A deafening silence fell upon the conference room. The tension was higher and the air was suddenly suffocating.
The person that spoke just now was none other than the CEO. His eyes were now staring in Mr. Wang’s direction. His provoked expression had the other managers shrinking in their seats.
Even though they weren’t much surprised by Mr. Wang’s action, they still found it unbelievable that the man would dare show his haughtiness in the presence of the new CEO. In the past, he could do whatever he pleased and even command other managers as if he was the owner of the company.
Everyone knew Mr. Wang to be so full of himself that he could step on other employees and no one could do anything about it, because of his relationship with the former CEO.
Mr. Wang right now looked as if he was about to be dipped into a boiling point. He was too late to realize his impulsive action. The way the CEO stared at him made him regret his decision to even attend the meeting. The young man gave off such an aura that even he couldn’t help but feel a little fear.
“I– I didn’t mean to be impulsive,” Mr. Wang grumbled, avoiding everyone’s gaze. “Forgive me, Mr. Lim.”
“Coordinate yourself.” The CEO’s reply came out strangely calm. As if the volcano that was about to erupt seconds ago never existed.
However, Mr. Wang was obviously not pleased. And as he sat back in his seat, he glared at Jason and Mr. Song, as well as Annie. A little girl dared to challenge his department?
“What do you have to say regarding this?” Andrew’s question was thrown at Mr. Wang.
No one could tell what the CEO was thinking. But his willingness to address the issue was evident. And Mr. Song couldn’t be any happier. He’d been laughing inside all this while. Since Mr. Wang managed to make a fool of himself in front of the CEO just now, then whose side do you think the CEO would take when the decision time came?
“I think this idea is useless,” Mr. Wang stood up and said. “Merging two departments is already wasting a lot of resources. This Young Lady’s claims are true that members of the Innovation Department are not always pleased with the outputs given by the Arts Department. The employees under me are just showing their concerns. Did that mean we have to pay the price for their incompetency? If they’re tired of such ridicule, isn’t improving their skills the best thing to do?”
To Mr. Wang, the Arts Department was responsible for its own actions. He was trying to imply that they were pinning the blame on his employees because they didn’t want to carry the burden of their shame.
“Is that so?” Andrew asked and the man nodded confidently. “Does it mean the Arts Department hasn’t done an internal assessment of its employees before bringing forth this issue?”
His last question was directed at Jason.
“I am afraid to disagree with Mr. Wang’s statements.” Jason stood up. “I keep a keen eye on all my employees, and make sure none of them slacks off. I don’t tolerate incompetency in my department.”
“You once worked together with those employees.” Andrew’s eyes went to Annie. “What do you have to say about this?”
“I trust Mr. Ju’an to speak truthfully.” The girl smiled stiffly. “The Arts Department doesn’t slack off. We make sure every day that we meet the consumers’ expectations to the best of our capabilities.”
Her confident reply again astounded the people inside the room. She not only spoke carefully, she also stared into the CEO’s eyes as she spoke. Ah! Were the rumors actually true?
Didn’t the CEO just give the Arts Department room to defend themselves?
Mr. Wang felt cornered from where he sat. He cleared his throat and stood up. “Forgive me for interrupting, Mr. Lim. But I don’t think word of mouth will only suffice. Obviously, Mr. Ju’an will never say anything to make his employees look bad.”
The other managers supporting Mr. Wang all nodded in agreement. They all knew the implications of merging both departments. And the scapegoat at the end of the day might turn out to be the Innovation Department.
“Mr. Wang, you are jumping to conclusions.” The CEO’s chuckle incited shocks from everyone. However, a smile did not appear in his eyes. And he gave the middle-aged man an impassive look.
“The merging of two important departments in a company as this is not child’s play,” he went on. “And in this situation, I must make a fair decision.”
Everyone stared at him eagerly, awaiting the decision. His calm expression didn’t give away what he might be thinking. And what he said next surprised everyone.
“The merging is not happening. At least, not anytime soon.” Andrew accessed the people across the room. “I will do a keen survey of all employees’ performance from both departments. In a month’s time, you shall hear my decision.”
And with that said, he rose to his feet, an indication that the meeting had come to an end.
As all the Managers trickled out of the conference room, a lot of them were having conflicted feelings, especially Mr. Song whose hopes had reached the clouds.
Mr. Wang, on the other hand, was very pleased and his haughtiness increased. He didn’t need to be intimidated after all.
To the other managers who were not taking sides, they began to doubt the rumors spreading around. And immediately that evening, the company’s forum exploded with the news.
“It was said that the Manager of the Arts Department and his new assistant roasted Mr. Wang without mercy.”
“Isn’t that the girl making waves in the company recently? What right did she have to attend the general conference? I thought only the higher-ups get to go there.”
“Ah, there’s news that she just got a promotion. Isn’t that fishy?”
“Well, our new CEO seems to be a competent man. He didn’t take sides and addressed the situation fairly.”
No one knew who leaked the information. But in one night, every employee in MystiArt Productions knew about even someone that sneezed during the meeting.