Chapter 237: Idleness Breeds Trouble
 
- I’m an employee still working here. Ever since this CEO joined the bank, we’ve had major projects that expanded the IT division and created tons of jobs. The project’s been ongoing for over a year and still has plenty of work. Only a few branches have closed recently. The number of jobs created far outweighs the jobs lost. Thanks to digitalization, customers don’t even need to line up anymore—they can just access everything from home. I don’t see any incompetence. All I see is a handsome CEO. The only ones hiding behind clone accounts to throw shade? Now that’s what I call ugly. Oh—and I’m ugly too, that’s why I’m using a clone. Hehe.
The more Huong Tra argued, the more hyped she got—sometimes even slapping her thigh with a loud smack in the middle of her rants. Toan Phuong, seeing her reactions, grew curious. He got up and walked over to take a peek. When he saw Kieu Ly and Huong Tra exchanging barbs with internet trolls, he couldn’t help but laugh and placed his hand between them:
“I was wondering what you two were up to. Got nothing better to do?”
Still feeling frustrated, Kieu Ly tried to pull Toan Phuong’s hand away so she could keep arguing online, but he took her phone instead. Kieu Ly bit her lip in protest. Back in the days of the “harem drama,” Toan Phuong had also chosen to ignore public opinion—and now, he was reacting the exact same way.
She felt like she was the one emotionally affected more this time, so she voiced her frustration:
“Give me back my phone. You can ignore it, but I can’t.”
Toan Phuong sat down next to her, placed the phone gently on the table, and calmly said:
“I’m just an ordinary person. Even great figures in history had people who liked or hated them. Let them be. Dogs bark, but the parade marches on. What’s the point of stopping to argue with a dog that bites you?”
Though both Kieu Ly and Huong Tra were still fuming, his words eventually calmed them down. They decided to take a deep breath and let it go—no more fighting with anonymous clones online.
Seeing his advice working, Toan Phuong added:
“Alright, let me assign you some work. Can’t have you idle and stirring up trouble.”
It was the first time Toan Phuong had ever proactively assigned Kieu Ly a task, which made her visibly cheer up. She didn’t really want to argue online anymore anyway. Those trolls couldn’t even see her, but her husband could clearly see her fuming face. Better to focus on something productive.
Then, Toan Phuong returned to his desk and messaged Minh Thuy to arrange a laptop for Kieu Ly to use. As long as she was engaged in work, her mood wouldn’t be so easily swayed by negativity.
After receiving the laptop, Kieu Ly was immediately sent a huge batch of banking-related documents to read through. There was so much material that she probably couldn’t finish it all before the summer break in Vietnam was over.
It wasn’t exactly work—it was more like homework. Clearly, her husband hadn’t changed: he still didn’t want to actually assign her tasks. But even so, Kieu Ly accepted the materials without complaint.
After sending the files, Toan Phuong closed his laptop, picked it up, and got ready to leave. Before heading out, he leaned in, kissed Kieu Ly on the cheek, and said:
“I’m off to a meeting. Have fun working.”
“Tra, help train my wife in the basics, okay?”
Once Toan Phuong had left the room, Huong Tra pursed her lips and muttered:
“Your husband is like some otherworldly being. How do you even put up with him?”
But Kieu Ly knew full well that Toan Phuong was just a normal person—with real emotions and real reactions.
She had seen him cry out of jealousy when he was 17. At 20, she had seen him so hurt and angry that he shattered a glass in his hand. So she knew he felt deeply. He was just too busy—or maybe just knew how to prioritize his time and energy for what truly mattered.
Kieu Ly smiled:
“He just doesn’t want to waste time on pointless things, that’s all.”
Sitting next to Kieu Ly, Huong Tra grew a bit bored watching her friend buried in banking documents. After four years working under the strict supervision of the "She-Devil," sneaking out during office hours or asking to leave early had always been a hassle. Now that she was no longer under that iron grip, she suddenly had the urge to play hooky.