woman wearing irish linen shirt

I stared at her for a while, and neither of us spoke.

In fact, it's not accurate to say that it's looking at each other.After all, we are in the video conference. Apart from my brain, the most important thing I rely on to understand her expression is the real-time resolution: and our eyes cannot intersect.

This is a veritable battle of wits with the air.

Yet I knew she was looking at me.

As for why, I can't answer.Judging from the angle of the camera, her gaze is clearly focused on the screen, and a computer screen can display many things, at least not just my face.Maybe she just stared at this square luminous body in a daze, maybe she was already tired to the point of disgust for this kind of ambiguous confrontation.

But I just do.she is looking at me.

"It seems that there is some misunderstanding between us." My cells even became active because of this imaginary gaze, and the words I said were extremely bold. Interaction patterns are often influenced by the other person. If you want people to be honest with you, the best way to do it is to be honest with the other person in the first place.”

"Sounds like pseudoscience." The corner of her mouth hooked up. "I was honest at the very beginning. But you have no intention of approaching this standard at all... Or, people who understand this rule can Get an exemption from the rules?"

"I'm not going to say you're dishonest. That's a serious allegation that needs to be proven." I paused. "But there's no doubt that you're hiding something."

"I've signed many contracts. Countless." She kept her face. "Concealment itself is part of my job."

"That's more of a selective honesty."

"If you insist."

I decided to take a gamble.After a brief silence, I asked, "Is Rudra one of the candidates?"

She didn't evade any more: "Candidate for what?"

Yeah, she kind of woke me up.On the surface, I was just asking whether the boss is the candidate for the CEO of a subsidiary that BCG prefers—but this was originally a cover, and both she and I knew what I really cared about.However, when the question reached the level closest to the truth, I just couldn't open my mouth.

How can she answer me?

My doubts grew stronger and stronger, and I wanted to spread out, but I was trapped by the extremely high walls on all sides.

Miss Pender will never come to my rescue.She always liked to play with my curiosity.

I swore to myself that one day I would make her pay for her prank.

"My question is too inappropriate." I said, "My question is not professional at all."

She didn't press, just said, "I thought you hated the art of asking questions."

"Skill doesn't always seem to mean professionalism."

Miss Pan De's eyes narrowed: "You are really bold tonight."

"Don't you like it?" I said subconsciously.

Both ends of the video suddenly became quiet, and Xia Chong was also silent for me——

Silence is Cambridge tonight.

Miss Pender's face became vivid almost in the blink of an eye.Her cheeks became puffy, even with such a low resolution: no smile could be seen, however.It can't be said that she didn't smile, because her expression had a sense of suddenness, as if someone reached out and tore off her veil.

All of a sudden, Miss Pender's eyes became darker than ever before, and she couldn't tell whether it was because she was too dark or because I was still unwilling to read.

But I saw her annoyance, no doubt about it.

"I thought you liked my honesty," I said. "There's always something to be done about a decision. It's better to be brave than a coward, isn't it?"

"Boldness and bravery are not the same thing." Her expression has returned to the original, "You have to know your position, if you are not clear, think until you understand it thoroughly."

I could hear that her voice was a little cold, mixed with almost unrecognizable hesitation, and she said almost immediately: "Of course. I know my identity very well. Regarding the meeting next Monday, is there anything I need to do?" ?”

She was startled, and said: "Nothing special. I believe we will hear more about your understanding of the self-developed system next week."

The agenda seems to be all over.

The process went by very quickly today, and it's not even 10:30.Our meeting often enters into a rambunctious chat, and Miss Pande is a good conversationalist. Her questions are usually important, but they don’t make me vigilant. Invisibly, I talked a lot about the understanding of the company’s structure. , and some speculation about future directions.

I know that these discussions are helping BCG's work in a disguised form, and sometimes they are very radical, and it is basically impossible to achieve, but she still expressed her approval.

Like someone who only appears in a dream.

It seemed to be the first time for us to end so early. Miss Pande didn't mention hanging up for a long time, and she only spoke to me in two or three minutes. It was just chatting.I guessed that she was dealing with some work at the same time, and originally wanted to quietly open the mailbox to check, but she couldn't see it: the Latin alphabet seemed to suddenly become some incomprehensible tadpole script.

But I don't seem to be tired at all.

