Although Jiang Xiaoyi remained speechless at Ye Zhen, after she followed his method and urgently issued the latest transfer order, sure enough, just as Ye Zhen had predicted, several executives reacted violently, and things exploded. The moment the transfer order was released through the company’s group email, the executives’ frantic phone calls came pouring in one after another.
Before Jiang Xiaoyi could answer, Ye Zhen snatched her phone away and swiftly turned it off.
Jiang Xiaoyi felt a bit uneasy: “Don’t we need to appease them?”
Ye Zhen, however, wore an expression of complete nonchalance: “Appease them? Why would we need to appease them? Don’t pay any attention to their opposition and protests. As a manager, you need to use iron-fisted methods—your kindness won’t earn their gratitude, only be seen as weakness. Just be a tank.”
“A tank?”
“Just flatten everything.” Ye Zhen shrugged. “Whether pushing through reforms or issuing orders, if there’s resistance, there’s no need to engage in petty skirmishes and back-and-forth tugs of war—just roll over it like a tank. Fast and efficient.”
“Don’t bother with these old foxes—whoever refuses to submit, fire them. You have plenty of money now, so are you afraid you can’t find suitable executives? However capable these executives are, they’re still just senior hired hands. If they leave, they leave—the next one will be more obedient. What are you worried about?”
Although Ye Zhen’s view sounded simple and crude, what followed proved the man had a point after all.
After several rounds of bombarding Jiang Xiaoyi failed, the executives made a fuss for a while, jumping about, but ultimately, once Jiang Xiaoyi showed a posture of refusing to negotiate, these old foxes seemed to size up the situation and gradually settled down. Jiang Xiaoyi took advantage of this rare window to rapidly cram in as much knowledge about Ruiyi’s operations as she could.
Ye Zhen was clearly expecting this outcome. The man pressed his lips together and lifted his eyelids slightly: “Free bonus advice—while you’re suppressing these old foxes, you should also use this window to develop your own loyalist forces. Promote your own people, plant your own pawns in key positions and departments.”
“But where am I supposed to find my own people…” This truly stumped Jiang Xiaoyi. “Ruiyi’s personnel relationships run deep. Often you have no idea who’s behind a person, whose direct subordinate they are, whose relative they might be. If I promote the wrong person, wouldn’t that be pushing myself into a pit?”
“And if I urgently go to a headhunter to recruit externally, sure, that guarantees the new hires are clean, definitely not connected to anyone, but no matter how capable these new employees are, they’ll still need time to get familiar with Ruiyi and adapt to the work environment. It’s not like I can put them straight to use. There’s no way I can build a loyalist team in a short time.”
Jiang Xiaoyi was thoroughly worried, but Ye Zhen remained composed: “Why would you go outside and recruit through headhunters? Too many bosses believe the monks from outside can chant the scriptures better. Every time a company’s management or system has a problem, instead of tackling it internally from the root, they always pin their hopes on bringing in a new executive from outside to reform things, and are even willing to pay these outside jumpers several times more than the existing management. Not only is it useless, it’s purely a waste of energy and money, and it easily chills the hearts of the old employees.”
Jiang Xiaoyi frowned: “Then what should I do?”
“Simple. For promotions, of course you still look among Ruiyi’s veteran employees. As for the nepotism and background concerns you mentioned—sometimes you really can’t fully understand them—so instead, you look for veteran employees who have held onto the same position for five, even ten years, without getting promoted.”
Ye Zhen smiled: “Gather information on these long-unpromoted veteran employees and do your homework quietly.”
“Some of these people genuinely lack ability, have a lazy work attitude, or have issues dealing with people, which is why they’ve gone unpromoted for years. But another portion of them are likely, for example, too rigid in personality and have offended a direct superior, ending up sidelined; or their ability is too sharp, and their direct superior, worried that promoting them would make them uncontrollable, suppresses them instead. And more likely still, these capable veteran employees simply lack connections behind them, their backgrounds aren’t strong enough, and every promotion opportunity has been taken by someone with connections.”
“These people are your future loyalists—rigid in personality but capable; diligent workers without backing. They’ve gone years without promotion but also haven’t job-hopped, which shows their absolute loyalty to Ruiyi—they’re not troublemakers. If you promote them now, imagine how grateful they’ll feel inside that you recognized their worth?”
Ye Zhen continued naturally: “This move of yours will not only quickly earn the loyalty and trust of these people, it will also show other veteran employees that you see the efforts of long-serving staff—that when a promotion opportunity comes up, you’ll choose from among the veterans rather than bringing in outside troops parachuted in from elsewhere. Won’t that inject a shot of morale into the hearts of thousands of veteran employees? They’ll feel that working under you offers a chance at promotion, giving them renewed motivation to work. The company’s sluggish work culture can shift as a result too.”
