At four in the afternoon, Pei Kexin finally received the temperature rise report for the latest sampled products.
Due to the significant issues, the technical vice president personally conducted the experiments.
The results showed that except for one unit with slight numerical fluctuations, which were still within national standards, all others met the requirements.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
This meant that product quality issues could essentially be ruled out, and their focus could shift to the climate conditions in the customer's location.
The technical department had previously proposed measures to address the impact of climate on product temperature rise.
This time, it was likely that sales had not clearly communicated the specific corresponding measures to the customers.
However, since the problem was still related to the company, Pei Kexin decided on the spot to send specialized technical personnel to after-sales service to provide free technical guidance to the customer for a few days until the issue was resolved and the customer was appeased.
After the problem was resolved and everyone went to execute the plan, Pei Kexin finally had time to sit down for a cup of tea and check her phone.
A WeChat notification indicated that two hours ago, there were dozens of new messages in the "Rich Old Ladies' Home" group.
Without even looking, she knew what they were discussing.
As expected, when she slid open the screen, the conversation was all about her.
The group had three regular members and had been established for six years.
One was Gu Wei, another was Pei Kexin, and the third was their mutual old classmate, Fu Duoduo.
Both of them had less demanding jobs than Pei Kexin and were exceptionally sharp-tongued, so most of the time in the group was spent with them chatting and making fun of Pei Kexin.
Today's conversation was initiated by Gu Wei.
Perhaps bored and with nothing better to do, he leaked Pei Kexin's earth-shattering secret.
"Ms. Fu, what are you busy with?"
"Today is the wedding day of our esteemed Ms. Pei Kexin. I've been waiting to see how your best friend would act, but there's been no news since morning? Why haven't you responded?"
"Are you pretending to be deaf and dumb to avoid giving a wedding gift? Please answer."
Fu Duoduo seemed to have something going on and replied a few minutes later with several exclamation marks.
"!!!!"
"She really got married? Damn, you two..."
"I never expected you to be so selfless, Gu Wei! I'll look at you with new eyes after this! You're not too effeminate after all; you still have a manly side when it counts!"
"Thank you! Knowing I'm in financial crisis, you saved me the wedding gift money! It's great that you two got together! Wishing you a century of harmony and early childbirth! Hahahaha~"
Gu Wei replied with an emoji: "Thanks for accepting, but don't think you can get away with the gift money. She's not marrying me, so don't try to flatter me. Pay your gift as you should."
Fu Duoduo: "Ah? Not marrying you? Then who? Damn, she knows other men besides you? How come I never knew? So disloyal!"
As they went back and forth, Gu Wei told her about running into Zhan Jingchen last night.
Finally, the topic shifted, and he suddenly asked Fu Duoduo to treat them.
Fu Duoduo was a minor second-generation rich heir. After graduation, she couldn't stand the humiliation of working for others and started her own business.
She changed projects every few days, not making much money but accumulating a lot of experience.
After Pei Kexin's position in the company improved, she used her personal savings to open a small foreign trade company, with Gu Wei as the legal representative.
Knowing that their companies were doing well and had money, Fu Duoduo usually freeloaded meals from them.
But today, to see the handsome Zhan Jingchen, who was rumored to have made Pei Kexin fall in love at first sight, she made a rare offer to treat.
"I'll treat you to dinner at Yuehai Ju, and bring your little husband!"
"Today, I'll not only pay the bill and the gift money, but I'll also help you liven up the bridal chamber. How's that for being a good sister?"
Gu Wei egged him on, wanting to go too.
Having known Pei Kexin for so many years, he had never seen her date a boyfriend, and now she had become a married woman overnight.
He wanted to see how President Pei interacted with her new husband.
Pei Kexin stared at her phone for a while before realizing she hadn't responded to Zhan Jingchen for a long time.
She wondered if he had caused any trouble at home and if those people were bothering him.
Thinking of this, she exited WeChat and found his phone number.
Zhan Jingchen was extremely bored, locked in the bedroom and playing games. Pei Kexin's call came through.
He answered in a second, "Hello."
For a moment, Pei Kexin felt a sense of healing.
His voice sounded quite pleasant through the receiver.
After a brief pause, she spoke.
"It's me, Pei Kexin."
Zhan Jingchen had been waiting for her for a long time, how could he not know it was her?
"Are you almost off work?"
Pei Kexin glanced at the pile of documents in front of her, estimating it would take a while longer.
"It's not time yet. How are you? Did anything happen to you this afternoon?"
Upon hearing that she still had to wait until the official quitting time, Zhan Jingchen's initial excitement from the call diminished by half.
"As a company vice president, you don't have to strictly adhere to clocking in and out, do you? There are so many people in the company, can't you delegate some of the work? Who works on their wedding day?"
"What time is it? I'm starving and haven't eaten all day, and I was force-fed alcohol by your family. I can barely hold on. Hurry back."
Pei Kexin was, in fact, persuaded by him to leave work early.
Although she left early, she was delayed by traffic stops and starts, so she still arrived home around dinnertime.
Thanks to Zhan Jingchen, this was the first time since she started working that she had left work on time to have dinner with everyone.
Seeing her return at this hour, everyone chatting and snacking in the living area was quite surprised.
"Oh, why are you back so early? Is the company work finished?"
These people, relying on their good fortune, had never experienced hardship.
Before marriage, they were supported by their parents, and their life's greatest task was to eat well, dress warmly, and marry a good husband.
After marriage, their husbands took over, and apart from having children and drinking afternoon tea, they had nothing else to do.
Therefore, in their eyes, returning home on time meant having a leisurely job.
It had nothing to do with ability, hard work, or making special time; Pei Kexin could only offer a fake smile, completely speechless.
If only she hadn't been so unlucky to be orphaned at a young age.
She was raised in an orphanage until she was six when the old man, while doing charity work, took a liking to her. He thought she bore some resemblance to his late wife and decided to bring her back for his eldest son to raise as his granddaughter.
However, his eldest son was already married with children and had no interest in this wild child.
His second son also avoided her like the plague.
The old man, with a determined heart, decided to raise her himself as his daughter.
Years passed, and although the old man treated her well, the others never looked her in the eye.
She knew very well that she was an outsider; as long as the old man was around, she had food to eat.
Once the old man was gone...
Therefore, she had worked very hard all these years.
She never embarrassed the old man with her studies, and after joining the company, she worked tirelessly day and night.
Finally, her achievements surpassed all the male heirs of the Pei family, and her position in the company improved.
She thought this would bring some tangible rewards, but reality made her see through human nature completely.
Except for the old man, everyone in the Pei family treated her like a watchdog that needed to be fed to help guard the house.
It was her responsibility to charge forward and take the blame when things went wrong.
She was not qualified to enjoy the warmth of being part of a family.