Chapter 7

She rested her hands on the photocopier, waiting for the dazzling scanning light to flicker across her face through the white paper in segments, then picked up the document and turned the pages, folding them neatly, awaiting the completion of the next copy.

Listening to the rhythmic sounds of machines and paper by her ear, Su Mo could not help but turn her head to take a glance, but there was no sign of anyone. She calmed herself, picked up the printed papers, meticulously organized them, and bound them into a volume, her mood inexplicably brightening.

The man's dark pupils glanced curiously at the white bandages on Su Mo's body, then turned to look at her face, remaining silent.

The man smiled: "I don't know about this either," he looked at Su Mo again, his face showing confusion, as if encouraging her to speak up and explain.

At this moment, Wang Siwei's attire is not as formal as last time; he is wearing a white shirt tucked in, without a tie, and the collar is slightly open. With broad shoulders and a narrow waist, he is tall and slender, a typical clothes hanger, and as he approaches, he exudes a strong sense of pressure.

The girl is so beautiful that she seems to have come from a beauty pageant

Su Mo gently turned the smooth and shiny doorknob, feeling a rush of warmth and dizziness in her head as she pushed the door open and entered

At the table sat two men and two women. Compared to the relaxed posture of the men, the two young girls sat upright and serious, with folders and laptops spread out in front of them. The situation was simple yet professional, yet there was an indescribable oddness to it. Later, Su Mo reflected on why she felt strange at first sight. After much contemplation, the most vivid memory that remained was of the two female secretaries' crimson lips and the hazy black stockings.

At this moment, Su Mo naively believed that he must be a kind person

Su Mo was somewhat curious: "Do you also have business dealings with him?"

Su Mo nodded slightly

Su Mo felt completely uneasy under Shang Chun's gaze, as if she were being stripped of her layers like a silkworm. She slightly lowered her head and replied, "I suppose so"

Wang Siwei glanced at Shang Chun, still smiling, and finally asked Su Mo: "Did you come here through the manager's introduction?"

Wang Siwei politely interrupted her, saying, "Miss Su, I have something to attend to at the moment." He spoke clearly, as if afraid she might not hear him, and continued, "This afternoon, a colleague from the Human Resources Department will call you, is that alright?"

Shang Chun's gaze had not left the face of the young maid. At this moment, seeing her pale complexion and delicate expression, he couldn't help but smile and interrupt, "I say, Wang Siwei, your way of doing things is quite interesting. You let such a frail woman go to the warehouse to do physical labor; you truly have an unconventional approach to employing people. Look at her slender little wrists, tsk, how can you bear it?"

Then the beam of light suddenly became still

That morning, the ringtone in the headphones was more enthusiastic than usual, or rather, she had never received a call from outside the company. Su Mo took a deep breath and quickly pressed the answer button, her voice soft and her attitude sincere. However, what came through the headphones was a jumble of Chinese mixed with English that was difficult to understand. After listening for a while, Su Mo finally grasped the gist: a foreigner had looked at the product information in the email and was interested in several items. The foreigner's name was quite long, and in a moment of panic, Su Mo failed to remember it. The other party was also not patient enough to repeat in Chinese, directly launching into a long stream of English.

Neither of the two spoke. After a while, Wang Siwei said, "This method is still quite effective; you can give it a try as well"

Su Mo then noticed a button for automatic page turning above, the inscription on it had been smudged and was unclear. Her face flushed, and she hurriedly reached out to press it, then quietly expressed her gratitude.

Telemarketing is a painful process for Su Mo, as the other end of the line is filled with different people and voices. The only constant is the cold, critical tone and attitude. After being rejected time and again, her fighting spirit gradually diminishes, and her mindset begins to become unbalanced. Her sales performance is perpetually at the bottom of the entire department, and her job security is in jeopardy

Zhong Ming's expression was slightly startled; she slowly wrung out the towel and carefully hung it up, then said softly, "Is that so?"

