Jiang Mian had signed.
For the time being, Fan Qing did not announce the news publicly, but within Tenghuang, those who needed to know already knew.
For example, Hua Er and Yuan Jing.
When the two of them were summoned over and ran into each other, they were both a little puzzled.
Yuan Jing, however, was more delighted than confused.
He had not seen Hua Er in a long time!
Thinking that, he happily called out the moment he opened his mouth,
“Captain! I missed you so much!”
Hua Er laughed and scolded lightly,
“You’re still calling me Captain? That was ages ago.”
Even so, he affectionately flicked Yuan Jing on the forehead.
“Ah? Has it been that long?”
Yuan Jing scratched his head, looking momentarily confused.
“I feel like it’s only been a few days?”
Hua Er thought about it, then smiled.
“True. It hasn’t been that long.”
Chatting and laughing, the two of them walked into Fan Qing’s office.
As soon as they stepped inside, they saw Assistant Tang was there as well—along with a woman they did not recognize.
Hua Er’s footsteps paused instinctively.
Yuan Jing, walking right behind him, bumped straight into his back.
“Bro?”
Why stop?
Had they arrived too early?
It looked like Agent Fan might have other guests.
Hua Er subconsciously thought about stepping back out with Yuan Jing.
“Come in.”
Fan Qing had already spotted them.
Hua Er was cautious by nature, but in this industry, that was a good habit to have.
At his call, Tang Sheng and Jiang Mian both turned to look at them.
Tang Sheng appeared indifferent.
Jiang Mian’s eyes, however, lit up.
She knew very well why Fan Qing had called her here today.
He was assigning artists for her to manage.
Now that the two big boys had appeared together, she more or less had a clear idea.
These must be the people Fan Qing was planning to assign for her to manage!
Not bad!
Good looks, good presence, good overall vibe!
Thinking this, Jiang Mian quickly stood up and smiled politely.
“You’re Hua Er and Yuan Jing, right? I’m Jiang Mian. Nice to meet you.”
Hua Er: “Hello…?”
Who was this?
While he was still wondering, Yuan Jing reacted first—completely stunned.
“J-J-Jiang Manager? Aren’t you that… that, um… what was it?”
He had secretly skimmed some gossip lately!
Wasn’t this person the center of all the gossip recently?
He clearly remembered people saying she had already been fired by her previous company…
Wait.
Yuan Jing’s gaze sharpened as he looked toward Fan Qing.
So this means… Agent Fan poached her?
“You know her?”
This kid clearly hadn’t missed out on gossip.
Fan Qing could tell at a glance—just from Yuan Jing’s expression—that he definitely knew about Jiang Mian.
Yuan Jing chuckled sheepishly.
“Well, you know… I scrolled through Weibo a bit.”
“What happened on Weibo?”
Hua Er couldn’t hold back anymore.
Why did it feel like the entire world knew except him?
Had he missed something?
“Sit down first.”
Fan Qing walked over and glanced at Tang Sheng.
“Brother Sheng, where’s Jian Feiyang?”
Tang Sheng took a sip of tea.
“President Jian said he’s taking him to pay respects to the ancestors today. If we’re meeting him, it’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow.”
“Pay respects to the ancestors?”
Fan Qing thought for a moment—right, there was something like that.
But… wasn’t it a bit late for ancestral rites?
After thinking it over briefly, he set it aside.
No rush. Jian Feiyang wasn’t going anywhere.
He stood up and gave Yuan Jing and Hua Er a simple introduction.
“From now on, Jiang Mian will be your manager.”
Both Yuan Jing and Hua Er froze.
Jiang Mian suddenly felt a little nervous.
Honestly… would the two of them be willing to follow her?
The next second, she saw both Hua Er and Yuan Jing turn their heads toward Fan Qing at the same time.
Yuan Jing looked especially shocked.
“So… we didn’t have a manager before?”
Hua Er didn’t say anything, but his expression clearly echoed the same question.
