Chapter 348: Two Girls Support Him!

The "creak" of the opening door hadn't fully settled when a figure in beige business attire stepped onto the scene in high heels.

She was the company general manager, Yuan Hongli.

She clutched half a pack of cigarettes in her hand, a silver lighter pinched between her fingertips, her brows knotted into a knot, even her usually neat bun had two loose strands of hair—clearly she was frazzled by work.

These past few days, the Wind Control Department deputy director was taken down, and the department descended into chaos.

As general manager, Yuan Hongli had to handle all sorts of wind control matters, truly busy to the point of confusion.

She took advantage of this rare free moment to go up to the rooftop for a cigarette.

Yuan Hongli didn't go deep into the rooftop, stopping instead at the railing near the door.

She skillfully drew out a cigarette; the lighter clicked twice before igniting, and the pale blue smoke wrapped around her sigh as it drifted into the wind.

She lowered her head to take a puff, her gaze unintentionally sweeping over the tiles beneath her feet, then suddenly froze.

That patch of water-stained mark gleamed especially under the sunlight, its edges still bearing a trace of undried dampness—obviously it had been left not long ago.

Yuan Hongli frowned, moved half a step forward, bent over to stare at the water stain for a few seconds, and wondered to herself: Could the rooftop be leaking?

Meanwhile, Lin Yuan and Sun Weiwei were hiding behind the outdoor unit of the air conditioner.

Both were extremely nervous; just now they had hidden quickly, which was why they hadn't been discovered.

Lin Yuan pressed one hand firmly on Sun Weiwei's shoulder, the other hand covering her mouth, even his breathing reduced to an extreme whisper.

Yuan Hongli frowned, moved half a step forward, and carefully observed the ground.

Not far away, Sun Weiwei's pretty face flushed crimson, utterly embarrassed.

This is……【you readers know what I mean……】

This is utterly humiliating!

Yuan Hongli glanced around again, confirmed no one was there, then pulled out her phone from her bag and quickly dialed the security office's number.

As soon as the call connected, Yuan Hongli's tone carried obvious displeasure: "Hello, Security Department? I'm Yuan Hongli, currently on the company rooftop."

She paused, her gaze falling again on that water stain, her voice turning colder: "There's an unknown water stain on the rooftop, smelling like urine; presumably an employee maliciously urinated there. You Security Department should strengthen rooftop patrols, understood?"

"Don't let such low-quality people mess around and affect the company environment." Yuan Hongli added, her tone full of unquestionable firmness.

Sun Weiwei, hiding behind the air-conditioner outdoor unit in the corner, heard Yuan Hongli's muttering; her pretty face flushed instantly, even her ears heating up—she knew better than anyone the origin of that water stain.

She furtively glared at Lin Yuan beside her, and while Yuan Hongli wasn't looking this way, she reached out and pinched his arm hard, her beautiful eyes flashing with anger, silently mouthing: …It's all your fault!

Lin Yuan, unprepared, cried out in pain from the pinch; the low "ah" had just escaped his throat when he hastily covered his mouth, his heart leaping to his throat.

This soft cry rang out especially clear in the quiet rooftop; Yuan Hongli had just hung up the security call when she heard it.

Her brows furrowed tighter, she instinctively lifted her head to gaze deeper into the rooftop: "Who's there?"

Saying that, she lifted her foot and walked toward the air-conditioner outdoor unit, her heels clicking on the tiles with a "thud-thud" sound, each step feeling like it trod on Lin Yuan and Sun Weiwei's hearts.

Sun Weiwei turned pale with fright, quickly shrinking behind Lin Yuan, clutching his shirt hem with both hands, panic filling her eyes—if Yuan Hongli spotted them, both their careers at the company would be over.

Lin Yuan also broke out in a sweat, hastily pulling Sun Weiwei farther behind the air-conditioner unit, his breathing suppressed to the extreme, his back pressed tightly against the cold machine casing, able to clearly hear his own "thump-thump" heartbeat.

—She really didn't want to stay any longer in this place reeking of urine; she just wanted to hurry back to the office to handle work.

Yuan Hongli walked to a spot a few steps from the air-conditioner unit, stopped, and quickly scanned the shadows around the machine—sunlight blocked by the unit, the corner pitch dark, only a few scattered cardboard boxes visible, no sign of a person.

She then cocked her ear and listened quietly for two seconds; the wind rattled the dust-proof net at the rooftop's edge with a "hualala" sound, and apart from that there was no other movement; her brows relaxed slightly, she thought to herself: Perhaps I'm just too sensitive and misheard.

"Probably just the wind moving the cardboard boxes," she muttered softly, not venturing further, turning and heading for the rooftop door—the afternoon project meeting still awaited her to chair, and she truly had no energy to quarrel over this trifle.

