As most people present expected, now that the boss, Song Guangyuan, had made the final decision himself, Liu Shang could only accept the assignment gladly. Yang Xu's goal would thus be achieved.
But to everyone's surprise, Liu Shang smiled at Song Guangyuan. "President Song, I said that my purpose in coming here today is to secure a position with a salary of 4,000 yuan."
"I'm also confident that my contributions can fully meet the requirements of this position."
"So we can make a bet. If I fail to meet this position's requirements in my upcoming work, the company can dismiss me at any time, and I won't take a single cent!"
Seeing Liu Shang openly reject his proposal in front of so many people, Song Guangyuan felt slightly displeased. This Liu Shang was a little too full of himself and had no sense of propriety!
If not for Xu Tiande and Manager Zhong, did he really think a 4,000-yuan salary was so easy to get?
Especially when he was only a part-time student!
Yet at this moment, Liu Shang had put Song Guangyuan in a difficult position. On one side were Xu Tiande and Manager Zhong; on the other were the company's managers and employees.
Meanwhile, Xu Tiande and Manager Zhong were cursing Chen Xu in their hearts for meddling, while also quietly worrying about Liu Shang.
After all, Liu Shang was still a freshman, still just a child. He had no workplace experience and understood nothing of the conflicts of interest and scheming between people.
When Song Jia saw Liu Shang publicly reject Song Guangyuan and insist on the salary he wanted, she could not help feeling delighted as she peeked from the doorway.
"Liu Shang! Well done!"
"Since my dad and the others won't give you the salary you want, just leave this place."
"To work at a company and establish yourself, technical skills alone aren't enough!"
"Look at the way Chen Xu and those people are looking at you. They'll definitely make trouble for you and bully you at every turn in the future."
"Besides, if you leave, I can finally burn incense and thank Buddha. Otherwise, if Tan Feng and the others find out about this, no matter how I explain it, I won't be able to clear things up!"
Just as the atmosphere in the conference room grew increasingly tense, a young man seated at the far end of the conference table, with a laptop and projector before him, spoke with a smile and broke the silence.
"Hehe, President Song, Manager Zhong, General Manager Xu, Manager Chen, I don't think everyone needs to make things difficult over Liu Shang's salary."
"Speaking of which, Liu Shang is my junior from university. He's such an ambitious kid that even I'd like to keep him here, guide him wholeheartedly, and help him grow."
"However, Deputy Manager Chen is right as well. Setting Liu Shang's salary directly at 4,000 yuan would indeed be somewhat inconsistent with our company's pay structure."
"For example, I also graduated from Fengcheng Oil University. I've worked for nearly ten years and am now an engineer, yet my salary is only 4,000 yuan."
"Since Liu Shang keeps saying that he believes he is qualified for this position, I have a question for him concerning actual production work in the field."
"If Liu Shang can truly answer it, then for the time being, I think Deputy Manager Chen and everyone else should have no further objections, right?"
Following Ma Yuan's remarks, Chen Xu and the others who were dissatisfied with Liu Shang all voiced their agreement, supporting Ma Yuan's third round of assessment for Liu Shang.
Ma Yuan had also graduated from Fengcheng Oil University. He had been with the company for several years, held an engineer position, and had always served as Xu Tiande's assistant.
Earlier, he had seen Xu Tiande dote on Liu Shang so much. Just to compete with Manager Zhong for him, Xu Tiande had even claimed that he had no one under him?!
That statement had deeply wounded Ma Yuan's pride and intensified his hostility toward Liu Shang.
So he took this opportunity to step forward. His original intention was to make things difficult for Liu Shang while easing the tension for Song Guangyuan and currying favor with Chen Xu and the others.
However, that was all merely his own fantasy. In reality, his actions had already drawn the resentment and silent mockery of many people.
From Song Guangyuan's and the company's perspective, Ma Yuan's move had only intensified the current conflict and caused further discord within the company.
And from Xu Tiande's and Manager Zhong's perspective, Ma Yuan was even more detestable than Chen Xu!
He kept claiming to be Liu Shang's senior and saying he wanted to support Liu Shang and help him grow, only to turn around and strike Liu Shang with a stick.
That was simply too hypocritical and despicable!
And besides, he had graduated ten years ago, yet he was using real-world field experience to assess a student who had only just begun his freshman year. Did he really have no shame?
In truth, Professor Xu Tiande had once regarded Ma Yuan as promising talent and had wholeheartedly wanted to cultivate him.
Just as he was treating Liu Shang now.
But Ma Yuan was truly arrogant and unrealistic, with lofty ambitions but little ability. Not only could he not settle down and work or learn technical skills, he instead put most of his energy into petty tricks and clever schemes.
That was why Xu Tiande had completely given up on him and devoted himself to finding and cultivating a new successor like Liu Shang.
Yet in Chen Xu's and the others' eyes, wasn't Ma Yuan, with his formal Oil University education, simply another Liu Shang?
Ma Yuan was hostile toward Liu Shang, who was younger and had greater potential. But weren't Chen Xu and the older ones equally hostile toward Ma Yuan, who had a better background and was younger than them?
So when Ma Yuan jumped out on his own to make a fool of himself, although Chen Xu and the others all voiced their support, they were actually waiting to enjoy the show.
At that moment, Song Jia, who had been peeking from the doorway, furiously cursed Ma Yuan in her heart: Hypocrite! Shameless! Brazen!
Ma Yuan was a full eleven years older than her, and he thought highly of himself. He even harbored the unrealistic fantasy of becoming Song Guangyuan's son-in-law and Huahai's successor.
Many times already, whenever he had a chance to chat with Song Jia, he would fawn over her at every turn, frantically displaying his so-called mature charm and life experience unlike that of campus students.
But how could he have known that his little tricks could not even fool Song Jia herself?
Song Guangyuan had only this precious daughter. Though he did not demand too much from her academically, he had spared no effort in cultivating her horizons and knowledge in other respects.
Song Jia might appear individualistic and unconventional on the surface, but her outlook, judgment, and ability to assess the outside world far surpassed those of ordinary girls.
Thus, the more Ma Yuan acted that way, the more affected and disgusting Song Jia found him.
Now Ma Yuan was using his self-important little cleverness to make things difficult for Liu Shang, who was only a freshman, all while spouting such hypocritical words. Song Jia was absolutely furious.
Subconsciously, at a moment like this, Song Jia, also a freshman, empathized deeply with Liu Shang. At the very least, they were on the same side.
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