Transmigrating Into the Beautiful CEO’s Doomed Substitute - Chapter 55

The autumn in Haicheng is short and changeable, often shifting from summer to early winter within a single day. Qi Zheng had been feeling a bit tired recently, often staying up past midnight to study her textbooks.

Shen Zhibing had been staying at Yunlu Garden recently, but had no intention of calling Aunt Xin back. At first, Aunt Xin thought the two were having a disagreement, but Shen Zhibing never mentioned changing Qi Zheng’s treatment, and Qi Zheng also didn’t change her expression when Shen Zong was mentioned. Everything remained unusually normal.

No matter how easygoing Qi Zheng was, she was ultimately a half-mistress, and Aunt Xin naturally couldn’t ask what she did after returning to her room after dinner. But seeing her face look a little off and noticing a slight cough these past two days made Aunt Xin worry.

Qi Zheng was drinking porridge; she felt a bit of a sore throat today, so she skipped the fried dough sticks.

Aunt Xin asked with concern, “Miss Qi, are you feeling unwell?”

“Mmm, my throat is itchy and a little painful.”

“Is it from internal heat or catching a cold?”

Qi Zheng couldn’t quite tell and just said, “It’s okay, I’ll just drink more water, and it will go down.”

After saying that, she coughed a few times.

Aunt Xin asked if she wanted to see a doctor, but Qi Zheng smiled and waved her hand, “It’s really nothing serious, it was often like this when I was at school.”

Shen Zhibing had also arranged a doctor for this villa, but the resources were not shared with the Shen family’s resources, as she didn’t want her family to know who was living there.

“If you need anything, please tell me anytime.” Although Aunt Xin was a little worried, she didn’t force the issue.

Forcing someone to see a doctor is indeed not a good thing.

When Qi Zheng arrived at the office, she found that everyone else was gone, and she was the only one there. She flipped through the memo, and there were no special meetings this morning. Had she forgotten?

Yun Fei walked in quickly from outside, saw Qi Zheng, and quickly waved, “Xiao Qi, quickly print out the business analysis reports for the past five years for the Miancheng and Liucheng branches.”

Lately, they had mainly been organizing and analyzing the information for these two branches, which were indeed the poorest performers among the poor.

Qi Zheng handed the still-warm reports from the printer to Yun Fei, and heard her say, “The heads of these two branches came this morning and were temporarily called into a meeting by Shen Zong. You hurry up and prepare the other data later in case Shen Zong needs it.”

Qi Zheng nodded to show she understood. Seeing Yun Fei’s grave expression, she asked, “Did Shen Zong lose her temper?”

“Not quite losing her temper, but her face is bad, even worse than mine.” Yun Fei pointed to herself before leaving, and it was indeed not good.

Qi Zheng imagined Shen Zhibing’s cold face, and suddenly thought of the feelings of the two branch managers, and actually laughed.

Being given the cold shoulder by Shen Zong was better than being scolded by her a few times.

Qi Zheng opened her computer and organized the data according to Yun Fei’s request, occasionally coughing softly. Her throat had been uncomfortable yesterday, and it was even more apparent when she woke up today. She planned to go to the pharmacy when she got off work, just as long as she didn’t alarm Shen Zhibing.

Her relationship with Shen Zhibing was much better than in the past, but it was far from the point where she could openly use Shen Zong’s resources. The reason she hadn’t mentioned moving out was because Shen Zhibing had said that before the contract was terminated, she had to live there according to the agreement.

She had been made a permanent employee, and her salary and bonus had significantly increased compared to when she first started. The second installment of the bonus for the Yongfeng project had also arrived. When she first saw the balance, she thought she was seeing things.

Although the Shen Group was very generous, she was still shocked by the amount of 120,000.

She had asked Shen Zhibing if it was a bit exaggerated to give an intern a bonus of 120,000, as she was just an intern.

