Li Wanqiu accompanied Ji Jinyan back to the offices, but never received the work assignments she had expected.
Bisha maintained exacting standards when it came to its winemaking. Beyond fermentation, aging, and maturation, much of the vineyard labor was performed strictly by hand. To preserve the unique terroir of each parcel, grapes were categorized by plot and vinified separately.
This stage of the process was crucial, and Ji Jinyan kept a tight rein on it, requiring the cellar staff to report their progress continuously.
They had barely stepped out of the elevator when Ji Jinyan’s phone rang.
“I’ll head back first,” Li Wanqiu murmured quietly to her.
“Mm,” Ji Jinyan acknowledged without lingering, holding the phone up to her ear.
Li Wanqiu retreated to her own office. She had barely settled into her chair before Assistant An arrived with a stack of documents, asking her to scan and circulate them to all departments.
“I could have taken care of it myself,” Assistant An explained, her expression warm and approachable. “But since you’re new, everyone still needs to get acquainted with you. Sending an email is a great way to break the ice.”
“Understood, Sister An.” Li Wanqiu nodded, offering a polite smile in return.
She had handled tasks like this at her previous workplaces. It usually came down to adding a standard sign-off line at the end: introducing herself as the new hire and asking everyone for their kind guidance.
Quick and methodical, Li Wanqiu finished the task in no time. She then switched tabs to continue reading through the winemaking materials. When her eyes grew tired, she navigated back to her inbox.
To her surprise, several new replies had popped up. Clicking through them one by one, she found the same two words recurring in nearly all of them:
—Welcome aboard!.
She had actually received warm replies.
Though the companies she had worked for before weren’t nearly as grand as Bisha, everyone there had run themselves ragged. Bound to the so-called “wolf culture” of ruthless productivity, her former colleagues had poured everything into raw output, rarely sparing any warmth or energy for social niceties.
Fiercely driven, yet chilly and distant. And yet, it was precisely that cold efficiency her father and his business peers so routinely praised.
This was the very first time she had ever experienced an environment like this.
A quiet flutter of happiness brushed through her. Pausing for a beat, Li Wanqiu pulled out her phone and messaged Yan Weiwei: What are you up to?
Yan Weiwei: Taking a breather. Just signed up two people for club memberships.
What about you? Yan Weiwei added, knowing today was Li Wanqiu’s official first day. How’s the job going? Smoothly?
Li Wanqiu: Pretty smoothly. Not too busy, mostly just getting up to speed on operations.
That’s great. Too lazy to type, Yan Weiwei sent a voice note instead: What’s the vibe like? How does it compare to the other places you worked at?
Her question happened to touch on the exact thought lingering in Li Wanqiu’s mind.
“It’s actually quite nice,” Li Wanqiu said, adopting her friend’s shortcut and pressing the voice-record button. She recounted what had just happened, her tone gentle: “I honestly didn’t expect so many people to welcome me.”
“It seems, everyone here is genuinely lovely.”
Her voice was soft, slipping past the sliver beneath the closed door and drifting into the corridor.
Ji Jinyan, who had just stepped out to grab a cup of coffee, happened to catch that compliment as she walked past the door. Soft though the voice was, the unmistakable lilt of a smile woven into it was impossible to miss.
Ji Jinyan paused in her stride, a faint smile quietly gracing the corners of her lips.
A rather generous review.
Li Wanqiu was a quick study. In less than a week, she had thoroughly mastered the daily tasks assigned to her.
The directives Ji Jinyan handed down were usually taken on by Assistant An; only tasks that exceeded her capacity or carried relatively lower stakes were passed along to Li Wanqiu.
Refusing to let an error turn into fodder for another of her mother’s lectures, Li Wanqiu proceeded with meticulous care, executing each duty with commendable precision.
Until one evening, after coming home from work, bathing, and pouring herself a glass of wine, her gaze drifted out toward the stars—only to be interrupted by a notification from Assistant An.
Assistant An rarely troubled her after hours. Suspecting something urgent, Li Wanqiu tapped it open right away.
Assistant An: A-Qiu, are you busy?
Li Wanqiu typed back: Not at all. Is something the matter, Sister An?
I just received a call—there’s an emergency at home, Assistant An explained upon seeing she was free. I’ve already notified President Ji that I’ll need tomorrow off, so I might have to trouble you with a few items.
Her tone carried an apologetic note: I already cleared most of today’s matters, so there shouldn’t be too much left on your plate.
