03. “Don’t make me wait next time.”
By the time Ling Xi returned home after work, it was already dark outside.
Song Yan had prepared several home-style dishes. When Ling Xi entered and caught the aroma, she set her bag down and was about to eat, but Song Yan lightly slapped her hand. “Go wash up first.”
After coming out of the bathroom, she picked up her chopsticks and stuffed a piece of braised pork into her mouth.
Across the table, Song Yan stared at her daughter. “Why don’t you drive to and from work? By the time you take the subway home, it’s already dark.”
It had been a long time since Ling Xi had used her brain at such high intensity. Coupled with the fact that the rush-hour subway car was packed with people, she had been squeezed so badly she almost felt short of breath. After taking a few bites of food, she finally recovered. “Parking is too troublesome. Besides, traffic is jammed during peak hours. Driving would be even slower.”
“Then buy an apartment near your company and stay there on weekdays.” Ling Xiangsong felt sorry for his daughter and put several more pieces of meat into her bowl.
“No need, Dad. I might resign again in a few days.”
“If you resign, then resign. Dad will support you.”
Three months ago, Ling Xi quit her job and returned home, saying work was too exhausting and that she wanted to be a full-time daughter.
At the time, Ling Xiangsong had said the same thing and even transferred her a sum of money for her to travel.
Ling Xi squeezed her eyes at her father. “I’m just joking with you.”
“To be honest, the location of your company is pretty good.”
“Stop, stop.” Ling Xi raised her hand. “Can’t you have some other hobby?”
Ling Xi’s current carefree life was entirely thanks to her father’s keen investment sense when he was young.
But with the current economic downturn, buying a house just for an “undercover” job was a bit unnecessary.
After dinner, Ling Xi regained her energy.
Back in her bedroom, she collapsed onto the bed and merged with the blankets, watched two episodes of a mindless, feel-good drama, and then her phone rang.
Su Wanwan sent a message asking how Ling Xi’s first day at work had gone.
Ling Xi immediately sat up and complained to Su Wanwan: Wanwan, listen to this. It’s true that a person’s appearance reflects their heart. I disliked him at first sight. He’s arrogant toward subordinates. I greeted him, and he directly ignored me!
Su Wanwan replied: That’s how it is when someone isn’t interested in women.
Ling Xi agreed: I think Han Zhao must be with him under pressure from his boss.
Su Wanwan had long passed the stage of being heartbroken. She sent a voice message. “Objectively speaking, Zhou Mingye’s looks really are flawless. Xixi, if you feel wronged, just resign.”
Ling Xi leaned against the pillow, admiring her freshly painted nail polish. “What’s there to feel wronged about? It’s not like I’ve never worked before. Besides, Ruisii’s benefits really are good. I’ll just treat it as experiencing life.”
On the other end of the call, there was the sound of a door lock turning at Su Wanwan’s home. She lowered her voice. “Han Zhao is back. Let’s talk later.”
Before going to sleep, Ling Xi picked up her phone and deliberately set the alarm twenty minutes earlier.
She had been seen by her boss clocking out right on time in the afternoon. To turn around her image, she decided to arrive early and establish herself as a diligent, motivated employee.
The next morning, Ling Xi got up on time. When she arrived at the company, there were only a handful of people in the office area, and the door to the President’s office was tightly shut.
A little after nine, Ling Xi went to prepare for the special business meeting. When she pushed the door open, she discovered that Zhou Mingye had already arrived in the meeting room at some point.
She suddenly felt like she did when she was young, trying hard to perform well in front of elders, only for no one to notice.
Zhou Mingye was sitting in his chair, reviewing the materials prepared in advance. Hearing someone enter, he lifted his gaze and glanced at Ling Xi.
“Good morning, President Zhou.” Ling Xi walked past him and placed water in front of him.
Zhou Mingye lowered his head and responded with a brief “Mm.” His expression was as cold and stern as ever. It was a very perfunctory response to Ling Xi’s greeting.
Ling Xi secretly pouted and went to check the computer and projector.
After completing the pre-meeting preparations and with most people having arrived, Ling Xi made sure there were no issues, closed the door, and went out.
For two consecutive days, Ling Xi arrived early and left late. After work, she would still type away on the keyboard for a while before leaving, yet she did not encounter Zhou Mingye even once.
Since the boss did not need to keep regular office hours, Ling Xi propped her chin up and thought about it. She decided to put her plan of building a hardworking image on hold for now.
She stared blankly at the computer, her mind turning over how she might get closer to the boss, when a shadow suddenly fell over her.
