E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World
Chapter 165: Episode 165: The Dark History of Idiots

Chapter 165: Episode 165: The Dark History of Idiots

Wei Jingzhu really is a worrywart, knowing is enough, he could just tell us during the class tonight, but he still sent over an email, and it’s encrypted...

If it’s encrypted, that means don’t look at it during work hours.

Zhou Xueyin checked the time and saw it was about right, closed her laptop, and went downstairs to buy dinner for herself and Kang Siying.

When she got back to the office, she was surprised to find that Zhang Yongzhong was actually not there.

Well, isn’t that great, let us slog through overtime while he just ups and leaves when it’s time? Is this some kind of joke?

"I declare time to clock out! Hurry up and go, hurry up and go. If that idiot comes back, we won’t be able to leave!" Zhou Xueyin urged those who had finished their work to leave quickly, "Whatever it is, I’ll cover for you, just go quickly!"

Hearing Zhou Xueyin’s directive, everyone packed up their things and swiftly left the company, avoiding Zhang Yongzhong’s enforced overtime as if dodging the plague.

By the time Zhou Xueyin and Kang Siyin finished dinner and were ready to go to class, Zhang Yongzhong hadn’t returned yet, but his briefcase was still in his office, and nobody knew where he had gone.

Who cares, anyway, as long as it’s the end of workday; if he’s not in the office, then everyone leaves without discussion!

However, just as the two were clocking out on the 9th floor, by some weird coincidence, they bumped into Zhang Yongzhong sauntering over from the dining area: "Eh? Isn’t it not time yet? Why are you two leaving already?"

"It is time, it is! Look, it’s already 7:30!" Zhou Xueyin replied, pointing at the time clock that had just jumped to 7:30, "We’re going to be late for class. If you have something to say, say it tomorrow!"

After saying that, Zhou Xueyi quickly led Kang Siyin down the stairs; if they waited for the elevator, they might have to endure Zhang Yongzhong’s nagging.

"These young people nowadays have no sense of dedication, all of them leave right on the dot..." Zhang Yongzhong muttered to himself.

If you ask why he prefers to stay at the company? It’s because he’s the only one in Beijing, with his wife and kid left behind in his hometown. To save money, he shares an apartment with colleagues, and there’s nothing to do at home anyway. At the company, he can at least use the free internet to play Mahjong.

But staying in the company alone is also quite boring, which is why he drags everyone to stay with him until 7:30...

Zhou Xueyin and Kang Siyin met up with Wei Jingzhu and others at school: "Xiaojing, I saw the email. I spent all afternoon working on the proposal, but I haven’t had a chance to check it yet. Couldn’t you have just told me directly?"

"Ah well, it’s nothing much. It’s just that Zhang Yongzhong used to be the head of the software channel, and the reason he became your deputy general manager is that he denigrated all the other candidates’ proposals," Wei Jingzhu said with disdain, "The worst part is, denigrating others is one thing, but he didn’t offer any particularly constructive criticism or suggestions..."

"What? Then why did he become our deputy general manager?" Zhou Xueyin was puzzled, "That’s totally unreasonable!"

"Apparently, it’s because he downplayed others’ ideas in just the right places where the boss had the same opinions, so they hit it off..." Wei Jingzhu said helplessly, "You might not really understand Liu Ruidong; he’s the kind of person who will favor anyone whose ideas coincide with his own, no matter what they are..."

"No wonder he let Zhang Lei take on the major responsibility of running a gaming website on his own..." Zhou Xueyin said, unconvinced.

"And about Zhang Lei’s matter, it just so happened that Hu Jingyu from the gaming channel, who followed Zhang Lei, right?" Wei Jingzhu started to share what he knew with Zhou Xueyin, "Didn’t he transfer over there with Zhang Lei?"

"Hmm! And then what?"

"Later, when we met for lunch, we started talking about it. Jingyu said that Zhang Lei was kicked to this lousy little station because he was reported to WBD for stealing disaster relief supplies. That’s why he was stuck with the big task here. Otherwise, with his pampered nature, how could he have possibly volunteered to be the general manager, a role so taxing and troublesome?"

As Wei Jingzhu spoke about this, he seemed quite smug. It turned out that Liu Ruidong wasn’t ignoring the whistleblowing; instead, he wanted to keep the rotten wood away from the company.

"This Liu Ruidong really... appointing such a scumbag as the general manager, why not just fire him?" But Zhou Xueyin was still very upset, "The loss I suffered can’t be recouped, and I didn’t plan to ask them to compensate me... it’s just that I can’t swallow the injustice! The money’s gone, none of the stuff is mine, I just handed that bastard a windfall..."

"Don’t be too anxious, Jingyu also said that after Zhang Lei arrived there, he quickly burned through the startup funds provided by the boss, and now he’s entirely dependent on Zhang Yan. But you know Zhang Yan’s half-baked skills, she simply can’t land any clients, especially for a newly developed website that has neither people nor traffic..." Wei Jingzhu explained this to Zhou Xueyin while speaking.

"If their site survives half a year, then I’ll have seen it all!" Kang Siyin added her own sarcastic comment on the side.

"You really shouldn’t say that, Zhang Yan, by sleeping around, did manage to secure quite a few advertisements and even got partnership deals. It’s uncertain if they can last a year, but surviving half a year doesn’t seem to be a problem," Zhao Kai also joined in the ridicule.

"There’s one thing I’m puzzled about..." Yang Xiyuan, who had been listening with confusion, unable to match the people mentioned, looked puzzled at the others, "How do you know it was that Zhang Yan who, by sleeping around, brought in the clients?"

"She said so herself..." Wei Jingzhu and Zhao Kai said in unison.

"Uh... She’s that bold? Not even avoiding the topic of sleeping with clients?" Yang Xiyuan asked in astonishment.

"There’s no need for her to avoid it, everyone’s crystal clear about her capabilities. If she pulls in clients that are out of her league, what else but sleeping her way through could she possibly use?" Zhou Xueyin said disdainfully.

Zhang Yan’s personal attributes aren’t bad, her IQ may not be high, but at the very least, she’s smarter than Zhang Lei. If her emotional intelligence, as a salesperson, was low, she would’ve starved on the streets long ago. Since she’s still flourishing, it indicates that her EQ isn’t low either.

But this couple just can’t apply their advantages in an honest way, always thinking about taking shortcuts, fantasizing about getting rich overnight.

Moreover, both are accustomed to a life of comfort and aren’t willing to use their brains to change the status quo. So really, other than the path of sleeping with clients, they have nowhere else to go.

"Hey? Wait a minute, weren’t we talking about idiots? How did we end up talking about another idiot?" Zhou Xueyin just realized the conversation had gone off-topic again.

"Hey! Yeah... Oh right, you guys have to watch out for the idiot trying to take over your nest!" Wei Jingzhu warned solemnly, word by word.

"Take over the nest? Humph, he does seem to have that in mind! He’s even taken over my office, now I’m back to enjoying life with the masses!" Zhou Xueyin said with self-mocking laughter.

"This is just the beginning of the first step... Watch, next he’ll try to take credit for your achievements, claiming your revenue as his own, so you must keep a good record of the transactions!" Wei Jingzhu repeatedly reminded.

"Don’t worry! Our performance, we definitely won’t let him benefit from it at all! Thanks for the reminder!" Zhou Xueyin said gratefully.

Wei Jingzhu’s reminder was indeed timely. Luckily, when making the reports, she had been careful, not disclosing any major clients. If not, she reckoned that by next year, 51buy might no longer carry the Zhou surname.