02. Two Faces, One in Public and One in Private
Today, Ling Xi wore a white shirt with refined tailoring, paired with wide-leg jeans, and deliberately put on a high-intelligence-style makeup look.
She originally had a sweet appearance, but after changing her outfit style, she looked clean and sharp.
When speaking with Zhou Mingye, there was a smile on her face the entire time.
If it were not for the chance encounter at the cafe that morning, Zhou Mingye would have thought she was at least an employee with a proactive work attitude.
Ling Xi did not know whether it was just her imagination, but she felt that Zhou Mingye’s expression earlier carried a trace of disdain. In any case, it was not very friendly.
Zhou Mingye closed the folder and leaned back in his chair, unconsciously frowning slightly.
This girl was actually an employee of his company?
What kind of people was HR hiring?
Zhou Mingye looked at Jiang Huai. “Has the work handover been completed?”
“The important arrangements were handed over by Liang Ru via email. I’ve asked Xu Jing to guide her through the workflow.”
“As soon as possible.”
“Don’t worry.”
Jiang Huai then reported several other matters to Zhou Mingye, while Ling Xi stood to the side listening.
Zhou Mingye leaned back against the chair, listening carefully as Jiang Huai spoke, occasionally asking a few questions about details. There was little expression on his face.
Ling Xi quietly observed Zhou Mingye. When he communicated with others, his words were concise, and his gaze carried a hint of sharpness.
Although his posture looked casual, it inexplicably gave people a sense of pressure.
After the work report ended, Zhou Mingye had nothing else to say. He lowered his head and continued reading the documents, completely ignoring the new employee who had come specifically to greet him.
The atmosphere fell into silence.
Ling Xi glanced at Jiang Huai, feeling somewhat at a loss. Jiang Huai tilted his head slightly and lifted his foot to walk out.
When she reached the doorway, Ling Xi turned back to take another look, only to coincidentally meet Zhou Mingye’s gaze as he looked up.
Perhaps because of a guilty conscience, Ling Xi felt her back stiffen under his gaze. She quickly closed the door and left the office.
Once outside, Ling Xi let out a breath of relief.
Sitting in her chair, she gradually recovered from the tension she had felt in front of Zhou Mingye just now.
On her first day at work, she came to meet the new boss, yet the boss did not say a single word to her the entire time and did not even look at her properly.
Ling Xi rolled her eyes inwardly. As expected, this person was very arrogant.
*
After turning on her computer screen, Ling Xi received a file from Jiang Huai. “This is the boss’s work schedule for this month. This afternoon, find some time to go to his office and confirm with him the matters you’re responsible for.”
Ling Xi nodded and opened the spreadsheet. She then heard Jiang Huai say to her, “President Zhou has that kind of personality. He doesn’t like small talk. Don’t take it to heart. Just do your job well.”
Zhou Mingye’s way of handling things was something the veteran employees had long grown used to. Jiang Huai was worried that this newly arrived girl might overthink things.
“Thank you, Director Jiang. I understand.”
Ling Xi did not have the energy to get stuck in internal conflict over Zhou Mingye’s attitude.
Right now, she needed to straighten out her work as soon as possible and integrate into the new environment before she could proceed with the next step of her plan.
Throughout the entire morning, Ling Xi went through all the responsibilities of an administrative secretary.
Most of what required coordination with Zhou Mingye involved meeting arrangements, client interactions, and industry events.
Other trivial matters such as document management posed no difficulty for Ling Xi.
After the lunch break, Ling Xi took the folder and went to Zhou Mingye’s office.
Based on Zhou Mingye’s attitude toward her that morning, Ling Xi could basically determine that he was not easy to get along with.
If this were her previous company, she would not have cared. If someone was difficult, she would simply interact less and do her own job properly.
But here, she could not afford not to care.
Setting aside getting close to Zhou Mingye, at the very least, she could not let him dislike her. Otherwise, how was she supposed to help Su Wanwan find evidence?
Before entering, Ling Xi took a deep breath and knocked on the door with a smile.