She sent over a task list, flagging key details and precautions to keep in mind. Li Wanqiu noted every point carefully, reassuring her that she would handle everything smoothly.
The next morning came in a blink.
Stepping into Assistant An’s shoes meant Li Wanqiu was thrust into direct contact with Ji Jinyan. First thing in the morning, she rang the chauffeur to confirm that the clients arriving for a site visit had been picked up on time.
The moment she hung up, she was circulating meeting notices and inspecting conference room availability.
A whirlwind of activity carried her straight through the entire morning.
Ji Jinyan took it all in. Amused by the uncharacteristic hustle from the normally composed girl, she asked with a light laugh, “Tired?”
“Not really,” Li Wanqiu shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
Even as she answered, she was still holding an unreviewed document in her hands.
Ji Jinyan fell silent for a moment, then offered a quiet, measured observation: “Li Wanqiu, you’re far too tense.”
Tense?
Li Wanqiu blinked in surprise, not quite catching her meaning, and looked up at her.
“You haven’t had lunch yet, have you?” Ji Jinyan rested her chin in her hand, speaking in an unhurried cadence. “Some of those tasks can wait until this afternoon. There’s no need to rush.”
“Rest when it’s time to rest. Forcing your way through only compromises your efficiency,” she added, reaching out to tap a specific line on the paper. Li Wanqiu looked down and spotted a glaring oversight.
She hadn’t noticed it at all earlier.
Embarrassment rushed through Li Wanqiu at once: “I’m sorry, I, I didn’t catch that.”
“It’s fine,” Ji Jinyan reassured her calmly. “I was going to review it again anyway.”
“As for you—go get something to eat,” she urged, sliding open a desk drawer. She took out an individually wrapped chocolate and placed it in the center of Li Wanqiu’s palm. “Have a piece of chocolate to hold you over.”
Her tone lifted playfully at the end, tinged with dry amusement.
“Lest people accuse me of exploiting you.”
Li Wanqiu: “?”
After eating and resting for a short while, Li Wanqiu felt her focus sharpen considerably.
The visiting clients had arrived later than scheduled due to unforeseen delays. Far from taking offense, Ji Jinyan accommodated them by pushing back her subsequent appointments, personally leading them through the exhibition gallery.
Li Wanqiu didn’t tag along, choosing instead to stay behind to organize the backlog of paperwork. She was just wrapping up when Ji Jinyan returned to the floor.
Li Wanqiu knocked lightly on the open office door: “May I come in?”
Ji Jinyan nodded: “Come on in.”
Carrying the sorted files, Li Wanqiu walked in. “The documents are compiled. I’d like to run through them with you.”
“Take a seat,” Ji Jinyan directed, gesturing toward the chair opposite her desk.
Li Wanqiu agreed with a nod, sat down, and began going over the action items line by line. Ji Jinyan listened with rapt attention, interjecting occasionally with thoughtful feedback.
By now, evening was settling in. The winery’s official working hours had long passed, and most colleagues on the floor had already packed up and gone home. The entire hallway lay quiet, bathed only in the amber light sneaking in from the sunset.
The silence was remarkably soothing, broken only when Ji Jinyan’s phone began to ring.
Glancing down at the screen, Ji Jinyan said, “Let’s pause for a moment. I need to take this.”
“Of course,” Li Wanqiu nodded, using the lull to note down the revisions Ji Jinyan had pointed out.
She hadn’t brought a hair tie today, leaving her long hair down. Unbound, the silky strands cascaded forward, playfully drifting across her line of vision.
Li Wanqiu raised a hand to tuck them behind her ear. But the moment she lowered her head again, the unruly locks slipped loose, frustrating her efforts once more.
Faint footsteps approached from behind. It was Ji Jinyan drawing near.
“Don’t move,” a soft whisper brushed past her ear, pitched so low that perhaps only the two of them could hear it.
Li Wanqiu froze, her posture stiffening. True to the instruction, she didn’t dare budge an inch.
In the next second, a pair of soft hands drew close. Cradling her phone between her cheek and left shoulder, Ji Jinyan used both hands to gather Li Wanqiu’s loose tresses, sliding an elastic tie off her own wrist to bind them into a tidy ponytail.
Her warm fingertips grazed lightly along the rim of Li Wanqiu’s ear, leaving a delicate heat that lingered long after she withdrew.
“There,” Ji Jinyan chuckled softly. Lowering the phone away from her ear, she spoke in that same hushed, private murmur meant for only two:
“It looks lovely.”