Yao Wang had spent the entire night at the bar with his drinking buddies, so there was no way he'd make it to work in the morning.
As a result, Lin Tianran had to sit idle for the entire morning.
Manager Fang, on the other hand, was incredibly busy this morning. Not because of his own accord, but because their boss had tasked him with drafting a fire drill plan and insisted on conducting it right away in the afternoon!
No matter how talented Manager Fang was, he couldn't possibly organize all the drill arrangements in just one morning!
The entire HR department was embroiled in a war-like scenario. After dividing tasks, everyone was too busy to even use the restroom: sending out drill notifications to each department, conducting preliminary checks on all the fire hydrants in the factory, and planning evacuation routes.
Finally, they managed to complete everything before the morning shift. Manager Fang felt like his body had been drained of all energy.
So, he had no time to concern himself with the fact that Lin Tianran was being summoned by President Yao.
"Hey, did everyone see the notification?" Lina was the first to spot it on her computer, "We're having a fire drill starting at 2 PM when we get back to work."
"Oh right, is it related to that news? I heard a lot of people died!"
"Can I skip it? I have so much work to finish in the afternoon."
The discussion in the department was lively, and Lin Tianran quietly listened, tilting his head.
"No, no. Everyone in the company must actively participate. See what's written up there? All personnel in each building must evacuate. If the HR department discovers anyone trying to avoid participation, it will affect next month's salary performance assessment!" Lina read every word to the younger employees in the department and then walked over to Lin Tianran, patting his shoulder, "Tianran, you should stay by my side when the time comes. I'm afraid your leg might not be convenient, and it wouldn't be good if you got knocked down during evacuation."
"Thank you, Manager Lina." Lin Tianran was very grateful for Lina's care; she was like a warm older sister.
"Don't call me Manager Lina anymore. I'm about the same age as you, just in a slightly higher position. You can call me Sister Lina." Aside from her professional demeanor, Lina had a very infectious smile. In the sales industry, having good interpersonal skills was essential; otherwise, you wouldn't survive.
"Sister Lina." Lin Tianran obediently nodded.
"Then, I'll be off to work now. At lunchtime, a lot of us from the marketing department go to the cafeteria together; it's quite lively. Do you want to join us?" Lina added, "It's a shortcut to building good relationships with everyone!"
Lin Tianran's face turned red, but he nodded in agreement.
He was no longer as self-conscious as he used to be, isolating himself as if he were a lonely island. Instead, he gradually began to open his soft and vulnerable heart to others.
Li Yicheng didn't see Lin Tianran come up to the CEO's office at noon again. He felt like he was becoming a "waiting husband" now, no, a "waiting wife."
But he couldn't blame anyone else; after all, he had said before, "Xiao Tian, if you're not tired during lunchtime, feel free to come upstairs and study with me. If you're tired, take a break; I don't have a habit of taking lunch breaks, so whether or not you take one is okay."
But never mind, there was a fire drill to attend to in the afternoon. As the head of the company, he had to give a concluding speech after the drill was completed.
At exactly 2 PM, the fire alarm rang.
Colleagues from the HR department went into action, each working on their assigned tasks in each building's stairwell."
"The smell of gunpowder filled the air, adding a touch of realism to the drill.
As soon as the alarm sounded, everyone went into evacuation mode. They dampened handkerchiefs with water, covered their noses and mouths, and bent over, running in a crouched position.
In an instant, stairwell entrances all around were blocked. Although it was just a drill, the chaos was evident as people jostled and pushed one another.
Li Yicheng also evacuated from his CEO's office, following the standard procedure. His floor was high, and his office had taken up a considerable amount of space. As a result, there weren't many people on his floor.
However, when he descended a few flights of stairs, he was dumbfounded.
Li Yicheng had studied in the United States for several years, and the concept of vast open spaces with few people was deeply ingrained in his imagination. He hadn't expected to see such a sea of people in China. The evacuation passages were so crowded that it was impossible to move. This was something he was not accustomed to.
He couldn't let them crush his Tiantian.
He regretted not instructing Manager Fang to tell Tiantian not to participate at all, to save him from worrying.
Suddenly, Li Yicheng saw a commotion in the crowd below through the gap in the stairs.
Someone shouted loudly, "Stop pushing! What's the use of pushing when someone has fallen?"
The commotion was happening right at a place where the HR department had set off smoke bombs. Unfortunately, those employees blocked there had already had their eyes stung by the smoke and were eager to escape the area. They either didn't hear the shout or blindly pushed forward, making the situation more chaotic.
