Yan Muzhou's phone call style was exactly the same as before—no meaningless pleasantries, efficiently cutting straight to the point.
Having been in a high position for so long, his speech seemed even more concise than before.
Moreover, he said half and left half unsaid, stating the facts and then pausing, expecting her to explain herself.
Conveniently, An Yao, feeling guilty as a thief, could take this opportunity to clarify things with him.
Her attention was no longer on the subway that had already pulled away in front of her, and she kept her tone as casual as possible: "Oh, right, I'm here for an internship."
An Yao added: "I got the internship offer from Oriental Tea Works, and HR rushed me over here. I didn't know this company had been acquired by Yaowei before I came—just a coincidence."
Unlike the noisy chaos on her end, the other side of the phone was very quiet.
Estimating the time, Yan Muzhou had probably just finished a meeting.
The man's voice was very flat, with a businesslike attitude, and in the same elder-like tone he used when she lived with the Yan family, he asked again: "Fourth year this year?"
An Yao gave a soft "Mm."
Yan Muzhou: "Why didn't you contact me when you were looking for an internship? Oriental Tea Works—publicity department or product department?"
The only two departments at Oriental Tea Works that could hire design-major interns were these two—the publicity department mainly handled advertising and posters, while the product department handled packaging and co-branded merchandise design.
The fact that he could ask this proved he still remembered she majored in visual design.
An Yao answered: "Publicity department."
Yan Muzhou continued his elder-style inquiry: "If you're not satisfied with the work, you can adjust. There are many internship positions at headquarters that suit you."
An Yao pressed her lips together: "I'm quite satisfied. No need to adjust."
Having not been in contact for a long time, Yan Muzhou's call was just a brief gesture, and he didn't further probe into details about her work or life.
Probably just like before, out of a sense of duty, he was showing her a bit of concern.
An Yao heard someone on the other end of the phone calling him—probably there was still work to handle.
The call also came to an end after a few brief exchanges.
Yan Muzhou said in a calm voice: "When you have time, you can go visit Grandpa. He mentioned you during the New Year."
"Mm."
An Yao also replied politely: "I just got here and haven't adapted to the work pace yet. I'll go see Grandpa Yan in a while."
The call ended, and she lowered her eyes, letting out a long sigh as she looked at the call-ended screen.
At sixteen, An Yao's grandfather, An Mingshan, passed away. According to her grandfather's dying wish, she was taken in by the Yan family to Beiyang.
Although Elder Yan and An Mingshan were old comrades-in-arms with considerable friendship back then, decades had passed, and even the best relationships had long since faded to plainness.
For the wealthy and powerful Yan family, taking care of An Yao was as simple as adding one more pair of chopsticks to the table.
Even during the three years she lived with the Yan family, An Yao's relationship with Elder Yan couldn't be called particularly close.
This could also be heard from Yan Muzhou's words.
The last time the elder had mentioned her was during the Spring Festival half a year ago.
Probably only because she had called to pay New Year's respects out of politeness on New Year's Eve.
Just like Yan Muzhou—if he hadn't seen her at the company entrance, he wouldn't have thought of her as a person either.
An Yao turned off her phone screen and stepped into the subway that had just arrived.
At the top floor of the Yaowei Group building, Yan Muzhou was resting in his office.
Although the new headquarters building in the Economic Development Zone had been completed for two years and various departments of the group had gradually moved in, his personal office was still in the old Yaowei building in the city center.
Because he didn't come here often, the office in this new building was arranged by his assistant, and he wasn't very familiar with it.
After the afternoon meeting ended, Yan Muzhou still had appointments to discuss matters with several major shareholders of the group, so he didn't leave.
One of the shareholders arrived first, surnamed Zhang, in his sixties. He was one of the original founders of the group, having fought alongside Elder Yan back in the day, and was an elder to Yan Muzhou.
When Chairman Zhang entered the office, Yan Muzhou was still on the phone.
His relationship with the Yan family was close, and he had watched Yan Muzhou grow up. Hearing that the call seemed to be about family matters, he didn't deliberately avoid it.
Chairman Zhang was seated in the reception area by the assistant from the president's office, sipping tea as he waited for Yan Muzhou to finish his call. He asked with a faint smile, "A call from home? At your age, you're at your busiest—group matters, family matters, all requiring your attention. There's no escaping any of it."
Yan Muzhou turned around, crossed his legs as he sat on the sofa, and replied briefly, "Mm, my sister's call."
"Xuexin?"
Chairman Zhang asked, "Last time I was playing chess with Old Yan, he mentioned that Xuexin had been back in the country for quite a while now. Isn't she in Beiyang now?"
Perhaps it was a sign of age—even if one had devoted their youth entirely to their career, in old age one couldn't help but take an interest in family trivialities.
Yan Muzhou took a sip of tea and said indifferently, "Not Yan Xuexin. It was An Yao."
