Xiong Xiaoyan had an early debut and had been striving in the entertainment industry for over a decade, adeptly navigating various unspoken rules. After forming a good relationship with her boss, she didn’t proactively make any demands.
Because she knew that making demands at this time was foolish behavior, and men actually despise women who actively solicit.
What she needed to do was to perform her services well and make the boss comfortable and happy—that was enough.
With such positive interactions initially, only when the company starts some major project later could the boss remember her.
Yang Hao was very satisfied with this sensible “little cannon,” especially since she even had a “working mode,” which greatly pleased him.
It was a bit like that popular game recently, where catching a Paru meant you could have it work for you.
The “little cannon” needed fueling once to work for a month, which was very nice!
Not long after Xiong Xiaoyan left, Tianmei Media’s HR Manager Ye Peng came to discuss recruitment for the president’s office with Yang Hao.
If it were any other department, Ye Peng, as the HR Manager, would have the final say, but the president’s office was special—all the personnel had to be approved by Yang Hao, the president.
When the Chen Brothers left, they took with them the Director of the President’s Office and three secretaries. However, the scale of Tianmei Media’s President’s Office was larger than Jiangcheng Newspaper Group’s, so with the departure of four people, there were still six remaining, enough to maintain normal operation.
They only lacked a Director for the President’s Office, which created a situation akin to having no leader.
“Mr. Yang, do you think we should open recruitment or do you have a suitable candidate in mind?”
After reporting the current situation of the president’s office, Ye Peng asked for Yang Hao’s opinion.
“Leave the position of Director and first secretary of the President’s Office vacant for now, and fill the other openings through recruitment.”
Logically, it would be better if the President’s Office were staffed by trusted insiders, but embarrassingly, Yang Hao currently had no one he could use.
He planned to have Xu Yali come over and temporarily take on the role of the first secretary. He was quite comfortable with this little secretary, and as for the Director of the President’s Office, Yang Hao intended to ask Director Cai, who had just opened two paths, for a recommendation.
“Mr. Yang, for the recruitment, do you have any particular requirements?”
Ye Peng asked again.
“Particular requirements?”
Yang Hao looked at the HR Manager, feeling there was an implication in his words.
“Ahem, like having a talent for dancing, or being articulate, something along those lines?”
Ye Peng probed tentatively.
He was aware of Xiong Xiaoyan coming in to report on her work, so he judged that the new boss was that kind of man!
Yang Hao had no idea what the HR Manager was thinking; otherwise, he would certainly have retorted: Be clear, what kind of man do you think I am!
Faced with an actress who is especially eager to advance, I, as the boss, am giving her an opportunity for progress—is there a problem with that?
It’s all for the greater good of the company’s development!
Once the actresses advance, the company’s performance will naturally improve!
“You decide, mainly someone smart, sensible, and capable. I like those who are a bit more astute!”
Yang Hao casually waved his hand. He remembered that he had previously used the [Insightful Eye for People] skill to check out Ye Peng, and the system rated him as “double A,” so his capabilities should be fine.
“Mr. Yang, I understand. I will implement it immediately.”
“Don’t worry, they will definitely be capable!”
Ye Peng was good at catching the key points, and combined with Xiong Xiaoyan’s report on her work, he immediately understood the direction of his efforts, thinking that this must be made clear to the boss since it was the first task entrusted to him.
Seeing Ye Peng’s expression, Yang Hao was rather speechless—what do you understand!
This guy had definitely got the wrong idea!
But Yang Hao felt that it was still necessary to give subordinates some room to showcase their abilities.
Just then, Yang Hao’s WeChat message alert sounded.
It was from Wang Jingru: Mr. Yang, does the offer you made before still stand?
Yang Hao didn’t have much contact with this “Aunt,” having met her only once at the birthday banquet of Wang Xueru’s father.
That gathering was quite lively, but it ended on a sour note when Sun Jixing touched Fang Yan’s thigh and the party disbanded in a bad mood.
Yang Hao wasn’t aware of what happened later, but it was easy to guess that Old Mr. Wang and Wang Jingru must have been furious, as what Sun Jixing did was embarrassingly disgraceful.
Yang Hao recalled his interactions with Wang Jingru, which should be work-related. This beautiful and mature woman was currently working at Global Film and Television in Capital City, with over ten years of experience in the industry. At that time, she had discussed the issue of divorce with her sister Wang Xueru, expressing her concerns about not finding suitable work if she returned to Jiangcheng.
At that time, Yang Hao had promised she could work at Tianmei Media, and now this “Aunt” was reaching out via WeChat, likely about that matter.
Yang Hao immediately replied: Of course, it counts!
Although he didn’t know what had transpired between Wang Jingru and Sun Jixing, from the message Wang Jingru sent, it was very likely that they had indeed divorced or at least were living apart, and once separated, a real divorce wouldn’t be far off.
After thinking it over, Yang Hao added: We just happen to have a vacancy for the Director of the President’s Office here; are you interested?
Capital City.
Wang Jingru had already packed her bags. After returning from Jiangcheng, she and Sun Jixing had another big fight, not just over her cousin Fang Yan’s situation, but also because she had once again discovered Sun Jixing’s ambiguous relationship with another female subordinate.
Just as she had told her sister Wang Xueru, she was fed up with this kind of life—there are either zero or countless instances of infidelity—so she decisively chose to divorce.
