Punishment

"It really is you. How many years has it been since we last met? From high school until now, it must have been seven years, right?"

"Yeah, seven years already. How have you been lately? With your style as the top student and Campus Belle, you should be doing pretty well, right?"

Seeing his old high school classmate, Lin Chen was in an exceptionally good mood.

Back in high school, Shang Zhiyi had already been the school's Campus Belle. Now, after being tempered by society, she had become even more graceful, with a hint of capability amid her charm.

"Of course. Who do you think I am?"

As she spoke, Shang Zhiyi raised her employee badge before Lin Chen. "See this? This young lady works at Zhonghai's star company, Shilin Guomao Group. Impressive, right?"

Lin Chen: "..."

"Shilin Guomao..."

Looking at the company name on the badge Shang Zhiyi was waving, Lin Chen was stunned.

This was far too much of a coincidence.

He had been about to head to Shilin Guomao Group to inspect the company, yet he had run into one of its employees outside.

Most importantly, that employee was his former high school classmate.

It had to be said, the world was far too wonderfully coincidental.

"What? Shocked, aren't you?"

Seeing Lin Chen space out, Shang Zhiyi assumed that her old classmate was surprised by her job.

After all, Shilin Guomao Group was incredibly famous in Zhonghai. Countless people wanted to work there.

And getting a job there was as difficult as climbing to the heavens. Even applying for a minor customer service position required at least a bachelor's degree, and people still fought tooth and nail for it.

Shang Zhiyi had relied on her own abilities and worked her way into the group's marketing department. In the eyes of outsiders, that was already incredibly impressive.

"I really am a little shocked."

Lin Chen smiled and nodded. He was indeed impressed by Shang Zhiyi's abilities.

But he was even more astonished by the wondrous coincidence of it all.

"Oh, I can't keep talking to you. It'll be nine o'clock soon, and if I'm late, they'll dock my pay."

Shang Zhiyi checked the time and realized that it was already 8:40 after their brief chat.

"Nine o'clock? Isn't there still twenty minutes? Why are you in such a hurry?" Lin Chen asked, glancing at the time.

"Of course I'm in a hurry. There are so many people at Shilin Guomao Group, and my office is on the twenty-eighth floor. Going back and forth takes time."

"Right, what's your number? Let me save it quickly, and we can catch up later."

As she spoke, Shang Zhiyi took out her phone and saved Lin Chen's number as he recited it.

"Lin Chen, I'm heading off first. We'll properly catch up another time."

After getting his number, Shang Zhiyi did not linger another second. Wearing her short-heeled shoes, she hurried toward the Shilin Guomao Group building with a rapid clack-clack-clack.

Seeing this, Lin Chen shook his head with a helpless smile.

"If Shilin Guomao Group's senior management knew you were my old classmate, they'd probably worship you like an ancestor."

With that, he did not linger either and followed her inside.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry. Don't be late."

Shang Zhiyi was already in the elevator, silently urging it to move faster.

But sometimes, the more you wanted something, the slower it became.

It was already 8:45, yet the elevator was still stopped on the third floor. She still had a full twenty-five floors to go before reaching the twenty-eighth.

Clearly, fifteen minutes would not be enough.

"It's over, it's over. I'm definitely going to be late."

Seeing that there was no saving the situation, Shang Zhiyi completely gave up.

Since being late was already inevitable, she simply stopped worrying about it.

"Fine, dock it, dock it. At worst, I'll buy one less lipstick in the future."

Though she said that, Shang Zhiyi's heart was bleeding.

Shilin Guomao Group offered excellent benefits, but it was also ruthless when docking employees' pay for violating regulations.

Being late alone meant a three-hundred-yuan deduction from her salary, not to mention other major incidents.

"Ding. Twenty-eighth floor."

A little over ten minutes later, the elevator finally reached the twenty-eighth floor.

By then, twelve full minutes had passed since the official start of work.

Shang Zhiyi took a deep breath, hurried out of the elevator, clocked in, and rushed toward her workstation without stopping.

However, the moment she stepped into her department, an angry shout came from behind her.

"Shang Zhiyi!"

"Oh no."

Shang Zhiyi inwardly cried out in alarm and turned around. An older man stood across from her, his face dark and gloomy.

The man was Shang Zhiyi's department boss, Manager Deng Wenji.

"Manager Deng, I'm terribly sorry. I definitely won't be late again next time."

"There'll be a next time?"

Deng Wenji had already been barely containing his anger. Earlier, after leaving Chairman Qi Zhenxing's office, he had immediately returned to his department to prepare for a meeting.

The meeting's purpose was simple: to carry out the instructions Chairman Qi Zhenxing had given him.

Yet what he never expected was that everyone in the department had arrived except Shang Zhiyi.

It would have been one thing if other departments were the same, but the problem was that every other department was fully staffed while his department alone was missing someone.

One could imagine how frantic and terrified Deng Wenji had been at the time.

"Shang Zhiyi, do you know what day it is today? And you're late?"

"What day?"

Shang Zhiyi was somewhat confused. Hearing this, her colleagues hurriedly filled her in.

When she learned that a new major shareholder who owned seventy percent of the group's shares was coming to inspect the company today, Shang Zhiyi's heart skipped a beat as she inwardly cursed.

This was a major incident.

What did large companies care about most? Nothing more than image and pomp.

Right now, no one knew what kind of temperament this new major shareholder had.

If he was generous, this small matter might be fine. But if he was petty, he could make a mountain out of even a few scraps of paper on the floor.

Not to mention the "major matter" of her being late.

Shang Zhiyi finally understood the severity of the situation and hurriedly apologized. "Manager Deng, I really didn't know a major shareholder would be coming today. I..."

Before Shang Zhiyi could finish, Deng Wenji cut her off.

"What do you mean, you? Shang Zhiyi, let me tell you this: today, you're the only person in the entire group who was late and not in place. If the major shareholder sees that only our department is this incompetent, do you know how severely I'll be punished?"

"Although the major shareholder hasn't arrived yet, a mistake is still a mistake. I won't waste words with you now. I'm informing you directly."

"Your salary for this month will be deducted in full. All of this year's performance bonuses will be canceled, and you'll lose all employee benefits from the group for the next year."

"Of course, you can also refuse and resign directly."

"As long as you resign, I'll approve it immediately and let you go to the finance department to collect the rest of your wages."