Chapter 5: First Day Realities Late-Night Work, Free Meals, and Unexpected Encounters

Zhou Xing hadn’t expected Shen Yan to see through the reality of their work on her first day.

But he was afraid that this promising writing talent might get scared away, so he could only say:

“It’s not always like this.

Today is just a special case.”

Shen Yan nodded.

She had mentally prepared herself for possible overtime before starting the job.

“As long as it’s not every day, that’s fine.”

Zhou Xing tried to reassure her, “We try not to work late.”

As Shen Yan was finishing her meal, she noticed Shu Yan, the Ivy League graduate she had met that morning in the HR meeting room, approaching with a tray.

“Shen Yan, what a coincidence! You remember me, right? We exchanged WeChat when we checked in this morning.”

Shu Yan greeted her enthusiastically.

Shen Yan was still chewing, so she quickly nodded.

She was socially anxious but not face-blind, and besides, Shu Yan was quite pretty and distinctive-looking.

“You’re here for a free meal at the cafeteria too?” Shu Yan asked, noticing the empty seat next to Shen Yan and sitting down.

Only after swallowing her food did Shen Yan shake her head.

“I have to work overtime tonight.”

Shu Yan gave her a sympathetic look.

At that moment, Zhou Xing, who was sitting across from Shen Yan, joined the conversation.

“The company has shuttle buses at 7:30 PM to different districts.”

Shu Yan’s eyes lit up.

“Does it go to District C?”

Zhou Xing nodded.

“I was debating whether to take the subway or call a cab.

The subway takes forever, and there’s no guarantee of a seat,” Shu Yan said.

Then she paused, as if realizing something.

“But it’s only 5:30 PM now.

Waiting until 7:30 is way too long.”

Being an Ivy League graduate, Shu Yan quickly saw through the company’s strategy.

“The person who set this shuttle schedule must have done it to encourage us to work overtime.”

“Exactly.

It’s a bad habit copied from internet companies,” Zhou Xing gave her a thumbs-up.

“But to ease the complaints, there’s also a shuttle at 5:10 PM.”

Shu Yan frowned.

“But to catch that one, you’d have to leave right at 5 PM and rush downstairs.

Unless you’re close to retirement, no one would dare take that early shuttle.”

“That’s right.”

It was an open secret a calculated move.

Shu Yan sighed.

“Fine, I might as well stay a bit longer.

Otherwise, I’d just waste time on the subway anyway.”

Zhou Xing suggested, “There’s a gym on the 12th floor.

If you don’t want to work overtime, you could go work out instead.”

Suddenly, Shen Yan thought of something.

“Does that mean… the company provides free late-night snacks at 8 PM?”

Zhou Xing: “Yes.”

Shen Yan’s eyes sparkled.

“And does the company reimburse taxi fares after 9 PM?”

Zhou Xing gave her a big thumbs-up.

“Xiao Shen, you really understand how internet companies work!”

Shen Yan: …

Just earlier, when she asked if they were working 996, Zhou Xing had denied it.

“But actually, it’s after 9:30 PM,” Zhou Xing corrected.

Hearing that, Shu Yan hesitated suddenly, taking the subway didn’t seem so bad.

“Xiao Shen, did you know that your A University alumni are planning a dinner gathering?” Shu Yan changed the subject, clearly wanting to avoid dwelling on the 996 discussion.

Shen Yan was puzzled.

“A University line?”

Shu Yan explained, “It’s a group of alumni from A University who joined the company this year.”

Shen Yan was surprised.

“I had no idea.”

Shu Yan eagerly suggested, “I’ll introduce you to Li Hefeng.

I think he was your student council president?”

Shen Yan immediately waved her hands.

“No, no, no! I don’t know them at all. It’d be awkward for me to go.”

She was already feeling overwhelmed by Shu Yan’s enthusiasm.

Not to mention, Shu Yan herself wasn’t planning on attending the gathering yet she was trying to push her to go?

Throwing her into a dinner with a group of strangers was more painful than a death sentence.

Shu Yan tried to convince her, “It’s fine! Even if you didn’t know each other before, you’re colleagues now.”

Shen Yan shook her head vigorously.

“No, no.

I’d rather work overtime.”

“Pfft”

Zhou Xing almost burst out laughing.

He knew this junior of his was reliable.

Shu Yan didn’t press any further.

“Alright, then let’s have a meal together sometime later.”

This, Shen Yan could barely agree to.

“Okay.”

Seeing that Shen Yan and Zhou Xing were finishing up their meals and had to get back to work, Shu Yan politely let them go.

Zhou Xing, knowing they had a long night ahead, left the cafeteria with Shen Yan.

Tonight’s workload was giving Zhou Xing a headache.

He didn’t want to rush things, but the district government had made it clear that they were waiting on Lu Corporation’s project materials.

They were literally waiting in their office tonight for the documents.

Seriously, who does that?!

They were acting like the project was about to land on the governor’s desk first thing in the morning.

But since the government officials had already spoken saying they would wait in their offices for the materials how could Zhou Xing afford to slack off?

Dragging Shen Yan along, he hurriedly finished his meal and rushed upstairs to work on the documents.

Jian Hong, who was skipping dinner for her diet, had already outlined most of the framework.

She sent copies to both Shen Yan and Zhou Xing.

“Xiao Shen, look at the highlighted yellow sections fill those in,” Jian Hong instructed.

Shen Yan nodded.

She had spent the afternoon reviewing the Link Project materials and organizing some notes.

From the looks of it, this task didn’t seem too difficult.

“Assistant Zhou, speed up a bit.

