At Titan Engine, all official employees participated in performance evaluations. The ratings were divided into six tiers: A, B, C, D, E, and F. A-level was the highest, while F-level was the lowest. Employees who received an A-level rating would be promoted the following year. As for those who received an F-level rating, they would be immediately fired for failing to meet work standards.
Wendy Lynch was still planning to make her mark at Titan Engine, even hoping to use the company as a stepping stone to jump directly to ByteDance. Therefore, an F-level rating was absolutely unacceptable to her! She couldn’t get fired for a low rating right when she was about to show her true capabilities.
The next day, Wendy arrived at the office on time.
Just as she set down her backpack, Regina Campbell walked out of her office, her gaze landing directly on her. Thinking of Wendy’s recent stellar performance, Regina smiled and approached her. "Wendy, I have an important task for you!"
Wendy’s heart skipped a beat. She wondered, "Could this important task Ms. Campbell is talking about be the document mentioned in the email?" She was already on high alert, but she kept a calm expression on her face as she asked, "Ms. Campbell, what kind of important task?"
Regina explained with a smile, "National Day is coming up soon, right?
"The other departments have already submitted details regarding headcounts, gift tiers, and budgets.
"Additionally, some of the company’s regular partnered clients are also on the list.
"We need to enter and calculate the data on our end. Once we confirm everything is correct, we’ll send it to the purchasing department for procurement.
"There are only a few days left until National Day, so we need to get this document finalized before we clock out this afternoon.
"Once you confirm there are no issues, just send it directly to the purchasing department!"
Wendy thought to herself, "Just as I suspected."
This task was indeed important. The company had over ten thousand employees, plus thousands of regular clients, both big and small. Sending gifts to so many people was a highly crucial matter. Working in a large corporation meant dealing with many rules and regulations, but in return, the opportunities for promotion were much more transparent and fair compared to smaller companies.
If she could handle this National Day welfare calculation document well, it would undoubtedly boost her score during the year-end performance evaluations. Of course, if she messed up such a critical task, the glaring "F-level" from the email would become a reality. This was a classic case of high risk, high reward.
However, the job wasn’t particularly difficult. As long as she handled it carefully, the performance points were practically free. She figured Ms. Campbell only assigned such a significant task to her because of her recent good performance. With the email’s warning in mind, Wendy naturally wouldn’t turn down such an easy opportunity for credit.
"Don’t worry, Ms. Campbell. I’ll definitely double-check everything and send it over to the purchasing department before the end of the day," Wendy assured her.
The USB drive contained several files submitted by different departments. The moment she opened them, she was greeted by a dense sea of names, departments, gift tiers, and budget amounts. The employee ranks, ranging from S3 to S11, were clearly categorized, with everyone’s corresponding Mid-Autumn mooncake gift boxes and shopping card limits explicitly marked.
Aside from the employee files, there was also a welfare list for partnered clients. Evans from Verdant Beauty and the heads of several long-term partner advertising agencies were all included. The work wasn’t highly difficult; she merely needed to consolidate the data from all the departments and verify its accuracy.
It only took Wendy two hours to finish all the work. However, considering the email’s warning, she specifically double-checked it two more times. Her anxious heart only settled slightly once she confirmed there were no errors.
Wendy rubbed her sore eyes and picked up the thermos by her desk to take a sip of warm water. At this moment, the sound of chairs scraping against the floor echoed through the office as colleagues got up one after another to head to the cafeteria for lunch.
As Shirley Lowell passed her desk, she asked with a smile, "Wendy, are you done? Want to go grab some spicy hot pot at that newly opened place downstairs?"
Having resolved the matter from the email, Wendy was in a great mood and naturally wouldn’t refuse Shirley’s invitation.
"Sure thing, just give me a minute!"
Wendy swiftly closed the files and casually tossed the USB drive into her desk drawer. She then grabbed her bag and left the office with Shirley.
She didn’t notice that less than two minutes after her departure, a figure slipped out of the pantry. The person was clutching a half-empty cup of milk tea. Their fingers squeezed tightly, warping the sides of the cup. Brown liquid dripped through their fingers and splattered onto the gray carpet, leaving a small dark stain.
"She’s just a newly regularized S3. What gives her the right to handle such an important task?"
Resentment and jealousy surged in the woman’s eyes. She had slogged away at the company for four years just to climb to S4, cautiously dealing with trivial matters every day and fighting just to get the chance to interact with clients. But what about Wendy? She was just an S3 who had only gotten her permanent position early through the sheer luck of saving Evans. And now, she was handed the National Day welfare calculation—a task that was both easy and highly visible.
If Wendy did a good job, her year-end rating would be at least a C, or even a B. According to company regulations, one only needed two B-level ratings to secure a smooth promotion. The woman recalled that her own rating last year was a mere D. If she didn’t show any improvement this year, let alone getting promoted, it would be hard to say if she could even keep her current rank.
At this thought, the figure’s gaze grew even more venomous. "Why do all the good things fall into her lap?"
The office was dead silent, save for the faint hum of air coming from the AC vents. Their colleagues had either gone to the cafeteria or stepped out for a walk during their lunch break. She glanced vigilantly toward the office entrance. The corridor was just as quiet, with only the soft mechanical purr of the air conditioning.
Once she confirmed no one was around, the figure quickly walked over to Wendy’s desk. With a gentle pull, she opened the slightly ajar drawer. The USB drive was sitting right there in plain sight. She swiftly snatched it, shoved it into her pocket, and returned the drawer to its original state. Only then did she return to her own desk, pretending nothing had happened.
She pulled her laptop from her drawer. The moment she plugged in the USB drive, the violent pounding of her heart echoed in her ears. As the file opened, the dense sea of data appeared before her eyes—employee names, departments, ranks, gift tiers, and budget amounts were all laid out clearly.
The figure’s movements were brisk. In just a matter of moments, she altered several key data points within the document. Having done all this, she quickly saved the file.
Two minutes later, the USB drive was back in Wendy’s drawer.
Meanwhile, Wendy and Shirley were sitting in the spicy hot pot restaurant downstairs. The steaming broth frothed with a loud BUBBLE BUBBLE, various ingredients tumbling in the pot.
Shirley picked up a slice of beef roll with her chopsticks and placed it in her bowl, saying with a smile, "Wendy, you’re really something this time. Getting such an important task right after your regularization shows how highly Ms. Campbell thinks of you."
Wendy picked up a piece of fish tofu, popped it into her mouth, and replied with a smile, "It’s nothing impressive. Ms. Campbell just knows that I don’t know much since I just got regularized, so she deliberately picked the easiest job for me..."
Though she said that, her mind kept lingering on the calculation sheet, leaving her with an unsettling feeling of unease.