25: Chen Qiu has tens of millions in savings?

Early morning.

China Merchants Bank, Gannan Branch.

Xu Jia drove her Wuling MINI and parked it in the company's underground parking space with practiced ease.

The car door opened.

She stepped out.

A well-tailored black women's suit jacket and trousers perfectly wrapped around her straight, slender figure.

The collar of her shirt was buttoned meticulously.

Her face wore light, professional makeup.

Her entire being radiated the capable aura of a mature career woman.

Yet her eyes remained clear.

Like a mountain stream that one could see right through.

This unique blend of purity and transparency made her stand out brilliantly in the crowd.

"Xu Jia, so early!"

Just as she entered the company gates, she ran into a colleague from the same department.

"Morning, Brother Ma."

Xu Jia nodded politely at the male colleague walking toward her.

The private banking department of the China Merchants Bank Gannan Branch had a total of four account managers.

Two women and two men.

Above them was a department director.

"How is it going? Are you confident about your year-end performance review?"

The colleague known as Brother Ma stopped and asked, sounding curious.

A hint of undisguisable worry appeared between Xu Jia's beautiful brows.

"I'm still a bit short on this month's performance metrics..."

Originally, she had been very confident about her year-end performance review.

But just a few days ago, an old client of hers suddenly had an issue.

This caused a major gap in her performance for this month!

The performance metrics for the last month of the year had the greatest impact on the annual review.

It could be said that if she didn't complete this last month,

it would basically ruin all her hard work for the entire year.

And the year-end performance review was directly related to how much of a year-end bonus she would get, as well as her job evaluation for next year...

"Then you'd better hurry up."

"There isn't much time left."

Brother Ma reminded her, his eyes filled with a hint of sympathy as he looked at Xu Jia.

These past few days, although no one said anything openly,

who didn't know privately that He Ting had poached a major client from Xu Jia?

A full twenty or thirty million in deposits and funds had all been withdrawn.

And immediately invested with He Ting!

Poaching a colleague's client—such a despicable act, detested by all, was something only that woman could do.

Although these colleagues had many complaints privately, they dared not say much openly.

After all, who didn't know that He Ting had only gotten in by pulling strings?

When she first arrived, she would call everyone "Sister Jia" and "Brother Ma."

But it wasn't long before she latched onto the department director, Director Lu Tao.

After that, her attitude toward the senior colleagues immediately became arrogant.

"To curry favor with the powerful—that term is perfectly embodied by her!"

Brother Ma sighed inwardly.

"When women play dirty, they really are ruthless!"

...

Walking into the office.

Another male colleague had already arrived.

"Morning, Brother Zeng."

"Morning."

The three sat down and began processing their work.

Almost half an hour after the start of work,

He Ting finally arrived late, clacking in her high heels.

Appearing with her was the head of the private banking department, Director Lu Tao.

"Director Lu."

The three of them, Xu Jia included, quickly stood up to greet him.

They tacitly ignored the slightly intimate way He Ting and Director Lu Tao were standing.

"This is the final week of the year."

"Everyone, give it one last push and try to boost your performance metrics!"

Director Lu Tao offered the usual perfunctory words of encouragement.

Subsequently, his gaze fell upon Xu Jia.

His eyes lit up slightly.

No matter how many times he saw her, he always felt a sense of awe when he looked at Xu Jia.

Xu Jia did not give off that aggressive, peerless beauty kind of awe.

Instead, it was a kind of clarity that could instantly turn back time, reminding people of their innocent student days.

Yet, she also possessed the unique aura of a modern city woman.

In layman's terms,

it was like the most beautiful first love from your memories, now wearing a uniform.

This natural, pure-yet-alluring temperament was far superior to the vulgar, manufactured, flirtatious air that He Ting projected.

"What a pity..."

"The desire for progress is still not strong enough!"

Director Lu Tao sighed inwardly.

He patted the shoulder of He Ting beside him and said to Xu Jia with a chuckle,

"Xu Jia, He Ting's performance this month has firmly surpassed yours."

"If you don't work harder, you're going to be overtaken by a junior!"

"Oh, Director, you're too kind."

