Heaven had to be getting revenge on Mai Ding. At home, Mai Ding lectured An Zi Yan. At work, An Zi Yan lectured him. Mai Ding seriously suspected this was another reason An Zi Yan had gotten him into the company.
After Guo Ping’s fairly patient explanation, Mai Ding more or less understood how the Public Relations Department worked. Public Relations reported directly to the company’s highest leadership and was mainly responsible for gathering situational information, managing the company’s overall image, publicity and external relations, and providing advice for decision-making. The management structure itself was not especially complicated. The overall person in charge was surnamed Wang and rarely came to the department, usually staying with the other senior executives on the nineteenth floor. Day-to-day matters were handled by An Zi Yan and another person, Manager Cui. Manager Cui was currently away negotiating with other large companies, while An Zi Yan, with less seniority and experience, was temporarily staying at headquarters to handle internal affairs.
Looking around, Mai Ding discovered something else. At first glance, the entire Public Relations Department looked suspiciously like a host club. There were more men than women, while the women, though fewer, were all beautiful, with immaculate makeup and fitted office clothes that emphasized their figures. Mai Ding could not help wondering how they managed to obey the rule against dating coworkers. Whether someone liked men or women, Public Relations looked like the perfect matchmaking venue. Who was it that had been fired up about working seriously just a moment ago?
Guo Ping carried a thick stack of files to Mai Ding’s desk. “First, you need to understand how the whole company operates and the official procedures for handling different situations.” Mai Ding nodded repeatedly, opened the file on top, then could not resist quietly asking, “Shifu, can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Can all of you really follow the rule and not date coworkers in the department?” Mai Ding genuinely did not understand. Could human feelings really be controlled by company policy? Guo Ping patted Mai Ding’s shoulder in understanding. “Back when I first joined, I had those wicked thoughts too. My advice is to give up. If you insist on dating, the company won’t literally stop you. If you’re lucky, one of you gets transferred to another department. If you’re unlucky, one of you gets sent to a branch in another city. Then what’s the point? You still can’t stay together. Better to find someone from another department.”
“Yan,” Guo Ping suddenly shouted while Mai Ding was thinking. “The new guy isn’t very honest. He just arrived and he’s already thinking about hitting on the female coworkers.” Everyone else laughed too. Mai Ding hurriedly denied it. “I-I’m not. Really, I’m not. Believe me.”
One woman teased him. “Why are you reacting like your husband just caught you cheating?”
“I-I don’t have a husband! My husband isn’t here!” The more anxious he got, the less he listened to what was coming out of his own mouth. An Zi Yan kept staring coldly at his computer screen and said lazily, “Nobody would be interested in you unless they had an exceptional commitment to recycling and a charitable heart.”
What did he mean by exceptional commitment to recycling? He was calling me garbage again. Worse, wasn’t that basically insulting me while indirectly complimenting himself?! Mai Ding roared silently in his head. He lowered his head and focused on the documents, trying to ignore the renewed laughter. Still, this felt different from his earlier internship. There were still numb, indifferent eyes here, and he could sense some resistance toward a newcomer, but An Zi Yan was here. Did the brain automatically apply a beauty filter to everything when the person you loved was nearby? Mai Ding felt strangely secure.
He spent the entire morning reading and had not even finished a third of the material. Rubbing his aching eyes, Mai Ding stretched and noticed everyone heading toward the elevator. Was it lunchtime? He stayed in his chair and did not dare stand up without being told, afraid people would think he was rude and cared only about food, but he had barely eaten breakfast and was starving. He looked toward the front-left. Thank goodness the office design was so transparent that he could see An Zi Yan’s office clearly. An Zi Yan was on the phone and did not look like he intended to eat. Before long, Guo Ping came back holding his phone. “I know, I know. I forgot about him for a second. I came back already. Hey, you hang up fast.” Guo Ping looked toward An Zi Yan, then waved at Mai Ding. “New guy, come on. Lunch.” Mai Ding had told An Zi Yan not to care whether he lived or died at work so their act would be more convincing. An Zi Yan had ruined Mai Ding’s plan by remembering him anyway, yet Mai Ding could not bring himself to be angry.
