Chapter 193: You're to Blame, Too

“Hmm?”

As she was opening her laptop, Ye Shuang froze when she heard that news, and she revealed an expression that made the workshop chief silent and worried. After she spaced out for a while and when she noticed the apologetic and slightly embarrassed expression on the chief’s face, Ye Shuang smiled and continued to open the laptop. She said as naturally as she could, “That doesn’t bother me. Actually, I already knew that my identity has been revealed, but I just did not know which channel leaked it. However, even though the situation is under control, this leak is still considered part of your responsibility.”

Ye Shuang was not lying. When she heard that her name had become common among the upper society, Ye Shuang could sense something was wrong. Even though a person’s name among a certain crowd was not a secret, there was still a barrier for information that was let into or out of a big circle.

Even though Ye Shuang’s name was quite common among the ladies of the rich families, as long as one did not belong to that circle, even if there was just a slight difference in identity or gender, one would not gain access to the secrets they had.

For example, which rich wives would specially mention Ye Shuang’s name when they moved to catch the mistress‽ At most, when questioned by the mistress and the husband, they would say, “I had someone investigated this.”

And who was this someone‽ They would not mention her by name, and those who were focused on the conflict between the wives and the mistresses would not pay attention to such unimportant details. Unless a certain party purposely leaked this information for the sake of endearing themselves to others or for some other reason.

Initially, Ye Shuang could not figure out who was so bored as to share who had them exposed them with the mistresses and their sons, but now that she heard the chief bring it up, Ye Shuang understood everything that had eluded her so far.

Putting down the truth that was revealed, Ye Shuang expertly opened the file to compare the information given by the workshop. “We will not talk about that for now. Do you mind if you tell me the few names of the people who have left the workshop as well as the posts and names of your current members.”

…

The sequence of events for a normal incident was reason, process, and result. For example, the talents who wanted to escape revealed Ye Shuang’s information to a certain group of people, making them train their focus on Ye Shuang—that was the reason. Then these people with the intention to take revenge had conflict with Ye Shuang—that was the process. Finally, one party would come out the victor. Either they would manage to beat Ye Shuang, or Ye Shuang would perfectly resolve the situation—that was the result.

When Yao Zhixing heard Ye Shuang’s name and reputation that was slowly forming through the grapevines of the upper society, the conflict had already started. Both opposing parties shouted out threats from opposite camps, and then Ye Shuang beating up Zhou Yue was the climax. That was combined with the identity that she had created so far from her work.

If this was described in terms of a card game, the group that wanted to take revenge on Ye Shuang had the trump card in Zhou Yue. If Yao Zhixing was the King, then Zhou Yue would be a Jack. Ye Shuang did not know the details of their original plan, but it should mostly be to use their Jack to hold off her King. Ye Shuang herself was an Ace; she could beat down most of the number cards. However, without the King card, with just an Ace, she could not do much. At most, she could exhaust several small cards before she lost to the two played by the other party. ‘Unity is power’ was not just something that was relevant in olden time.

However, what happened next surprised everyone. Ye Shuang’s identity rose tremendously after a series of events. First, her combat ability had shocked many and then her identity, and her social position also greatly increased the size of her trump card. In the end, people realized that Ye Shuang might not be an Ace but a pair of Aces. Then their Jack also suddenly decided to surrender. Therefore, this crossing of blows ended before it even began. Unless the opponent found a better card, this was basically how the issue was going to be resolved.

Therefore, before the ‘process’ had been realized, the ‘result’ had been revealed, and after the dust settled, Ye Shuang finally found out the ‘reason’ from the lips of the chief.

It was wrong to say that Ye Shuang felt threatened. After all, the enemy had been vanquished before they even had the chance to do anything. However, it was quite annoying to be ambushed by someone who had betrayed her. Ye Shuang paid close attention to the movement of the members inside the talent storage; this type of event where the talents collectively betrayed the agent had only happened once, and it happened after she had taken over as the agent. It was such a humiliation.

After getting the latest data on the members from the chief and rearranging the data of the talent storage, Ye Shuang returned to her apartment with a strong annoyance that she tried to suppress but could not ignore. She just reached the front door and prepared to key in the password when the door to the neighboring apartment fell open.

