Kachak! The thick, heavy wooden door was opened by two uniformed security personnel from the outside.
After which, Ji Ziming, who was wearing a navy blue, straight-cut suit, walked in with steady steps and a cold yet proud expression. The imposing and elegant aura he emitted was one that none could ignore.
Liu Yue gazed with insatiable infatuation at the man whom she considered to be God's masterpiece.
She had already fallen in love with the man the moment she laid eyes on him.
Although she was unable to catch this man for life, she was willing to be his woman even for just one night.
The meeting in the conference room officially started following Ji Ziming's entrance.
Time passed slowly as each department reported their status. Soon, it was the turn of the Planning Department that Liu Yue belonged to.
Yang Aoyun first got up to explain her opinions about the proposal before passing the floor to Liu Yue.
At this moment, the various assistants in the conference room handed over copies of the proposal to all the department heads.
Flipping through the proposal in their hands, many top brasses in the conference room nodded their heads in acknowledgement.
"Why are the final statistics not translated?" Ji Ziming asked the woman who stood up. Although he somewhat acknowledged the woman's excellent work on the proposal, his expression remained cold.
Hearing Ji Ziming address her directly, Liu Yue felt so elated that she was almost tongue-tied.
She forcefully suppressed her raging emotions and found her voice. However, as she had remained silent for too long, Ji Ziming was already slightly displeased.
"That's because I find the final statistics to be rather interesting, so I want to personally explain it to everyone in this meeting," Liu Yue proudly proclaimed with her chin raised. She really felt good about herself at the moment.
What she was unaware of was that her cockiness had offended quite a few people in the conference room.
The people sitting in this room were mostly of the higher management within the company. If Liu Yue were the proposal's conceptualizer, these people would not feel offended by her cocky attitude.
However, Liu Yue merely translated the proposal from English to Chinese, so her attitude only made people detest her.
While many people were displeased by Liu Yue's attitude, Ji Ziming, who sat on the CEO's seat, felt discontented for a different reason.
That reason was the woman's voice. He had remembered it.
This voice… Ji Ziming's eyes shone with cold light.
He was uncertain at first, but when she put emphasis on her words, Ji Ziming was able to make sure that this assistant by the name of Liu Yue was that woman he had heard mock the unkempt woman from outside the pantry that day.
Looking at Liu Yue who continued to deliver the presentation fluently, Ji Ziming coldly narrowed his eyes. He suddenly felt an inexplicable suspicion over whether these documents were truly translated by her or not.
"How long did it take you to translate these documents?" Ji Ziming coldly interrupted Liu Yue, who was getting more conceited by the minute, with this question.
Liu Yue, who was so engrossed in delivering the final portion of her speech about the statistics, was tongue-tied when Ji Ziming suddenly posed this question.
Hm? Why is the CEO asking me this question?
"How long?" Ji Ziming's suspicion intensified upon seeing the stunned look of Liu Yue.
"Er – Erm…" How many days did Pei Ge take to translate these documents again? At Ji Ziming's cold eyes, Liu Yue's mind suddenly regained its clarity.
She frantically swallowed and then replied, "Five days. It took me five days to translate these documents."
"Mhm. Continue, then," Ji Ziming coldly ordered as he furrowed his brows.
Liu Yue gawked at Ji Ziming, not understanding why he had suddenly asked her that.
However, although she thought that it was weird and uncalled for, as a small assistant, how would she dare voice out this thought? Hence, she only dazedly nodded her head and prepared to finish explaining the last part of the statistics report.
Just as she opened her mouth to continue her recitation, Liu Yue realized that her mind was blank and she could not recall anything.
"The statistics for… for…."
Those inside the conference room furrowed their brows at her stuttering.
Yang Aoyun, who had brought Liu Yue into this meeting, looked at Liu Yue's panicking face in confusion.
Clearly, just then in the Planning Department office – no, even in this very room – Liu Yue was able to speak about the proposal very fluently, so why did it seem as though she had forgotten the content of it now?
Were the original documents not in her hands right now?
Suddenly, Yang Aoyun, who seemed to have received an epiphany, looked at the sheet filled with neat, exquisite handwriting in her hand with a dark expression.
Ji Ziming coldly raised one of his eyebrows when he saw Liu Yue's look. He was now certain that this woman had indeed not translated the documents herself.
"Alright, you don't need to continue anymore. Sit down," Ji Ziming coldly ordered, not even raising his eyelids from the translated documents in his hands. He could not be bothered to listen anymore to this detestable woman.
How would Liu Yue be willing to surrender just like this, though? Her plan was to perform stunningly in this meeting enough to attract Ji Ziming's attention while getting a promotion and a pay raise at the same time.
Now…
Liu Yue's palms tightened around each other. She, who could not understand English, pretended to look at the original documents in her hands.
Seeing the Arabic numerals in the documents, a few numbers flitted through her mind.
I don't care anymore! Let's give it a try! Saying this inside her, Liu Yue's eyes regained its spirit once more.
"Lastly, the most interesting, and surprising, part of this set of statistics is…" Liu Yue continued on fluently as she had before.
Unbeknown to Liu Yue, her actions at this point were only laughable to the higher-ups. The big boss had already told her to sit down and did not want to listen to her speech, yet she had still insisted otherwise.
Now, she had gone against the big boss's direct order. Really… How undiscerning she was.
"Liu Yue, is it?" Ji Ziming put down the translated documents in his hands and rested his interlocked fingers on the conference table as he coldly regarded Liu Yue.
When Ji Ziming directly addressed her once more, Liu Yue elatedly thought that he must be intending to give her extra brownie points for her stellar performance just now.
"I am really very curious. As someone who has translated the whole proposal, how could you still mistranslate the last batch of statistics when you currently have the original documents in your hands?" Ji Ziming swept his cold gaze across Liu Yue before looking at Planning Department Director Yang Aoyun in displeasure.
Seeing the gaze at which Ji Ziming looked at her with, Yang Aoyun's heart skipped a beat. She was the one who had brought in this person, after all.
"C – CEO, I – I was just too nervous." Liu Yue had originally thought that other than Yang Aoyun who had skimmed through the original documents, no one else had done so. Apparently…
"Get out," Ji Ziming ordered coldly without sparing Liu Yue another glance.
"CEO, I really was just too nervous!" Liu Yue's voice shook as her eyes reddened.
"Nervous…" Ji Ziming harrumphed as he placed a cold, cutting gaze on to Liu Yue. "My company has no need for a thief. You are fired."
"…" Hearing Ji Ziming's words, Liu Yue's entire body shook as her eyes filled with despair. Just as she was about to try and defend herself, Liu Yue saw the two security personnel walk up to her. Although they told her to leave the conference room in a polite manner, their gazes were filled with contempt.
Ah… doomed. She was doomed.