Chapter 8
Qi Baizi dropped Gu Yuetong off at the company for a meeting and waited outside the conference room.
There were many people in the conference room today, from all different ranks, so there was no need for her to serve tea or water.
As Gu Yuetong’s dedicated assistant, she only needed to be present when Gu Yuetong needed her. When she wasn’t needed, she wouldn’t try to get close.
The lesson from her first day was still fresh in her mind. Now, as long as Gu Yuetong didn’t give her an order, she tried her best not to take the initiative.
Gu Yuetong hadn’t said much since they returned from the airport today. Qi Baizi could sense that she was in a bad mood, and she guessed it might have something to do with the woman in the leather skirt.
Speaking of which, that woman was also very beautiful, in the same league as Gu Yuetong, with sharp features and an air of nobility that couldn’t be concealed. She just didn’t know what her relationship was with Gu Yuetong.
But it looked like they had a deep-seated grudge, or else Gu Yuetong wouldn’t have been so concerned.
Qi Baizi stood at the entrance of the conference room, and everyone who passed by would glance at her.
A recent graduate with medium-short hair, wearing professional trousers and white sneakers, looking very much like a student, standing outside the president’s conference room, was always a bit eye-catching.
Qi Baizi suspected that in their eyes, she looked like a fool.
She looked left and right, and when there were fewer people around, she pulled out her phone to look for shoes.
She observed what the passing employees were wearing. Some departments with less strict requirements dressed even more casually than she did, with T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers.
But the people from the Administration Group were all dressed very formally: blouses, black suits, and below, formal skirts and small leather shoes. Except for the blouses, almost everything was black.
However, the price of better-quality leather shoes was over her budget, and she was afraid that cheap ones wouldn’t last long and would be a waste of money when she had to replace them.
As she was struggling with her decision, someone suddenly tapped her on the shoulder.
She looked up and saw that it was Zhou Qin, the leader of the Administration Group who had scolded her on her first day.
“Why are you on your phone during work hours? Slacking off?” Zhou Qin’s attitude was much milder than on the first day. At least she didn’t roll her eyes when she looked at her.
“No, Sister Qin, I was just…”
Zhou Qin reassured her, “Don’t be nervous. I was just passing by and wanted to say hello.”
Qi Baizi rubbed her head and asked, “Sister Qin, I’m sorry about the other day. I ordered afternoon tea later. Did you all receive it?”
“We did,” Zhou Qin said with a smile. “That was thoughtful of you. You did better than most people.”
This reminded Qi Baizi of Li Yi’s previous complaints, and she couldn’t help but shiver.
If she hadn’t caused trouble in the first place and been afraid of not getting along with them in the future, she probably wouldn’t have thought of it.
“Um, this meeting is going to take a long time. Are you just going to stand here the whole time?”
Qi Baizi nodded. “I have to wait for President Gu to come out.”
“I know, but…”
As Zhou Qin spoke, she pushed the conference room door open a crack to peek inside, then retreated and said to Qi Baizi, “It’ll be at least another two hours. Why don’t you go rest in the break room for a while?”
Qi Baizi was very alert. “That’s not a good idea.”
Gu Yuetong had gotten angry with her before for leaving her side without permission for more than ten meters. Now, she wouldn’t dare, even if she had several lives.
“You child.” Zhou Qin “tsked,” her expression changing slightly.
“It’s not me who’s looking for you. It’s someone else.”
Qi Baizi was taken aback. “Who?”
Zhou Qin lowered her voice and whispered in her ear, “The Chairman.”
Seeing Qi Baizi freeze, Zhou Qin was confused. “What’s wrong?”
“Can I not go?” Qi Baizi asked Zhou Qin.
Perhaps Zhou Qin didn’t know what had happened in Donglin, but Qi Baizi knew very well that Gu Hezhu looking for her at this time was definitely not a good thing.
Either it was to fire her on Gu Yuetong’s behalf, or it was…
“I’m afraid President Gu will be unhappy if she finds out.”
