Chapter 4 — Power Games and Illusions

5 After the business trip, she was tired to death, Truong Kieu was mentally exhausted, her whole body was as sluggish as a withered tree, but there was not a single word of complaint. She even smiled weakly and said softly: "That 4 o'clock scene, it's really... very different." We: “……” Then suddenly, she turned to me and asked: “Miss Linh… tell me, how much will the manager increase my salary?” Me: “Huh?” Truong Kieu seemed confident: "You completed an important task and made such a great contribution, surely you should get a raise, right?" Me: “……” In my heart I just wanted to smirk: “Honey, what a beautiful dream?” The harsh truth is: • Salary & bonus in the company is only based on the KPI of the main job. • No one cares about miscellaneous things like data collection, odd jobs, or hard work. Perhaps seeing my lack of hope, Truong Kieu consoled herself: "Well, if there's no salary increase, there must be a hot bonus, right?" I hesitated for a few seconds, trying to keep an ambiguous attitude: "Well... maybe... but... maybe... no." Truong Kieu's eyes immediately lit up like headlights, her voice filled with excitement: "So... how much is the reward? 5,000? Or... 10,000?" Me: “……” In my heart, I quietly rolled my eyes: “5000? 10000? Do you think you are the CEO's baby? Dream on.” I sighed, emphasizing each word: "Don't expect too much." Not wanting to continue being caught up in her bonus illusion, I made an excuse: "I'm going to the bathroom." Then he ran straight out of his seat. Actually, there is one thing I have to admit: • Truong Kieu's facial skin is thick, • Her confidence is sky-high, • After being stabbed in the back, she can still calmly chat as if nothing happened. If you ignore everything... then this is also considered an advantage. The May 1 holiday is coming up, the company will be off for three days. Everyone was busy making plans to go out, go home, travel... That day, during lunch break, I went out to go to the bathroom. Just passing the hallway, I heard Truong Kieu's voice calling on the phone, the volume was so high that the whole floor could hear clearly: "Booked a plane ticket at 2 am, are you sick?!" “Do you know I can't sleep?!” "If the plane tickets are gone, why don't you book a high-speed train ticket?! You psycho!" I stood in the toilet, laughing out loud: "Hey, where are 'begonia not sleeping', 'sightseeing at 4 am', 'loving president'?" Truong Kieu slammed the phone down and stormed downstairs with a gloomy face. It suddenly dawned on me: it turned out that Truong Kieu also knew that taking a 2 a.m. flight was hard work. But she still voluntarily rushed in, willing to be "Giao Giao baby", kneeling to lick her superior and even lowering herself to be a "good baby". It's just that... This kneeling and licking position is too abstract. She really thought in her head: "If I work hard and suffer, the president will look at me with admiration, 'Wow, this girl is so different!' 'Wow, she's so cute, I have to pamper her!'" Me: "……..." Sorry, that's not the case. I originally didn't intend to care. As long as Truong Kieu doesn't touch me, she doesn't care if she wants to act like a babe. In the blink of an eye, it's the end of the month, payday. Truong Kieu immediately ran to find Thai Hoa first: "Miss Thai Hoa, how much is your salary this month?" Thai Hoa raised her head and calmly replied: "Not much." Truong Kieu immediately hugged her cheeks, pouted her lips, and started acting like a white lotus: "Sister Thai Hoa~~ tell people but~~ say it~~" Thai Hoa immediately turned cold: "The company has a salary confidentiality policy, don't you know?" Being rejected outright, Truong Kieu pouted and left. In fact, the company has a salary confidentiality policy, not asking or exchanging salaries with each other. But to be honest, having worked in the same room for a long time, everyone is familiar, and sometimes we still talk privately, to know the common ground, so it's easier to calculate and compare. If Truong Kieu is willing to be sociable, willing to be a little more honest and sincere, no one will hide it if she wants to ask about her salary. But the problem is — No one can predict what she will do next. Who knows, maybe as soon as she revealed her salary today, tomorrow she'll run to tell her boss: "The whole department broke the rules of talking about salary!" So, everyone chose to stay silent. Truong Kieu asked all the questions, no one answered, and finally boldly ran to me. “Miss Linh~~ how much is your salary?” I raised my eyelids and said indifferently: "So how much is your salary?" Truong Kieu smiled innocently: "Not much." Me: “……” I just wanted to stand up and clap three times: “Great! So great! This is the pinnacle of self-flagellation!” Truong Kieu asking about other people's salaries but withholding her own information is truly noble... but unpleasant. To be honest, if she were willing to answer honestly, maybe someone would be soft-hearted and tell her the general salary for reference. But no — she kept asking other people questions, squeezing her information, thinking everyone was an idiot. I slightly curled my lips and smiled, calmly replying: "Not much, sister." Truong Kieu still refused to give up, her eyes were bright and her voice full of excitement: "Not much, how much?" More than twenty thousand?” Me: “……” I looked at her expressionlessly, thinking in my heart: “Do you think I'm that stupid?” Seeing my silence, Truong Kieu continued to change tactics: "Not twenty thousand... then maybe more than ten thousand?" I calmly replied: "So do you have more than ten thousand?" Truong Kieu shook her head honestly: "No..." I immediately turned the tables and counterattacked sweetly: "Then it's probably only a few thousand, right?" This time, it was Truong Kieu's turn to choke. “It's… about the same.” I continued to press closer: “How much is that range? Make it clear.” Truong Kieu was embarrassed, her face was a little red, she pursed her lips coyly: "Miss Linh~~ my salary is definitely not as high as yours, please tell me~~" I squinted my eyes, slowly replied: "Not sure yet. Many new employees have higher salaries than old employees.” With just this sentence, Truong Kieu was stunned. I took a sip of tea and silently thought: "Do you think I can easily get information?" Today I'm disillusioned, little Giao Giao." Truong Kieu's eyes lit up, she leaned her head closer, lowered her voice and whispered: "Really, Ms. Linh?" I nodded, curled my lips and smiled: "Really." She immediately grabbed my hand, shook it and coaxed it, her voice was soft: "Miss Linh~~ you are very kind~~ Tell me your salary, I beg you too~~" I stood still for two seconds: "Sorry, I'm not your mother to play this trick with you?!" But Truong Kieu clung to me like a leech, shaking my hand so much that my shoulders were tired. I started to feel annoyed so I blurted out: "Okay, I'll say it, but you have to say it too." Truong Kieu immediately nodded repeatedly: "Okay! Okay! Okay!" I pretended to be serious and lowered my voice: "Just keep quiet... don't tell anyone." Truong Kieu patted his chest and assured: "Sure Of course, Ms. Linh! I won't say a word!” I suppressed my laughter and let out a huge "lure" shot: "3700." Truong Kieu's eyes immediately widened and she covered her mouth in surprise: "Only 3700?!" I put on a serious face and made up an extremely logical speech: "When you first joined, it was only 3,500, each year it increased by 200, plus 800 in quarterly benefits, and at the end of the year there was also a 5,000 bonus." I threw out all kinds of concepts: allowances, performance, year-end bonuses, mixed them all into a hot pot and talked endlessly, until it sounded both detailed and reasonable. Truong Kieu nodded repeatedly: "Oh oh oh, so that's it!" I added one last blow: "So how much is your salary?" At that moment, Truong Kieu suddenly changed the subject: "If you work hard, your salary will definitely increase~~ Ah, someone is coming, go first!" Having finished speaking, she ran out of the room, a happy smile still on her face. Me: “……” Summary of the situation: • I told her “3700” → she took out all the information. • I asked her salary → she walked away. •Result: I became a plucked chicken, Truong Kieu harvested a bag full of harvest, without revealing a single piece of data. I sighed: “Very well, little Giao Giao. Truly a master at extracting information without losing a drop of blood.” I had already predicted that Truong Kieu was the type of person who "acts abstractly", so it was not surprising that this happened. But... I couldn't help it, I still choked on laughter because I was angry. Truong Kieu's personality has a very strange characteristic: • A little smart, knows how to take advantage of opportunities, • But most of the time... stupid to the point of being funny. But the type of person who is half wise and half foolish and overly confident is the most unpleasant type. At that time, Thai Hoa passed by and curiously asked: "What were you two whispering about?" I smiled faintly and replied: "She asked for your salary." Thai Hoa raised her eyebrows: "So you told her the truth?" I nodded: "Yes, I told you." Thai Hoa was stunned: "Say... the truth?" I curled my lips: "You said 3700." Thai Hoa opened her eyes wide: "She believes it?"