MG CH20

When Zhang Yan arrived downstairs and saw Yan Zishu, he greeted him with his usual enthusiastic yet awkward “Oh, isn’t this Director Yan?”

Yan Zishu was too lazy to correct him and said in a businesslike manner, “Are you here to pick up the cooperation proposal? I was just about to have someone send it down to you.”

Zhang Yan turned around, and Ji Chen came pattering over, bumping into him with a startled cry, scattering the documents in his hands all over the floor.

Zhang Yan: “…”

It felt like having a colleague who insisted on bringing their child to work, and you constantly had to be careful not to step on them.

But Zhang Yan immediately put on a smile and crouched down to help gather the documents, after all, Ji Chen was now “the overbearing CEO’s favorite.”

—If that colleague held a high position or was even your boss, it would be different: who would harshly criticize their child?

Ji Chen repeatedly thanked Zhang Yan, feeling that the other person was very kind.

Of course, everyone else was also very kind to Ji Chen.

Zhang Yan winked and flattered Ji Chen for a few moments before leaving that floor.

Even a seasoned secretary like Helen, while not overtly flattering, was much more patient than before.

Ever since Yan Zishu made a grand gesture to vindicate Ji Chen and invited him back to work in the secretarial department, everyone realized two things:

First, that little intern was back in favor. See? The male employee who had previously insulted Ji Chen ended up quitting and finding another job after being disciplined by HR—of course, the “polite guy” stayed on safely.

Second, Assistant General Manager Yan was indeed still the emperor’s trusted minister. After all, most people thought that private matters involving the boss’s romantic life would only be entrusted to confidantes; who else could possibly interfere so casually?

In the short term, this was the effect Yan Zishu wanted. It was for Fu Weishan to see, and for everyone else to see. Incidentally, it was also laying the groundwork for framing the protagonist uke later, which didn’t need to be explicitly stated.

As for anyone who stubbornly disliked Ji Chen from beginning to end—

Besides Yan Zishu, Ben was also such cannon fodder in the original plot.

From the tips of his hair to his toes, he was filled with disdain for the protagonist uke. No matter how favored the other person was, he would never give them a polite look.

Until his petty actions became too brazen, leading to him being sacrificed by the protagonist seme to appease the protagonist uke, forcing him to make a dismal exit.

That was indeed how it was supposed to be.

But now, well, Ben simply didn’t have that much free time.

Sometimes, he had to wonder if Yan Zishu was emotionally manipulating him in the workplace.

When Ben was first assigned by Yan Zishu to follow up on the project, his thought was: How could such a good thing happen?

Ben had studied a general liberal arts major and worked as an ordinary administrative assistant at the company. Not only was his salary ceiling not high, but his career development plan was also relatively vague. To put it bluntly, without special opportunities, he would always be a small cog in the machine.

Unless he could reach Helen’s position—but there were too many monks and too little porridge; there was only one position, and it might not be his turn.

And what Yan Zishu gave him was an opportunity that could serve as a stepping stone. If he worked diligently and was appreciated and promoted by his superiors, there was a great chance to break away from administrative work, often considered “unpromising time-wasting,” and move into core business departments.

So, Ben’s initial enthusiasm was quite strong, even reigniting a long-lost passion for striving.

However, after working with Yan Zishu for a while, his thought had changed to: How could such a good thing happen?

It was truly working overtime day and night.

And being mercilessly bossed around by Yan Zishu anytime, anywhere.

In the past, there was a chief secretary between these minions and the general assistant, and Helen had somewhat cushioned the pressure.

Now, he finally understood that Helen had silently endured too much.

It’s clear that there’s a reason why everyone dislikes “workaholics.”

Under such work intensity, Ben would inevitably become especially annoyed every day when he saw Ji Chen dilly-dallying and working like a bird sipping water. Perhaps this was also due to an office worker’s natural aversion to “incompetence.”

He had seen idol dramas before; protagonists who were confused, spilling coffee on the boss one day, losing important documents the next—these things practically played out every few days between Ji Chen and Fu Weishan. For the parties involved, they were probably catalysts for emotional development, as those two’s gazes were becoming increasingly sweet and intertwined lately.

Ben observed with cold eyes, his face etched with indifference: those who couldn’t help share the workload were useless.

As a man, it seemed that he could somewhat understand the fascination some men had for “immature high school students.”

However, if someone’s mental state was that of an “immature high school student,” they really shouldn’t be in an office.

But later, when Ben observed Yan Zishu’s attitude towards Ji Chen, he felt that his own understanding was indeed shallow.

For example, Ji Chen came trotting over again, holding out a stack of loose papers to Yan Zishu: “Assistant Yan, is this the meeting outline you’ll need later? I’ve already downloaded and printed it from the OA. Please confirm it.”

Ben would think scornfully to himself: “Damn, he just prints it? Doesn’t even staple it? Does the company lack a stapler for you?”

After all, workplace wisdom usually tells you: “Details determine success, and attitude determines everything.”

“Mhm, this is it,” Yan Zishu, however, would say kindly, “Thank you, I was just about to use it.”

As soon Chen left, he casually stuffed all the papers into the shredder: “Ben, remember to prepare a meeting outline for me.”

…What else could Ben say? Of course, he went and printed it perfectly for him.

Neatly stapled, meticulously checked, not even a single punctuation mark wrong.

It was undeniable that Yan Zishu still treated Ji Chen with the attitude one would have towards a boss’s pet.

Feeding it, watering it, stroking its fur, and coaxing it gently. If this pet brought him something to eat, even if it was a remarkable achievement, he would approvingly pat the pet’s head, praise it as a “good boy,” and then turn around and smilingly throw it in the trash.

Aside from a slight apology to environmental protection, everything else proceeded smoothly.

So now, although Ben still disliked Ji Chen, he had mastered the virtue of silence being golden and no longer spoke sarcastically to him unnecessarily. He just focused on his own work (also due to being severely overworked).

“You’ve grown a lot recently,” Yan Zishu once praised him. “You seem much more stable than before.”

At that moment, Ben’s heart chilled, and the thought that flashed through his mind was: he’s not praising me the way he praises Ji Chen, is he?

But recalling the extent of his hellish overtime with Yan Zishu, he felt reassured; no, it couldn’t be that.

This was truly the bitterness of a laborer.

Although Yan Zishu deliberately kept Ji Chen from directly handling his work documents, it didn’t guarantee that other accidents wouldn’t occur.

Upon arriving at the private room reserved at the Jinfengtai Hotel, Ben opened the document bag only to find that it contained not the cooperation proposal to be discussed, but several expired auction plans from last year. In other words, they were all waste paper.