Chapter 24 Part II Tasin-5

i feel so sorry for him "Well," Eric Foreman muttered to me, frowning at the booklet in his hand. "What's going on? I heard that Sankram's investment management is not doing very well." He pointed at the chart. "But look at this, beyond their peers." "Yes, that's right," I muttered, "Which peers? Bet investment peers? Lost money peers?" Eric Foreman looked at me, his mouth twitching slightly. "You think they falsified the data?" he asked in a low voice. “It’s not exactly falsification,” I explained, “it’s just that they compare themselves to their worse peers and declare themselves the winner.” I point to the chart on the brochure. "Look, they haven't made it clear who these so-called peers are."

"Oh, I see." Eric Foreman looked up at the members of the Sankram Investment Management Foundation who were sitting on the stage. "They're smart villains, aren't they?" This guy really doesn't know anything.I really feel sorry for him. Maria Freeman was still buzzing, and I fought back a yawn.The trouble with sitting in the front row is that you have to pretend to be interested and take notes. "Pension," I wrote, scribbling a squiggly line underneath.I then used this curve as the main stem of the vine and drew small clusters of grapes and leaves along it.

"In a moment, I'll introduce you to Mr. Mike Dillon, who is the head of the investment group. He'll explain to you how they work. In the meantime, if you have any questions..." "Yes!" said Eric Foreman, "I have a question." I looked up from my vines and looked at him a little surprised. "Oh, what's the problem?" Maria Freeman smiled sweetly at him, "You are..." "Eric Foreman from The Daily World. I want to know, how much do you guys get paid?" He pointed to the man sitting on the podium. "What?" Maria Freeman's face turned red, but she quickly regained her composure. "Oh, you mean a fee. Well, we'll arrange those..."

"I don't mean fees," said Eric Foreman. "I mean, you-will-take-more-less-money? You, Mike Dylan." His finger pointed he. "How much money did you make? Six figures, eh? But think about how badly Sanclem Investment Management did last year. Shouldn't you be sleeping rough?" I was completely flabbergasted.I've never seen anything like this in a press conference, ever! There was a commotion on stage, and then Mike Dylan leaned forward, closer to the microphone. "Can we just get the meeting going?" he said. "Hmmm, what's the problem, we'll talk about that later." He looked uncomfortable.

"And one more thing," said Eric Foreman, "how do you explain to one of our readers that he lost £10,000 on investing in your Future Mobility scheme?" He glanced at me and blinked. "You guys must have shown them a bluffing chart like that too, right? And told them you're 'on top' of your peers?" Ah, this is unbelievable! Everyone in Sancrem looks like they want to find a hole in the ground. "The press conference on 'Worry 51' has already been held." Maria said coldly to Eric. "This press conference is limited to the theme of the new pension series. If you can wait until the end of the conference if……"

"Don't worry," said Eric Foreman slowly. "I don't have time to stay here and listen to your nonsense! I believe I've got what I need." He stood up and said to me. grin. "Nice to meet you, Rebecca. Thank you for your advice." He held out his hand, and I shook his hand, not knowing what I was doing.Then, amidst the whispers, Eric Foreman walked away from the scene. "Ladies and gentlemen," Maria blushed, "due to this... interruption, we will temporarily adjourn the meeting. Please have some coffee and tea. Thank you!" She turned off the microphone and stepped off the rostrum , and hurried to the group of people in the Sanklem Investment Management Personnel Office.

"You shouldn't have let him in!" I heard someone say. "I don't even know who he is!" Maria argued. "He said he was a special correspondent for the Wall Street Journal." Wow, what a treat! Since the last time InvestingDaily's Alan Durling stood up at a welfare insurance press conference to tell everyone that he had transitioned to a woman and wished we called him Audrey, I have never seen such an exciting scene again. I walked back to grab another cup of coffee and found Ellie standing by the coffee table.Great, I haven't seen her for a long time.

