Time flew by in the blink of an eye.
By the afternoon of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, workers across the country had basically detached themselves from the festive atmosphere of family reunions and begun making arrangements for post-holiday work.
The sunlight outside the airport was intense, yet it didn’t feel scorching when it fell upon one’s body; instead, it formed a wave of warmth that dispelled the lingering chill.
After driving her sister to the vicinity of the airport, Yu Qiu pulled over at the roadside instead of heading onto the elevated highway, saying her goodbyes right there.
The small face under the peaked cap revealed an endearing smile, speaking very obediently: “Sis~~ Have a safe trip! Remember to call me when you arrive. If you miss me too much, tell me and I’ll come straight to find you and play!”
“Focus on finishing your studies first,” Yu Nian looked at her with a faint gaze. “If I find out you fail any more subjects next semester, don’t expect to squeeze a single cent of pocket money out of me.”
Sure enough, upon hearing her sister’s words, Yu Qiu, who had been all smiles just a moment ago, immediately perked down like a little rabbit with drooping long ears, her mouth puckered in a wilted pout.
After her display, she glared at Yu Nian with her large eyes quite unreasonably, muttering indignantly, “Neither of our two mothers bothers me; you’re the only one who’s so overbearing.”
“That’s because they know I’ll be watching you. Otherwise, do you think you’d be living such a good life now?”
“Tch… oh right, I have a gift for you.”
Yu Qiu took a small paper bag from the trunk of the car and handed it to Yu Nian, smiling as she said: “Ta-da! A farewell gift. How is it? Are you moved?”
“Since when are you so kindhearted?” Yu Nian looked at her younger sister suspiciously. After taking the item out, a look of genuine confusion surfaced between her brows.
“A book?”
“Thirty-Six Stratagems for Online Dating—you deserve it!”
“…”
Yu Nian looked up at her sister, her gaze clearly carrying an inquiry. “Do you mean for me to board the plane in public holding this book?”
“Oh, come on, there’s a packaging bag covering it!” Yu Qiu flashed a V-sign at Yu Nian, laughing mischievously. “This is a book I specifically picked out for you. You better not throw it away!”
Yu Nian was utterly baffled: “Online dating? Why would I need to read this?”
She was playing dumb.
Yu Nian suddenly began to regret having talked to Yu Qiu about Mai Suisui sending the wrong text message a while back; now, this girl used it to tease her every single day.
Yu Qiu naturally knew her sister was pretending, but she didn’t plan to expose her, wearing the smile of a victor.
Afterward, Yu Nian bid farewell to her sister and walked alone toward the airport, pulling her suitcase.
There wasn’t much parting melancholy. In this information age, even if people are thousands of miles apart, geographical distance cannot sever their connection. If they miss each other, they make a phone call; if that isn’t enough, taking a leave of absence isn’t a difficult thing to do.
Buzz buzz.
[Max: Have you gone to Suzhou?]
[Nian San: Yes, I’m about to board. You?]
[Max: Almost there too. Let’s talk in Suzhou.]
[Nian San: Talk in Suzhou.]
…
They said they would talk in Suzhou, but for the next two days, neither said a word to the other, simply because they were too busy.
A new year brings a new atmosphere, and the same was true for ZS Comprehensive Trade.
Having seen off the former Manager Li, An Yingchuan, and the others, ZS Comprehensive Trade officially ushered in the era of Yu Nian.
Therefore, she had to organize everything she hadn’t finished before the year ended. As Yu Nian’s assistant, Mai Suisui naturally had endless work to do.
— “This proposal is substandard; take it back and revise it.”
— “What’s going on with this order? You have the nerve to show me an order like this? I hired you as my assistant to help, not to drag me down!”
— “If you don’t finish this today, don’t leave tonight.”
— “Fine, follow me to the department first.”
Even though Mai Suisui kept gritting her teeth and persevering, she often felt she must have owed Yu Nian in a past life; otherwise, she wouldn’t have ended up with such a difficult boss.