Yan Xuexin was his biological sister, four years younger, who had attended university in the UK majoring in law. But she really wasn't cut out for that field.
After scraping by with a watered-down master's degree and returning to the country, Yan Muzhou had originally arranged for her to train at a law firm run by an acquaintance, but she quit shortly after starting.
The name An Yao was unfamiliar to Chairman Zhang. The old man pondered for a while before recalling, "Oh, is that An Mingshan's granddaughter? She stayed at Old Yan's place for a few years back then, and Old Yan always had you look after her."
Yan Muzhou hummed in acknowledgment.
Chairman Zhang shook his head and said with a sigh, "It's been seven or eight years since An Mingshan passed, hasn't it? Time really flies. When I was young and went on business trips to Nancheng with Old Yan, I had tea with him a few times."
"That granddaughter of his is rather pitiful, all alone with no one to rely on. Your family really should look after her more."
Yan Muzhou wasn't the type to enjoy discussing such trivial matters.
Although he could tell Chairman Zhang wanted to continue talking about An Yao, he didn't pick up the thread. Instead, he glanced sideways to signal his assistant to bring over some documents.
"But she's grown up now and has her own ideas. She may not want us to look after her."
Yan Muzhou took the documents, flipped open a page, and ended the topic.
"This is the new tax incentive policy for the Economic Development Zone mentioned in the phone call the day before yesterday. The official document hasn't been issued yet, but the main contents are roughly these."
An Yao was renting a youth apartment in Beiyang's Economic Development Zone. The rent was moderate and the conditions average, but it had the advantage of being convenient for commuting and supporting short-term leases.
During her online interview, she had negotiated a three-to-six-month internship period with HR—a time frame neither too short nor too long, making it difficult to find housing.
The apartment was only about forty square meters in total, with a layout similar to a hotel studio. The main furniture consisted of just a bed, a wardrobe, and a set of table and chairs.
An Yao didn't have strong material desires, and since she was only staying temporarily for the internship, she had brought little luggage. The place was empty throughout.
After she moved in, she did a thorough cleaning of the entire house, leaving it neat and tidy.
Before sitting down at the desk to open her tablet and work on her drafts, An Yao mulled things over once more.
If she set aside the "personal feelings" she'd had for Yan Muzhou four years ago, was her attitude toward the Yan family perhaps too cold?
It was probably because of her grandfather An Mingshan's entrustment that, during her years away at university, the Yan family had always had someone cover her tuition and living expenses.
Though she hadn't touched any of it, planning to save up enough to cover three years of high school room and board after she started working, and then pay it all back at once.
An Yao didn't like owing anyone anything.
She already had a plan for the financial side. As for the personal debts, she called Elder Yan every holiday to check in and sent nourishing health products—that should count as being courteous.
With that thought, An Yao opened her phone's calendar, counted the days, and planned to call Grandpa Yan again before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
She worked on her drafts until nearly midnight, when a message suddenly popped up in the company software.
It was in the Eastern Tea Division's main group, notifying everyone that a full division meeting would be held Thursday at 9 a.m., and all division employees were required to attend.
By the next morning, as An Yao rushed to catch the subway, she saw that new interns from other departments had already asked in the group: [Do interns need to attend?]
Followed by a timid emoji.
A reply came quickly: [No need.]
An Yao breathed a sigh of relief, inwardly grateful that she could probably slack off for another Thursday morning.
In the half month since she'd started, the company had held many meetings, big and small.
Tuesday afternoons had the Marketing Department's regular meeting, and Friday mornings had the Eastern Tea Division's weekly meeting.
But according to division tradition, interns didn't need to participate in any of these meetings.
So those two time slots were when An Yao had the most freedom, able to hide at her desk and work on her drafts.
Internship was different from being in school. Though the work was related to her major, most of it was basic, low-skill tasks that barely required any thought.
What An Yao did most, besides printing documents, was cutting out images, sourcing pictures, and doing layout work.
She couldn't say she hated it, but she definitely didn't love it.
When An Yao arrived at the office area, there were still over ten minutes before the official start time.
Yara and a few senior employees were huddled in the break area, having another "mini meeting" like yesterday, probably discussing the senior management meeting from yesterday afternoon.
As An Yao walked over with her cup to get coffee, she overheard them say: "So are we moving up to the 35th floor?"
Yara: "Probably."
The others glanced sideways at their desks, cluttered with decorations and file folders, looking troubled.
An Yao: "Are we moving floors?"
Luckily, she didn't have much on her desk—besides the computer, basically just a cup and a few charging cables.
Yara answered: "New news, and it's good news, I guess. No layoffs, but positions are being adjusted. All the Eastern Tea departments are being folded into the group's original structure. For example, we're going to the Brand Center's Marketing Department on the 35th floor. They'll probably either form a separate team or merge us directly into the existing marketing department."
An Yao nodded with an "Oh."
This adjustment still didn't affect her much.