Shen Zhibing looked at her and said earnestly, “The company values ability, and in the face of ability, seniority is only secondary. You have genuinely created profit for the company, so you are qualified to take this money.”

Qi Zheng specially opened a new bank card and transferred a sum every month when her salary was paid. With this bonus, the account balance immediately became much healthier.

In this light, the seven-figure penalty for breach of contract was no longer so unattainable. Qi Zheng was full of anticipation; once she achieved results in the sprint team, the bonus would certainly be no less than this.

The Shen Group was indeed a place that gave people hope, and Qi Zheng, for the first time, had the idea of wanting to work here long-term.

Halfway through, Shen Zhibing returned to the office once, but she was walking fast and looked like she was suppressing anger. Apart from the secretaries, no one dared to talk to her, but she came and went in a hurry, and soon left again with Yun Fei and Xin Jia.

According to the third secretary, Shen Zong had a long meeting in the afternoon, with the heads of the branches in the Yangtze River Delta region and the heads of relevant departments at the headquarters all present. It sounded like an accounting meeting. Yun Fei came to ask her for data several times. Fortunately, Qi Zheng was well-prepared and didn’t delay much.

During lunchtime, Qi Zheng didn’t have much of an appetite and felt a bit nauseous when she saw anything greasy. She picked out and ate the vegetables, then reluctantly swallowed a few mouthfuls of rice, and then completely lost her appetite. She went to the nearby store and bought a cup of coffee, which was warm and refreshing.

But in the afternoon, the coffee didn’t work either. Qi Zheng suddenly felt sleepy and started tearing up.

“Xiao Qi, why don’t you leave work early? You really don’t look well like this.”

Qi Zheng pulled out a tissue, covered her mouth and nose, and mumbled, “I haven’t finished this data yet.”

“Shen Zong has been in the meeting for so long, and Sister Yun Fei hasn’t come out to ask for more materials, so the problem shouldn’t be major. Give me the data, and if it’s really needed, I’ll handle it.”

The Shen Group doesn’t keep idlers, especially in a place like the secretarial office, where people work right under Shen Zhibing’s nose. Who dares to slack off? Everyone is basically working at full capacity, and if the pay wasn’t good, not everyone could handle this kind of pressure.

Qi Zheng shook her head, thanking the third secretary for her kindness. It was already very difficult for someone to take time and energy to help her share the workload.

But she wasn’t so weak that she couldn’t hold on, and it was only a little over two hours until she got off work. She went to wash her face with cold water and felt much more refreshed.

People were still coming and going in the secretarial office, mostly delivering or retrieving reports, which were mostly handled by the third secretary. Qi Zheng’s seat was somewhat concealed, and there were rumors that the secretarial office might add another junior secretary position with responsibilities similar to Qi Zheng’s.

Qi Zheng didn’t like to wander, but she always became the focus of discussion in various departments.

“The new position in the secretarial office will be released before the end of the year, I heard it from HR.”

“Didn’t they just hire one? And I heard her ability is quite good, why hire another?”

“Two possibilities: Shen Zong thinks it’s not enough; or Qi Zheng thinks it’s not enough.”

Everyone chewed on these words, suddenly realizing, and said in unison, “Damn, you really live up to being a philosophy major.”

Finally, with only fifteen minutes left before getting off work, Qi Zheng’s symptoms became more and more obvious. Fearing she would affect the third secretary’s work, she went to the restroom again.

When Shen Zhibing returned from the meeting, her face was so grim that the third secretary didn’t dare to speak first. Yun Fei gave her a look, signaling her to continue working.

Shen Zhibing glanced at the empty seat and asked, “Where is Qi Zheng?”

The third secretary replied, “She went to the restroom. Today she…”

Shen Zhibing continued walking toward her office and said coldly, “Tell her not to leave after work yet, wait for my call.”

Yun Fei followed her into the office. Xin Jia sat down at her desk to organize the meeting minutes for the day. The third secretary saw this, slid her chair closer, and whispered, “Did Shen Zong start a killing spree again today?”

