Youth and love - A love020 fanfic

Chapter 18 - A thing or two about respect

On her first day at Zhi Yi, Wei Wei had arrived at 7 am. She sat in her designated workplace, with the "Head of Marketing and QC" name plate on the desk. She was totally immersed in making sure everything was perfect as she briefed the team. She had set a meeting at 9 am with four other people who Nai had told her she was going to be working with. She was also going to interview some candidates later in the afternoon to help her with marketing tasks.

At 7:45 am, Nai walked in. He had texted her to see if she wanted to be picked up but he hadn't received a response. He had correctly assumed that his dedicated furen would already be at work. He had also brought her some breakfast, she , in his opinion, needed to eat more. After setting the breakfast on her desk and making sure she started eating it, he went off to his office to start his day.

At first, people in the office didn't know what to make of their only woman employee. Hao Mei had informed everyone that Ms. Wei Wei aka "bww"( her github name) was the person behind their initial funding and also that she was the person who had written some of their "underwater quest" code, so they would respect her. She had dressed in a formal blouse and simple slacks, but she looked gorgeous. She had made an effort to meet everyone, introduce herself and say hello.

Over the next few weeks, everyone realized she was someone they could talk to easily, but not to be trifled with .Her input in the design and the occasional code review meetings showed that she had enough technical depth to provide good advice. She had also designed a great automated framework for their game's QC. In short, she had managed to impress everyone with her leadership and skills. Most men in the office, intimidated by her beauty, brains and confidence , mostly left her alone ( even if they lusted after her in private) . This suited Wei Wei just fine and true to his promise, Nai had left her alone.

The only exception was a guy called Ashuang. Ashuang was a great programmer and had been very valuable to Zhi Yi so far. He was taken aback in the first design meeting when Wei Wei addressed their boss as Xiao Nai instead of Lao San or Bro Xiao or Xiao-ge. He didn't think women belonged in IT and had made comments to that effect. He didn't like how everyone seemed to value this arrogant woman who couldn't even respect their boss. He kept passing comments about her. In a design meeting that Nai had skipped one day, he said "What does a woman in marketing know about game design?", unaware of Wei Wei's gaming skills and CS background. Yugong was outraged. Just as he was about to say something, Wei Wei said "Maybe not that much. But I can tell you that it is easier to use keys that are near each other with one hand." That had shut him up. He tried to put her down in every meeting that Nai wasn't at, tried ( unsuccessfully) to steal her staff, even called bad names behind her back. He made her life more difficult that it had to be but despite that, Wei Wei had not once mentioned this to Nai. She had even dissuaded his dorm brothers from mentioning it to him.

One day as Wei Wei came back to the office from lunch drenched, she overheard him saying "She must be sleeping with someone. How else is she holding on to this job? Why else would she come back to the office with a wet dress that shows off her body?". This was the last straw for her, she saw red. Hao Mei had also overheard this and was about to step in when Wei Wei said, "Ashuang, I need a word with you. Follow me to the demo stage". She would show him exactly how she had gotten this job. Demo stage was where they tested big simulations. It was right in the center of the office and people usually watched.

Wei Wei : "I heard that you are a master at Dreams of Jianghu 1. Battle with me."

Ashuang: "I don't battle women. Besides, PK is a man's game"

Wei Wei : " I want to see how a real man battles. Or are you afraid to fight me?"

Ashuang: "Just don't go crying to Lao San if you lose"

By then their entire staff, minus Xiao Nai and KO had gathered.

Wei Wei said loudly: "If you lose, you will sign a NDA to not reveal any of Zhi Yi's secrets,  quit this job, and leave immediately. If I lose, then I will leave this company, the IT field and proclaim publicly that you are a master. Do you accept these terms? Here are the NDA you will sign."

She had a standard NDA that she used with contractors.

Ashuang thought this woman must be out of her mind. He said "That's a lot for one battle"

Wei Wei: "Fine. We will play 3 battles. If you win any of the 3 battles, then you are a winner. Is that acceptable?"

Ashuang: "Fine lady, I accept"

Wei Wei : "Let's play then"

While the rest of the office watched, Hao Mei barged into Nai's office and explained everything to him. From the careless comments on day 1 to the constant belittling to this afternoon's vulgar comment. Nai was furious that someone had treated his wife like that in their office. He was also a little annoyed by Wei Wei's need to handle everything on her own.

He moved at once to the demo station.

It was a battle alright. Ashuang was great but Wei Wei was better. They saw as he lost his first game and lost a second one. He started sweating realizing that this woman was a badass and he very likely would not win the third one. Still he had to save face.

Wei Wei for her part was fierce and didn't give him an inch. When she successfully defeated him a third time, the whole office was silent. Suddenly Ashuang's computer went black and the words "LOSER" appeared - his hard drive was completely wiped.

KO had been disgusted with what he heard and he had timed it to coincide with Wei Wei's win making it seem like she had hacked Ashuang.

Wei Wei : "That Aushang, is how I got this job. Not because I slept with someone"

They were in awe of goddess Wei Wei and disgusted by Aushuang's behavior.

She simply held the NDA in front of him and he signed them.

Ashuang: "I signed those agreements. But you have no right to fire me. I'm your senior, only Lao San can make those decisions. ", he said haughtily

Nai thundered : "This company does not tolerate discrimination. I indulged you all this while believing you had gynophobia. Reality seems to be that you are just sexist. Harassment is absolutely not tolerated here. I suggest you leave, at once."

As Ashuang walked out, Nai took his jacket off and draped it on Wei Wei's shoulders. She was sitting in an air-conditioned room with a wet dress. He didn't want her to fall sick.

Before he left, Nai said "That goes for all of you as well. I will not tolerate discrimination or harassment in this office. Besides, its just plain foolish to treat someone who owns 10% of this company like that. But most importantly, I will especially not tolerate anyone treating my girlfriend, Wei Wei like that"

With that he walked her out of the office leaving a stunned Ashuang behind.