My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 598

"Spirit?"

The gaze from beneath the snow shifted to me, as if demanding an explanation.

I relayed the entire conversation in the lounge to her, and Yukinoshita put on a stern face.

"Why is the head of the review department so familiar with a mere customer service center employee? It doesn't seem quite right to me."

"Xiao Shengmei has a wide network of connections; she often attends parties and social events."

I agree with what Yumahama said.

"Every year, we hold several similar matchmaking events with our Shibuya branch to matchmake young male employees there with our female part-time staff. Several employees have even gotten married because of this."

Encouraging male employees to get married early and work hard—that seems to be our company's policy. However, as someone working in the customer service center, I've never enjoyed any of these benefits.

"Is that minister around sixty years old? Is he still unmarried?"

"Of course I'm married... but, well, you know that."

When men and women meet, they sometimes develop inappropriate relationships. Is throwing a party also for this purpose—that seems far-fetched.

However, Yukinoshita was not persuaded.

"This morning, I checked the sumo wrestler's call records again."

"You're so annoying. It's the same thing every time I ask. I've also listened in on her phone calls several times."

"Hmm, there's nothing suspicious about the content of the call. I'm paying attention to what happened earlier."

"Even before?"

Yukinoshita nodded.

"Before making those collection calls, she would spend a lot of time preparing. She would log into the customer database multiple times to search for information—several times more than other employees. I remember the work rules said, 'Call customers in the order given by the system,' right?"

"Yes, basically that's it."

The system will display messages such as "Call this customer first," "Next is this person," and "Next is him/her." Employees must follow these instructions to make the calls.

"But she showed no signs of following instructions. She deliberately searched for customer information and meticulously investigated certain details before making the call. I must say this behavior was quite unnatural. In other words—"

The view became even sharper beneath the snow.

"The sumo wrestlers are selective about their customers. They use some method to identify the customers who are easier to collect payments from, and then focus their calls on those people. That's the conclusion I've drawn."

I couldn't help but sigh.

Yumihama, standing next to him, also looked astonished.

"I thought you'd discovered some amazing secret, but it turns out it's just something trivial..."

"Such a small matter?"

"I'm saying, everyone's picky about customers to some extent. Nobody will blindly follow the system's instructions."

After hesitating for a moment, Yumahama also spoke up.

"I'll also pick one a little... I'm really not good at dealing with customers who speak Kansai dialect, so if the system tells me to call them, I'll skip that one."

This happens frequently here. Many female employees dislike customers from the Kansai region who speak rather rudely. Sometimes, because everyone else skips them, I end up working overtime to hear the Kansai accent as much as I want.

Unable to accept this, Yukinoshita continued to express her views.

"But Ms. Yumahama, you wouldn't be deliberately logging into the database to search for something like this, would you?"

"That's right."

Yumihama looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"However, under the snow, your assumption has a major flaw."

"Vulnerability?"

"How does she identify customers who are eager to make money? If we could do something so magical, we wouldn't have to work so hard."

It's impossible to distinguish between customers willing to repay based solely on their information. While it's possible to determine a person's chances of repayment after a phone call, it's impossible before that.

This time, Yukinoshita didn't refute. She only murmured "Yes" and then fell silent.

"Ah, no, but Katsumi has a very sharp intuition; maybe she really does have that kind of power. Superpowers or something!"

As if offering her a way out, Yumahama frantically waved her limbs. With her rounded figure, this movement made her look like a snowman lying on the ground desperately trying to get up.

A faint smile appeared on Xuexia's lips.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you. Ms. Yumihama, please get some rest."

We left the nap room together.

The lounge was completely empty. Utterly silent.

"She's a good girl."

"I don't think it's necessary to specifically agree," Yukino said softly.

"Since that's what you think, then forget about sumo. Even with her personality, she's still an important classmate to Yumahama."

These two things should not be confused.

Yukinoshita said, the smile on her lips vanishing.

"I will only do my job well and fulfill my duties as an inspector. No matter who resents me."

This statement is inexplicably infuriating.

I faced the cold-blooded snow woman and glared at her.

"How impressive. Putting on that pure, innocent face, looking down on us with such condescension—is that fun?"

"I didn't look down on you. You think that because you have an inferiority complex, right?"

"That kind of attitude is called contempt."

I managed to keep the volume down so as not to wake Yumihama, who was in the nap room.

"In your eyes, this might be a distorted workplace, but the presence of sumo wrestlers is all part of the necessary harmony. Every workplace has a queen like that. After the sumo wrestler leaves, another woman will take his place and boss everyone around. If anyone you don't like has to be eliminated one by one, the customer service center simply can't function. So, maintaining the status quo is fine. Keeping everything unchanged is the best."

I stared at her with the intention of "You know what I mean?"

Yukinoshita flatly rejected my "request".

