polite! I just came up with an idea," she said. He then stood by, feeling relieved. "You, the person involved, are the ones who will suffer the most during this struggle with the boss." "

As they were talking, Tang Jie's phone rang. It was his colleague asking him to go back and fix the problem.

Tang Jie put his phone away and thanked Chu Qianmiao again before leaving the tea room.

As he was leaving, Ren Yan walked past him, holding a cup of water.

Chu Qianmiao called out, "Mr. Ren."

Ren Yan glanced at the gift bag of snacks in her hand, then looked up at her.

Chu Qianmiao returned his gaze. But the moment their eyes met, she shuddered slightly.

His eyes shone with a sharpness.

Chu Qianmiao immediately understood that he was aware of Tang Jie's actions and that she had helped him come up with the solution.

Thinking back to a few days ago, he had lamented to Cui Xijie, "I told you guys to work on your projects well, maintain a proper distance from those working on them, and be rational."

She thought to herself: for helping Tang Jie like this, he would probably criticize her.

Ren Yan lowered his head to fetch the water. His sideways position blocked the path to the door, preventing her from escaping.

After fetching the water, he looked up at her and asked, "Did you come up with the idea for Tang Jie?"

Chu Qianmiao nodded nervously, "I saw he was having a really hard time, so I just offered to help." She looked at him cautiously and asked, "Are you going to criticize me again, saying I'm irrational and meddling?"

The summer sun streamed in through the window, casting a shimmering light on her. He watched her raise her head, looking at him with a hint of longing, and asked nervously if he was going to criticize her again.

He felt a little helpless and wanted to shake his head.

How could he criticize her? She was just so warm-hearted and willing to help others. She'd been like this since school. When he met her that time, hadn't she also been passionately helping others?

And wasn't it this passion and kindness in her that had drawn him to her in the first place?

Looking at her fair face turned toward him, his image of her passionate willingness to help others years ago began to resurface vividly.

It was one day, not long after the basketball game. He was returning from an afternoon workout and passed a small alley outside the school. There was a snack bar on the side of the alley. It was early summer, and the inside was stiflingly hot. He sat outside and ordered a bowl of noodles.

While he was eating his noodles, the street, usually deserted by people and cars, suddenly became noisy.

One group of people was blocking another, creating a standoff.

The blocking group was led by a middle-aged woman in her forties, with a fierce expression on her face.

The group they were blocking consisted of four people, most likely students from the same school as him.

The fierce middle-aged woman immediately ordered her men to launch a general attack on one of the four trapped people. She called the girl a "little vixen" and instructed them to rush over and help her strip the shameless vixen naked, exposing her filthy flesh.

He still had half a bowl of noodles left, but the drama before him had already ruined his appetite. He paid the bill and stood up to leave when he overheard one of the four trapped people saying to another, "Liu Liu, quickly call the boys in our class and tell them to come to Huang Ying's aid. Also, quickly call Qian Miao. She's got a big mouth. Just the few of us can't stand up to this bitch. Qing, just wait for her to slam you. Hurry and call Qian Miao to help us fight her."

The girl named Huang Ying was stunned after receiving the task and said, "Qiu Yun, you and I, Liu Liu, are in the same dorm as Qian Miao, but Wang Shu isn't. She's in our class, but she doesn't know Qian Miao. Is it appropriate to ask Qian Miao to help Wang Shu fight that bitch?"

The girl named Qiu Yun said, "Qian Miao is a modern-day Lei Feng. She'll definitely speak out if she sees injustice. Stop wasting time and call her!"

The girls named Liu Liu and Huang Ying both started calling people as requested.

When he heard the name "Qian Miao," he somehow sat back down and continued eating the remaining half bowl of noodles.

The day he was hit by the basketball, the girl said she was too embarrassed to see him and then hopped away like a rabbit. Later, when he was bored, he asked someone about it, and it turned out that the girl with that squinty smile, revealing a row of neat white teeth, was named Chu Qian Miao.

The author has something to say to Ren Yan: Why didn't you ask me why I decided to quit smoking? Why didn't you ask? I know smoking is bad for children. Hmm.