Chapter 7

Chi Xiting spaced out for a while, then forced herself to forget about the post and continued scrolling on Little Red Book.

The content was mostly about store exploration and various recipes.

She saved a bunch of them, planning to try them one by one when she had the chance.

For example, Qingtingxuan.

She really wanted to go there.

It was nearby, the environment was elegant, the variety of dishes was wide, and the ingredients were high-quality and stable. Its only downside was the high price.

But, no, that was probably its biggest flaw.

Chi Xiting stared at the reviews for a while, the more she read, the more tempted she became. After some hesitation, she finally made the decision to try it this month.

One can’t suffer in every way—why not enjoy the pleasures that life offers?

The time spent idling away always passed quickly, and before she knew it, it was almost time to get off work.

Chi Xiting’s WeChat, which had been quiet all afternoon, suddenly pinged.

Chi He Yuan: [I need to work overtime, you can go back after your shift ends.]

Chi He Yuan is now a system maintenance specialist in the technology department. As a technical staff member, overtime is a regular part of the job, and working year-round without breaks is the norm.

The position of system maintenance is also thankless—when everything is running smoothly, no one acknowledges the efforts of the technical team, but when the system crashes, people automatically blame the technical team for mistakes.

Setting aside passion and money…

Only someone with a lot of resentment would take on this job.

Chi Xiting glanced at the message and replied with an OK.

The “typing…” notification appeared and disappeared repeatedly in the chat box. Chi Xiting stared at it for a while, wondering what Chi He Yuan could possibly want to say, to be so hesitant.

Chi He Yuan: [Are you adjusting to the work today?]

It was very formal.

Perhaps, as the younger brother and a long-time employee of Chushi, he felt he should offer some kind of humanistic comfort to the new recruit, Chi Xiting.

Chi Xiting was a bit flattered and carefully crafted his reply.

Chi Xiting: [It’s fine?]

Chi He Yuan seemed to ask out of formality and wasn’t really interested in Chi Xiting’s response. He just said “Oh” and stopped replying.

Chi Xiting didn’t pay much attention. With half an hour to go before five o’clock, he felt refreshed. After finishing his last bit of coconut juice, he calculated the time and decided to take out the trash, go to the bathroom, and then linger a little longer before leaving.

Indeed, the air without overtime was sweet.

—–

Chi Xiting finished throwing away the trash and bumped into Li Yang, who had just returned from a meeting, right at the door of Group C’s office.

“Hi,” Li Yang, looking stunning, walked up to Chi Xiting with a stack of materials, greeted him with a smile, then seemed to think of something. “Hey, I don’t think I’ve added you on WeChat yet. Let’s add each other.”

“Sure.” Chi Xiting nodded, and when he lowered his head to grab his phone, he seemed to catch a glimpse of something. When handing the QR code to Li Yang to scan, he instinctively glanced up and happened to see Huo Youshen walking into Group A’s office with his hands in his pockets, wearing a cold expression.

Can’t say it’s not true.

Huo Youshen truly embodied all the traits of the male lead.

His surname is the type specifically reserved for male leads, his appearance has the typical cool and gloomy vibe, and his personality…

He seemed to have a bad temper.

Chi Xiting glanced at him briefly and then averted his gaze, looking down and accepting Li Yang’s friend request, before heading back to the office with her.

After a brief pause at the door, Chi Xiting returned to his workstation just in time for five o’clock.

Time to leave!

Chi Xiting’s eyes lit up as he packed up without hesitation, shutting down his computer and preparing to leave.

Everyone in the group remained still, as if they hadn’t noticed it was time to leave. They were still immersed in their work, staring at their computers, brows furrowed, seemingly troubled by work-related obstacles.

Chushi doesn’t encourage overtime, nor does it follow the norm of other big companies where employees automatically extend their work by fifteen to thirty minutes after the official end of their shift.

