Strongest Counterattack

Chapter 93 It’s Her Unexpectedly

No one had recovered from the shock yet. In fact, all of the people thought they must have heard wrong. Did Qin Sheng not become a full-fledged employee just a month ago? How did he get promoted to be a deputy manager after a month? His progress was rocket-speed. The candidates in the hearts of all the people in the department surely did not include Qin Sheng. It was no wonder that the expressions of the faces of those expectant candidates were ashen and disappointed. Their expressions were stark contrasts before and after the announcement. They were so stunned that there could recover from the shock for a good while.

This was especially true for Lyu Yuan, who was frozen in place. He was unable to accept this outcome. He had thought of all the possibilities, but never this. How long had Qin Sheng been in the reception department? Based on what conditions was he chosen? Lyu Yuan would have no complaints if it were other candidates who got chosen, but why was Qin Sheng chosen? Qin Sheng was supposedly his protege, how could he continue to lift his head high in the reception department from this point on?

Qin Sheng had expected that he would become a target for attacks after the announcement. Particularly, how was he going to face Lyu Yuan?

The unanimous reaction of the ma.s.ses was as Ms. An had expected. To ease the awkwardness, she braced herself and said, “Let us put our hands together to congratulate and welcome Qin Sheng, the new deputy manager of the reception department. It is hoped that all of us will give him our support in his new job.”

Qin Sheng taking up the role of the new deputy manager would definitely impact the other two existing deputy managers. w.a.n.g Haizhao for one was beyond furious. To him, Qin Sheng had only joined the reception department for a while and why should he be promoted to be the new deputy manager? He had been toiling for a long time before he was given this role. w.a.n.g Haizhao would have challenged the decision if not for Xu Lancheng being the one to make the announcement.

As for Yu Fengzhi, she did not seem to be surprised by the news. She had known from the beginning that Qin Sheng did not come to Shangshan Ruoshui to be a waiter. She was fully aware that becoming the deputy manager was only the beginning, and that there was a possibility that he would become the general manager one day. Nothing was impossible.

Xu Lancheng had also antic.i.p.ated such a response from the people, so he did not invite Qin Sheng up to the stage to give a speech. He knew it would very difficult for Qin Sheng to face the crowd, so he thought it would make sense to give them time to accept this fact. At the same time, he wanted to see how Qin Sheng would handle the situation.

After the meeting adjourned, Xu Lancheng was the first to leave. Ms. An walked up to Qin Sheng, patted his shoulder and said, “Work hard, Qin Sheng. Your future will stretch beyond Shangshan Ruoshui.”

Ms. An told herself that she had to accept the fact, just as she felt that Qin Sheng did not belong in Shangshan Ruoshui when they were first introduced. Even if she knew Qin Sheng was here to be gilded, she knew it would be wise for her to cooperate with Qin Sheng. That way, Qin Sheng would repay her for being supportive if he did well in the future.

“Thank you,” Qin Sheng said with a slight smile.

“Come to my office later. Let’s have a chat,” Ms. An said with a smile.

w.a.n.g Haichao could not bring himself to congratulate Qin Sheng, so he left straight after the meeting adjourned. Likewise, those waiters who were close to w.a.n.g Haichao followed suit.

Yu Fengzhi, on the other hand, did not think the fact that Qin Sheng was promoted to the deputy manager was going to have any effect on her. At the very least, she would gain addition allies and that would put w.a.n.g Haichao in check.

“Wow Qin Sheng, you are rising fast! Although I’m not totally surprised,” Yu Fengzhi teased.

Qin Sheng squinted and responded, “Really?”

“Let me buy you dinner someday when you are free,” Yu Fengzhi volunteered. Although there was some disagreement between them earlier on, Yu Fengzhi was determined to follow Qin Sheng closely from now on.

Qin Sheng said cheerily, “I would gladly go out with a beautiful lady like you anytime!”

Knowing that Qin Sheng would have to entertain the others, Yu Fengzhi excused herself. Thereafter, many of the waiters came up to Qin Sheng to congratulate Qin Sheng, including those who were potential candidates. Given that the decision was made, they had to play along and show their support, lest this new deputy manager gave them a hard time in the days to come.

