Chapter 6

Su Tao met up with He Xiaorui and stepped into the cafeteria for the first time.

Although the food in the cafeteria was as bad as rumored, Su Tao ate happily.

A lunch without seafood was still the most delicious lunch.

Watching Su Tao enjoy the food so much, He Xiaorui blinked her eyes and felt that she didn't eat the same chef-prepared food as Su Tao.

The bracelet on Su Tao's wrist shone with a luxurious light under the lamp, and every time she moved, the light pierced He Xiaorui's eyes and heart.

"Taotao, your bracelet is so pretty, with such big diamonds!"

Su Tao paused her chopsticks when she heard He Xiaorui's words, and only then did she realize that she had been wearing this bracelet every day.

His habits had permeated every aspect of her life, and they could emerge from any corner.

He Xiaorui's words caught the attention of colleagues at the next table, and a colleague with a one-track mind suddenly said, "Qin Secretary seems to have one too."

Su Tao turned to look at her, and the colleague realized that she might have said something she shouldn't have.

"Is it exactly the same?" Su Tao asked her.

The woman's face froze, and she glanced at the person next to her. Everyone buried their heads in their food and ignored her plea for help.

It was okay to talk behind someone's back, but it was a bit of a fight when it was brought up in front of them.

"Maybe, actually, I didn't see it clearly."

"Are you talking about Qin Xuexi's bracelet?" Tian Yingying's high heels tapped rhythmically, and she sat down next to Su Tao with her freshly cooked meal.

"I saw it on her Moments, I'll find it for you." Her scarlet nails flipped through her phone, and in a few seconds, she found it and kindly held her phone up to Su Tao.

Synopsis: Value doesn't come from the price, but from the thought.

Picture: A string of platinum bracelets with eight large diamonds, each diamond surrounded by a small diamond in the shape of a snowflake.

Compared to the bracelet on her hand, it wasn't just similar, it was identical.

The time stamp showed four years ago, and Qin Xuexi really didn't have the habit of blocking her Moments.

Su Tao wiped her mouth with a tissue, and He Xiaorui finished her meal. She patted Tian Yingying's shoulder and smiled gently, "You still remember Moments from four years ago, you have a good memory."

Tian Yingying's face froze, and she looked at Su Tao's retreating figure, lightly hummed, and continued to eat her own meal.

Su Tao separated from He Xiaorui, returned to the top floor, and her face didn't look too good.

Saying she didn't care was false.

Four years ago, the reason she was with Xie Jin was mostly because he could give her a sense of security.

That kind of unique, exclusive feeling.

If four years ago, he had someone else in his heart and just used her as a substitute that he couldn't have, then why should she endure his paranoid possessiveness and control?

If that was the case, then these four years would have been a joke.

"Secretary Su." A sudden call pulled Su Tao back to her thoughts.

Jin Chuiwen was looking at him with a black face, with a faint anger. Su Tao had rejected his reimbursement request three times, and he must have an explanation today.

"Secretary Su, I just want to know if I can still claim this 1,300 yuan?"

Su Tao looked up at the youngest director in the company. He was just thirty years old, and had both a rich education and work experience. It was said that he also had a lot of experience in relationships, and his good looks certainly didn't hurt. He brushed aside his open beige suit jacket, put his hands on his hips, and looked quite arrogant.

Su Tao took the reimbursement form that he had thrown on the table, glanced at it, and threw it back. "The reimbursement amount exceeds the limit. You need to fill out the form according to the regulations before submitting it."

"Okay, then tell me where it exceeds the limit? I'm representing the company in treating our clients to dinner, do I have to pay for it myself?"

Jin Chuiwen dared to challenge Su Tao because of two reasons. Firstly, he had seniority, having entered the company at the same time as the boss six years ago and being promoted step by step. Secondly, when the boss announced the budget reimbursement work to Su Tao last time, he was visibly irritated and angry. Could the boss be threatened?

If he succeeded this time, and didn't learn to be more restrained, he was not far from angering the boss. Arrogance leads to defeat. Su Tao was still young and certainly didn't understand this principle.

How could someone like her dare to hold up his reimbursement form? She didn't know her place.

Neither of the two people who were in dispute noticed that a shutter on the opposite side had been raised. The pitch-black eyes, like an eagle staring at its prey, were precise and ruthless, and didn't let up for a moment.

Xie Jin watched as Su Tao and Jin Chuiwen discussed something.

Their heads were getting closer and closer together, and the fingers on the table had been tapping for more than thirty times, but there was still no sign of them separating.

Su Tao's slender fingers, which were pointing at the computer screen, exerted a little force. Although her face was calm, Xie Jin could tell that she was on the verge of anger.

Finally, she sighed and spoke calmly, "Why don't you just ask the boss to sign it for you?"

Jin Chuiwen's face darkened and he spoke with an unfriendly tone, "Ms. Su, are you deliberately finding fault?"

"The boss assigned me this task to handle it according to the regulations. Your meal expenses exceed the limit, and you have given many reasons for it. The key issue is that I don't think these reasons are valid. There is no point in arguing here, so I suggest that you go directly to the boss for approval and not waste my time."

Su Tao explained her reasons calmly and clearly, not just passing the work to Xie Jin because she couldn't win the argument. She was genuinely looking for a solution to the problem.

This problem was truly insurmountable.

Before Jin Chuiwen could say anything else, the black door behind him suddenly opened.

He shuddered as he felt a creepy coldness approaching him. He didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.

