The two men who had been eagerly anticipating praise from Mr. Pei did not hear the commendation they wanted.

Mr. Pei showed no particular excitement, his expression unchanged.

This left both Eric and Zhao Xuming somewhat puzzled.

What was going on?

Why was Mr. Pei reacting this way?

Could it be that although our event seemed successful, it actually had flaws or defects? Or perhaps it hadn’t met Mr. Pei’s expectations?

Both men had joined from their respective companies and had previously only dealt with Mr. Pei as competitors. Having been his subordinates for less than half a month, they couldn’t quite figure out Mr. Pei’s temperament.

They only knew that Mr. Pei was meticulous and had strong strategic abilities.

And judging by the abundance of talent at Tenda, Mr. Pei was also exceptionally good at discovering employees’ strengths and nurturing them.

Sometimes, these strengths weren’t even apparent to the employees themselves, yet Mr. Pei managed to cultivate them.

So now, both men calmed down, wanting to hear what Mr. Pei had to say.

If this were at Dayake Group or Longyu Group, they wouldn’t have thought twice about it.

When an event proved successful with visible results, if the boss didn’t offer some reward, he would definitely be out of his mind.

But at Tenda, since Mr. Pei’s reputation was already unshakeable, the two men instead began to examine their own issues.

Pei Qian pondered for a moment before turning to Zhao Xuming: “This event idea was Eric’s, right?”

Zhao Xuming immediately nodded: “Yes, that’s right!”

“I actually only did a little bit of insignificant work, just cooperated a bit.”

“To be honest, I even thought this event was somewhat risky and tried to discourage it at first.”

Zhao Xuming wasn’t someone who would grab credit, because taking credit inevitably meant risking responsibility—it was a double-edged sword.

Especially as a newcomer to the company without stable footing, and not yet understanding Mr. Pei’s personality, he was even less likely to claim credit.

The key was that Mr. Pei had always given the impression of being extremely intelligent and calculating. There was no point in playing these little games under Mr. Pei’s watchful eye. The best outcome would be that Mr. Pei wouldn’t expose it on the surface but would make a mental note.

Eric asked, “Mr. Pei, is there any problem with this event?”

Problem? The problems were enormous!

You guys seem desperate for IOI to die.

Pei Qian actually had strong objections to this event, but he couldn’t express them openly.

He could hardly say they’d been too harsh, could he?

After a moment of silence, Pei Qian said, “There’s nothing wrong with the event itself.”

“But I’ve noticed that you, Mr. Zhao, seem a bit too passive.”

“You’re now the head of GOG’s domestic server, at the same level as Eric. Just being an assistant isn’t enough.”

Pei Qian felt he needed to suppress Eric’s energy somehow.

If he had to choose between these two men regarding which one was less harmful, it would definitely be Zhao Xuming.

Hearing this, Zhao Xuming’s face showed shock.

What was happening?

Had Mr. Pei already seen through his true nature in less than half a month?

And this was despite barely visiting the GOG project team and not actively inquiring about the work situation here?

This was way too fast!

Indeed, your opponents understand you best—Mr. Pei was truly insightful…

Previously at Longyu Group, Zhao Xuming had always worked in this manner, achieving remarkable results while keeping his approach perfectly hidden.

Although the leaders sent by Finger Company to IOI Greater China Region had rotated repeatedly, from Eric to Christian and back to Eric, regardless of who was in charge, Zhao Xuming’s position remained secure.

This was mainly because he never took the blame.

Even if the proposal was his own idea, he would absolutely never claim credit for it. Instead, he would present the plan to Eric or Christian and then assist in execution.

This way, though he gave up the main credit, as long as the plan succeeded, he would still receive some recognition for his efforts, and his suggestions would appear constructive and effective.

And if the plan failed, the person who made the final decision would bear primary responsibility. While Zhao Xuming would also share some responsibility, most of the time it would be handled lightly.

In fact, many seemingly clever strategists in ancient times operated this way.

Strategists only provided ideas, while the final decision rested with the lord.

When preparing for battle, one group of strategists would advocate fighting, another would advise against it, and then after much hesitation, the lord would decide to fight. If they lost, the strategists who had advised against fighting would appear wise, while the lord would seem foolish.

Zhao Xuming had learned this experience from the ancients.

But this approach seemed unworkable at Tenda!

Mr. Pei making such remarks at this point was truly shocking to Zhao Xuming.

On one hand, it was because Zhao Xuming had only recently joined Tenda Group; on the other hand, it was because this plan had been successful.

An ordinary leader would at least wait until Zhao Xuming had been with the company for six months or a year, until his work had stabilized, and then reprimand him when he made a mistake, right?

But not Mr. Pei—he chose the moment of the plan’s success to directly point this out.

Zhao Xuming carefully considered the meaning behind Mr. Pei’s words.

Clearly, he was very dissatisfied with Zhao’s approach of avoiding responsibility!

“There’s nothing wrong with the event itself” meant that in Mr. Pei’s view, this was completely normal performance—any competent manager would have done the same, especially given that Eric and Zhao Xuming had been specifically recruited for this.