Workplace professionals always emphasize efficiency, especially during working hours when no procrastination is allowed. In less than half an hour, Yu Nian had taken Mai Suisui through all the various departments of the company.
These were the territories Yu Nian would strive to manage well in the future.
Later, when Yu Nian returned to her office and sat down to rub her temples, she saw a cup of coffee appear before her.
It was brought by Mai Suisui.
Yu Nian looked at the coffee, then looked the person in front of her up and down. A slightly subtle meaning leaked from her eyes.
Because she had been too busy before, she hadn’t had the heart to think much about it, but now that she had a bit of free time, she finally realized it.
What was this?
A one-sided “netizen” meeting?
Yu Nian picked up the coffee and took a small sip, asking as if casually: “I’ve been assigning you everything, big and small, for the past two days. You don’t blame me, do you?”
Mai Suisui suddenly raised her head. For a moment, Yu Nian again saw those eyes that looked like amber in the sunlight.
“No! Manager Yu, you are training me! I am not someone who doesn’t know what’s good for me!”
The full-throated voice made Yu Nian’s expression even more subtle.
If this person hadn’t spent her lunch break complaining about her to “Ms. Nian San,” she might have actually believed it.
Yu Nian coughed twice. “You’ve actually done quite well these past two days.”
Mai Suisui froze.
“Sit down, I’ll explain it to you slowly.”
The two of them sat together at the table. While flipping through the project materials, Yu Nian would occasionally look up at Mai Suisui sitting opposite her, saying calmly: “Take these materials you organized, for example. I can see your diligence. However, in some matters, diligence alone is not enough.”
For some reason, hearing this neither-heavy-nor-light lecture from Yu Nian actually made Mai Suisui feel a bit flattered.
“Although there are no errors or omissions in these project materials, this isn’t what I wanted, nor is it what you should be doing.”
Having said this, Yu Nian glanced at the girl who was biting her lower lip because of her words and handed over a file she had just organized herself.
Mai Suisui, who had expected more criticism, took the file in a daze. Upon opening it, she saw that the order was indeed vastly different from how she had organized it.
In fact, the shortcomings of the project could be easily discovered within it.
“I am not the kind of ‘good person’ who spends personal time teaching you.”
The voice coming from across her again made Mai Suisui look up.
Yu Nian was still looking down, flipping through the project materials of the sales department from the past year. Her movements were fast, yet gave off a sense of being methodical and orderly.
“So you need to work a bit harder. At the very least, you must learn to approach work from a leader’s perspective; otherwise, having you by my side is a waste. Unless you say you only want to be an assistant or a clerk—if that’s the case, then pretend I didn’t say anything.”
Eh?
Mai Suisui couldn’t help but widen her eyes, looking at Yu Nian.
“Thank you.”
Today, that “thank you” that had been so hard to voice was finally uttered by Mai Suisui.
“No need to thank me.”
Closing a folder in her hand, Yu Nian met the girl’s stunned gaze and frowned with feigned seriousness: “If you don’t understand, ask. Although I don’t have time to teach you, don’t you have a good relationship with Jin Enna? Being strong is not the same as being stubborn; you can’t understand everything just by yourself. For the time being, don’t worry about whether others will laugh at you, and don’t care about so-called dignity or face. Even if you have to be thick-skinned, you must ask. Do you understand?”
In that instant, Mai Suisui became lost in thought again.
It wasn’t until her gaze inadvertently noticed those eyes quietly watching her that Mai Suisui suddenly snapped back to her senses. With a tense face, she gave a heavy nod toward the woman.
“Yes… Yes! I understand, Manager Yu.”
Yu Nian nodded in satisfaction. “Also, learn to wear high heels.”
Eh?
Mai Suisui’s eyes widened slightly as she looked at Yu Nian in confusion.
“What, you’ve never worn them?”
