Chapter Six: Helplessness

  If you're in a bad mood, don't jump to conclusions.

  When Lin Fang arrived at the company, it was already 8:50.

  If his memory serves him correctly, there should be a meeting this morning. They have one every month at the beginning of the month to summarize the situation of the group last month and how to improve this month.

  After punching in, they came directly to their team's conference room.

  At this time, there were already several people waiting there, but Lin was not very familiar with them.

  After waiting for about 5 minutes, everyone arrived, Ye Wei and Wang Zhuo.

  There are 8 people in this group, Lin Fang sits in the last row because he is not very interested in the meeting. Ye Man, on the other hand, sits in the front row, she is a very ambitious person.

  "Good morning everyone, let's keep today's meeting brief." Wang Zhuo had already begun speaking in his usual calm and mature manner.

  "Last month..." Wang Zhuo began summarizing last month's situation.

  Lin Fang listlessly watched Wang Zhuo speaking on stage, but his mind was preoccupied with last night's dream and this morning's breakfast.

  "That breakfast, where did it come from? Besides me, there's no one else at home, and I don't remember making any breakfast. Being scared awake by that dream was when I was still in bed." Lin Fang's thoughts became more and more unclear, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

  "I thought I was prepared to control the dream, but this time I didn't even realize when I started dreaming." Lin returned his thoughts to the beginning of the problem, feeling that something had gone wrong.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, that's the situation for this month. Next, we're going to talk about one thing." Wang Zhuo has already finished talking about this month's plan above.

  "Lin Fang, Lin Fang." This was said by a man sitting in front of Lin Fang, who is also one of the more active members of this group.

  That person saw Lin Fang had no reaction, stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Lin Fang's eyes.

  "What?" Lin Fang finally came back to his senses.

  "Old Wang is ready." The man called Wang Zhuo "Old Wang", because of his age and also because Wang Zhuo was very mature and steady, with the demeanor of an elder.

  "Oh?" Lin Fang started paying attention to what Wang Zhuo was going to say at this time.

  "In a few more days, it will be the 10th anniversary of the company's founding. The company thinks that letting several small groups go on an outing is a good idea." Wang Zhuo said, which should be the same as what Ning Zhiyuan heard before.

  No one interrupted Wang Zhuo's words, they just listened to him speak, with no interest in their expressions.

  "It's a villa!" Wang Zhuo smiled lightly, this group of guys probably didn't know where to go and play, so they seemed careless.

  "What? Wang Lao, villa, you're not kidding?" The person sitting in front of Lin Fang couldn't sit still and immediately asked.

  "Yes, the company is thanking us employees by letting us have a few days of fun in a villa in the suburbs." Wang Zhuo looked at the people below, who all had an eager look on their faces, and knew that this cake was having an effect.

  "Who can go? Who is going?" At this time, the people below were already a bit excited, all hoping they could go.

  "This time the quota is limited, our group has 3 quotas, I have one, Ye Man has one, and the other one hasn't been chosen yet." Wang Zhuo pressed his hand down to signal everyone to be quiet before speaking.

  "Because I am the team leader, so I gave out one quota, then it was Ye Wei, she is our group's best performing colleague and also a female." Wang Zhuo said the reason for these two quotas at this time, but didn't say the last quota.

  "Yue Mei's performance is good, we all know that, but what does it have to do with her being a woman?" A colleague expressed puzzlement.

  "What's March 8th?" Wang Zhuo's words were laced with a hint of teasing.

  "Oh, okay, so what's the last spot like?" Colleagues all knew the reason, but were worried about the last spot, as if it was a competition, and everyone around them was their competitor.

  "Originally, apart from my two quotas, one was for the colleague with the best performance and one was for a female colleague. But now Ye Man has taken both, so... cough, so let Ye Man choose a colleague to participate in this last quota." Wang Zhuo said while glancing at Ye Man, clearing his throat lightly when he mentioned letting Ye Man choose.

  Ye Man didn't have a big reaction to what Wang Zhuo said, as if she had already known.

  Many colleagues immediately looked at Ye Wei, as if not looking at her, she would not choose herself in general. Ye Wei first looked at Wang Zhuo, and after the latter nodded, Ye Wei stood up.