Zhou Qin hissed and told her to shut up. “Are you trying to stir up trouble between the President and the Chairman?”
Qi Baizi looked at the floor and said nothing.
With the way the mother and daughter were at each other’s throats the moment they met, did they even need any stirring up?
Zhou Qin sized Qi Baizi up. “Oh, I see.”
She asked, “Have you met the Chairman before?”
“Yes.”
“Since you’ve met her, then you should know the purpose of the Chairman’s visit this time.”
“Should I know?” Qi Baizi looked up and stared at Zhou Qin. “There are too many things I ‘should’ do. I can’t remember them all. I can only remember that I am President Gu Yuetong’s assistant.”
Even if she was outsourced.
Zhou Qin was stunned by her words. Qi Baizi was the first person to say something like that.
Anyone with a bit of sense could see that at Gu Corporation, Gu Hezhu had more say than Gu Yuetong. Besides, Gu Hezhu was Gu Yuetong’s mother.
Any sensible person would know which side to stand on.
“It’s no use telling me this. Go and tell the Chairman.” After a long silence, Zhou Qin patted Qi Baizi on the shoulder. “But let me give you a piece of advice. Many things are like buying shoes; you have to choose the one with the best value for money.”
***
Qi Baizi didn’t understand what “value for money” meant. At least, when she was standing in the break room facing Gu Hezhu, her economic sense had been thrown out the window.
When she left, Gu Yuetong was still in the conference room for the mid-week regular meeting, where representatives from various departments reported on their progress. It was boring, sleep-inducing, and made it difficult to concentrate.
Gu Yuetong asked herself, she wasn’t interested in any of this at all, but since she had been forced into this position, she had to be responsible for the group.
Except for a few comments on departments with slow project progress or budget-related issues, she mostly just listened and let it pass.
Boring, utterly boring.
Gu Yuetong’s body was sitting in the conference room, but her soul had already drifted far away.
She was far from being as professional as she seemed. Over a decade of artistic training had long since allowed her imagination to take root and sprout. Occasionally, looking at the middle-aged, balding subordinate standing up to report data, her mind would wander, thinking about what this person was like in private—was he also this uninteresting and rigid?
Like her mother, Gu Hezhu?
Like an “adult”?
Did one have to be mature, restrained, and calm?
Gu Yuetong sometimes couldn’t understand why she had to inherit her mother’s will and the Gu Group.
She felt that life needed to be a little more impulsive, and she had been impulsive before.
Wang Lin was the result of her impulsiveness.
Thinking about it this way, Gu Yuetong began to understand. The results of impulsiveness were often not good. Perhaps, following the rules was easier.
What about Qi Baizi?
Did her life have the qualification to be by-the-book?
Gu Yuetong had seen her resume. A graduate from a top university with a major in engineering, a technical talent. Her starting salary was low, but after getting through the first two years of adaptation, her salary could multiply several times without a problem.
Or she could continue her studies, get a master’s, a doctorate… Could her life unfold slowly like most graduates?
It seemed not.
Qi Baizi had no qualification to be impulsive, nor did she have the qualification to follow the rules.
She could only find another way, for the sake of money, to become the personal assistant to the emotionally unstable Gu Yuetong.
The name Qi Baizi exploded in her mind again, sparking countless imaginings. Gu Yuetong stared at the floor. The HR Director in front of her gently tapped the table, pulling her thoughts back.
“President Gu, would you like to take a break?”
“Alright.” Gu Yuetong gave her an apologetic look. “Let’s take a ten-minute break.”
During the ten-minute mid-session break, most people wouldn’t leave the conference room. Gu Yuetong led the way out, and only then did a few people follow to get water or use the restroom.
When she passed by the conference room entrance, she didn’t see Qi Baizi. Gu Yuetong was a little surprised, but then she thought it was normal. The meeting would probably last until seven or eight, so she might have gone to eat during the meeting.
Gu Yuetong took a stroll by a window and came back. The HR Director poured her a cup of tea at a moderate temperature.
