After clearing a level in her game, Zhou Zhuofei checked the time and stretched her stiff neck before getting up to turn off the console and TV.
She had work the next day, so it was time to shower and get ready for bed.
Fresh out of the shower, she had just settled onto the mattress when her cat, Director, leaped onto the bed out of nowhere. The feline climbed onto her with practiced ease, kneading its paws rhythmically against the blanket while purring like a revving motorcycle.
Zhou Zhuofei absently stroked its fur a couple of times, propped herself against the wall with a pillow, and opened her laptop to watch her favorite drama.
By the time she finished an episode, drowsiness had set in. She shut the laptop, ready to sleep, while Director hopped off the bed and scampered to the living room to entertain itself.
She slept soundly.
The next morning, right after the daily meeting, Zhuang Kexin from HR called Zhou Zhuofei, instructing her to come collect the new intern.
Hanging up, Zhou Zhuofei instinctively took a deep breath to steady herself.
Her colleague Luo Jing, seated nearby, overheard the conversation and teased, "What’s wrong, Zhuofei? Is mentoring a newbie stressing you out?"
The department head had mentioned the incoming intern during the meeting, so everyone knew Zhou Zhuofei would be supervising them.
"A little. It’s my first time, after all—no experience."
"Relax, you’ll be fine. Since when is there anything you can’t handle?"
"Ugh, stop jinxing me!" Laughing, Zhou Zhuofei stood and headed out to fetch the intern.
The moment she stepped into HR, she recognized Zhan Zilang instantly. He looked exactly like his photo—if not more polished in person.
Dressed in a well-tailored suit, he sat in the waiting area, idly glancing around.
Zhou Zhuofei first approached Zhuang Kexin, who then led her to Zhan Zilang and made introductions.
"Hello, I’m Zhou Zhuofei."
"Nice to meet you. How should I address you?" Zhan Zilang’s tone was polite, his attitude eager, leaving a decent first impression.
"I’m a bit older, so ‘Zhou-jie’ is fine. Let’s head to the department."
On the way back to the admin office, Zhou Zhuofei chatted with him casually.
He was talkative, so she effortlessly learned quite a bit: this was Zhan Zilang’s first internship. After graduation, he’d spent half a year traveling with friends, then another six months unwinding before finally deciding to start his career.
She didn’t ask why he’d chosen the admin department—or Huanyu. They’d just met; such personal questions could wait.
Back in the office, Zhou Zhuofei introduced Zhan Zilang to their colleagues one by one, followed by the tedious but necessary onboarding tasks—setting up access, assigning an employee ID, and so on.
Though straightforward, the process took a while. Zhan Zilang obediently trailed behind her, following every instruction without complaint, his cooperative demeanor putting her at ease.
As they walked back to the admin department, he even remarked admiringly, "Zhou-jie, you’re amazing. You remembered everyone’s names back there—I’d never manage that."
"Of course you won’t remember everyone at first, but after staying for a while, you’ll keep seeing the same faces—it’ll be hard not to memorize them."
"That’s not always true. I still don’t remember how many people were in my university class."
"Work is different from school."
After returning, Zhou Zhuofei handed Zhan Zilang the employee handbook and told him to familiarize himself with it first. That counted as settling him in.
"Take a look at the handbook and get used to the rules. I’ll take you to the cafeteria for lunch at noon."
Zhan Zilang nodded repeatedly, then called out to Zhou Zhuofei as she was about to leave, "Oh, by the way, Sis Zhou, I have a small question…"
Zhou Zhuofei stopped in her tracks. "What is it?"
He tapped the keyboard he had just been issued with a somewhat critical expression. "Can I bring my own keyboard to use later?"
"Sure. If you find the desktop inconvenient, you can even bring your own laptop, but the company’s system can’t be installed on personal devices."
"Got it. Thanks."
"No problem. Let me know if you have any other questions. I sit over there." Zhou Zhuofei pointed to her workstation, which was about half the office away from Zhan Zilang.
"Alright, go ahead with your work."
As soon as Zhou Zhuofei returned to her seat, she gulped down half a glass of water. She had talked quite a bit earlier and was parched.
Still, overall, things had gone smoothly. Zhan Zilang’s personality seemed decent. For someone like him—a privileged newcomer with little real work obligation—whether he could actually contribute wasn’t the main concern. What mattered was whether he was easy to get along with.
Work assignments could be adjusted, but he couldn’t be a nuisance.
So far, he seemed quite amiable. Having never worked before, he still carried a student’s naivety, but he wasn’t completely clueless about social dynamics.
Plus, the fact that he could afford to travel for half a year right after graduation spoke volumes about his family’s wealth—not to mention his designer suit and that stylish, undoubtedly expensive watch on his wrist.
Zhou Zhuofei had never been one for fashion, and her knowledge of luxury brands was limited to recognizing their logos.
But after years in the corporate world, she had gradually learned to distinguish between budget suits and high-end ones.
It wasn’t something she had to study deliberately—money didn’t lie. The difference in fabric quality was obvious when you compared them side by side.
For example, Luo Jing’s suits were worlds apart from Ling Yu’s.
Of course, it wasn’t fair to compare an employee’s attire to a CEO’s. Even Xiao Wang’s suits far outclassed Luo Jing’s.
At first glance, she could tell Zhan Zilang’s suit was expensive.
So now, her impression of him had expanded from "well-connected insider" to "wealthy young master."
Zhou Zhuofei spent the rest of her time handling work tasks. At lunch, she invited Zhan Zilang and Ye Ru to the cafeteria.
