Sweat beaded on An Yao's forehead and cheeks, but she didn't want to appear too disheveled, so she forced herself to stay composed and explained with feigned seriousness: "…This is the outfit our department is using for the performance at the annual party. I was just looking for a quiet place to try it on."
"Annual party performance?"
A rare smile still lingered at the corner of Yan Muzhou's lips. "I remember your department used to do calligraphy or painting in previous years. Changed your style this year?"
An Yao: "Isn't that the new requirement from the administrative department? They won't let us do those 'boring' acts anymore."
Even though it was Yan Muzhou's own group's annual party, he usually only approved the timing and overall schedule. The specifics of how to organize it and what requirements to set were all handled by the people below him—he really didn't know much about it.
The fire escape had motion-sensor lights. After she finished speaking and paused for a moment, the light flicked off with a whoosh.
An Yao stomped her penguin legs to trigger the light back on, then looked at him suspiciously. "So what were you doing in the fire escape late at night? Getting some exercise? Walking down from the thirty-sixth floor?"
Before leaving his office earlier, Yan Muzhou had been feeling somewhat irritable, but now not a trace of that restlessness remained.
"It's Christmas Eve today, so I gave the people in the President's Office the night off. The light in my office suddenly went out, and I came to check if the circuit breaker had tripped."
When he'd first opened the door and vaguely spotted someone acting suspiciously in the stairwell, he'd even thought some outsider had snuck into the building to cause trouble, and had been considering how to handle the accountability afterward.
An Yao turned her head and indeed saw the concealed electrical box on the wall beside her.
"Oh… well, go ahead and check it then."
Yan Muzhou didn't rush to inspect the breaker. Instead, he first expressed his sympathy to the hardworking intern who was still at the company late at night.
"Do you have a lot of internship work? Staying at the company even on Christmas Eve."
An Yao didn't really want to keep chatting, after all, she was currently holding a penguin headpiece, her hair was a mess, and she was wearing a huge mascot costume—she didn't look particularly smart at the moment.
She lightly pressed her lips together and said, "It's manageable. It's been busy toward the end of the year. Anyway, I don't really enjoy crowds. Christmas Eve is just an ordinary day to me. I had dinner with Yan Xuexin after work, which counts as celebrating, and then I came back to put in some overtime."
Yan Muzhou had the same reasoning, which was why he'd given everyone else the night off while he stayed in his office to handle work.
For him, it was just an ordinary day too.
In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the old man had requirements for holidays like Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, he also felt there was no real need to waste time celebrating them.
Yan Muzhou: "Perfect timing. Come upstairs with me."
An Yao: "What for?"
Yan Muzhou: "The President's Office staff prepared some holiday gifts—mostly snacks and such. They're no use sitting in my office. You might as well take some back with you."
An Yao: "This… isn't that inappropriate?"
Yan Muzhou said, "They weren't prepared for me personally. Everyone upstairs gets a share."
An Yao did love snacks. Back in high school, she always had a pile of them beside her when doing homework. He probably remembered that.
But he never seemed to eat them himself, especially sweets. Whether it was for maintaining his figure or because he simply didn't like them, she'd never once seen him touch them.
"Can't let them go to waste, then. I'll go get some."
An Yao inwardly lamented how huge the disparity in treatment was between departments. She had just taken two steps up the stairwell when she remembered what she was wearing and turned back. "…Wait, let me change my clothes first."
Yan Muzhou was amused again by her penguin-like two-step climb up and down the stairs, and chuckled. "If you think the east side is too far, just come up this stairwell directly. That card I gave you last time can unlock the door."
An Yao acknowledged with an "okay" and trudged back to the office area with difficulty.
She regretted having gone to the fire escape to change into this outfit in the first place—it was completely unnecessary. She hadn't needed to take off her inner clothes anyway, and the office was empty. Why had she insisted on finding a bathroom or fire escape to change?
But at least getting a Christmas Eve gift basket made the awkwardness worthwhile.
An Yao took off the mascot costume, tidied her hair briefly, and headed back up the stairs.
The circuit breaker issue had probably been resolved by now—Yan Muzhou was no longer in the fire escape.