“One by one, it feels like the knives are running out.”

“That exaggerated? Did she fire the branch people on the spot?”

Xin Jia frowned, looking down at the notes she took during the meeting, the memory of the situation still vivid.

“Not quite firing on the spot, but close. Shen Zong threw all those business data and analysis reports in front of them, pointing at each item, and cornering them so they couldn’t squeeze out a single word.”

The third secretary also generally understood the situation of those two branches and sighed, “The industries in these two cities are basically hollowed out, with only the elderly and children left, so it’s indeed hard to develop anything.”

Xin Jia started typing, “But these problems must be resolved, and they can’t blindly rely on the headquarters for understanding. They were given so many resources and budgets, and other branches are still sprinting to meet performance targets in the fourth quarter, while these two directly handed in a report of significant losses in advance. Who can endure that?”

It was indeed difficult, no wonder Shen Zong was so angry.

The heads of these two branches always came to the headquarters to complain about difficulties and ask for resources. But after they went back, there was no improvement, and they repeated the same strategy the following year, pouring out their grievances at the meeting and talking about how difficult things were.

Shen Zhibing couldn’t bear it anymore and directly stated at the meeting today, “The fourth quarter is the last chance. If the performance targets are still not met this year, these two old managers will be transferred to the Yongcheng and Shuncheng branches next year.”

They often used these two cities for comparison, saying that the conditions between the cities were too different, and customer management did indeed have varying levels of difficulty. Now it was their wish come true; they could go to the cities they thought had a natural advantage.

The third secretary was surprised, “They did so poorly, and they can still go to Yongcheng and Shuncheng?”

The Yongcheng branch had the contract with Huatian Water Conservancy this year, so their performance would certainly not be bad. Shuncheng had always been a top performer, having completed the annual target by the third quarter.

Xin Jia smiled, “To be a Deputy General Manager. Then we’ll see who can hold out.”

Either be given the power to be a second-in-command, or find another way out, and Shen Zhibing would smoothly regain the management rights of Miancheng and Liucheng.

After Qi Zheng returned, she heard that Shen Zong wanted her to wait, so she waited until it was time to leave. But Shen Zhibing was very busy, and Qi Zheng didn’t know if she still remembered the matter. Qi Zheng was coughing more and more frequently and felt very fatigued.

She turned off her computer and lay on her desk, wanting to send Shen Zhibing a message.

Yun Fei opened the door and came out, seeing her like this, and asked with concern, “Xiao Qi, why haven’t you left yet?”

Qi Zheng straightened up, blinking her reddened eyes, “Didn’t Shen Zong ask me to wait for her?”

Shen Zhibing was in a bad mood today. Although it was the poor performance of the two company managers at the meeting, her second uncle still protected them, otherwise, they could have been dealt with today.

Coming out of the office, she saw Qi Zheng and Yun Fei talking, and suddenly remembered her earlier instruction.

She had been a little angry when she saw Qi Zheng not at her seat working, but there was no urgent work that genuinely required her to stay and work overtime.

“Qi Zheng, walk with me.”

Qi Zheng stood up unsteadily, but she really didn’t have much strength.

She had eaten too little and had been working at high intensity all afternoon. She didn’t stand steady for a moment and almost fell.

Shen Zhibing reached out to steady her, “Are you sick?”

Qi Zheng had drunk a lot of water, but still felt thirsty, and her lips still looked dry.

From Shen Zhibing’s angle, she could see clearly, and she unexpectedly remembered the kiss that night.

“I’ll take you back.”

That evening, Shen Zhibing stayed at the villa. Qi Zheng was indeed sick. After taking medicine after dinner, she fell into a deep sleep. Shen Zhibing rarely went to her room, sitting by the bed and watching her for a while.

Her lips seemed to be a little more moisturized than when she was at the company, but still dry compared to normal.

Shen Zhibing reached out to trace them, then leaned over and gently kissed her.