Chapter 5

Minor issues have been resolved. The final assessment will not be affected.

I had never seen him sign anything so quickly.

Lin Na printed the email and stopped at every desk in the office.

“Headquarters cares about ability, not who sits here complaining all day.”

The proposed appointments included a new position: Commercial Manager for the Hengchuan Project.

Once the contract was signed and the first phase passed acceptance, the person responsible for presenting and coordinating the project would receive a special bonus.

Eighty thousand yuan.

She circled the figure twice.

People who had just refused to cover her shifts immediately crowded around her.

“Congratulations in advance, Team Leader Lin.”

Xu Qing smiled and pulled up a chair.

Lin Na didn’t sit. She brought the new list to my desk.

“Please confirm that you’ve handed over all the old documents. This project is being handled at corporate level now. We can’t keep using your amateur methods.”

I checked the document list and signed under Historical Documents Handed Over.

Her pen moved straight to the next item.

“I am independently responsible for all subsequent coordination, verification, and reporting.”

After writing it, she deliberately turned the page toward me.

“Read it carefully. Don’t accuse me of stealing your credit later.”

I nodded and put away my copy.

Apparently dissatisfied with my reaction, she pulled an old checklist out of her folder.

Three suppliers were circled in red. Client sensitivities were noted in blue. The last line read:

Please arrive half an hour early for the morning shift.

She crumpled it in front of me and threw it in the bin.

“One stupid meeting, and you take notes as if you’re going into battle. No wonder you’ll spend your whole life doing other people’s legwork.”

The electronic version was still in the shared folder.

All she’d thrown away was an extra copy I’d once printed because I was afraid she’d make a mistake.

I didn’t pick it up.

Just then, finance emailed me, formally clearing me of the expense allegation. Its full findings had been forwarded to HR.

Manager Zhou glanced at my screen and lowered his voice.

“We’ll address the correction at the department meeting. For the next couple of days, put the bigger picture first. Don’t spoil everyone’s mood.”

His eyes flicked toward Lin Na.

I saved the email.

One cup of milk tea had been enough to get me suspended on the spot.

But to clear my name, they needed to choose a day when it wouldn’t upset anyone.

Lin Na posted the new list in the group and tagged me.

“I’ll buy you a nice dinner when we sign the contract. Happy?”

I didn’t answer.

She added another message.

“Stop telling people you do my work for me.”

Looking at it, I finally saved the message.

“Fine.”

On the day of the final assessment, Lin Na was late.

At 8:25, someone asked in the project group:

“Where’s our lead commercial presenter? We start in five minutes.”

She replied:

“Handling an unexpected situation at a store. Be there soon.”

At 8:31, she sent me a private message.

“My alarm didn’t go off. I just woke up. Go into the meeting for me and talk through the old script for twenty minutes.”

I sat at my document-archiving workstation and read it twice.

Then I replied:

“I’m not the lead presenter for this meeting. Please contact the on-site coordinator immediately to adjust the schedule.”

I forwarded her message to the meeting coordinator on the same floor, told him Lin Na hadn’t arrived, and asked him to rearrange things.

He immediately called her and told her to join by phone first. Meanwhile, the technical team moved its presentation forward.

There was still time to salvage the situation.

But Lin Na said the signal was bad on the road. They should wait for her.

She didn’t rush into the meeting room until 9:05.

I later watched everything that followed on the recording of the final assessment retrieved at the company.

Her hair was still wet. She smiled as soon as she sat down.

“Sorry. Things were hectic on site.”

Hengchuan’s representative didn’t respond to that.

“We’ve seen the technical presentation. Now please explain how you’ll protect the overall opening schedule if site handover for the third group of stores is delayed.”

Lin Na opened her notes.

There were none of the red lines I used to write for her.

She flipped forward, then back.

“We have extensive delivery experience, and our team is always highly responsive.”

“I’m asking for the specific plan.”

The representative placed two schedules side by side on the screen.

One was the engineers’ confirmed phased plan, which needed six weeks overall.