After most of them took their turn to congratulate the new deputy manager, there were left only Lyu Yuan, Song Siyu and Tang Wan who was at the loss of how to react towards Qin Sheng. It was especially awkward for Lyu Yuan, none the less, he eventually forced himself to walk up to Qin Sheng.

“Let’s find somewhere quieter to have a chat, Brother Lyu?” Qin Sheng initiated the conversation before Lyu Yuan forced himself to say words of congratulations. Qin Sheng had already thought of a way to ease the awkward situation.

Lyu Yuan wanted to turn Qin Sheng down, but thought the better of it, lest he came across as being petty. After all, there were still many people who were waiting to see what would happen to them. Lyu Yuan had no choice but to agree to Qin Sheng.

Compared to Tang Wan, Song Siyu was a shrewd person, so she smiled and said, “Do take care of us, Manager Qin. Don’t let the others bully us!”

On the other hand, Tang Wan seemed a little frustrated. She thought the position of the deputy manager rightfully belonged to Brother Lyu, who was after all Qin Sheng’s mentor. She did not understand why it was given to Qin Sheng instead.

In the garden behind the Shangshan Ruoshui’s main building, Qin Sheng, who was not too bothered about Shangshan Ruoshui’s rules, handed Lyu Yuan a stick of cigarette and cut to the chase, saying, “Brother Lyu, you must be surprised?”

“Indeed I am, but I could kind of figure out. You’ve come to Shangshan Ruoshui out of the blue and became a full-fledged employee within half a month. You took so much leave, yet you are promoted to be the deputy manager. No one would believe that there wasn’t any story behind this,” Lyu Yuan said calmly, although he was still unable to accept the fact.

Qin Sheng gently responded, “Although you can understand the fact, that doesn’t mean you are able to accept it since you are one of the parties involved. After all, I have taken away what seemed rightfully yours.

“Didn’t w.a.n.g Haichao also take away my rightful position in the past, but I’ve moved on? Do I call it quits just because you became the manager? Where can I find another job that is relatively easy and pays this much with good welfare?” Lyu Yuan said with a chuckle.

Qin Sheng laughed and said, “That is true, but what you are saying also showed that you are more or less still upset.”

“I don’t even believe myself if I say I’m not upset. I’ve been your mentor, and I was the one who guided you all this while. Now that you’ve become the deputy manager, how am I going to face the others in Shangshan Ruohui? Wouldn’t the others think that I’ve problems with either my character or abilities, so much so I wasn’t chosen to be the deputy manager?” However, Lyu Yuan had no choice but to accept reality. After all, he had to work with Qin Sheng and he did not wish their relationship be awkward. On the other hand, he needed an outlet to vent his frustration, given he was not a hypocritical person.

“Hrm… this is more like the Brother Lyu I knew. If you were to still put on a smiley face at this moment, I’ll probably not treat you as a true friend. I don’t like treacherous people,” Qin Sheng said with a severe tone.

“How did you end up sounding the one who was wronged?” Lyu Yuan snorted.

“These things aside, Brother Lyu, let’s move on to something more concrete and realistic. You’ve been the one who nurtured me, and I know you’ve always treated me as your friend. I’ve done you wrong by taking what was rightfully yours,” Qin Sheng said, humbling himself. “However, just as you’ve said, the reason I joined Shangshan Ruoshui is different from the others. Moreover, I will not continue in Shangshan Ruoshui forever. Nevertheless, if everything goes as planned, I may end up becoming the general manager of Shangshan Ruoshui. Or I may leave before becoming the general manager. Let me a.s.sure you, however, that the position of the reception manager will be yours one day. If you do well, nothing is stopping you from becoming the deputy general manager.”

To Lyu Yuan, Qin Sheng’s words were more shocking than Xu Lancheng’s announcement earlier on for Qin Sheng’s promotion.

“Are you just teasing me?” Brother Lyu said, apparently agitated.