  "You all want to go? Unfortunately, there is only one spot available." Ye Man smiled as usual, as if her smile would never run out.

  "You're so active, why don't you give the opportunity to your less active colleagues?" Yemeng's smile at this moment had a teasing feel to it, I have candy, but I won't let you eat it.

  "Not very active?" Colleagues thought of someone in their group who was not very active, and there was only one.

  Lin Fang's mouth twitched slightly, and when Ye Man stood up and looked at herself for a moment, he had a feeling that he was going to be killed by her gaze.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, Ye Mei's whole person was now facing her own, everyone knew she had chosen herself.

  Among the many jealous and resentful eyes, Lin Fangzheng felt embarrassed when Ye Man spoke up.

  "I've chosen Lin Fang to join the villa activity with me, let him liven up a bit, no one has any objections, right?" Ye Mei said with a smile, looking at Lin Fang and then turning to the crowd.

  "Ah, well, thank you for the recognition, leader. I will continue to work hard." Lin Fang stood up helplessly, but didn't know what else to say, having never had such an experience before, and could only utter a cliché phrase.

  "Alright, today's meeting is almost over. Xiaomei and Fang, stay behind for a moment, everyone else can leave." Luckily, Wang Zhuo announced the end of the meeting at this time, helping Lin Fang get out of an awkward situation, otherwise it would have been even more uncomfortable.

  Lin Fang was sitting at the back, and there were two doors in the conference room, one behind Lin Fang and the other beside Wang Zhuo. Most importantly, the door behind Lin Fang was closer to their group's area, so Lin Fang was met with varying degrees of hostile stares from passing colleagues, making him feel like he was having a tough day, and he responded to the congratulatory colleagues with a bitter smile.

  Many colleagues have left, Lin Fang walked towards Wang Zhuo's position and waited for Wang Zhuo's instructions with Ye Wei.

  "It's all right, isn't it, Xiao Fang?" Wang Zhuo first asked Lin Fang, presumably asking about the situation just now.

  "Oh, it's nothing, just joking around." Lin Fang's mouth twitched again, now they were just joking around, but who knows what would happen later.

  "It's like this, three days later at 8am, we'll gather at the company entrance and head to a villa in Jinghua District. The trip will take about an hour or so, just bring luggage for three days and two nights." Wang Zhuo didn't ask Lin Fang again, but instead explained some detailed arrangements for the activity.

  "Are we taking the company car?" Lin Fang asked about the vehicle.

  "Yes, our three teams went to the villa in Jinghua District, while other teams didn't go. The company rented a small bus to take us there," said Wang Zhuo.

  "Oh, I see." Lin Fang had already understood the most important thing, and other questions were no longer relevant. Once he got there, he would know everything. Anyway, he was still looking forward to spending a few days at the villa.

  "That's all, you guys chat, I'll go busy first." Wang Zhuo said, and then stood up and walked out of the conference room.

  "Uncle Wang walks slowly, thank you." Ye Man smiled lightly at Wang Zhuo.

  "Yeh sister, isn't it that you want Wang Ge to choose for you?" Lin Fang's mouth twitched for the third time, helplessly looking at Yeh Mei who had a happy face.

  "Not bad, kid, you're quite clever. It's just that my sister Wang asked me to choose." Yemeng said, raising her head a bit higher, pretending to be very proud and arrogant, with an air of "it was nothing" and "don't need to thank me".

  "Why did you call me?" Lin Fang asked helplessly.

  "It's not like you're eager to go or anything, so I'll just be a good person this once." Ye Mei said with a mischievous grin as she looked at Lin Fang.

  "I didn't say I wanted to go, you asked me twice last time and I didn't agree," said Lin Fang.

  "Is that so, in any case, the last spot is yours anyway. Just consider it as accompanying me, your sister. Our group consists of Uncle Wang and me, while others are like that." This time, Ye Mei adopted a soft approach, as they say, when the hard way doesn't work, try the soft way.

  Lin Fang thought carefully and looked at his colleagues looking at Ye Wei's appearance, indeed, yes, many pursuers.

  "Alright, I'll go, can't I just go? It's a good chance to clear my mind." Lin Fang thought of his own dream at this time and was slightly distracted.

