The meeting concluded, and everyone returned to their workstations. The female colleagues sent messages in the group chat without Tong An'an, complaining.
“It’s different when you have connections. She was the one who sent me the wrong version, wanting to embarrass me in front of President Jiang, and deliberately invited him to the meeting. She’s got a lot of nerve!”
“She usually acts like a fragile little flower, I never realized she was so calculating! I’m truly amazed. We’re colleagues in the same team, what benefit would she get from me being embarrassed?”
Where there are many women, there is bound to be gossip. Among a group of women who thought highly of themselves, Tong An'an wasn't good at navigating social dynamics, yet she happened to have such a good boyfriend.
To be honest, except for Anna, no one wasn't jealous.
Everyone preferred to believe the female colleague’s words rather than hers.
They started discussing.
“Oh? Is that how it is? President Jiang openly protecting her, how disgraceful!”
“What’s so great about her anyway? You think rich men are all like that? After indulging in too many delicate pastries, they want to try something unappetizing just for a change of taste? Otherwise, why would he fall for her?”
“I think it’s just for a change of taste, and it won’t last long. What kind of family is the Zhan family? For someone like her to want to marry into it is just wishful thinking.”
“Should we guess how long President Jiang will be interested in her?”
The crowd maliciously started a poll in the group chat.
Some voted for a month, some for two months, and some said three months at most.
While they were chatting, the supervisor walked in again, clapped her hands, and signaled for everyone to be quiet.
“I have a temporary announcement for everyone. Anna’s team went to Shenzhen to attend a technology exhibition and encountered some unforeseen circumstances.”
“Except for Anna, the other three colleagues suffered severe acclimatization issues and were all admitted to the hospital. She’s now overwhelmed trying to manage everything alone and can’t spare any time.”
“I just received the news, and we need to urgently dispatch personnel. If anyone’s work is not urgent and can be postponed, please volunteer. Hurry up. We need to leave immediately.”
Is there such a thing? Severe acclimatization issues that landed them in the hospital?
Nancheng is a northern city, more than a thousand kilometers away from Shenzhen. The huge north-south difference meant anyone could experience acclimatization issues.
These were all pampered daughters of wealthy families, and none of them wanted to go upon hearing about the illness.
Crucially, the most important point was that none of them liked working with Anna.
Anna had the wealthiest family among this group.
Her parents were senior executives in large corporations, and her brother owned his own company.
It was rumored that their family owned half a street's worth of houses, cars, shops, and villas combined.
While not considered super-rich in a city like Nancheng, which had hidden talents, they were definitely a well-off family.
Anna came to work here purely to pass the time. She disdained engaging in office politics or putting on a show.
She worked on time and left after work, having a rather unyielding personality. She didn't even show much respect to the supervisor, so a considerable number of people couldn't accept her straightforwardness.
On the contrary, Tong An'an was quite close to her.
After the supervisor finished speaking, no one volunteered. They all made excuses.
“I can’t. My work is very pressing, and I work overtime every night. Clients are constantly asking for updates. Several product templates haven't been finalized, and I have to go to the factory later to urge them for progress.”
“It’s not possible for me either.”
“Not for me either.”
Suddenly, someone sarcastically said, “Oh, An’an should be fine. After all, there are three people in our project team, so her absence won’t make much of a difference.”
“Besides, she’s usually quite close to Anna, isn’t she? A good sister should step up in times of need.”
The supervisor cast a hopeful gaze towards Tong An'an.
Tong An'an immediately stood up, “I can go.”
“It’s just that I don’t have much experience. I’m afraid I won’t be much help.”
Knowing she was President Jiang’s official girlfriend, the supervisor was very polite to her now, not daring to proactively ask her to go on a business trip.
Politely, she said, “How about this, An’an, come to my office with me.”
Tong An'an followed him to the office, where the supervisor politely asked her to sit.
He first inquired about her recent life and then about her work. Then he said,
“As you can see, we are really short-handed and can’t spare anyone. If you were to go on this business trip, President Jiang’s side…”
After much hesitation, it turned out he was afraid of upsetting Jiang Jingyu.
Tong An'an said, “It’s okay, he’ll understand.”
“This departure is immediate, so you might not have time to prepare. Would you like to inform President Jiang first?”
Tong An'an also wanted to take this opportunity to relax and, to ease the supervisor’s mind, called Jiang Nan Jingyu in front of him.
Jiang Jingyu was quite happy to receive her call unexpectedly.
However, he became a little worried when he heard Tong An'an say she was going on a business trip.
“Do you need me to assign more staff to your department? After all, it’s over 1000 kilometers away, and there are significant differences in climate and other factors. What if you can’t handle it?”
Tong An'an interrupted him, “Anna can do it, so why can’t I? I’m not a delicate flower in a greenhouse, am I?”
Hearing her genuine and spirited words for the first time today, Jiang Jingyu finally felt a bit happier.
“It seems you really want to go. Alright, I’ll have Zhang Yang book your flight and take you to the airport.”
“No need, I can manage myself.”
“I’m not at ease. If you refuse again, I’ll personally take you.”
The supervisor felt awkward, hearing their ambiguous phone call. He politely escorted Tong An'an out.
Soon, Zhang Yang came down to pick up Tong An'an.
“President Jiang has a very important meeting shortly, otherwise, he would have wanted to accompany you personally. Miss Tong, please don’t be upset.”
Seeing her being escorted out of the office like an empress by Zhang Yang, several female colleagues angrily threw their pens down.
What a disgrace!
After more than four hours of flight and various transfers, Tong An'an finally met Anna in Shenzhen as it got dark.
She had to leave in a hurry and didn’t bring any clothes or makeup. Fortunately, Anna had brought plenty, so they could share clothes and use things together.
None of this was important. Anna hurriedly explained the products in her hands to Tong An'an, helping her familiarize herself with them, and then shared sales experiences.
They worked almost all night, and the next morning, they rushed to the exhibition center.
Jiang Jingyu calculated the time and sent her a message, estimating when her flight would land. Tong An'an replied that she had arrived.
Later, when he messaged again, her replies were always delayed.
She was eating, looking at materials, and studying.
Her last reply was past one in the morning.
Jiang Jingyu was really worried about her health and hadn’t slept well all night.
The next morning, he messaged her again, but the two girls were in a hurry, needing to change clothes, do makeup, and confirm documents, so they had no time to check their phones.
After breakfast, they rushed to the exhibition center.
The International Science and Technology Exhibition had a large flow of people. Many self-media bloggers, tech influencers, and radio reporters would approach them for inquiries, take videos, and ask for explanations.