Han Chu had his jacket hanging over his one arm, and his other arm was fixing the collar of his shirt. He looked like he was adjusting the collar because it was too tight, and he could not breathe comfortably. He had just moved one step out the door when he noticed Ye Shuang, who was standing in the corridor. Han Chu also paused before he nodded slightly. “Just came back?”

Ye Shuang blinked and felt like she should be the one asking that question. “When did Brother Han come back to San Lin City‽”

She had just gone out to run some errands, and when she returned, there was an additional person moving into her next door. That feeling was rather shocking.

“I arrived last night because I have some issues to deal with here…” Han Chu answered naturally. Then, he frowned slightly before studying Ye Shuang for a while. “Have you run into some problem?”

Ye Shuang was surprised. Before she left the workshop, she had taken some time to arrange her expression to make it seem like she did not mind the people betraying her, but that did not mean that she really did not mind it. When she was outside and interacting with others, others could not read anything from her expression, but when she was almost home, there was naturally no more reason to continue this act. Therefore, Ye Shuang relaxed and allowed her real emotion to show, and because of that, her face contained a trace of unhappiness. However, even so, Han Chu’s attention to detail still surprised Ye Shuang.

“Hmm…” After a contemplative frown, Ye Shuang nodded. “Actually, I have something to tell you. A few of the names in San Lin City’s talent storage have to be removed because some of them have jumped ship.”

Han Chu looked at Ye Shuang and lowered his head to glance at the watch on his wrist. Then he nodded and took a step back to allow Ye Shuang to get through the door. “…Come in and we’ll talk. I still have some time on my hands.”

Accepting Han Chu’s invitation, Ye Shuang walked into the apartment next door. Han Chu removed the jacket and placed it back on the coatrack. He removed one button from his shirt and then folded his sleeves up twice. He walked into the open kitchen to find the coffee machine and brew Ye Shuang and himself each a cup of coffee. As he placed the cups down on the table, he sat down across from Ye Shuang. He picked the cup of coffee that he poured for himself earlier and nodded at Ye Shuang. “Tell me, what is this about?”

Ye Shuang was not one to shirk from responsibility. Since the thing had already happened, hiding it as a secret would not help anyone, so she started the story from the party on New Year’s Eve. She summarized the conflict that arose between herself and a certain group in San Lin City due to her daily contracts, and that was when she brought in the members who hopped away from the workshop, the roles that they played in creating this conflict, and how she eventually resolved the issue.

When he was in the company of a female, Han Chu was a perfect gentleman. Even though he felt like Ye Shuang did not need to go into detail for some of the events, he did not make any noise to interrupt her when she went over the events; he only held the cup of coffee in his hand and sipped on it slowly. When Ye Shuang finally finished explaining everything that had happened, Han Chu placed the cup of coffee down, and when the cup hit the saucer, it caused a tingling sound.

“So, what is your plan now?” Han Chu frowned as he tried to make a conclusion. “Do you wish to warn these people for breaching the headhunting’s contract? Or would you like to pursue them in a court of law?”

“I can do that‽” Ye Shuang was baffled. To be honest, she had just wanted to vent as she told the details of the work. She just wanted to share the news with someone; she really did not have the idea of doing more than that. If Ye Shuang was given a convenient chance to take revenge, she would not say no, but to purposely create trouble for people, that seemed a bit… bitter. For a few people that could not even raise a wave in her life, should she waste so much effort and money‽

“Yes, you can bring them to court because this is a violation of privacy and sensitive information.” Han Chu first nodded before giving his own opinion. “However, I do not suggest that you do that.”

“I also think so,” Ye Shuang concurred, “but I wish to hear your opinion.”

“Before this, I didn’t have the chance to communicate the ideals of our work with you, but I feel this might not be such a bad time. You have been working for quite some time already, so I believe you should have your own understanding of the occupation now.”

Han Chu pulled out several bags of snacks from the shelf under the coffee table and walked into the kitchen to grab a big bowl. He tore the package open and poured out a bag of popcorn. He pushed it to the middle of the coffee table like he was ready for a long and hard talk. “What do you think is the core of the headhunting business‽”

“An intermediary of talents.” Ye Shuang grabbed kernels of popcorn from the bowl and answered between chews.

Han Chu narrowed his eyes and silently moved the bowl back. He popped a few kernels into his mouth. “You’re right, an intermediary of talents. Then what would you say is your job scope?”

Han Chu did not wait for Ye Shuang to answer; that was a rhetorical question.

