Although Jiang Xiaoyi hadn’t slept well the night before, she was currently bursting with energy.
After two years of relentless effort, a start-up comic studio she had her eye on, “Chuyuan,” had finally received online approval from Boss Liu last night and was about to receive the company’s incubation funding!
This was the first project she had successfully gotten approved in the two years since joining the company.
Her first real success!
What did that prove?
Obviously, it proved that after more than twenty unlucky years, she, Jiang Xiaoyi, had finally endured enough humiliation and was about to start getting ridiculously lucky!
With dreams of turning her luck around tucked firmly in her heart, Jiang Xiaoyi rushed all the way to Ruiyi Tower like a gust of wind.
In that short span of time, she had already planned out the rest of her life perfectly.
Once she got the paper version of the approval documents signed by the boss, then completed the investment incubation agreement with Chuyuan Studio, all she had to do was sit back and wait for her year-end performance bonus.
With that money, Jiang Xiaoyi could not only pay off her parents’ debts, but also have enough left over to rent a better place.
Chuyuan Studio, the studio she believed in, would also receive the investment funds it desperately needed and continue developing the comic project she had high hopes for.
Once Chuyuan rose all the way to success, Jiang Xiaoyi would not only become a famous cultural and creative investment incubator with a sharp eye, but would also turn her life around completely, enjoying wealth, glory, a meteoric rise, and beautiful people in both arms…
Since there were only five minutes left before clock-in time, Jiang Xiaoyi had no time to refine the details of this daydream. She practically sprinted into the elevator.
As long as she caught this elevator, her full attendance bonus for the month would be safe!
Usually, at this hour, there weren’t many people in the elevator. But for some reason, today, just as Jiang Xiaoyi rushed in and was about to close the doors, a crowd of people filed in behind her.
All of them were dressed sharply in suits.
Were they business partners here for a meeting?
Before she could think too much, her attention was caught by the last person to enter—the only man dressed casually.
Almost instantly, the vague faces in Jiang Xiaoyi’s daydream of embracing beauties on both sides gained a clear outline.
This one!
This face—once she got rich, she would keep him on her right side!
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays would be his turn. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, she would switch to someone else.
Not only was he handsome, he also had a great figure. The only problem was that his expression looked a little foul. His whole aura gave off the impression that he would be expensive to keep, and he might even give her attitude.
Jiang Xiaoyi worked in Ruiyi’s Project Incubation Department. Ruiyi was a culture and entertainment investment company under Ye Group, and owned an entire culture and entertainment industrial park. Its main responsibilities were industry investment, introduction, and business recruitment, so it often dealt with people in the entertainment industry. It wasn’t unusual for internet celebrities to appear in the company.
So he was probably some minor influencer.
He did look good, but his temper seemed bad. He was probably quite difficult to serve.
Jiang Xiaoyi had only thought this casually. Right now, her heart was filled only with her full attendance bonus. Unfortunately, the elevator seemed determined to work against her—it was overweight, and the doors were stuck, unable to close!
Based on past experience, in this situation, one person just needed to get off.
Since she had entered first, naturally one of the people who came in later should voluntarily get off.
Yet no one in the elevator moved. They all seemed locked in a silent stalemate, waiting for whoever couldn’t bear it first to step out.
Especially the man who had entered last. He showed absolutely no awareness that he should leave the elevator!
How could that be acceptable?
In three minutes, Jiang Xiaoyi was about to lose her full attendance bonus!
Sorry, brother! No matter how good-looking you are, you’re still not as practical as the huge sum of three hundred yuan from my attendance bonus!
Jiang Xiaoyi looked at him gently. “Hello, could you please let me pass? The elevator is overweight, so I’ll get off first and wait for the next one.”
Under normal circumstances, after hearing those words, the other party—as the man who had arrived last—would tactfully give up his spot and take the next elevator instead. Surely he couldn’t keep pretending not to understand.
But Jiang Xiaoyi hadn’t expected that the man would pause, glance at her, and show not the slightest trace of gratitude on his handsome face. Instead, he wore an expression as if Jiang Xiaoyi, who had clearly arrived first, was only being sensible by giving way.
Then, as if it were perfectly natural, the man stepped out of the elevator and gestured for Jiang Xiaoyi, who had originally been blocked inside by his tall frame and long legs, to come out.
“Oh. You can get off now.”
The man glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi again, frowned slightly, and added, “Hurry up. I’m in a rush.”
???
Did he have no sense of gentlemanly conduct at all? Was he really this shameless? His manners were this bad?
Watch me deal with your thick skin!
This was exactly the moment she had been waiting for!
The instant the man took the bait and stepped out of the elevator, Jiang Xiaoyi immediately began frantically pressing the close-door button. Then, under his disbelieving gaze, the elevator doors shut.
