“Damn it!” he cursed under his breath and rushed back into the bathroom for another cold shower.
The next day, Shen Mianyin applied a circle of pain-relief patches to her even more swollen ankle.
In her condition, she couldn’t drive and had planned to call a car to go to work, but Lin Wanran insisted on giving her a ride.
“Ride-hailing cars can’t enter the neighborhood, and you’d have to walk out,” Lin Wanran said, holding her car keys. “With your current condition, how could you possibly walk out there?”
"I told you, just take a few days off—it’s no big deal." Lin Wanran muttered as she helped her down the stairs.
"After all, I’ve just joined the new company and haven’t proven myself yet. Taking so many days off right away wouldn’t look good. Even your brother would have a hard time explaining it to the higher-ups."
Unable to convince her, Lin Wanran ended up dropping Shen Mianyin off in front of the Jincheng building.
Assistant Gao Zhoulei spotted Shen Mianyin limping from a distance and quickly ran over to support her. "Mrs. Shen, what happened to your foot?"
"I didn't see the road clearly last night and twisted my ankle. It's nothing serious," Shen Mianyin said as she walked carefully. "Contact Gu Huaizhi's assistant and arrange a time to meet with President Gu. I want to discuss a potential collaboration."
"Understood," Gao Zhoulei nodded. "But, our company has been trying to collaborate with the Gu Group for a long time without success. Mr. Zhou got turned away several times before. Even if you go, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to schedule a meeting with Mr. Gu."
"How will we know if we don’t try?" Shen Mianyin replied. "If one attempt doesn’t work, keep trying. As long as Gu Huaizhi is alive, there will be a day we can schedule a meeting."
Gao Zhoulei: "..."
Those words sounded a bit off.
Better make sure Gu Huaizhi never hears them.
“You go ahead and make the arrangements. I’m off to a meeting,” Shen Mianyin said as she put down her things. After tidying up a bit, she headed to the conference room.
This was her first meeting since joining the company, so she took it very seriously.
Shen Mianyin arrived early, and the conference room was still empty. After a while, Lin Jinshen walked in and asked with concern, “How’s your foot?”
“I put on some medicated patches, it’s no big deal,” Shen Mianyin said with a smile. “By the way, what happened at the hotel yesterday? A five-star hotel having a sudden power outage—that’s just ridiculous.”
“It was their competitor who pulled their circuit breaker,” Lin Jinshen said, shaking his head, equally baffled by the situation.
Shen Mianyin: “…”
The reality of corporate battles is often so unremarkably straightforward.
The meeting mainly focused on summarizing last quarter's performance and discussing plans for the upcoming quarter.
As the "fake heiress" expelled from the Su family, Shen Mianyin naturally drew a lot of attention, especially since Lin Jinshen had brought her into the company without any warning and given her the position of Sales Director.
Rumors had already started circulating within the company yesterday—everyone believed Shen Mianyin had gotten in through the back door.
General Manager Zhou Jicai cast a disdainful glance at Shen Mianyin. Without the identity of being the Su family's daughter, she was nothing. He couldn’t fathom what Lin Jinshen was thinking, bringing Shen Mianyin into the company.
And not just bringing her in—he even gave her such a high-ranking position.
When it was Shen Mianyin’s turn to speak, Lin Jinshen interjected, “Mrs. Shen just joined the company and is still getting familiar with our operations. Once she has a thorough understanding, she can present a plan to me.”
Zhou Jicai clasped his hands on the table and said, “President Lin, although Director Shen just joined the company yesterday, being familiar with the business should have been something she prepared for before coming on board. We can’t allow special treatment; otherwise, it might be difficult to win everyone over.”
Vice President Zhang Qiyuan glanced at Shen Mianyin and added, “Yesterday, there was a lot of talk within the company that Director Shen got in through connections. I heard she’s close friends with your sister, President Lin. If Director Shen can’t deliver results, it might be hard for her to prove herself. Worse, it could even affect your reputation within the company and the industry.”
Just as Lin Jinshen was about to respond, the door to the conference room was suddenly flung open.
“Director Gao, Director Chen,” Zhang Qiyuan immediately stood and greeted.
Lin Jinshen glanced at Zhang Qiyuan and Zhou Jicai, then silently sneered before standing up. “What brings the two of you here today?”
Director Gao quickly scanned the room, his gaze settling on Shen Mianyin before addressing Lin Jinshen, “I heard you didn’t even give a heads-up and just appointed a Sales Director for the company.”
“Isn’t it standard practice to hold a meeting and get approval for such important personnel appointments?” The others in the room shuffled their seats slightly, making way for Director Gao and Director Chen to sit on either side of Lin Jinshen.
“Given that Director Shen’s abilities were outstanding, I was worried that if I moved too slowly, another company might poach her,” Lin Jinshen replied calmly.
“You must be Shen Mianyin, right?” Director Chen looked at Shen Mianyin.
Shen Mianyin nodded, and Director Chen continued, “You’ve brought clients to Jincheng?”
“No,” Shen Mianyin admitted honestly. She hadn’t had the chance to contact her old clients yet.
“Then did you bring any orders with you?” Director Chen asked again.
“No.”
“Then what makes you qualified to sit in this position?” Director Chen’s tone was blunt and harsh. “You don’t bring any value to the company; are you just here to take up space?”
Zhou Jicai openly displayed a mocking smile.
“I hadn’t had the chance to share my plans before the two of you arrived,” Shen Mianyin responded without lowering her tone. “Now, you both can listen to my proposal.”
“Alright,” Director Gao sneered. “I’d like to hear just how much value you can bring to Jincheng. Since you achieved so much at Su’s, it wouldn’t do to come to Jincheng and be completely useless.”
Zhou Jicai watched the scene unfold with apparent amusement. Director Gao’s comment was clearly a dig at Shen Mianyin’s past achievements at Su’s, implying that those successes were only due to her status as a Su family member.
Now that she was no longer under that protection, without Su’s backing, who would still give her the benefit of the doubt?
Zhang Qiyuan lightly tapped his fingertips on the desk. Jincheng was a subsidiary of the Lin Corporation. The top position was always held by the most capable individual.
Even if Lin Jinshen was the young master of the Lin family, what did that matter?
He had been struggling to find a fault with Lin Jinshen, and now he had presented one on a silver platter.
Shen Mianyin said, “I’ve already had my assistant contact Gu Huaizhi’s assistant to set up a meeting to discuss potential collaboration.”
“Collaboration with the Gu Group?” Director Gao chuckled twice. “First, see if you can even get a meeting with Gu Huaizhi.”
Everyone knew that Zhou Jicai had tried to schedule countless meetings with Gu Huaizhi, and never once succeeded.
Zhou Jicai spoke coldly, “I understand that Director Shen is new to Jincheng and eager to prove herself, but there’s no need to aim too high.”
“There are countless companies trying to collaborate with the Gu Group, but how many have been successful?” Zhou Jicai sneered. “You might be better off choosing something more realistic.”
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