Fan Mingxu carefully sized up Shen Yan from head to toe.
The way he stared made Shen Yan uncomfortable.
Just as she was about to get annoyed, Fan Mingxu finally withdrew his gaze and chuckled lightly.
“So, this is a new approach.
I wonder if Xiao Yu likes this type.”
Shen Yan looked completely baffled.
“Huh?”
Her irritation turned into sheer confusion.
What was he even talking about?
Zhou Xing, who was standing nearby, immediately understood the underlying meaning behind Fan Mingxu’s words.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward, subtly placing himself between Shen Yan and Fan Mingxu.
“Vice President Fan, Xiao Shen was recruited through this year’s spring intake.
She’s a fresh graduate from A University, making her both my and President Lu’s junior.”
His implication was clear Shen Yan was a legitimate university graduate who joined Lu Group as a regular employee, unlike some others who entered the company with ulterior motives.
Standing behind Zhou Xing, Shen Yan looked up at his broad back.
For the first time, she realized he was actually quite tall definitely around 180 cm.
She also hadn’t expected him to speak up for her like that, directly standing up to his superior.
It turned out Zhou Xing could be reliable and assertive when he wanted to be.
Fan Mingxu glanced at Zhou Xing.
Seeing the serious look in his eyes bordering on anger he simply chuckled.
“This was a misunderstanding.
I’ll leave you to your work.”
After Fan Mingxu left, Shen Yan turned to Zhou Xing, still puzzled.
“Xiao Yu?”
Zhou Xing pointed toward the office.
“President Lu.”
Shen Yan was even more confused.
“In the company, shouldn’t people be addressing him by his title?”
Hearing this, Zhou Xing mentally gave her a standing ovation.
He couldn’t agree with her more!!
He had long been annoyed by these old-timers throwing their weight around, refusing to show President Lu proper respect.
But now wasn’t the right time to explain the company’s internal power struggles.
He was afraid that if Shen Yan knew too much about the corporate infighting, she’d get scared and quit.
“He’s President Lu’s uncle, but they don’t really get along.
Stick around for a while, and you’ll understand.”
Shen Yan thought to herself I’d rather not.
She wasn’t interested in these messy office politics.
She just wanted to do her job, get paid, avoid unnecessary overtime, and if overtime was inevitable, keep it to a minimum.
But she couldn’t exactly say that out loud.
So instead, she just said, “Oh.”
Then, after a pause “Thanks for speaking up for me earlier.”
With that, she turned and walked off.
She hadn’t even had breakfast yet.
Zhou Xing stood there, momentarily stunned.
He replayed her words in his head.
But…it wasn’t like he had done anything particularly grand.
It was just a small gesture was it really worth thanking him for?
Then again, would it seem rude if he didn’t acknowledge her gratitude?
He hesitated for a long time, trying to come up with a response.
When he finally turned around Shen Yan was already gone.
Zhou Xing: …Oh well.
Just like yesterday, Shen Yan made her way to the break room first.
She poured herself a cup of coffee, grabbed some fresh milk from the fridge, and mixed it in.
Then, she opened the freezer and found some ice cubes, tossing a few into her cup.
And just like that, she had a simple iced latte to go with her sandwich for breakfast.
Something was odd, though.
Yesterday, she had already taken a few ice cubes from the freezer.
Yet today, when she opened it, the tray was completely full again.
Was the cleaning staff refilling it every day?
As she ate, she turned on her computer.
The moment she opened Lu Group’s internal communication software, she was bombarded with a dozen files from Zhou Xing.
Shen Yan: ?
She looked up and sure enough, here came Zhou Xing, walking toward her.
More work.
“President Lu has an interview with a finance magazine next week, mainly to introduce Shenyu Technology.
I sent you some previous materials we wrote about Shenyu.
Go through them and draft an interview script for him.”
Zhou Xing stood by her desk as he spoke.
Shen Yan: …Why did I think he was tall and reliable again?
She knew she should accept the task and ask about the deadline, but she couldn’t help herself.
She had to ask:
“Aren’t interviews supposed to be written by journalists?”
Zhou Xing laughed.
“Do you have a favorite celebrity?”
Shen Yan shook her head.
“Not really.”
Zhou Xing hadn’t expected that.
It was rare for young women these days not to follow celebrities.
Xiao Shen was truly a dependable one.
“Alright, let me explain.
We need to maintain control over the interview.
We can’t let the journalist have free rein what if they try to stir up trouble?”
Now it made sense to Shen Yan.
“So I need to write a Q&A-style script?”
Zhou Xing nodded.
“About ten questions in total.
Each answer should be under 500 words.”
Shen Yan: “Got it.”
Zhou Xing: “Also, we should give the journalist some flexibility, so they can add their own spin.”
Shen Yan: “…When’s the deadline?”
Zhou Xing: “The interview is in the latter half of next week.
If you can get it done this week, that would be ideal.
No rush.”
Today was Wednesday.
That meant she had about three days.
The workload was manageable.
Still, Shen Yan felt like her job wasn’t what she had expected.
In her mind, the President’s Office was supposed to handle administrative tasks stuff like distributing office supplies, printing and binding documents, or, as novels described, checking the President’s schedule and handling his love life dramas.
But in reality, all she had been doing was writing materials.
She didn’t mind writing it was easier than dealing with people.
And from what she had observed, her colleagues Jian Hong and Meng Gulan spent most of their time writing, too.
Lu Group really lived up to its status as S City’s top listed company so much paperwork to draft.
At least no one was forcing her to come up with corporate buzzwords and invent meaningless jargon.
Shen Yan shook off her random thoughts and got to work.
By the afternoon, Zhou Xing showed up again.
Shen Yan: ?
She had assumed she wouldn’t be given more work for the next few days.
She had been too naive.
Zhou Xing leaned against her cubicle.
“There’s a company-wide monthly meeting later.
Want to sit in?”
The way he phrased it sounded like a choice.
Could she refuse?
Then he added, “Meng-jie is handling the meeting minutes for now, but she’s retiring soon.
You should learn from her.
Once she’s gone, it’ll be your job.”
There it was.
Shen Yan knew it.
There had never been a choice.
She obediently grabbed her notebook and pen, following them to the meeting.
At least this task actually felt like something a secretary would do.
She followed behind Meng Gulan, noticing she had brought a laptop.
Shen Yan glanced at the paper notebook in her hands.
Of course.
Who still took meeting minutes by hand?
She had even tried to recall her college shorthand lessons, but her memory was fuzzy.
She asked, “Meng-jie, should I bring my laptop?”
Meng Gulan replied, “Not this time.
But later, make sure to download a speech-to-text app preferably a paid one.
The one I use was ¥298 when I bought it.”
Zhou Xing overheard and asked, “You didn’t expense it?”
Meng Gulan blinked.
“There’s a reimbursement for that?”
Zhou Xing thought for a moment.
“Maybe under meal expenses?”
Meng Gulan sighed.
“Forget it.
I’m retiring soon I don’t want to stir things up.”
Zhou Xing agreed.
“With so many eyes on us, fake receipts aren’t worth the risk.”