Miss Pan De came back, looked at me, and apologized softly, saying that there was an urgent matter that needs to be confirmed immediately.I found out that she was back before she spoke. There was no proof, but I was so sure.

Time to hang up?

She's supposed to be working overtime, and I want to do a leg workout before bed.Is she going to speak soon?

We fell into that weird stare again.At this moment, I suddenly realized that this is indeed not looking at each other. There must be eye contact when looking at each other. It is like silent communication and eye confrontation-but if we only discuss the present moment, we are not confronting at all.

At least I have neither sword nor shield in my heart.I was empty-handed, naked, just looking at her.

This should be called mutual gaze.The context of the confrontation was dissolved by the screen gap, and I became a feedback, and she was just some kind of truly random image simulation.In such a situation, staring is often the active choice of people.

She certainly deserves to be stared at.Out of politeness, offline, when we make eye contact or when I stay in her place too much uncontrollably, I always avoid immediately, for fear that she will feel uncomfortable; I am also afraid that my attempt will be exposed, so Even when I was caught in a discussion, my eyes were restrained.But now she's a total object...

My attention couldn't be taken away.

And why is Miss Pender looking at me?Trying to see through the lies beneath my lies?But no matter how hard she tries, I won't show my flaws.It wasn't out of self-confidence—I was an utterly false aggregate in front of her.If she has a pair of discerning eyes, after peeling off the layers, she will find that everything is empty.

I don't have any of the things she wants.

And she's still looking at me.

--enough.

"So, when's the next meeting?" I said first, with a fake smile on my face, "I know you'd prefer to meet me on the night of the convention, but I have an important meeting on Monday night... …I would appreciate it if it could be rescheduled to Tuesday."

She withdraws freely from the role of being stared at, and becomes the master again.Miss Pender nodded, and said gently: "Of course, just do as you expect."

What am I expecting?

After calming down, at night, I thought about more.

It would not be a coincidence that Miss Pender mentioned Kevin today.Because of the clothes, she turned against the customer and gave me a favor?I really didn't expect Hui Lin to move so fast, and Kevin didn't come to me first, but had some trouble with Miss Pan De.Thinking about it this way, he might have guessed about my identity.

I was careless first.Kevin has a high position and authority, and he is not a passive person. The mere matter of the pen will not make him afraid for so long.Fortunately, I didn't have much hope at first, as long as I let him know that I am still on the court, the goal will be achieved, and I don't have to worry too much about it.

However, Miss Pender took the initiative to throw Kevin out, like a bait.

In order to protect the boss?

In fact, based on my understanding of the boss, if I really want to know about this matter, I can ask him directly.I didn't do this for a long time because I was afraid that he would have scruples: he really needs to have some scruples. Now that I work for the big boss and hold several positions, I can't say a lot of things to me.It's useless for me to guarantee such things. From a standpoint, I cannot be trusted.

The boss has indeed stayed in the position of department director for too long.One radish and one hole, there are already CEO and COO on it, if they don't get promoted to the group, the boss really won't see any room for advancement in the company.If it is said that he is transferred to the group, I am afraid he is not happy: maybe the boss would prefer to go to the next door.

It's a pity that two years ago, the neighbor next door could still be said to have an equal share with us; now it seems that it is really condescending to go there.If it is possible to establish a subsidiary company, although the prospects are worrying, it is an opportunity anyway.

After all, the boss is different from me.He is not a person greedy for power, and he has earned enough money. In my impression, as the head of the department, he is more worried about the future development of the company than fighting for fame and fortune.After all, it is a project made from scratch, and people occasionally have feelings for things that should not have feelings.

I thought again of what he said that day and what he told me to do.

Just for the sake of holding power, did the boss choose to dismember the crab shell?

I do not think so.

Knowing people, knowing face but not knowing heart, conjecture is the most difficult to come true.Don't even talk about whether I really understand the boss-do I understand myself?Assuming that the pinch comes to a head, the split is a foregone conclusion, and with the help of BCG, I can approach the CEO position: Can I really be dismissive?

Human nature cannot stand the test.Now being coerced by various situations and pushed to this position, I realize that I can't trust anyone, and I can't be sure about anything.Even my own heart was put into the fuzzy frosted glass, oscillating and oscillating in the vacuum, and finally pulled and became the victim of all parties' wrestling, dying like a powder.

It's time for me to choose sides.

But the question is: do I really have a choice?