Before Jiang Xiaoyi could even do the psychological health check, Eunuch Li gave her a “deep spiritual exchange” first.
“Jiang Xiaoyi, don’t think that just because you got lucky and President Ye picked you, you’re some chosen one. Historically, being a CEO’s assistant requires very high qualifications and ability. You’re just an art major. You’re not qualified at all. I’m honestly worried you’ll embarrass our department when you go work for President Ye…”
Usually, everyone went out to eat during lunch break. Jiang Xiaoyi had stayed behind to save money, making do with a pack of hazelnuts Wang Yani had given her. Unexpectedly, Eunuch Li caught her.
Ever since he found out Jiang Xiaoyi had been selected as the temporary assistant, he hadn’t given her a good expression. Since she had been doing health checks these past few days, his authority had had nowhere to vent. Now that he had caught her in the office area during lunch break, he immediately began making sarcastic remarks and lecturing her at length.
Eunuch Li was an old master of workplace PUA. He went on endlessly, “When you go to President Ye, keep your mentality grounded. Don’t really think you’ve risen to heaven. The word temporary means you can be dismissed at any time. Only our Project Incubation Department is your real home. Remember that clearly! Your heart must be with our big departmental family. If you get any information, you must report it to me immediately.”
“As for the department’s work, you still need to continue doing it. After all, in a month, you’ll still return to our department.”
When she had first joined the company years ago, Jiang Xiaoyi would still argue back at moments like this. But after being polished by the workplace for several years, she had long since learned to behave. She immediately nodded without changing expression. “Director Li, don’t worry. In my heart, you are my only leader!”
There was no good outcome in arguing with Eunuch Li, because he didn’t reason at all. Once Jiang Xiaoyi resisted, he would not hesitate to spend time entangling her until she was exhausted. The usual result was that after entering Eunuch Li’s office, an entire day would disappear—but Jiang Xiaoyi’s work for that day would not disappear with it.
Through bloody struggle, the people had long learned how to preserve their strength.
Once Eunuch Li entered PUA mode, Jiang Xiaoyi’s mind automatically began looping:
A turtle chanting scriptures. Not listening, not listening.
Sure enough, Jiang Xiaoyi’s answer satisfied Eunuch Li greatly.
“It’s rare for you to be this sensible. I’ll definitely cultivate you properly and treat you well…”
But before Eunuch Li could finish, he was interrupted by a sound from nearby.
Someone was clapping in a rather punchable way.
Naturally, Eunuch Li was furious. But the moment he saw who it was, his anger immediately died down.
Ye Zhen stood lazily at the doorway.
Eunuch Li immediately piled on a smile. “President Ye, why did you personally come to our department? If you need anything, just call me. I’ll be there whenever summoned…”
Ye Zhen smiled. “What were you two talking about just now? You seemed very happy. Can I join in?”
Ye Zhen’s amused expression and clapping clearly showed that he knew exactly what kind of conversation had just happened here. But now he was knowingly asking anyway, which meant he probably intended to turn a blind eye like every other boss.
Of course, Jiang Xiaoyi understood. After all, no one would offend an experienced middle manager for the sake of a bottom-level employee.
Although she had already warned herself not to expect anything, at that moment, Jiang Xiaoyi still felt a little disappointed.
But Jiang Xiaoyi was sensible after all. Just as she was about to casually make up an excuse that they had been discussing work, giving everyone a way out, Eunuch Li spoke first.
“President Ye, I was teaching our Little Jiang a lesson.”
Ye Zhen’s face revealed no real emotion. He still maintained that unreadable smile.
Ever since the last incident, Eunuch Li had been racking his brains to flatter this new boss. Seeing Ye Zhen’s reaction now, he thought he had been encouraged. He smiled shamelessly at Ye Zhen, then turned to Jiang Xiaoyi with a stern face.
“Little Jiang, why are you hiding here eating hazelnuts at noon?! How can you eat hazelnuts?!”
Brilliant! Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t help sighing inwardly. Eunuch Li had learned. He was trying to create the image of a caring superior in front of Ye Zhen by pretending to criticise her for eating hazelnuts instead of lunch.
Unfortunately, very soon, Eunuch Li showed Jiang Xiaoyi what reality was.
He said harshly, “President Ye’s name also has the character Zhen in it. The hazelnuts you’re eating are pronounced similarly to President Ye’s name. This is called offending your superior and violating his taboo name! Of all things, why did you have to eat hazelnuts?”
“…”
Even though Jiang Xiaoyi knew Eunuch Li was a bootlicker, she was still stunned at this moment.