Mai Suisui shook her head.
Yu Nian thought for a moment and suddenly changed her mind: “Then forget it. I just mentioned it casually.”
Mai Suisui’s heart tightened for no reason. “No, Manager Yu… I can wear them.”
Yu Nian nodded slightly and didn’t say anything more. “You’ve worked hard these past two days. You can get off work now.”
“Um…”
Mai Suisui hesitated for a moment and asked cautiously:
“Manager Yu, aren’t you leaving?”
Yu Nian shook her head. “I’ll be a bit later. I don’t need you for the rest, you go home.”
“Manager Yu… I can stay too.”
Yu Nian put down her pen and looked at her with a half-smile: “If you stay to work overtime with me, I’ll feel too embarrassed not to drive you home.”
“…”
Mai Suisui pursed her lips. “Manager Yu, see you tomorrow.”
“Mm, see you tomorrow.”
…
“Oh? Is my Suisui finally going to try wearing high heels?”
On the other end of the video call, Mai Tian shook her head with emotion. “The high heels I gave you the year you started work can finally see the light of day.”
“Sis, stop talking like that!”
Seeing her sister’s flustered and angry look, Mai Tian couldn’t help but smile: “Do they still fit?”
Mai Suisui nodded, then tentatively stood up, wanting to try walking a few steps in the heels.
“Ah!”
Unexpectedly, as soon as she took a step, her body swayed mysteriously, causing a light cry to escape her mouth in fright.
“Honestly, really!”
In the video, Mai Tian first looked at her sister with concern, then began to nag: “You haven’t worn these things for over twenty years; don’t force yourself now.”
“No!” Mai Suisui muttered, instinctively frowning. “My current identity is Manager Yu’s assistant! And the time I spend with Manager Yu is longer than the secretary’s. In a sense, I am her second secretary. Have you ever seen a secretary running around in flat shoes every day?”
Mai Tian sneered upon hearing this. “That’s why there’s a problem with the workplace! Why is it that men can even walk around the office in slippers, but women are criticized even for going to work without makeup? It’s as if they’re going to work for everyone else.”
“It’s not as serious as you say, okay?”
Mai Suisui finally felt she could maintain her balance. After trying to stand for a while, under her sister’s amused gaze, she bit her lower lip and tentatively took two steps. This time, she finally succeeded.
“Don’t laugh! I just feel I should practice more… Otherwise, what if I sprain my ankle at the company? That would be so embarrassing!”
Mai Tian didn’t give her sister any face at all: “Please, before that, can you please fix yourself up? Since you want to make a change, you should change to a new image, right?”
Hearing her sister’s words, Mai Suisui was stunned for a moment, then walked over to the full-length mirror with a lack of confidence to look at herself.
Heavy bangs covered her forehead, and there was no makeup on her face. She looked plain and stiff—overall okay, but certainly not outstanding.
Mai Suisui couldn’t help but think of Jin Enna. Now that Kim had also become a “secretary,” she realized the gap between herself and that woman was indeed very large.
Her sister was right. Since she was by Yu Nian’s side, in a sense, she was Yu Nian’s “facade.” Should she also make a change at the appropriate time?
Buzz buzz.
Just as Mai Suisui was secretly fretting, a message came from her WeChat clone account. Overjoyed, she quickly clicked it. Other than the message she sent during her lunch break to vent to Ms. Nian San about Yu Nian, there had been no other communication. Ms. Nian San must be very busy too, right?
[Nian San: What’s wrong? Is your boss treating you poorly?]
Ah, this…
Before this morning, Mai Suisui would have nodded in agreement without hesitation, but after the conversation before leaving work, she could no longer say so against her conscience.
[Max: …Not really. She’s actually… quite good.]
Snap.
The sound of the phone screen turning off rang out.
Yu Nian picked up her bag, preparing to head home.
She patted her head as if troubled.
“Hmm… what should I eat tonight?”