After catching sight of who it was out of the corner of her eye, Ling Xi quickly opened a document, propped up her arms, and even made her typing sounds louder.
Zhou Mingye was speaking with Jiang Huai. “For this afternoon’s summit, arrange for someone to attend with me.”
Normally, Han Zhao would accompany him to this kind of external meeting. Today, Zhou Mingye had temporarily assigned Han Zhao other tasks, so someone else from the President’s office needed to step in.
Jiang Huai stood up and glanced around the department.
Xu Jing had gone to the Administration for Industry and Commerce and had not returned yet. Another colleague, Mr. Wang, was in charge of logistics and was usually not assigned additional tasks.
Although Ling Xi had just joined, Jiang Huai thought the girl looked quite sharp and worked seriously. Taking meeting minutes was part of a secretary’s job and was not particularly difficult.
He turned and spoke. “Xiao Ling.”
Hearing Jiang Huai call her, Ling Xi hurriedly stood up and proactively volunteered. “President Zhou, I’ll go with you.”
Zhou Mingye glanced at Ling Xi. She stood properly, once again wearing that posture of being very proactive about work.
Almost without hesitation, Zhou Mingye coldly threw out three words. “Change to someone else.”
What?
The corner of Ling Xi’s mouth twitched, and the smile on her face was about to collapse.
She could almost be certain that Zhou Mingye was not only difficult to get along with but also seemed to be targeting her.
If this were another company, she would not go if he did not want her to. She would even enjoy the free time.
But now she carried an important mission and had to seize the opportunity to prove her work capability.
Ling Xi took a deep breath and mustered the courage to speak. “President Zhou, I’ve reviewed all the meeting records from the past year of your external conferences and made notes. Please rest assured. I can handle it.”
Because her voice was too loud, people from the neighboring department all looked over at once, wearing expressions that seemed half-amused.
As expected of a new employee. Full of enthusiasm. Even after being told to change to someone else by the boss, she could still keep a straight face and insist on going out on assignment.
Zhou Mingye was also clearly taken aback. His gaze swept over Ling Xi. Her eyes were very bright, and when she looked directly at someone, it gave a strong sense of sincerity.
On the surface, the surrounding colleagues were focused on their computers, but out of the corners of their eyes, they kept glancing over, curious about how the boss, who was known for never showing leniency, would respond.
If it were another employee, they would probably have quietly sat back down. Zhou Mingye was slightly surprised by Ling Xi’s reaction and raised his brows as he studied her.
Under Zhou Mingye’s unhidden scrutiny, Ling Xi grew nervous. Her palms even started to sweat.
Before the colleagues could get a response from Zhou Mingye, they instead saw HR manager Zhang Shangyu arrive.
The boss had not been in the company for several days, and Zhang Shangyu was waiting for him to sign some documents.
Upon seeing Zhou Mingye enter the company, Zhang Shangyu hurried toward his office. Unexpectedly, Zhou Mingye stopped at the President’s office instead, so Zhang Shangyu followed him directly, moving briskly all the way.
Zhou Mingye lowered his eyes to look at him. “Something?”
“Sorry, President Zhou. There’s a document that needs urgent approval.”
Zhou Mingye took the materials and flipped through them as he walked toward his office, leaving Ling Xi standing there.
Ling Xi watched the two figures from behind, unable to sit or stand comfortably, and silently cursed Zhou Mingye for being devious.
She turned to look at Jiang Huai, her expression awkward. “Director Jiang, what does President Zhou mean by this? Am I going or not?”
Jiang Huai could not quite figure it out either. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “He didn’t refuse. That should mean you’re not being replaced. At two in the afternoon, wait at elevator number 1. Be on time.”
“Got it!”
*
In the office, after finishing reading the document in his hands, Zhou Mingye lowered his head and signed his name.
After capping the pen, he glanced at several resumes on the edge of the desk, picked up the one on top, and asked Zhang Shangyu, “What did you see in this new employee?”
In the past, Zhou Mingye rarely involved himself in the recruitment of ordinary employees.
Zhang Shangyu was a little surprised as he took the resume from Zhou Mingye’s hand.
After new employees joined, he would synchronize a copy of their information to Zhou Mingye, but Zhou Mingye usually did not look at it.
When he caught sight of the name on the resume, Zhang Shangyu smiled. “Ling Xi. This girl has a pretty good personality and handles people appropriately. She originally wanted to apply for the front desk position.”
“Then why did she end up in the President’s Office?”
“At the time, the front desk candidate had already been decided, so I asked whether she was willing to do an administrative secretary position. She said that as long as she could get into Ruisii, she was willing to switch positions.”
