The Bank’s Secret Scandal

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Yesterday I deliberately spilled coffee all over her. She didnt even dare make a sound, hahaha.

Laughter drifted out of the break room.

They didnt bother lowering their voices. I sat at my desk and heard every word clearly.

You bully her like this, arent you afraid shell complain about you in Vice President Harts bed tonight?

I just think shes dirty.

I lowered my head and continued processing a customers transaction.

The teller window couldnt be left unattended, so they deliberately refused to come switch shifts with me.

And I said nothing. I sat in front of the computer for the entire day.

Then, on the evaluation form, I drew a huge zero.

They thought I was guilty.

Please. The workload of a bank mystery auditor was very heavy these days.

Who should I optimize first?

A month ago, I had been transferred to this bank branch.

Before the previous employee had even handed over the work to me, Branch Manager Derek Shaw pushed me straight onto the teller counter.

My job was to help customers handle transactions.

I was thrown into the deep end.

A customer wanted to transfer money to his son for medical treatment, so I asked Derek about the process.

His answer was:

Youll see the page when you open the computer.

There were so many systems on the computer. Which interface? Which button for authorization?

Fortunately, I had been trained before, so I managed to figure it out myself.

But because it took too long, the customer filed a complaint and I received a warning.

Dereks feedback remained lukewarm.

HR told me youre highly educated. I thought youd pick things up quickly.

I didnt argue.

I simply wrote on the evaluation form:

Manager does not understand onboarding procedures. Serious dereliction of duty. Minus 20 points.

After that, I learned.

Since leadership couldnt be relied on, I would ask my coworkers for help and familiarize myself with the work as quickly as possible.

So at noon, I ordered fifteen cups of milk tea.

[Treating everyone to milk tea!]

Silence.

No one responded.

A woman from admin walked over with her lunch bowl, speaking through a mouthful of food, her contempt obvious.

Little girl, put your mind on work. Stop playing these weird social games.

I ignored her.

For the entire afternoon, I watched the milk tea sitting on the small round table.

My coworkers passed by again and again.

Not one of them reached for a cup.

Some even ordered their own milk tea later.

When I saw the packaging, I noticed it was the exact same brand I had bought.

By eight that evening, all the cups had swollen.

I threw them into the trash one by one.

Fifteen cups of milk tea.

Not a single one missing.

So I wrote on the evaluation form again:

Collective cold violence against a new employee. Minus 10 points.

After everyone left, I compared the training files and carefully figured out the business process.

I filled page after page of notes.

The next morning, during the staff meeting, Derek called me out by name and scolded me.

He said I had violated the employee handbook.

Tessa Lane, why did you stay at the teller counter until midnight yesterday?

What if a customers money went missing? What if documents were lost? Could you take responsibility?

My tone was calm.

Customer documents are uploaded during processing. The electronic copies are permanently saved. There is no possibility of losing them.

As for money, the armored truck collects large cash amounts every day. The cash left inside the branch never exceeds one hundred dollars.

Manager Shaw, you should know that better than anyone, right?

Derek was left speechless.

So he vented his anger on everyone else.

Youre right. Everyone should learn from Tessa. From now on, everyone will voluntarily extend overtime by two hours.

After the meeting, everyone returned to their stations.

I was maliciously knocked to the ground by a male coworker.

Youre a damn curse.

You just cost me two hours of my part-time job after work.

Two hours, gone for nothing.

When the admin woman passed by, she deliberately stepped on my hand.

Oh! Didnt see you there.

A coworker pushed her lightly.

Hurry up. Careful she tries to scam you.

The others chimed in.

Why are you still lying on the floor? Waiting for someone to help you up?

Only after they left did the pain in my body ease a little.

I shook out the numbness in my arm.

Then I wrote on the evaluation form:

Manager abuses power for personal revenge, maliciously extends employee overtime without pay. Minus 30 points.

Subordinate employees intentionally injure others. Severe misconduct. Minus 10 points.

After that, their hostility toward me grew even worse.

At noon, everyone usually ate in shifts.

That way, someone was always at the counter to serve customers.

When it was my turn to eat, they tacitly refused to come relieve me.