Jiang Xiaoyi felt as if enlightened.
Impressive!
Ye Zhen really wasn’t a useless windbag after all!
This man really did have a knack for handling workplace politics.
“Ye Zhen, how about from now on, you teach me more of this?”
Hearing this, Ye Zhen was unwilling: “No I won’t, why should I? I’m just a useless man named Tom—do I dare presume to teach Director Jiang?”
Jiang Xiaoyi gritted her teeth. Given Ye Zhen’s temperament, it seemed she’d need to give some ground and pay up, or there’d be no deal: “Name your price, whatever conditions you want!”
…
In the end, through soft and hard persuasion, Jiang Xiaoyi finally reached a “strategic partnership” with Ye Zhen.
Relying on the fact that she was now the boss, she haggled with Ye Zhen over the “terms of cooperation”—at necessary moments, Ye Zhen would need to explain and guide Jiang Xiaoyi on management approaches for Ruiyi, and in return, Jiang Xiaoyi would fulfill her promise and transfer Ye Zhen back from the Project Incubation Department to be her assistant again, but with one condition…
“Your employment relationship will transfer directly under my name, but the Project Incubation Department just happens to have had an intern resign, and Li You’ai’s side is short-staffed. So until they hire someone new, you’ll continue helping out in the Project Incubation Department in the meantime—I’ll give you double pay for it.”
Jiang Xiaoyi tried hard to straighten her back, putting on the air of a boss.
This decision wasn’t really out of consideration for Li You’ai, but for Wang Yani.
Aside from a few useless old-connection hires in the Project Incubation Department who couldn’t lift a finger, the only ones who could actually get work done had really only been herself and Wang Yani. Now that she’d turned the tables and become Director Jiang, but Wang Yani was still just a working employee—once the intern left, wouldn’t she be worked to the bone by Eunuch Li?
One shouldn’t forget one’s friends once fortune arrives!
So Jiang Xiaoyi waved her hand decisively and decided to keep Ye Zhen around to help share Wang Yani’s workload.
Ye Zhen had plenty of complaints about this decision, but ultimately accepted it.
After all, Jiang Xiaoyi’s intention to bring him back to her side as her assistant had already been conveyed.
For this, Ye Zhen had already had his moment of triumph, especially seeing Li You’ai’s shocked, dejected expression at hearing about this transfer, which made Ye Zhen empathize, for the first time, with a consort who’d been cast into the cold palace only to be brought back into favor at the eastern palace—besides feeling exhilarated, he felt nothing but exhilarated.
No wonder these stories about lowly little characters achieving a comeback through time travel or suddenly gaining superpowers were always so popular—Ye Zhen had to admit, this experience really did feel exhilarating.
But inside, Ye Zhen also felt rather conflicted about this—alongside the exhilaration, he also felt it was somewhat humiliating.
He never imagined that he, the great and mighty Ye Zhen, would one day empathize with an ordinary working person, even developing an unwitting sense of smug satisfaction over a petty triumph…
Truly, it’s as the saying goes—a tangerine tree south of the river bears sweet tangerines, but north of the river it bears bitter oranges. Under the grinding pressure of this bizarre world, even he himself had sunk to this!
However, not long after his moment of triumph, Ye Zhen stopped feeling so pleased with himself.
After work, he’d just finished dragging his sore working-man’s body through a determined workout when Jiang Xiaoyi suddenly rushed in in a panic—
“Quick, quick, get ready, it’s time to prep for your lessons!”
Ye Zhen frowned, somewhat baffled: “Prep for what lessons?”
“Male Virtue!” Jiang Xiaoyi’s face was full of panic. “Have you forgotten? The Male Virtue EMBA my mother wants you to take!”
Earlier, Jiang Xiaoyi had actually already booked home tutors for Ye Zhen’s etiquette classes and Male Virtue EMBA classes, but ran into Ye Zhen’s fierce protests and objections. On top of that, Jiang Xiaoyi’s mother had forgotten about it after giving the instruction, and Jiang Xiaoyi herself had been overwhelmed managing Ruiyi, so she hadn’t followed up on it for a while. But now…
“My mom is coming back from her overseas trip next week! She just called and said she wants to check on your Male Virtue coursework, to see how your studies have gone during this time! She’s prepared a thousand-question exam for you! You need to cram right now! You can’t let it show!”
Hearing this, Ye Zhen’s face immediately showed resistance: “I’m not studying.” The man was quite confident. “I can easily pass the exam on the strength of my excellent moral character alone.”
“You’re confident, are you?”
“Of course. Isn’t it just answering whatever you women want to hear? Whatever’s good for you women, that’s the right answer—how hard could that be?”
“Then let me ask you—in which year and on which date was the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee held?”
“What’s the average body temperature of a whale?”
“What’s the approximate size of our country’s primary sector employment population currently?”
