All eyes in the room were fixed on the woman who was speaking.
The girl was dressed in a white blouse, paired with a khaki - colored knee - length skirt and a pair of white high - heels.
It was a typical office - wear look.
However, there was a lace trim around the collar and cuffs of her blouse, which made her look a lot gentler.
Her face, while not having particularly striking features, was nonetheless rather delicate when taken as a whole.
The smile on her face was mild and non - threatening, like a pure and harmless rabbit, making people instinctively want to protect her.
Jiang Ciyou's gaze also landed on Xia Ling.
Coldness filled her beautiful eyes.
"I'm new here. As a newbie, I hope all the seniors will be kind enough to give me more guidance in the future."
With that, Xia Ling also bent over and bowed to everyone.
Clearly, she had an impressive resume, but she was so humble and still addressed them as seniors.
Several people present immediately started to show their friendliness towards Xia Ling.
Xia Ling greeted everyone one by one and finally walked up to Jiang Ciyou.
"Ciyou, from now on we'll be colleagues. Since I'm new here and there are a lot of things I don't understand, you must take good care of me."
A hint of surprise flashed in everyone's eyes.
Vivian asked, "Do you two know each other?"
Xia Ling smiled at everyone and said, "Ciyou and I were high - school classmates and used to be best friends."
Jiang Ciyou also smiled, but her eyes were cold: "We were high - school classmates, but I don't deserve the title of best friend."
Xia Ling looked a bit embarrassed and lowered her head: "Yes, I'm not worthy of being your friend. I come from a humble background. It was just my wishful thinking."
The atmosphere instantly grew quiet.
Xia Ling bit her lip, and there seemed to be a glimmer of tears in her eyes. Her pitiful look was such that even a stranger would feel sympathetic.
Sure enough, Vivian walked over to Xia Ling and said, "Jiang Ciyou, what on earth are you so high - and - mighty about? Xia Ling is an excellent student from Columbia University. Saying that you're her friend is just giving you face. You're really ungrateful."
After that, Vivian took Xia Ling's arm and said, "Don't pay any attention to her. She's the most disliked person around here. We'll all be your friends from now on."
Tang Fei's expression also seemed a bit awkward as he said, "Xia Ling, you follow Vivian to get familiar with the place first. Oh, by the way, there's a meeting in the news department at nine o'clock."
Watching Xia Ling being surrounded by a group of people and leaving, Jiang Ciyou's heart fluttered for a moment but quickly returned to normal.
Xia Ling was extremely good at disguising herself.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have been deceived by her for three years in high school.
She always showed her vulnerable side in public, arousing people's protective instincts, so that when the time came, they would fight for her and even take the blame for her.
Just now, she deliberately said that she came from a humble background, making everyone think that Jiang Ciyou looked down on her because of it, and Vivian immediately stood up for her.
Jiang Ciyou could have defended herself, of course.
But she didn't want to explain in front of this group of people who were just waiting to see her make a fool of herself.
And she knew that no matter what she said, people's prejudice against her wouldn't change.
Yes, she had a very poor relationship with her colleagues at the TV station.
She had also tried to improve the relationship with her colleagues.
But later Jiang Ciyou found that whatever she did was useless because there were conflicts of interest between them. The more she did, the more she was criticized for being scheming.
So in the past year, she had just been herself and didn't care what others said.
This year, although her work went smoothly, the office politics were complicated, and she wasn't very happy.
Becoming a news anchor was just to fulfill a childhood dream of hers. It wasn't as if she would have no means of survival if she left here.
On the contrary, she had a wide range of interests and many skills, each of which was sufficient to support her for the rest of her life.
Not to mention anything else, just the annual dividend from QUEEN was enough to make her financially independent long ago.
Jiang Ciyou didn't know what Xia Ling's purpose was for coming here, but she was already tired of competing with her.
Maybe it would be a good idea to leave this place.
At nine o'clock, everyone went to the conference room for a meeting.
Jiang Ciyou was not only a host but also a news reporter.
Tang Fei said, "Sister Lin will complete the handover in a week and leave the TV station, so within a week, we must decide on the prime - time host position."
Vivian said, "Director, I think Xia Ling is quite suitable. I just saw the footage of her working at BNC. I didn't expect her to be so excellent. She also served as an international - related host at BNC on a temporary basis, and she was fluent in switching between Chinese and English, and her hosting was very professional."
Tang Fei smiled and said, "Xia Ling is very good, but this position was originally intended for Ciyou. After all, she has the most advertising contracts on her and is the most popular."
"Our news department is not the advertising department. What we look at is solid professional ability. If we just compare who has the most advertisements on them, in the future, everyone will focus on how to curry favor with sponsors instead of doing news."
When Vivian said "curry favor with sponsors", she emphasized it quite a bit.
It was obvious who she was taking a dig at.
Jiang Ciyou tossed her hair casually, looking unconcerned: "The day before yesterday, I attended a business banquet of Tianheng Group. I heard their employees talking about it. They said that there was a girl with single - fold eyelids in our TV station who went to see Mr. Li every day. Mrs. Li saw that girl sitting on Mr. Li's lap and calling him daddy. Mrs. Li slapped her right away. Now Mr. and Mrs. Li are getting divorced. I'm really curious. Is there really such a person in our TV station?"
Vivian's face immediately fell.
She stood up angrily and said, "Jiang Ciyou, don't spread false rumors."
Jiang Ciyou smiled: "I didn't say it was you either. The TV station is so big, and there are more than one girl with single - fold eyelids."
"I just think what you said is very right. One should focus on doing news. Things like looking for sponsors are very risky. Mrs. Li is a well - known shrew in Rongcheng. Once, the secretary of Tianheng Group seduced Mr. Li and was directly stripped of her clothes and thrown into the mall by her. Coincidentally, at the last business dinner, I added Mrs. Li's WeChat. Yesterday, she was still asking me about the girl with single - fold eyelids …"
Vivian's expression gradually changed from anger to panic: "What did you tell her …"
Just this one question exposed Vivian's little secret.
Everyone had different expressions in their eyes.
But at this moment, Vivian couldn't care less.
She knew Mrs. Li's methods. Fortunately, she ran away quickly with her face covered last time, and Mrs. Li didn't see her clearly.
But she didn't expect that Mrs. Li remembered her single - fold eyelid feature.
Jiang Ciyou looked at Vivian with a smile.
Just when Vivian was about to be consumed by fear, Jiang Ciyou slowly said: "This is related to the reputation of our TV station. I haven't replied yet because I haven't investigated clearly. I had actually forgotten about this matter. It was just that I remembered it again when I heard you mention the topic of sponsors just now."
Vivian felt relieved in her heart.
At this moment, the look she gave Jiang Ciyou was full of wariness.
Jiang Ciyou was really calculating. She knew that Mrs. Li was inquiring about her but didn't tell her and even used it as a threat.
But now she was completely helpless.
Vivian reluctantly sat back in her seat and didn't dare to say another word.