“The clients need someone who can help them solve some problem, the talents need a platform where they can sell their skills, and you as a headhunter do not need to care about anything else. You only need to focus on completing one thing… helping those in need who have not found the suitable employee to match them with the party that they would want to cooperate with and then push the talents that you have to them.

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“How difficult the client’s situation, the stability of the talents, and contracts outside of our business are all beyond your concern. You only need to focus on assessment and act as an intermediary to match the most suitable talent in your hands with the clients. Technically, I would not expect the best talent to be my asset forever. Therefore, if any of them have found a better prospect or wish to quit the job for a certain reason, for us, that is just us missing one talent that we can recommend. What the person does after they stop working for us and why they did that are completely unrelated to our job scope.”

Every company would face the problem of employees jumping ship; even the biggest corporation had the risk of employees slandering their name after their employment contract was over. If it was related to a trade secret, if the boss felt free, they could find the lawyers to bring the person to court to brush up the company’s name in the public sphere. However, if it was just a personal question or a difference in ideals, maintaining silence was the most common solution.

It was crazy to expect that everyone would experience smooth sailing through life. Even for those who were not headhunters, as long as they had managerial roles, be it managing tens of people or thousands of people, then no one could guarantee all those people would be loyal to their leader. If they could not stomach this stress, why were they there‽

Ye Shuang was not the type of woman who got sentimental easily, so after she heard what Han Chu had to say, she did not show any signs of dissatisfaction or annoyance. “I think I understand what you’re trying to say. This kind of risk will forever be a thing, and since I’ve already resolved the problem, there’s no need to hound these people for no reason‽”

“That is just my perspective, but if you really want to seek revenge, it is fine. This is something personal, and I will not stop you.” Han Chu nodded before turning the conversation around. “Other than that, I think you should admit to some culpability for these people jumping ship.”

Ye Shuang frowned immediately. Where was the gentleman that she was promised‽

Han Chu saw the ugly expression on Ye Shuang’s face. He thought about it and pushed the bowl of popcorn over to her with some hesitation. When he saw Ye Shuang pick up a kernel, he continued speaking. “I’ve already told you that too many contracts about the investigation of extra-marital affairs will blur your identity in the public’s eyes, but that is not all.”

Ye Shuang raised her head to look at him, and Han Chu continued his explanation patiently. “If you see headhunting as a different type of management, then headhunting also has its own level.

“Take for an example a company, if your ability is just to help them find a normal employee, then you’re the lowest level of headhunter; if you are able to help find a department manager, then you could be considered a headhunting consultant; if you can help them find a CEO, then you’re one of the leaders in the headhunting field.

“Will a celebrity worth several million accept a film contract that is only for several thousand? Of course not, even if he was down on his luck, he wouldn’t have accepted it because it would ruin the image and standing that he had cultivated for himself.

“It is the same for headhunting.

“There is a history to all types of occupations. Everyone starts with a normal employee, then a team leader, department manager, finally CEO. However, no one would start with a team leader and then jump to another company to be a normal employee… No matter how much you might love the new job, you wouldn’t have done that to make waste of everything you’ve done so far.”

Glancing at the bowl of popcorn that Ye Shuang had almost finished, Han Chu frowned and reached into the cupboard again to pull out a bag of marshmallows. He tore it open and reached into it to grab a marshmallow. He chewed on it slowly as he spoke.

“Lowering your self-value is one thing, and another thing is that everyone has limited time in a day. If you insist on focusing on those smaller contracts because you think it is a waste to skip on those money, then it also means you will not have the time to pursue bigger cases that allow you to have a higher commission rate. What are high-class headhunters? Those are headhunters that have the most unimaginable talents in their storage, but once you place your focus on the lower end of the talent spectrum, those at the top will be ignored.

“When you could not satisfy these talents with the job that suit their level, your connection with them will slowly lax.”

After he finished chomping on marshmallows, Han Chu looked at Ye Shuang and said in a serious tone, “Working with professional talent should be the market that you focus on, why? Very simple. One, the amount of commission you’ll get will be higher, and two, these professional talents’ loyalty are the ones that you should be cultivating. Those disposable talents can be found anywhere. Three, professional talents value their credit rating. Their one contract could reach into five or even six digits, so they would not risk their own reputation to betray you.