"Hi!" she grinned, "I like your new friend, he's so funny." "Yeah!" I say cheerfully, "He's cool!" I reach for a chocolate chip cookie wrapped in gold foil, which looks very tempting; ask the waitress to top up my coffee mug.Then, I picked up another chocolate biscuit and quickly stuffed it into the bag (anyway, I don’t take it for nothing). All around us was the sound of excited conversation; the Sancrem men were still gathered in front.That's pretty cool.We were able to chat for a while again. "Hi," I said to Ellie, "have you gotten a job lately?" I took a sip of my coffee. "I read in the Guardian a few days ago that New Women was hiring. I was going to call you. They say they give preference to people with experience in consumer rights, but I thought you might... ..."

"Rebecca," Ellie interrupted with a strange voice, "do you know what I've been looking for?" "What job?" I looked at her. "It's not the job of the treasury manager. It's not serious. It's just a way to raise your status." "I've been hired," she said, and I stared at her in shock. Suddenly, a voice came from the rostrum, and we both looked up. "Ladies and gentlemen," Maria was speaking, "please return to your seats..." I'm sorry, but I can't just sit back there.I need to hear this. "Let's go," I said to Ellie quickly, "we don't need to stay here. We've got the press materials, let's go out for lunch together."

She hesitates for a moment - embarrassing me! I think she's going to say no, she wants to stay here and hear about the personal pension.But then she grinned at me and took my arm.The girl at the door couldn't hide her disappointment as she watched us leisurely walk out of the hall. There was a coffee shop on the corner of the street, we went straight in and ordered a bottle of white wine.To be honest with you, I'm still a bit shocked.Ellie Granger is going to be Wisby's treasury manager! She just dumped me? No one will play with me anymore! How could she? For God's sake, didn't she want to be the pretty editor of Marie Claire?

"So—how did you decide?" I asked cautiously when the wine was served. "Oh, I don't know." She sighed. "I just kept thinking, where should I go? You know, I've been applying for all those amazing jobs in journalism, but not even the interviewer Never had the chance to…” "You'll always have one," I encouraged her, "and I know you will." "Maybe," she said, "maybe not. In the meantime, I'm always writing boring financial articles. It occurred to me, why not just switch to treasury manager, not my favorite, but at least a decent job." career." "You have a decent job!" "No, I haven't. I've been doing nothing! I'm wandering around, I have no goals, no plans, no future..." Ellie stopped abruptly, looking at my face. "I mean, I'm totally different from you," she added hastily, "you're far more promising than I am!" Much more promising? Is she kidding? "So when will you start your new job?" I wanted to change the subject.Because, to be honest, it made me uneasy.I have no life plan, no future.Perhaps, I have no hope; perhaps, I should also reconsider my career.Oh, how frustrating it is! When I describe my work to people, like Martin and Janice next door, it still sounds so important and so exciting.But now Ellie makes me feel like a total loser. "Next week," Ellie took a sip of her wine, "I'm going to work in my office on Silk Street." "Oh, great." I said sadly. "And I had to buy a ton of new clothes." She pulled back, and added, "Wesby's employees are all so stylishly dressed." New clothes? New clothes! Now I'm getting a little jealous. "I went to 'Karen Millen' and almost bought everything," she said, eating a pickled olive. "It cost about £1,000." "Oops," I could not help feeling awed, "a thousand pounds in one sitting?" "Oh! I can't help it," she said with some guilt. "Fortunately, my salary is now higher than before." "Really?" "Oh, yes." There was a slight smile on her face. "A lot." "For example...how much?" I was so curious that I hurriedly asked. "It started at £40,000," she said, shrugging nonchalantly. "In the future, who knows? According to them..." She then rattled off about job descriptions, promotion opportunities and bonuses.But I couldn't hear a word of it, I was so shocked! £40,000? £40,000? And I'm only making... Should I tell you how much money I make? It's not something like religion, you shouldn't mention that in cultural units.Or maybe now we've allowed money to be talked about like this.Suzy should know. Oh no more! You know everything else, don't you? In fact, I make £210,000 a year.I thought it was a lot! I remember very clearly when I changed jobs and my salary went from £180,000 to £210,000, I felt amazing! I was so excited, and I had a long list of thoughts When you buy something, you are ready to use the increased money.