Chapter 2: By What Right Do You Judge?
“Impossible. Although President Xu seems a bit cold, he’s not fierce, and he’s handsome too. I wonder if his girlfriend can resist that flawless, 360-degree perfect face of his.”
Qiao Xu choked on her iced coffee. “Cough, cough, cough!”
“Xu Xu, are you okay?”
“It’s nothing.”
Girlfriend?
No, it must be wife. He had a fiancée four years ago; there’s no way they’re not married.
Besides, she had seen him smile at her before.
Fang Kexin suddenly covered her mouth. “Xu Xu, look at the resume the HR director sent us. President Xu also graduated from Jiushang University, but he majored in finance.”
“He looks like a campus heartthrob. Don’t you know him?”
Qiao Xu tightened her grip on the iced coffee. “No, you say he’s a heartthrob, but my face is pretty ordinary. I wouldn’t even get close to a heartthrob.”
A man standing by the emergency staircase sneered softly, “Not close? Hah, you’ve already been used.”
Ye Yurou cupped her face. “Qiao Xu, darling, where do you get the idea that your face is ordinary?”
“It’s only mid-month, and we’ve already sent you thirteen bouquets.”
Qiao Xu chuckled lightly. “Isn’t that great? Your family won’t need to buy flowers anymore.”
The two said in unison, “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome!”
“Cough!”
The three stood up simultaneously, looking toward the man by the emergency staircase.
Qiao Xu suddenly felt uneasy…
Why was he here?
How long had he been standing there?
The president doesn’t take the elevator?
Ye Yurou, bolder than the others, spoke first, “President Xu, why did you come down personally? If you have any instructions, you can just call via the internal line.”
Xu Si’an took a couple of steps forward. “Came down to check on the secretarial office.”
The secretarial office on the first floor included two small meeting rooms, a reception room, a pantry, two separate restrooms, and a lounge.
Their secretarial area was cubicles, not private offices.
After looking around, Xu Si’an’s expression softened a bit.
“The HR department should have informed you that I need a temporary assistant.”
“I’ve already reviewed the resumes of the three of you and your work over the past two years.”
“Ye Yurou.”
“President Xu.”
Ye Yurou, who primarily liaised with clients, was about to explain that she wasn’t suitable for an assistant role when Xu Si’an continued.
“You’ll coordinate with Qiao Xu on work. Apart from scheduling, you’ll handle her other tasks.”
“Starting tomorrow, Qiao Xu will temporarily take on the role of executive assistant.”
Ye Yurou nodded, and Fang Kexin had no objections. Among the three, Qiao Xu was the most capable.
“President Xu, I’m not suitable for the executive assistant role. Kexin worked with the previous assistant more closely; she’s more qualified than I am.”
Xu Si’an’s voice was cool. “Who’s the president here, you or me?”
Qiao Xu: …
She nodded faintly. “You are.”
Xu Si’an glanced at her twice and entered the elevator.
Qiao Xu slumped into a chair. “Crazy. Being president is so grand, huh.”
She really didn’t want to go.
Heaven above, what should I do? Someone save me.
Fang Kexin smiled. “Xu Xu, why the expression like you’re headed to the guillotine? Executive assistant is a great job, good benefits, a promotion—why be unhappy?”
Qiao Xu pouted. “Unhappy. I don’t want to go.”
“Xinxin, Yurou, save me.”
Fang Kexin pointed upward. “He’s the president.”
“Alright, President Xu shouldn’t be as difficult as the previous one. You’ll be living the good life.”
Qiao Xu’s face clearly rejected the idea.
He’s extremely difficult.
A hardworking cog in the machine, she could only resign herself.
An hour later, Qiao Xu arrived at the president’s office and knocked.
“Come in.”
Though she already knew there was no chance between them, hearing his cold voice still hurt.
She adjusted her emotions, lifting the corner of her lips into a professional smile, and opened the door.
Xu Si’an sat on the desk, wearing blue-rimmed glasses—was that the pair she’d given him?
His long fingers typed on the keyboard without once looking up.
He knew who it was.
From the moment she stood outside the glass door, he recognized the shadow—one he would never forget.
“President Xu, I’ve never worked as an assistant before, and I think…”
The tapping on the keyboard stopped, and Qiao Xu’s words trailed off.
Xu Si’an’s hand left the keyboard as he looked up at her.
“Unsatisfied with the reassignment?”
“No, it’s just that…”
“You think? In what capacity do you think?” Xu Si’an cut her off.
The smile on Qiao Xu’s face froze. He had silenced her, and though she wanted to argue, what he said was true.
In what capacity?
He was her boss now.
“If you don’t want to work, you can resign at HR,” Xu Si’an said coldly, as if they were strangers.
Qiao Xu bit her back teeth. Resign? Why would she?
She had worked hard to raise her salary from six thousand a month as an intern to eighteen thousand, plus a sixty-thousand-year-end bonus. Why resign?
“President Xu, I have a question.”
“Speak.”
Qiao Xu: …
Say it, damn it!
“Excuse me, will my salary be adjusted because of the position change?”
Xu Si’an leaned back in his chair, took a cigarette from the pack on his desk, and lit it.
“What’s your monthly salary?”
“Eighteen thousand.”
Qiao Xu watched him smoke, maintaining her standard diligent worker’s smile.
She remembered Xu Si’an used to smoke with his right hand; now it was his left.
His fingers lightly tapped the desk. “Eighteen thousand, a bit high.”
Qiao Xu almost lost her smile. “President Xu, what do you mean?”
“I recall that internal transfers at Xuxing have a one-month probationary period. Since it’s probation, the salary should correspond to the probation wage.”
Qiao Xu finally understood.
In other words, as his executive assistant, her salary would be at the probation rate.
“May I ask, President Xu, what is the probation wage for an assistant?”
Xu Si’an pressed the internal line button on his desk, not picking up the handset but putting it on speaker.
The internal line connected. The HR director’s voice came through: “President Xu?”
“What’s the probation salary for an executive assistant?”
The person on the other end hesitated two seconds before answering, “Twelve thousand.”
“Understood.”
He hung up. His cold voice held no warmth. “Heard that, Secretary Qiao? Any other questions?”
Qiao Xu took off her badge, stepped forward, and placed it on his desk. “No questions.”
“I resign.”
As she turned to leave, she caught the man’s faint voice.
“If I’m not mistaken, Secretary Qiao renewed her contract last year.”
“The executive secretary role involves most of the company's core information. Resignation requires thirty days’ notice and cooperation with the legal department for handover investigations. Otherwise, it’s considered a breach of contract, requiring compensation of twenty-four months’ salary.”
“At Secretary Qiao’s current monthly salary, that’s four hundred thirty-two thousand.”
“Considering Secretary Qiao’s four years of hard work here, let’s round it to four hundred thirty thousand. It will be paid into the company account before departure.”
Qiao Xu turned back in shock. “Compensation? The labor contract doesn’t mention any compensation.”
Four hundred thirty-two thousand, and they even rounded down.
Did she have to bow deeply and thank him for sparing two thousand?