Eunuch Li glanced at Ye Zhen and smiled. “Besides, Little Jiang has quite a few problems. Since she’ll be serving as your temporary assistant in the future, I only regret not teaching her properly earlier. I’m worried she won’t serve you well. I do usually give her pointers, but unfortunately, she’s rather stubborn. Many of her bad habits are too difficult to change…”
“But most employees in our Project Incubation Department are highly capable and well-mannered. President Ye, why don’t you choose someone else as your assistant? I have other candidates to recommend.”
So he was trying to push her out and recommend one of his own?
It was bad enough that he usually stole her projects. But this time, it was five or six times the salary! Jiang Xiaoyi absolutely would not allow it!
Just as she was full of fighting spirit and ready to tear off all pretence with Eunuch Li, she heard Ye Zhen speak first.
“Didn’t you just say she was sensible and that you would cultivate her properly and treat her well?” The man’s voice still carried a smile, but there was no warmth in it at all. Ye Zhen’s beautiful eyes looked at Eunuch Li with an almost innocent expression. “This is how you treat her well?”
“No, President Ye, the main thing is that I truly don’t feel at ease letting Jiang Xiaoyi work by your side. I’m afraid she’ll damage our department’s reputation. She’s still young, so I want to keep her by my side and cultivate her more.”
“Are you questioning my judgement?”
“Huh?”
Ye Zhen stopped smiling. His whole face cooled. He glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi. “She is the candidate I selected. By belittling her like this, are you indirectly mocking my poor judgement?”
To be fair, at that instant, Jiang Xiaoyi suddenly understood what Wang Yani meant.
When Ye Zhen spoke with that expression, he really was very handsome.
Eunuch Li hadn’t expected his flattery to fail and backfire so badly. His expression immediately became awkward. “P-President Ye, please listen to my explanation…”
“By explaining, do you mean you think I misunderstood?”
“N-No…”
Ye Zhen was like an ETC toll gate that had gained sentience, possessing first-class automatic argument-raising abilities. Eunuch Li was completely no match for him and could only shut up entirely. The lines that originally belonged to Eunuch Li now all appeared in Ye Zhen’s mouth.
Who would have thought that after dominating the workplace for so many years, Eunuch Li would one day meet a formidable opponent?
In front of the truly boss-diseased Ye Zhen, Eunuch Li was utterly vulnerable!
After throwing out his words, Ye Zhen glanced at Eunuch Li again. “Why are you still here? Are you trying to waste more of my time?”
Eunuch Li did not dare let out even a fart and quickly withdrew.
Now only Ye Zhen and Jiang Xiaoyi remained in the office area.
Eunuch Li had “passed away.” Now it was her turn…
Ye Zhen, this boss-disease patient with indiscriminate attacks, clearly did not intend to let Jiang Xiaoyi go either.
“Your only leader?”
Jiang Xiaoyi had a strong survival instinct and immediately declared, “President Ye! It’s you! It must be you!” She lowered her voice. “I never expected Director Li to treat me like that… Luckily, you stood up for me. I believe that in the future, you’ll definitely treat me better than Eunuch Li did!”
Whatever. Bosses all liked being flattered, so she would first force the hat of caring for subordinates onto Ye Zhen’s head. Under normal circumstances, because of this high hat, Ye Zhen would have to treat her slightly better.
“Mm.”
Unfortunately, Ye Zhen was probably not a normal person. He nodded matter-of-factly, then said directly, “Li You’ai doesn’t treat you well, but I won’t treat you well either.”
???
“This is for your own good. If I treat you too well, first, you’ll easily lose yourself. Second, you’ll easily attract jealousy and exclusion from other colleagues in the company.”
Ye Zhen smiled. “You also know that you’re indeed only temporarily filling the position. After one month, you won’t be able to continue serving as my assistant. If I treat you too well, you may not be able to move on. After returning to your original position, you’ll become arrogant and unrealistic.”
“…” There was really no need…
“Also, I must clarify one point. I wasn’t defending you just now. I was defending my own taste.” Ye Zhen glanced meaningfully at Jiang Xiaoyi. “Simply put, you can understand it as me pretending to be better than I am.”
“…”
If not for the money, Jiang Xiaoyi felt she would already be hitting someone.
She was extremely certain that even if she died, she would never miss this temporary assistant job.
Holding back her anger, Jiang Xiaoyi tried to remain calm. “Then President Ye, did you come here to find me? Is there any work you need to assign?”
“Oh, right. Although your psychological health status is still questionable, there is some work you can start doing first.”
There was work? Jiang Xiaoyi immediately perked up. In the Project Incubation Department, most of what she did was miscellaneous work, and she had never been able to touch core business. Now that she would be by Ye Zhen’s side, even if he was an idiot, the platform was different. She figured she would at least be able to broaden her horizons and learn something.
In Jiang Xiaoyi’s mind, she had already pictured herself enduring humiliation by Ye Zhen’s side while her professional ability advanced by leaps and bounds.
Then Ye Zhen smiled and mercilessly burst her beautiful vision.
