Chapter 42 Get used to it!
As they were speaking, Chen Xu, the deputy technical manager, approached Liu Shang again.
"Hey, Liu Shang, I have some more work here. You can take care of this as well."
Liu Shang looked up at him and smiled. "Manager Chen, my schedule is already full for today. I can't take on any other work."
"You can assign this to me tomorrow."
Chen Xu patted him on the shoulder. "Haha, just call me Brother Chen. No need to be so formal."
"It's fine, this isn't urgent. I'll just leave it with you, and I'll come by tomorrow to get the results."
Liu Shang despised these kinds of petty office politics and two-faced behavior.
"Manager Chen, you see, I've just started here and I'm not familiar with many of the procedures yet."
"If you leave it with me today, I might forget the specific technical requirements by tomorrow, so it would be better if you just bring it to me tomorrow, okay?"
Contrary to his expectations, Liu Shang was proving to be quite difficult. Chen Xu kept a smile on his face and said in a joking tone,
"Haha, you kid. Are you not afraid that I, the deputy technical manager, will dock your performance score? Worried you won't get your 4,000 yuan salary?"
Liu Shang mirrored his joking tone and smiled right back at him. "Haha, Brother Chen, you must be joking."
"But even if you weren't, I'm really not afraid. First of all, my salary is paid by the company, not by you."
"Secondly, did you forget? I'm a part-timer, so I don't even have performance reviews."
"And haha, most importantly, I know you're not so narrow-minded, Brother Chen. You wouldn't stoop to making trouble for a poor student like me, right?"
For Liu Shang to so cleverly turn his own words against him in front of so many people in the large office—Chen Xu was utterly humiliated.
But as annoyed as he was, he couldn't afford to make a scene. He could only force a laugh, swallow his anger, and take the work back.
Witnessing this, Xu Tiande and the other neutral employees in the office were thoroughly impressed. Meanwhile, Mr. Zhong's smile grew even wider. "See? What did I tell you?" he said with a knowing look.
Seeing Liu Shang and Chen Xu at odds, Ma Yuan, who had been humiliated earlier, was secretly delighted. He hoped they would tear each other apart, giving him a chance to catch his breath.
After being so smoothly rebuffed by Liu Shang, Chen Xu retreated to his office to sulk.
At this, Chen Xu's cronies, who also disliked Liu Shang, gathered together.
"Hmph, who the hell does that kid think he is? What makes him so arrogant?"
"Exactly. A mere freshman, acting tough in front of Brother Chen. He should learn his place."
"He's just relying on Xu Tiande and Mr. Zhong for backing. It's so obvious. We'll have plenty of chances to deal with him in the future!"
"Why wait? As they say, never let an enemy off the hook overnight."
"We don't need to wait! I'll go teach him a lesson right now! We'll see how arrogant he is then!"
The one who spoke was Fan Song, the company's warehouse and equipment manager and a distant relative of the boss, Song Guangyuan.
Although his position wasn't high, his domain was an important and lucrative one.
Fan Song himself was uneducated and crude, known for being a difficult, loudmouthed troublemaker.
He was the perfect person to deal with a student like Liu Shang.
So, with Chen Xu's tacit approval and the encouragement of the others, Fan Song grabbed a few entry and exit ledgers and stomped over to Liu Shang's desk, speaking in an extremely rude tone.
"You Liu Shang?"
"I need you to do something for me. Enter these ledgers into the computer and send the file to me."
Liu Shang glanced down at the ledgers, then looked back up at him, his tone just as curt. "Take your books and go. I'm busy, and I have no interest in helping you."
Fan Song, who had his lines prepared, grew even angrier. "Hey, what's your problem, kid?"
"Slacking off at your age, learning to be lazy, are you?"
"Don't forget, the company doesn't pay you to sit around and do nothing!"
"Believe it or not, I could go to Mr. Song right now and have you fired on the spot!"
Liu Shang took a deep breath and looked at him with disgust. "I don't know about me getting fired, but I do know that if you continue to cause trouble for no reason, you won't be far from the door yourself."
"You little brat, who the hell do you think you're talking to?"
"You want me to knock your teeth out?!"
The atmosphere in the office grew tense. It looked like Fan Song was about to throw a punch at any moment, and people nearby quickly came over to intervene.
Seeing the crowd gather, Fan Song only became more emboldened, and he started cursing nonstop.
Liu Shang, however, showed no fear. Instead, he smiled contemptuously. "Really? Oh, I'm so scared."
"I'm standing right here. You can come over and try anytime you like. We'll see whose teeth fall out first—mine or yours."
Hearing this, Fan Song, who was being held back by his colleagues, lunged forward again. "Little brat, are you looking for death?"
"Alright then, don't you dare leave after work tonight. I'm going to get my buddies to come 'meet' you."
"Don't pee your pants when you see them..."
Before Fan Song could finish, Liu Shang—the quiet new kid everyone had assumed was an easy target—took a step forward. To the utter shock of everyone present, he moved with astonishing speed and grabbed Fan Song by the collar.
"If you let one more piece of trash fall out of your mouth, I will knock your front teeth out right now. Believe me."
Stunned by Liu Shang's sudden aggression, his intensely cold eyes, and the tight grip on his collar, Fan Song's breath caught in his throat.
Before Fan Song could muster his anger to retaliate, Liu Shang abruptly let go of his collar.
His entire demeanor changed in an instant. He chuckled. "Heh, that's better."
"This is a society governed by laws, my friend. Did you really think you were in some old gangster movie?"
For some reason, several of the female colleagues found this hilarious and burst out laughing.
Their laughter broke the tense atmosphere in the office completely. Now, no matter what Fan Song did, he couldn't regain his threatening posture.
At that moment, Mr. Zhong and Xu Tiande came out of their respective offices.
"Alright!"
"What do you all think you're doing?"
"This is a company! A place of work! Do you think this is a playground?"
---
$5 Tier – Early Access!
Read 30 chapters ahead of public platforms like RoyalRoad and Scribble Hub — with plans to increase to 40 chapters ahead once I reach 10 members!
Chapters are posted as soon as they're completed, so you'll always stay ahead of the curve.
Support the story and unlock early access:
Patreon is linked in My Profile or About.
Please select your membership carefully, as I have multiple novels ongoing. If you're on Apple, consider subscribing through your browser instead — it will be cheaper for you, and I won't have to wait 2 months for payments. Thank you!