…
Ye Zhen stared, wide-eyed: “What does any of this have to do with Male Virtue? Who on earth would know this kind of thing off the top of their head!”
“Look at you, you really don’t understand at all! What I just asked are all past real exam questions from the Male Virtue EMBA! Don’t look down on the Male Virtue EMBA program—beyond those few male-character questions, it tests a comprehensive knowledge structure, including general common sense, quantitative relationships, judgment and reasoning, data analysis, and verbal comprehension!”
Jiang Xiaoyi patiently explained: “In this world, the gold content of a Male Virtue EMBA diploma is higher than Tsinghua or Peking University! This EMBA program is a single-plank bridge—passing the exam and graduating is called ‘making it ashore’! Because a man holding a Male Virtue EMBA diploma is guaranteed a stable job!”
“Many companies favor hiring men with this diploma. Even if you’re not job hunting, at the very least, holding this certificate lets you find a good woman to marry, securing yourself an iron rice bowl! You won’t have to struggle in the bitter sea anymore! The EMBA is a lifeline for men! It’s a symbol of status! So the exam isn’t as simple as you think! It’s extremely, extremely difficult!”
“Most men start reviewing from their senior year of university! Some men even quit their jobs at home to prepare for it! Male Virtue EMBA prep classes are booming—some of the good ones are so popular you can’t even get a spot!”
…
As Jiang Xiaoyi explained, Ye Zhen’s expression gradually shifted from disdain to increasing seriousness—
“Have men’s lives already gotten this hard? Everyone’s got to sharpen their heads for this kind of exam? Aren’t there lots of movements protecting men’s rights? Things like ‘speak for him’ or whatever?”
“If men’s rights were already equal, would we need any protection at all? Look, do carp need protecting? What needs protecting are things on the verge of extinction, like finless porpoises! The fundamental reason men need protecting is because your living environment as men is so poor!”
Jiang Xiaoyi’s mouth was going dry from talking: “Anyway, stop wasting time—the home tutor will be here soon. Starting tonight, you’ll cram intensively with me every day. I’ll temporarily waive your workout duties—just manage to at least pass, or my mom said, if you fail, she’ll go find me a new boyfriend to meet!”
But when Jiang Xiaoyi said this, Ye Zhen clearly didn’t seem to feel it was any of his business. His face showed no obvious sense of crisis.
“Do you understand what that means? When the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold! If you fail, my mom will kick you out immediately—do you think you’ll still get to live in this villa? Dream on!”
As Jiang Xiaoyi spoke, she picked up the chinchilla in her arms: “And your little brother here—you and it will be worlds apart from each other too. Do you still want to be able to pet it every day?”
If the threat of being kicked out of the villa had only somewhat shaken Ye Zhen, then after looking at the cat, though his face darkened a little, he finally made up his mind for good—
“Fine, I’ll study. You think I can’t pass?”
**
An hour later, Ye Zhen was gripping his own hair as if he wanted to pull it all out, his face utterly wrecked—
“These questions are inhuman!” Ye Zhen’s face looked terrible. “No normal person needs to know this stuff!”
Jiang Xiaoyi held a small pointer in her hand, tapping it against the compiled past exam papers with a crisp snap, snap, snap, scolding him in exasperation: “Ye Zhen, how can you give up this fast! This EMBA exam relies fundamentally on drilling through practice questions! Keep grinding! Keep drilling!”
…
After forcing Ye Zhen to grind through a hundred practice questions, the noble etiquette home tutor arrived right on time.
“This lesson will cover Western dining etiquette, so you’ll learn how the nobility elegantly use knives and forks.”
The male tutor smiled slightly, raising his pinky finger in an affected manner, his face brimming with noble airs: “I’ve ordered a delivery steak as a prop—in a moment I’ll demonstrate to you how to dine elegantly, just like me.”
It was already nine at night by now. Jiang Xiaoyi yawned twice, then headed upstairs to put on a face mask and get ready for bed, leaving the living room, now turned into a classroom, with just Ye Zhen and the tutor.
“I graduated as an honors graduate from the first-ever class of Male Virtue EMBA, so I stayed on at the school to teach. As you know, being a school teacher has a nine-to-five schedule with low intensity but high social status. It doesn’t interfere with taking care of the family while working—it’s the profession most preferred by today’s women when choosing a spouse.”
After the tutor finished speaking, he raised his pinky and took a sip of black tea, looking every bit the aristocratic gentleman: “After that, well, because my profession puts me in contact with high-end women, I met my wife through work, and naturally, smoothly won her over with my elegance. Now, I’ve achieved success in both career and family.”
After he finished, he glanced at Ye Zhen with a somewhat disdainful look: “As for you, your foundation is a bit weak, but if you follow my teaching diligently and put in the effort, there’s still hope you can pass the EMBA exam.”
