Chapter 2

By the second week of working under Wang Bo, Shen Mi had quickly developed an iron-clad resilience, handling her eccentric boss’s strange demands with increasing ease.

The CEO’s office had six secretaries, split into personal secretaries and administrative secretaries, each at a different level. Shen Mi was at the lowest level. The highest-ranking secretary was Wang Bo’s trusted aide from his previous company, with a monthly salary of 40,000 yuan. This person had an impressive resume and was being groomed for a vice president role. Shen Mi’s goal, however, was to reach the position held by Xiao Lin, who earned 12,000 yuan per month.

But within a month, Xiao Lin resigned.

The official reason was to return home for marriage, but the real reason was that Wang Bo was too harsh.

Wang Bo seemed unsurprised: “If I wasn’t harsh, would my parents have named me Wang Bo?” He promptly promoted Shen Mi to Xiao Lin’s position, giving her a motivational speech: “Work hard, and a bright future awaits you.”

But he didn’t mention anything about making her permanent.

Without a permanent position, expecting a raise was just a daydream.

“If you lack experience, then learn properly. Remember this: your phone must be on 24/7 and not on silent mode. Any work assignments in the group chat, including calls, must be responded to within five minutes, or you’re out,” Wang Bo said, his face long with frustration after losing a client yesterday. He was in a bad mood during the meeting today, breaking three cups in his anger.

Everyone had come to expect Shen Mi to handle these situations, so she crouched down to pick up the broken glass. She accidentally cut her hand but hurriedly cleaned up the mess, afraid Wang Bo would notice and scold her for being clumsy.

Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival, but in the big city, there wasn’t much holiday spirit. By the time Shen Mi finished her overtime, it was already 9:30 p.m. On her way back to her rented room, she passed through a small vegetable market. The streetlight was out, and the ground was covered in water. Wearing thin high heels, she slipped, ending up with mud on her hands. She squatted by the roadside to clean her hands, then limped forward slowly.

She caught sight of a family of three, the vegetable sellers, sitting together for dinner and smiled softly.

Before her father passed away, her family would sometimes gather like that too. Right before her college entrance exams, her father had died suddenly. No one had told her; by the time she found out, her mother had already remarried.

“Big sister, want to buy some vegetables?” A young boy put down his bowl and chopsticks to help his parents draw in customers.

The delicious aroma from their meal reminded Shen Mi that she hadn’t had dinner yet. “How much are the eggplants?”

Shen Mi bought two eggplants and a few cloves of garlic, planning to make braised eggplant. When she got home, though, she realized she was out of oil, so she ended up steaming the eggplant in her rice cooker instead.

Her room had no windows, so she couldn’t see the moon outside, but Shen Mi knew that tonight’s moon must be full.

After dinner, she logged into her game and left a message for her master: “Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!”

Shen Mi opened her diary.

— September 15, 2016, weather clear.

Hoping everything goes smoothly in the future.

*

Shen Mi was working on a base salary of 5,000 yuan while doing work worth 12,000, and on top of that, Wang Bo would occasionally throw in some “bright future” remarks as subtle PUA. Xiao Zhou couldn’t bear to watch and confided in her, “My manager said the same thing five years ago, not even changing a word. Endlessly working ‘996’ hours is as far as you should bend; don’t give in anymore.”

Shen Mi gave a wry smile—her circumstances didn’t give her the luxury of standing firm.

Two months passed without her being made permanent. Perhaps feeling guilty, Wang Bo became slightly less difficult. On good days, he’d buy her a coffee and throw in a compliment or two; on bad days, it was smashing cups and cursing.

He didn’t curse *at* Shen Mi but instead at clients and competitors. Of course, the clients and competitors couldn’t hear him, so who else bore the brunt of it but her?

Shen Mi wished she could take back all the nice things she’d ever said about Wang Bo. She logged into the game, intending to vent, but unfortunately, her master wasn’t online.

Tomorrow, the big boss would be visiting. News of his arrival had already spread through the company’s internal chat groups. Other departments wouldn’t be affected, but since Shen Mi was part of the CEO’s office, she, as the newbie, would likely be handling tea and water duties. With only 15 hours left before the inspection, a subtle dread had already taken hold of her.

Under Wang Bo, she’d developed a thick skin and wasn’t afraid of cold stares. Her main worry was that the big boss was notorious for firing people on the spot.

He had no qualms about letting go of even the CEO…

Though it made sense, as he was eliminating remnants of the “previous regime” to prevent backstabbing and strengthen his own power, his ruthlessness was undeniable. Shen Mi’s real fear was losing her job.

That night, she frantically searched for any useful information about the group’s big boss.

— Xie Rongzhuo.

— From a prominent family circle in Beijing.

— 27 years old.