Li Yicheng noticed that the commotion was coming from the stairs right outside the Document Control Center!
His heart was instantly filled with a bad premonition. Could it be his Tiantian?! He wanted to push through the crowd and rush to the scene, but he couldn't move a muscle.
He shouted, "Make way! Make way!"
But the scene was too noisy and chaotic. Everyone was focused on evacuating quickly, and who would pay attention to what the CEO was saying?
"Tiantian! Is that you? Get back and stay put! Don't come out!" Li Yicheng was frantic, berating himself in his heart. How could he be so idle to arrange such a foolish fire drill, especially knowing that Lin Tianran's leg was injured and he couldn't walk properly, let alone run? If something happened to Lin Tianran, he would never forgive himself!
After a while, the passageway finally cleared a bit. Li Yicheng finally moved to the lower floor. Anxiously, he pushed open the door of the Document Control Center.
It was empty!
"Tiantian, where are you?" The situation left him stunned, and Li Yicheng rushed out again, searching for that slender figure amidst the sea of people."
Someone accidentally stepped on his shoe heels, but he didn't mind. Someone bumped into and knocked down his handkerchief, but he didn't care. Even his suit had become wrinkled, and his tie was skewed to the side, but he paid no attention to his disheveled appearance.
What he cared about was Lin Tianran's safety. Lin Tianran was easily frightened, and this kind of scenario would surely terrify him. Lin Tianran was alone in the Document Control Center, and if he hadn't seen the computer notification and didn't realize it was just a drill, what if he panicked for real?
Li Yicheng ran frantically to various departments in search of Lin Tianran. Perhaps he had found a place to hide due to fear. Li Yicheng didn't spare department offices, file rooms, or vacant meeting rooms. He even checked the restroom. But he couldn't find Lin Tianran.
According to the evacuation plan, all Huamao Group employees were supposed to gather in the basketball court in the dormitory area, where the HR department would take a headcount to consider the evacuation complete.
The employees on this side had already completed their evacuation, and they gradually made their way to the basketball court. Under Manager Fang's command, they queued up by department.
The office building gradually emptied, leaving Li Yicheng alone, along with the lingering smoke in the hallways.
"Manager Fang, have all the employees assembled?" An employee holding a register reported to Manager Fang.
"Alright, I got it." Manager Fang nodded, beginning to search the crowd for their boss. Where was he? He had promised to give a speech on stage.
Manager Fang stood on the platform, and over a thousand eyes stared at him, waiting for what would happen next.
"Uh..." Manager Fang was at a loss, unsure of what to do next.
After waiting for about ten minutes, some impatient workshop employees below began whispering and becoming distracted.
"Uh, next, let me summarize. In this fire drill, each department cooperated well, demonstrating our Huamao Group's high fire safety awareness..." Manager Fang could only forge ahead, speaking nervously.
After finally playing his part, he recited a long string of mostly empty words and finally dismissed everyone. The crowd dispersed, employees returned to their respective departments, and life went back to normal.
Market department employees walked back, chatting and laughing, their arms around each other.
"That smoke was really lifelike!"
"Yeah, I was really choked by it. It smelled awful!"
"This activity was quite good. If there's a real fire in the future, we won't be afraid!"
Lin Tianran followed Linna, his face flushed. The evacuation had been quite an exercise for someone with his limp. Fortunately, Linna had let him stay close by her side, taking care of him. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to complete the drill smoothly and might have been trampled.
"Thank you, Linna."
"Oh, why thank me? We're colleagues, taking care of each other is only natural." Linna was still wearing her ten-inch high heels as if the drill had been a minor incident for her.
"Tiantian!" Suddenly, a distant shout was heard.
Before Lin Tianran could figure out who was calling him, a man sprinted toward him as if in a hundred-meter race, and he embraced Lin Tianran with great force, as if he wanted to meld him into his own flesh and blood.
"Thank heavens, you're here!" The man was trembling all over, even his voice quivered. "I finally found you!"
Lin Tianran, along with the onlookers like Linna, stood there dumbfounded.
"How are you? Are you hurt? Let me see!" Li Yicheng finally released him, then carefully checked his body, his brows furrowing as if he wanted to pinch the life out of a fly.
"Mr. Li, I'm fine." Lin Tianran was flustered and quickly obstructed Li Yicheng's intimate actions in front of so many people.
Not only Linna, but some employees from other departments also turned their attention to them, Oh my goodness!
"I'm really okay, I swear!" Lin Tianran wanted to find a hole to hide in, feeling extremely embarrassed!
This scene was also observed by Yao Wang, who had just returned to the company from elsewhere.
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