Until the rooftop door clicked shut with a "clack", that beige figure vanished completely from view; only then did Lin Yuan and Sun Weiwei, hiding in the shadows, finally exhale, their tense bodies instantly collapsing.

Sun Weiwei first slammed her palm onto Lin Yuan's arm, her tone full of anger and lingering fear: "Lin Yuan! Were you just crazy? You didn't even bear the pain—if Manager Yuan heard us, how could we ever show our faces at the company again?"

Lin Yuan rubbed his aching arm where she'd pinched him, helplessly explaining: "I didn't expect you to pinch that hard—I couldn't hold it in……"

Sun Weiwei didn't give him a chance to explain, and again harshly "lectured" him.

This rich, beautiful young lady, the Eldest Miss, had at this moment completely drained Lin Yuan's soul.

Two hours later, the two finally exited the rooftop one after another.

Having just descended to the stairwell, Sun Weiwei recalled something, turned back to urge: "The Wind Control Deputy Director matter—you need to prepare quickly; I'll talk to my dad about that side, but you yourself must not slip up, don't let today's incident distract you."

Lin Yuan nodded repeatedly.

……

In the afternoon, Lin Yuan went to Su Monong's office to report the situation.

"Director Su, regarding the Wind Control Deputy Director matter, Miss Sun told me some details on the rooftop today." Lin Yuan walked to the front of the desk and stood, lowering his voice so the secretary outside wouldn't hear.

Su Monong set down her pen, leaned back in her chair, fingers interlaced before her abdomen, gesturing for him to continue: "What exactly did she mention?"

"Miss Sun said, the current candidate for Wind Control Deputy Director, Wang Lei… isn't very obedient; she plans to replace him and have me prepare to compete for the deputy director position."

Lin Yuan paused, then also mentioned the materials Sun Weiwei had given him: "She also gave me the credit risk reports from the past three years, plus Wang Lei's record of illegal lending last year, saying it could help me suppress his negative information."

Lin Yuan said solemnly: "Miss Sun said Wang Lei is from her faction, but since he's not obedient, he should be taken down. I think the Sun leadership doesn't show any favoritism toward their own people."

Su Monong's fingertip lightly traced the edge of the desk, her gaze sinking.

She had originally planned to observe for a few more days to see the Sun faction's moves, but Sun Weiwei had already proactively offered an olive branch; waiting longer would only cause her to miss the opportunity.

"She's actually more eager than I thought." Su Monong muttered softly.

She suddenly sat up straight, her gaze landing on Lin Yuan, with undisguised resolve: "We can't wait; tomorrow we'll hold the board meeting, and I'll nominate you as a candidate for Wind Control Deputy Director."

Lin Yuan staggered a moment; he had thought Su Monong would at least prepare for a week, never expecting it to be this fast.

"Tomorrow? Won't that be too rushed?" he asked instinctively, after all the duty materials and competition plans weren't fully ready yet.

"The sooner the better." Su Monong picked up the internal line on her desk, pressed the secretary's extension, speaking rapidly: "Have the Legal Department and Human Resources Department prepare the candidate materials now, focusing on organizing Lin Yuan's work history, especially the several cases he assisted the Wind Control Department with over the past half year, and send them to my office in half an hour."

She rose and walked to Lin Yuan's side, raising a hand to smooth the wrinkles in his shirt collar, her fingertips inadvertently brushing his collarbone, adding a few words of advice to her tone: "Make good use of the materials Sun Weiwei gave you, but don't fully trust her. She and her father can discard Wang Lei, and they could just as easily discard you someday—you need to be clear about that in your own mind."

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, a complex feeling welling up inside him.

On one side was Su Monong's rapid advance; on the other, the step-by-step scheming of Sun Weiwei and her father; he felt like he stood between two icebergs, one misstep and he'd tumble down.

……

The next morning, in the board meeting hall on the top floor of the company.

Senior directors filled both sides of the long table.

Su Monong wore a suit, holding a folder in her hands, she walked slowly to the main seat beside the long table, gently placed the folder on the table, and her gaze swept over every director present.

She opened the folder, pulled out the candidate list for the Wind Control Department deputy director, her fingertip paused on the paper for a moment, then landed on the newly added name, and she said clearly: "Today's candidate list for the Wind Control Department deputy director, I have added one nominee—Lin Yuan."

As soon as she finished speaking, the directors on the left side all looked up, their eyes full of surprise, and some could not help whispering among themselves.

Su Monong, however, did not stop, continuing to add: "I not only hope Lin Yuan will participate in the deputy director competition, but I also hope he will use this opportunity to bring new ideas and reforms to the department."