Zhou Mingye raised an eyebrow. Ling Xi’s resume was not bad. Her previous job was at a well-known fast-moving consumer goods company. What was she after by entering Ruisii? Becoming a slacker and muddling through?
Did muddling through require pretending to be that proactive?
Oh. He recalled Ling Xi’s string of bold remarks in the cafe. It seemed that her enthusiastic performance was just a disguise.
A trace of mockery flashed across Zhou Mingye’s face. “Observe her carefully during the probation period. If her ability isn’t sufficient, recruit again.”
Ruisii had a standardized evaluation system. Under normal circumstances, as long as an employee did not make obvious mistakes, they would pass probation smoothly.
Zhang Shangyu thought to himself, why are you targeting a young girl like this? He felt puzzled but did not dare to ask. He nodded and agreed. “Alright.”
*
After lunch, Ling Xi used her break time to familiarize herself with the information for the afternoon summit and also reviewed the materials of the guest speakers.
At one fifty, she shut down her computer, slung her bag over her shoulder, and prepared to head toward the elevator.
Just as she stood up, an internal call came through. Someone from the sales department needed to change a meeting room and required Ling Xi to contact two departments to coordinate.
After handling it in a few minutes, Ling Xi checked the time. One fifty-eight. She lifted her legs and ran toward the elevator.
As soon as she entered the corridor, Ling Xi saw the doors of the president’s private elevator slowly closing. Through the narrowing gap were Zhou Mingye’s deep, dark eyes.
This is bad. This is really bad.
Ling Xi hurriedly pressed the button for the nearby employee elevator. She had clearly prepared in advance. How could she end up later than the boss?
To make matters worse, this elevator stopped three times along the way. By the time she finally came out from the underground level, Ling Xi saw that just a few steps away, Zhou Mingye was already bending down to get into the car.
She sprinted over in one breath. Hearing the engine start, Ling Xi did not have time to think. She pulled the door open and sat down in the front passenger seat.
Ling Xi shut the door and did not dare turn her head. In her heart, she had already prepared herself for Zhou Mingye to tell her to get out of the car.
Yet the interior of the car was unusually quiet. Ling Xi did not even dare breathe too loudly.
The driver glanced at Zhou Mingye through the rearview mirror. Seeing that he did not speak, the driver drove the car out of the parking lot.
After fastening her seat belt, Ling Xi finally heard Zhou Mingye’s voice. He was leaning back in his seat and was on the phone.
The window was open. Zhou Mingye’s long arm rested casually on the window frame. His tone was indifferent. “I already have plans this weekend. I can’t attend.”
On the other end of the call was Zhou Mingye’s mother, Liang Fangyue. She asked softly, “Do you really have plans, or do you just not want to go?”
“Mom, I really don’t have time. I’ve arranged to play ball with a client.” Zhou Mingye replied patiently.
Ling Xi sat there listening to Zhou Mingye’s phone call. It could only be described as extremely uncomfortable.
He was this cold even when speaking to his family. If she had not heard him address her as his mother, Ling Xi would have thought he was rejecting a client’s invitation.
A few minutes later, Zhou Mingye hung up the phone, and Ling Xi’s heart tightened.
They had already set off. He probably would not make her get out of the car now, right?
She relaxed her posture slightly when she heard a cold voice from behind. “You were five minutes late.”
Even without turning her head, Ling Xi could tell from his tone that his expression was definitely unpleasant.
She could even feel Zhou Mingye’s sharp gaze sweep over her.
Ling Xi cursed under her breath. Damn it. What kind of rotten luck was this?
She turned her head. “Sorry, President Zhou. I received an internal call before setting off and was delayed a few minutes.”
The low pressure inside the car spread. Before Zhou Mingye could criticize her, Ling Xi took the initiative to reflect.
“Before going out in the future, I’ll confirm in advance whether there are any matters that require my coordination. This situation won’t happen again.”
After she finished speaking, she waited for Zhou Mingye’s criticism, but he did not say anything more. He only coldly tossed out a sentence. “Don’t make me wait next time.”
In the confined space, the scent of the car’s air freshener lingered, like a light white tea. Gradually, Ling Xi’s emotions eased a little, and she calmed down.
She turned passivity into initiative, took out a notebook from her bag, and slightly turned her body. “President Zhou, aside from taking meeting minutes at the summit this afternoon, do you have any other requirements? I’ll write them down.”
Zhou Mingye turned his head to look at Ling Xi. There was not the slightest trace of lingering apology on her face from having been late just now.
On the contrary, there was a smile in her brows and eyes, and she had already started discussing work with him.
Who exactly was the boss here?