Gu Yuetong looked at the cup of pale brown tea and suddenly lost interest. “Is there any juice?”
The HR Director was taken aback. Gu Yuetong had always only drunk tea; this was the first time she had requested something different.
“Yes, but it’s all bottled stuff from the break room. The taste is average. I’ll go downstairs and buy you a freshly squeezed one…”
“No need.” Gu Yuetong stood up. “I’ll get it myself.”
After walking a few steps, she paused and turned back. “You should take a break too.”
The HR Director’s face showed surprise.
The break rooms at Gu Corporation were divided by area and size. The ones upstairs, on the same floors as the conference rooms and the president’s office, were small, independent break rooms, each accommodating about three to five people.
The ones downstairs were more spacious and open.
Gu Yuetong randomly chose a break room and pushed the door open, only to suddenly hear Gu Hezhu’s voice from next door. She froze and pressed her ear against the wall.
“…Young lady, you only live once. You have to choose the right path. For you to reach this position at such a young age, to get this job, it’s not because of how capable you are, but because of your good luck…”
It was Gu Hezhu’s usual PUA rhetoric.
In the past, these words were directed at Gu Yuetong:
“Why do you think you were able to live freely for eighteen years? While others were studying day and night, you were able to study art abroad. Do you think it’s because you’re capable? It’s because you were lucky, you were born into our Gu family, and became my, Gu Hezhu’s, daughter! So what right do you have to defy me?”
But such a cold person as Gu Hezhu rarely said these things to anyone other than those close to her.
Gu Yuetong was inexplicably curious about who the person standing in front of Gu Hezhu in the next room was.
Gu Hezhu’s PUA continued for a while, until she heard Qi Baizi’s voice. “I’m sorry, Chairman. My capabilities should be judged by President Gu. I am her personal assistant and can only follow her orders.”
“If you believe I am not capable of this job, you have the right to fire me. But I will not trade President Gu’s personal privacy with you.”
“Unless President Gu is aware of it.”
Qi Baizi spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly, staring straight into Gu Hezhu’s eyes.
It was the first time Gu Hezhu had encountered such a tough nut to crack. Not the first time, actually, but the first time since Wang Lin.
If it weren’t for the fact that Qi Baizi had already gained Gu Yuetong’s trust and still had some use, she would have thrown the tea in front of her onto this arrogant child’s face and had a few security guards throw her out of the company.
With her influence, it would only take a single word, and no company in Jingzhou, big or small, would hire her again, not even an outsourcing one.
She calmed herself down, her gaze returning to its previous kindness.
She asked Qi Baizi, “Then how can you be sure that Yuetong will keep you?”
Qi Baizi faltered and shook her head. “I can’t be sure.”
Gu Hezhu smiled, with a hint of triumph. “If you accept my offer, even if Gu Yuetong gets tired of you and kicks you out one day, I will give you a sum of compensation. If you refuse me, then you will have nothing.”
“Little girl, don’t you work to earn money?”
“Don’t you know how many assistants Gu Yuetong has fired before you?”
“Guess why she has to hire assistants from an outsourcing company?”
Qi Baizi paused. It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about this question.
The bar for assistants at Gu Corporation wouldn’t be low, yet they were sourcing from an outsourcing company, and it was still hard to find someone… The recruiter even went to a university to fish for people…
Gu Hezhu yawned with feigned ease and continued, “You don’t understand anything. You don’t know her at all. She could replace you at any time, just like replacing a piece of scratch paper. No one wants to put this period of work experience on their resume. She is a nightmare for many people…”
Before she could finish, the door to the break room was suddenly pushed open.
The two people in the room instinctively turned to the sound and saw Gu Yuetong standing outside the door, holding an unopened bottle of a vitamin C drink, her face dark.
Qi Baizi’s legs instantly went weak. Her voice trembled as she called out, “President Gu, I…”
“Qi Baizi, you’re now a permanent employee.”