The shipping order for Feixiang has already been submitted by Chen Xiao through the system. Once Sister Pei makes the payment after the holiday, if all goes well, the goods will be shipped on the same day the payment is made. 

Everything in work is going smoothly, but that doesn’t mean personal matters are as well. 

For Mid-Autumn Festival, the company handed out holiday gifts—which were actually just leftover inventory. Lu Nan didn’t sell her share to colleagues in the distribution channel. Even though it was regular-priced liquor from the supply chain, it had been aged for quite a few years, making it presentable enough for gifting when needed. 

Lu Nan thought for a moment. After confirming that Xiang Feifei wanted to sell her share, she bought the entire case from her for 150 yuan. 

She found some time to call SF Express customer service and arranged for a pickup. 

Two boxes of mooncakes, two cases of wine. 

Half was sent to her father, the other half to her mother. 

She tried to keep things fair. 

Lu Nan had already planned not to return home during the Mid-Autumn and National holidays because she didn’t want to face her parents at the moment. 

However, even if she couldn’t be there in person, the gifts still had to be sent. 

She didn’t think of herself as blindly filial, but keeping up appearances was necessary—especially for a traditional holiday like Mid-Autumn Festival. 

Since her hometown was in the same province, and the items were shipped by land despite containing liquid, they arrived the next day. 

Then— 

That afternoon, she got a call from her father. 

“You don’t need to waste money buying these things. They’re expensive and don’t even taste good. You’re living alone out there, so be careful with your spending. Don’t go throwing money around.” 

That evening, she also got a call from her mother. 

“You actually spent money on these mooncakes? They’re overpriced and taste terrible. And that liquor—what brand is it? Some off-brand stuff? No one in this house even drinks! Such a waste of money.” 

Lu Nan let out a deep sigh. 

Even though her parents were divorced, their mindset was still surprisingly in sync. 

She smiled bitterly. 

Fortunately, looking at the rise of certain media stocks she owned always managed to bring her some joy. 

At the beginning of September, she received over 4,000 yuan as the advance payment for the “Quick Transmigration” novel from August (half of the total); the red envelope from the Grand Tasting Event at Feixiang came with 3,800 yuan; and her salary and allowances issued on the 10th amounted to 6,000 yuan. 

This brought her total income to nearly 14,000 yuan. She invested 12,000 yuan in the stock market and kept 1,800 yuan for daily expenses. Since she wasn’t returning home for Mid-Autumn and National Day, she saved over 200 yuan on travel costs. As for autumn clothes, she had to buy them—but she could always charge them to her credit card first. 

Altogether, Lu Nan had invested 350,000 yuan in a media stock, and looking at the numbers in her securities account was quite satisfying. 

She encouraged herself—just one more month, and she wouldn’t have to live so frugally anymore. 

Perhaps it was from staring at the stock market a little too long, but Lu Nan had caught a streak of good fortune. 

In late September, Lu Nan was made a full-time employee. Manager Wang called her into the office and shared some good news: due to Lu Nan’s dedication and excellent performance, after discussing with Chen Xiao, they decided to promote her directly to Group Purchase Business Supervisor upon her confirmation. 

The most direct change was: 

Her base salary increased from 5,000 yuan (after taxes and social security deductions, it was only around 4,000+) to 6,000 yuan/month. 

Her transportation allowance was raised from 1,000 yuan to 2,000 yuan. 

Her phone allowance increased from 200 yuan to 500 yuan. 

Her housing allowance went from 600 yuan to 1,000 yuan. 

Except for the housing allowance, which couldn’t be directly pocketed (it wasn’t given to employees in collective dormitories), Lu Nan’s salary increased by 1,000 yuan/month, and she could also claim an extra 1,300 yuan/month in reimbursements. 

More importantly, aside from the adjustments to her base salary and allowances, her year-end performance bonus as a business supervisor was based on the distributor’s payment collections. If she met the guaranteed target, she would receive 1% of the guaranteed amount, and any excess would be paid at 2%. This was double the performance percentage of a business representative. 

Lu Nan was confident that the Feixiang semi-annual payment collection plan of 2.5 million yuan would definitely be exceeded, with the final collection amount around 3.3 to 3.5 million yuan. 

After quickly calculating in her head, she realized: 

In other words, her year-end bonus can be 2.5 million × 1% + (80 or 100) × 2% = between 41,000 and 45,000 yuan. 

After happily calculating her earnings, Lu Nan suddenly realized something. 

There’s something she had completely overlooked. 

Business supervisors and above received their year-end bonuses in two installments—70% before the Lunar New Year and the remaining 30% in July of the following year. 

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!! 

How could I forget this?! 