Ye Zhen had actually been feeling a bit drowsy, letting the tutor’s words go in one ear and out the other, but upon hearing this, he immediately grew displeased: “What do you mean my foundation is a bit weak?”
Where exactly was his foundation weak? If anything, this tutor here was nearly a full head shorter than him, so ordinary—where did he get such confidence?
Facing this challenge, the tutor remained quite composed: “Your taste has problems. Look, none of what you’re wearing has that ‘good marriage material’ look—all your clothes are name brands, which is inadvisable before you’ve fully married into a wealthy family. It’ll make you look vain and money-grubbing, make women feel that keeping you around would be expensive, and it also makes you look flashy, giving women the impression that a man like you probably won’t behave and isn’t suitable to be kept settled at home.”
This tutor apparently interpreted Ye Zhen’s glare as shock at hearing new knowledge, and continued with great confidence: “I’m not saying a man can’t wear name brands—just wait to wear them until after you’ve successfully secured your position! And after marriage, you should also seize control of the household finances!”
What kind of absurd, backward thinking was this, and he was actually pleased with himself about it?
Ye Zhen practically wanted to roll his eyes, but the home tutor had clearly already moved on, self-satisfied, to the next topic—
“Although you might already know how to use a knife and fork to eat steak, ordinary men generally can’t display the same noble bearing and elegant posture as me. Now I need you to follow my example and align the curve of your body correctly, and then…”
Unable to bear this affected display any longer, Ye Zhen said, “I don’t think there’s anything I can learn from you.”
“Young man, don’t be so overambitious!”
With anything, actions speak louder than words. Ye Zhen didn’t retort—he simply took out his phone and pulled up the delivery page for a fried chicken shop…
**
After finishing her face mask, Jiang Xiaoyi suddenly had no sleepiness left and felt energized again, so she decided to go downstairs to check on Ye Zhen’s progress in his noble Western dining etiquette lesson. As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw the home tutor, who had strutted in earlier full of vigor, now looking wilted like a defeated rooster, preparing to leave.
“Teacher? What’s wrong? Did Ye Zhen make you this upset?!”
The home tutor, as if his sore spot had been touched, responded with intense emotion: “I can’t teach someone like him! Did you hire me here just to humiliate me?!”
Jiang Xiaoyi was stunned: “Is Ye Zhen’s aptitude really that poor?”
Was he so bad that even the tutor couldn’t teach him, feeling that teaching such a student was an insult to himself?
Just as Jiang Xiaoyi was about to sincerely apologize on Ye Zhen’s behalf, she heard the tutor sigh with shame instead—
“No, Director Jiang, Mr. Ye is amazing! He let me witness true noble bearing! He’s too perfect—for me to teach him is simply an insult to him, and an insult to myself too, it makes me feel utterly inadequate. Director Jiang, you absolutely must seize this opportunity—a man like him is truly a model for the rest of us. If you let him go, you’ll never find better! I’m not worthy of teaching him. I won’t be coming back. Goodbye!”
Wasn’t this just teaching Western dining etiquette? Why would he just run off saying he’s not worthy? Was it really that serious?
Jiang Xiaoyi looked at Ye Zhen in confusion. The man was currently sitting leisurely at the dining table, elegantly and unhurriedly dabbing at his mouth.
“What did you do? Did you threaten him?”
Ye Zhen pressed his lips together and smiled slightly at Jiang Xiaoyi: “Oh, nothing much, I just showed him how to elegantly and nobly eat chicken wings with a knife and fork.”
“Eating chicken wings with Western knife and fork??? Can’t you just pick it up with your hands???”
Ye Zhen looked at Jiang Xiaoyi with pity, as if looking at a country bumpkin: “Do you know why, in Western dining, many people only order steak and not chicken wings? It’s not that fine restaurants don’t offer chicken wings at all—it’s that eating chicken wings with a knife and fork is genuinely difficult. Someone who can truly use a knife and fork well is someone who can effortlessly and elegantly handle even something like chicken wings—and would absolutely never resort to using their hands.”
After he finished speaking, with smooth, natural movements, he used the knife to cut between the two bones of the wing, then used the fork to hold it steady while his right hand elegantly used the knife to strip the meat off the wing—clean and complete.
“I’d finally gone to the trouble of working out and didn’t want to eat chicken wings tonight, but there was no other choice.” Ye Zhen shrugged. “You’re asking what I did? I didn’t do anything—I just showed him what real noble dining looks like. He simply couldn’t eat chicken wings with a knife and fork, so he really isn’t worthy of teaching me.”
“…”
Ye Zhen elegantly put the freshly stripped wing meat into his mouth, glanced at the door, and gave a cold snort: “When it comes to showing off, I, Ye Zhen, have never once been defeated.”
“…”