I’ve also assigned you a few sections fill in the parts marked in blue.”

Zhou Xing nodded.

“Got it.

Let’s get started.”

The Link Project aimed to integrate Lu Corporation’s core real estate business with the internet innovations brought in by Lu Yu’s team.

Simply put, they were creating a social media influencer neighborhood a hub for incubating online personalities.

To make this happen, Lu Corporation had recently acquired a 90,000 square meter plot in the eastern part of the city.

The district government was highly invested in the project, considering it a key part of T District’s economic transformation strategy.

Shen Yan didn’t understand algorithms or real estate, but the materials Zhou Xing had given her were fairly easy to grasp.

Jian Hong’s framework was also precise and well-structured.

After scanning through everything once, she already had a rough idea of what to do.

Although it was her first day at work, this wasn’t her first time handling assignments.

She quickly compiled most of the materials, then looked up to check Jian Hong and Zhou Xing’s progress.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Xing caught her movement immediately.

“Done?”

Shen Yan: …

She stiffened slightly before shaking her head.

“Almost.”

Zhou Xing glanced at the time.

“7:40 PM.”

“Finish it up quickly.

Can you wrap it up in 20 minutes?”

“When you’re done, send it to me.

At 8 PM, Jian Jie will take you downstairs for the night snack.”

Was this a callback?

Earlier at dinner, they had just talked about the 8 PM cafeteria night snack.

Was the whole purpose of staying late just to make her work until snack time?

Shen Yan was exhausted.

She turned to Jian Hong.

“But… aren’t you on a diet?”

Jian Hong nodded.

“…That’s why I’m just taking you down.”

Shen Yan: “Thanks, Jian Jie.”

At the mention of food, Shen Yan quickly wrapped up her section, finishing just before 7:50 PM.

She stalled for a few minutes before sending it to Zhou Xing.

Jian Hong was already packed up and waiting for her.

“Jian Jie, you’re not coming back upstairs afterward?” Shen Yan asked.

Jian Hong shook her head.

“Nope.

I’m heading to the gym downstairs.”

“Then… can I just grab my food, eat, and go straight home?”

“Of course.

But at this hour, you’ll have to take the subway or bus home.”

Shen Yan immediately thought about how the company only reimbursed taxi fares after 9:30 PM.

But she lived nearby, so it didn’t really matter.

Following Jian Hong, she headed to the cafeteria for the third time that day.

In just one day, she had visited the cafeteria three times.

Even back in university, she hadn’t eaten at the school cafeteria this often.

She had worked overtime, yes…

But she had also eaten three free meals at the company.

For a moment, Shen Yan couldn’t decide if she was winning or losing.

Forget it.

Better focus on whether this braised beef instant noodles packed with extra beef tasted good or not.

She had only ever seen this “add-real-beef-to-instant-noodles” trick on short videos before.

Now, she was finally trying it herself.

Just as she was about to dig in, she noticed Jian Hong sneaking a box of grilled skewers onto her tray.

Shen Yan hesitated but couldn’t resist asking again.

“Jian Jie, aren’t you on a diet?”

Jian Hong touched her nose, looking slightly embarrassed.

“The cafeteria only serves grilled skewers once a week.

Not eating it would be a huge loss.”

Shen Yan found her adorable.

“Exactly!

You have to take advantage of company perks!”

Jian Hong got even more enthusiastic.

“Right?

Why should I work overtime for the company if I don’t even eat their food?”

Shen Yan nodded vigorously.

“True, and you’re going to the gym later anyway.”

Jian Hong immediately felt zero guilt about eating.

“Exactly! Let’s eat!”

After finishing a giant bowl of instant noodles and downing a bottle of calcium milk, Shen Yan was full and satisfied.

Jian Hong took the elevator up to the gym, while Shen Yan took the downward elevator to head home.

When the elevator doors opened, there was already a young man in a suit inside.

He was carrying a backpack and looked quite young.

Shen Yan stepped in and stood quietly in the corner.

“You’re new here too, right?”

Shen Yan hadn’t expected the guy to start a conversation.

After double-checking that they were the only two people in the elevator, she replied,

“Yes.”

The guy continued.

“You’re from A University, aren’t you?”

Did she have “A University Graduate” stamped on her forehead or something?

Why did everyone keep asking her that?

“Yes.”

“You don’t recognize me?”

Shen Yan: “Huh?”

Was she supposed to recognize him?

No way.

She wasn’t face-blind she had even recognized the student council president this morning.

The guy scratched his head.

“Do you know Li Hefeng?”

Shen Yan nodded.

“Yes, I know of him.”

She only knew him by name, nothing more.

Shen Yan desperately wished the elevator would move faster.

The guy sighed.

“Figures.

The student council always has a bigger influence.”

Shen Yan: …

He hesitated, then introduced himself.

“I’m Yu Xinnian.

I used to be the secretary of the school Youth League Committee.

Now I’m interning in the Marketing Department.”

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone.

“Let’s add each other on WeChat?”

Shen Yan had no excuse to refuse.

“I’m Shen Yan.

Intern in the President’s Office.”

Yu Xinnian grinned.

“Yeah, I know.

I heard Assistant Zhou call your name this morning.”

Shen Yan had no idea how to respond.

Thankfully, the elevator finally reached the ground floor.

As soon as the doors opened

“I’m off! Bye!”

Shen Yan made a quick escape.

Yu Xinnian, who was also off work, touched his nose and muttered to himself,

“I’m leaving too…

Why did she run off so fast?

What if we were heading to the same subway station and could walk together?”