"Director, you an... you an... you want to beco a staff mber?" Andrew Johnson stamred.
The director nodded, "Yes, you should beco a staff mber."
Andrew Johnson knew he hadn’t misheard this ti and was genuinely anxious. He hurriedly said, "Director, what mistake did I make?"
The director sighed, "Mr. Thompson, you’ve been an excellent office manager these past few years, and I’m quite satisfied. In fact, I was planning to promote you, but this ti, the higher-ups specifically nad you for demotion. There’s nothing I can do."
"What? Nad by the higher-ups? Why?" Andrew Johnson practically shouted. How could this be possible? He was just a branch office manager, and whenever soone from above ca, he always gave them his all, fearing any dissatisfaction. Every reception had been satisfactory, so he definitely shouldn’t have offended anyone from above.
The director was also quite puzzled. This kind of direct command from above to demote soone was extrely rare. It was the first ti he’d encountered it in all these years. And the higher-ups didn’t provide any reasons, just directly issued the personnel order. "I don’t know the specifics either, but I did receive a call from the city, without any explanation. Whatever it is, you might want to think carefully if you unintentionally offended soone."
"Offended soone? Director, you know ; I’m always cautious in my actions and never offend people." Andrew Johnson was about to burst into tears.
The director continued, "You might not have directly offended soone within our system, but perhaps soone outside it, who has substantial influence."
"Huh?" Andrew Johnson’s mind raced, suddenly recalling the man and woman he encountered this morning. They had ntioned directly handling him, ensuring he couldn’t continue as office manager. Could it be them?
Seeing Andrew Johnson’s expression, the director knew he’d figured it out. He sighed, "Mr. Thompson, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you with this. Try to find a solution yourself."
Andrew Johnson walked out of the director’s office in a daze, still finding everything unbelievable. How influential must they be to claim they’d handle him in the morning and have him removed by afternoon?
Besides those two people, he couldn’t recall offending anyone else. But he still didn’t know the identities of the pair.
He couldn’t even rember how he got back to his office. Sitting at his desk, he stared blankly for a while, until his scattered gaze focused on a newspaper on the table, the YODC City Daily. A large section introduced a new enterprise in YODC City, and one photo caught Andrew Johnson’s attention because it was the woman he t this morning.
"Gina Lopez, General Manager of J Corporation..." Andrew Johnson murmured, his face twitching slightly, then he closely examined the details.
"It can’t be. She’s just a general manager, and it’s not her company. How could she have such influence?"
After reading it through, Andrew Johnson still found it hard to believe the incident was related to Gina Lopez. Not to ntion Gina was a general manager, even if she owned J Corporation, she shouldn’t have such power to have him demoted so easily.
But since there was no other explanation for his demotion, he needed to resolve it. His first action was to find soone to contact Gina Lopez and confirm if it was indeed her doing.
Having worked at the Industrial and Comrcial Bureau for many years, Andrew Johnson had a wide network. He quickly found soone acquainted with Gina Lopez to investigate her background.
However, the feedback only indicated that Gina used to be a general manager at a subsidiary of JYPP Region Company before switching to J Corporation, without much detail on her background.
Feeling uneasy, Andrew Johnson directly obtained Gina Lopez’s phone number, took a deep breath, and called.
After a while, the call connected, and a pleasant female voice answered, "Hello, this is Gina." Yet, her tone was crisp and businesslike.
"Hello, this is Andrew Johnson. We t at the hospital this morning."
"Oh, Mr. Johnson, the office director. I wish you success in your work."
Hearing Gina’s words, even if Andrew Johnson were dense, he knew he’d found the right person. A surge of anger welled up inside him, but he dared not express it, realizing that anyone with the power to demote him held too much sway for him to challenge.
"Ms. Lopez! I’m here to apologize. It was all my brother-in-law’s nonsense. I was just distraught seeing my father-in-law hurt and acted irrationally, saying things I shouldn’t have. Please, Ms. Lopez, don’t hold it against ."
