On the first day of her internship, Xiang Yu woke up early and dressed neatly. She tied her hair into a bun, packed her notebook and pens into her small backpack, and checked that she had all her essentials like keys, wallet, tissues, and lipstick before saying goodbye to her grandmother and heading to work. Her working hours were from 9 AM to 5 PM. The company was located in the podium of a luxurious hotel and was not easy to find. Fortunately, Xiang Yu arrived early and found the company by 8:45 AM. The receptionist welcomed her, asked her to wait on the sofa at the entrance for a while until the HR personnel arrived.
Xiang Yu sat quietly, waiting, and the receptionist even brought her a cup of tea. After a short while, Mr. Zhang, the head of the marketing department she had met at the exhibition, walked in. He greeted Xiang Yu without any airs and asked her to follow him to his office. Xiang Yu quickly grabbed her bag and followed, "Okay, Mr. Zhang."
Mr. Zhang had his own small office with a view of the red rooftops of old houses in the western part of the city, surrounded by greenery, which was very pleasant. As he took off his coat and scarf, he said to Xiang Yu, "I'm glad you could come for the internship. You don't need to call me Mr. Zhang, just call me Kevin." Before Xiang Yu could respond, he continued, "Originally, we wanted you in the marketing department, but as it's the end of the year, we're finalizing some new projects and budgets, so we don't need extra hands right now. I spoke with other departments, and our import-export department is short-staffed. We plan to place you there. How do you feel about that?" Xiang Yu had no experience and no specific expectations for her work assignment, so she didn't mind. She nodded, "Thank you, Kevin. I'll work hard and learn quickly." Kevin asked about her coursework and school for a bit before HR's Amy came in. After Kevin excused himself, Amy took Xiang Yu to the import-export department and introduced her to her colleagues. Her department manager, Simon, was around thirty years old, with curly hair and a serious demeanor. There were four other young colleagues who greeted Xiang Yu kindly.
Amy, who handled HR and administrative duties, assigned Xiang Yu a seat, gave her an employee access card, an employee handbook, and some necessary stationery. Amy showed Xiang Yu around the office, pointing out where the fax machine, copier, pantry, and restrooms were. She explained that Xiang Yu's payroll card would be issued in three days, and her salary would be paid into it at the end of her internship. Lunch was in the basement cafeteria from 12:30 to 1:30, accessible with the employee card. After asking if Xiang Yu had any questions, to which Xiang Yu replied, "No, thank you very much," Amy left. Xiang Yu then joined the import-export department, where Simon assigned a girl named Jessica to mentor her.
Jessica had short hair and a straightforward, crisp personality. She asked Xiang Yu some questions about foreign trade, which Xiang Yu didn't know, making her a bit worried. Jessica reassured her and asked her to sit beside her to observe her operations. Xiang Yu took notes diligently and asked questions when confused, and Jessica answered patiently. The system operations were not difficult, and Xiang Yu mastered them by the end of the morning. After lunch, Jessica asked her to try operating the system herself, which Xiang Yu did step by step. However, Xiang Yu was still unclear about the documents, so Jessica assigned her some simple data entry tasks and suggested she read up on import-export terms in her spare time, which Xiang Yu agreed to.
It was almost 6 PM when Xiang Yu finished her busy day and left the office. She wanted to inform Kevin but found his office locked, so she headed home. The city was already lit up, and her grandmother was probably waiting for her for dinner. She arrived home a little after 7 PM, and indeed, her grandmother was still waiting. Feeling a pang of guilt, Xiang Yu told her grandmother not to wait in the future and to eat first. Her grandmother wouldn't hear of it and asked about her day at work. Xiang Yu said it was great and mentioned that after her 3-week job, they could go to the warm seaside, as she would have earned the travel expenses by then. They chatted while eating, making the home feel warm and cozy.