— Recently returned from abroad to take over the group; founder of Rui Xing Chinese Merchant. No real, reliable photos of him were available online.

…

*

The difference between real life and a drama is—

No one in the CEO’s office was looking forward to meeting the big boss. In fact, they were all secretly hoping for some unavoidable delay—a flight cancellation, family pressures to marry, an ex-girlfriend causing drama… anything that might keep him away.

“When it comes to our jobs, men don’t matter. Even if he’s handsome, can he be better-looking than those celebrity heartthrobs who eventually get into scandals?”

Xiao Zhou, after fixing her makeup, sprayed breath freshener in her mouth several times and handed it to Shen Mi. “Better be careful too; if you make the boss frown, Wang ‘the Harsh’ Bo will find a reason to pick on you.”

The moment the young group chairman entered, Xiao Zhou took back her words. “With that face? I’m already kneeling.”

“This way, Mr. Xie—”

A chorus of greetings filled the spacious, bright office.

“Hello, Mr. Xie!”

“Good day, Mr. Xie…”

The big boss was surrounded by layers of company executives.

In the presence of true beauty, even the greatest emperors would lose their minds, much less a crowd of ordinary employees.

The man had strikingly defined features, with deep, detached eyes and a high nose bridge topped with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. His jawline was sharp and seamless, and the glasses added a layer of cool detachment, creating an air of aloof elegance.

So young, yet apparently resigned to taking over the family business.

Though her colleagues were all openly mesmerized by the boss’s stunning looks, Shen Mi, typically not one for appearances, found herself staring in admiration for a few seconds as well.

Everyone else was already watching him, so Shen Mi took the opportunity to openly follow their gaze.

In the next moment, he suddenly turned his head in her direction.

When their eyes met, Shen Mi’s heart skipped a beat.

One second.

Two seconds…

She curved her lips into a professional smile and gave a slight nod, before calmly lowering her gaze.

Tall. Handsome.

The very picture of a polished player.

Just a casual glance from him could practically steal your soul.

— All signs of a classic heartbreaker.

Strangely enough, even knowing this, Shen Mi found herself distracted the entire afternoon.

She shook off these inappropriate thoughts and refocused on her work.

Men are obstacles on the road to success.

Handsome heartbreakers? Even more so!

Unexpectedly, half an hour later, Shen Mi literally stumbled upon this “obstacle.”

Just as she stepped out of the restroom, Wang Bo was on the phone rushing her to deliver documents as urgently as if it were a life-or-death matter. Shen Mi quickly agreed, turned around—and accidentally kicked someone.

Realizing who it was, she quickly apologized, “I’m so sorry, Mr. Xie!” She immediately pulled out a tissue and squatted down to clean his pant leg.

A hand steadied her wrist, stopping her mid-motion. Shen Mi froze, tissue in hand, and slowly looked up to meet his gaze.

Xie Rongzhuo glanced down at her, his voice calm and indifferent. “It’s fine.”

But why was he…

Standing right by the restroom door!

“Even gods have to use the bathroom,” Xiao Zhou teased, barely containing her laughter. “He’s human, Shen Mi. Don’t go mythologizing him into some ethereal being with no earthly needs.”

“It’s not that,” Shen Mi replied. “When I came out, there was no one around.” It was as if Xie Rongzhuo had just been standing there the whole time—otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so oblivious as to bump into him.

*

Shen Mi couldn’t help but feel a bit worried. What if Xie Rongzhuo thought she was clumsy and careless? Wang Bo may not need approval from headquarters to hire a secretary, but promotions were another story. Making a bad impression on the big boss could definitely impact her future prospects. And Xie Rongzhuo, despite being young, didn’t seem like someone who’d let things slide easily. Minor issues might be overlooked, but a salary increase was a serious matter.

What a stroke of bad luck. Why hadn’t she glanced to the side for even a second?

After a busy day at work, Shen Mi logged into her game after a shower, planning to just check in and log off.

Just then, her master came online.

Seeing her master’s flamboyant, beautiful avatar, Shen Mi’s serious expression instantly turned into a smile. “Master~ Good evening!”

Very Mysterious: “How’s work going there?”

It was rare for her master to have time to chat casually, so Shen Mi immediately shared a few major events from the month. Then she added excitedly, *”I met our company’s big boss!”*

Very Mysterious: “Haven’t you seen him before?”

*Shen Mi*: “This time it’s the big boss of the whole group!”

In real life, Shen Mi appeared graceful and elegant, but her gaming avatar was a little girl, and her typing tone was drastically different from her real-life demeanor. Whenever she chatted with her master, she couldn’t help but vent all her thoughts, as if there were endless things to say.

After she finished typing a dozen or so lines of text, her master replied: “You seem quite interested in him.”

Very Mysterious: “Describe him.”