A hand was placed on his left shoulder. Despite the warmth of the palm, he felt bone-chilling coldness.

A sinister voice, like a call from hell, seemed to echo in his ear, "Director Jin, is there a problem with your reimbursement?"

Jin Chuiwen's breath caught, and he swallowed hard. "No, no problem. I'm just discussing it with Secretary Su."

"Come to my office to discuss it."

Jin Chuiwen was brought into the office by Xie Jin, feeling lifeless and dejected as he left five minutes later.

In the afternoon, a red-letter document was released on the office system.

Tian Jin (Group) Co., Ltd. Document

Tian Jin no. 168

Regarding the Approval and Reimbursement of Su Tao's Senior Secretary

All departments:

Due to Su Tao's rapidly increasing workload and to reduce unnecessary burdens, all reimbursement forms that do not comply with the regulations and are rejected must not be resubmitted. Moreover, it is not allowed to privately approach Su Tao for inquiries or discussions.

If there are objections to her work, one can appeal directly to the CEO's office.

After the release of the red-letter document, Su Tao's name once again became the topic of discussion in the lounge corner and deep in the cafeteria, with conversations lasting for a long time.

The document only contained seven words, "The CEO supports Su Tao."

Su Tao silently closed the document on her computer and looked at Xie Jin, who was in a bad mood in the office. She sighed lightly, took the document, and prepared to attend the meeting.

The mid-year meeting and brand promotion were combined, and the marketing department, publicity department, and CEO's office participated in the meeting. Su Tao's arrival attracted everyone's attention.

She was used to being watched, so she didn't pay attention to those strange looks. She quietly opened her computer and pulled up her files.

The head of the marketing department and the publicity department had already reported their ideas in turn.

It was now the turn of the CEO's office, and in addition to Su Tao, who was solely responsible for Xie Jin, there were several other secretaries responsible for the meeting's logistics.

"Taotao," Tian Yingying, who was sitting next to Su Tao, broke the silence with her soft voice. She leaned in and whispered at a volume that was audible to everyone in the quiet meeting room, "How are you doing? You haven't done this before. Do you need my help? There are colleagues from other departments here, unlike in the CEO's office."

Her seemingly kind words actually implied that this was not her department, and if she couldn't handle it, she should let her handle it, so as not to lose face.

The people present all lowered their heads in silence, some with a smirk on their faces.

Su Tao's sudden rise to the position of the CEO's senior secretary was no secret, and the special treatment she received time and time again made everyone believe in her promotion.

Moreover, Su Tao always followed the CEO like a little tail, except for serving tea and water, no one knew what else she could do.

Even the previous approval of a reimbursement form required the CEO to intervene and support her, which really wrote incompetence on her face.

Su Tao turned her head and glanced at Tian Yingying, speaking in a calm voice that was audible to everyone, "Why didn't you ask me before the meeting? "

Tian Yingying's face stiffened, not expecting the usually quiet and gentle Su Tao to come back with a sarcastic remark.

If she really cared about her, why didn't she ask before the meeting? Asking at this time was only embarrassing her.

Everyone in the room was smart enough to understand Su Tao's meaning. They exchanged glances and found the internal power struggles within the company's executives to be quite interesting.

Without giving anyone time to enjoy the show, Su Tao walked to the front of the conference room and opened her document.

Based on the reports from the two departments before her, she made careful notes of their key points and difficulties.

For several issues that she had some ideas about, she marked them for discussion after she finished her own department's report.

She was about to begin her explanation when the conference room door opened.

Jin Chuiwen walked in looking embarrassed, attracting everyone's attention.

"The boss asked me to come and listen and learn. Please continue," Jin Chuiwen said with a forced smile.

He didn't know why he was given such an important task by his boss to attend a meeting that had nothing to do with his department.

Since he was scolded by the boss in the morning for arguing about expense reports with Su Tao, he realized that Su Tao was not an ordinary employee in the boss's eyes, and he didn't dare to cause trouble anymore.

Why did the boss pick him for this task? He was asked to help Su Tao indirectly, and if anyone gave her a hard time or there were any flaws in her work, he was to help her resolve them and secretly report back to the boss.

With such a daunting task, Jin Chuiwen sat at the back of the conference room, with a small notebook ready, and smiled at Su Tao to continue.

Su Tao didn't pay attention to Jin Chuiwen. Her voice was as gentle and calming as a spring, and she explained the regulations clearly, with a focus on the key points. Her work arrangements were innovative and stable, and she tried to avoid any oversights from previous years.

It was clear that she put a lot of effort into her work, at least enough to have studied all the previous years' meetings and analyzed their pros and cons.

Everyone in the room also became serious, putting aside their previous attitude of watching a show, and thoughtfully considered the problems and solutions that Su Tao presented.

Jin Chuiwen secretly recorded everything on his phone while video chatting with the boss. He was only here to complete his task, but he couldn't help but be impressed by Su Tao's abilities.

With such work capabilities, what was the boss worrying about?

Xie Jin, who was watching the video call behind the screen, held a peach candy in her hand. Her black eyes were as deep as a lake.

The girl on the video call remained calm, composed, and elegant, though she still had a faintly obedient appearance. But there seemed to be something quietly changing.

When did that girl, who only gave him a sweet smile, develop the ambition to lead?

She would meet more people and have her own circle of friends.

Would she still need him?

Would she no longer depend on him as before?

The meeting ended, and Xie Jin closed the video call. She pinched her forehead with his clearly defined fingers, rubbing the throbbing nerves. The peach candy in his hand was almost crushed.