The thirty-sixth floor was indeed completely empty, with only the light in his office on. The frosted glass door wasn't closed either.
An Yao gave a symbolic knock and walked straight in.
Beside Yan Muzhou's desk sat a gift basket tied with a ribbon. On the top layer she could see apples, chocolates, cupcakes, and mini egg tarts—indeed, mostly things he didn't eat.
"Just this basket—take it."
An Yao picked up the basket and smiled her thanks.
Yan Muzhou's work probably wasn't finished yet—his computer screen was still lit.
An Yao didn't linger. Before leaving, she said, "Merry Christmas Eve."
Yan Muzhou looked up at her briefly and replied in a calm voice, "Merry Christmas Eve."
Then he added, "Prepare well for the annual party."
"…"
An Yao: "Nothing to prepare. As long as I don't fall off the stage, it's fine."
Yan Muzhou gave a slight tug at the corner of his lips, withdrew his gaze, and returned his attention to the report on his computer.
On the Friday after Christmas, the annual party arrived as scheduled.
The morning was still a regular workday; only in the afternoon did everyone head to the venue together for the event.
As one of the penguin dance performers, Sheng Xintong had also rushed back, sitting at her desk with great enthusiasm, joining in on everyone's discussions about the annual party.
Although her colleagues in the department harbored varying degrees of resentment toward her as someone who'd gotten in through connections, they were all seasoned professionals who wouldn't say anything to her face.
At most, someone with a straightforward temper like Sister Zhang would occasionally make snide remarks—which Sheng Xintong either didn't pick up on or simply couldn't be bothered to think about.
Yara and the others who had been merged into headquarters from Eastern Tea Works were all first-timers, and they were the most curious about the annual party: "I heard before that Yaowei's annual party has a hundred percent prize coverage rate?"
Sister Zhang replied, "That's what they say, but there are several thousand employees at headquarters alone, and the actually valuable prizes number fewer than a hundred."
Yara: "What about the rest?"
Sister Zhang gave a meaningful smile and held up five fingers: "Beverages. Five cases at minimum."
"Uh…"
Yara and the others all made the same awkward face.
Yaowei was a beverage and consumer goods company, so headquarters employees basically enjoyed beverage freedom on a daily basis.
Especially with the group's own products—the tea station and fridge were restocked with free items every day, and every few days they'd receive large-value coupons and redemption vouchers as employee perks.
Sheng Xintong asked, "So what's the best prize?"
Sister Zhang: "It's different every year. This year there are ten grand prizes—a luxury European couple's travel package worth 66,666 yuan. It was all written in the notice the admin department sent out earlier. Oh, right, I forgot—you probably don't check the office system much, and you wouldn't be interested in prizes like that anyway."
Sheng Xintong thought for a moment, then nodded: "Not really interested, that's true. I just got back from Europe yesterday, and I don't like group tours anyway. Did the notice say how the drawing works? Let me go take a look."
Sister Zhang rolled her eyes as Sheng Xintong turned back to her computer. "It's automatic entry. The drawing happens at the annual party. Grand prize through third prize are awarded on stage; the rest you check in the system yourself after the drawing and then claim from logistics."
Sheng Xintong: "Wow, awarded on stage?"
Sister Zhang replied with irritation: "Yeah, but the odds are pretty slim. The prizes are given by executives—the grand prize is usually presented by President Yan himself, the first prize by the vice president, and so on down the ranks."
Sheng Xintong's eyes lit up.
An Yao had added her on WeChat when they had dinner last time, and after that small tea gathering, she'd even seen three consecutive good-luck koi posts in her Moments.
She also opened the notice from the admin department and took another look.
An Yao originally had no interest in the annual party lottery, but there were forty third prizes—the pro version tablet with the latest chip and maximum storage, priced at twenty thousand yuan.
It was also a productivity tool she really needed but had never been willing to splurge on.
So she saved the koi image Sheng Xintong had posted and forwarded it once.
By the time they arrived at the annual party venue, An Yao, as a performer, was backstage listening to the order and arrangements for their stage appearance.
The situation was… a bit beyond what she'd expected.
