New Client in the President’s Office - Chapter 31

The work group chat was an internal network group.

Shen Yan had been typing frantically for a long time, but when she checked, there were only two unread messages.

She had no idea what Xing Ning and Qian Xiafeng were doing.

She had no choice but to start working on her tasks.

She opened an Excel spreadsheet and, with her limited knowledge of Excel, created the most basic personnel statistics table.

Then, she opened a Word document and drafted the notification message she needed to send in the group chat.

After finishing, she took a picture and sent it to Zhou Xing for review.

Zhou Xing replied quickly with just one word: “Okay.”

Shen Yan set the spreadsheet to shared mode and posted it in their centralized office project group chat.

After completing these tasks, she quickly found out why Xing Ning and Qian Xiafeng hadn’t replied.

They had entered the meeting room with their department manager.

Shen Yan excitedly waved at them, surprised that they had both come.

The finance department was close to the president’s office, so Xing Ning and Qian Xiafeng quietly moved closer to Shen Yan, intending to take the seats next to her.

Their finance manager, who had seen Shen Yan before, knew they were friends and didn’t say anything, allowing them to sit beside her.

Shen Yan suddenly felt the same excitement she had back in school when she and her friends from another class were allowed to sit together for a joint lesson.

She started looking forward to the week’s special project.

“I really didn’t expect both of you to come,” Shen Yan whispered to Xing Ning.

Xing Ning sighed.

“Axia and I are here for the grunt work making spreadsheets and booking tickets.”

After setting up their computers, Xing Ning and Qian Xiafeng saw the messages in the internal network chat.

They exchanged glances, and Xing Ning immediately started typing:

“We probably know who you’re talking about.

When we came downstairs, we ran into them coming up.”

Shen Yan quickly typed back:

“This is too much of a coincidence.

Do you know that sister?”

Xing Ning:

“No, but our manager also called her ‘Sister Song.’”

Qian Xiafeng:

“That means ‘Sister Song’ is most likely interested in Special Assistant Zhou.”

Shen Yan:

“Why do you say that?”

Xing Ning:

“Because ‘Sister Song’ didn’t correct our manager when he called her that.”

Shen Yan:

“That means she’s interested!”

Qian Xiafeng:

“Big gossip!”

Xing Ning:

“Oh no, I don’t think I can hold my tongue.

I want to start a rumor.”

Qian Xiafeng:

“Calm down.

We need to first figure out who ‘Sister Song’ really is.”

Shen Yan recalled the details from earlier.

“‘Sister Song’ said someone from the construction company was looking for Special Assistant Zhou.

That means she must be connected to the construction team.

Could she be from the design department?”

Xing Ning:

“I’m opening the contact directory right now!”

However, before Xing Ning could check, their finance manager bombarded their finance group chat with a pile of spreadsheets.

Since they were all sitting close together in the meeting room, their manager could easily reach them.

After dropping a load of files, he said, “Xing, Qian, process these spreadsheets in the chat.”

Xing Ning, Qian Xiafeng, and Shen Yan exchanged looks.

They saw the disappointment in each other’s eyes.

There was no way out Xing Ning and Qian Xiafeng were being closely monitored.

Shen Yan had no choice but to check the contact directory herself to find a woman named Song in the design department.

Gossiping without her partners-in-crime just wasn’t as fun.

Looking at her two friends busy with work while she had nothing to do, Shen Yan started feeling a little guilty.

But that feeling didn’t last long.

Soon, people from different departments started messaging her about the notification she had posted.

At first, Shen Yan patiently answered their questions.

Some asked if every team member needed to fill out the entry log, since their assigned staff changed daily.

Others asked whether they should provide a landline or a mobile number in the contact section.

Some even asked if signing the confidentiality agreement was really necessary and if the company would sue them for violating it.

And then there were more…

Shen Yan: …

She stared at the long list of unread messages.

Had her notification been unclear?

Was her wording not precise enough?

How could there be so many questions?

Someone even asked whether to write a landline or a mobile number.

She wanted to reply: You’re all working in the centralized office!

If you put a landline, how do you plan on answering it?!*

She felt herself getting more and more frustrated.

Her typing became louder and louder.

Just as she was on the verge of losing her patience, she finally managed to collect all the personnel forms from the involved departments.

Following Zhou Xing’s instructions, she sent the compiled sheet to Wang, the security officer in charge of their office building, so he could grant them access to the meeting room.

For security reasons, the room required a keycard entry to prevent unauthorized personnel from entering.

Everyone listed in the report had to sign and submit their confidentiality agreements by the end of the day.

Since they were all working together in one space, she could chase down anyone who hadn’t submitted theirs.

After Wang added the access permissions, she notified everyone in the group chat to bring their work badges and make sure to close the door behind them.

Once she finished, Shen Yan reopened the contact directory and searched for a female employee named Song in the design department.

She only found one person: Song Tianyu.

Sherlock Holmes once said, “When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

But the probability of “Song Tianyu” being a woman was way too low.

She sent her findings to the chat, waiting for Xing Ning and Qian Xiafeng to check once they finished their tasks.

But even by lunchtime, they hadn’t had time for gossip.

The elevator lobby was crowded during lunch break.

Since everyone from their meeting room poured out at the same time plus the usual crowd from the ninth-floor marketing department the elevator entrance was packed.

As interns, they moved toward the back, letting their senior colleagues and managers board first.

By the time they looked around, the only people left were the ones Shen Yan knew well.

They exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

Yu Xinnian joked, “What happened to young people shaking up the workplace?

Why are we letting others go first when it comes to lunch?”

Xing Ning replied, “We’re young, so we give way to the old-timers.”

The elevator arrived quickly.

Shen Yan tried to step in but was pulled back by Xing Ning.

“This one’s going down.”

That’s when Shen Yan realized they were on the ninth floor, and the cafeteria was on the eleventh.

They needed to take the up elevator.

Shu Yan suddenly suggested, “Why don’t we just take the stairs?”

Her words reminded everyone they were only two floors away.

Why were they waiting for an elevator?

Some of them even worked out regularly, so climbing two flights of stairs should have been nothing.

The group of interns collectively facepalmed.

They had been so overwhelmed with work all morning that they completely forgot such a simple solution.

Shen Yan picked up her lunch and was about to find a seat when Manager Qian enthusiastically waved them over.

Since the cafeteria was packed, the three of them had no choice but to abandon their other friends and sit with him.

Shen Yan had wanted to continue gossiping with Xing Ning about Zhou Xing and “Sister Song,” but she remembered that Manager Qian was close to Zhou Xing.

She was afraid that if they gossiped now, the rumors would reach Zhou Xing’s ears by the afternoon.

While Shen Yan focused on eating quietly, Xing Ning boldly asked, “Manager Qian, when we arrived at the office earlier, a beautiful woman greeted us at the elevator.

Which department is she from?”

Shen Yan was stunned.

This was peak social confidence!

Xing Ning had asked so naturally that Manager Qian would only think she was curious about the woman’s beauty.

Manager Qian looked a bit surprised that they brought up Song Tianyu, but since she was indeed stunning, he didn’t find it odd.

“That’s Sister Song from the design department—Song Tianyu.”