To be honest, the contents of the résumé felt unfamiliar to Xiang Yuan. Aside from that Wade cup knowledge competition, which she vaguely remembered, the rest looked like a bunch of nonsense. So, taking advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention, she slipped into the restroom and gave her grandfather a call.

The person who answered wasn’t her grandfather but his assistant, Lai Feibai— a thirty-something man even more talkative than her grandfather. The voice on the other end didn’t sound the least bit surprised by her call, “What’s wrong, Xiao Yuanyuan?”

Xiang Yuan turned and locked the stall door before launching into her interrogation, “Did you make that résumé?”

Lai Feibai chuckled. “Sure did. Any problem with it?”

“Problem?” Xiang Yuan was so angry that she had her hands on her hips. “Did Grandpa put you up to this? With a résumé like that, how am I supposed to get hired? You think anyone will take me seriously?”

In truth, the old man had placed this bet with great reluctance. The board of directors had been determined to shut down the Xi’an branch. Its performance had dragged for years, cutting into their dividends. If it hadn’t been for Technical Director Chen Shan’s insistence, the branch would have been shut down ages ago. The rest of the board had already lost interest in the navigation market and had been urging the old man to pull out and pivot toward the internet industry.

So, back at the Xiang family’s residence, in front of several directors, the old man made a bet. He had been extremely unwilling, but on the other hand, he also saw it as a chance to toughen up the little girl. Xiang Yuan had been coddled her whole life. Maybe this would be the experience she needed to curb her arrogance.

Thus, the rules were set.

She couldn’t reveal her identity.

She couldn’t use the Xiang family’s resources.

She wouldn’t parachute in as general manager, but could choose any other position.

To those old foxes, it didn’t matter if she succeeded or failed. Either way, the branch would be shut down in a year. Of course, Xiang Yuan had no idea she had been deceived.

She had chosen a team leader position in the tech department. What she didn’t know at the time was that Xu Yanshi already held the team leader role. When the old man spoke to Chen Shan, she flat-out refused. Managers could be replaced, but not Xu Yanshi. Xiang Yuan had been curious then. Chen Shan was famously arrogant and difficult. Who could be worth that level of protection? In the end, the old man had to compromise. The department would be split into two teams, each with its own leader. Only then did Chen Shan reluctantly agree.

Lai Feibai sounded completely innocent, “Young Miss, that résumé is the best I could do. I dug through every certificate in the house to piece it together. The old master said it had to be truthful, no fabrications. And honestly, your life experience seems to have ended in childhood. Once you grow up, apart from gaming, there’s absolutely nothing.”

“……You’ve changed, Gouzi^[1]Doggo.”

You used to say I was most charming when I gamed.

Lai Feibai replied coldly, “Anything else, Young Miss? I’m really busy over here.”

Further argument was pointless. Xiang Yuan hung up with dignity.

Lai Feibai smoothed his expression and turned to push open the office door.

Sitting on the sofa behind the door was an old man who must’ve been handsome in his youth. Now, however, his furrowed brow and impatient expression practically screamed, ‘Why hasn’t someone taken over yet? I’ve raised a bunch of useless things.’ He was holding a cup of tea, idly lifting the lid with his right hand to let it cool. Glancing at the door, he took a small sip and asked blandly, “Yuanyuan has reported in?”

Lai Feibai bowed slightly. “Yes, she called me about the résumé.”

The old man snorted. “She actually has the nerve to ask? Doesn’t she know what she’s like?” He must’ve sipped some tea leaves, because he spat them back into the cup before continuing, “By the way, what’s the relationship between Chen Shan and that Xu Yanshi? Why is she so protective of him?”

“I had someone look into it. Nothing inappropriate. Xu Yanshi was recruited by Chen Shan during a campus job fair. He was about to sign with Wade when Chen Shan swooped in and stole him at the last minute.”

Wade was the only domestic leader in GNSS positioning— China’s version of GPS. Their minimum recruitment requirement was a master’s degree from a 211 university^[2]a national key university or a government-sponsored elite university. Yet Xu Yanshi, a mere bachelor’s graduate, had gotten an offer. Just how exceptional had he been?

But the old man wasn’t fully convinced. He mostly didn’t believe in Chen Shan’s ability. “Chen Shan can pull that off?”

Lai Feibai just shrugged helplessly.

“Forget it. Tell Chen Shan not to get too attached. Let go when it’s time. You only get so many years in life, after all!”

After that, Lai Feibai watched in stunned silence as the old man stood up from the sofa and smoothly performed a full front split.