"I just got lucky for a moment; how could I compare to Sister Jia?"

He Ting said with a coy laugh.

These words made the air in the entire office go silent.

Who couldn't tell?

Behind He Ting's seemingly humble words was a naked provocation toward Xu Jia.

This was basically a direct slap in the face!

After stealing Xu Jia's client, she was still gloating right in front of everyone!

The two male colleagues couldn't help but glance at Xu Jia from the corner of their eyes.

The latter's pure face showed no obvious change.

She even just nodded calmly.

Not replying with a single word.

The two male colleagues breathed a sigh of relief.

A flicker of disappointment flashed in Director Lu Tao's eyes.

The mockery in He Ting's eyes grew even stronger.

"Alright, everyone, get back to work!"

After saying this, Director Lu Tao left the office with his hands behind his back.

Xu Jia looked down at her computer screen.

While she appeared expressionless, her heart was surging with intense frustration!

It was a kind of humiliation pushed to the extreme!

Just a moment ago,

her urge to stand up and rush over to tear into He Ting had reached its peak!

But,

thinking of her father who had yet to recover at home and the outstanding debts,

her reason stubbornly kept her emotions in check.

Would rushing over to fight He Ting be useful?

For her, there was no chance of winning!

Department Director Lu Tao was standing right beside that woman!

She was even one hundred percent certain that He Ting had obtained the detailed information of her old client from Director Lu Tao.

Unless...

unless she could also be like this shameless woman, cast aside her dignity, and use her body to cash in.

Otherwise, she was destined to never be able to make any waves.

As for reporting it...

Hah.

Having stayed here for so many years, she knew all too well the tangled web of relationships in this third-tier city!

Director Lu Tao had been rooted here and operating for decades.

How could an outsider like her with no background shake him?

Being able to keep this job and not be sabotaged was already good enough!

It is often said that beautiful women in the workplace will always have more or less favorable treatment.

But Xu Jia knew better.

Those so-called favors were all "expectations" paid to you in advance by those in power!

Once you failed to satisfy those dirty expectations,

you would receive even more ferocious suppression than others!

"If I had been more firm back then and chosen to go to a big city..."

In life, every time you make a wrong choice,

you will have more hesitation when facing the next decision!

And Xu Jia felt that it was precisely in one hesitation after another that she had chosen the wrong university, the wrong city, and the wrong job!

Now, when asked to make a choice again, she no longer had that confidence she once possessed!

Thinking of this,

she felt a bit of admiration for Chen Qiu.

To still be able to muster confidence after being laid off,

and even embark on another unknown path of entrepreneurship.

"If it really doesn't work out..."

"After the new year, I might as well quit and go to Shenzhen to join him..."

Xu Jia's mind wandered.

Her gaze, which had been scanning the computer screen unconsciously, suddenly paused.

She saw a notification pop up in the system for a high-deposit user.

A client whose deposit had just exceeded ten million, but who had not yet opened a private banking account.

However,

the name was damnably familiar.

"Chen Qiu?"

Xu Jia froze.

She thought she had misread it.

She clicked the mouse, expanding some of the client's information.

Name: Chen Qiu.

Gender: Male.

Age: 27.

"It really is Chen Qiu?!"

Xu Jia was dumbfounded.

Although rumors of Chen Qiu making it big had been spreading more and more outrageously in their village these past few days,

she had spoken with Chen Qiu himself.

Her mother had also been among the first to receive the "firsthand" news.

Xu Jia had roughly reached a conclusion:

Chen Qiu had earned some money, but what he earned certainly wasn't as outrageous as the rumors suggested!

After all, he had just started his business.

Perhaps he had earned a few hundred thousand or a million?

But this...

but what the hell was up with this deposit of over eleven million?!

"Could it be... someone with the same name and age?"

This thought flashed through Xu Jia's mind.

Although the probability was small,

it wasn't impossible.

Hesitating for a moment, she decided to contact him first.

She picked up the work phone and dialed the number registered in the system.

"Hello, respected Mr. Chen, I am Xu Jia, an account manager at the China Merchants Bank private banking department..."