The man looked at Song Xinya and Chen Siyan, his whole body trembling.
Was this a guilty conscience?
Song Xinya's phone suddenly rang once. She opened it—it was a message from her male colleague.
[I didn't sell you two out. President Zhao is bluffing.]
Then Chen Siyan's phone rang too, and he also saw the message.
Zhao Yinian stared at Song Xinya and Chen Siyan: "I'm talking to you two. Didn't you hear me?"
"When your leader is discussing work with you, you're heads down fiddling with your phones. Can you show some professionalism?"
"Tell me—did either of you go into my office?"
Song Xinya: "We didn't."
Chen Siyan: "We didn't."
Zhao Yinian looked at them suspiciously: "Really?"
Song Xinya said without batting an eye or missing a heartbeat: "We said we didn't go, so we didn't go. If President Zhao doesn't believe us, you can ask the other employees in the company."
Zhao Yinian actually did ask. Looking at every employee in the hall, his loud voice carried through the entire floor: "Anyone who saw Song Xinya and Chen Siyan enter my office, speak up, and I'll reward you with ten thousand yuan."
Chen Siyan: "Still offering a reward? Pfft—are we wanted criminals or something?"
Zhao Yinian: "What, are you scared?"
Chen Siyan puffed out his chest, spoke with conviction, full of confidence, and had nerves of steel: "I haven't done anything wrong, so why would I be scared of a damn thing?"
He turned to face his colleagues: "Did any of you see Teacher Song and I go into President Zhao's office?"
Colleagues: "No, we didn't. You two never went into President Zhao's office, so how could we have seen anything?"
Chen Siyan turned his head back to Zhao Yinian: "President Zhao, you've wronged Teacher Song and me. Apologize to us."
Song Xinya: "You just treated us like wanted criminals with that reward offer. If President Zhao doesn't say something to make up for it, that's really not going to fly."
Zhao Yinian picked up his phone and held it to his ear: "Hello, President Qin. You're looking for me? Alright, I'll report the latest work progress to you right now."
Chen Siyan laughed: "President Zhao, your phone didn't even ring, the screen never even lit up, and you're already making a call. Who are you calling—a ghost? Making a call to the underworld? Isn't that ridiculous?"
Zhao Yinian pretended to be deaf and mute, and walked into his office.
Song Xinya: "You can never wake someone who's pretending to be asleep, just like you can never wait for a ship at an airport."
Chen Siyan nodded in deep agreement, walked over to the man ranked third in performance, and patted him on the shoulder: "You didn't betray the group. You're a good colleague."
The man: "To still hold firm in the face of both temptation and pressure, I'm proud of myself too."
But had he really never wavered? Not exactly.
Zhao Yinian had been trying to win over the third-ranked man the whole time, wanting to make him her own person. She'd said to him: "Work hard. Manager Chen is hard to control, and Teacher Song is too arrogant for her own good. Compared with those two, I have higher hopes for you. As long as your stance stays aligned with mine, when the time comes for the Gold Lecturer evaluation, I'll give you a perfect score."
"Once you're selected as a Gold Lecturer, you'll get a promotion and a raise. You'll get shares in the Qin Group. Even if you never do anything else in the future, you'll still receive massive dividends from the Qin Group. That's wealth you can draw from for the rest of your life."
"Such a good opportunity—once this shop is gone, there's no more business. If you miss it, it'll never come again. You'd better grab the chance I'm giving you."
The third-ranked man admitted that when he heard these words, his heart was stirred.
He was nothing but an ordinary man, a middle-aged husband with aging parents above and young children below, whose one simple lifelong wish was to give himself and his family a better life.
But the difference between humans and animals is that humans are bound by morality and law.
Taking sides doesn't rise to the level of law. Even if he betrayed Song Xinya and Chen Siyan, it would only be a matter of morality.
But the third-ranked man didn't choose to betray.
Teacher Song and Manager Chen were genuinely good people—loyal, sincere, kind. If he betrayed them, he wouldn't just be looked down on by the whole company; he'd look down on himself.
Besides, although Zhao Yinian talked a good game, the Gold Lecturer reviewers weren't just her alone. Teacher Song's and Manager Chen's abilities were plain to see for the whole company. The other reviewers weren't blind—they couldn't possibly give a high score to a third-place candidate while giving low scores to first and second place.
Bound by both morality and reality, the third-ranked man chose to stay true to his principles.
Back at his workstation, he saw Chen Siyan cheerfully chatting with his colleagues: "Nobody leaves tonight. Whoever leaves, I'll have words with them—because I'm treating everyone to Haidilao hotpot. Not a single person is allowed to miss out."
The colleagues applauded and cheered.
The third-ranked man looked at the harmonious working environment, at the smiles on his colleagues' faces, and felt deeply grateful that he had made the right choice—that he hadn't sided with the wrong person.
He stood up and said to everyone: "I'm buying everyone bubble tea."
The office erupted in another round of cheers.
Chen Siyan looked at him and teased: "Teacher Dong, being this generous today?"
Dong Dongdong: "I've got elderly parents to support and little kids crying for food at home. I can't compare with you, Manager Chen—a rich second-generation guy like you. But buying everyone one cup of bubble tea? That I can handle."
Chen Siyan snapped his fingers with flair: "I'll be waiting to drink your bubble tea."
He slid over to Song Xinya's side and sang a line: "The sky is blue and the rain is waiting; I'll be waiting for you at Haidilao."
In that brief moment, Song Xinya had already finished reviewing Sheng Tianjun's file. She grabbed her bag and headed out.
"I need to go visit my client, Sheng Tianjun, right now. I might not make it back in time for dinner with everyone. You all go ahead and eat—I'll join next time."
Chen Siyan: "In that much of a hurry?"
Yes, she was.
Song Xinya was in a great hurry.
She wanted to become Sheng Tianjun's tutor as quickly as possible, and through that connection, get in touch with the top burn specialist Sheng Changpu, to treat the scars on Qin Yuhe's hand.
Even though Sheng Tianjun's job posting explicitly said he only wanted a male tutor, she still had to try.
She couldn't give up any sliver of a chance to help Qin Yuhe's hand recover.
Following the address in the file, Song Xinya arrived at Sheng Tianjun's home.
She rang the doorbell. The butler opened the door.
"May I ask who you are?"
Song Xinya: "I'm here to apply for the position of Sheng Tianjun's tutor."
The butler looked Song Xinya over, a very strange look in his eyes...
"Our young master only hires male tutors."
Song Xinya: "If a male teacher can teach Young Master Sheng well, so can I. And I can do even better than a male teacher. Just let me give Young Master Sheng one trial lesson, and you'll see for yourselves that my teaching ability will satisfy both you and Young Master Sheng."
The butler gave her that strange look once more, from head to toe.
"Please, go back."
With a bang, the door closed.
Song Xinya waited outside until nine in the evening. She never got through the door.
She kept waiting there for a whole week, every day until nine at night, and still never got through the door.
The butler was unmoved—he absolutely refused to let a young woman step foot inside the Sheng household.
As if she were a flood or a wild beast.
Or perhaps... was there some flood or wild beast inside the Sheng household? Some secret too shameful to be discovered by outsiders?
On the eighth day, Song Xinya came home again at ten at night, her face full of exhaustion. She didn't even have the strength to say hello when she walked in the door. She collapsed onto the bed.
Through the surveillance camera, Qin Yuhe watched all of this.
A man's voice came through the camera: "You seem to be really busy lately."
Song Xinya lifted her head from under the covers, looking at the camera: "Yeah, busy to death."
Qin Yuhe: "Yaya, what are you busy with?"
