Chapter 200 - 176: Impulse is the Devil (Part 1)

Chapter 200: Chapter 176: Impulse is the Devil (Part 1)

Just as she was dreaming about the future, Xu An and Xu Heping walked into the restaurant, one right after the other. There was only one unfamiliar figure inside. Xu An didn’t need an introduction from Xu Heping; he knew this was the person who had shown up looking for him.

"Hello, I’m the owner of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. How can I help you?" Although Xu An suspected she was a scammer, he decided to be polite until she actually made a move, just to avoid misjudging someone.

"Hello, Boss. I’m Tang Wen, here to report for duty. I’ll be taking on the marketing and planning position at your company," Tang Wen replied upon hearing Xu An’s question. She immediately shot to her feet, heels together, standing ramrod straight as she answered in a clear voice.

Hmm...

Xu An stared at Tang Wen in silence for a long while, not knowing what to say. ’If she’s a scammer,’ he thought, ’what kind of scam involves pretending to be a new employee? A con like this is unheard of, not just now, but it would be unheard of even in 2027. The National Anti-Fraud Center has probably never seen a case like this.’

Tang Wen noticed Xu An’s confusion and reminded him loudly, "Boss, we talked on QQ! You’re the one who told me to come start work!"

’That happened?’ Xu An pulled out his phone and saw that he did indeed have unread messages. He opened the app. In the chat window, there were only three messages from her.

’Boss, can I start work today?’

’Boss, I’ve already taken care of my resignation. I’m on my way to your place to start work now.’

’Boss, your employee said you were busy and out, so I’ll just wait for you in the restaurant.’

After reading them, Xu An held his phone up for Tang Wen to see. "These are all messages from you to me. There’s nothing from me to you here. I just checked, and there’s nothing else in our chat history."

Tang Wen glanced at Xu An’s phone without a word, then took out her own. She looked down and scrolled through it for a good while before suddenly holding her phone up to Xu An. "Here, it’s right here!"

What was on her phone wasn’t a QQ chat window, but a post’s comment section. The screen showed a status update, and Tang Wen’s finger was pointing at a conversation in the comments.

’Boss, that’s not cool. Shouldn’t you build up hype for an event for a few days so we can get ready to grab a spot? Giving us a mere fifteen minutes from announcement to deadline is outrageous! Who’s your marketing planner? Fire him. I’ll come work for you!’

’He’s already fired. We’ve even got a desk ready for you. All that’s missing is you.’

’Okay, Boss. I’ll quit right away. I’ll head over as soon as my resignation is finalized.’

’(Thumbs up)’

Xu An fell silent as he looked at the conversation under the post. He glanced at Tang Wen, then at the phone. Tang Wen. The phone. Tang Wen. The phone...

’What do I do? This is exhausting. I feel like I need to pop a heart pill.’

’I typed those words out, one by one. I really did write that reply. But when I did, I just thought she was joking with me! Who would have thought she was being serious?! If I had known she would take it seriously, there’s no way in hell I would have replied like that!’

"Do you have your proof of resignation? Can I see it?" Xu An asked, clinging to the last shred of hope in a futile struggle.

"I do!"

As if she had expected him to ask, Tang Wen deftly pulled a certificate of resignation from her backpack and handed it to Xu An with both hands. Xu An took the document and skimmed its contents, his eyes finally landing on the resignation date: August 26, 2012.

After a two-second silence, Xu An, unwilling to give up, flipped the paper over. The impression of the company seal was distinct on the back. From his years of work experience, Xu An could tell this document was the real deal.

’Right now, there are only two paths before me. One is to appeal to her with emotion and reason, persuade this young woman to go back to her old employer, apologize, and see if they can pretend nothing happened. The other path is to see what her professional skills are like. If she meets my standards, I could keep her on. Of course, there’s a third path: just throw her out and pretend this never happened...’

After an internal struggle, Xu An finally chose the second path.

"Did you bring your resume? Let me take a look at it to get a better sense of your background." Xu An motioned for Tang Wen to sit at a table, then walked over to the drink cooler, took out three cans of Coke, and handed one to her.

"Okay." Tang Wen seemed to sense Xu An’s dilemma but didn’t say anything. She crisply pulled a resume from her bag—neatly organized in a folder—and handed it to him. "This covers the more significant projects I’ve handled in my five-plus years of work."

The folder was thick, containing at least twenty-odd pages. The first page was Tang Wen’s personal resume.

Name: Tang Wen; Gender: Female; Age: 27; Education: Hai City Communication University, Major in Network and New Media; Work Experience: Qiansheng Group, October 12, 2006 - August 26, 2012...

Qiansheng Group! Xu An’s head snapped up so fast he nearly twisted his neck. When he was looking at the proof of resignation earlier, his focus had been entirely on the departure date. Now, suddenly seeing that her previous employer was Qiansheng Group, he was overcome with a complicated mix of feelings.

Qiansheng Group’s status in Hai City was comparable to QQ’s parent company in Peng City. Getting a job at Qiansheng Group right after graduation was like passing the civil service exam—an accomplishment worth writing home about, something that would bring great honor to your family. And yet this woman, Tang Wen, standing right in front of him, had actually quit that high-end, prestigious job to come work at his little no-name restaurant.

Xu An was lost in thought again. ’Should I ask Tang Wen to get a criminal background check and a psychiatric evaluation? Or should I just slap myself a couple of times to see if I’m dreaming...’

’Whatever. I’ll just finish reading this file first. Maybe this Tang Wen is just a workplace slacker.’ Xu An convinced himself and continued flipping through the document.

The project introductions began on the second page: all sorts of clear and concise reports with text and graphics, photos from live events, analyses of the results, comparisons of customer traffic before and after store promotions, and so on.

’Qiansheng Group Sunshine Garden Real Estate: Analysis Report for the City-Wide Cyclical Promotion Campaign’

’Qiansheng Group’s "Ten Thousand Farmers Exhibition": Preliminary Report on 5,000 Surveys’

’Qiansheng Group...’

’...’

Page after page, for over twenty pages, it was all marketing and event planning reports for Qiansheng Group. Every single project had achieved remarkable results, either by increasing sales by twenty percent or by breaking through industry limitations to expand brand awareness. And in every report, Tang Wen’s name was listed among the main planners.

If, before seeing the resume, Xu An had worried that Tang Wen was incompetent and just clinging to a joke to desperately snag a job, now he was starting to wonder... what exactly about his little restaurant, not even worthy of being compared to a single strand of Qiansheng Group’s leg hair, had attracted a god-tier expert like her to descend and offer salvation?

With Tang Wen’s six years of extensive project experience at Qiansheng Group, any publicly-listed domestic company was like her own backyard—she could come and go as she pleased. She was so valuable that she could probably quit the same company seven times, and HR would still welcome her back for an eighth with an incredibly professional and enthusiastic smile.

So, what on earth had Xu’s Fast Food done to deserve the attention of such a heavyweight?