Chapter 46: A Sudden Promotion

Amidst the applause of the crowd, a middle-aged woman dressed in a deep red dress walked to the center of the office.

Although the traces of time could be seen on her, they did nothing to diminish her unique charm. With delicate facial features and exquisite skin, she could easily rival the young girls in the office.

This woman of extraordinary bearing was none other than Jiang Yang and the others' new boss.

For some inexplicable reason, upon seeing her appearance, Jiang Yang felt a strange sense of familiarity. Yet he could not recall where he might have met her. Could it be that he shared some past romantic entanglement with her as well?

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Jiang Yang’s forehead. If that were truly the case, it would be utterly surreal.

She cast a sweeping glance around the office, her gaze finally landing on Jiang Yang’s direction, locking eyes with him for a fleeting second.

Jiang Yang’s heart skipped a beat. Was it just his imagination? Could he and this new boss genuinely know each other?

A playful smile instantly touched Chen Wenqin's lips before she shifted her gaze elsewhere. "Hello everyone, my name is Chen Wenqin, and I am very glad to become colleagues with all of you.

However, as the boss, I am not very well-versed in the advertising industry. I will delegate specific matters to others to manage. Everyone's work will continue as usual; please carry on with your respective duties.

If your performance is good, the compensation I provide will only be higher than before, not lower. I hope everyone will continue to work hard.

Additionally, I'd like to treat everyone to lunch today."

After delivering these brief and conventional remarks, her gaze once again drifted, intentionally or not, toward Jiang Yang's side.

Could she really be looking at me? Doubts began to brew in Jiang Yang's mind.

Chen Hao, sitting beside him, also thought she was looking at him. He squeezed his way in front of Jiang Yang, flashing a flattering, silly grin at the new boss while whispering to Jiang Yang, "Bro, look at how gorgeous the new boss is. Do you think she appreciates me? She kept looking over here just now."

"Yeah, highly likely. After all, you occupy a larger surface area over here, while I take up less space. It's much more probable she was looking at you."

Jiang Yang’s words sounded as though he were trying to reassure himself. Deep down, he had a lingering suspicion that if the new boss really did know him, it probably wasn't going to be a good thing.

However, the questions in his mind were clearly not going to be answered anytime soon. After finishing her speech, the new boss and HR Director Liu quickly strode out of the office.

Everyone returned to their desks, and Jiang Yang opened his computer to resume work.

The previous promotional video had already been completed. The client was extremely satisfied with the final result and even mentioned that next time, they would specifically request him to handle all kinds of promotional videos for their company.

Just as he was about to log onto the system to check for new tasks, HR Director Liu strolled over to his desk and asked, "Jiang Yang, are you free right now?"

"I haven't started working yet. What is it?"

"Would it be convenient for you to come to the conference room for a moment?"

Director Liu was around forty years old and managed all human resources in the company, holding considerable power.

Whether it was due to the onset of menopause or something else, her attitude toward everyone was usually less than pleasant. Ordinarily, even when asking her for leave, she would put on airs and snap at people without a polite tone.

Yet today, her tone of voice was vastly more polite than usual, even tinged with a hint of flattery. It was like dealing with a completely different person.

"Sure, I'll come with you right now." Jiang Yang muttered inwardly, *Could Director Liu be smiling on the outside while hiding a dagger, planning to make an example of me?*

Following her into the conference room, he watched as she shut the door, poured him a glass of water, and smiled. "Jiang Yang, congratulations. Starting today, you have been promoted to the Head of the Design Department."

Jiang Yang widened his eyes, pointing at himself as he asked, "I've been promoted to Department Head?"

"Yes. Your work ability is outstanding, and the client is extremely satisfied with your work. Therefore, the company has decided to promote you to the new Head of the Design Department."

In disbelief, Jiang Yang said, "Just because of the promotional video I made for the client last time?"

"That's right. From now on, you're the head honcho of the Design Department."

"Wait, then what about Department Head Zhao?" Jiang Yang pressed on.

"Him? Due to some personal reasons, he might be leaving the company."

"Ah? What personal reasons? Department Head Zhao was doing fine, why is he suddenly leaving, and why is the company breaking protocol to promote me?"

It wasn't that Jiang Yang lacked ability or didn't want a promotion; he simply felt that for this to happen on the very first day of the new boss's arrival was far too bizarre and coincidental.

"Don't worry about his affairs. Even though he's leaving, the company won't treat him unfairly. Come down to the HR department later, I'll process the paperwork for you, and you can move your office into the Design Department Head's office first."

She paused for a moment before continuing, "Also, your salary from now on will match your new position—it will quadruple, increasing to thirty thousand a month."

Jiang Yang was even more startled. "I remember Department Head Zhao's salary wasn't even that high, was it?"

Director Liu smiled. "Didn't the new boss just say she would improve employee benefits? This is your benefit being improved."

Jiang Yang's mouth twitched. This improvement speed was simply too fast. He asked, "So everyone else's benefits have been improved too?"

"Yes, the new boss also intends to raise everyone's salary by 10%. Of course, it doesn't compare to your raise." Director Liu deliberately lowered her voice a fraction, her tone brimming with envy and jealousy.

Jiang Yang fell silent. With benefits improved like this, the hostility from his colleagues was also maximized.

And then there was Department Head Zhao. No matter how one looked at it, this didn't seem like a voluntary resignation. How could there be such a coincidence?

However, a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier. He couldn't just reject a promotion and a salary increase handed to him on a silver platter, right?

It was just that this inexplicably bestowed promotion and pay raise felt a lot like his inexplicably acquired wife, Wang Ruolan—it might not turn out to be a good thing.

He replied, "All right, I'll come find you in the HR department shortly."

Stepping out of the conference room, he happened to run right into Department Head Zhao.

Zhao was carrying a box containing his personal belongings. It seemed he had already received the notification as well.

Upon seeing Jiang Yang, his expression darkened, yet he forced out the words, "Jiang Yang, congratulations."

"Department Head Zhao, to be honest, I only found out about this just now..."

Department Head Zhao offered a faint, bitter smile. "There's no need to explain anything. In this world, the gap between people is sometimes even greater than the gap between humans and pigs—take Zhao Cheng and you, Jiang Yang, for example. Work hard, I see the new boss thinks quite highly of you."

Though he spoke casually, his tone was laden with unconcealed resentment.

Jiang Yang suddenly felt a pang of guilt toward him. Although Department Head Zhao wasn't exceptionally talented, he had always treated Jiang Yang well, looked after him, and taught him a lot when he first joined the company.

Even after returning from his recent vacation, Zhao had given him a two-day buffer before assigning any work.

To suddenly usurp his position felt genuinely unfair to the man.

"Department Head Zhao, how about I treat you to dinner tonight..."

"No need. By the way, you're the Head of the Design Department now, while I'm not even an employee of this company anymore."