The list began to circulate among the directors.

A director wearing reading glasses flipped to the last page, looked at the name "Lin Yuan" and his brief résumé, furrowed his brow and asked: "Director Su, Lin Yuan was previously your secretary, and before that a driver; he has no professional background related to wind control, nor any management experience. Having him compete for deputy director is already risky, and pushing him toward the director position—isn't that too inconsiderate?"

Another director nodded, his tone worried: "The Wind Control Department is tied to the company's credit safety; once problems arise, it means huge losses. We cannot promote someone just based on personal preference."

Clearly, the directors present were unwilling to promote Lin Yuan.

After all, Lin Yuan's résumé is too poor.

At that moment, Wang Lei, who had been seated on the left side of the conference table, finally stood up as well.

Wang Lei, he is the current manager of the Wind Control Department, having held this position for five years; in terms of seniority and experience, he is the best candidate for the Wind Control Department deputy director.

More importantly, Wang Lei is a core member of the Sun faction, and also a protégé personally brought up by Wind Control Department director Lu Chengyu; in the department, his word is practically law.

At this moment, seeing Su Monong add Lin Yuan's name to the candidate list, Wang Lei could no longer stay seated.

Wang Lei sprang to his feet, slamming the report in his hand onto the table with a 'Pa!' His voice, deliberately amplified, rang out: "Gentlemen directors, I have something to say!"

Wang Lei's gaze swept across the room, the contempt in his eyes undisguised: "Lin Yuan doesn't even have a bachelor's degree; he was formerly a company driver, then became a secretary, and hasn't even touched the basic procedures of the Wind Control Department—on what grounds does he compete with me for deputy director?"

His words were like a stone dropped into water, and immediately someone below echoed them.

Indeed, Lin Yuan's résumé lies plainly before everyone; compared to Wang Lei, who has deep expertise in wind control for many years, the gap is not just a little.

Seeing the directors nod, Wang Lei grew more fervent, flipping open the report and pointing at the data as he spoke, spittle flying: "Last year, the wind control project I oversaw in the East China region pushed the non‑performing loan rate down to 2.1%, the lowest in the company! Just this figure alone is something Lin Yuan cannot match!"

He deliberately paused, then emphasized the two words 'driver': "Lin Yuan, when you were wiping cars in the garage, did you ever see such impressive figures? Do you know how many all‑nighters I pulled to drive down that non‑performing rate? You, a person who can't even read a wind control report, dare to vie for the deputy director's seat?"

"Hahaha!" The members of the Sun faction below immediately joined in the laughter.

Lu Chengyu also slowly rose to his feet, playing with a pen in his hand, his tone mocking: "Director Su, I think this matter needs careful consideration—letting a broken secretary become the Wind Control Department deputy director, if it gets out, won't we be laughed at by our peers? Or do you simply have no one left under you?"

Lu Chengyu's gaze stabbed Lin Yuan like a knife: "Lin Yuan, I advise you to be sensible and withdraw from the race voluntarily! What do you know about wind control? Do you know how to assess credit risk? Don't waste everyone's time here, and don't hinder the company's proper business!"

As soon as Lu Chengyu's words fell, Wang Lei immediately took up the thread, his tone threatening: "Lin Yuan, if you withdraw now, you can still save some face. But if you insist on holding on, the one who will end up embarrassed is you yourself."

Lin Yuan remained seated, his fingertips lightly clutching the corner of his clothing, yet his heart felt not a trace of panic.

Sun Weiwei had specifically told him the night before that Wang Lei cared most about his 'seniority' and 'data', also looked down on his background, and would certainly attack from his education and past experience; she had already prepared the relevant materials to counter him.

"Manager Wang, are you done speaking? If so, it's my turn now, right?" Lin Yuan lightly tapped his fingertips on the tabletop, lifted his eyes, and the corner of his mouth curled into a faint smile.

Wang Lei indeed possesses strong wind‑control management ability.

But behind Lin Yuan stands Sun Weiwei.

Wang Lei never dreamed that his biggest backer, the Sun faction, had already become Lin Yuan's new stronghold.

Behind Lin Yuan are two great supporters: one is Sun Weiwei, the other is Su Monong.

"What kind of bullshit can you come up with? Do you even understand wind control?" Wang Lei mocked.

"I have plenty to say; everything you people in the Wind Control Department can talk about, I can talk about as well."

"Even the things your Wind Control Department cannot say, I can say." Lin Yuan smiled even more mischievously: "For example… some senior officials in your Wind Control Department, taking advantage of their authority, using public power for private gain, engaging in corruption and bribery…"

"Shu~!" As soon as those words left his mouth, Wang Lei's face changed abruptly.