Lian Qiao pulled out a chair and sat down in the auxiliary seat. She had been shoved in at the last minute and had no place card.
The executives at the same table murmured, coordinating their respective work, while the board secretary beside her smiled and answered. These faces were ones she had only ever seen at annual meetings, on the official website, and in all staff emails.
Eight small cold appetizer platters were already laid out on the round table, with a gold stamped menu standing in the center of the lazy Susan.
Lian Qiao switched her phone to vibration mode and read through them one by one. The evening had six hot courses, every single one of them auspicious, ranging from “Abundance of Wealth and Joy” to “Hand in Hand, Hearts Aligned.”
The scent of citrus drifted over from the main table, five meters away.
Lian Qiao could not turn her head, but out of the corner of her eye, she could still catch a glimpse of Ling Weiwei. Ling Weiwei was sitting at the main table, her head tilted as she listened to a middle aged man speak, smiling and shifting her face slightly.
Lian Qiao tugged at her collar, there was still a pale brown stain on the inside. That afternoon, the heiress had spilled most of a cup of Americano on her with her own hands. Despite emergency cleaning and blow-drying, the cleanup left much to be desired.
The “Abundance of Wealth and Joy” dish was served. Lian Qiao scooped a spoonful, the fish maw was springy and tender, the chicken broth rich and savory.
She lowered her head and typed in her memo: Full marks.
The dishes that followed all scored full marks. Her chopsticks never stopped as she finished her work.
Kunqu opera began to play, soft, gentle, and slow, with Wu dialect cadences, it was “The Embroidered Jacket.”
The board secretary beside her took the lead and stood up. The whole table rose. Lian Qiao hurriedly pushed back her chair to stand, lifting her wine glass with the rim lower than everyone else’s.
Twenty-five-year-old Ling Weiwei walked over with graceful steps, her feet in seven-centimeter satin stiletto heels, her deep champagne-colored fishtail gown shimmering with a matte velvet luster. Except for a pair of South Sea golden pearl earrings, she wore no other ornaments. She used to not dress like this.
Ling Weiwei raised her glass, her wrists entirely bare. That hand had once grabbed her lower back.
Ling Weiwei’s gaze lingered on her face for a second. Perhaps it was just a polite sweep. Her smile was standard and poised, her gaze falling on the board secretary as if that single second had never happened.
Lian Qiao looked down. The man standing beside Ling Weiwei wore black leather shoes, dust-free. She would not raise her head to look at his face.
Ling Weiwei seemed to be saying, “Thank you all for your hard work today.”
Amidst the Kunqu opera, the heiress’s voice was blurred and indistinct, Lian Qiao couldn’t hear it clearly.
“Just doing our duty, Miss Ling, please rest assured,” the board secretary replied.
The two of them walked away side by side. The executives sat back down one after another, and Lian Qiao was the last to sit. The pharmaceutical director remarked, “The Hua family is truly blessed to welcome Miss Ling as their daughter-in-law.”
“Lingyue and Huazhou’s businesses are going to coordinate even further, they’re building an industrial park right after the wedding, which will keep you plenty busy,” the board secretary joked with a smile.
A ceramic stew pot of bamboo fungus and matsutake mushroom with old pigeon soup was set before her.
Lian Qiao took a sip, unable to taste any flavor, but she gave it full marks anyway.
Piano music started, and a waiter served the bird’s nest and almond tofu.
The lights dimmed, and the engaged couple took the stage.
On the stage stood a three-tier engagement cake, pure milky white, with only an extremely fine golden sugar-frosting border along the edge of each tier, topped with a small cluster of sugar-crafted white lisianthus flowers, low-key, high-end, and luxurious.
In her magnificent attire, Ling Weiwei gripped the brushed champagne-gold knife handle.
Lian Qiao scooped a spoonful of dessert into her mouth, gave up on trying to taste it, set down her lukewarm porcelain bowl, and tapped out the final number in her memo.
Total score: 100.
From the cold appetizers to the dessert, the young heiress’s engagement banquet was impeccable, the best meal she had ever eaten in her life.
The knife fell.
Seven Years Ago
A resume was dropped onto her desk.
“An intern is coming in at ten, a girl. You’ll mentor her for three months. If she fails the mentorship evaluation, her promotion review gets a one-vote veto,” said Wang Jianguo, the regional manager.
Lian Qiao raised her head. On the computer screen, the approval process for Fumining was spinning in circles, stuck at “Under Review.”
“Fudan Tumor Hospital’s submission, I want to see progress by this week,” Wang Jianguo added, glancing at her screen. He held a teacup on which the characters Lingyue Pharmaceuticals · 2016 Annual Sales Champion had worn away.
“Will do,” Lian Qiao agreed. Out of the fifteen pharmaceutical reps in the department, there were only two promotion slots this year, and Fumining was her biggest bargaining chip.
Wang Jianguo strolled leisurely into his cubicle. Lian Qiao flipped open the resume. The employment and activity column was packed with equestrianism, debate, and community service, listing an IB score of 44, which presumably didn’t mean failing. A textbook example of a young heiress descending to the mortal realm to experience life.
