Although I hated Liu Jing deeply in my heart, what I needed to do now was to keep myself calm.
At this moment, Liu Jing no longer had the kindness she once had when she asked me to call her Jing'er. She stared at me with wide eyes, as if looking at a fierce enemy.
I understood clearly that I was her workplace rival, seriously affecting her development within Xingchang.
If she didn't take this chance to get rid of me now, while my position was still unsteady, she might never have another opportunity.
"Zhao Jian, Xiang Qiufeng clearly submitted a leave request yesterday. Why are you counting it as absenteeism?" Liu Jing started fiercely questioning me.
I thought for a moment and replied, "Although he gave me a leave request, the absence wasn't approved by me. So, I still have to mark him as absent; otherwise, this department would have no organization or discipline."
Liu Jing snorted, "Zhao Jian, I didn't expect you to grow so bold after just a few days away. Fine, let's have General Manager Zhang judge this matter—I want to see if he supports you or me."
Normally, I wouldn't have such confidence, but that Yuxing Group contract was so important to Zhang Zhiyuan, and I was sure Liu Jing would lose.
Seeing Liu Jing's smug expression, I said, "Fine, you can have General Manager Zhang come and see who's right—me or you."
Upon hearing that, Xiang Qiufeng looked triumphant, seemingly confident that General Manager Zhang wouldn't punish him.
That made sense—he was a veteran in the sales department with several key clients. Losing him would indeed be a blow to the company.
As for me, I was just a new transfer to the sales department—nominally the manager but practically useless.
Therefore, Xiang Qiufeng didn't take me seriously at all.
The office worker Shen Xue stood there motionless, uncertain whether to report this to General Manager Zhang.
If this issue reached Zhang, it would certainly escalate, and to maintain unity in the sales department, Zhang would likely make personnel changes.
Because unity was vital for the sales department—without it, they certainly couldn't achieve good results.
Shen Xue looked at me; it was clear she was seeking my opinion on whether to involve Zhang.
I thought it over. If I reported this now, Zhang might think I was incompetent. Although I knew he would protect me, my impression points would surely suffer.
If I reported this during Monday's morning meeting, perhaps Liu Jing could be transferred out of the sales department in one swoop. Without her restrictions, I could then have free rein.
I said to Shen Xue, "Forget it. I have something to do at home now. I'll handle this on Monday."
Everyone thought I was evading responsibility. Xiang Qiufeng's arrogance grew even more. He said, "You want to mark me absent? No way. Even if this goes to General Manager Zhang, I'm not afraid."
I thought to myself, "When Monday comes, I'll have you crying before you can even blink."
When I walked out of the office, I seemed to hear laughter behind me—it sounded like the sales staff were mocking me.
Outside the company, I immediately called Lu Wan.
"Honey, where are you now?"
"I'm at school. Do you need something?" Lu Wan asked.
I thought for a moment and asked, "What time do you finish? I'll come pick you up."
She said, "I have one last class. Once it's over, I can leave."
I said, "Okay, I'll come to pick you up in an hour."
After hanging up, I thought about how to make my wife happy.
Just now, inside my briefcase was the twenty thousand yuan Zhang Zhiyuan had rewarded me. I planned to use that money to buy a piece of jewelry to cheer her up.
When we got married, the wedding was very modest, so I felt I owed my wife and always wanted to make up for it properly.
Now that I had some disposable cash, buying her jewelry to make her happy was only natural.
With the plan set, I headed straight to a jewelry store.
To be honest, I didn't really know what kind of jewelry my wife liked, but I wanted to buy her a diamond necklace.
Unfortunately, with twenty thousand yuan, the diamonds had to be tiny.
Actually, our combined salaries were just average, and with mortgage and daily expenses, there was hardly anything left over.
After browsing, I chose a necklace priced at eighteen thousand yuan.
To please me, the saleswoman said, "This necklace is delicate and cute, perfect for a refined woman to wear."
I nodded—wasn't my wife a refined woman?
By the time I finished picking it out, it was almost time. I drove to the school gate.
At that moment, my wife hadn't come out yet, so I had to call her.
Strangely, she didn't answer my phone.
Recently, Lu Wan had been acting strangely, and I didn't know why.
Recalling the rumors about her and the head teacher, I couldn't hold back and rushed into the school.
