New Client in the President’s Office - Chapter 43

Shen Yan Contemplates Zhou Xing's Unexpected Request

A Request for Affection.

Shen Yan blinked and carefully pondered the four words.

Her mind quickly turned, drawing from her years of experience in the literary (xiao) world (shuo).

As a young man who had been single for many years, Zhou Xing must have been urged by his family to get married for a long time.

And here she was, directly falling into the trap, appearing before his mother and aunt, and the rumors started that she and Zhou Xing were having an office underground romance.

His mother was ecstatic.

On Thursday, her mother enthusiastically invited her to dinner, but when that failed, she surely went home and forced Zhou Xing to bring her back.

Zhou Xing had no choice but to beg her, asking her to pretend to be his girlfriend in front of his mother to get through the situation.

Should she agree?

Though this whole situation was caused by her, and the fault was hers, Zhou Xing was completely dragged into this by her.

Shen Yan even thought further: if Zhou Xing invited her to pretend to be his girlfriend, then in order to get his mother to accept their relationship and have them “break up” soon, she would make sure to act with authority at his house.

If there were strawberries on the table, she would insist on eating cherries, and if they had regular boiled water, she would demand the expensive bottled mineral water…

Before Shen Yan could finish her train of thought, Zhou Xing spoke up.

“This is the situation,” Zhou Xing laid some groundwork.

“My grandmother is 89 years old, and we are preparing for her 90th birthday celebration.”

Shen Yan listened, thinking, well, the wish of the grandmother for her 90th birthday is surely to see her grandson with a partner.

That makes sense.

So should she agree?

If she did, there wasn’t much she would lose;

The only downside was that she would have to interact with him after work, but this was ultimately her fault.

Zhou Xing continued, “My grandmother, when she was young, came from a scholarly family.

Her ancestors produced scholars, and she herself was highly educated, almost went abroad to study, and was considered one of the most talented women in this area back then.”

Shen Yan listened to Zhou Xing recount his grandmother’s younger days.

As she listened, she thought, this buildup is a bit long, when will he get to the point?

But it was also good, giving her more time to think about whether she should agree.

Then, Zhou Xing finally got to the main point: “So, could I trouble you to help us write a birthday speech for my grandmother?

If possible, we would like it in classical Chinese.”

Shen Yan: “Huh?”

She felt a sense of confusion, as if she had been thrown into a battlefield unprepared.

She had already drafted two possible responses in her mind, whether or not she agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend, but she never imagined that the final request would be this.

This was completely different from what she had expected.

Seeing that Shen Yan was struggling, Zhou Xing quickly added: “Don’t worry, we’ll pay you for the writing.

Actually, we’ve been looking for someone to write it, but honestly, it’s been difficult.”

Shen Yan thought for a moment. After all, she had just finished two tasks for him last week, and the guilt in her heart made it hard for her to refuse.

“I can try writing it according to your requirements. If you think it’s good, then you can pay me for the article,” she said.

But the payment for the article was a must.

Zhou Xing was very grateful to her.

“I believe that the piece you write will definitely surprise my grandmother.”

Shen Yan thought to herself, he really does trust me.

But she also felt that since Zhou Xing had called her to the small conference room to have this meeting, and she remembered the “face-to-face” talk that had given her nightmares that night, could it be that this was what he had wanted to discuss?

She asked, “The night you messaged me about having a face-to-face talk, was this what you wanted to discuss?”

Zhou Xing nodded sincerely. “Yes.”

She weakly asked, “Then… about that misunderstanding that night… won’t your mom and aunt think something’s off?”

When Zhou Xing saw her bring it up, he quickly apologized, “Sorry, my mom and my aunt scared you that day.

I’ve explained everything to them.

You don’t need to worry.”

Zhou Xing continued, “So, about that, was that your ex-boyfriend?”

Shen Yan: … Once a record, always a record.

It would be dug up eventually.

But by now, she couldn’t deny it anymore.

“Yes, actually, we broke up three or four months ago.

I don’t know what’s going on with him lately.”

Zhou Xing thought for a moment and said, “If you need me to be a shield for you, just let me know.”

Shen Yan: “Okay, thank you.”

Shen Yan said “okay” out loud, but deep down, she was thinking, she definitely didn’t want to go through the third round of social death.

Although Zhou Xing was a nice person, she reaffirmed that.