Jiang Mian was stunned too.
You two kids don’t even know whether you have a manager?
Fan Qing: …
What nonsense were these two talking about?
When did they ever have a manager?
How come he didn’t know about it?
Thinking that, he couldn’t help mocking the two of them a little.
Yuan Jing hemmed and hawed, a faint blush creeping onto his face.
“Well, I thought… we were Agent Fan’s people.”
Hua Er nodded slowly.
He had always thought they counted as people under Agent Fan.
Jiang Mian slowly turned to look at Fan Qing.
Fan Qing was rarely at a loss for words.
How was he supposed to explain this?
Was he supposed to say that he thought these two little ones should have known what his actual position in the company was?
He was speechless for a moment, then laughed and spoke.
“So that’s how it is. In short, your manager from now on is Jiang Mian.”
Jiang Mian: ?
Hua Er: ?
Yuan Jing stared in disbelief.
“Agent Fan, you’re really just going to hand us over like this and act like nothing happened?”
The moment he finished speaking, he sensed a cold, slicing gaze sweep over him.
Yuan Jing stiffened.
Every alarm in his brain went off at once: danger!
In an instant, his survival instincts kicked into overdrive.
He immediately put on a bright smile and turned to greet Jiang Mian.
“Got it! I’ll listen to whatever Agent Fan says. Hello, Manager Jiang!”
The last two words—“Manager Jiang”—were said especially loudly.
So loudly it sounded like he was trying to cover something up.
Wouldn’t it be nice if he were always this obedient and sensible?
Fan Qing slowly withdrew his blade-like gaze.
Hua Er: …
Jiang Mian: …
So… should they just pretend they hadn’t seen any of that?
Before anyone could speak, Fan Qing pulled out three folders.
When the documents were placed into each person’s hands, they were unexpectedly heavy.
Hua Er stayed silent.
Jiang Mian froze completely.
Only Yuan Jing kept bouncing back and forth.
“What’s this? It’s so heavy.”
Fan Qing gave a benevolent-looking smile.
“These are your work schedules going forward.”
Hua Er and Yuan Jing aside—
Jiang Mian was utterly shocked.
She looked down at the stack in her hands, especially the little mountain of papers piled high, completely dumbfounded.
“Then… what are all of mine?”
“What are you talking about?”
Fan Qing deliberately put on an expression like he didn’t understand.
“Of course it’s your work. What else would it be?”
Wait—what?
Jiang Mian suddenly had the urge to grab her head.
She hesitated.
“But… didn’t I just join the company?”
Why was there already so much work?!
And it was still the New Year holiday!
Why was there this much work?!
As she thought about it, she suddenly noticed a blind spot.
Hold on—wasn’t she just managing Hua Er and Yuan Jing?
Then why did the workload look this insane?
Thinking that, Jiang Mian voiced the question.
She genuinely didn’t understand!
Tang Sheng, sitting nearby, cast her a look full of sympathy.
Hm?
Something felt off.
If Jiang Mian worked overtime, that meant he wouldn’t have to as much.
With that thought, Tang Sheng withdrew his sympathetic gaze and replaced it with the appreciative look of someone admiring a brand-new victim.
Fan Qing’s gaze toward Jiang Mian was no different from Tang Sheng’s.
If there was any distinction at all, it was that his was a bit more restrained.
And then—
Fan Qing spoke with complete composure.
“You may be misunderstanding something. Your job isn’t just to be an ordinary manager. I think you must be at least somewhat tired of your previous work by now, right? Tenghuang will give you a brand-new, completely different work experience. You just need to be bold and get things done.”
Tang Sheng nodded in agreement.
That was true.
Pay her the highest salary, and have her do the most miscellaneous work.
That was Fan Qing’s calculation.
Jiang Mian did not fully understand—but instead, she was persuaded.
Indeed.
Hadn’t she come to Tenghuang precisely to start a new life?