While waiting for the elevator, Mai Ding kept glancing back. “Why isn’t that guy going to lunch?”
“You mean Yan? If he goes down now, he’ll get surrounded by desperate single women from the other departments.”
“You all call him by his given name?”
“He doesn’t like people using his title.”
“I see.” Then what was Mai Ding supposed to call An Zi Yan? Yan, like everyone else? No. Absolutely not. That was way too embarrassing. He would rather die than say it.
The company dining area was not much different from the university cafeteria except for better decor and more food options. There were plenty of employees, each with their own little groups. From Mai Ding’s secret observations, the departments seemed to behave as though they had grudges against one another except for the occasional couples. He had once imagined that in a large company like this, everyone would be warm, united, and enthusiastic. Apparently that was only another one of his fantasies.
“Shifu, why is the atmosphere between departments so bad?” Mai Ding lowered his voice.
“You really ask a lot of questions. First time in the city? Work causes problems all the time. Every department blames the others and tries to pass responsibility around. Of course the relationships aren’t going to be great.”
At least our Public Relations Department is pretty united internally, Mai Ding thought with relief.
“Dream on. The moment different interests are involved, unity disappears. See the people who barely acknowledged you today? They all work under Manager Cui in Public Relations.”
“That’s complicated. Aren’t we all in the same department?”
“You’ll understand later. This place isn’t easy to survive in.” Guo Ping spoke meaningfully. With Guo Ping introducing them, Mai Ding at least managed to remember the names of the coworkers eating with them. The woman who teased him earlier was Feng Fei Meng, twenty-five. The gloomy, unsmiling man was Gao Shuang, twenty-six. The handsome one drenched in men’s cologne was Fan Shao Jun, twenty-four. The one who played with his phone whenever he had nothing to do and wore thick prescription glasses was Liu Wei, twenty-five. Their personalities stood out enough that Mai Ding remembered them easily. The others would take more time.
“Everyone assigned under An Zi Yan is young.”
“An Zi Yan? Did I tell you Yan’s full name? And besides, calling someone’s full name is rude enough, but you said it awfully naturally.”
Finished. Mai Ding was too used to saying it and had let it slip without thinking. Think fast. What lie could I use? Mai Ding scratched his head awkwardly. “I saw the name hanging outside the office door earlier. A-and I have this compulsive thing about names. If I call someone by name, I have to use the full name or my whole body feels uncomfortable and itchy and I start scratching…”
“We’re eating. Don’t continue. As long as whatever you have isn’t contagious, we’re fine,” Fan Shao Jun said with an eye roll. Mai Ding secretly pinched his own thigh. He had planned out an entire secrecy operation, so why was he still making mistakes? He had to be even more careful from now on. Having an affair really was not easy. He hurriedly changed the subject. “Is it because our… um… superior is young that all the subordinates assigned to him are young too?”
“The previous supervisor suddenly got fired for no apparent reason. Manager Cui redistributed everyone afterward, transferring all the experienced staff away. He’s obviously trying to make things difficult for Yan.” Feng Fei Meng curled her lip, apparently indignant on An Zi Yan’s behalf. Mai Ding certainly was not going to tell her that the previous supervisor had absolutely not been fired for no reason. Nobody needed to sympathize with An Zi Yan! Fan Shao Jun ate only a little, then carefully wiped his mouth with a tissue. “This is better anyway. I was sick of working under Old Cui. He’s disliked me for a long time too.”
“As long as I finish my own work, Yan doesn’t care even if I play with my phone.”
He’s just too lazy to manage other people! Only Mai Ding, who understood An Zi Yan best, knew the truth. All these people have been fooled! Hmph. Don’t make me angry or I’ll expose you completely!