No, wait. It’s not that she forgot. 

It’s that this promotion came so out of nowhere. 

If things had gone according to her original plan, she would have remained a business representative all year. Business reps get their full year-end bonus all at once—there wouldn’t have been a 30% holdback at all! 

Chen Xiao, I really… thank you! 

The news of Lu Nan’s promotion and official position spread quickly in the city office. On Saturday, Pan Sasha, who came in for the weekly meeting, immediately bounced over, insisting that Lu Nan treat them to a meal to celebrate. 

Currently, there are three business supervisors in the group purchasing department. Aside from Pan Sasha, who was sent to Fengyun County, there is also Chen Lu, who has worked in Yuan Chuan for a long time. 

She was probably the only one who dared to make such direct demands of Lu Nan. Among the girls in the dorm besides Dong Hui, they all seem a bit wary of her. Xiang Feifei is somewhat closer to her, but wouldn’t talk to her so familiarly. As for the colleagues in the other dorm, their attitude toward Lu Nan isn’t as warm as before. This specifically refers to Chen Lu, although she tried to act the same as before, Lu Nan could tell she probably just needed a little time. As for Wang Xiaoxue, well, she had never been particularly warm to Lu Nan from the start. 

It was understandable. 

Lu Nan was aware of it, but she didn’t mind. 

Colleagues weren’t necessarily friends. Her principle was to get along without forcing closeness. 

“By the way, who else are you inviting? Your senior?” Pan Sasha sure knows how to bring up the most awkward topics. 

Lu Nan hesitated. 

That slight pause was instantly picked up by Pan Sasha. “Wait… something happened?!” 

Well, speaking up about it would seem a bit narcissistic. 

Lu Nan hesitated, and Sasha understood right away: “He confessed to you?!” 

“Not exactly in those words.” Lu Nan thought for a moment. “I’ll invite him anyway. After all, he introduced me to the job. And with you there, it might help…” Avoid any misunderstandings. 

Pan Sasha nodded: “Alright, I’ll be your shield then.” 

After the meal, Pan Sasha seriously said to Lu Nan, “I think you really hurt your senior. He barely talked the whole time and didn’t seem like his usual self.” 

Lu Nan sighed. “He’ll get over it… I guess.” 

She honestly couldn’t relate to heartbreak. In her past life, something as minor as an unrequited crush on Chen Xiao—or even a full-blown breakup—wouldn’t have stopped her from eating, drinking, or having fun. 

All she could do now was hope her senior would move on soon. Otherwise, she wasn’t sure if she should start keeping some distance and change the way they interacted. 

… 

For Lu Nan, workdays were basically just days to slack off and have fun. 

Finally, the six small meetings for this month concluded successfully. 

Since the company had adjusted the holiday schedule for the two upcoming festivals, Lu Nan went to ask Sister Pei for the review materials on the afternoon of September 29th. The plan was to sort them out in the morning and hand them directly to the admin team. 

When she was about to leave with the materials, she ran into Pei Xuedong. 

Her brother-in-law had been in a great mood lately. When he saw Lu Nan, he greeted her enthusiastically, “Manager Lu! The video from the Grand Tasting Event has been edited. Have you seen it yet?” 

Lu Nan shook her head: “Not yet.” 

“Oh right, I only sent it to Manager Chen last night. He probably hasn’t had time to check it out yet.” Pei Xuedong smacked his forehead. “How about this—I’ll copy a version for you. Your performance on stage is worth keeping as a memory.” 

Lu Nan thanked him and copied the video. 

While transferring the file, she took a quick glance. Hmm… not bad, she actually danced pretty well. 

*** 

September 30th, the last day before the Mid-Autumn Festival and National holidays. 

Manager Wang knew that everyone’s mind was already on vacation and no one was in the mood to work. So, after saying a few words with a smile, he simply dismissed the meeting. “Enjoy your break!” Lu Nan was sure that Manager Wang was well aware that quite a few people would sneak off during the day. Maybe he was planning to leave early himself. 

The room erupted in cheers of “Thanks, Brother Wang!” 

Since it was a long holiday and also a special reunion festival, the four girls from Yunan Province who lived in the Xinguang Yipin dormitory had already decided—they were heading home. 

Jiang Xiaoyun had even taken half a day off (the other three were in sales, so there was no need to clock in, and it didn’t matter whether they took time off). The four of them hadn’t had lunch and went straight to the train station. Dong Hui, on the other hand, had been saying for days that she was going to stay in Hailin for the double holiday, but now she was nowhere to be seen—probably out on a date. 

Having finished the report materials in the morning, Lu Nan didn’t have much to do in the dormitory. Since she had other plans, she grabbed her laptop and went to Starbucks. 