"I've been wanting to ask you this before: Are you proud of doing this job?"

"How is that possible?"

I said dismissively.

"How could I be proud of this kind of work? Sacrificing emotions and dignity for money. I've been doing this for almost ten years and have never been thanked by a customer. I've heard those insults—'go to hell,' 'miser,' 'devil'—tens of thousands of times. Nobody really wants to lend money; everyone wants to keep it a secret. Deliberately exposing this secret is our job. Proud of this kind of work? Stop spouting such nice nonsense!"

I could no longer control the volume.

"And what about you, Yukinoshita? You put on airs like 'I'm the boss here,' thinking you're the disciplinary committee leader, criticizing the mistakes and shortcomings of your subordinate companies, and complaining to the higher-ups. You take pleasure in scoring other people's work attitude. Can you honestly say you're proud of this kind of job? Tell me!"

Yukino remained silent. Her long eyelashes drooped, and her lips were pressed into a thin line. I thought she would vehemently refute me; would that really be effective?

She spoke again.

Say it again.

"……What?"

Say what you just said again.

I looked back at the face beneath the snow.

"Stop spouting such nice-sounding words?"

"Not that sentence. A little earlier."

After thinking for a moment, I replied:

"Is it true that 'nobody really wants to borrow money, and everyone wants to keep it a secret forever'?"

Yukinoshita nodded.

"Is that so... I see. 'You wanted to keep it a secret forever.' I never expected that."

"what?"

Yukinoshita casually remarked:

"I've never borrowed money or taken out a loan. That's why I didn't expect it. Oh, I see, so that's why debtors would think that way."

"..."

I told you, this kind of attitude is called contempt...

Hmm, this woman seems a bit naive. Those titles like "shop owner" and "inspector" were added later. She's naturally someone who lives in a dream world.

Snow left me dumbfounded aside and quickly walked away.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?"

She didn't stop, her swaying black hair gradually receding into the distance.

"Speak up, Yukino Yukinoshita!"

She finally turned around.

The words that came from her mouth were as cold as snow—

"It's pointless to say anything."

She took out a card to unlock the electronic lock on the door.

Even if I gave a similar answer, you wouldn't be convinced. People don't act or change because of words.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Ask yourself again."

She said this, as if to tell herself.

"That's right. I need to ask myself that question again. That question from my youth, which I've asked myself countless times."

After that, a week passed peacefully.

I was expecting Yukino to make a move, so this was quite unexpected. I thought she would expose the secret of being number one in sumo wrestling and hold a meeting to reprimand her. However, she just silently continued her inspection, carefully looking for mistakes, and complaining to me. Just like always.

As a result, no improper behavior was found.

I was relieved that nothing happened, but also a little disappointed. I was surprised at myself for this. What was I expecting that cold-blooded woman to do? Change this hell? Utterly ridiculous. There's nothing more laughable than the dreams of a corporate slave.

Yumahama's health had recovered, and she was outwardly working as usual. Her relationship with sumo remained unchanged. Despite the various deceptions that festered, as long as she remained there, they were colleagues, contemporaries. Just like always. That was fine.

August is almost over, and there are only a few days left for the inspection under the snow.

A regular meeting was scheduled early this morning. Besides announcing top performers, just like last month, we'll also be releasing slogans we collected from employees to boost morale. This was suggested by Section Chief Ye Gang. "Everyone" thinks together, "everyone" works together. Everyone for me, and I for everyone. That young elite gentleman really likes this catchy title.

Standing on the stage with a gentle smile, Ye Gang addressed us gathered in the conference room:

"I received a total of fifteen letters. Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to participate in the event. Everyone's ideas are wonderful, but I would like to introduce you to a phrase that I particularly like—'Ms. Sumo Katsumi'."

"Yes!" the sumo wrestler exclaimed excitedly as he stood up.

"Could you read out the slogan you came up with for me?"

"Eh—I'm a little embarrassed."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. That slogan is fantastic."

The sumo wrestler blushed after being praised by Ye Gang. He was completely different from when he was praised by Ebisu, and this time it was genuine. Despite her ambition, women really are powerless against handsome men.

The sumo wrestler cleared his throat and said smugly:

"Kizuna ~A Customer Service Center Where Everyone Works Together~"

I almost couldn't help but make an "uh" sound.

This guy has incredibly thick skin...

The other employees also looked dead. It was common knowledge that sumo wrestlers dumped a bunch of miscellaneous tasks on Yumahama, but everyone pretended not to see it because they were afraid of her. The only person unaware of this was the section chief.

"I think it's great. Bonds. Precisely because it's a workplace with high turnover, we should cherish it even more."

Ye Gang clapped his hands, and the others joined in. The sumo wrestler grew increasingly smug, bowing respectfully. It was all a farce. Nothing here was real. Nothing genuine. Everything was fake.

At that moment, a snow-white hand quietly rose.