Unfazed, Lai Feibai said, “Old Master, your body is soft and supple. May your legacy endure for ten thousand years.”

────ρя


In Lizhou City, at 4:00 p.m. sharp, everyone returned to the office.

Xiang Yuan stayed in the general manager’s office for a while. The GM’s name was Li Yongbiao, somewhere in his forties, average in looks, with a narrow forehead and shrewd face. From his greasy, slicked-back hair to the pair of polished Yierkang leather shoes on his feet, everything about him reeked of someone worn down by socialism. His forehead might as well have had the word ‘knows the rules’ tattooed on it.

When Chen Shan had sent over Xiang Yuan’s résumé, Li Yongbiao had thought it was a joke and rejected it without hesitation. After all, just last year, headquarters had pushed in a certain higher-up’s niece, who was completely incompetent, constantly late or leaving early, and always pushing her work onto others. The moment anyone said anything critical, she’d go crying to HQ, and their branch’s year-end bonuses had mysteriously gotten slashed. Li Yongbiao was a straight-shooter and preferred to keep his distance from nepotism.

But Chen Shan had insisted this time. Though she didn’t say it outright, it was obvious the girl wasn’t just anybody.

She’s probably someone with even more powerful backing than that niece. He had no choice but to reluctantly accept the little ancestor.

At the moment, the little ancestor was poking around his office, clearly looking for something. He was trying to figure out how to casually ask ‘Coffee or tea?’ without sounding like a total bootlicker, when he turned and saw Xiang Yuan pick up the baseball bat he had stuck in the flower vase by the door.

He rushed to speak. “Little An— uh, Xiao Xiang, you’re in a new environment now, so you need to learn to adapt. Violence won’t solve anything. The tech department’s full of young men, and it’s normal that they won’t accept you at first. Aside from Xu Yanshi, they don’t listen to anyone. Those guys don’t even respect me. If I didn’t have their paychecks in my hand, who knows what trash they’d post about me on their WeChat Moments.”

He was trying to share his grievances to get her to lay down the metaphorical knife and become a Buddha.

Actually, Xiang Yuan had seen some of those sarcastic posts mocking Li Yongbiao. They must’ve blocked him.

【Other bosses wear Hermès, LV, or custom Italian leather shoes. Our Lao Li? Septwolves, Playboy, and Yierkang customs. What a cheap-ass boss. But hey, at least he hasn’t thrown his shoes at anyone yet. Steady as ever.】

Xiang Yuan calmly slid the bat back into the vase, patted her hands, and gave a small smile. “As long as they listen to Xu Yanshi, that’s good enough. Oh, right, I wanted to ask you for a favor. Can I see Xu Yanshi’s personnel file?”

Li Yongbiao blinked. “All the files are at HQ. Why do you want his file? Yanshi’s not like you. He studied this stuff professionally. Studying him won’t help you. In the tech department, he’s the only one who really knows what he’s doing, and even the department head doesn’t understand half the time.”

“Alright then, I’ll ask Chen Shan. Let’s play baseball sometime, General Manager Li.” Xiang Yuan smiled sweetly. “They should be back by now, right?”

Li Yongbiao thought the girl had a powerful aura. When she spoke, she even gave off a bit of that person’s vibe. But that was impossible. He’d heard the big boss’s granddaughter was a troublemaker. How could she be there? He’d only seen the big boss once and didn’t even know what his granddaughter’s name was.

Besides, he clearly remembered that the big boss’s full name was Situ Mingtian.

Xiang Yuan noticed him zoning out and waved a hand in front of his face. “General Manager Li?”

Snapping back to reality, Li Yongbiao shook off those unrealistic thoughts. Glancing at his watch, he grabbed a folder and hurried toward the door. “It’s about time. I’ll take you downstairs to meet your new colleagues.”

────ρя


Actually, Gao Leng hadn’t seen the full résumé. The only thing he knew was a short excerpt of work experience and awards posted by HR in the group chat. So he had no idea the so-called newcomer was the same woman he’d seen a few days ago— the one who seemed to have a vaguely ambiguous connection with the boss.

So before the meeting started, Gao Leng stepped out of the restroom and happened to run into Xiang Yuan, who was just coming out of the GM’s office. Out of politeness and a respect for beauty, he paused and glanced at her briefly.

Back in the tech department, Xu Yanshi was dozing in his chair, a black jacket draped over his head. Gao Leng muttered, wondering aloud where the hell someone found so much time to nap. What was he doing at night? Was he doing unspeakable things? Single dogs.

A high-precision circuit board suddenly flew across the room and smacked him hard on the forehead. Gao Leng jumped up, about to yell in outrage.

