Chapter 219: A Light Party
Seeing how affectionate the couple was all the time, Huong Tra gradually stopped feeling awkward about it and began to see it as just a normal everyday thing. She opened her laptop and started working. She messaged the departmental representatives about the CEO’s plan to treat the entire 18th floor to drinks in celebration of his wife's birthday.
Previously, she had already created a group chat for all the department reps to send their QR codes to her, so today she just needed to drop a message in the group.
“Hi everyone. Today, in celebration of his wife's birthday, the CEO is treating the entire 18th floor to drinks. Please place your orders and send your QR codes to me. This isn't just for today—it goes on through the weekend!”
“We didn’t even get a drop of water for the CEO’s birthday, but his wife's birthday means unlimited drinks till the weekend, huh Tra?” – The Audit Department rep asked.
“Not surprising at all. I saw the CEO and his wife this morning—he dotes on her like a baby.” – Quang Dang from the Tech Department responded.
“Seeing the CEO walking with his wife broke a lot of hearts, including mine.” – Diem Huong from HR chimed in, half-jokingly, with a crying-face emoji.
“Being on the same floor as the CEO does come with perks, huh?” – Treasury Department rep added.
After a while of chatting and joking around, Quang Dang messaged the group:
“Tra, my boss suggested we use the budget to throw a light birthday party on the 4th floor for the CEO’s wife. As for the gift, each department can pitch in.”
Huong Tra was a bit surprised that the idea came from the Tech Department. They had always seemed slow-moving and rarely joined any of the fun activities. And now they were the ones proposing a birthday celebration for the CEO’s wife?
“I just checked with my boss, and he also agrees we should organize a small celebration.” – Diem Huong supported the idea.
“My department head is on board too.” – reps from the other two departments responded.
Seeing the positive responses, Huong Tra felt it made sense and messaged her own boss—nicknamed “The She-Devil”—who immediately gave the green light. So Tra messaged the group:
“Alright, everyone please gather a few younger folks to go shopping and help with the setup.”
“I’ll get a few guys from my department to help carry things.” – Quang Dang replied.
In general, over two-thirds of the bank’s staff were women. Only the 18th floor had more men, thanks to the large project that required many IT recruits. Not only were there few men, but most of the bank staff were also extremely polished—perfectly groomed hair, ironed clothes, doused in perfume—which sometimes made Huong Tra feel like she was more masculine than them.
That’s why, every time Toan Phuong tried to set her up with someone, she was never too interested. The IT team was a bit different—they looked less fussy but were always glued to their laptops like zombies. Still, at times like this, it was handy to have the IT guys around to help with heavy lifting.
About an hour later, Huong Tra used the excuse of going to the restroom to head down to the 4th floor and check on the setup. The 4th floor was typically used by employees in the building to heat up food and eat lunch. At this hour, it was mostly empty, so it made perfect sense to host the birthday party there.
The younger staff were happily preparing the event, displaying a totally different energy compared to their usual office demeanor—especially the IT guys. Normally slow and quiet, they suddenly seemed lively and quite gallant when working alongside the pretty girls from other departments. In no time, the setup was nearly complete.
Two long rows of tables were filled with a variety of light refreshments—both savory and sweet—decorated with flowers and balloons. The most eye-catching item was the giant birthday cake placed on the first table.
When Quang Dang saw Huong Tra arrive, he smiled sheepishly:
“We had to throw this together quickly, so this is all we managed.”
“People might not believe it, but the CEO’s wife is actually quite simple. This is already beyond her expectations,” Huong Tra replied warmly.
Once the party setup was finished, the department reps messaged their respective teams, inviting them down to join the celebration.
Meanwhile, Huong Tra and Diem Huong brought a large bouquet of flowers up to the 18th floor to meet with the five department heads.