Pang Tung Experimental School? High school?
From diagonally behind her came Chen Kai’s booming voice, apparently on the phone: “That department head is completely impervious to reason, I’ve sent gifts three times and they were all returned… Yes, a woman, in her fifties…”
Just follow the standard procedure and avoid mistakes. Lian Qiao flipped the resume face down on her desk and hatched a plan to coast through with perfunctory effort.
At exactly ten o’clock, a new presence appeared by her workstation.
“Lian Qiao, hello. I’m Ling Weiwei.”
Lian Qiao couldn’t help taking a second look.
Single eyelids, full lips, all her facial features had individual flaws, but put together, they made it very hard to look away.
Lian Qiao stood up. The girl was about her height, wearing a white sleeveless blouse and a deep blue flared skirt. She had no logos anywhere on her body, but the fabric cost no less than five figures.
She extended her hand, and Ling Weiwei reached out first, gripping with unexpected strength before letting go after a brief pause.
Lian Qiao’s fingers tingled slightly: “Sit at the desk next door, it’s empty. I’ll send you the product information.”
“Were you just thinking, Why is this nepotism hire neither calling me elder sister nor master?” Ling Weiwei pulled open the neighboring chair with her right hand. “Calling you elder sister is too old, calling you master is too outdated. Your name is very pretty, though.” On her wrist was a Patek Philippe watch, its dial reflecting a low-key gleam under the fluorescent light.
Heiresses doing undercover inspections never knew to take off their watches. Lian Qiao put on a polite smile. There were still two months and twenty-nine days left of her mentorship.
The citrus scent wafting off Ling Weiwei was both vibrant and fresh.
What did the heiress’s scent have to do with her? So pathetic. Lian Qiao sat down and added her on WeChat.
Chen Kai swaggered over, leaning against the frosted glass partition to let out a whistle: “How old is Miss Ling? Call me Brother Kai, and I’ll teach you the tricks of running hospital departments.”
“Eighteen in September. And you’re Chen Kai.” Ling Weiwei flipped through the product brochure, biting down on the cap of her pen. Her movements had a clumsy innocence to them.
Chen Kai laughed greaseily: “When you go to a hospital department for the first time, you have to squeeze some of our medicated cosmetics at the door. The nurses will shout to the head physician: ‘That sales rep outside is so slick and smooth, don’t you want to let her in for a minute?'”
People around them chuckled.
Lian Qiao lowered her head to flip through the prescription volume report on her desk.
With a sharp snap, Ling Weiwei slammed the product brochure down on the desk: “Where is your basic decency?”
Lian Qiao’s fingers froze on the report. Amidst the humming of the air conditioner, the surrounding snickers cut off instantly. The entire open-plan office fell silent for two seconds. Ling Weiwei stood up, her chin tilted up, innocent, passionate, and defiant.
Chen Kai gave a dry laugh: “You’re just an intern, you’re not used to our sense of humor here yet.”
“What you said has nothing to do with humor.”
Her voice rose, but Wang Jianguo’s cubicle remained dead silent, he was clearly playing dead. If he came out, he would have to take a stand. Siding with the heiress would offend the veteran employee, siding with the veteran employee would offend the heiress.
Lian Qiao stood up and pressed a hand on Ling Weiwei’s shoulder: “I’ll take you to look at the client data.”
Ling Weiwei glanced at her and didn’t move, looking even slightly puzzled, as if she couldn’t understand why Lian Qiao was smoothing things over.
Lian Qiao turned to Chen Kai with a tight, plastic smile: “Chen Kai, she’s new today, stop messing around.”
“What’s the fun in that? Does calling me brother cost you a piece of meat?” Chen Kai snorted and walked back to his own desk.
Ling Weiwei sat back down, turning her head to gaze at Chen Kai’s workstation.
Lian Qiao said, “Don’t resort to physical action, you’ll lose out.”
Ling Weiwei stared at the screen: “If it really came to blows, he might not be able to beat me.”
“Harmony brings wealth,” Lian Qiao lowered her voice.
The approval interface on the screen changed to Approved. Lian Qiao opened her mobile banking app to check her balance, leaned back in her chair, let out a breath, and turned to look at Ling Weiwei: “Come on, I’ll take you to lunch.”
“My treat?”
“I’m in a good mood today.” Lian Qiao added in a WeChat message: And by the way, tell me how you’re going to beat Chen Kai.
Ling Weiwei’s soft chuckle came from the desk next door: “I want to eat something expensive.”
Lian Qiao opened Dianping and sent her three links to choose from.
Instead, Ling Weiwei sent back a link to a small local Shanghai cuisine diner.
Lian Qiao bookmarked the address. But why would an heiress choose a place like that?
The OA system prompted a new message.
The email notification came from the Human Resources Department, with the subject line: Intern Mentorship Evaluation Guidelines.
Lian Qiao clicked it open, and the first rule read: “Mentors must bear joint and several liability for all actions of their interns while at the company.”
Lian Qiao’s gaze drifted past her computer monitor and landed on the back of the head sitting next door.
Ling Weiwei was biting her pen cap, flipping through the product pages on her screen.