“Openly working part-time during office hours. Manager Lu you’re quite bold.” 

This was really strange. Even a drug-sniffing dog’s nose wouldn’t be this sharp. 

Lu Nan didn’t even need to look up to know who it was. She saved the document, minimized the window, then slowly said, “Is Manager Chen going to report me to the company?” 

“I was just joking.” 

Chen Xiao pulled out a chair and sat across from her. “Xiang Feifei and the others told me they were leaving early, so I won’t mark them absent for the afternoon. But why are you still here?” 

“Stand guard until the last shift. I won’t leave a minute early,” Lu Nan declared with fake enthusiasm. 

Chen Xiao laughed: “You think I’d believe that?” 

Lu Nan shrugged. “Alright… truth is, I just don’t have plans to go home for the holiday.” 

“I see.” Chen Xiao nodded and didn’t ask why. 

Okay, this conversation is already dead. Why aren’t you leaving yet?  

Feeling a bit awkward, Lu Nan casually asked, “When’s your flight, Brother Xiao?” 

“I’m not going home either.” Chen Xiao took a big sip of his black coffee but didn’t explain why. 

Lu Nan nodded: “Then let me recommend a few nice, quiet places around Hailin City for you to visit.” The implication being: you can go out and explore on your own, but don’t keep your eyes on me. 

Chen Xiao gave Lu Nan an amused look. “If you don’t want to chat, don’t force it. It’s not like I’d deduct your performance score for that.” 

“Well, who knows?” Lu Nan mumbled softly, then flashed a fake smile, “You’re definitely not that kind of person.” 

What a hypocritical little liar! 

Chen Xiao smiled helplessly, then hesitated before asking, “Has something happened between you and Yan Kai recently?” 

Lu Nan’s temple twitched. Does everyone really like bringing up such things? “That’s not true. Why are you asking, Brother Xiao?” 

“Oh, nothing. I just noticed you two used to chat and laugh a lot before the morning meetings, but recently, it seems like you’re not talking much anymore.” Lu Nan denied it so quickly that it confirmed Chen Xiao’s suspicions. He didn’t ask further but casually mentioned what he had observed. 

“You’re overthinking it. There’s nothing wrong between me and Senior.” Lu Nan brushed it off with a few random words and moved on. 

“Alright, you carry on. Don’t mind me, I’ll just sit here for a while.” Though he didn’t get an answer, Chen Xiao wasn’t curious anymore. He stretched his long legs while sitting in the chair. 

Lu Nan didn’t mind him and focused on typing. 

After playing a little mobile game, Chen Xiao started observing Lu Nan, who was immersed in her own world. 

Her fingers danced across the keyboard, like she was performing a dance. The crisp, rhythmic sound of her typing reminded Chen Xiao of the day she and Mr. Yang’s daughter played a duet. 

The sunlight in the piano room that afternoon was just right. The sunset filtered through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a warm glow on Lu Nan. She even seemed to glow, her hair shining in the light. At first, her playing was a little stiff, but soon she became more fluid, more joyful. 

But later, when the topic of learning piano and dance came up, her mood changed again. 

Chen Xiao had accidentally overheard her talking to her parents on the phone three times—he swore he didn’t mean to eavesdrop. 

Thinking about the faint sounds he had heard and the guesses based on them, Chen Xiao couldn’t help but wonder. How is it that, after going through some unpleasant things, she can still smile at life? She lives so cleverly and adorably. 

Like right now. Perhaps lost in thought, she occasionally paused to reach for the coffee beside her laptop. She sipped through the straw, her eyes never leaving the screen. After thinking, she’d take a big gulp, her cheeks puffing out, holding the liquid for a second or two before swallowing. Afterward, probably feeling a bit of bitterness, she’d unconsciously furrow her brows and lick her lips. 

Her expressions were lively, much more childlike than when she was working. 

… 

Lu Nan felt her neck stiffening, so she stretched it and looked up to see Chen Xiao still sitting across from her. 

Is he really this bored today? 

“You obviously prefer milk, so why do you keep ordering black coffee?” Seeing that she had snapped out of her writing mode, Chen Xiao finally spoke. 

Lu Nan was speechless at his question. The way he was acting now… he really seemed like a guy trying to make small talk with a girl he liked. 

Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen. 

Not wanting to overthink things, she answered seriously, “To stay awake.” 

Soon after, Chen Xiao seemed to get restless—or maybe he had something else to do—so he got up and casually said goodbye. 

Lu Nan went right back to her writing, only half-heartedly waving at him in response. 

By the time she checked the clock, it was already past 8 p.m. Seeing that it was about time, she packed up her things and got ready to head back to the dorm.