“Now, we shall look at the consequences of the few people who betrayed you. One, they have stolen the connections that they could not have gotten on their own from you; it was enough for them to start their own business and save the commission that would have been given you two. Two, they are not important, mere lackeys, so even if their reputation was ruined this one time, no one will care. Even if you take them to court, at most they will lose several thousand.” Han Chu picked out a piece of marshmallow with his right hand and then used his left hand to push the bag away. “Now, this one marshmallow is their loss, and the bag of marshmallow is what they will gain. Why should they continue to stay loyal to you‽”

Unless this was some wuxia world where everything goes the main character’s way, something like this was bound to happen. Ye Shuang scratched her head with a bitter smile. “I understand, what you’re trying to say is that the betrayal will earn them a bigger profit, and the loss from the betrayal will not be that serious.”

Therefore, the betrayal was to be expected. No one would contribute endlessly without asking for something in return. Naturally, the pursuit for the smaller people was for a more stable income, and since this was such a perfect opportunity, why would they not grab it?

Ye Shuang thought about it and sighed. “Before this, I only wanted the commission to maintain my living expenses, and I did not consider things like this.”

“It’s alright. Some things you’d need to experience yourself to learn.” After Han Chu finished the conclusion, he opened a pack of sweet plums. He picked carefully to find the one that looked the fullest and popped it into his lips. “Actually, you’re a hard worker and very good at your job. I’ve noticed that in terms of logical thinking, memory, and other supportive skills like martial arts, you have it all. But the most impressive intelligence does not translate to calmness and serenity. Therefore, it is expected for you to make one wrong step.”

Many people thought those with a high IQ would not commit simple mistakes, but that was not always the truth. Logical thinking was just a method of mental processing; however, a person’s words, actions and decision-making would still be influenced by emotions and environment. Therefore, it was possible for people to make many different choices in life.

A powerful woman would use alcohol to drown her misery after a break-up, and a male elite might get provoked and do something stupid. Could it be said that these people had a low IQ or that these people did not know how stupid they were acting‽ No, it was simply because human actions and decisions sometimes had nothing to do with personal IQ.

At this time, Han Chu even had the heart to push a light smile on his face. “I originally thought I would lose one or two high-class talents before you understood these rules, and we had this conversation. But this is better. You’ve already seen the truth with the loss of a few unimportant disposable talents.”

“Yes, I understand it now.” Ye Shuang nodded. “Actually, if you did not bring this up, I don’t think I would have noticed this. Now that I think back about it, I remember a few talents from San Lin City moving to other cities. You had the other agents help me maintain the talent data here‽”

“After all, they’ll be profiting from the commission, so it’ll be fine.” Han Chu admitted it with full on honesty. “Without a long-term introduction of quality contracts, San Lin City’s talents would not stay to hang themselves on a dead tree.”

Ye Shuang smiled. “In that case, how about I personally cook for you today to thank you for helping me stabilize the hearts of my talents‽”

After the chat with Han Chu, Ye Shuang’s originally poor mood had completely disappeared. Now that Ye Shuang had the bonus from the An family’s company, she had already thought about abandoning those daily contracts. She could not do anything since they were stolen away, and the trouble ensuing it had been resolved. To waste her energy, money, and time on something that would not benefit her… Ye Shuang thought about it and realized it was indeed not worth it.

Han Chu looked at Ye Shuang quietly before his gaze moved to the bag of snacks in his hands. He thought about it and said, “How about we leave that dinner‽ I’m not so hungry now…”

It had not been that long since he had lunch, and he was already full from the snacks.

“Dinner… How about 7 pm‽” Ye Shuang glanced at the time. “Tony should have gotten off work by then, and we can invite Brother Yao and Fang Mo. Since it’s rare for you to visit San Lin City, we should inform everyone.”

Han Chu revealed a light smile, and a trace of happiness entered his eyes. “There shouldn’t be any complaints this time. I plan to stay in San Lin City for about six months.”

“Erm…”

Wait, isn’t your base camp at Beijing‽

Even though Ye Shuang did not say that, the shock was very apparent on her face. Han Chu shrugged and silently tossed the empty bags he was holding away. With an annoyance that was mixed with helplessness and wickedness, he said, “It can’t be helped. Things at home… are a bit complicated. In any case, I am currently a homeless person, a runaway child.”

Aren’t you always not at home 365 days a year‽

Ye Shuang looked at the ease with which Han Chu revealed the explosive news, and she was speechless.