I didnt argue. I simply kept doing the work in front of me.

Just then, a father and son came in.

Their old family home had recently been demolished, and they had received a compensation payment of six million dollars.

From their conversation, I noticed the son kept reminding the elderly man not to transfer money casually to strangers.

Based on my industry experience, I immediately explained some of the latest scams to the old man.

His son sensed my good intentions and voluntarily told me how his father had almost been scammed before.

I naturally recommended that they consider a fixed-term deposit.

First, the money in a term deposit could not be withdrawn casually, which would protect the funds.

Second, it could provide security for the future.

The father and son nodded repeatedly.

A six-million-dollar, three-year fixed deposit order was completed.

I finished three months of performance targets in one day.

Afterward, I reported the situation to Derek.

I received no reply.

The next day, however, the person who received the performance bonus was Derek.

The branch president specifically tagged Derek in the group chat.

[According to customer feedback, your service was thoughtful, and you recommended products from the customers perspective.]

[Headquarters is awarding you a 10g gold pendant.]

[@everyone]

[All of you should learn from Manager Shaw. Especially new employees. Being complained about on your first day is usually an attitude problem.]

The branch president did not name anyone.

But everyone knew that in the past month, I was the only new employee who had received a complaint.

Below the message came a flood of likes and celebration emojis.

Manager Shaw is amazing.

Headquarters gave gold. Thats usually only for annual outstanding employees.

Well all get bonuses this month by following Manager Shaw.

The monthly performance poster came out.

Dereks name was bold and enlarged.

Of course, my name was on it too.

Only in another column: pending dismissal.

I took out the evaluation form.

Superior steals employee credit. Minus 30 points.

This time, I not only wrote down the reason, but also privately contacted the father and son and asked them to write a statement for me.

I also pulled the surveillance footage from that day.

To make sure no one could turn black into white.

Soon, Derek called me into his office.

Tessa, youve been here almost a month, right?

Yes.

You saw your name on the pending dismissal list, didnt you?

Yes.

Leadership says youre not putting in effort. Poor performance is one thing, but you got into conflict with a customer on your first day.

His face was cold, his tone full of contempt.

Youre firing me?

He shook his head and smiled.

Then he took out a voluntary resignation form.

To be honest, theres no such thing as a pending dismissal list. If your name is on it, youre definitely being fired.

Instead of leaving in disgrace later, you might as well sign now and walk away.

My tone stayed calm.

Then well talk when headquarters officially fires me.

With that, I stood and left.

Derek slammed the desk in anger.

Dont reject kindness when its offered.

If you leave now, I can still write you a recommendation letter. Otherwise, I can make sure you never work in this industry again.

I did not stop walking.

I turned and returned to my station.

Looking at the evaluation form, which was gradually being drained of points, I realized the task would be completed early this time.

Ever since my name appeared on the pending dismissal list, my coworkers bullied me even more openly.

As long as I sat at the teller counter, no one came to relieve me for a break.

To withstand a full day of work, I ate three bowls of rice in the morning. If I got hungry, I drank meal replacement powder.

All to keep myself full.

After eating their lunches, my coworkers would come pick their teeth in front of me with smiles.

Tessa, dont work so hard. Leave us older ladies a way to survive.

The others laughed along.

Wendy, what do you know?

Young girls these days like dieting. They want to keep their figures.

Listening to their teasing, I still said nothing.

While they were all out eating lunch, I quietly logged into the system backend.

In the past, every time I logged in, a user code-named C would kick me out.

Later, I discovered that everyone in the branch could enter.

Everyone except me.

Just like headquarters could never understand why every new employee here failed to last three months.

Upper management had wanted to reshuffle this branchs personnel.

But every time they tried to transfer an employee away, this branch would erupt into chaos.

Fortunately, I finally found some clues in the system.

But just then, my account was forcibly logged out.

Then I received a termination notice from HR.

[Ms. Tessa Lane, after comprehensive evaluation, you have been deemed unqualified for your position. The company hereby terminates your employment.]

I shut the computer and went straight to HR.

When HR Manager Linda Mason saw me, she didnt seem surprised.

I sent you the handover form. Fill it out as required and you can leave.