So what if there was a lot of work? Having things to do was what made her happiest!
If there were really nothing for her to do, wouldn’t that mean Fan Qing hadn’t actually valued her abilities that much when he recruited her?
Thinking this way, Jiang Mian took a deep breath.
She steadied herself and said calmly,
“I understand. Don’t worry, Agent Fan. I’ll make sure every task is completed beautifully.”
“Of course I believe you.”
Fan Qing nodded naturally.
Of course!
If he didn’t believe Jiang Mian was capable, why would he have gone to the trouble of poaching her?
Off to the side, Yuan Jing watched and couldn’t help quietly poking Hua Er.
“Don’t you think this scene looks like a big bad wolf tricking a little white rabbit?”
At first glance, the new manager looked pretty smart—but compared to Agent Fan, she seemed kind of… naive.
Hua Er found himself agreeing for no clear reason.
More than that.
It looked like a black-hearted capitalist versus an honest, hardworking farmer.
After letting Yuan Jing and Hua Er properly get acquainted, Fan Qing thought for a moment.
Then he gave Jiang Mian an instruction.
“If the two of them want assistants, you don’t need to look outside. The company’s assistants come through firms that President Jin and I work with. When the time comes, you can just select people directly from there.”
“Alright.”
Jiang Mian responded with a steady, composed expression.
She glanced at Fan Qing again.
“Then I’ll take them with me and go over the work arrangements?”
“Go ahead.”
Fan Qing waved his hand.
Jiang Mian immediately turned around and led the two of them out of the office.
Fan Qing: ?
Why did it feel like Jiang Mian was fleeing in panic?
Was that just his imagination?
Jiang Mian got up to speed very quickly.
Hua Er and Yuan Jing were immediately arranged in an orderly, efficient way.
She even took care of trivial details in their daily lives.
Especially Yuan Jing.
His grandmother had been hospitalized long-term, and every month there was a substantial medical expense.
After learning about this, Jiang Mian immediately sent his grandmother’s medical records to a doctor she knew well for consultation.
Once it was confirmed that other major hospitals already had treatment options for this condition—and that it could be resolved through surgery—she discussed it with Yuan Jing.
Yuan Jing was shocked. In the end, he decided to sign a longer contract term with the company, with the company covering the portion of the surgery not reimbursed by insurance.
Jiang Mian also arranged for a caregiver to be hired, someone who would specifically look after the elderly woman and also handle her meals.
Within just a few days, Yuan Jing was overwhelmingly grateful to Jiang Mian and quickly grew close to her.
There wasn’t much going on with Hua Er.
But after learning about everything Jiang Mian had done for Yuan Jing, he clearly warmed up to her as well.
When Tang Sheng heard about this, he couldn’t help looking at Fan Qing.
“If I remember correctly, you had already been planning something for Yuan Jing’s grandmother’s illness, hadn’t you?”
So why did Jiang Mian end up being the one to step in?
“Isn’t this outcome pretty good too?”
Fan Qing took a sip of water and stood up.
“I knew about it, yes—but the company is so big. I can’t personally handle every single matter. Besides, this issue had nothing to do with me. Jiang Mian found out on her own and chose to do this herself.”
At most, he had only given Jiang Mian a hint.
The rest was simply because Jiang Mian knew how to handle things.
Tang Sheng believed maybe thirty percent of what he said—at best.
He was perfectly clear about that.
Still…
Tang Sheng glanced at Fan Qing, who was about to head out, then looked at the pile of work stacked on his desk.
“You’re heading out? What about the work?”
Fan Qing waved his hand breezily.
“That’s all Jiang Mian’s work. I already told her to come pick it up herself.”
What a joke!
Now that she’d been recruited, it was time for Jiang Mian to truly show her worth.
Come to think of it, there was also that cooperation proposal Madam Wen had mentioned—he could have Jiang Mian draft a plan for that later as well.
The capable should do more work.