novelnext Chapter 107: Keep a low profile and bide your time
Chapter 107: Keep a low profile and bide your time
Chapter 106: Keep a low profile and bide your time
In the morning, Lin Chen went up to the ninth floor alone to report to Zhang Xincheng at the project office. The door to the project office was ajar. When he opened the door, Zhang Xincheng glanced at him and then looked away indifferently, without showing any intention of getting up to greet him.
Lin Chen felt a little uncomfortable, but he still stood in front of Zhang Xincheng and politely introduced himself: "Director Zhang, I'm here today to officially report for duty. Please give me your instructions."
Before coming, Lin Chen had mentally prepared himself. The project department was a place of trouble, and he didn't need to get too involved. Besides, Zhang Xincheng was not a good person. Anyway, he had just been promoted to deputy director and would definitely not have the opportunity to be promoted again for the next few years.
He decided to bide his time for two years, slack off and write novels, outlast Zhang Xincheng, and then he would rule the world.
Zhang Xincheng slowly stood up, a seemingly kind smile on his face, but his words were laced with sarcasm: "You're here, you've come! I've been suggesting to Director Song that we quickly assign a deputy director to our department, and I didn't expect it to actually work this time. Moreover, we have an expert like you here. Great! From now on, our project team won't have to worry about people saying that we're incompetent, pretending to know what we don't, or giving orders."
These words, ostensibly a compliment, were actually a veiled criticism of Lin Chen, implying that he was an outsider who didn't understand project management and was trying to interfere in the future.
Lin Chen was no longer a novice in the workplace. He had seen many such sarcastic performances and had already seen through their intentions by observing their expressions. However, he didn't care at all and smiled faintly, adopting an extremely humble attitude: "Director Zhang, you flatter me too much. In the past, I relied entirely on everyone's help in the office. This time, coming to the project department, I am really at a loss. There is still a lot to learn. I hope Director Zhang will not hesitate to teach me and give me more guidance. I will definitely cooperate with your work."
Old Zhang's smile deepened, but it was a wrinkled, stiff, and fake one, devoid of any sincerity. He stood up with a smile and shook hands with Lin Chen, his tone becoming increasingly polite, but actually laced with barbs: "Lin Chen, you're too modest. Everyone knows you're Director Song's favorite and an outstanding role model in the company. To be honest, my health is deteriorating year by year, and I'll be retiring in a few years. I won't be able to manage this project department much longer either. Sooner or later, this heavy responsibility will have to be handed over to you. I have high hopes for you."
Take these words with a grain of salt; believing them would be a death sentence. If Zhang Xincheng were willing to delegate authority and obey orders, Song Jiehui wouldn't have specifically brought him in to check and balance him. The project team is a murky place, and even Song Jiehui, a rich young man from the provincial capital, doesn't dare to give orders recklessly. After all, many local construction teams are involved in local shady dealings. For example, when a company in the East District was building a water tower, a group of young men would come and sabotage it every day before construction even started, claiming it affected their feng shui. You could call the police, but it wouldn't do any good. It's easy for them to steal your materials or smash your windows at night; you have to have some skills to handle it.
Lin Chen was quick-witted and immediately pretended to be stupid, deliberately putting on a surprised and humble expression: "Oh, Director Zhang, don't scare me. You're in great health. Actually, I had already thought it through before I came. I'm here to assist you. Anyway, I'll be your soldier from now on. You tell me where to go, and I'll do whatever you say. You say one, and I won't say two."
Zhang Xincheng hadn't expected Lin Chen to be so polite, which seemed completely out of character for him. He didn't know what this guy was up to, but still said calmly, "Lin Chen, that's too formal. Because you came in such a hurry, Director Song didn't inform me beforehand, so your office hasn't been prepared yet. How about you make do with the larger office for now?"
