The Qin Group’s education and training subsidiary welcomed a new female boss.
The employees of the Qin Group weren’t the only ones paying close attention. The entire education and training industry was watching with interest.
Everyone was keeping a close eye on Song Xinya, eager to see what the new female boss would do first after taking office.
Would she establish her authority by firing a few people or introducing new company regulations?
Or would she hurry to recruit new employees and cultivate a circle of trusted aides?
Neither.
They had all guessed wrong.
What Song Xinya intended to do was this—
In the workplace, men far outnumber women in management positions.
In modern society, most resources are also still in men’s hands.
When a man and a woman compete for the same position, a supervisor will often worry that if the woman suddenly becomes pregnant, she’ll need maternity leave, take care of a child, and perhaps even have a second child. They’ll decide that women are too unstable. Unless a woman is many times more capable than a man, the supervisor will choose to promote the man.
At the same time, because there were more male leaders, women were also more likely to suffer sexual harassment in the workplace.
These were objective facts.
But male leaders generally chose to turn a blind eye.
After all, these circumstances benefited men. Why would they harm their own interests to stand up for women?
Song Xinya had seen all of this.
Not only had she seen it, but as a woman herself, she was prepared to make a change.
She announced three new measures—
First, female employees would be provided with safety escorts. Whenever a female employee went to a client’s home to teach, a safety escort would accompany and protect her.
Second, gender discrimination was expressly prohibited. Promotions in the workplace would follow the principle of “the most capable person gets the position.” Gender would not be considered; only ability would. Women would be guaranteed equal opportunities for advancement.
Third, if any instance of sexual harassment in the workplace was discovered, the employee involved would not only be fired immediately but also reported to the police and handed over for legal processing.
Because Song Xinya had been caught in the rain herself, she wanted to hold an umbrella over other women.
The moment these three new policies were announced, they caused an uproar.
The female employees were deeply moved that someone had finally noticed their situation.
“Women understand women. Women protect women. The weight of that statement just went up again.”
“This world couldn’t exist without girls. Girls are the most adorable people in the world.”
“I’ve worked for so many years, changed companies so many times, and gone through so many bosses. Ms. Song is the first boss who has ever spoken up for female employees!”
“I’d go crazy for Ms. Song! I’d go wild for Ms. Song! I’d bang my head against a wall for Ms. Song!”
Some male employees supported Song Xinya’s new policies. Chen Siyan was her most devoted fan and number-one supporter.
Other male employees were deeply unhappy with them.
“For thousands of years, things have always been this way. Women didn’t die from it, did they? They’re still alive, aren’t they? Why suddenly change everything now? Why should women receive so much protection?”
Song Xinya silenced them with a single sentence:
“Because no matter how amazing you men think you are, you were still born from women!”
What could the objectors say to that? They couldn’t exactly claim that they hadn’t been born from women, but had instead materialized as sentient lumps of excrement while someone was using the bathroom.
The education and training company was considered a peripheral business within the Qin Group. Usually, its employees were the ones envying workers at other subsidiaries. But now the situation had reversed, and employees from the other subsidiaries began envying them instead, praising them for having such a good boss.
Before long, employees from other subsidiaries began putting forward suggestions one after another, hoping their own bosses would follow Song Xinya’s example and fully protect the rights of female employees.
As employees praised Song Xinya more and more, the first thing the other male bosses thought of was not imitating her.
Instead, they blamed Song Xinya for stealing the spotlight from them.
At a group meeting, the male bosses of the other subsidiaries began voicing their objections to Qin Yuhe.
Their words were polite and carefully phrased, but the message was clear: they opposed Song Xinya’s policies.
“We understand that men are also born from women. We have no intention of disrespecting women. We’re all highly educated, civilized people, and we’re all reasonable. We just want to say that compared with a thousand years ago, women’s status has already improved tremendously. They can go to school, study, work, and rent homes. This is already the best era for women.”
“Compared with a thousand years ago?” Qin Yuhe sneered. “Why don’t you compare it with the time when everyone was still monkeys?”
Sweat immediately appeared on the male boss’s forehead.
Another male boss said, “President Qin, sometimes when we don’t promote female employees, we’re actually thinking of what’s best for them. A manager has countless responsibilities. You have to handle all kinds of major and minor matters at the company, and it’s incredibly exhausting. We feel sorry for these female employees and worry that they’ll be worn out.”
Qin Yuhe said, “Since being a manager is so exhausting, then step down. Let a female employee who isn’t afraid of hard work take your position.”
Sweat poured from the man’s forehead and body at the same time.
A male boss who had a good relationship with him tried to smooth things over.
“Once a woman has children, she has to work during the day and care for the child at home at night. Everyone knows how exhausting childcare is. Female employees have to balance their careers and families, so they have a lot on their plates. That’s why we think they’re under special pressure and don’t want them to devote too much energy to work. Mr. Zhang may not have expressed himself clearly just now, so I’ll explain it for him.”
Qin Yuhe said, “Your ability to express yourself is even worse than his.”
Another male boss began sweating all over.
Qin Yuhe swept his sharp, hawk-like gaze across the room. His overwhelming presence was like an invisible hailstorm, pounding down on each person in turn.
“Your excuses just now all mentioned the words ‘women have it hard.’ If you truly believe women have it hard, then reduce their workload, increase their pay, and promote them—instead of cutting off their paths to advancement.”
“When you see that someone is struggling, you should help them and treat them well. You shouldn’t suppress them or brainwash them into meekly accepting their fate.”
“Not giving female employees promotions and raises is for their own good?”
“The minds of you people really are refreshingly unconventional.”
“Dogs wag their tails when they’re happy. You wag yours because you’re scheming. You’re not even as good as dogs.”
The roomful of male bosses fell silent, all of them lowering their heads deeply and not daring to speak.
Song Xinya was also in the conference room. Her back was ramrod straight, and her chin was held high. She was as dignified as an elegant swan, proud of herself.
As chairman of the group, Qin Yuhe made the final decision.
“Since you’ve brought this matter up today, I’ll announce my decision.”
His voice paused abruptly as his gaze turned toward Song Xinya. His deep, dark eyes were filled with unwavering support.
“I believe Ms. Song’s three new policies are both reasonable and highly practical. They deserve to be implemented throughout the entire Qin Group.”
“Starting today, all subsidiaries of the Qin Group will have one week to fully implement these three policies.”
Some of the male bosses wanted to say, How can this be? This is impossible! How could you do this?
Qin Yuhe said, “If you can’t do it, resign. There are plenty of female employees who aren’t afraid of hard work and would be happy to take the general manager’s position.”
All the male bosses patted their chests and declared, “President Qin, rest assured. We can do it.”
With Qin Yuhe, the chairman, backing her, no one dared question Song Xinya anymore. From then on, she firmly established herself within the Qin Group.