The work officially begins after this, sending product information to clients according to the email directory, making phone calls to solicit new customers, or assisting senior employees in the department with trivial tasks such as delivering emails or making copies. Although I am a newcomer, I am also under pressure from sales targets, with performance evaluations every month and week, making life quite challenging.

In the first week, her task was to study customers in the customer relationship management system and then memorize product information. This was not difficult for her, as her major was quite relevant, and the details of electronic products were not unfamiliar to her; after reviewing them a few times, she could remember most of it. However, she had never been involved in the customer-facing aspect, so she had to put in extra effort.

During that period, Su Mo often woke up startled in the middle of the night, and after waking, she silently contemplated her work matters, making it even harder to fall back asleep. By the time morning came and it was time to go to work, she hoped for a miracle to occur

In the office, there were people who pretended to be focused on their work while secretly eavesdropping on the gossip. Su Mo remained silent, her face completely flushed. She felt embarrassed and sat on her chair, dazed for a long time. By noon, she still hadn't recovered her composure, lacking an appetite for lunch. Upon returning to the office, she took advantage of the lunch break to find the contact information for an English tutoring class online. After calling and registering, she finally felt a bit relieved from the pent-up frustration in her heart. She felt embarrassed and sat on her chair, dazed for a long time. By noon, she still hadn't recovered her composure, lacking an appetite for lunch. Upon returning to the office, she took advantage of the lunch break to find the contact information for an English tutoring class online. After calling and registering, she finally felt a bit relieved from the pent-up frustration in her heart.

Seeing Rong's dismissive attitude towards Su Mo, others became increasingly fond of making her run errands, asking her to make coffee one moment and to make copies the next. Su Mo endured it all and took the bound materials to the copying room.

Wang Siwei picked up the photocopied materials and asked, "Do we need to photocopy every page?"

Su Mo remained silent

Su Mo hung up the phone and then mentioned the matter at home. Zhong Ming was very happy for her, saying that Su Mo's boss was quite personable. However, her uncle did not say much and was not as cheerful as last time; he only reminded Su Mo to work hard, take care of her health, and to be cautious around others.

Uncle frowned and shook his head: "It is obvious they are making excuses, not reliable. I will go and talk to them myself."

Su Mo noticed that his words were concise, leaving her somewhat at a loss. She blurted out: "I mean no harm, I just want to seek justice. If you still expect me to compensate for the loss of goods..."

Su Mo felt relieved; since that was the case, the loss of goods was no longer her concern. She then asked, "When can I start working?"

Rong effortlessly secured a deal, set down her headphones, and without even glancing at the novice standing in front of her, disdainfully remarked as she brushed past, "Graduated from university, even worked as a teacher, and this is the level of your English?"

The four of them looked at her in astonishment, and when she clearly saw the appearances of the two gentlemen, her surprise deepened

Su Mo stared at the light as if in self-harm, until she felt dizzy and fatigued

Rong also said: "Even if they relent, how can you go to work like this now? Someone just left my sales department to give birth, you should come."

After about ten days, Su Mo returned to work, her right hand still in a splint, but she was no longer seriously injured. This time, her job provided her with her own desk and laptop, and the environment was different from before. Su Mo looked at the neatly arranged office supplies on her desk and felt a surge of energy, her motivation to earn money began to rise again

Rong spoke quite politely this time: "No rush, let's talk after you have rested. Remember to report to the HR department first."

Su Mo quickly stepped aside. The man glanced at the photocopier, pressed a few buttons, but it still did not work. Finally, he lifted his foot and gave the photocopier a light kick. The machine made a clattering sound, as if a drowsy patient had suddenly taken a deep breath, finally regaining some vitality

Uncle was taken aback: "Wang Siwei? How did he get involved in this again?"

Su Mo was worried about angering him, so she had no choice but to nod slightly, turn around, and exit, closing the door behind her

Su Mo's gaze swept across Shang Chun's face, inadvertently lingering for several seconds on the young man in the main seat and the direction of the books. Su Mo had encountered this person twice; the first time was when he visited her uncle at a small factory, during which he said nothing yet evoked an inexplicable fondness in her. The second time was at Mo Wei Qing's place, where he was returning a drunken companion home.