She'd thought it would be at most the scale of a college arts festival performance, but with nearly ten thousand employees at headquarters, Yaowei had booked a large theater in downtown Beiyang.
Extremely lavish.
But An Yao was panicking, because she was about to perform on such a luxurious and massive stage—an abstract penguin dance.
She'd only practiced three times at home following a video, and she wasn't even familiar with the moves.
An Yao's anxiety lasted from the moment she entered the theater until she got on stage. She didn't take in any of the speeches, addresses, or year-in-review segments at all.
She barely made it through until the host called their marketing department to the stage. An Yao steeled herself and walked up with the other 'penguins,' silently repeating 'treat everyone below as cabbages,' not even knowing what moves she was doing.
At that moment, Yan Muzhou was sitting in the very center of the second row. He looked up at the performance on stage and suddenly smiled.
All the penguins on stage wore headpieces, but he could tell at a glance which one was An Yao.
Aside from her stiff movements, she'd also gotten her positioning wrong several times, going the opposite direction from everyone else.
Everyone has different areas of talent—An Yao had probably put all her points into art.
When she was in her first year of high school, the school once organized a ballroom dance competition that required everyone to participate.
An Yao didn't know how to dance at all. At home, she dragged Yan Xuexin into practicing with her.
Yan Muzhou had been "fortunate" enough to observe. Within ten minutes, she'd stepped on Yan Xuexin's feet at least five times, completely uncoordinated in her limbs. Eventually, Yan Xuexin refused to keep practicing with her.
At that moment, the vice president was also watching the performance on stage, but keeping his eyes strictly forward while also observing the person beside him.
He noticed that Yan Muzhou hadn't paid much attention to the previous acts, but when it was the marketing department's turn, he looked up and watched with genuine focus.
He was even watching with great interest.
So, President Yan actually enjoyed this style of program too?
Vice President Li chuckled and commented, turning his head, "President Yan, this year's promotional department program is pretty good—much more interesting than previous years. Times have changed; having this kind of lively, entertaining program at the annual meeting better reflects our group's youthful and creative characteristics."
Yan Muzhou gave a faint "Mm" and didn't say much more.
Vice President Li quickly observed his expression, planning to find the head of the administrative department after the annual meeting to set the general direction for future annual meeting styles.
…
After An Yao got off the stage, she changed out of the mascot costume and sat back in her seat, feeling like she was still in a slightly dead state.
…If she'd known it would be like this, she would rather have resigned early than agreed to perform.
Yara was sitting right next to her, smiling as she patted her shoulder: "Not bad, super cute—everyone was laughing. The one dancing all crooked up there was you, right? Nice, you've got talent."
"…"
An Yao's face flushed red before she managed to squeeze out the words "Thanks for the compliment."
She just hoped she'd win a tablet in the lucky draw later—or at least some other prize she could cash in. Only that could make up for the mental damage she'd suffered today.
But before the lucky draw, the head of HR went on stage to give a review and outlook, and announced a new policy that was somewhat favorable to her.
The rules for retaining interns next year would change: if an intern performed excellently during a short-term internship and simultaneously met the condition of completing six months of internship duration, they could receive priority admission in campus recruitment.
It was essentially opening a retention channel for short-term interns like her.
As soon as Yara heard it, she turned and whispered in An Yao's ear: "Then you're definitely set. This 'excellent performance' should be reviewed by the department itself. From what I know, the team leads in the promotional department are all really satisfied with you."
An Yao: "But it also requires six months of internship—I've only done three…"
Yara: "Then just stay three more months. Three months for a Yaowei offer—what a great deal."
An Yao was tempted, but also very conflicted.
Because she really might not be able to free up time for another three months of internship, and besides, she didn't plan to stay in Beiyang anyway.
As she was mulling it over, the speeches from the other departments gradually wrapped up, and it was time for the highly anticipated lucky draw.
An Yao looked up too.
The first draw was the grand prize, with countless names flashing across the huge LED screen.
The host invited Yan Muzhou on stage, and per the procedure, had him press the stop button.
He pressed it ten times in a row, and with a few small "wows" from the audience, the big screen finally displayed ten names, followed by their respective departments.