Lin Chen looked over in the direction he was referring to and saw that the former deputy director's office had been turned into a storage room. It was filled with old reports and damaged folders, covered with a thin layer of dust. There were two cobwebs in the corner next to it, and a stack of discarded tender documents, half a person's height, was piled on top of the filing cabinet.
Nowadays, most of the company's deputy directors have their own private offices, which is a symbol of leadership. Saying that they didn't have time to clean it is definitely intentional. After all, Lin Chen's appointment and dismissal notices were posted at the company entrance for seven days. They could have just asked a cleaning lady to tidy it up. This is clearly a way of giving Lin Chen a hard time.
Lin Chen remained calm and composed, saying casually, "It's alright, I can pack it myself, there's not much stuff."
After saying that, Lin Chen put down his things, went to the bathroom to find a rag and a bucket, and quietly started cleaning. He wiped the table, removed the dust, and put away the clutter. His movements were quick and efficient, and he didn't utter a sound the whole time.
Lin Chen's thoughts were simple: he had finally managed to get an office all to himself, so why would he want to squeeze into an office with everyone else? The key point was that if Lin Chen went there, it would be difficult to move later.
We absolutely cannot give in to him on this matter. What's wrong with cleaning it up ourselves?
You old codger, let's see when you die.
The other four members of the project team were all secretly observing Lin Chen, their faces filled with astonishment. In the eyes of everyone in the company, Lin Chen was a hothead, quick to explode and quick to criticize anyone he disliked. It was truly unexpected that he could swallow this insult and even personally clean up. Besides Zhang Xincheng, the remaining four members of the project team were two men and two women, listed in order of age as Liu Guangwei, Zhang Shuyi, and Peng Gaoqi.
Qiao Guifang usually addresses people casually, calling the younger ones Xiao Liu or Xiao Zhang, and the older ones Lao Peng or Lao Qiao, presumably following Zhang Xincheng's nickname "Lao Zhang". The four of them huddled together, whispering among themselves.
Old Qiao sighed softly, "Lin Chen is quite composed. Anyone else would have lost their temper long ago. He even cleaned up himself. I really misunderstood him before, thinking he was just an impulsive and reckless person."
Xiao Liu curled his lip: "Maybe they gave in to Lao Zhang's tyranny. Who in this project team isn't afraid of Lao Zhang?"
Old Peng looked disappointed: "I thought I was going to see a good show, but it was really boring."
Xiao Zhang chimed in, "What are you thinking? In this project team, who dares to challenge Lao Zhang? That's just asking for trouble."
Just as Lin Chen finished tidying up and sat down, wanting to rest for a while, Zhang Xincheng placed a thick stack of old project ledgers on his desk: "Lin Chen, this is the ledger of all the technical renovation projects of our project department in the past five years. Take a look at it and check if there are any errors, okay?"
This arrangement, which claims to be about familiarizing Lin Chen with the business, is clearly meant to have Lin Chen help him check and organize documents. This is something that a deputy director shouldn't be doing at all; this arrangement is a bit excessive.
Lin Chen didn't shirk responsibility at all, nodded and said calmly, "Okay, I understand." He knew that in Xinhai Group, as long as his attitude was good, no one could find fault with him. If Zhang Xincheng asked him to do something, he would do it. If he didn't do it well, it was a problem with his ability; if he didn't do it, it was a problem with his attitude. He deliberately didn't give him a chance to find fault and took on all the work peacefully. However, Lin Chen wouldn't check anything.
A hint of surprise flashed in Zhang Xincheng's eyes. He hadn't expected him to agree so readily, and he felt even more upset. He had wanted to make things difficult for him and make him lose his temper, and then he would tell Song Jiehui that Lin Chen wouldn't accept his arrangements.
Lin Chen didn't go home at noon; he rested at the company. Zhang Xincheng was nowhere to be seen. Xiao Liu, Liu Guangwei, sneaked in, holding a mouse pad in his hand: "Director Lin, I saw you didn't have a mouse pad, so I brought you one."