Only when the elevator began rising did Jiang Xiaoyi finally feel a little victorious smugness.
Did he really think being shameless and thick-skinned was enough to defeat a working person?
Foolish!
Working people were invincible!
**
Although there had been that little elevator incident, Jiang Xiaoyi still managed to preserve her full attendance before the clock-in deadline.
But as soon as she reached her workstation, before she could even sigh over her own luck, she saw that her direct superior, Li You’ai—who at this time of day was usually drinking tea and watching melodramatic family dramas—was now anxiously bustling around.
“Eunuch Li usually watches his dramas at this time without fail. He’d probably outsource going to the toilet if he could. What happened today that actually made him break character?”
Her well-informed colleague Wang Yani leaned over and lowered her voice. “Insider news: Boss Liu lost the palace struggle and was kicked out of the group’s management overnight. He’s been exiled to a powerless subsidiary. The Crown Prince of Ye Group is ascending the throne today. As an old minister of the previous dynasty, and a shameless one at that, Eunuch Li is naturally washing off his past and joyfully welcoming his new master…”
At this point, Wang Yani curled her lip. “Truly, eunuchs are ironclad, while dynasties flow like water. And his surname just happens to be Li. Maybe he really is leftover bloodline from Li Lianying before he was castrated.”
Li You’ai was not loving at all. Because he loved trampling those below him while flattering those above him, going to extremes in his bootlicking, people had secretly bestowed upon him the nickname “Eunuch Li.” He wasn’t completely unaware of the nickname, but somehow, instead of feeling ashamed, he took pride in it, believing this meant his considerate service to the boss had earned universal recognition.
At that moment, he was standing in the printing room with his hands on his hips, throwing a tantrum.
“Jiang Xiaoyi?! You finally got here! You were eight seconds late! Every second of President Ye’s time is worth at least one hundred thousand. This morning alone, you wasted eight hundred thousand of President Ye’s money! How can you face President Ye? Hurry up and get over here to work!”
Wang Yani rolled her eyes, looking utterly unable to stand him. She secretly said to Jiang Xiaoyi, “I heard Ye Zhen is super handsome. Does my outfit look okay today? I wonder if I work hard, can I become the Crown Princess? Once I move into the Eastern Palace, the first thing I’ll do is drag Eunuch Li out and behead him…”
But Jiang Xiaoyi was in no mood to joke about that. She only cared about one thing. “Then the projects Boss Liu approved before…”
An eternal truth: once a person leaves, the tea goes cold.
Wang Yani said sympathetically, “For anything that only completed the OA process but wasn’t signed by Boss Liu yet, it all has to be reviewed again by the newly arrived President Ye.”
After saying that, she patted Jiang Xiaoyi’s shoulder earnestly. “Before, you offended Eunuch Li, so he kept making trouble behind the scenes and ruined several of your projects. Now that President Ye has ascended the throne, your chance has come. If you can leave a good impression on President Ye today, getting the approval passed will be a matter of minutes, won’t it?”
Jiang Xiaoyi felt that made sense. She immediately made a decision.
This new President Ye—she, Jiang Xiaoyi, would flatter him with her life!
**
Jiang Xiaoyi specially went to the restroom to touch up her makeup and waited in full battle mode for most of the day. But the promised meeting with the new boss was actually cancelled!
Eunuch Li walked into the open office area with a dark expression.
“President Ye won’t be coming today. Something came up at the last minute. But before he left, he expressed great dissatisfaction with our department!”
“President Ye feels that the quality of our department’s employees is too poor!”
Eunuch Li looked so angry he was about to pass away on the spot. “So now I must find out which one of you has such poor manners! Who gave the new boss this impression? Come out and confess!”
Naturally, no one did.
Eunuch Li sneered twice. “Fine. No one wants to confess, is that it? Then report each other. Vote for who you think is the least well-mannered person in the department. I’ve printed the department personnel list. Tick anonymously. Jiang Xiaoyi, come over and count the votes publicly!”
…
Jiang Xiaoyi and Wang Yani looked at each other, both feeling that Eunuch Li was really digging his own grave.
Sure enough, not long after the vote counting began—
Jiang Xiaoyi opened one piece of paper. “Li… Li You’ai…”
Eunuch Li glared at her. “Why are you calling me by my full name? Call me Director Li!”
Jiang Xiaoyi obediently adjusted. “Di-Director Li, one vote.”
“…”
She opened the second piece of paper. “Director Li, two votes.”
“…”
“Director Li, three votes…”
…
As expected, in the end, Eunuch Li lived up to expectations. In the anonymous vote, he passed unanimously and was elected the person with the worst manners in the entire department…
Naturally, this result enraged Eunuch Li.
“Leaving such a bad impression on the new boss is very serious! This is not a joke!”
