The Whole Company Thinks I'm the Boss's Mistress, But Only the Boss's Wife Pays Me - Chapter 9
Chapter 9
After Lu Chengzhou was taken away, Xinglan didn’t collapse immediately.
A company was a thing that knew how to pretend far better than people imagined.
The boss was escorted away by the police in the morning, and by afternoon, people in the project group chats were still pushing for schedules as usual.
The next day, Song Wantang called an all-hands meeting.
She stood onstage. She didn’t cry, didn’t play the victim, and didn’t make any grand, pretty speeches.
She only showed three slides.
The first was the result of the internal investigation.
The second was how the employees involved would be handled.
The third was the reporting and anti-sexual harassment system.
She said, “Starting today, all anonymous complaints submitted within the company will be received simultaneously by external counsel.”
The room was dead silent.
She continued, “I already have the list of everyone who helped spread rumors about Xu Mian yesterday.”
Some faces in the audience changed.
Song Wantang looked out at the crowd.
“The company will handle this according to the severity of each case.”
“Those who should apologize will apologize. Those who should leave will leave.”
“Do not come to Xu Mian privately again to beg for forgiveness.”
Standing at the very back of the crowd, I suddenly felt my nose sting.
Of course it felt good to have her stand up for me.
But what hit me harder was that, finally, someone had said out loud: don’t force the victim in private to forgive you.
After the meeting, HR came to confirm my transfer.
My position was changed from administrative assistant to compliance specialist, and I was converted to a full-time employee immediately, without the probation period.
My salary was still tripled.
I asked HR, “Won’t people call this special treatment again?”
HR glanced at me.
“Xu Mian, the evidence you helped submit these past two days is enough for the company to recover tens of millions in losses.”
She pushed the new contract toward me.
“If you feel uneasy about it, you can ask CEO Song to give you a little more.”
For the first time, I felt like HR was capable of speaking like a human being.
After signing the contract, I went to the hospital to see my mom.
She still didn’t know what had happened at the company.
I only told her I had gotten a raise.
She froze for a long moment. Her first question was, “You didn’t do anything illegal, did you?”
I nearly laughed from sheer exasperation.
“Mom, what kind of image does your daughter have in your eyes?”
She snorted.
“Pies don’t just fall from the sky.”
My hand paused as I peeled an apple.
“This time, it wasn’t a pie.”
I cut the apple into small pieces and placed them in a bowl.
“Someone owed me. And owed others, too.”
My mom didn’t press further.
She only reached out and touched my hand.
“Then don’t carry it all by yourself.”
My eyes grew hot.
Lin Yuan had said that to me before, too.
Little Xu Mian, don’t always think you can shoulder everything alone.
A week later, Lin Yuan sent me a message.
It was just one photo.
In the photo, a little boy sat on a rug building blocks. His cheeks were round, and his hair stuck up a little.
Beside him was a small bowl.
The bowl was full of cilantro he had picked out.
I stared at the photo for a long, long time, then laughed and cried at the same time.
Lin Yuan sent another line.
“He doesn’t like it either.”
I replied, “That’s good.”
After a while, I typed another line.
“Senior, I’m sorry. I came too late.”
She didn’t reply for a long time.
So long that I thought she never would.
Half an hour later, she sent a voice message.
I tapped it open.
Her voice was much hoarser than I remembered, but her tone was still that familiar one.
“What are you apologizing for?”
“I left the door open because I knew you’d come.”