Lin Chen knew a bit about this Xiao Liu, after all, he often heard Song Qiuyu gossip about him in the office. This person was indeed not old, only 28 years old, and had been working for 6 years, but was still an ordinary class member, and had not even become a specialist.
Logically speaking, he is a pretty good person. Although he is not as good-looking as Lin Chen, he is still quite handsome and has a strong physique. He also graduated from a well-known hydropower school in China.
Logically speaking, at his age, having worked in the project department for so many years, it shouldn't be difficult for him to become a specialist. I heard that when he first came, he was quite arrogant, thinking he was so great. He also spoke without restraint, always complaining, which offended a lot of people.
Lin Chen stared at him, unsure of his purpose, and smiled as she thanked him, "Thank you, Xiao Liu."
The young man, Liu, said very kindly, "Director Lin, you're new here and not familiar with our department. If you need anything, just let me know."
Lin Chen was quite surprised to hear this. Was this guy here to surrender?
"No need." Although Lin Chen really wanted to hand over the ledgers to him, he thought better of it. He did need to understand some of the department's projects over the past few years and sort out his future work ideas. Besides, Lin Chen wasn't sure he could trust this Xiao Liu. At Xinhai Company, Lin Chen only dared to trust the women he had slept with.
Hearing Lin Chen's answer, Xiao Liu seemed a little unwilling. Looking around and seeing that none of her colleagues were there, she suddenly whispered, "Director Lin, it's not that we don't want to clean your office, it's just that Lao Zhang won't let us."
Sure enough, this guy is a chatterbox. How could you just come here and say something like that?
Lin Chen: "It's nothing, a small matter. I can easily tidy it up myself."
Xiao Liu looked at Lin Chen, who seemed to have no emotion, and his expression was a bit conflicted. In the end, he still walked out. Actually, Xiao Liu had a reason for doing this today.
He knew he had a bad reputation at the company, so he wanted to change it. In fact, he was already changing, working hard, talking as little as possible, and using his achievements to change other people's impressions.
But reality is cruel, because once someone leaves a bad impression on their boss in a company or organization, especially if they are talkative, it is almost impossible to change that impression.
Because your superiors already view you with prejudice, even if you have reformed, they still don't trust you and always feel that one day you will treat them as gossip.
In the following days, Zhang Xincheng's harassment intensified, finding all sorts of ways to make things difficult for Lin Chen. He would either dump the task of proofreading the tender documents on him, deliberately ask him tricky questions about the details of old projects in public at project meetings, or arrange for him to liaise with the most difficult construction teams.
No matter how much Zhang Xincheng tried to provoke him, Lin Chen remained completely compliant, never refusing and silently completing the task without a single complaint. Zhang Xincheng had intended to provoke him, to make him reveal his impatient nature, or to force him to complain to Song Jiehui, so that he could find fault with him for being immature and unable to handle things. However, every time he tried to make things difficult for him, it was like hitting cotton, and all his efforts were neutralized.
Lin Chen remained calm and composed, saying only, "I'll listen to Director Zhang." What's even more remarkable is that Lin Chen not only obeyed but also reported everything to Zhang Xincheng. He consulted Zhang Xincheng on everything, big or small. He would tell him if there was no toilet paper or if the printer was broken. He would even call Zhang Xincheng in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep while writing his novel to finalize the next day's project details.
Zhang Xincheng was completely exhausted by Lin Chen. At his age, he already had little energy and poor sleep quality. Lin Chen's constant reporting and requests for instructions at all times were making him suffer terribly.
He wanted to lash out, but Lin Chen's attitude was upright, and he consulted Lin Chen on everything. He couldn't find any fault with Lin Chen, so he had no reason to lash out and could only keep his anger inside.
As the days went by, Zhang Xincheng watched Lin Chen go to get off work on time every day, work diligently and unhurriedly, while he himself couldn't stand it anymore. He became irritable and easily agitated, and his blood pressure even rose significantly.
Lin Chen watched all this with a smug look on his face. "You old codger."