At this point, Zhou Xing thought of something else and casually asked,

“My cousin wants to add you on WeChat.

Are you willing?

Oh, do you remember him?

He’s the other guy who was with us that day.

He’s in your year.”

Shen Yan recalled the guy, and she did have some impression of him.

He seemed normal enough, but adding him on WeChat?

That was a no-go.

She could completely imagine how Zhou Xing’s cousin must have felt to ask her for her WeChat at that moment.

“No, but I’m willing,” she said.

“I’ll help you reject him,” Zhou Xing replied.

Back at her workstation, Shen Yan thought to herself that having her boss catch her off guard was probably a good thing.

For her, writing articles was easier than pretending to be a fake couple.

Plus, helping him write the article, doing him a favor, might just cancel out the mistake she made that day.

It seemed like the right thing to do.

But she knew why, deep inside, there was a feeling of unease, a feeling of “this is it?”

After worrying for half the week.

Was she secretly hoping to pretend to be a fake couple with Zhou Xing?

Shen Yan shivered at her workstation.

She really should focus on work;

that way, she wouldn’t let her mind wander like this.

Her shiver was spotted by Meng Gulan, who was passing by.

Meng Jie, concerned, asked,

“Xiao Shen, are you cold? Is the air conditioning too low?”

Shen Yan could only reply, “It’s a little cold, I’ll put on a jacket.”

The air conditioning in their office was quite effective.

Shen Yan, following what Meng Jie and the others did, also hung a jacket on the back of her chair, putting it on when she felt cold.

After Zhou Xing finished the meeting with her, he sent Shen Yan’s work uniform plan to Fan Mingxu.

As expected, this was a project with benefits for Fan Mingxu.

Zhou Xing had just sent him the plan in the morning, and by the afternoon, as soon as work began, Fan Mingxu came straight to their office.

Fan Mingxu arrived just as 1 PM passed, and at that time, Jian Hong was resting in the office for lunch.

Shen Yan also hadn’t gone downstairs to the specialized group office yet.

Zhou Xing noticed that everyone in the office was present, even Teacher Wang, who often had to go downstairs for patrols.

So, taking advantage of the opportunity when everyone was around, he asked:

“When is everyone free? Xiao Shen has received her graduation certificate and will officially join us in July.

I’ll treat everyone to a meal to welcome her.”

Zhou Xing had promised this meal earlier, but he had been so busy recently that he hadn’t arranged it.

Just as Shen Yan was putting away her lounge chair after her lunch nap, she heard Zhou Xing mention this and felt a headache coming.

She thought Zhou Xing had forgotten about it long ago.

How could he still remember?

Jian Hong, remembering the Japanese food from last time, was the first to speak up: “Japanese food! I’ll handle it.”

Zhou Xing thought back to the last time Jian Hong mentioned it.

He had especially asked her to send him the information about the Japanese restaurant, which needed to be reserved in advance.

“Alright, anyone else have other opinions?”

Seeing everyone shake their heads, Zhou Xing continued:

“Then, how about Friday night?

I’ll make a reservation in advance.”

Meng Gulan replied, “Alright, I’ll handle it.”

Jian Hong also chimed in, “I’ll take care of it, too.”

The other three teachers in the office also said they were free, leaving only Shen Yan.

Zhou Xing looked at Shen Yan.

Shen Yan: Could she say that she was going to have a fever on Friday?

She could, but all she could say was: “I’m free too.”

How was it so easy to get everyone in the office together?

When they were in school, it took forever to coordinate with just four people in their dorm to go out for a nice meal.

Zhou Xing: “Alright, then it’s settled! Friday night, we’ll have Japanese food.”

As soon as Zhou Xing finished speaking, Fan Mingxu pushed open the door to their office.

“Japanese food? Why did we decide to have Japanese food?”

Fan Mingxu asked as he walked in.

Zhou Xing didn’t want to come up with an excuse and lie.

He wanted to have a gathering with the leadership so that everyone would feel pressured, but since this was a group activity for their office, lying didn’t seem right.

So, he honestly explained: “Our department is having a gathering on Friday.”

Fan Mingxu thought of the report he had been waiting for a week last week.

He looked at Shen Yan and understood: “It’s to celebrate Xiao Shen’s graduation and welcome her to the job, right?”

Zhou Xing: “Exactly.”

Fan Mingxu became interested: “How can you welcome a new member by having Japanese food?

The sake there is pretty strong.