Su Mo hesitantly said, "Mr. Wang?"

Boss Zhong let out a faint sigh: "No," and did not intend to elaborate further. Su Mo felt it inappropriate to ask more questions. After a while, her uncle finally said: "Let's go back and wait to see what he has to say. If it doesn't work out, we can come back again"

Rong came straight over, snatched her headset microphone, and directly started chatting with that person. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, they got down to business, indicating that they were repeat customers. Su Moyan felt utterly humiliated, standing awkwardly to the side, unsure whether to sit or stand. Rong glanced at her and cheerfully said to the client: "Please don't mind, that person just now is a new colleague. Let's forget about the unpleasantness caused earlier. Now, how about we discuss the discount issue..."

Su Mo forced a smile and said, "Thank you, General Manager Wang." Remembering the incident from last time, she felt an additional sense of gratitude in her heart, yet she did not know how to express it.

Su Mo turned around, surprised in her heart, having forgotten to greet him, as Wang Siwei had already approached her.

Rong said: "Bring the medical prescription, the company will pay for it."

Wang Siwei inserted the documents into the slot next to the photocopier: "This one can automatically turn the pages, so it is not as troublesome as doing it manually one page at a time"

Wang Siwei smiled and said, "You go ahead and be busy," before turning around and leaving

The people in the conference room looked up at her together

Su Mo came to her senses, squatting there fiddling for half a day, yet the photocopier remained out of order. Everything was going wrong, and she felt both angry and anxious, at a loss for what to do. Suddenly, she heard someone walking up behind her, and that person calmly said, "Is it broken again?"

Su Mo's heart skipped a beat, not expecting that there would be another turn of events regarding this matter. However, unlike the previous times, she did not show her emotions on her face. After a pause, she asked: "What about the compensation?"

Su Mo nodded, feeling anxious. Upon arriving home, she clutched her phone and waited the entire afternoon until dinner time. When the phone rang, Su Mo had not yet seen the number and immediately answered, only to find it was Rong.

Wang Siwei did not take her ambiguous response to heart and said, "You should go back and rest first; the company has its own regulations. The HR department will give you news in the afternoon"

Su Mo hurriedly stopped him: "I just saw the company president, the one I went to see you about last time, named Wang Siwei"

The young man nodded, responding casually, "I am."

Su Mo originally breathed a sigh of relief, but for some reason, she became nervous again when she heard him speak. She stammered and roughly explained the situation. Her speech was not particularly eloquent, yet the other party listened patiently. In the end, the man slightly furrowed his brow and said, "I was not aware of this matter before, but now I cannot rely solely on your account. I need to consult others to understand the situation. How about this: I still have guests at the moment, so you can come back in the afternoon..."

At this point, Su Mo was completely bewildered. It had been many years since she had last dealt with English; back in university, she had only passed the Level 4 exam, and her vocabulary and grammar had long been returned to the teacher. The other party, seeing that she was unable to communicate, grew increasingly impatient, and by the end, the atmosphere was charged with tension. Su Mo stood there holding the phone, her palms sweating, feeling extremely awkward

Since the last time, Su Mo has not seen him again. He seems to come to the company rarely, and even when he does, it is difficult to encounter him after several floors apart

Su Mo went downstairs to find her uncle and recounted what had just happened

Rong spoke in a nonchalant tone, directly saying: "The people over at the warehouse said they no longer need you."

It was Shang Chun who spoke first, smiling as he looked at his friend or perhaps a business partner beside him: "Isn't this our little housekeeper? What brings you here? Oh, I remember... my housekeeper was suddenly replaced. Could it be that you, young man, poached her?"

In the evening, Zhong Ming helped Su Mo wash her hair. The two chatted for a while, and Su Mo recalled what had happened that day. She unexpectedly said, "Ming Ming, that Boss Wang, it turns out he knows my uncle. He came to the factory before, the one who came a couple of months ago, when you were upstairs..."