Shen Yan saw Xing Ning coming back from the restroom and quickly called her, afraid that she would be too focused on work and feel embarrassed to disturb her later.
Shen Yan showed her and Zhou Xing’s chat history and asked, “What do you think his ‘okay’ reply means?”
Xing Ning wiped her hands with a tissue while looking at their chat history, then said, “This means he agrees, right?
And anyway, we calculate the salary by the day, so if we need to take leave, we just take it.
I took a week off with Lao Qian next week.”
Xing Ning seemed to understand what Shen Yan was troubled about.
Shen Yan: … She seemed to have done something wrong.
From Xing Ning’s tone, it seemed that their manager, Qian Li, had not approved their paid leave.
Shen Yan stammered, avoided the subject, and changed the topic: “Uh… want some waffles?
I just bought them, they’re really popular.”
Shen Yan took the bag of waffles from under her seat.
Xing Ning, who hadn’t quite understood why Shen Yan was asking that, immediately realized what was happening when she saw Shen Yan’s reaction.
She quickly grabbed Shen Yan’s hand and whispered, “Are you trying to ask about paid leave?”
Shen Yan: …
Shen Yan’s silence was deafening.
The fear from the nightmare came back.
She could already imagine that Xing Ning was going to start spreading rumors about her and Zhou Xing.
She never expected that Zhou Xing would give her this benefit.
She would’ve known that three days was just three days, and she had already asked about it.
At that moment, Qian Li, who was aware of the truth, came over: “Waffles? Are they from the Chunxi Road place? Let me try some too.”
Shen Yan and Xing Ning were used to sharing food.
They would often bring food when ordering afternoon tea or lunch, like fried chicken, bread, and pizza.
Qian Li also got into the habit of joining in whenever they brought something.
When he heard Shen Yan mention “waffles,” he quickly came over.
Shen Yan had a feeling that Qian Li was making this move on purpose.
And sure enough
“Qian Li, why could Zhou Xing approve paid leave, but not you?” Xing Ning asked.
Xing Ning’s voice was soft.
She asked sincerely, with a hint of personal emotion, as if it were just an ordinary question.
It was actually Shen Yan who was startled.
Was Xing Ning really asking this directly?
Was it even appropriate?
Shen Yan was truly impressed by Xing Ning.
If she had Xing Ning’s courage, maybe she could have broken through her own interview score.
Unfortunately, she was Shen Yan.
She would never dare to ask Zhou Xing directly like that.
In this situation, just sitting there and listening made Shen Yan feel uncomfortable.
Shen Yan, though wanting to watch the drama unfold, also feared getting caught in the crossfire since she was the one who accidentally let this information slip.
Qian Li’s expression changed.
He asked, “What paid leave?”
Xing Ning: “Next week, we need to go back to school to get our diplomas.
Can we get paid leave?”
Qian Li understood what Xing Ning was asking for.
He glanced at Xing Ning and then at Shen Yan.
Seeing this, Shen Yan felt a bit uneasy.
She lowered her head, accepting the awkward situation.
She really wanted to leave, but Xing Ning was still holding her hand down.
She had no choice but to continue watching the drama.
At that moment, Qian Li asked in confusion: “Is it paid leave?”
This answer caught Xing Ning by surprise. She countered, “Is it paid leave?”
Qian Li, hearing this, started getting a bit anxious: “Are you planning to run off after getting your diploma?”
“Of course not.”
Xing Ning immediately denied it.
Qian Duo finally relaxed and said, “It’s just an advance on the paid leave after officially joining the company.”
“Is that allowed?” Xing Ning was stunned.
She had assumed that the paid leave for Shen Yan was something privately arranged by Zhou Xing.
She never thought it could be part of the company’s standard benefits.
She realized her narrow view now.
She was guilty.
Seeing Xing Ning’s reaction, Qian Duo spoke again: “Can I eat the muffin now?”
Shen Yan, the owner of the muffins, glanced at Xing Ning, seeing that she seemed to still be thinking about the issue.
She replied, “…Sure.”
As Shen Yan said this, she felt like her heart was bleeding.
She had originally planned to give an entire muffin to Lu Yu, but now she had to share it with Qian Duo.
She reluctantly gave Qian Duo a quarter of a muffin and also shared the remaining three pieces with Xing Ning and Qian Xiafeng.
After finally getting a taste of the muffin, Qian Duo exclaimed, “Wow, this really is the muffin that President Lu recommended, it’s really amazing.”
Shen Yan:?
Shen Yan:!
Seeing that Shen Yan was staring at him with understanding, Qian Duo continued, “Uh… President Lu had recommended these muffins to us before, so when I saw you bring the bag in, I was just waiting for you to share some…”
When Shen Yan heard “President Lu recommended,” she realized something.
It turned out that the conversation she had with President Lu in the elevator was actually…
He didn’t care about how she got there at all!
She was really worried that Lu Yu might be happy.
It made sense now.
