January 29, 20XX (Tuesday)
Y Building, BeijingMei Li rested her chin on her open right palm with her right elbow on the right armrest of the large chair. After she had opened the meeting, Secretary Bai had taken over and had talked about the company"s progress. Mei Li was only listening like everyone else. She scanned the room and saw one member in his late forties texting on his phone. Mei Li"s left hand that rested on the left armrest clenched in annoyance. She expected everything to go smoothly so she can go back to the hospital. Mei Li desperately needs to curl into Yang"s side for comfort with her cramps. She had decided that she would choke Yang only after her menstrual pain had subsided.
"If you see someone not listening, call him out and make him listen." Yang"s voice echoed into her left ear from the device which she was so eager to take out so the CEO could not tempt her with that deep voice of his. Her eyebrows twitch in irritation. She hated this day with a burning pa.s.sion. First, she was deceived by Yang. Second, she met with Ye Lan. Third, she had to suffer a boring meeting. Fourth, she had to follow Yang"s vague instruction. Last, she had to do all these things with period cramps and moodiness.
Mei Li narrowed her eyes at the man, who was concentrating on the phone in his hand. If looks could kill, the man would be buried under sixty feet. Everyone else who was listening to Secretary Bai was also subtly observing her. They notice where her attention was and glance briefly at the man on the left side of the table. Secretary Bai continued, even when he too had seen Mei Li"s eagle-like stare.
Meanwhile, Ru s.h.i.+ sat on the edge of her seat with antic.i.p.ation. She wondered how Mei Li would deal with situations that needed direct intervention from the chair. These situations are usually not present when Yang is the chair because he had a presence that promised death if they wasted his time. She smirked when Mei Li stopped the Secretary with a wave of her hand and said to everyone with a loud voice that made the veins in her neck pop, "If it"s possible for everyone to listen!"
The man on the phone looks up, started with a loud voice, only to see everybody"s attention to him. He slumped into the back of his chair in surprise. He instantly noticed "I"m sorry. My son is texting me for-" "Then the meeting will continue once your son is finished with texting you." Mei Li interrupted. She didn"t have time to listen to his excuses so the best thing to do was let him finish his texting so they can proceed with the meeting with everyone listening.
Everyone gritted their teeth to stop themselves from glaring at the man. The meeting had gone so well without interruptions, and he had to make a fool of himself. At the same time, they pitied him because everyone"s attention and judgment were focused on him. CEO Yang would have called him out and force him to listen or let him go out. Miss Wu had everyone stop to wait for him, that was more embarra.s.sing and caused more inconvenience for everyone. Everyone realized that the brief and immediate dismissal by CEO Zhao was an act of kindness compares to Miss Wu"s prolonged call out. Suddenly everyone was thankful for having CEO Zhao as their capable and no-nonsense leader and having Miss Wu as their CEO would probably be full of long days.
When the man slid his phone to his breast pocket, Mei Li smiled. She nodded her head and motioned for Secretary Bai to continue with this progress report. Every board members stayed silent. Ru s.h.i.+ was entertained to see old men sitting stiffly in front of the youngest person in the room. Yang was like a father figure; he would guide and chastise everyone immediately if they make a mistake, but it was short and would not take any more time than necessary. Mei Li had the presence of a mother; she would punish them to drill the lesson on everyone"s head no matter how long it would take her, repeating the punishment if necessary.
Secretary Bai stopped with his report again when another man knocked on the door and entered the room causing Mei Li to be more annoyed than before. A latecomer is the bane of her existence. She hated people who would show up late to any scheduled event. It showed unprofessionalism and inconveniences the person waiting.
"Sorry, I am late. The traffic was-" "Shut up." Mei Li interrupted while she places her palms to her stomach feeling intense cramps.
Everyone wondered what she would do. CEO Zhao would have let the man sit down and continue with the meeting after glaring at him. Mei Li signal for Secretary Bai to proceed, which he hesitated to do as the man was still standing. Mei Li glared at the man on the door and said, "You come in, but you stand up until the meeting ends; you may not sit down. Do you have a watch or did you spend all your money investing in this company that you could not afford one?"
Mei Li humped and exhaled loudly. Her hands were subtly ma.s.saging her stomach. The pain was starting to be unbearable. She curses Yang for everything that had happened today. Secretary Bai immediately continued, he was beginning to be scared with Mei Li. He doesn"t want to know how he would be punished if he doesn"t follow her.
Secretary Bai hopes that this is the last time that this savage woman would be leading a meeting. He has aged twenty years with this meeting. He desperately ended the meeting so CEO Zhao could deal with this woman because he was not capable enough.