The next morning at work, He Xiaoyuan shared the idea of “pre-study” with the other ten people in the office.
Everyone reacted immediately.
“Right! Our two groups aren’t rotating together—we can totally ‘share resources.’”
Zou Fanping spoke up right away. “Didn’t Jiang Weiwei set up an eleven-person group chat earlier? Hurry—let’s share all the assignments in there.”
“Yes, yes, that’s a great idea.”
“Group Two is starting next Tuesday. Can we pull them in too when that happens?”
“And there’s Group Three as well. We’re all management trainees—no need to be shy.”
“Good thing He Xiaoyuan thought of this and shared it with us. Otherwise, we’d probably still be losing our hair over this for who knows how long.”
Sitting at his computer, He Xiaoyuan thought quietly: I should thank President Lu.
Just like that, they finally had a workable way to deal with the rotations.
But clearly, it wasn’t enough. He Xiaoyuan kept thinking about what other methods they could use to “pre-study” and learn about the different departments ahead of time.
With more people comes more ideas, so He Xiaoyuan shared that thought as well.
Everyone immediately started talking over one another:
“I know some upperclassmen in other departments—I can ask them.”
“So do I.”
“Didn’t we all add people on WeChat from the gift pack? We can ask them too, right?”
“Or we could just grow thicker skin—chat up people from other departments in the cafeteria and ask around?”
“Or how about we list out all the departments, split them up among ourselves, and then compile everything in the group chat? Full resource sharing.”
“That works too.”
…
They got to work right away, phones in hand, reaching out through whatever channels they had.
Besides contacting Xu Ruomeng, He Xiaoyuan also messaged Brother Lu, asking which department he was in. He explained his purpose and asked whether it would be convenient to ask about departmental information.
Lu: 【That’s fine. No problem.】
He Xiaoyuan: 【Then may I ask which department you’re in, Brother Lu?】
The eleven of them planned to gather information first, then assign departments to each person afterward.
Lu: 【Project Group.】
He Xiaoyuan paused, thinking through the company directory. He didn’t recall there being such a department.
Lu: 【Directly under the President’s Office. It’s vertically managed, and not many people in the company know much about it.】
So that was it.
Lu: 【When are you planning to ask? Now?】
He Xiaoyuan: 【After you get off work—when you’re free. Would that be okay?】
Lu: 【Sure.】
He Xiaoyuan: 【Okay. Thank you, Brother Lu. Whenever it’s convenient for you—today or tomorrow—I’ll come ask.】
Everyone’s contacts were quickly pooled together, and then it was time to assign departments. For the most part, departments were matched to whoever had a channel to gather information about them. Whatever was left over got divided afterward.
As the assignments went on, they inevitably ran into departments that no one knew much about and had no way of asking around—like the President’s Office.
Yuan Miao, who was compiling and assigning everything, asked, “Does anyone have a way to find out about the President’s Office?”
No one answered.
Yuan Miao continued, “He Xiaoyuan, don’t you have a way to ask about the project teams directly under the President’s Office? You could also ask about the office itself while you’re at it.”
He Xiaoyuan thought for a moment. “I can try.”
Yuan Miao then assigned the President’s Office to He Xiaoyuan in the group chat. “Alright, do your best.”
That was when He Xiaoyuan thought of Qiao Sixing. He figured the President’s Office was something he could ask Qiao Sixing about—but they’d only met twice, once during the interview and once in the elevator. How was he supposed to ask around…
Just message him directly through the system directory?
He Xiaoyuan wrote “President’s Office” in his notebook, circled it, and added a question mark beside it.
At afternoon tea time, all eleven of them were there. Some people had already gathered information on their assigned departments, so they chatted while snacking.
He Xiaoyuan split his attention—listening to the discussion while sitting at his computer with a cup of coffee. In the OA system’s contact list, he scrolled to Qiao Sixing. His cursor hovered over the name as he silently debated: Do I message him?
He took two sips of coffee while staring at the screen, then thought it over again and pulled out his phone.
He Xiaoyuan: [Brother Lu, do you know much about the President’s Office?]
After sending the message, he set his phone down next to the computer. He hadn’t expected such a quick reply.
Lu: [I do.]
