Plunder-Chapter 177: Heartache

But at that time, he chose to trust.

"You can leave."

Zhou Jin’an had spoken.

Qiao’s mother, as if pardoned, quickly scurried out of his room.

In his spacious office, Zhou Jin’an stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window for a long time.

He didn’t smoke much, but now, he lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply.

Somewhere in his chest, a faint pain throbbed.

Was it heartache?

Or...

He couldn’t even clarify it for himself.

The following morning, bright and early.

Qiao En arrived at Nanchen for work.

However, at the company’s lobby, she encountered Qiao De, who was there for his first day at work, all dressed up in a suit and shoes, his hair styled sharply.

"Secretary Xu, good morning!"

He approached Qiao En, greeting her with a feigned air of aloofness.

Carrying a laptop bag that didn’t seem quite right for him, he walked forward with an air of disassociation from everyone else.

Qiao En was puzzled, but she didn’t speak up.

Qiao De went straight into the elevator, full of arrogance.

"Director Zhou, what’s the deal with Qiao De?"

Qiao En entered the president’s office elevator and immediately called Zhou Jin’an.

On the way to the company, before receiving Qiao En’s call, he had already thought about the situation he might face.

"Qiao En, listen to me first," he began, attempting to explain, but Qiao En wasn’t receptive.

At this moment, the blood in her head was boiling. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Do you know what his situation is now? By letting him into Nanchen, you’re basically letting the wolf in. Zhou Jin’an, you said so yourself, business is business, and personal feelings should never be mixed in."

As Qiao En accused him on the other end of the line, Zhou Jin’an listened patiently.

"I know all that you’ve mentioned," he exhaled softly.

"The company’s senior management meeting is rescheduled to this morning at ten o’clock. Secretary Xu, please notify all departments to prepare."

Company senior management meetings were usually held every Monday morning.

But Zhou Jin’an, acting on a whim, decided to move the meeting to Friday.

His reason for doing so was merely to introduce Qiao De to everyone.

Qiao En was familiar with Zhou Jin’an’s way of doing things.

Yet Qiao De, green and prideful, had nothing but his arrogance.

A person who has not been through society’s rough and tumble will not walk with their feet firmly on the ground.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" she repeated.

Zhou Jin’an pondered for a moment, "If it can teach him to grow, I think this lesson is necessary. Qiao En, he is no longer your brother now. If you still care about the bond between siblings, you should let go completely."

Good advice often grates on the ears.

Zhou Jin’an’s words were hard to swallow, but they were indeed truthful.

And Qiao En was a sensible person.

So, she chose to stand by Zhou Jin’an’s side.

"Alright, I’ll notify them right now."

After hanging up the phone, the elevator stopped at the president’s office floor, and Qiao En immediately instructed the secretaries to inform everyone of the specific details.

By ten o’clock in the morning, the meeting room was fully prepared.

The senior executives arrived ten minutes before the meeting.

As Qiao En entered the meeting room with Zhou Jin’an, Qiao De was already sitting in the position of Sales Director.

He seemed to enjoy the glory, but his competence did not match his position, which caused many veterans to look down on him.

The veterans respected Zhou Jin’an’s decision out of regard for him, but that didn’t mean they approved of it.

Sure enough, as soon as the meeting began, someone started to set a trap for Qiao De.

"Director Zhou, I heard that the sales department has done exceptionally well this week. Could we ask the newly appointed Director Qiao to share some work experience with everyone?"

The person spoke, and the others chimed in after him.

"Director Qiao is young and promising, we all need to learn from him."

This was a backhanded compliment.

Qiao En had encountered it countless times, and the proper way to handle it was to be humble to the end.

But Qiao De was not that kind of person at all.

He was like Zhao Kuo possessed, aiming too high, bragging about others.

He was also conceited and full of vanity; hearing someone butter him up, he just climbed right up the pole.

Following Zhou Jin’an, Qiao En learned the most useful thing: to keep a low profile.

Only by keeping a low profile can you lurk like a hunter, look for the right moment, act at the opportune time, and win in one fell swoop.

But those who are too high-profile often do not get very far.

"I dare not, I dare not, all of you are my seniors, I have nothing to say," Qiao De posed.

"Director Qiao is being modest. I’ve heard that Director Qiao is only 20 years old; my son is about your age and is still in his second year of college. Director Qiao, may I ask where you have worked before?"

The question was not excessive, but Qiao De could not answer it.

But for the sake of face, he still went for it.

"Isn’t this where I started aiming high?"

The directors of each department looked at each other, one after another bringing up topics, all related to Qiao De.

Qiao En, a discerning person, could see that Zhou Jin’an was not trying to help Qiao De, but to suppress his arrogance.

The veterans asked a lot of questions, some Qiao De was particularly eager to answer, and others he did not even want to mention at all.

But to him, it seemed like those people had no sense of propriety at all, the large office, everyone gathered together, it did not seem like a meeting but more like a tea party centered around Qiao De.

"Sales isn’t that magical, back in my school days, our teachers said, as long as you can sell things, that’s called sales," he said convincingly, but those who were truly in the know could tell he was an outsider.

"Director Qiao, since you’re new and everyone really wants to know about your work insights, why don’t you share with us?" someone else spoke up.

Zhou Jin’an sat at the head, not interrupting, nor stopping anyone.

"Do you all really want to hear my insights?" Qiao De asked, completely unabashed.

He seemed to really enjoy being the center of the group chat, satisfying his great vanity.

"Next time, next time I’ll give you all a list of books, if everyone keeps an attitude of learning like me, you can definitely be as excellent as me," Qiao De said casually, but Qiao En really couldn’t listen anymore.

"Director Zhou, I need to go back to the office for a moment," said Qiao En finding an excuse to leave.

What happened in the meeting room after that, Qiao En did not know.

All she knew was that Qiao De walked out of the meeting room with a face full of anger.

"Who do you think you are? I’m now Director Qiao, what right do you have to question my ability?"

Just then, Qiao En came out of the pantry carrying coffee.

Zhou Jin’an had the habit of drinking coffee after meetings to refresh himself.

The habit wasn’t a good one, but she had always indulged him.

As soon as she came out, she ran into the fuming Qiao De.

He was like a crab walking sideways, charging recklessly, and Qiao En was holding scalding hot coffee in her hands.

The coffee was spilled, and the cup fell to the ground, shattering to pieces.

"I didn’t touch you, you bumped into me," he quickly stepped back, distancing himself from Qiao En and shifting the blame to her.

"What happened?" Hearing the noise, Zhou Jin’an quickly walked towards them.

Qiao De complained first to the arbiter.

"Secretary Xu doesn’t watch where she’s going."

He spoke rudely. Since Qiao En had refused to help him, he had begun to act passive-aggressively toward her.

"Smack."

A loud slap rang out, and Qiao De’s cheek showed the clear imprint of five fingers.