“Go buy me a cup of coffee.”
“…” Jiang Xiaoyi held back her anger and explained, “President Ye, our company has a coffee machine. Tell me what flavour you want, and I’ll make it for you.”
Ye Zhen shook his head. “No. I like latte art. Can you do latte art?”
“…” If you like latte art, why don’t you go drink at a café yourself?!
Jiang Xiaoyi said tactfully, “In the email, the job responsibilities for the temporary assistant role said I’d be helping you handle work and improve your efficiency…”
“Didn’t you see the small line at the bottom? ‘Also required to handle certain secretarial and personal matters.’ Additional fees will be settled separately.”
Jiang Xiaoyi was a little tempted. “Then President Ye, do you mean buying coffee for you counts as a personal matter, so there will be extra income?”
“Of course not. Only after I drink coffee will I be in a good mood and work efficiently, so buying coffee is work-related.”
“But…”
Ye Zhen looked at Jiang Xiaoyi expressionlessly for two seconds, interrupting her attempted argument. “Do you still want to do this job? You have too many questions.”
For money, Jiang Xiaoyi decided to sell her soul.
But just as she turned around to go buy coffee, she heard Ye Zhen continue, “Oh, and from now on, you’re not allowed to eat hazelnuts.”
Seriously… Did he actually care about taboo names?
“Caring about taboo names is impossible. I’m not feudal or superstitious.” Ye Zhen had been smiling just now, but the next moment his face darkened. “But hazelnuts make me think of squirrels. I hate squirrels.”
“Also, next time you eat, go to the pantry. The office area should remain in a working state. Li You’ai wasn’t wrong about that. You do have many problems. Strictly speaking, you actually don’t quite match my aura.”
Ye Zhen’s smile was exceptionally charming, but his tone was exceptionally punchable.
“I pursue perfection, but sometimes I forget that others cannot reach the same level as me. So regarding your imperfection, I will work hard to tolerate it.”
“…”
“By the way, don’t wear this top again in the future.”
Jiang Xiaoyi froze. “Does it not suit me?” But everyone said it looked good…
“It suits you, but it doesn’t suit me.” Ye Zhen pursed his lips and condescended to explain, “I hate purple. You have one hour to change it.”
“…”
“Also, I hope you keep your phone communication open at all times. I don’t want to have to come find you in person to deliver my requests. That’s too primitive.”
“…”
“Also, do you have an English name?”
Because the topic shifted too quickly, Jiang Xiaoyi shook her head blankly.
“Then I’ll give you one. From today onwards, you’ll be called Anna.”
Anna? That was way too generic…
“President Ye, our company isn’t a foreign company, and we’ve never had the habit of calling each other by English names. Are we going to shift our style toward foreign companies from now on?”
“Oh, not really. It’s just that I may forget your Chinese name.” Ye Zhen smiled. “I easily forget unimportant information. I’m afraid that when I want to find you in the future, I’ll suddenly forget what you’re called. Besides, your name isn’t very good. You may not realise it, but names with ‘Xiao’ or ‘Xia’ characters have a bit of a last-century feel.”
“…”
Wasn’t this just indirectly saying her name sounded old-fashioned… But the English name he chose wasn’t much better, was it?
Jiang Xiaoyi actually quite liked her Chinese name and did not want to accept this “imperial title” of Anna. She immediately argued with reason.
“President Ye, I have no problem if you want to call me by an English name, but can I not be called Anna… I don’t really like this name…”
An English name was just a code name. Normally, once someone said this much, any normal person would agree.
Ye Zhen seemed to understand Jiang Xiaoyi’s perspective. He pondered for a moment and nodded. “I understand.”
It seemed she didn’t have to be called Anna after all. Jiang Xiaoyi breathed a sigh of relief.
But before she could feel happy, she heard Ye Zhen continue, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t like it. After one month, you won’t have to be called Anna anymore. The name Anna is a legacy. You can pass it on to my official assistant.”
Wasn’t it just a stupid English name? Why was he acting like it was a noble title? And hereditary?
Ye Zhen did not know what Jiang Xiaoyi was thinking. He glanced at her and continued matter-of-factly, “To make it easier for me to remember names and avoid wasting my time, all my assistants are called Anna. It’s convenient and efficient. Understood, Anna?”
“…”
Jiang Xiaoyi had seen people with boss disease before, but never someone whose illness had reached such a terminal stage.
Ye Zhen was handsome and very wealthy, but from him, she felt no respect for employees at all. All Jiang Xiaoyi could sense was his lofty condescension.
At that moment, looking at Ye Zhen’s back as he turned and left, Jiang Xiaoyi had only one thought—
God, hurry the hell up and take my boss away!
In the more than twenty years Jiang Xiaoyi had been alive, this was truly the first time she had ever met a pervert like Ye Zhen.
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