He Xiaoyuan felt a surge of relief.
[Then when you’re free, could I ask you more about the President’s Office?]
Lu: [Sure.]
Lu: [I’m free right now.]
Lu: [What do you want to know?]
On the 29th floor, a meeting was proceeding as usual. Everyone was fully focused, yet at some point the man seated at the head of the table—Lu Chen—picked up his phone and didn’t put it back down.
Qiao Sixing, seated beside him, noticed the detail. Naturally, he wasn’t foolish enough to remind the boss to pay attention during the meeting. He was just a little curious—President Lu rarely touched his phone in meetings. Was something important going on?
Before getting off work that evening, He Xiaoyuan’s phone buzzed repeatedly. Brother Lu had sent over seven or eight files in a row.
Lu: [Department overview and a few representative projects. Take a look.]
He Xiaoyuan replied with [Got it, thank you], then opened the documents.
When he opened one of the project files and saw extremely detailed project outlines and meeting minutes, he was secretly surprised. He couldn’t help thinking: Even if this isn’t classified, isn’t this stuff usually tightly controlled within the department? Are management trainees really allowed to see it?
He brought up his concern with Brother Lu.
Lu: [No problem. Go ahead and read.]
He Xiaoyuan: [Is it okay if I share this with the other trainees in my group?]
Lu: [That’s fine.]
He Xiaoyuan: [Thank you, Brother Lu. Sorry to trouble you.]
Lu: [Mm. No need to be so polite.]
He Xiaoyuan put his phone down and refocused completely on the computer.
…
That same day, Yuan Miao compiled all the department information shared in the group into a document and reposted it.
Everyone was highly motivated. As long as they weren’t rotating through departments on the lower floors, they spent their time back in the office using connections to gather intel, reviewing shared materials in the group chat, or clustering in small groups to discuss things. The atmosphere was friendly and energized.
That weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, all eleven of them came into the office—no one took time off. They continued their “pre-study,” even wheeling a large whiteboard out of a conference room and gathering around it for in-depth discussions, each person sharing ideas and brainstorming.
They stayed from morning until night. Lunch and dinner were ordered together, splitting the cost evenly. Moving as a group like that, they looked tightly bonded.
Back in his student days, He Xiaoyuan always had to work part-time and rarely joined group activities. Now, he finally understood what it meant to push forward and fall back together. Everyone was smart and proactive, which stirred a quiet sense of emotion in him.
At Sunday lunch, he suggested they take a group photo—an eleven-person shot together.
By dinner time, the photo appeared on He Xiaoyuan’s Moments, captioned: [Recording my first overtime after officially starting work.]
Lu Chen saw it, tapped to enlarge the photo, and noticed that He Xiaoyuan was standing right at the front. To fit all ten people behind him into the frame, he’d scrunched himself so much that only his forehead and a pair of eyes were visible.
Even so, his good looks still stood out unmistakably in the crowd.
Lu Chen smiled as he looked at it, then tapped a like and commented: [So hardworking.]
He Xiaoyuan didn’t reply until an hour later—clearly, he’d only seen it after continuing to work overtime.
[I wouldn’t call it hardworking. It’s mostly because there’s so much I don’t know yet. Are you resting today, Brother Lu?]
At that moment, Lu Chen was at a golf course, playing a round with others.
He checked his phone, saw He Xiaoyuan’s reply under the Moments post, handed his club to the caddie beside him, and took off his glove.
He was actually a little surprised that He Xiaoyuan would ask in return whether he was resting, instead of just replying and ending the exchange. From their limited interactions, it was clear the younger man wasn’t particularly outgoing.
Seeing this, Lu Chen’s impression of him shifted slightly.
He thought that He Xiaoyuan might not be as simple as he appeared on the surface.
Lu Chen didn’t reply in Moments. Instead, he messaged He Xiaoyuan directly on WeChat.
Lu Chen: [Yeah, I’m off today.]
This time, He Xiaoyuan replied almost immediately:
[Smiling little animal.jpg]
[This time was really thanks to you, Brother Lu. I’ll treat you to a meal someday.]
Lu Chen raised an eyebrow as he read it.