If she had known, she would have just…
These past two days, Shen Yan had been working downstairs.
With so many reports to write every day, she hadn’t had the time to go up to the office tea room to make coffee.
But now…
She fully agreed with Zhou Xing’s statement, “From now on, only drink President Lu’s coffee.”
Thinking back to how she used to buy milk and store it in the fridge, it really felt like a huge loss.
With this thought, Shen Yan looked at the report she had almost finished and picked up her cup of water, preparing to head to the 19th floor to make coffee.
She couldn’t let the boss take advantage of her; she had to get her own back.
When Jian Hong saw Shen Yan return, she thought Shen Yan was here to hand over work.
She asked, “Little Shen, is there any work you want me to continue doing next week?”
Shen Yan felt embarrassed by Jian Hong’s question.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of getting back at the boss by making top-tier coffee with premium beans and milk.
She had completely forgotten about handing over the work.
But since Jian Hong asked, she could only follow her lead and said, “Mm. I’ve done most of the work I can.
But every day they still have reports to write…
I don’t even know where all these reports are coming from.”
Jian Hong: “I heard there’s a daily work report to write?”
Shen Yan: “Yes, I’ll send you the content for this week later.
The daily report is actually quick to write.
The only problem is that the other departments send their reports too late.
I’ve already finished my tasks for several days, but I had to stay at the office until 9 p.m. just waiting for their reports.”
Jian Hong chuckled softly: “Since we acquired Shen Yu Technology, the veterans in our company have learned the 996 work culture so quickly.
No one taught them; they all learned it on their own.”
After quickly handing over work to Jian Hong, Shen Yan went to the tea room to make coffee with President Lu’s coffee beans and fresh milk.
Just thinking about how she hadn’t made coffee this week and that she would need to take another leave next week made her feel like she was at a loss.
It turned out that being nice to the boss meant being tough on herself.
After making coffee, she came out of the tea room and was about to go downstairs to continue working when Zhou Xing entered the office.
Zhou Xing was surprised to see Shen Yan: “You’re back?”
Shen Yan: “Yeah, President Lu is back too.”
Zhou Xing was even more surprised: “President Lu is back?”
Meng Gulan, who overheard their conversation, wasn’t surprised by Zhou Xing’s shock but explained, “President Lu is in the office; he returned an hour ago.”
Zhou Xing: ????
Zhou Xing paused for a moment, then quickly understood.
All the talk about traffic and the desire to keep a low profile with a helmet was just an excuse.
The real reason was that Lu Yu didn’t want to attend the meeting!
Even without the traffic, Lu Yu would have found some other excuse.
So, this meeting was something Lu Yu had no intention of attending.
Zhou Xing felt frustrated again.
He snorted and walked directly toward Lu Yu’s office.
Though frustrated, he remained rational and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Lu Yu’s voice came from inside.
Sure enough, Lu Yu had returned to the office.
After Zhou Xing entered and saw the box of muffins on Lu Yu’s desk, he remembered that this muffin shop was one Lu Yu had recommended.
It was located between their company and the place where Zhou Xing got stuck in traffic today.
Zhou Xing’s frustration grew.
Zhou Xing calmed himself and asked Lu Yu, “How did you get back?”
Lu Yu touched his nose: “I had the driver come pick me up.”
The driver probably came by car, right? “You walked back?”
Lu Yu: “I had the driver come by motorcycle.”
Zhou Xing directly exposed him: “You just wanted me to go to the meeting alone.”
Lu Yu seemed a bit embarrassed and explained, “I thought about it carefully, and I felt that if I attended that meeting, it would be too formal.”
What does “too formal” mean?
He saw that the other companies attending the meeting had their CEOs there.
Zhou Xing thought back to the meeting content and the attendees, and it seemed like he understood something.
“You’re afraid of seeing Gong Jia, aren’t you?”
Gong Jia was their high school classmate who came back from studying abroad and was now working at the Finance Office.
The department that called for today’s meeting was the Finance Office.
Lu Yu denied, saying, “How could it be?” but his ears turned red.
Zhou Xing, curious, asked, “What about you and her…?”
Lu Yu quickly denied it: “There’s nothing between me and her!”
Zhou Xing: “Tsk, I didn’t say anything about you and her.”
Lu Yu: …
Zhou Xing thought to himself that when Lu Yu claimed he had a partner, he was probably just spreading rumors.
Hearing all this gossip, Zhou Xing was satisfied and walked out of Lu Yu’s office.
Shen Yan saw Zhou Xing coming out and quickly approached him, asking, “So how did President Lu get back?”
She was really curious, as Zhou Xing had figured it out, but she hadn’t.
Zhou Xing: “The driver came by motorcycle to pick him up.”
Shen Yan now understood. President Lu still didn’t like her little scooter.
Seeing Shen Yan’s expression of sudden realization, Zhou Xing, afraid she might think too much, explained, “Don’t mind him. He just didn’t want to attend the meeting.”
Shen Yan: Huh? Is this something I can hear?