Then he saw Xu Yanshi had woken up, thrown off the jacket and his glasses, and was now rubbing his nose bridge as he tried to fully wake up. “Pick it up.”

“Right away.”

Gao Leng didn’t dare argue. He was the type who would rant about the boss in his Moments, but the second he saw him in person, he’d turn all smiles and clench his fists like a model employee while saying, “Another day of working hard!”

“I just saw the newcomer in the restroom.”

Xu Yanshi didn’t seem interested. He put on his glasses and muttered, “Oh.”

“She’s actually a girl!”

Xu Yanshi leaned back in his chair and gave him a sideways glare that said, ‘Are you done yet?’

“But she looked kind of familiar…… I can’t remember where I’ve seen her before. And she smiled at me just now, the hell? I don’t even know her. What’s she smiling at me for? Don’t think I’ll accept her just ’cause she’s pretty. Though, to be fair, she is prettier than most. But man, I really can’t stand these nepotism hires. Where the hell have I seen her before?”

Xu Yanshi said bluntly, “You’ve got eighteen hundred and eighty-eight women on WeChat. You’re asking me?”

Suddenly, Gao Leng had a revelation. He scrambled to grab his phone. “Hold up. Dang, I do know her!”

Xu Yanshi wanted to ask if he could maybe chill for once.

“Remember that night we shared a taxi with that woman? She seemed to be your classmate or something. I couldn’t tell if she had a crush on you or you had one on her, but the whole ride was awkward as hell. I didn’t dare ask. I just scrolled through her Moments in the car and saw her pictures. This one dude also showed up. Looked way older. Probably her boyfriend?”

Xu Yanshi cast a casual glance and said, “No.”

“How do you know it’s not her boyfriend? Damn, and you say you don’t have a crush on her. The moment I saw your face that night, I knew you had a thing for her!”

“Because that’s her high school homeroom teacher. Idiot.”

Gao Leng let out an “Oh” and kept scrolling. “Then this one must be it. Not bad looking, huh.”

“That’s her brother.”

Gao Leng finally found his chance to tease him. He gave Xu Yanshi a meaningful look. “You sure know a lot. You even know her brother, huh?”

Xu Yanshi couldn’t be bothered to respond. He scoffed and turned his head. “Idiot.”

“The more you call me an idiot, the more it shows how nervous you are. You remember the last time you called me an idiot? It was when you went for the Wade interview. I found out you were the only undergrad to get shortlisted. I got so excited, I ran to the library to cheer you on, and you called me an idiot. Later, you told me you were nervous and didn’t know what to say, so ‘idiot’ just slipped out.”

Gao Leng rattled it all off without pausing for breath, then pushed up his glasses with his middle finger, face smug and self-satisfied. “Am I, Edogawa^[3]Conan Edogawa from 《Detective Conan》· Gao Leng, right?”

The air froze, and just then, someone at the door shouted that the meeting was starting.

Xu Yanshi grabbed his jacket and stood up, giving Gao Leng’s forehead a shove as a reminder. “Did you block her from seeing those posts of yours? If not, don’t bother going to the meeting. There’s no guarantee you’ll make it out alive.”

Gao Leng froze in place, staring blankly at Xu Yanshi’s tall and breezy silhouette walking off with his jacket slung over one shoulder.

Crap!!!

────ρя


Xiang Yuan was the first to arrive. She waited a while in the conference room as the others trickled in.

She was quite patient, curled up in her chair while playing a match-3 puzzle game. No one was particularly warm toward her, but there was curiosity. Most of the guys gave her a once-over, confirmed she was a beauty, then went back to discussing video games. The women, on the other hand, kept glancing at her repeatedly and had already started a private group chat.

【Xiao Ling: Bag Master, is that Chanel behind her real?】

【Bag Master: Fake. Chanel didn’t release that model between 2012 and 2018.】

【What about her shoes? Am I seeing this right? Is that Jimmy Choo?】

【Style’s real, no clue if it’s a replica though. I’m not great with shoes.】

【It’s just a pair of shoes. Xiao Ling has a pair of Gucci shoes too. Besides, what kind of rich second-gen would come work here?】

【Don’t be so salty. What if she turns out to be a nice girl?】

【I agree.】

……

Li Yongbiao knocked on the table and pointed his chin toward a guy in the corner with black-rimmed glasses. “Zhang Jun, where are Xu Yanshi and Gao Leng? Why aren’t they here yet?”

Zhang Jun had just opened his mouth when a tall figure strode through the door, followed by a cold voice, “I’m here.”

