Chapter 3

After handing out the coffee, Yingying Guan realized she’d bought one cup too few. With hands clasped, she approached me and said apologetically: "I’m so sorry, Li Jie. Here, take my cup instead." I guided her to my seat, pressing her gently into the chair. "Since you caused the accounting discrepancies, you’re now responsible for fixing them." She stared at the accounting system, completely at a loss, her eyes brimming with tears. "Li Jie, I majored in secretarial studies. I don’t know how to do this…" I interrupted her. "No problem. You can learn. "You’ve been diligently adding 0.10 yuan to the account every day, so you must be deeply interested in our company’s finances." Stretching lazily, I started gathering my personal belongings. Xiao He frowned, questioning me. "Li Qian, you’re outright bullying the newbie! How can you hand such an important task to someone inexperienced? What if something goes wrong?" His righteous tone might have been convincing if I hadn’t already pegged him as a meddler. To deal with people like him, the best strategy is to drag them into the mess. I moved his chair closer. "Xiao He, aren’t you Yingying’s mentor? Perfect! You two can work together on the accounting issues." Yingying’s eyes welled up with tears. "Li Jie, I know you don’t like me. I’m new and not yet permanent staff, so I can’t do anything about being bullied by you. But Wen Ge is a veteran employee with a family. He’s busy and needs to spend time with his wife and kids. "Please, don’t drag others into this because of me. Come at me directly instead!" Her fragile but resolute act instantly garnered sympathy from everyone, along with waves of criticism aimed at me. "Li Qian, you can’t just bully Xiao He and Yingying because you’ve been here longer!" "Exactly! Always sitting in the corner with that sour face—anyone would think the company owes you money." "Everyone’s busy. Even the newbies have plenty to do. But here you are, pushing your work onto others. What a clever trick!" In the distance, Yingying’s lips curled into a faint smile. If this were the past, I’d never irresponsibly hand my work to someone else. But I’ll never forget how, in my previous life, the boss used these baseless accusations of bullying to fire me under the guise of "workplace harmony"—just to avoid paying me the severance I deserved. A company like this isn’t worth my effort or dedication. "Fine. Since you all feel so strongly about supporting them, then why don’t you help with the reconciliation too? "I’ve been working overtime for 19 straight days, nearly to the point of collapse. And because of her daily 0.10 yuan deposits, the numbers never match. I’m not a saint, and I refuse to tolerate something that almost killed me! "If you’re going to speak up for them, step up and reconcile the accounts yourselves!" Rolling up my sleeves, I stood tall, daring anyone to challenge me. "What’s all this commotion? Don’t you people have work to do?" The boss strode over, his face dark with displeasure. Tears shimmered in Yingying’s eyes. "Mr. Gu, this is all my fault. Li Jie entrusted me with her work as a sign of her faith in my abilities. I shouldn’t have shirked the responsibility." Coworkers jumped at the chance to paint me as the villain, each contributing their two cents to the narrative of me bullying the new hire. I patiently waited for them to finish before speaking. "You’re all quick to point out that I handed off my work to her, but no one’s mentioning how she disrupted my work every single day by depositing money into the account. "The workplace isn’t her mom. If she makes mistakes, it’s her responsibility to fix them. Isn’t that how it should be?" After understanding the situation, the boss tried to smooth things over. "Alright, alright, Li. I know you’ve been working hard lately. I’ll give you half a day off soon." I’d been working unpaid overtime for three consecutive weekends, and this miserly half-day off was all he could offer? Before I could respond, Yingying chimed in quickly. "Mr. Gu, Li Jie has been working so hard. Why not give her more time off? I’ll take over her overtime!" The boss beamed at her, praising her as the most exceptional employee he’d ever met. At the same time, he threw shade at the older employees, hinting at their "poor work attitudes." Yingying smiled sweetly and addressed the team. "None of you need to come in this Saturday. It’s just sending some materials to clients—I can handle it all on my own." No one dared to accept outright, but she pressed on. "I’ve been interning here for a month now. Consider this my test—I want to prove my capabilities. "Please, give me this chance!" The boss, delighted, agreed immediately. After he left, coworkers flocked to Yingying, showering her with praise. Xiao He even declared her an "angel of kindness." Yingying took out a notebook, jotting down tasks everyone needed help with. Finally, she circled back to me. "Li Jie, do you need help reconciling the accounts?" Xiao He quipped sarcastically. "Her help? You’ll end up being blamed if anything goes wrong." I calmly asked, "So, you wouldn’t blame her if something went wrong?" Xiao He answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course not! She’s just trying to help. Her intentions alone deserve gratitude." Shi Ming, one of his allies, chimed in. "Exactly! Not like some people here who won’t even help with something as small as picking up a package." Moved, Yingying swore on the spot to do her best for them. I couldn’t help but want to laugh, but I held it in. A person with so much free time to deposit 0.10 yuan into the company account every day? I have no expectations of her competence. Now, I’ll let them fully experience the "kindness" of Yingying Guan!