"..." Sensing the silence from the other party, Shen Nian slowly raised her head, glancing at the document in the hand of the employee who had just spoken, and said, "Revise this proposal within an hour, then bring it back to me."
"..."
After being reprimanded, several employees left with bitter expressions.
An hour later, they silently returned with the revised proposal. When they were still dozens of meters away from Shen Nian's desk, they couldn't bring themselves to take another step forward.
Glancing at Jiang Lingling, who was busy working diligently not far away, one employee's eyes rolled around for a moment before lighting up. They quietly walked over to her.
"Lingling."
Hearing someone call her name, Jiang Lingling looked up and saw the person approaching, blinking in confusion. "Sister Tong, is something the matter?"
Ye Xiaotong gave Jiang Lingling a friendly smile. "It's like this..."
She explained in great detail how Shen Nian had just reprimanded her.
"...That's the situation. Now I've revised the proposal, but I'm not sure if it's correct. Do you think you could... help me deliver it?" Ye Xiaotong asked tentatively.
"Me?" Jiang Lingling pointed to herself, feeling a bit embarrassed. "That doesn't seem right. I wasn't involved in your project."
"It shouldn't be a big deal. Mainly because Assistant Shen is so nice to you. Even if there are problems with the proposal, she won't scold you. She might guide you to revise it or just fix it herself..."
It was common knowledge throughout the company that Shen Nian was particularly kind to Jiang Lingling.
"Lingling, how has Sister Tong treated you in the past? Not badly, right? This proposal gave me such a headache to revise, and now I'm really nervous..."
As an employee who had only become a full-time staff member a few months ago, Jiang Lingling remembered how everyone had been very friendly to her during her internship.
After a moment's thought, she nodded. "Alright then. I'll help you deliver it."
Ye Xiaotong was overjoyed. "Thank you, dear! If we get through this, I'll treat you to dinner tonight!"
Jiang Lingling took the revised proposal to find Shen Nian.
"Assistant Shen."
Hearing the familiar voice, Shen Nian looked up and saw Jiang Lingling. She frowned slightly.
"Why are you here?"
Jiang Lingling grinned sheepishly. "Sister Tong was afraid to bring the revised proposal herself, so she asked me to help."
Normally, this would have been a small matter. Shen Nian wouldn't usually make a big deal out of such things, and had even helped Jiang Lingling deliver things several times before.
But this time...
Her frown deepened as she looked at Jiang Lingling coldly, her voice cool and detached.
"The moment you agreed to help someone else, you were prepared to bear the consequences for them, weren't you?"
"Huh?" Jiang Lingling looked bewildered.
"Jiang Lingling." Shen Nian called her full name seriously and sternly. "You weren't involved in this project, yet you're helping deliver the proposal. That means you're prepared to be reprimanded by me, right?"
"..." Jiang Lingling was still stunned.
"Very well." Shen Nian nodded and tapped the desk. "Bring the proposal here."
Shen Nian had always been gentle with Jiang Lingling, so this was the first time she had spoken to her so harshly. Jiang Lingling was in a daze. When Shen Nian told her to bring the proposal over, she numbly placed it on the desk.
Shen Nian quickly flipped through it, and then...
She flung the documents to the floor. "Did you really revise this? What on earth did you change?!"
For the next half hour, Jiang Lingling, who had kindly helped deliver the document, and Ye Xiaotong were both reprimanded so severely by Shen Nian that they couldn't even lift their heads.
Finally escaping from Shen Nian's office, Ye Xiaotong clutched the proposal, feeling both miserable and dejected.
"This is the first time I've felt that Assistant Shen could be so harsh when scolding people."
Perhaps they had become too accustomed to Shen Nian's smiles, so much so that they had forgotten that she was the only person who had been with Lu Lingchuan from the very beginning, building the company from nothing, and was his most trusted right-hand.
"Lingling, don't you think Assistant Shen has been acting a lot like President Lu these past few days?"
Maybe it was just their imagination, but they felt that Shen Nian now resembled Lu Lingchuan quite a bit.
Whether it was her aura at first glance or the intensity with which she had just reprimanded them, it was just like President Lu.
It was the first time Jiang Lingling had been scolded like this. While feeling upset, she was more worried.
She couldn't shake the feeling that Sister Nian had become a different person. She hadn't been like this before.
...
After a busy day at the company, Shen Nian had originally planned to work overtime. It wasn't until her phone alarm reminded her that it was time to leave that she looked up from her work.
Turning off the alarm, she vaguely remembered that Xiao Mubai had asked her out for dinner today, so she couldn't work late after all.
Checking the work currently at hand, she realized this project was substantial and couldn't be dealt with in just a few days. There was no need to rush.
She had already accomplished quite a bit today.
After organizing her things, she opened the locked drawer beside her, put everything inside, locked it, and tossed the key into her bag. She turned off the computer and other devices, then got up to leave.
By this time, most people had already left. Shen Nian entered the elevator and exited the company building. As she was descending the steps at the entrance, she spotted Jiang Lingling in the distance, bored and drawing on the ground near a stone pillar at the street corner.
Jiang Lingling was crouched there, idly drawing and waiting, until she heard the sound of high heels. She suddenly looked up, saw Shen Nian, and her eyes lit up. Immediately dropping the small pebble she had been using to draw, she ran over.
"Sister Nian!"
Compared to Jiang Lingling's excitement, Shen Nian appeared much calmer. "Why haven't you gone home yet? It's so late."
"I was waiting for you," Jiang Lingling replied.
"Waiting for me?" She frowned. "Is something the matter?"
Her voice was still cool, and she seemed much colder than before, completely different from how she used to be.
The smile on Jiang Lingling's face slowly faded, replaced by a cautious expression. "Did I upset you today... Sister Nian, I'm sorry. Please don't be angry with me."
"..." Shen Nian scrutinized Jiang Lingling, who was now looking down and fidgeting with the strap of her bag, clearly very uneasy.
"You don't need to apologize to me," Shen Nian said. "You've let yourself down, not anyone else."
"?" Jiang Lingling looked up.
"You weren't involved in that project, so you didn't need to deliver the proposal. I know Ye Xiaotong asked you to help, but some favors you can do, and others you can't. You didn't know whether her proposal was good or bad, so what made you confident enough to deliver it thinking I wouldn't scold you?"
"..." Jiang Lingling silently lowered her head again, fiddling with her clothes. Her voice was soft as she said, "It's because Nian, you've often helped me before, and then Tong asked me to do this, so that's why..."
"Before I help you deliver anything, I always check it over myself first. I only deliver it once I'm sure there are no issues. Of course, when I agree to help you, I'm also prepared to face any consequences on your behalf."