She sat back down at her desk, and the others continued discussing whether, if they merged directly with the headquarters marketing department, their future work content might change beyond just the basics.
But no matter how much they discussed it, it was all just speculation. In the end, everyone concluded they'd have to wait for the announcement at Thursday morning's full meeting and follow whatever the higher-ups decided.
It was soon Thursday morning. An Yao estimated her workload for the day, pulled out her tablet from her bag, and got to work on the illustration drafts Qin Keran had forwarded to her.
She was in the middle of a productive session of slacking off on company time when a private message popped up on her work software.
Yara: [Hurry to Conference Room 1 on the 30th floor!]
An Yao was puzzled—hadn't they said interns didn't need to attend?
She asked: [Do you need me to bring something over?]
Yara: [No. President Yan just announced that from now on, all work must follow headquarters' conventions—like group or department meetings, interns can't be absent either.]
Yara: [omg, I never expected President Yan to attend this all-hands meeting in person. You should come see for yourself—he's genuinely handsome, but also genuinely terrifying. That presence is something else. The kind where if he stood in front of me, I wouldn't dare breathe too loudly.]
"…"
Yan Muzhou was going to be there too?
With mixed feelings, An Yao put away her tablet and dragged her feet toward the elevator lobby.
She had never seen Yan Muzhou in a work setting and didn't know why he would bother with something this trivial.
Meanwhile, upstairs, the secretary attending the meeting with Yan Muzhou, as well as several managers from Oriental Tea Works, were equally puzzled.
They had some understanding of their boss's strict, detail-oriented work style and knew that Oriental Tea Works, as the "newcomer," would inevitably be required to tighten up and follow group headquarters' regulations.
But they couldn't figure out why Yan Muzhou would notice something as minor as interns not attending the meeting, let alone specifically mention it.
When the big boss speaks, the lowly workers must comply immediately.
Every department at Oriental Tea Works had interns, and after receiving the notice, they made their way to the large conference room on the 30th floor one after another.
As luck would have it, when An Yao arrived, she peeked through the back door and found the spacious conference room nearly full.
Apparently, the administrative staff knew the group president would be attending, so they had prepared the venue meticulously—seats were arranged strictly according to headcount, leaving no extras for interns.
The few empty seats from employees who had requested temporary leave had already been claimed by interns who arrived earlier.
An Yao scanned the room for a long while and only spotted one empty chair by the side of the front door.
It looked like it was reserved for the event coordination staff as a spare.
An Yao gritted her teeth, weighing three options: bringing in a chair from elsewhere, standing at the back, or sitting by the front entrance.
All of them seemed equally conspicuous.
By comparison, sitting by the front entrance was actually the least noticeable.
So An Yao slipped in through the back door, hunched over, doing her best to minimize her presence as she tiptoed over to the chair beside the front door.
It was only two steps away from Yan Muzhou at the head of the conference table.
She sat down, looked up, and met the man's calm, composed gaze.
An Yao quickly lowered her head, avoiding eye contact.
Oriental Tea Works had over a hundred people across its various departments, and this conference room was arranged specifically to accommodate that number—besides the large conference table at the front, rows of small chairs filled the back.
Management mostly sat on either side of the conference table, while regular employees sat behind.
At that moment, the head of the Marketing Department on the left side of the table was speaking, reporting on their research into this quarter's competitors.
After listening absentmindedly for a few minutes, An Yao's neck was starting to ache from keeping her head down.
Her position, though tucked away in a corner, gave her a view almost directly facing Yan Muzhou.
An Yao slowly raised her head and noticed that Yan Muzhou was no longer looking at her. He was staring at his laptop screen, presumably listening to the marketing department's report.
His hands rested on the table, and the index finger of his right hand lightly tapped the surface almost imperceptibly, making no sound. His brow remained cold and stern, revealing no expression.
But An Yao knew him well—this small habit of his usually meant he wasn't too pleased with the current report and was growing somewhat impatient.
Back in high school, when Yan Muzhou tutored her on her coursework, he would often make this same gesture.
An Yao shifted slightly to the side. The marketing department director, who was seated to her right front, caught her attention unexpectedly—but her gaze was drawn to a white jade ring on Yan Muzhou's right pinky finger.
Her eyes froze, and she couldn't help but stare.
An Yao recognized it. It was the ring she had given him on his birthday four years ago, just before she was about to leave Beiyang.
She had carved it herself.
Unconsciously, she stared for a little too long. When she lifted her gaze again, her eyes collided with Yan Muzhou's.
The marketing department's report ended at that moment, and the next up was the head of their publicity department.
Director Zhang seemed to notice that Yan Muzhou's gaze had been fixed on the doorway. After introducing his position, he explained preemptively: "Mr. Yan, that's Xiao An, an intern from our department. It seems there weren't enough seats, so she's sitting there temporarily."
Yan Muzhou turned his head back, gave a soft "mm," and said in a calm voice: "Continue with the next item. Don't waste time."