Sun Jixing did not choose to hold back but revealed his ugly side when it actually came time to divorce, with various reasons for not dividing or dividing less property. Wang Jingru didn’t want to haggle with him and decided to leave everything to her lawyer.
After more than a decade in Capital City, what Wang Jingru found hardest to let go of was her ten-year-old son.
The reason she hadn’t divorced earlier was also because of the consideration of giving her child a complete family, which is a reason many struggling couples have not divorced.
But what left Wang Jingru somewhat disheartened was that when she and Sun Jixing were divorcing and she asked her son whom he wanted to follow, the father or the mother, her son chose to follow his father.
It wasn’t actually that Sun Jixing was such a great father or that Wang Jingru was an incompetent mother, it was mainly because both parents were busy with work and over the years, the child had lived more with his grandparents, so his relationship with them was stronger; choosing to follow his father, in reality, meant staying with his grandparents.
But what her son wished for most was for his parents to be together, which was now clearly impossible—broken mirrors could not be mended!
As a well-educated woman like Wang Jingru, it was impossible to tolerate her husband’s long-term infidelity and emotional abuse, especially so as Sun Jixing also had a gambling problem. There was a time he lost more than two hundred thousand and had only calmed down recently, but gambling was addictive, who knew if he would relapse in the future.
“I still don’t know what you’re thinking, going back to Jiangcheng isn’t just to seek refuge with that Mr. Yang? Let me tell you, he’s not a good person either. What kind of decent CEO would take a fancy to a divorced old woman with an extra burden!”
“Dream on if you’re counting on him to arrange a good job for you!”
Sun Jixing scoffed with cold mockery.
To Wang Jingru, whether or not she had Yang Hao had nothing to do with the divorce. After all, he was just someone she had met by chance. It was just that his offer to provide a job could save her some detours after returning to Jiangcheng.
But Yang Hao’s response just now was indeed a surprise to her.
Being the director of the CEO’s office is a very important position in any large group, part of the core leadership layer, all the more so in a large entertainment company like Tianmei.
From Wang Jingru’s current position, if she were to go directly to Tianmei Media as the director of the CEO’s office, it would actually be a promotion.
For Wang Jingru, who was in a very bad mood, this was also a consolation.
“I don’t need you to worry about my business anymore!”
Wang Jingru replied coldly. At this moment, someone knocked on the door, and Wang Jingru went to open it to find her best friend, Zheng Qianqian, had arrived.
The two were university classmates and roommates whose friendship had lasted over a decade. Unlike Wang Jingru who married early, Zheng Qianqian was still unmarried. Currently, she was a travel blogger with over five hundred thousand followers on Kuaiyin, making a decent income with a lot of freedom in her schedule.
She came to help Wang Jingru pack her things, and afterward, they would drive back to Jiangcheng together.
On the way, Zheng Qianqian could shoot some materials, effectively balancing work and life.
In fact, Zheng Qianqian had long been urging her friend to divorce, as infidelity was bad enough, let alone gambling which was even worse. Such a man was certainly not worth keeping.
She didn’t greet Sun Jixing and busied herself with moving the luggage down to the car.
After all the luggage was loaded, Wang Jingru stood downstairs and looked up at the building. She had been in Capital City for more than a decade, lived here for seven or eight years, and now was about to leave; she felt a complex mix of emotions.
“Let’s go, stop looking. The landscapes ahead are ones you haven’t seen before!”
Her best friend Zheng Qianqian patted Wang Jingru on the shoulder.
“I hope so.”
Wang Jingru took a deep breath and then quietly got into the passenger seat.
“What are your plans after returning to Jiangcheng? Are you going to rest for a while first?”
The car started, and Zheng Qianqian asked.
“I might work at Tianmei.”
“Tianmei? Tianmei Media?” Zheng Qianqian was somewhat surprised.
“Yes, that’s Tianmei Media.” Wang Jingru nodded.
“Not bad, you’ve already found a job. I thought you had no plans!”
“But working at a big company like Tianmei means you might have to start all over again, right?”
Zheng Qianqian was certainly aware of Tianmei. Before she became a self-media creator, she also worked in the entertainment industry, handling publicity-related jobs. Later, as Kuaiyin swept the nation and the self-media industry rose, not wanting to be a corporate drone anymore, she quit her job to make videos.
“I shouldn’t need to start over. I know the boss of Tianmei Media, he said I can be the director of the CEO’s office!”
Wang Jingru had nothing to hide from her best friend.
But hearing this, Zheng Qianqian exploded: “What, director of the CEO’s office? Did I hear that right?”
Experience tales at empire
“That’s Tianmei Media we’re talking about. The director of the CEO’s office is part of the top management with real power!”
“Wait, Jingru, since when did you know the boss of Tianmei Media? It doesn’t seem like you’ve ever mentioned it!”
Wang Jingru replied, “I met him during my trip home for my dad’s birthday; he’s my sister’s boyfriend.”
“What?”
Zheng Qianqian’s face showed shock once again. “Your sister managed to snag the CEO of Tianmei Media?”
“So you’re saying the CEO of Tianmei Media is practically your brother-in-law??”
“Jingru, if you come into wealth, don’t forget your friends!”
Zheng Qianqian exclaimed with dramatic sentiment.
Wang Jingru shook her head slightly, “That’s what it says in the WeChat message, but I’ll only know the details when I get there!”