Tang Nannan arrived at the office at seven thirty in the morning, as usual.
She planned to familiarize herself with the day’s work in advance, then make a steaming cup of coffee for CEO Ma to kick off the workday.
However, as soon as she sat down at her desk, CEO Ma, flanked by several senior executives, approached with stern expressions and an imposing demeanor.
“What is the situation on their end?”
“It’s already been reported, and there’s no chance for correction. We’re in big trouble this time.”
As they spoke, they arrived in front of Tang Nannan.
Tang Nannan’s desk was located just outside CEO Ma’s office. While using her fingerprint to unlock her office door, CEO Ma instructed her.
“Immediately summon all personnel involved in the Tianxing project for a meeting. Everyone must be here within ten minutes, quickly.”
Not knowing what had happened, but seeing how nervous the leaders were first thing in the morning, Tang Nannan dared not slack.
She quickly called everyone who had participated in the Tianxing project, urging them to go to the conference room.
Ten minutes later, the meeting began before everyone had arrived.
CEO Ma, standing at the head of the table, slammed the project proposal onto the desk in anger and scanned everyone present.
“Take a look, everyone, and give me a reasonable explanation. What happened? I pay all of you, a bunch of people, and you’re all just useless lumps?”
“To do work like this, and you still have the nerve to come to me every few days to discuss salary increases. What do you take me for? A fool?”
Berated harshly first thing in the morning, no one dared to make a sound.
The Vice President of Sales, closest to CEO Ma’s position, picked up the project proposal and flipped through it after hearing her rant. He quickly found the loophole.
“This project proposal has gone through the entire process from start to finish. Logically, there shouldn’t be any problems…”
CEO Ma interrupted him: “Spare me the nonsense. What do you mean, ‘logically there shouldn’t be any problems’? The problem has already occurred. Can you say something constructive?”
The Vice President of Sales said: “What I mean is, since the entire process has been completed and no one noticed any issues from beginning to end, it’s possible that one or two individuals are incompetent, but it’s unlikely that the entire company from start to finish is. Could it be…”
His implication was that since you stamped and signed it, you couldn’t possibly be incompetent yourself, could you?
Why did no one notice the problem? Could it be that someone within the company was acting maliciously, replacing the correct project proposal at the last moment?
Everyone understood his implied meaning, and CEO Ma heard it clearly.
She lifted her chin and said to the Vice President of Sales.
“Since you suspect internal sabotage, then review it from beginning to end. Identify the person responsible for each process and have them come out to explain to me.”
Soon, the people responsible for the initial few processes were identified.
When they reached the CEO’s office, he discovered that for such a large project, the stamp wasn’t personally signed and affixed by CEO Ma. Instead, it went through a special procedure, using the special “special matter special handling” stamp from the CEO’s office.
This meant that this matter had bypassed CEO Ma, and Tang Nannan had directly made the decision.
Everyone was shocked that a newcomer who had been with the company for less than a month dared to make such a significant decision.
All eyes turned to Tang Nannan with confusion. Despite her heart pounding, she elegantly stood up to explain to everyone.
“The situation is this, I can explain…”
Four days ago, the project proposal was sent to the CEO’s office by the person in charge of the final quality inspection process for CEO Ma’s review.
At that time, CEO Ma was on a business trip to Jiangcheng, so the project proposal sat on Tang Nannan’s desk for two days.
Later, due to the client’s tight deadline, many processes could not be delayed further. The sales and production departments jointly came to urge for progress, and Tang Nannan called CEO Ma.
CEO Ma had a video conference with Tang Nannan, asking her to read the project proposal’s contents item by item to confirm its accuracy.
Afterward, she instructed Tang Nannan to follow the special matter special handling procedure.
If not for her mentioning it, how would Tang Nannan, a newcomer with no one to guide her, know about the special matter special handling? And how would she obtain the special matter special handling stamp?
That stamp was clearly locked away with the finance manager.
Before she could even finish her explanation, CEO Ma slammed her phone onto the conference table with a “bang,” glaring at Tang Nannan with fury.
“How dare you, a newcomer who hasn’t even passed probation, make such a big decision behind my back. Tang Nannan, are you out of your mind?”
Tang Nannan was momentarily stunned.
Ever since leaving the hospital that day, CEO Ma’s attitude towards her had been one of utmost respect.
Tang Nannan wasn’t greedy and thought she could gain enough experience in three to five months to find a better job, so she remained dedicated to her work every day.
But what was going on today?
CEO Ma didn't give her a chance to explain; was she trying to deny the video conference from that day?
With such a major project issue, did she want to deny her own responsibility and make Tang Nannan bear the consequences alone?
The mistake was too great, and the amount involved too large, for Tang Nannan to be solely responsible.
CEO Ma might have amnesia, but surely the finance manager who personally gave her the stamp couldn’t have amnesia as well.
So, after CEO Ma finished her scolding, Tang Nannan tidied her thoughts and prepared to speak again.
However, as soon as she uttered CEO Ma’s name, she was interrupted with a furious shout.
“Don’t say anything else, report the situation! It’s not too late yet, let’s salvage as much loss as possible!”
“Tang Nannan, come to my office after the meeting. You will explain to me clearly why you had such audacity!”
With nothing else for the rest, everyone dispersed like startled birds.
As everyone left, Tang Nannan finally understood what was happening.
Hu Jiasheng had hit her face so hard at the hospital, yet she still greeted her with a smile.
She had initially thought it was out of respect for Mrs. Gao and Hu Jiasheng that she had to keep her head down.
Now it seemed she had been too naive.
It turned out that CEO Ma had been waiting to strike with a devastating blow.
Revenge may be patient, but Tang Nannan finally understood that saying today.
However, what she hadn’t done, she hadn’t done. No matter how meticulously CEO Ma planned, she would not admit to it.
As their eyes met, CEO Ma put away her previous fury and panic, replacing them with a sinister smile.
“I am 42 years old this year, and I have been navigating the workplace for a full 20 years. You are the first person to cause me such significant trouble.”
“For a young girl like you, I apologized, made concessions, and treated you kindly. Tang Nannan, do you know how I feel inside?”
Tang Nannan answered a question that wasn’t asked.
“So, you would rather lose such a massive project just to deal with me. Is it worth trading tens of millions to make a small figure like me bow and admit fault?”
CEO Ma sneered.
“Whether it’s worth it or not is for me to decide, not you. You just need to remember that you are finished this time, completely finished for life.”
“Misappropriation of public funds, selling company secrets, colluding with rivals – it doesn’t matter who tries to protect you anymore.”