Huacan was one of China's five largest domestic jewelry brands, with stores in East Asia, Southeast Asia, North America, and other regions worldwide.
Zhao Yu has been working as an assistant to Fu Tao, Huacan's North American marketing director, for the past three years.
Fu Tao had just been transferred to China, so she applied to follow him back. As a trustworthy assistant, her transfer was approved.
Huacan was headquartered in Donghai City and Zhao Yu was no stranger to this place having spent four years in college here.
In China, Fu Tao was in charge of marketing in the entire East China region and worked straight from the headquarters. Zhao Yu was still his assistant at the China headquarters and the only thing that changed from when she had joined the company in the US was that she was no longer under his direct management but now reports to the secretary management department.
The department handles a lot of personnel and while everything seems harmonious on the surface, behind the scenes, joining a clique and getting dragged into fights were inevitable.
This situation is not very different from when she was abroad.
"I heard she is an orphan."How can a small assistant afford such a car?"
"Almost everyone says she and Mr. Fu are having an affair, and 80% of them say her new car was given to her by him."
"It is shameless to climb into a man's bed for money."
"You can't say that. What if they are truly in love? Anyway, Mr. Fu is still unmarried. It's not guaranteed that someone will become Mrs. Fu someday."
Having listened to a few of her colleagues' discussions, Zhao Yu smiled indifferently, walked through the corridor with a file in hand to Fu Tao's office, and knocked on the door.
He was alone in the office reviewing the reports when she arrived. After listening to Zhao Yu's report, he saw on her face that something was wrong, and asked: "Are you feeling unwell?"
Zhao Yu smiled and said, "Every month there are always a few days where my condition is not so great but Mr. Fu can rest assured, it will not affect my work."
"If you can't bear it, you should go home to rest. There isn't anything urgent that needs to be done today."
"Thank you, Mr. Fu but I'm fine. If there is anything else you need, please let me know."
Fu Tao was a very good boss not only to Zhao Yu, but also to the other subordinates as well. He was always friendly and considerate to all of them.
Even so, Zhao Yu knew that she was special to Fu Tao.
As long as she was willing, there was indeed a high probability that she could become Mrs. Fu just like those people were saying behind her back.
In all fairness, aside from being slightly older, divorced, and having a child, Fu Tao could be considered a near-perfect man, with a strong work ethic, gentle demeanor, good looks, and a very charming personality.
It certainly wouldn't be a mistake to choose him as a husband.
It's really a shame…
Waiting for the elevator, Zhao Yu raised her eyes, intently staring at the constantly changing string of numbers on the display – they were all the floors she still wasn't qualified to go to yet.
Fu Tao does not rank high enough here.
The elevator door opened, and a young man in a suit and leather shoes emerged.
Zhao Yu retreated to the side and expressionlessly greeted "Mr Xue".
The man nodded and glanced at her casually, his gaze stopping even before it reached her face, and walked straight to Fu Tao's office.
On the other hand, the secretary who was following the man, met Zhao Yu's eyes and gave her a forced smile.
After riding the elevator to the underground parking lot, Zhao Yu took out her phone and opened the information she had previously researched.
Xue Ziang, 25 years old, the eldest grandson of Huacan's chairman and CEO Xue Yuanyang, Vice President of Marketing, and Fu Tao's immediate boss.
This infamous playboy did not lack pretty women by his side. Even though Zhao Yu had self-confidence, she knew her beauty was not enough to ensnare him with just a glance.
The most crucial point was that she and Xue Ziang were working in the same company. Although the man is a well-known womanizer outside, he is careful not to mess around with the company employees. For now, this was to her disadvantage.
Xue Ziang would be a hard catch, besides, she has bigger goals.
Huacan Group as a conglomerate has two major sections. The Huaqi division was responsible for all the investments made by the conglomerate.
Their CEO was Xue Ziang's mother, Liu Ling. The other division was Huajin whose main focus was on the jewelry business. The CEO and group's Vice Chairman was Xue Ziang's younger uncle, Xue Zhan.
Although Xue Ziang's father was the son of the Xue family, he had long passed away due to illness.
Moreover, Xue Ziang as the eldest grandson was not diligent in his work. That left Xue Zhan as the only person who could take over the Chairman position in the future.
She looked at the handsome man in the photo, appreciating his sharp eyes. This man's look surpassed Xue Ziang and as the Vice Chairman of the group, Xue Zhan was obviously much more mature than him and overall, had more bearing to be the leader of the group.
After reading the information carefully, Zhao Yu turned off the phone and started the car.
Fu Tao had asked her to go meet a customer in his stead and because the work day was almost over, Zhao Yu didn't need to go back to the company to clock out. That was why she arranged a private room at a nearby coffee shop to talk to the customer about confidential matters.
The one who came to see her was Zheng Yue, a manager of a small insurance company.
Zheng Yue brought over several contracts. After waiting for Zhao Yu to look over them carefully, he asked: "Is it acceptable?"
"As long as it is not exposed."
"Don't worry, the contract is solid. I already called to give everyone a heads up. No one will sabotage this kind of good deed."
Zhao Yu handed him the prepared check: "Three million is the insurance compensation, the rest of the balance is for you. I only have one request."
"I understand, don't worry, there is absolutely no such possibility. I will transfer the compensation to the other party's account through the company. The recipient will be none the wiser."
Zheng Yue had already left for a long time before Zhao Yu got up to leave.
Her car was parked outside the coffee shop. A $30,000 SUV is not a good car at all.
But for an ordinary assistant like her, living in first-tier city with no relatives to back her and only a meager salary to depend on, it was impossible to buy such a car. That's why there were rumors that her relationship with Fu Tao is not normal and people jumping to the conclusion that she is spending Fu Tao's money.
Of course, she wasn't angry. Although the subject in question was mistaken, she did get the money by being kept.
She was never a good girl from the start, so she doesn't need to mourn for her reputation.
As soon as she moved the car out of the parking space on the roadside, her phone rang.
The one who called her was Deputy Manager Cui of the Secretarial Management Department, her immediate supervisor.
"Zhao Yu, where are you? Can you come back to the office?"
"It will take me about half an hour, Manager Cui, what happened?"
"Someone anonymously reported that you have an improper relationship with Director Fu Tao, and used this relationship to undermine the fairness of promotion. The Administration Department and the Personnel Department are investigating, and Director Xue Ziang himself is here too, so please come quickly."
Zhao Yu smiled and hung up.
Last week, the secretarial management department vacated a position of deputy manager. After the announcement of the competition for the position, Fu Tao recommended her and gave her good results in the preliminary assessment.
This combined with the recent rumors between her and Fu Tao, it is only natural they would be reported.
In fact, there were numerous people with improper relationships in the company, but the company only cares about ability and achievements, not about the private lives of their employees.
Take Fu Tao, a marketing director who has created a lot of business for the company. Even if he really wanted to play with a small assistant like her despite the unspoken rules, the company's executives would only turn a blind eye on it.
Therefore, Zhao Yu was certain the so-called investigation is nothing more than a formality to comply with the company's complaint reporting system.
But even if it is a farce, this drama has to be acted out well.