Huanyu’s employee cafeteria was one of the company’s proudest perks—not only was it free, but the food quality was also guaranteed.
After getting their meals, they sat together. Zhan Zilang asked curiously, "Do the higher-ups eat here too?"
"Yeah, the company only has this one cafeteria, so in theory, everyone eats here. But you can also bring your own lunch or go out—there’s enough time during the break."
Zhan Zilang let out an "Oh," then followed up with another question, "Does President Ling eat here too?"
This kid sure has a lot of questions, Zhou Zhuofei thought to herself.
But it wasn’t exactly a secret, so she gave him the answer. "President Ling is usually too busy to come down. Even if he eats, he takes his food back to his office."
Though most of the time, he probably didn’t even eat at the company. Of course, this was just Zhou Zhuofei’s personal assumption—she often delivered documents to the top floor and noticed Ling Yu was frequently absent.
"Oh, I see."
Ye Ru teased, "If you really want to see President Ling, just go with Sister Zhou to deliver files this afternoon. You’ll definitely catch a glimpse."
Zhan Zilang let out an awkward laugh and quickly explained, "No, no, I was just curious."
He had specifically chosen the administrative department to avoid being under Ling Yu’s watchful eye—why would he willingly walk into the lion’s den now?
After lunch, Zhou Zhuofei took a short nap before returning to work in the afternoon.
Once she finished handling urgent tasks, she grabbed the documents that needed signatures and set off to complete the approval process, planning to swing by the top floor to retrieve her reimbursement form while she was at it.
The top floor was practically Ling Yu’s exclusive domain. Aside from the CEO’s office, there were only a few meeting rooms and the secretary’s office.
This setup fit the novel-like atmosphere perfectly.
Zhou Zhuofei still remembered how nervous she had been the first time she went up to deliver documents.
Stepping out of the elevator, she was greeted by an impossibly long corridor that seemed to stretch endlessly. At the far end stood an imposing, ornately carved wooden door. The decor and ambiance here were worlds apart from the ordinary office floors below.
Now, though, Zhou Zhuofei walked this path with far more composure—it had become routine.
Pushing open the wooden door, she was met with an expansive layout: an open central space surrounded by several doors, with the CEO’s office positioned directly in the middle.
Outside the office stood a desk with two document racks—one for files awaiting signatures, the other for those already signed.
Zhou Zhuofei sifted through the pile and finally found her reimbursement form. Just as she was about to leave, her gaze drifted toward the secretary’s office next door.
A quick glance through the glass partition revealed that Xiao Wang wasn’t in.
If he had been, she would’ve chatted with him for a bit. Ye Ru had specifically reminded her earlier, so she intended to follow instructions and report the situation to Xiao Wang.
Zhou Zhuofei turned to leave, but after just two steps, she heard a soft "click"—the sound of a door unlocking.
Instinctively, she looked toward the noise and immediately noticed the door of a nearby meeting room slowly swinging inward, revealing a narrow gap.
Her eyes flicked over casually, but then froze in place.
Inside, a man was changing clothes. A suit jacket lay draped over the conference table, and he had just pulled off his shirt, leaving his upper half bare. Clearly, he hadn’t expected the door to open.
Since his back was turned, Zhou Zhuofei got an unobstructed view.
Broad shoulders, a well-defined neck, and smooth, toned muscles—it was obvious he worked out regularly. His physique wasn’t overly exaggerated, just perfectly balanced, radiating a healthy, powerful aura.
Wait… who was this again?
The thought had barely crossed her mind when another one cut in sharply.
Forget that—right now, the priority was to get out of here and pretend she’d seen nothing. Otherwise, this would be beyond awkward!
The man inside the room reacted just as quickly. Hearing the noise, he swiftly turned around, using the shirt in his hand to cover himself.
Zhou Zhuofei was stunned to realize that the person before her was none other than Xiao Wang.
Why was she so surprised? Logically, the most likely people to be here were Ling Yu and Xiao Wang, yet she had subconsciously dismissed the possibility of it being Xiao Wang.
Perhaps it was because Xiao Wang had always given off a refined, scholarly impression, coupled with his tall and slender frame, that Zhou Zhuofei never imagined he would have a habit of working out.
Xiao Wang was equally taken aback to see Zhou Zhuofei, and his gaze soon shifted to the inexplicably opened door.
Instinctively, Zhou Zhuofei raised her hands in a gesture of innocence. "It wasn't me—I didn’t even touch the door."
Xiao Wang, who had initially been somewhat embarrassed, couldn’t help but be amused by her words, easing the tension slightly.
The corners of his lips lifted faintly as he reassured her in a calm tone, "I probably didn’t lock it properly when I closed it earlier. That’s on me—it’s not your fault."
Relieved that Xiao Wang didn’t misunderstand, Zhou Zhuofei relaxed a little.
Still, the situation was undeniably awkward, especially when her eyes inadvertently landed on his exposed shoulders again. She quickly averted her gaze, deliberately looking elsewhere as she made her way toward the door.
"Don’t worry, I’ll close it for you."
After shutting the door, she made a point of checking it thoroughly, deliberately making noise so Xiao Wang would hear.
Once she confirmed it was securely closed, she finally walked away.
At the same time, she let her guard down, allowing her expression to shift dramatically as she marveled inwardly. Who would’ve thought that Xiao Wang, who always seemed so delicate, had such a well-built figure?
Suits might enhance one’s silhouette, but they sure do hide a good physique.
Lost in thought, Zhou Zhuofei hadn’t even made it out of the building when she heard the door open again behind her.
"Zhou Zhuofei, wait a moment."