If they hadn’t seen this opportunity, it would have been disappointing.

What displeased Mr. Pei was that while Eric was taking action, Zhao Xuming wasn’t being proactive enough. Despite being at the same level as Eric, he was just hiding in the background cheering.

Zhao Xuming understood.

Mr. Pei’s warning was so clear that only a truly foolish person wouldn’t understand.

Zhao Xuming’s expression grew awkward: “You’re right, Mr. Pei. I’ll… definitely be more proactive in developing plans in the future.”

Every company has a different environment, and naturally, survival methods differ as well.

A true responsibility-avoider could perfectly adapt to any environment and avoid blame in any situation.

At Longyu Group, he could continue using his previous methods to avoid responsibility indefinitely, so why change?

But at Tenda, that clearly wouldn’t work.

Because this tactic had been seen through by Mr. Pei with just one glance!

He definitely couldn’t use his previous methods anymore; otherwise, the result would surely be that instead of avoiding responsibility, it would come flying over on its own and firmly land on his head.

Zhao Xuming’s workplace philosophy was to satisfy his superior’s demands as much as possible, complete assigned tasks well, and thereby maintain his position while gradually getting promotions and raises.

He didn’t demand rapid advancement, only that each step be stable.

Now with a new boss, he naturally needed to adapt gradually.

Eric, listening from the side, nodded silently.

Mr. Pei was indeed perceptive, instantly identifying the key issue!

Seeing both men nodding frequently, Pei Qian was slightly surprised.

Strange, it made sense for Zhao Xuming to agree, but why did Eric have no objections at all?

Was he truly without objections, or was he keeping them to himself?

Well, it was also possible that his words left no room for argument, since the two were indeed equal in rank. Eric wouldn’t openly defy his boss or challenge the company’s structure.

But as work progressed, disagreements between the two would inevitably emerge—the seed of internal conflict had been planted.

Pei Qian somewhat regretted recruiting these two, but while hiring was easy, getting rid of people was difficult.

Having hired them less than half a month ago, he already extremely distrusted Eric, but as for Zhao Xuming, he could still observe him further.

Perhaps IOI’s previous failures were primarily due to Zhao Xuming’s contributions?

“If there’s nothing else, you can continue with your work,” Pei Qian thought for a moment and decided to end it here for today.

This kind of thing couldn’t be resolved all at once; it had to be handled gradually.

After seeing Mr. Pei off, Eric and Zhao Xuming returned to their seats.

After careful consideration, Zhao Xuming said quietly: “I have an idea about Mr. Pei’s requirements.”

“The process can remain the same as before, with you making the final decisions on plans, but afterward I’ll present them to Mr. Pei, and we’ll divide the plans between us. Of course, if problems arise when it’s my turn to present a plan, I’ll take the main responsibility.”

As soon as Mr. Pei left, Zhao Xuming had come up with a solution.

Since Mr. Pei had told him to take more responsibility and develop more plans, continuing to hide in the background was definitely no longer an option.

But to prevent conflicts between them, they could work out an arrangement in advance.

They wouldn’t implement plans Eric disagreed with, and plans they both thought were fine would be partially attributed to Zhao Xuming, with him taking on some of the responsibility as well.

For Zhao Xuming, this was already a major change.

Eric frowned and immediately shook his head: “How could that work?”

“Haven’t you noticed, Mr. Zhao? Mr. Pei values every employee and hopes each one can reach their full potential. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have replaced Min Jingchao.”

“Do you think such a small trick could escape Mr. Pei’s eyes?”

“Let me be frank, Mr. Zhao. Tenda is not a place where you can just do the minimum and get by. Here, Mr. Pei clearly wants every employee to shine.”

“Your previous approach might have worked perfectly at Longyu Group, but do you think it’s still suitable for Tenda?”

Zhao Xuming was embarrassed: “But… I’ve always operated this way. It can’t be changed overnight.”

Eric shook his head: “You’re underestimating Mr. Pei.”

“I’m sure you’ve noticed that Tenda’s atmosphere is completely different from other companies—it’s very special. Here, everyone has tremendous potential for growth because there’s so much freedom in the work.”

“Perhaps it’s precisely your cautious personality that has limited your career development?”

“Mr. Pei actually wants to change this aspect of your personality and bring out your true potential.”

Zhao Xuming was conflicted: “But what if our plans conflict?”

Eric smiled: “With Mr. Pei around, what is there to worry about?”

In fact, Eric was very familiar with Zhao Xuming’s responsibility-avoiding traits.

How could he not know after working together for so long?

But previously, Eric didn’t mind, because what he needed was someone obedient enough to assist him. He didn’t want disagreements between them to prevent plans from being implemented, wasting resources on internal conflicts.

So even knowing that Zhao Xuming avoided responsibility, Eric wouldn’t object strongly like Christian did. It was a mutual choice.

But now, hearing Mr. Pei’s words, Eric realized the situation at Tenda was different.