So, dealing with this situation was very simple. She just needed to arrive at the venue faster.
According to Ms. Campbell, even though the doors didn’t open until 11:30, arriving exactly at that time wouldn’t guarantee a spot at the front of the line.
There were quite a few things that could go wrong.
It was hard to get a cab right after work.
The evening rush hour would cause traffic jams.
Colleagues might drive their own cars.
Wendy Lynch scratched her head. Actually, the simplest and most foolproof method was to just take tomorrow morning off.
Instead of rushing out at 11:00 when work ended, she could arrive at the venue early and clock in.
However, doing that would be far too conspicuous.
Without a reasonable excuse, it would definitely attract people’s attention.
If the prize money were eight million or even eighty million, then she wouldn’t care if people got suspicious.
But the prize was only eighty thousand. Arousing everyone’s suspicion over eighty thousand just wasn’t worth the loss.
After thinking it over for quite a while, Wendy finally suppressed the idea of taking time off.
Still, she hadn’t completely given up on winning the prize either.
Early the next morning, Wendy found Bowen Rhodes.
Upon seeing Wendy, a warm smile immediately appeared on Bowen’s face.
"Oh, if it isn’t Wendy! How do you have the free time to come looking for me?
"Could it be that you had your eye on some handsome guy in the algorithm department yesterday, but you were too shy to say anything, so you want me to play matchmaker?"
He patted his chest and promised, "Wendy, rest assured! As long as he caught your fancy, I can definitely ask him out for you, whether he’s single or not!"
Wendy rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Get lost. None of them caught my fancy. I came to you for something else."
Ever since Wendy saved Evans last time, Bowen had been exceptionally polite to her.
After all, without Wendy’s help, Evans would have definitely been in trouble.
As the primary receptionist, Bowen would have been entirely to blame.
An F-level evaluation at the end of the year would have been unavoidable.
Even if he had connections behind the scenes to avoid getting fired, his level would have definitely been demoted from Level S5 to S4, or even S3.
Thus, Bowen’s way of addressing Wendy had shifted from "Lynch" in the beginning to "Wendy" now.
Realizing that Wendy needed help with something, Bowen immediately put on a serious expression. "Please tell me, Wendy! I won’t hesitate to go through fire and water for you!"
Wendy waved her hand dismissively. "There’s no need to exaggerate like that; going through fire and water won’t be necessary.
"I just wanted to ask since you’re usually in charge of reception.
"Do you have the contact information of those commercial van drivers? I want to rent a vehicle."
Hearing that it was just a small favor, Bowen instantly felt a little disappointed.
However, he quickly sent the contact information of a car rental company to Wendy’s WhatsApp. "Just say you’re a friend of Bowen Rhodes from Titan Engine, and you’ll get a discount."
Wendy thanked him and then returned to her seat.
Very quickly, she successfully booked a commercial van from 10:00 to 12:00 this morning.
She told the driver to wait in the company parking lot right at 10:00. She informed him that they would get off work at 11:00 and needed to arrive at the Hilton Hotel as quickly as possible, asking him to plan the driving route in advance.
Hanging up the phone, Wendy immediately opened her inbox.
Yesterday’s email from the future had already vanished. Obviously, the timeline had changed again.
She just didn’t know yet whether it was a good change or a bad one.
At 11:00 AM, everyone began packing up their things to prepare to leave.
Wendy had told Shirley Lowell to prepare in advance, so the moment the clock struck eleven, the two of them grabbed their bags and hurriedly left the company.
The black commercial van sped out of the parking lot. Ten minutes later, the two of them successfully arrived at the Hilton Hotel.
Another five minutes later, Wendy and Shirley appeared in front of Banquet Hall 1, which had been reserved by Titan Engine.
The entrance to the banquet hall was completely empty, save for a few administrative staff members doing a final check in the adjacent activity area.
Upon seeing this, Wendy maintained a calm expression, but she was already overjoyed on the inside.
This time, the two of them were the very first to arrive!
Without any hesitation, she hurriedly led Shirley to the entrance and took out her ID badge to clock in.
As the metal ID badge swiped across the machine at the door, a check-in prompt sounded.
[Welcome, S3, Wendy Lynch. Welcome to the National Day Annual Meeting.]
Following the prompt, the printer next to it slowly spat out a small ticket.
Wendy swiftly took the ticket. When she clearly saw the number on it, she could no longer suppress the smile at the corners of her lips.
[00001]
This was it!
The heavy stone weighing on her heart finally dropped completely.
An irrepressible surge of ecstasy instantly welled up from the depths of her heart.
Beside her, Shirley also received her own ticket. She glanced at the number [00002] on it and casually stuffed it into her bag.
Since Shirley didn’t know the winning number, she naturally didn’t show any excitement. She simply urged Wendy.
"Wendy, hurry and find a seat! I see H?agen-Dazs over there!
"You’re too smart, Wendy. We should hurry and eat a few more scoops while no one is around. Last time I went to buy one scoop, it cost over forty!
"If we just eat two scoops, we’ll casually earn a hundred bucks for free!"
Wendy forcefully pressed down her rising lips and nodded.
Under the guidance of the administrative staff, the two of them quickly found the seats with their names on them.
The banquet hall was still very spacious at this time; most people were still on their way.
Their table was the very first in the entire venue to be seated.
"Wow! This chocolate is so delicious!
"Wendy, your vanilla one is pretty good too!"
...
Wendy was also leisurely tasting the various expensive appetizers, secretly pleased with herself.
Arriving early was great.
Not only could she snatch the grand prize, but she could also eat her fill of these snacks that she usually couldn’t bear to buy.
Just as the two of them were eating happily, the company employees began to arrive one after another.
Not long after, a familiar and annoying voice rang out.
Carmen Sutton walked in, chatting and laughing with two familiar colleagues. At a glance, she spotted Wendy and Shirley already sitting there.
Coincidentally, since they both belonged to the logistics department, her seat was right at the next table.
Carmen curled her lips and deliberately raised her volume, speaking sarcastically to the people beside her. "Oh, some people are really shameless just to eat a few appetizers.
"Coming here so early, acting like they haven’t eaten in eight hundred years. They don’t even find it embarrassing."
As the saying went, birds of a feather flock together.
Naturally, anyone who could mix with Carmen wasn’t exactly a saint either. The two colleagues beside her immediately let out agreeable laughter.
BAM!
Shirley slammed her fork heavily onto the table, so angry that she was about to stand up and argue.
With quick reflexes, Wendy pushed her back down.
She shook her head at Shirley and silently mouthed three words. "Don’t be hasty."
Although Shirley was utterly confused, out of trust in Wendy, she forcibly endured her anger and sat down, though she shot Carmen a vicious glare.
Wendy still wore a calm smile on her face, but she sneered internally, "Keep putting on a show. The higher you jump now, the harder you’ll fall later."
She didn’t mind letting the other party act arrogantly for a little while longer.