Luckily, I used to pick her up often, so the security guard recognized me and smiled as I entered.
My mind was focused entirely on Lu Wan as I headed to her office.
When I reached the office, I saw her desk piled high with books but no one was there.
I had no choice but to look for her in her classroom.
Though three classrooms were in session, the teachers there were not my wife.
This abnormal situation made me suspicious—where exactly had she gone?
I suddenly remembered what Zhao Hu had told me.
If my wife really had an affair with the head teacher, maybe right now she was in the head teacher's office.
I dashed toward the head teacher's office without hesitation.
At that moment, the door was tightly shut—as if something shameful was going on inside.
Seeing this, I couldn't resist and knocked on the door loudly.
I knocked once—no answer. I had to knock a second time.
Finally, a man's voice came from inside.
"Who is it?!"
Such an unusual response confirmed to me that something illicit was happening inside.
Ignoring everything, I knocked harder.
The door was finally opened by a man in his forties.
I looked carefully and realized he was rather plain-looking and quite short—a far cry from the man my wife would ideally want.
Hearing my loud knocking, the man was very angry and asked, "Who are you? What do you want?"
To defuse the immediate tension, I quickly put on a calm face and asked, "Are you Teacher Qin?"
"I'm not!" he snapped angrily.
"I see. I'm Xu Hao's parent. Since you're not Teacher Qin, I must have mistaken."
He was still scratching his head, confused by what was going on.
At that moment, I slipped away.
Damn it—I had been helping that kid Zhao Hu, and he was lying to me. Looks like the last hundred thousand yuan was flushed down the drain.
I ran to a quiet corner and was about to call my wife again.
At that moment, I suddenly saw a familiar figure.
Though my wife was petite, she was very sexy, making her stand out from other women.
I immediately recognized that delicate figure as my wife.
I wondered what she was sneaking around for.
She was now hiding behind a pavilion, apparently talking to someone.
Because my view was blocked, I couldn't see who she was speaking with or hear what was said.
Could this person be my wife's lover?
With this question in mind, I didn't disturb them but quietly observed.
What happened next shocked me.
Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my wife.
Immediately, I recognized it was a man's arm.
So my wife did indeed have an affair! No wonder her behavior had been so strange.
At that point, I could no longer hold back and rushed toward my wife.
By the time they noticed me, it was too late.
I raised my fist and slammed it hard onto the man's forehead.
He was far weaker than I expected and immediately collapsed to the ground.
I ignored the man and turned my gaze to my wife, Lu Wan.
"Well, Lu Wan, no wonder you've been so cold and hot with me lately. Turns out you have a man on the side."
Before I could finish speaking, the man on the ground said, "Calm down. It's not what you think."
They were already embracing—if it's not what I think, then what is? Would they admit the affair only if I caught them in bed?
Lu Wan looked at me calmly for some reason, and suddenly I felt uneasy.
She helped the man up and said, "Teacher Su, please go home first. I'll handle this."
The man glanced at me, then at Lu Wan, and left looking very embarrassed.
Then Lu Wan smiled at me.
"Zhao Jian, today I want to thank you," she said.
I felt very strange, not knowing what had just happened.
Lu Wan explained, "Actually, there's always been a male teacher at school pursuing me. I try to avoid him, but this teacher insisted on confessing. To make things easier in the future, I had to invite him here."
As a married woman, it's easy for people to gossip if one isn't clear about boundaries with other men.
I know my wife is very smart and sometimes handles things very cleverly.
I widened my eyes and asked, "Don't they know you're married?"
She thought for a moment and said, "Of course they know, but some people's intentions aren't that pure!"
I understood what she meant—these men were all just looking for one-night stands behind the scenes.
Who told my wife to be so beautiful? If you want to marry a beautiful wife, you have to be ready to face this, always fearing someone else is eyeing her.
Still worried, I asked, "I clearly saw that guy just hugged you."
She said, "Zhao Jian, please don't worry unnecessarily. Do you think I'd be interested in that little monkey just now?"
Indeed, that guy was short and was knocked to the ground by my punch.
Although my wife is not tall, she told me she didn't like short men.
Seeing I was still uneasy, she said, "I only indulged his wish just now, otherwise he'd be pestering you all day. Wouldn't you be annoyed?"
At that moment, I finally understood my wife's difficulties.