An Yao and the nearby colleagues all saw the huge characters "Sheng Xintong – Promotional Department."
Yara was the first to blurt out "Holy crap," staring in disbelief: "She won with a one-in-a-thousand chance? They say rich people's luck is all used up at birth, but this is clearly a lifetime of good luck."
Urged by the host, Sheng Xintong jogged up to the stage from the back row, smoothed her hair, excitedly shook hands with Yan Muzhou on stage, held up the grand prize plaque, and smiled for a photo with the other nine winners.
An Yao took a deep breath and quietly waited for the remaining prizes.
Sometimes, you have to believe in the supernatural—maybe the koi fish Sheng Xintong reposted really did work.
She posted one too; getting a second prize should be possible.
But as the first prize, second prize, and third prize were announced one by one, An Yao didn't see her name anywhere.
She thought regretfully, maybe she hadn't reposted enough koi fish, and the goddess of luck couldn't see her sincerity.
The software also allowed you to check your own prize in real time. The people around her were all looking down at their screens. Yara refreshed her interface and let out another dramatic "holy shit," turning her screen to show An Yao.
"Nice, I won a Switch 2. Yaowei is way too loaded—this thing costs over a thousand, and it's only a regular prize."
Yara said, "Hurry up and refresh, see what you got."
An Yao held onto her last sliver of hope of winning a regular tablet and refreshed the screen.
A line of text appeared prominently in the red box on the screen: "Breeze Fresh Orange Juice 500ml × 24 bottles × 5"
Yara fell silent at the same time she did.
An Yao had won five cases—a total of one hundred and twenty bottles of orange juice.
And anyone who worked at Yaowei knew that Breeze was one of the company's oldest and most budget-friendly product lines. Even with today's high prices, this orange juice only sold for three yuan a bottle.
She must have gotten the worst prize.
The department's small group chat was also full of people sharing their winning screens. An Yao clicked in and saw everyone's game consoles, shopping cards, keyboards, ultrabooks, premium drink lines, and so on—she was certain no one had a worse prize than hers.
Yara also went into the group to browse around and forced some comfort: "It's fine, at least you won't have to worry about running out of orange juice for the whole year."
"…"
An Yao refused to accept it and went to browse the main group chat. At the same time, a sudden message popped up on WeChat.
She saw it and quickly dimmed her phone screen to the lowest brightness.
Yan Muzhou: [What did you win?]
An Yao forwarded him the screenshot of the five cases of orange juice and asked, [Do you even qualify for the lottery?]
Yan Muzhou was sitting in the front row looking at his phone.
He had just heard the group of young people from the President's Office in the back excitedly discussing the prizes. Thinking of An Yao, he sent a message to ask.
He didn't actually use WeChat all that often—important partners were usually contacted by phone, and for those he wasn't as familiar with, his assistant handled the communication.
Yan Muzhou replied: [Of course.]
He was also a member of the group, so naturally he had a lottery slot.
But in previous years, he'd never even clicked into it, and he'd had the HR department exclude his name from the top prizes in advance so as not to take up slots from other employees.
As for which regular prize he actually got, he had no interest in knowing.
But from Vice President Li beside him, he'd heard that this year they'd lowered the amounts of the top prizes a bit, freeing up budget to add more mid-to-high-value items among the regular prizes—keeping the budget unchanged while making the lottery more fun.
A new message came through on WeChat. An Yao asked: [What did you win? I haven't seen anyone more unlucky than me so far.]
Yan Muzhou opened the group's internal software and went to the annual meeting lottery page.
He tapped the "View Prize" button.
A line of text appeared on the screen—"Breeze Fresh Orange Juice 500ml × 24 bottles × 5"
Yan Muzhou paused for a moment, then sent back a nearly identical screenshot to An Yao.
An Yao: [?]
An Yao: [Why did you send my drawing back to me?]
Yan Muzhou: [This one's mine.]
A new message popped up in the chat interface—an animated sticker of a little white rabbit clutching its belly, laughing hysterically with "hahahahaha," as if it were about to laugh itself into a fit.