“Come in.”
Zhou Mingye was adjusting the blackout curtains in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. He leaned against the desk, his head slightly raised.
Ling Xi walked in, and what entered her view was Zhou Mingye’s long, lean figure and his somewhat cold, sharp side profile.
When Zhou Mingye stood up, Ling Xi held her breath for a moment and gained a real sense of his height.
She could not help admiring Zhou Mingye’s excellent body proportions, which could be called perfect among men.
What a pity, truly a pity.
Zhou Mingye put down the remote control and sat back in his office chair, looking at Ling Xi. “Have the arrangements for tomorrow morning’s special business meeting been finalized?”
“They’ve been arranged. All participants have been sent email notifications.”
“Can everyone make it?”
Zhou Mingye preferred meetings to be short and efficient. Tomorrow’s meeting was the final discussion before the new product launch.
Only then did Ling Xi recall that Liang Ru had mentioned in the notes that one mid-level manager was meeting clients out of town and was not sure whether he could return tonight. She had been told to communicate in advance.
Ling Xi had just arrived and spent the entire morning getting familiar with the work at hand. She had not yet had time to call that manager.
“Sorry, President Zhou. I’ll confirm it again in a bit.”
After Ling Xi said this, she saw Zhou Mingye frown noticeably.
“Was the handover not done clearly?” Zhou Mingye leaned back, crossed his hands, and rested his elbows on the armrests of the chair.
His expression did not change, but this posture clearly conveyed impatience.
“No, no. The handover was clear. It was my oversight on my end.” Ling Xi had no intention of making excuses and admitted the mistake sincerely.
There was a few seconds of silence. Seeing that Zhou Mingye did not speak, Ling Xi was just about to take out her folder and go over the week’s schedule with her boss.
Just as she lowered her head, Zhou Mingye spoke again. “For work that requires confirmation with others, communicate early. Don’t pile it all up at the final step. Otherwise, there won’t even be time to make adjustments.”
“You’re right. I’ll pay attention to that.”
Zhou Mingye raised his eyebrows and said calmly, “Ruisii doesn’t keep idle people. If you came here to do administrative work with a mindset of just muddling through the days, I advise you to resign early.”
Ling Xi froze for a moment. Muddling through? She had only failed to confirm in time whether all attendees could make it. There was still time to communicate now. How did it escalate to this level?
Ling Xi quickly thought it through. It was her first day at work, and she had not had much contact with her boss yet. She should not have revealed anything, right?
Being spoken to like this by a superior right after joining was inevitably embarrassing, but Ling Xi still made an effort to keep her expression under control.
“President Zhou, I just took over the work and didn’t sort out the priorities clearly. I definitely did not come to Ruisii with the mindset of muddling through.” Ling Xi stepped forward two paces. “I really cherish the opportunity to work at Ruisii. I’ll be more meticulous with the subsequent processes and work hard to learn from you.”
Ling Xi did not expect that after being criticized by her boss, she could still smile and declare her loyalty so smoothly. After saying it, she even let out a quiet breath.
Zhou Mingye did not expect Ling Xi’s reaction.
He had almost exposed her, yet she showed no embarrassment at all and still spoke calmly, saying she absolutely was not here to muddle through.
Zhou Mingye recalled how she had spoken so boldly in the cafe that morning and suddenly let out a laugh. Two completely different faces in public and private. She really knew how to put on an act.
He had no intention of exposing Ling Xi. Hearing the content of a female employee’s phone call in a cafe and then spreading it, what kind of situation would that be? It would make him look like he had far too much time on his hands.
Ling Xi had no idea what Zhou Mingye was laughing about. After a brief silence, Zhou Mingye did not continue reprimanding her. Instead, he pointed at her folder. “What’s the schedule for the next few days?”
As soon as Ling Xi heard this, she quickly opened the folder and reported the week’s schedule item by item.
*
After coming out of the office and thinking about Zhou Mingye’s ambiguous smile just now, Ling Xi felt a bit unsettled.