Gina chuckled softly, "Is that so? But at the ti, your words seed quite different."
"Yes, yes, Ms. Lopez, at that mont I was misguided. All mistakes are mine. If you have ti in the evening, could we discuss this further?"
"I’m sorry, I don’t have ti." Gina said and then hung up.
Listening to the dial tone, Andrew Johnson was so angry he nearly smashed the phone. As the office director, no ordinary entrepreneur would dare hang up on him. Yet Gina did so with such arrogance that it made him furious.
After his rage subsided, Andrew Johnson recalled sothing and hastily called his brother-in-law, but the call went unanswered, leaving him deeply anxious. That morning, the man said not only would he lose his job but that they’d deal with his brother-in-law as well. With his own dismissal, his brother-in-law’s safety was indeed perilous.
Unable to reach him, he imdiately called his wife, and this ti she answered.
"Sweetheart, where’s your brother?" As soon as the call connected, Andrew Johnson asked.
"He went out. I’m telling you, find soone imdiately. Our W Family has never suffered such humiliation. How can we let others insult us at our doorstep? If we don’t handle this, how can we show our faces?" Andrew Johnson’s wife was still fuming.
Hearing this, Andrew Johnson’s anger flared. Unable to speak up to his boss, and fearing Gina Lopez, he was already on the verge of exploding. His wife’s outburst was the last straw, prompting him to unleash his fury, roaring, "It’s all because of your wastrel brother and that shaless old man of yours. They had to extort honest people, and because of those two scoundrels, I got demoted from office director!"
"Andrew Johnson, are you crazy? How dare you insult my father? Wait, what did you say, you got demoted?" At ho, his wife always got her way, and Andrew Johnson never dared to clash with her. Consequently, she instinctively scolded, then suddenly grasped his words and cried out.
Andrew Johnson howled, "Yeah, I worked tirelessly for years, humbling myself every day, always trying to ingratiate and please, hoping to advance just one more step. Finally getting a chance for further promotion, but it’s all ruined by your brother and your father, insisting on wrongfully accusing good people for so cash. Now everything’s gone, my future is gone... gone..."
Towards the end, Andrew Johnson was already weeping uncontrollably.
This terrified his wife, "Husband, husband, don’t cry, what’s going on?"
"Don’t you understand? It’s because you guys tried to scam that young lady. Her sister stepped in and got demoted from above. Didn’t you hear that man say at the ti they’d make lose my position? Now I’ve lost it, and your brother, he should be careful. That man ntioned hiring thugs to deal with him. Didn’t you hear that too?"
"Ah! No way."
"Yes, believe it or not, do whatever you want." After saying this, Andrew Johnson slamd the phone down.
The sound of the phone hitting the ground nearly deafened his wife, finally making her realize the severity of the situation. She quickly tried calling her brother, but his number was unreachable.
At that mont, she was in the hospital. Although the old man lying in bed didn’t fully grasp the situation, he sensed trouble and imdiately asked, "What’s wrong? What happened?"
"It’s bad, David’s director position has been taken by those two from this morning, and now I’m worried about my brother."
"Why?" The old man sat bolt upright.
"It’s just... just..." she couldn’t explain, and then her phone rang again — it was her brother. She quickly answered.
"Sis! Help!" Ricky Slicker’s cries ca through imdiately.
"Brother, brother, what’s wrong?" Andrew Johnson’s wife urgently asked.
"Sis, co quickly, my arm’s broken, my arm’s broken... my tooth’s gone... help..." Ricky Slicker’s screams were full of pain and barely comprehensible.
"I’m on my way, tell where you are."
Ricky finally relayed his location, and his sister rushed out, while the old man sat dazed on the hospital bed, motionless for ages before collapsing back down, tears streaming down his face. He bemoaned, "Evil deeds! This is retribution, retribution indeed!"
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