In a composed manner, Qin Sheng said, “Take it as me teasing you. You’ll understand after a while. Alright, I think that’s all, so let’s get back to work.”

Distinguishing his cigarette, Qin Sheng patted Lyu Yuan on his shoulder with a smile on his face and turned to leave. It was up to Lyu Yuan to believe what Qin Sheng said. This was the best Qin Sheng could do for him. Of course, Qin Sheng would retract his offer if Lyu Liang decided to oppose him at work.

Lyu Yuan’s feet were rooted to the floor. He had not recovered from the shock. He did not know if he could believe Qin Sheng’s words, but on the other hand, there was no reason for Qin Sheng to lie to him. He was quite sure Qin Sheng was not the kind of person to lie about this.

In Ms. An’s office, she and Qin Sheng were having a good long chat. Basically, they talked about Qin Sheng’s job scope as the new deputy manager. Through their conversation, Ms. An also hoped to establish a good relationship with Qin Sheng, to encourage Qin Sheng to continue to work diligently and accomplish great results.

The job of a deputy manager was definitely much tougher than that of a waiter. Apart from organizing work schedule, he also needed to entertain some important guests personally. In addition, he would have to take responsibility for any things gone wrong.

Qin Sheng was surely not adapted to his new job on the first day. After he finished organizing the work schedule, he had to go around the entire place. Fortunately, there were not many guests today so Qin Sheng was ready to knock off from work at 5 p.m. since w.a.n.g Haichao was in charge of the night duties.

After Qin Sheng finished work, he went straight to No.1 Zhong Liang Ocean View to look for Xia Ding. It had been a while since Qin Sheng and Xia Ding met, and Qin Sheng wondered how Xia Ding had been. Especially when Qin Sheng received an abrupt phone call from Xia Ding, who claimed that he was in a bad mood and wanted to have a drink with him. Qin Sheng had rushed over to meet straight after he left the office.

When XIa Ding came to open the door for Qin Sheng, Qin Sheng could see dejection in his face. Xia Ding then went back to lying on the sofa and staring at the ceiling of his living room. The entire living room was a big mess, with beer bottles and containers from food deliveries. Qin Sheng wondered how much beer Xia Ding had just drunk.

“What a pathetic state you’re in, what have you become?” Qin Sheng berated.

Appearing drained of his energy, Xia Ding said, “Boss, I’m heartbroken from love.”

Qin Sheng responded with a blank expression at first, then burst out laughing, saying, “What, Xia Ding, are you kidding me? Did you say you’re lovelorn? Why didn’t you say you’re going to commit suicide? You told me that you’ve gone from one girl to another when I first came back to Shanghai. Has it been one month since? The girls should be the lovelorn ones. How is it you who’s lovelorn?”

“Boss, are you still human? I just told you I’m heartbroken from love, not only did you not offer some comfort but you even ridicule me? Heavens, why is my life so pathetic?” Xia Ding, with disheveled hair, lifted his eyes and breathed a long sigh.

Qin Sheng stopped joking around and said with a serious tone, “Tell me, what happened?”

“Do you remember that night when we went to the charity banquet, I told you I’ve found my true love? I pursued her for a long time but failed to even ask her out for a date. She even blacklisted me on her Wechat. I can’t even catch her eye, and I found out that there’s even a powerful rival,” Xia Ding said, obviously disheartened.

Unable to grasp what happened, Qin Sheng asked, “You didn’t even succeed in pursuing her, how could you say that you’ve been ditched?”

“Because I gave up first, so I’m lovelorn,” Dia Ding replied with a sad countenance. His explanation did not make sense at all.

Qin Sheng was totally taken aback when he realized how thick-skinned Xia Ding was. All he could say was, “Do you have a picture of her? Let me have a look at what a beauty she is to cause my brother to be love sick.”

Xia Ding sat up and searched up his phone for a picture of his G.o.ddess, then pa.s.sed it to Qin Sheng and said, “This is my G.o.ddess.”

Smiling, Qin Sheng took over the phone to have a look and instantly froze. Qin Sheng’s mind went blank and he was even more lost than Xia Ding at this juncture.

How did he not expect that it was her?