My face was cold.

If you want to fire me, you should at least give me a reason.

What standards are you using for this so-called comprehensive evaluation?

Linda smiled.

Have a seat.

She flipped through my file and looked increasingly confident.

Youve been at the branch for a full month.

Thats not a short time, but your performance is still zero.

I made a pause gesture.

Wrong. My performance is six million. Twenty times higher than the thirty-thousand target you set.

Linda sneered.

Six million? That was Derek Shaws performance.

I have evidence.

I showed her the surveillance video from that day.

Then I took out the handwritten statements from the father and son.

She immediately stopped talking.

Well need to verify this.

Besides, how do you explain being complained about by a customer on your very first day?

I calmly brought out the next piece of evidence.

I played a video.

Youll see the page when you open the computer.

The moment Dereks voice came out, Lindas expression changed.

You can see it clearly in the video. Throughout the process, he did not provide me with any help.

Instead, after receiving no support, I proactively found a solution myself.

The person who should leave isnt me, is it?

For a moment, Linda was speechless.

Fine. If theres nothing else, Im going back to work.

Just as I walked out, she called me back.

Wait. At the end of the day, you just want money, dont you?

Our branch isnt stingy. Submit a voluntary resignation today, and Ill give you two months of compensation. How about that?

I smiled.

Two months.

No wonder there were so many strange losses in the monthly accounts.

I tested her.

Not enough. I want six months.

Linda panicked.

Youre young and naive. You dont know how hard society is. I advise you to take the money and leave.

If you offend Manager Shaw, nothing good will come of it.

I couldnt be bothered with her and turned to leave.

Then I wrote on the evaluation form:

HR ignores labor laws and mishandles bank property at will.

Final score: zero.

Very soon, Linda received a call.

Headquarters had notified her of her dismissal.

I heard the scolding on the other end was especially ugly.

Linda cried in her office for a long time and couldnt recover.

I had just returned to my desk when Derek came over.

Quite a powerful background you have. A few words from you and Linda is gone.

Tell me honestly. Whats your relationship with Vice President Hart?

I looked up.

Everyone was secretly laughing while holding their phones.

Do you even need to ask? Vice President Hart has a wife and kids. What else could she be except his mistress?

No wonder. I was wondering how an intern had so much money to buy us milk tea.

Listen to me, girl. Work honestly. Dont always think about taking shortcuts and using milk tea to suck up to people.

I immediately opened RedNote.

Only then did I discover most of the posts were aimed at me.

[I saw that mistress having dinner with Vice President Hart last time. The next day, she started working at their branch.]

[More than dinner. She goes to Vice President Harts house every few days.]

[Each time she stays two or three hours. Always at night. Anyone with eyes knows what theyre doing.]

Spreading sexual rumors was one thing.

Some of them had directly doxxed me.

My schools, classes, from elementary school to university, had all been dug up.

Even the address of my hometown had been exposed.

People online even threatened to form a group to beat me.

I was furious.

I immediately called Vice President Hart.

Youd better contact the posters today, make them delete everything, and apologize to me. Otherwise, Im leaving right now.

Dont, dont Im busy

Before he could finish, I hung up first.

Derek whispered by my ear.

Well, well. Didnt expect Vice President Hart to spoil you this much.

Do you know what I just did? I sent the posts to his wife.

Shes already on her way here.

Everyone was waiting to watch the show.

They were waiting for Vice President Harts wife to tear me apart as the mistress.

The happier they laughed now, the worse they would die later.

A branch rating of zero meant direct closure.

Headquarters had a department specifically created to inspect whether employees were treating customers sincerely.

So auditors would disguise themselves as customers and conduct evaluations.

Unfortunately, where there were policies, there were countermeasures.

This branch was famously flooded with complaints.

But every time our colleagues came to inspect, the branch always performed perfectly.

Headquarters had no way to punish them.

Even stranger, almost no new employee here lasted three months.

So Vice President Hart asked me to step in.

From pretending to be a customer to pretending to be an employee.

He asked me to investigate what was really going on.

And I was the bank mystery auditor they kept talking about.

Now I didnt need to struggle over who to fire first.

Of course everyone could leave together.