Chapter 57: 056 One Sentence Changes a Girl

“The handling of this teller, Yang Yue, is too severe,” Fang Qingye stated his opinion.

“Too severe? She had a huge argument with a customer during work, causing extremely bad influence—why keep her if not to fire her?” Xia He rebutted.

“We must look at this matter from two sides. The full context is clearly documented in the materials; it’s not entirely Yang Yue’s fault—both parties share responsibility. You’ve seen that Zhang Baoguo’s character—he’s a scumbag. Frontline tellers work hard and endure constant humiliation. I think leaders like you should show understanding toward subordinates. We can’t make her, a temporary worker, bear all the blame.”

Xia He did not answer directly but looked at Fang Qingye.

“Are you familiar with Yang Yue?”

“Whether I know her or not is irrelevant. I’m speaking based on my own judgment, and I don’t know her well.”

After a moment of silence, Xia He said, “Alright, Yang Yue won’t be fired. Like the security guard, she’ll have three months’ salary docked.”

“The security guard must be fired, and the lobby manager must also have three months’ salary docked,” Fang Qingye continued. “The branch was in chaos at the time, and someone needed to maintain order—but that security guard vanished. What good is he? And the lobby manager was also negligent.”

Xia He nodded. “Then it’s settled.”

Yang Yue felt she’d been utterly unlucky lately: first her bag was stolen, then she broke up with her boyfriend, and now she’d lost her job.

She’d seen the branch’s decision: due to arguing with a customer and seriously violating bank regulations, causing extremely negative impact, her employment contract had been terminated, and she was ordered to collect three months’ wages and leave immediately.

What could she do? Who was she to blame but her own bad luck? She pleaded her case to Director Luo—but it was useless. In the end, she returned to pack up her personal belongings.

After all, she was a temporary worker—firing her was just a word from her superior.

No job meant no income—how would she survive from now on? Yang Yue felt heartbroken.

Jing Chunling looked at Yang Yue with sympathy. As the head of the teller team and a veteran employee who had worked at the counter for ten years, she understood the hardships of the job.

She was very satisfied with Yang Yue: though a temporary worker, she was diligent, earnest, and hardworking. She didn’t know why recently Yang Yue had become distracted and irritable; she’d warned her several times, but it seemed to have little effect—and then the incident happened.

“Yang Yue, don’t lose heart. With your abilities, finding another job elsewhere won’t be hard,” Jing Chunling comforted her.

Easy to say, hard to do.

Competition was fierce now. She was only a junior college graduate, in an era where undergraduates and postgraduates were everywhere—how could she easily find work? Yang Yue even considered working as a bar waitress; her looks would make such a job easy to get—but could she really sink so low?

Still, Yang Yue knew Jing Chunling was just trying to comfort her, so she forced a smile and said, "Sister Jing, thank you for your concern."

“Ah…” Jing Chunling sighed, not knowing what else to say. As the branch was about to open, she gently patted Yang Yue’s shoulder and walked out.

The world had grown cold and cruel. Aside from Jing Chunling, not a single one of her usual close female coworkers had come to comfort her. Yang Yue felt utterly despondent, holding back her tears.

Although the official notice of termination hadn’t arrived yet, Yang Yue began packing her personal belongings. She glanced around the office with lingering affection—she had spent three full years here.

What lay ahead? Yang Yue felt lost.

Just then, Jing Chunling rushed back in, excitedly telling her: “Good news—you don’t have to leave! The branch’s disciplinary decision is about to be issued—you’ll only have three months’ salary docked!”

“What? Really?” Yang Yue couldn’t believe it.

“Why would I lie to you about something like this? The official notice is coming any minute—I heard it and rushed over to stop you and keep you here.”

Really? Yang Yue instantly brightened, her earlier despair vanished.

Jing Chunling lowered her voice: “I heard the branch’s decision was harsher than Director Luo’s original proposal: Security guard Zhang Gang was fired, customer manager Wang got three months’ salary docked, I got one month docked—but your punishment was reduced.”

“What? So severe?” Yang Yue was stunned. She, the instigator, was treated lightly—and she could stay!

“Yang Yue, everyone at the branch is saying Director Xia is your relative,” Jing Chunling whispered.

“What? I don’t even know Director Xia—he doesn’t know me,” Yang Yue said.

“Oh… I see,” Jing Chunling mused, then added, “Anyway, promise me you’ll never repeat yesterday’s mistake.”

“Sister Jing, don’t worry—I’ll work hard,” Yang Yue quickly promised. How could she possibly lose this job again after getting it back?

Fang Qingye probably didn’t realize that one sentence of his had changed a girl’s fate.

In truth, life works this way: the idea that fate lies in your own hands is just empty talk.

Because we are all small people.

Xia He used the incident at Liulin Branch to launch a professional ethics education campaign across the bank, and Fang Qingye joined in for several days of study.

But this matter didn’t seem entirely over.

Today was Friday. Fang Qingye and Xia He went to play tennis as usual, but this time he didn’t ask Xia He to pick him up at the residential gate—he drove himself.

Mind your image.

After playing at Yikangyuan, they sat in the bar downstairs to rest. Fang Qingye drank beer, Xia He drank juice, and they resumed talking about work.

This is how things are now.

At work, discussing job matters is often difficult—Xia He’s office is always full of people, making conversation inconvenient. Here, no one interrupts.

“Xiao Fang, I want to reassign Yu Bingshan,” Xia He said, sipping her juice.

Fang Qingye knew Xia He had issues with Yu Bingshan.

Yu Bingshan was disobedient—he sometimes openly contradicted Xia He in meetings. More importantly, during that emergency rural visit, he was a senior employee with plenty of experience, yet he stood at the back doing nothing, just watching.

If Fang Qingye hadn’t intervened in time, Xia He would have been humiliated on the spot.

Xia He naturally remembered that—and how could she not be angry?

But the priority then was resolving the customer argument; Yu Bingshan was set aside.

Now that the Liulin Branch matter was mostly settled, she had time to deal with Yu Bingshan.

“Where do you plan to move him? To Liulin Branch?” Fang Qingye asked after thinking.

“Yes. The branch lacks a director—he’d be perfect there,” Xia He said.

Promoting the Finance and Accounting Section chief to branch director was a lateral transfer—Yu Bingshan hadn’t committed any serious offense, so he couldn’t be demoted or dismissed.

But transferring him from the county town to a town thirty kilometers away was itself a disguised punishment.

Besides, branch work was far harder than Finance and Accounting—just the annual deposit targets alone crushed people.

“Send him there for a while. If he performs well and no key indicators decline, let him stay. If not, fire him immediately!” Xia He said.

Fang Qingye didn’t answer but asked, “What about Luo Lishun, the deputy branch director? Rumor says he’s set to become director.”

“Transfer him back to the county town as deputy chief of Finance and Accounting. The current deputy chief will be promoted to chief.”

Fang Qingye nodded.

Though Luo Lishun wasn’t promoted, being transferred back to the county town was itself a reward.

“Sister, aren’t you dissatisfied with most of your section chiefs, branch directors, and office heads?” Fang Qingye smiled.