Alright, I happen to be free on Friday.

I’ll book the restaurant, and I’ll treat everyone.”

Zhou Xing: … Why did it have to be Japanese food?

But Zhou Xing still looked pleased.

“Thanks, General Manager Fan.”

Fan Mingxu waved his hand dismissively: “No need to be polite. When a new member joins, we need to get to know her.

I’m happy to pay for it.

When the time comes, I’ll bring the drinks, and we’ll all enjoy ourselves.”

Newcomer Shen Yan: … Get to know what?

Get to know her alcohol tolerance, or get to know her temper?

Seeing Fan Mingxu’s drunken demeanor, it seemed he was planning to get her drunk on Friday.

Shen Yan was probably going to “have a fever.”

She nervously glanced at Jian Hong, who gently patted her where Fan Mingxu could see, signaling her not to worry.

After Zhou Xing and Fan Mingxu finalized the plans for Friday, they went straight to Shen Yan’s desk.

Shen Yan watched him walk step by step toward her, trying to suppress her panic.

She had argued with him at the weekly meeting last week.

Was he going to seek revenge?

And this was still during work hours was he going to “assess her” now?

She heard Fan Mingxu ask, “Xiao Shen, I remember last time you asked me if the winter outerwear for the work uniforms should be a tactical jacket or a down jacket?”

Shen Yan thought, So this is what it’s about.

No wonder he remembered.

She answered, “Yes, but after looking at the details from the subsidiary, I saw that the ones making thick winter coats were all choosing down jackets, so I based my plan on using down jackets.”

Since Fan Mingxu was willing to answer her question directly, she decided to help him make a decision.

But then she heard Fan Mingxu say, “Xiao Shen, do you know that badminton prices have gone up recently?”

Shen Yan: “Huh?”

Shen Yan looked confused.

She hadn’t understood the connection at first.

Was this still about work uniforms?

Why was he suddenly talking about badminton?

Could it be that Fan Mingxu liked playing badminton?

Was the down jacket too heavy for playing badminton?

Was a tactical jacket more suitable?

Seeing her confused face, Fan Mingxu spoke in a serious tone, “You should pay more attention to real issues.”

Shen Yan, still puzzled, asked, “Okay, General Manager Fan, do you have any instructions?”

Fan Mingxu, realizing that Shen Yan wasn’t picking up any hints, thought to himself, This poor kid is too honest.

He had no choice but to explain, “You need to make your judgment.

The price of duck feathers has gone up a lot recently, so down jackets will be more expensive than before.

Just use a tactical jacket instead.”

Shen Yan: … She had asked him multiple times, and now he finally had an opinion, but never shared it with her.

Now he was telling her to “make her own judgment!”

Besides, she had randomly chosen the down jacket just based on mood when she came up with the plan!

She responded, “If we switch to tactical jackets, since a subsidiary has already made them before, I might not be able to predict the budget accurately.”

This was the reason she didn’t ask Fan Mingxu again and directly made the down jacket plan.

Fan Mingxu replied, “Just calculate it at 800 per piece.”

Shen Yan thought, He already knows the budget price and didn’t tell me earlier! I’ve been guessing and making random plans.

Wait a minute?

Wasn’t he clearer on this than she was?

Shen Yan said, “But the budget for the down jacket is only 400.”

Fan Mingxu frowned.

“That’s the budget, just work with it.”

Shen Yan rebutted, “But if we change the category, and the budget doubles, the finance department will definitely oppose it.”

Fan Mingxu tried to educate her, “Xiao Shen, this is where you need to use your brain.

Are tactical jackets and down jackets the same thing?

Use a little bit of language art.”

Shen Yan closed her mouth.

“Alright.”

A bit rebelliously, she thought to herself,

At that time, I’ll just write, “As per General Manager Fan’s request…”

Let’s see if the higher-ups approve it at the meeting.

Once Fan Mingxu was done with this matter, he got ready to leave.

Before walking out, he told Zhou Xing, “I’ll confirm the restaurant and send it to you.

You notify everyone.”

After Fan Mingxu left, Shen Yan made the necessary adjustments to the details of the plan as per his instructions.

She used a bit of “language art” to make the 800 budget for the tactical jacket seem more reasonable.

While making the changes, Shen Yan couldn’t help but grumble,

This General Manager Fan is all about ‘management art’ and ‘language art. ” Is he a ‘great artist”?