The chill in his tone hit Xiang Yuan like a gust of air straight from the AC. She shivered slightly under the vent.

She didn’t look up, still focused on her puzzle game.

But her mind had already drifted off. That figure walked past a few people to the long conference table. Xiang Yuan heard the chair screech as he pulled it back. The warm air blew down her collar, and the thin fabric tickled her skin. She suddenly felt agitated. She couldn’t find any more matching tiles on her screen.

In truth, Xu Yanshi wasn’t nearly as cold as he’d been in the car that night.

While the others chatted around the table, he would occasionally chime in. When a woman spoke to him, he’d lower his head and smile slightly. His smile revealed straight, white teeth. He had the same clear-cut look he’d had in high school. He just seemed a little more relaxed now than he did back then.

Their eyes met a few times through the clamor of the room, then both quickly and calmly looked away.

Xiang Yuan refocused on her phone.

Meanwhile, Xu Yanshi chatted with Zhang Jun beside him, his voice low and teasing, drifting lightly through the half-meter between them— through the invisible mountains and seas that had grown between them— and landed softly in her ears.

“It’s handled. Lao Liang found someone to get the board. Just waiting on the manufacturer to redo it.”

Zhang Jun said, “Boss, should we treat Lao Liang and his crew to dinner next time? They really bailed us out this time.”

“We’ll see. Lao Liang’s not into that sort of thing.”

Li Yongbiao knocked the table again. “Alright, that’s enough. The meeting’s starting. Anyone absent, write their names down and dock their pay this month.”

One of the women from the secretarial department hesitated with her pen. “Write everyone’s name? What if our bonus gets docked again this year?”

Li Yongbiao snapped, “Then don’t write. Gao Leng can write it.”

It was blatant bullying. Everyone knew Gao Leng had no connections.

Xu Yanshi was just about to speak up when someone interrupted.

“Forget it, it’s not even an important meeting. No need to write it down. I know Gao Leng.” Xiang Yuan set her phone aside and gave Xu Yanshi a brief glance as she spoke.

Li Yongbiao waved it off. “Alright, alright.”

A wave of shock rippled through the room. Everyone exchanged looks. Iron Crutch Li^[4]one of the Eight Immortals of Daoism who limps about with an iron walking stick backed off? Who the hell was this woman? Wasn’t she supposed to be a new hire? Why did it feel like she’d parachuted in as the general manager?

“Let me introduce her. This is Xiang Yuan, sent from HQ. She’s the new team leader for our tech department.”

The room erupted in whispers.

Li Yongbiao slapped the table. “Cut it out. Let me finish. The tech department will now be split into two teams. Xu Yanshi leads Team One, Xiang Yuan leads Team Two. You can decide who moves over— either by assignment or volunteer. Anyone willing to join Team Two, raise your hand.”

Yeah right. Who the hell would raise their hand?

Xiang Yuan cleared her throat, trying to smooth things over. “It’s fine if you’d rather stick with Team Leader Xu. I’ll just name one person. I’m familiar with Gao Leng, so I’d like him on my team.”

“You only want one person?”

“I’ll have Gao Leng show me around first to help me get familiar with the company.”

Li Yongbiao thought she was pretty sharp— offending no one and smooth as butter. Nothing like that other higher-up’s niece. He found himself oddly looking forward to seeing what this girl could stir up in the company.

“Xu Yanshi, you good with that?”

“Sure.”

“Alright then. Gao Leng, you’re reassigned.”

────ρя


After the meeting, people slowly filed out. Xiang Yuan stayed behind, still playing her match-3 game.

What she didn’t expect was that Xu Yanshi hadn’t left either. He sat sprawled back in his chair, arms folded, legs relaxed. There was a notebook on the table in front of him. It was cleaner than his face, with not a single word written in it. He clearly never bothered taking notes.

When he saw her stop tapping her phone, Xu Yanshi spoke in a low voice, “Finished?”

“Yeah. You’re still here?”

He pulled one arm from his chest and lazily closed the notebook. Looking up, he said, “That post from Gao Leng wasn’t aimed at you. HQ’s been sending a lot of people these past few years, so he’s a little on edge.”

She set her phone down and leaned back, her grin sly like a little fox. “What, afraid I’ll bully him? Xu Yanshi, do you really think I hold grudges like that? I’m still your friend’s ex, you know. Do we have to be so hostile?”

Xu Yanshi let out a low, self-deprecating laugh. The clean lines of his eyes lowered as he looked down, his expression detached and icy. “Other than Feng Jun, do we have nothing else to talk about? Are you looking for a topic or looking for a fight?”