Only then did he realize that the young man’s “well-behaved” demeanor in front of him was simply caution around a superior. Privately, when it came to social niceties and human interaction, he clearly knew what he was doing.
Lu Chen smiled.
He didn’t even bother hitting the ball anymore, keeping his head down as he typed on his phone: “Sounds good.”
He Xiaoyuan: “Let’s set it up when I’m off and you’re off too.”
He Xiaoyuan: [Smiling little animal.jpg]
Lu Chen looked at the sticker—a green, baby-faced little dinosaur—and felt that He Xiaoyuan on the other end of the phone was very much like that dinosaur.
His already decent mood instantly brightened, as sunny as the clear daylight outdoors.
The new week began. On Monday morning, as soon as He Xiaoyuan arrived at the office, he sat down and sent the two department assignments he’d rewritten over the weekend to Zhu Xuanmin’s work email. He also messaged her privately to let her know he’d submitted revised versions.
Zhu Xuanmin replied with a “Got it,” then added: “You rewrote them? That’s really serious of you. You’re the only one in the group who redid their assignments.”
He Xiaoyuan: “It’s what I should do. I’m lacking in a lot of areas, and there’s still so much I don’t understand.”
Zhu Xuanmin: [Smile.jpg] [Don’t worry, take it slow—everyone goes through this.] [I’ve received the assignments and will forward them to the supervisor.]
He Xiaoyuan: “Okay, thank you, Sister Xuanmin.”
What no one knew was that those two rewritten assignments would soon be forwarded again—this time to Lu Chen.
Reminded by Qiao Sixing, Lu Chen took a break from his busy schedule and opened the two assignments. He read them carefully from start to finish. It was obvious that in just a few short days, He Xiaoyuan had gained a much deeper understanding of the two departments he’d rotated through, as well as their game products.
This wasn’t just diligence—it was effort, intelligence, and a genuinely serious attitude.
Through these two assignments, Lu Chen came to understand He Xiaoyuan a little better.
He closed the documents and thought to himself: Worth an extra drumstick.
That afternoon, the President’s Office sent over afternoon tea. Besides coffee and cake, there were also KFC chicken legs.
The chicken was especially popular—almost everyone grabbed one. He Xiaoyuan took a serving of spicy chicken wings.
Since everyone was gathered anyway, they started chatting again about their “pre-study.” With Group Two officially starting that day, the discussion led to a decision: they’d send a representative over to talk with Group Two—after all, more people meant more strength.
“I’ll go,” Yuan Miao volunteered. No one objected, and He Xiaoyuan nodded as well.
Just then, the phone in his pocket vibrated.
He Xiaoyuan stepped a few paces away from the crowd and pulled his phone out of his pocket with his clean left hand.
Lu: “Busy?”
With a chicken wing in one hand and his phone in the other, He Xiaoyuan replied as soon as he saw it was Brother Lu: “Not right now. Having afternoon tea.”
Lu: “What did you get?”
He Xiaoyuan lifted his phone and snapped a photo of the bags spread out on the round table, then sent it over: “Milk tea, KFC.”
Lu: “Not bad.”
He Xiaoyuan replied while eating his chicken wing, half-listening to the trainees’ discussion nearby.
“Yeah, and we didn’t have to pay for it.”
He Xiaoyuan: “Does your department have afternoon tea like this too, Brother Lu?”
Lu: [Photo]
Lu: “I’m out today.”
He Xiaoyuan opened the image and saw elegant porcelain and black tea laid out beautifully.
He Xiaoyuan: [Little dinosaur wow.jpg]
He Xiaoyuan: “I’m jealous, Brother Lu.”
From their few WeChat exchanges, He Xiaoyuan could tell that Brother Lu was pretty easy to get along with.
He Xiaoyuan didn’t have a large social circle or many friends, but whenever he met someone approachable, he followed the principle that more friends meant more paths forward. He was willing to engage and be a little proactive.
That was exactly how he felt toward Brother Lu, who had helped him without hesitation in gathering department information.
And Brother Lu clearly didn’t mind keeping in touch with him either—
Lu: “No need to be jealous. Next time, if there’s a chance, we can go together.”
He Xiaoyuan: “Sure!” [Little dinosaur nodding.jpg]