Chapter 1 — People With Real Power, Ultimately Shine

During the interview, HR glanced at the line "Knows some French" on my CV and then chuckled lightly. I don't even bother to explain. Anyway, it's just an item that adds points. Unexpectedly, on the day the job contract was signed, the company welcomed a delegation from France. This was the meeting that decided a cooperative project worth more than 100 million yuan. The boss and the entire management team surrounded the interpreter, everyone was so impatient that they were sweating. But because she was so stressed, she couldn't even speak a complete sentence in French. Seeing that the cooperation was about to collapse, I quietly stepped up.

"Sir... how about I try?"

The air in the meeting room seemed to freeze, so thick that it was almost impossible to breathe. On the opposite wall, the second hand of the quartz clock was still steadily ticking. Each ticking sound was like a heavy hammer blow hitting everyone's nerves. The French man sitting in the chair, Mr. Brown, had completely lost his initial social smile. On his face, there was only an expression of undisguised impatience. His neatly manicured fingertips tapped lightly on the expensive rosewood tabletop. That monotonous sound accidentally became the background music for the disaster taking place in the meeting room. The cooperation project worth more than hundreds of millions of yuan is hanging in mid-air, shaking as if it could collapse at any time. My boss, Vuong Hai Dong, everyone still calls him General Manager Vuong, at this moment his face was even more unsightly than a pig's liver. The blue veins in his temples twitched continuously. Sweat trickled down his slightly thinning hair, constantly rolling down, but he seemed completely unaware. All of his anger was vented on the professional translator whom the company had spent a large sum of money to hire.

"Refuse!"

General Manager Vuong deliberately lowered his voice, but the brutality hidden in each word still made those standing next to him shiver.

“Every year I spend hundreds of thousands to hire you, is it for you to stand here and be mute?”

The young translator's lips trembled, his face was as white as paper, he couldn't even utter a word in French. The more stressed he is, the more blank his mind becomes. The more blank his mind became, the more panicked he became. A cycle of despair with no way out. Manager Ly of the Human Resources Department, the man who once sneered when he saw the line "knows some French" on my CV, was now standing next to General Director Vuong. His facial expression was not much better than that of the other interpreter. In the pale whiteness, a gray color like ash also appeared. It was he who tried to promote this cooperative project. It was he who patted his chest assuring that absolutely nothing could go wrong. Now, that bomb that was about to explode was right in his hand, and the detonator was on fire. I could see that the shirt on his back had been completely soaked by cold sweat, sticking to his skin, looking extremely disheveled. The senior leadership team is usually enthusiastic and confident, but right now they are like a group of ants crawling on a hot pan, completely helpless and not knowing what to do. Finally, Mr. Brown lost his last bit of patience. He glanced at his watch, then turned to say a few words to the person next to him French. His assistant immediately understood and stood up to prepare to collect the documents. That was the signal that they were about to leave. General Director Vuong's eyes immediately turned red. Right at that moment, I pulled out the back seat. The sound of the chair's legs lightly rubbing against the floor, in the middle of the silent meeting room, became strangely deafening. All eyes in the room immediately turned to me, like pieces of iron being attracted by a magnet. Doubt, confusion, anger. All kinds of emotions mixed together, forming an invisible net covering my body. Manager Ly was the first person to recognize me. His voice was both shrill and surprised. Immediately followed by a merciless shout.

“What kind of trouble is a newbie like you interrupting?”

It seemed like he had finally found a place to vent his anger, he fiercely shouted:

"Do you know what this is? Sit down right now!"

I didn't look at him. My eyes pierced the crowd and fell straight on General Manager Vuong's face filled with despair. My voice was not loud, but strangely calm.

“Sir, how about I try?”

General Manager Vuong was stunned. He looked at my strange face, only confusion remained in his eyes. Manager Ly quickly walked to his side, leaned into his ear and said a few quick words. Perhaps he was explaining my status, an intern who had just arrived today to apply for a job. The last ray of light in General Director Vuong's eyes also completely disappeared. Seemingly so desperate that he had nothing left to lose, he helplessly waved his hand at me.

“You go up.”

His voice was hoarse.

“Even if I mess up, I don't blame you.”

I have received permission. I didn't pay attention to Manager Ly's almost human eyes, nor did I care about the people around me who were looking at me like I was a crazy person. I walked up to the conference table and stopped facing Mr. Brown. I bowed slightly, performing a standard French business greeting. Then, I raised my head, looked straight into his icy blue eyes and calmly spoke:

"Monsieur Brown, veuillez nous excuser pour ce contretemps. La raison de cette tension est simplement que nous attachons une importance extreme a notre collaboration."

"Mr. Brown, please forgive us for the recent incident. The reason we are so tense is simply because we value this cooperation very much."

My voice is clear and steady. Each syllable carries a mature, elegant and clear Parisian accent. At that moment, time felt like someone pressed the pause button. Mr. Brown was stunned. The look of impatience and determination to leave on his face immediately froze, then quickly turned into incredibly intense surprise. He leaned forward slightly, as if wanting to confirm he hadn't heard wrong. The whole room fell into silence. There was such silence that one could clearly hear the sound of a heartbeat. Everyone was shocked by the unexpected scene before their eyes. General Manager Vuong and the leadership team gasped, their faces filled with disbelief. The interpreter was limping in his chair at this moment, as if his soul had been taken away, only blankly looking at me with empty eyes. As for Manager Ly, his mouth was slightly open but He forgot to close his eyes, his expression stiffened like a comical statue. The color of blood on his face continuously changed under the tension between surprise and shame. When flushed. When you're pale. It's truly so unique that it's hard to describe.