Chapter 5

「I don’t feel like myself when I’m with you.」

–

“Morning chief.” Miao Yu reacted first and quickly greeted.

Cheng Yan paused for two seconds before greeting. As Huo Sheng was walking in, he saw Cheng Yan’s sluggish expression, and immediately he smiled and said, “What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?’

“N-No.” Cheng Yan felt embarrassed being asked that and he lowered his head as he replied. He once again adjusted the small items on his table before looking up again.

His actions fell into Huo Sheng’s eyes and Huo Sheng doubted if he had the “air of a superior” too much. Thus he casually placed the bag in his hand on his table and gently said, “Did you eat? If you didn’t, you can have that. I’m just here to get some documents so I can go out to eat later on.”

Cheng Yan wanted to politely refuse. However, his heart couldn’t stomp thumping just because he walked closer to him, and the “no” he was about to say with panic turned into an honest “not yet.”

His reactions made Miao Yu stunned until Huo Sheng patted Cheng Yan and entered his own office. She gaped and whispered, “Cheng Yan, are you alright…”

Cheng Yan didn’t answer as he only bit his lips. He heard the office door close and then glanced to see him hurriedly leave again. Only then did he frown at the breakfast placed on his table. At least, he helplessly sighed.

Miao Yu looked at him sitting like a log unmoving so she frankly stood up and rummaged through the bag.

She found that it’s truly enough for one person. Luckily, the person was gone so his head cooled down. He saw Miao Yu with a face of doubt as if wanting to ask again so, after hesitating, he took the soya milk and gave what was left to her. This stopped Miao Yu from talking and she didn’t trouble him anymore.

Huo Sheng had left in the morning and Cheng Yan naturally had no rights to ask what the project was exactly about.

However, although the majority of the people are too lazy to fill out their personal calendar to field schedules, Cheng Yan nevertheless, with a heart to probe, quietly clicked into it while everyone was busy.

With a glance, he got to know that they were going to discuss the details, which he didn’t expect.

However, without mentioning that the discussion was brought forward and just about “discussing the details”, it’s usually none of his business. It was not because he doesn’t know how to ask about the subject, it was because he’s too meticulous. They were their client so he can’t be too stern. It was also this reason that when it comes to the end presentation, he is rarely the presenter and mostly a backup.

Even though he was never the main participant, he had been to this sort of meeting many times in these years.

Therefore, estimating the time, it should be the time he will be coming back. He stared at the paper documents in his hand, thought for a moment, and then looked at the time on his computer screen. He then organised and stuck notes on the documents, and placed it on the to-be-complete section. After that, he handily opened the newest policy report on his computer and began to slowly look into it.

Liang Chen and Huo Sheng returned before one hour had passed for afternoon shifts. The two were smiling as they came in, seemingly discussing the details.

When Cheng Yan heard the door being pushed, he subtly looked up. When he saw their actions, his eyelashes lowered as he looked at the heading printed on the computer screen. He clicked on the “x” on the right top corner, closing the window.

Miao Yu beside him doesn’t know where they had gone to so she raised her head and asked Cheng Yan, “Where’ve they been?”

Being asked that made him at a loss, and then after two seconds he thought, before saying, “Not too sure.”

Miao Yu, full of curiosity, stared at them for the whole duration until, before she could turn her head back, she heard the news that she isn’t really fond of. They were going to attend a short meeting for the preliminary work before they leave work.

“A meeting to discuss specific matters, well, isn’t normally held this early. I knew how Old Zhang led you, but this is a new team so naturally, there will be new rules. That is why I’ve decided to hold it two weeks early to give you time to adjust. If you have any questions, we can discuss it. You can also communicate with me or Assistant Liang for adjustments in the project implementation anytime.”

The man sitting at the end in the meeting room was methodically going through everything. He also allocated enough time for independent investigation for every person with a clear focus. Hearing that made Cheng Yan joyous to be trusted while he was also worried about whether he could complete the tasks well.

After all, he had been in the same company with Huo Sheng for at least three years. He could occasionally hear comments of his leadership although he had never been led by him. The fixed team coordinator they had before favoured explain every little detail, displaying doubt for his ability.

Now, he earned an opportunity, luck to be more exact, and there was no other way than to do his all on this.

Despite his views on this, Miao Yu couldn’t resist a sigh after the meeting had ended. “It’s over, it’s all over. I think I’m definitely going to be in trouble since I’m used to Old Zhang’s way of doing things but now, we’re on our own. Why don’t I prepare a resignation letter and hand it in with my work. I’ll be able to leave early and avoid waiting one month after writing it at the last minute, even my face1 can’t be spared like this.”

Fatty giggled, “Miao Miao, you’re funny. I can check your work for you, what can you be afraid of?”

This saved half of her life, making her head spring from the table. She blinked, “You said it, don’t regret it later.”

This job is good and bad. The good side is that time is more flexible than other jobs as you can leave on time or early if you finish your work. The bad side is that once it gets busy, you simply wouldn’t have enough time to use every day.

Nevertheless, most people leave their work until two weeks before the deadline and then work their socks off with overtime, since this stressful method is very efficient.

So on the first day after they were assigned work, as soon as the clock ticked, Miao Yu, Fatty, and two other people packed their things and escaped.

The scenery outside the window turned from dusk to darkness in a matter of minutes, while Cheng Yan became the only presence in this large office.

The sound of paper stacking alternated with the sound of the keyboard repeated many times before stopping. When Cheng Yan came to his senses, he realised that another hour had passed.

He felt somewhat tired after staring at the computer for a long time. He took off his glasses and was thinking of stretching his arms, but then he heard a soft sound of the door closing behind him followed by Huo Sheng’s magnetic voice. “Why are you still here? Overtime?”

At the sound of the voice, Cheng Yan froze and subconsciously looked at him. He then replied with a soft “mm”.

Soon after, he heard Huo Sheng say as he smiled, “There’s plenty of time, so remember to rest even if you’re busy.”

Cheng Yan was surprised, not because of Huo Sheng’s speech, but by the blurriness of things in front of him. That unexplainable tension he had was completely gone.

Perhaps emboldened by this unexpected “calmness”, Cheng Yan stood up before he realised it.

He heard his own voice quietly saying, “Um, thank you for the breakfast.”

And Huo Sheng answered him with a smile, “You’re welcome.”