But Chushi’s employees are responsible and competitive. They don’t complain during working hours and don’t show enthusiasm when it’s time to leave. They always finish the work that can be done today without postponing it until tomorrow.

Chi Xiting could actually understand.

After all, in his previous life, he was the same.

Many ordinary people have no choice but to push forward. With an average background and no parental support, after struggling into a big city from a smaller one, even getting a chance at a major corporation, they can only work relentlessly—earn, get promoted, save money, and buy a house—hoping to feel a sense of belonging in this unfamiliar, fast-paced city.

But resources are always limited.

If you don’t keep up, you’ll eventually be eliminated.

Chi Xiting clicked his tongue and didn’t comment on the situation. He carefully pushed his chair back into the desk, but the faint sound of the chair against the floor caught the attention of many.

It seemed they were all surprised someone was leaving on time.

Xing Panpan also looked up, and upon seeing it was Chi Xiting, she was slightly startled, but didn’t say anything. She smiled and nodded at him before turning back to continue working.

The other interns, who had been there a few days longer than Chi Xiting, were already familiar with Chushi’s work culture. Although the tasks assigned to them didn’t require staying late, they stayed at their desks to show their dedication and commitment, hoping to improve their chances of getting a full-time position.

Li Xin was a bit dumbfounded and, after watching Chi Xiting leave, whispered in surprise to the other interns, “What? He just left like that?”

Ren Jiajia, who hadn’t seen Chi Xiting before, asked, “Who’s that?”

“An intern,” Li Xin explained. “He didn’t come earlier, he just reported today.”

“Oh, that makes sense. First day, probably nothing to do. Why stay here just to sit?”

“Sounds like we have something to do…” Li Xin replied dryly.

Ren Jiajia: “…Why do you always have to phrase things so harshly?”

Li Xin laughed and said, “Well, he probably thinks he doesn’t have a chance at a full-time position, doesn’t want to compete anymore. He just wants the Chushi internship experience. Interns who don’t want full-time jobs are treated like kings.”

Li Yang overheard the conversation, frowned slightly, but didn’t speak up. She glanced at the two chatting away, then quietly lowered her head to continue writing her meeting report.

Although Chushi’s CEO, Chu Yu, hadn’t attended the meeting, senior management had come to observe, and Li Yang had learned a lot from the meeting. She was increasingly attracted to Chushi.

Her goal remained simple.

Learn well and get converted to a full-time position.

Everything else was just noise.

The moment Chi Xiting stepped out of the company gates, the vibrant green of the surroundings combined with the dazzling gold sunlight poured into his eyes.

It was rare for Chi Xiting to see the sun during work hours, between five and six in the afternoon.

The sunlight was perfect, the orange-yellow rays pierced through the dense trees lining the road, filtering through the crisscrossed branches, gently sprinkling onto the street.

The flow of people in the commercial district was heavy at any time, especially during rush hour after work, and it took a few tries for Chi Xiting to board the subway home.

Taking advantage of this time, Chi Xiting also calculated his commuting time.

His home was only two subway stations away from the Chu Corporation, and after adding the walking time inside and outside the station, it was conservatively estimated that it would take 15 minutes to get to the office.

Great.

—–

Waking up at 8:30 a.m. wasn’t a big issue.

Chi Xiting bought some crab roe wontons for dinner from Yuan Ji Yun Dumplings downstairs from his apartment.

He slowly finished his dinner at the restaurant, cleaned up the place a bit, and after throwing out the trash, he remembered that the clothes his father had washed for him in the morning still hadn’t been hung out to dry.

This is why work is so frustrating.

The most precious and productive hours of the day are spent in the office, yet you think you’ll be able to relax and rest when you get home, only to find a pile of small tasks waiting for you.

By the time Chi Xiting had cleaned up, taken a hot shower, and laid down on his bed, it was already past 7 p.m.

It was okay.

He still had some time to check his phone.

Chi Xiting lazily scrolled through TikTok, when suddenly a WeChat message popped up, causing his heart to skip a beat and his nerves to tighten.

