Chapter 7 - 7. 'Black sheep'....

Inside the conference room.....

The air was cold and stiff.

The people inside, by age, were mostly of the previous generation except for some who were in their late 20s or early 30s, in contrast to the lady in her suit who was 23. Though her mature style of dressing gave her a professional air, she was still young, which led to the disdain, the members felt for her.

To them, she was still too young to lead them even if she was the only grand-daughter of the business-legend of this country as well as the Qin empire, the QMX's chairman, Qin Mo.

It was a bit funny actually, considering Qin ZiXuan was just 6 months older than her and all of them treated him like their leader but her as a 'black sheep'; was it a matter of position or something else, only they know. ['Zi' is a prefix of some sort, boys in China are bestowed upon on reaching adulthood or so, said Google-shi....hehe]

Well, the most probable reason for such treatment was, they were jealous of her expertise at such a young age plus the fact that they can't let go of their pride, the pride of the 'elders and experienced'.

Qin ZiXuan, as the CEO, was mainly involved in the last phase of decision making and considering his position, these old foxes didn't have enough guts to speak against him even if he acted as he did today so, they took it all out on her.

They couldn't say it on her face too, as she was still a 'Qin' even if, she was an 'outcast' according to the so-called rumors, they still, disregarded her efforts; nitpicking her ways, ignoring her amendments, talking behind her back and so on. Their outlooks on things were far too outdated but they didn't accept their own shortcomings, what would you expect from these sly old cows?

They were simply disregarding their own status as senior executives and staffs, just pushing off their works to others and taking the credits, complaining about the younger staffs day-in and day-out, they were acting as if the Qins were obliged to feed and pay them while they just sleep and talk, even yesterday, their 'overtime' was them drinking out as they talked about her.

These people except for the visibly younger staff, have been in the office since the chairman was in office though of course, they were not in such high position. The core people who followed him back then, all left office and passed the torch to the younger ones excepts for some of these remaining leeches who got promotions to fill up the seats. As there was a change in power, the management was a bit imbalanced, so, these people with their so-called experience had vowed to help the then young man, manage the company till he 'grows' up a bit, though the chairman was reluctant considering their 'capabilities' he just couldn't leave everything as it was and accepted them at the end which, according to our ZiXuan and Meilin, was the only mistake in his, otherwise, legendary career.

Qin ZiXuan took over the office last year, at 22. He had worked his way up from a manager in the sales division, since back when he was in senior high, to the position of senior executive, so, everyone knew of him and gave him respect because of his capabilities as well as his background as a Qin; the oldies couldn't openly speak ill of him but if left they will act as if they deserved the position.[Even this author who lacks morals is baffled by them.....haaah]

It was quite a shock for everyone when the chairman decided to make him, his heir as he is an adopted child of the Qins but then again, considering the fact that the son of the chairman has never put a foot in the company and his only granddaughter has been abroad for over 5 years, they thought it was the best decision, as they knew nothing about them and have seen the charisma of Qin ZiXuan since he was just an high-schooler.

Though he is referred to as the chairman, due to health issues he has left the majority of his work to him.

Qin ZiXuan took over the office and the stocks have only risen, the revenues from their projects were in a good state plus the turn-over rate of the year was among the best since the Qins started business but in contrast to him, she came out-of-nowhere when the company was flourishing, was appointed as his PA and probably was vying for his position and she acted as if she was an Empress, which got on nerves of many, including these people, who had nothing but their 'experience' to show which, by the way, was now being questioned.

They never for a single second thought that, if she really wanted, she could have taken the position of CEO, considering it was her right and her accomplishments abroad was nothing to sneeze at; they never tried to know about her, if they tried they would have known that, she has already completed her MBA at 22 and was an acting consultant for an MNC worth billions since she was 20 and left the position to come back, they forgot that, she could have fired them but still took her time to make ammends in their plans and was giving them a chance, but no, they just wanted to keep face plus they thought that she will fire them once she takes over the company so, they acted against her at every crossroad.

The CEO was still amiable for an year but since she has come he has become more and more temperamental towards them, according to them she was their jinx.

She doesn't give anyone any face, she will ridicule their proposals outright and even though she gives them advice to do something right, their ego has made them blind to see that, it is this attitude which makes Qin ZiXuan ridicule them but they, of course, didn't know about it.

Qin ZiXuan has never said anything because in that year he was filtering those who could and could not work according to his ethos and they are certainly not among them. Now that she is back, he has the biggest support he could ask for and the changes he wanted can now be implemented, it will be a new era for the Qins, which of course except for the two, no one knew.

These people called her names, behind her back as she was 'demoted' which, by the way, was their only saving grace against her otherwise perfect work-life since she came back; they never took her words seriously and always tried to 'enlighten' her when she spoke of her plans; the whole world will spit on you when you are down.[...hah]

What they forgot was that even a dying camel is still larger than a horse, that she was a phoenix.