Jiang Xiaoyi really wanted to say, We’re not joking. In our hearts, you really are the person with the worst manners in the entire department…
Unfortunately, Eunuch Li would never admit that. Out of humiliation and anger, he scolded everyone fiercely again. Then he left the office. Not long after, he returned to the open office area with a fierce expression.
“I just sacrificed my beauty to extract information from the Administration Department! I’ve finally figured out what happened. This morning, President Ye personally saw an employee from our department completely disregarding basic elevator etiquette! He said the employees of our department had terrible manners!”
Wang Yani fearlessly said, “But President Ye doesn’t even know us… How would he know it was someone from our department…”
“Because President Ye inferred it from the floor that was pressed. It should have been our floor!” Eunuch Li was trembling with anger. “If we don’t find this person today, none of you should even think about getting off work!”
Before, when she hadn’t known the details, Jiang Xiaoyi hadn’t thought much of it. But now, hearing the words “elevator etiquette,” enlightenment suddenly struck her like a thunderbolt.
“Director Li! I remember now!”
Hadn’t she squeezed into the elevator this morning and run into a man with no martial virtue and absolutely no manners? Now that Jiang Xiaoyi thought back, after that man entered the elevator, he hadn’t pressed a floor button. That meant that among the floors already pressed, one was where he was going. Among the other men in suits with him, they had looked like industry elites at first glance. Perhaps one of them had been Ye Zhen, President Ye, who had witnessed everything!
Jiang Xiaoyi thought more carefully. At that time, apart from the top floor, which only bosses and important business partners would go to, the only other floor pressed was the Project Incubation Department floor she had selected. That unmannered man going to the top floor? Obviously impossible. That meant he was very likely heading to the same floor as her…
In the two years Jiang Xiaoyi had worked at Ruiyi, she truly had never encountered such an ill-mannered man before.
In order to get off work on time, Jiang Xiaoyi immediately reported everything she knew to Eunuch Li without holding back.
“Director Li, I think it was that man! Because everyone in our department is actually very well-mannered. None of us would do something so uncultured as stealing an elevator! He was probably an outsider who came to our floor for a meeting or business discussion and was mistaken by President Ye as an employee from our floor!”
This guess was extremely reasonable. Eunuch Li was delighted.
“As long as he isn’t one of ours! Jiang Xiaoyi, do you still remember what he looked like? Find this person for me. We need to explain to President Ye with evidence and reason that this person is definitely not from our department!”
That was not difficult for Jiang Xiaoyi. She had graduated from an art academy with a major in illustration and comic design, and her drawing skills were very strong. She immediately sketched the man’s portrait.
Wang Yani clicked her tongue in amazement from the side. “This man is so handsome that I’m willing to forgive his bad manners…”
Eunuch Li looked disdainful. “You young people know nothing. When choosing a man, you should choose someone with mature charm like me. Can handsomeness be eaten like rice? Jiang Xiaoyi, draw faster! Once you’re done, scan it and send me the electronic file. I’ll post it on the company’s internal forum and collect clues online to clear the name of our Project Incubation Department! Who invited such a client here? His manners are terrible! We absolutely cannot invest in this person’s project!”
Although she hated Eunuch Li, at certain times, she and the Project Incubation Department were still one entity. Jiang Xiaoyi’s project approval was still hanging in President Ye’s hands. She absolutely could not let her department be disliked first and thrown into the cold palace.
Jiang Xiaoyi quickly completed the task. Only then did she let out a breath of relief and praise herself for her quick wit. She checked the time and saw that it was almost lunch break, so she opened the company’s internal gossip group. A few female colleagues from the Administration Department were chatting excitedly.
“Our new boss is really so handsome!”
“I only got one look, but seriously, he has no bad angles! I’m no longer stanning my idol brother. I’m switching to stanning our boss!”
“Hurry, hurry! This is the photo I secretly took! The boss had to leave suddenly this time, but next time he comes for a meeting, I’ll take a better picture!”
…
Jiang Xiaoyi, bored and idle, clicked on the secretly taken photo.
Then her whole body went cold.
“This is President Ye?!”
“Yeah!”
…
Looking at that handsome face in the photo—the one that looked like it would be quite expensive to keep—Jiang Xiaoyi felt her vision go black.
She quickly got up and ran over to Wang Yani.
“That portrait I drew earlier… Eunuch Li hasn’t uploaded it yet, right?”
Wang Yani wasn’t in that internal gossip group, so she didn’t know the truth. Carefree, she said, “He uploaded it already. Eunuch Li was especially angry. His wording was really nasty. He said that, based on a report from department colleague Jiang Xiaoyi, he was collecting clues online and asking for information on this low-quality scumbag…”
Jiang Xiaoyi now felt that she was completely finished. Only one thought remained in her heart—
My days are numbered.
Eunuch Li, with you accompanying me on the road to the Yellow Springs, I’m sure I won’t be lonely.
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