Damn.

The PTSD of having something to do after work hit him.

Chi Xiting cautiously clicked on the WeChat message.

It was a group message.

The group was named “Low Salary, Calm Mind, Working and Selling Art.”

Chi Xiting paused for two seconds. He vaguely remembered that he hadn’t joined this group when he looked at it this morning. After thinking for a moment, he clicked on the group introduction. The group had dozens of members, including Xing Panpan, Fang Ben, and others, so he figured it must be the marketing department’s work group.

It was probably Xing Panpan who added him.

The group name…

Chi Xiting took another look.

The person who named it was quite clever.

But it probably wasn’t an ordinary employee who came up with it.

Chi Xiting became interested and carefully looked at the group members.

The group owner’s profile picture was of Crab Boss, and the nickname was Simon.

Chi Xiting stared at the profile for a few seconds, but couldn’t deduce the identity of the group owner from this sparse information.

—-

After a couple of glances, Chi Xiting lost interest, saw that there were no new updates in the group, and decided to brush off the matter, turning back to watching short videos.

Around 10 p.m., the door outside finally made a sound.

Chi Xiting paused his phone and glanced toward the door.

Since he came back from the hospital, he hadn’t seen his mysterious roommate yet.

He wasn’t sure what his roommate did, but he guessed they were quite busy.

They left the house before 6 a.m. and came back around 10 p.m.

Such a completely mismatched schedule was actually pretty good—it helped avoid unnecessary socializing or conflicts.

It would be even better if his roommate could be a bit quieter.

Outside the door, there were more sounds—knocking, then the fridge opening, the dragging of a chair, and then the long noise of clothes being thrown and slippers shuffling.

Chi Xiting lay back down, tried to ignore the noise, and scrolled through two more videos. Another WeChat message popped up.

It was still from the department group.

【Simon】: I’m going back to B city tomorrow.

The group instantly became lively as soon as the group owner spoke.

【Lalala】: Wow, really?!

【Arbitrary】: Yay!

【Shanzhi Buqi】: That’s great, aw, you’ve been away for so long on this business trip.

【Li Li】: Will Manager Shen come to the office tomorrow?

Chi Xiting blinked and scratched his chin.

Manager Shen?

So Simon was Shen Zhi Zhe?

【Simon】: I’m not coming tomorrow. I’ve been working outside for so long, I need to take a few days off when I come back. 😎

As soon as Shen Zhi Zhe’s words were spoken, the group became secretly happy, and then, whether sincere or feigned, everyone expressed their sadness and regret at not seeing Shen Zhi Zhe tomorrow.

Chi Xiting enjoyed watching the spectacle. For a while, he didn’t feel like watching videos anymore, feeling quite entertained as he watched the group messages refresh.

Shen Zhi Zhe was sharp—how could he not notice his employees’ little schemes? Once the timing was right, he interrupted the “mourning” of the group.

【Simon】: Since you all miss me so much, here’s the deal—I’ll take fewer days off and come back on Monday. Let’s have a regular meeting on Monday at 10 a.m. Everyone needs to attend and report on the past two weeks’ work.

The lively group immediately quieted down.

Everyone: “…”

Damn, overacting.

—-

After a while, everyone finally started replying one by one, acknowledging that they understood.

Chi Xiting was happily watching the drama, his lips just beginning to curve when Shen Zhi Zhe sent another message.

【Simon】: All the interns should come as well. Before the meeting, communicate with your mentors about the materials you need to prepare for the meeting. We’ll go through them one by one.

Chi Xiting: “…”

Too early to be happy.

The group became even quieter.

Like death.

After a long while, a new message appeared.

【Li Yang】: Got it.

With one representative responding, the other interns followed suit.

【Huo】: Got it.

【Mia】: Got it.

—-

Seeing that eleven out of twelve interns had responded, Chi Xiting hesitated for a while, caught between acknowledging it and ignoring it.

【Chi Xiting】: 1