Yu Xuejiao was currently standing before a group of six people. Her posture was straight and graceful, and she matched it with a polite, distant smile.
It was totally unlike what she looked like fifteen minutes ago, when she was rushing to put on make up in her brother's car.
At that time, Yu Chengli was urging her to be faster, making her anxious. She couldn't focus on drawing her eyeliner properly, so in the end, she made a few mistakes and had to settle with thick eyeliner to hide them, which she paired with a bold red lipstick.
The man beside her, Lu Zhengxiang, started introducing her to the group. "This is Yu Xuejiao, and she's the newly hired personal assistant. I'll be training her before I leave."
"Nice to meet you," Yu Xuejiao greeted politely.
A man in his mid-30s, who seemed to be the most outgoing of the six secretaries, stepped forward and offered his hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you, too. I'm Cheng Yuan. You look really young."
Yu Xuejiao took the man's hand and gave it one firm shake. "Thank you. It might be because I'm only about to turn 24 this year."
"Oh, so it's you!" A woman's voice sounded from behind Cheng Yuan.
Yu Xuejiao saw who it was and froze for a moment.
A woman in her early 30s, whom she recognized had entered the room in the middle of her interview and suddenly threw her a question, stepped forward.
"You seem a little formal all of a sudden. Aren't you the one who said that you applied to the company because the boss is tall and handsome?"
Yu Xuejiao accidentally bit her inner cheek out of shock. The hell? Since when did she say that? Slander!
"I-I've never even seen his face before!" Her facade as a formal office lady instantly collapsed.
Also, she did search for him last night, but she had been too sleepy to even clearly remember what was on her phone.
Though she did remember thinking that he was handsome, which was why she didn't bother searching his name online again.
But that wasn't the point!
Another guy from the six spoke up. "Right! I didn't recognize you right away because your face looks different. It must be your make up." Girls could indeed shapeshift. "You said you heard great things about him, and those great things were that he was tall and handsome."
With a deadpan expression, Yu Xuejiao looked at him straight in the eye and retorted, "Oh? I didn't recognize you right away either. Your face also looks different. It must be because your nose is no longer dripping with water."
Everyone laughed when they heard that, except the one whose nose had been dripping with water.
During the interview, Bo Tianyuan was drinking water when he got caught off-guard by Yu Xuejiao's slip up.
That wasn't his fault, was it? It was a common reaction!
No, it was not.
Besides, he wasn't even the one who brought it up! It was Li Haomei. Why was he the one being targeted? He simply stepped back, aggrieved.
The three others stepped forward and introduced themselves. Yu Xuejiao could immediately tell that they were the super reliable ones.
After that, Lu Zhengxiang brought her into his office, which he'd be sharing with her. Once he left, it would be all hers.
As Yu Xuejiao looked around, she couldn't help but be amazed.
The interior design was tastefully modern. It was also pretty spacious, even with the two of them.
Thinking that she'd be alone here soon, she couldn't help but mentally frown. It would feel too empty. There was already a couch, but maybe she could add more? Then carpet and table.
"What do you think of your co-workers?" Lu Zhengxiang asked, pulling Yu Xuejiao out of her planning-the-room's-design daydream.
Hearing the former's question, she first sat down on the table, which she assumed was hers because it was empty, before replying, "Pretty good. But those three just now must be personality hires."
Lu Zhengxiang chuckled when he heard that. "Aren't you also one?"
"No way!" Yu Xuejiao was defensive.
How was she a personality hire? She might be young, but she had six years of working experience. Only three years when it comes to being a personal assistant, but another three years for management positions.
Impressive, right? It didn't seem possible, did it? But don't forget. Yu Xuejiao was a nepobaby—with skills to back it up, of course.
"Maybe you only saw people your age in the interview, but there are many older applicants with more extensive experience than you. You're very skilled, of course, and qualified for this position. But your personality made you stand out. We thought you might get along well with Mr. Xiao. He's a nice kid and he gets along with everyone, but the generational gap is still there. He must be feeling lonely."
"My personality is good?" Yu Xuejiao had the wrong focus.
Lu Zhengxiang laughed again. "Alright, enough with this. That table you're sitting at is yours. Feel free to customize your space as you see fit."
Yu Xuejiao's eyes lit up. "Can I bring my own keyboard?"
"Of course," Lu Zhengxiang said. "Why? Do you prefer the one with flat keys? You can just ask for one in the supply office."
Yu Xuejiao waved both her hands. "No need. No need. I have a few spares at home." She didn't want the one with flat keys either.
Lu Zhengxiang picked up a box of files and approached Yu Xuejiao. She got out of his way and sat on her chair, where she should've been sitting in the first place.
He put the box down beside the computer monitor on Yu Xuejiao's table.
"The workload has lightened recently since a big cooperation had just been launched. All of Mr. Xiao's meetings this week are online, but things should be back to normal next week. For now, memorize these."
Yu Xuejiao looked at the box in front of her with an agape mouth and felt like crying.
"Oh? What happened to your poise earlier?" Lu Zhengxiang teased.
Yu Xuejiao immediately replied, "Gone, obviously. What's the point? You guys stripped me of my mask five minutes into meeting me."
She heard Lu Zhengxiang chuckled after she said that.
Although she looked like she wanted to throw the box out of the window, Yu Xuejiao still did her job.
She picked up one folder and opened it, only to see information about different people.
With a bright face, Yu Xuejiao asked Lu Zhengxiang, "I only have to memorize these?"
"Yes. When there are events, you might meet them. Sometimes, you might have to talk to them on behalf of or with Mr. Xiao."
Yu Xuejiao clapped excitedly. "I'm pretty sure I already know almost everyone in these files." She giggled a little before asking a question, "What do I do after my job is done?"
Lu Zhengxiang thought for a while before responding, "You're allowed to do anything. We won't add more to your plate, but feel free to help if you'd like. We won't restrict you from watching dramas while you do your work either. The women are already doing that. They don't bother helping each other either, so don't feel pressure to take over some of their jobs."
"Of course, if someone takes a paid leave, the head secretary will equally divide it among them and you. You've met the head before. She was one of the interviewers. You'll see her again soon. At the moment, she's on paid leave, taking a vacation."
"Don't worry. Even if you receive a bunch of extra work, you'll be sufficiently compensated for it."
Lu Zhengxiang said a lot, but Yu Xuejiao stopped listening the moment he mentioned that the women were allowed to watch drama while working. She was only nodding from time to time, pretending to hear everything.
If they could watch drama during work hours, didn't that mean that as long as she was done, she could play games? Yaaaay!
"I originally planned to give you one week to familiarize yourself with the people in the files." Lu Zhengxiang pulled Yu Xuejiao back into reality again.
He was smiling at her, sending chills down her spine.
"After you check through all the files in the box, proceed with studying…" he went back to his table and pulled out another box, "this."
He once again dumped it into Yu Xuejiao's table.
"Is your table your Doraemon pocket? How many boxes do you have?" Yu Xuejiao was complaining, but she was taking them out of the box and piling it up on her desk.
Although she always complained first, she would do whatever she was asked to do anyway, and started immersing herself into the file.
'What a cute child,' Lu Zhengxiang thought.