This boss was definitely not easy to deal with. She had to be more cautious and not let him catch any leverage on her again.
Back at her workstation, Ling Xi lowered her head and flipped through Liang Ru’s previous work records, summarizing the way Liang Ru handled matters.
She also reorganized the spreadsheets on her desktop, reclassifying them and creating folders according to her own habits.
At four in the afternoon, her eyes felt sore. She stood up, rubbed her neck, and went to the pantry to make herself a cup of honey pomelo tea.
Sitting on a high stool, Ling Xi stretched her neck and glanced toward the President’s office. Her gaze suddenly stopped. Han Zhao was carrying a laptop bag and pushed the door open as he walked in.
Ling Xi took a few sips of her drink, then set the cup down and slowly walked toward the President’s office.
As she passed Zhou Mingye’s office, she saw that the door was not fully closed and left a small gap. Pretending to be casual, she secretly peeked inside.
Han Zhao was standing beside Zhou Mingye, reporting on work. He had his head lowered, and the two of them were almost pressed together. What kind of matter required them to stand that close to talk?
Before Ling Xi could see clearly, someone passed behind her. It was not convenient for her to linger, so she quickly left.
Ten minutes later, Han Zhao returned to the President’s office carrying his laptop.
The other people in the department had gone out on errands. Only Ling Xi was at her workstation. Han Zhao’s gaze swept over the unfamiliar face. She also turned to look at him, smiled, and waved.
After recognizing that the person in front of him was Ling Xi, Han Zhao froze for a moment.
Then Ling Xi grinned at him. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Han Zhao nodded in response, his face showing no delight at running into someone he knew.
He was wearing a white shirt and black suit trousers, with the buttons fastened up to the top. He wore glasses, and even sitting in the chair, he maintained a rigid, proper posture.
After greeting her, Han Zhao turned around expressionlessly and got back to work.
Ling Xi clicked her tongue. Who would have thought that this type of style was actually quite popular in the gay circle?
Ling Xi did not interact much with Han Zhao. Ever since Su Wanwan started dating him, Ling Xi had known that Han Zhao was busy with work.
In the three years they had known each other, they had only eaten together a few times.
A moment later, Ling Xi heard the sound of a chair moving behind her. Her phone vibrated. She picked it up. It was a message from Han Zhao.
[Long time no see. How did you end up working here?]
Ling Xi replied: I applied for the job. What a coincidence.
She turned around to glance over and saw Han Zhao send several more lines: Welcome to Ruisii. If you run into any difficulties at work, feel free to look for me. But at the company, don’t mention that we knew each other before. The boss doesn’t like nepotism among colleagues.
Ling Xi stared at that sentence several times before it sank in. Han Zhao wanted her to pretend that she did not know him privately while at the company?
He must be hiding something.
Of course, Ling Xi did not show any abnormal reaction. She replied to Han Zhao: Okay.
For the rest of the time, the two of them each focused on their own work.
Han Zhao typed up a report on his computer. After staying for an hour, he left.
Ling Xi replied to two emails, then glanced at the clock. It was almost time to get off work. With her tasks completed, she shut down her computer, stood up, and stretched.
When Zhou Mingye came out of his office, from not too far away, he saw Ling Xi standing at her workstation, packing up and preparing to get off work.
As he passed through the President’s office, Zhou Mingye lifted his gaze and glanced at the clock on the wall. In his heart, he silently marked Ling Xi’s probation performance as a failing grade.
Zhou Mingye’s figure cast a brief shadow over Ling Xi before he walked away. Ling Xi did not even have time to greet him before he was already far away.
For some reason, Ling Xi felt that Zhou Mingye’s departing figure carried a chill.
After Zhou Mingye exited the company, Ling Xi followed the direction of his earlier gaze and looked up as well. When she saw the time on the clock, she froze instantly. There was still one minute until the end of the workday.
On her very first day at work, how could she be this unlucky?
Working seriously all afternoon, the boss did not see it. Turning off the computer one minute early, and the boss happened to catch it.