  "Not bad, not bad, this is a good little brother. Sister has to go now." Yemeng's eyes were curved like crescent moons, very charming.

  "Oh." Lin Fang casually responded to Ye Mei.

  Ye Wei didn't notice Lin Fang's distraction, and she walked out of the conference room at this time. Today Ye Wei was wearing a black silk outfit with shorts, a typical office lady attire, walking out step by step in high heels, her twisting figure mesmerizing men, showcasing great charm and beauty.

  Strange, why am I not interested in Ye Jie? Lin Fang looked at the lovely person in front of him, turned his head around, could it be that I don't like women?

  "Hmph, my sexual orientation is perfectly normal." Lin Fang shook his head, expressing helplessness at this boring thought. He had been helpless many times today already. Then Lin Fang walked out of the conference room and busied himself with work, accompanied by the jealous glances from colleagues around him.

  "Hey kiddo, I heard you also got a spot to go on a villa trip, not bad." As soon as he heard the voice, he knew it was Ning Zhìyuǎn, and Ning Ge came looking for Lin Fang.

  "It was Ye Jie who chose me to go." Lin Fang didn't want to show his helplessness anymore, because it was already too much.

  "It's fine as long as you can go, don't mind other things." Ning Zhiyuan's words made Lin Fang feel that there was another meaning.

  "By the way, Ning Ge, what's your view on dreams?" Lin Fang suddenly wanted to discuss the topic of dreams with someone.

  "Dreams?" Ning Zhiyuan first glanced at Lin Fang, seeing the seriousness in his eyes behind his glasses, and not just idle chatter. "As for dreams, I don't know much about them. Some people say that what you think about during the day is what you dream about at night, which makes some sense. For example, if someone desires wealth and riches, their dreams often have elements of this. Others say that dreams are the opposite of reality, where in dreams one has great power, but in reality they hold a very low position."

  "Really." Lin Fang shifted his eyes to the left, a phenomenon that indicated when someone's eyes looked to the left, they were thinking about a problem, and if they looked to the right, they were fabricating something or telling lies.

  Ning Zhiyuan didn't continue speaking, but instead waited for Lin Fang to finish thinking.

  "Thanks, Ning Ge. By the way, are you going to the villa too?" Lin Fang's eyes finally returned to Ning Zhiyuan, but he didn't continue talking about the dream topic and instead turned back to the trip.

  "No big deal, our group is also going to Jinghua District, same villa as yours. I heard each group has a leader, one female and one high-performing colleague participating." Ning Zhii didn't dwell on Lin Fang's issue, but instead talked about other details of the trip. Perhaps Ning Zhii had another reason for being respected, he would consider others' problems, avoid heavy topics, and clearly knew what to say and what not to say.

  "Which other group is it?" Lin Fang said.

  "Do you know Zhao Tianyu?" Ning Zhiyuan countered back at Lin Fang.

  "Zhao Tianyu? Is that the relative of a high-ranking executive in that company? Are they going to that group too?" Lin Fang actually knew this Zhao Tianyu, it seemed that this person was quite famous, but it was unclear whether it was good or bad.

  "Yes, it's their little group. You should have heard about his usual behavior. I won't comment on him anymore. I don't interact with this person much." Ning Zhiyuan didn't express his opinion about Zhao Tianyu. "I just heard that he came to our district for tourism in order to pursue you, Ye sister."

  "I heard that this person is relying on his relatives being high-ranking officials and having real power, so he's very arrogant in the company, and his behavior is almost as if he's above their department head." Lin Fang expressed his own opinion.

  "Alright, never mind him. I heard that the Mirror Flower District's villa has a lake and a forest next to it. What do you plan on doing?" Ning Zhiyuan didn't seem to like speaking ill of others behind their backs.

  "What else can I play, I just went for a walk." Lin Fang didn't have much of a plan.

  "It's good to take your mind off things sometimes. You young man should also find something meaningful to do, I won't say more, I'll go busy myself now." Ning Zhiyuan ended the conversation and went to attend to his own matters.

  "Alright, Brother Ning can go ahead and attend to his business." Lin Fang bid farewell to Ning Zhiyuan.

  Let's take a look at the villa situation in Jinghua District. Lin Fang browsed the information about the location of Jinghua District online at will.