Mai Ding had exhausted himself on Sunday, so by Monday morning he could barely summon any energy at work. The moment he entered Public Relations, he was told to go to Marketing and retrieve some materials. After the unpleasant conflict with Marketing the previous week, nobody wanted to go, so naturally the unlucky task fell to Mai Ding. When the elevator doors opened, something even more unfortunate was waiting inside: the prematurely gray-haired man who had argued with An Zi Yan, Marketing Manager Zhu Qiang.
“Are you getting in or not?” Zhu Qiang asked impatiently. Mai Ding hurried into the elevator. The atmosphere was unbearably awkward. After greeting him, Mai Ding pretended to play with his phone. When the elevator stopped on the fourth floor, Mai Ding followed Zhu Qiang out. Zhu Qiang gave him a mocking smile. “What brings the mighty Public Relations Department down here?”
“I-I came to pick up some materials.”
“You still have to come collect them yourselves? You people are so impressive, we should’ve delivered them upstairs for you. Hey, how could we possibly trouble Public Relations by making them come get documents?” he called into the office. Everyone looked up, making Mai Ding even more embarrassed. He lowered his head. “Sorry, I’m new and don’t really know how things work yet. Who should I get the materials from?” Nobody answered. They simply returned to their own work, while Zhu Qiang went back into his office.
This was hardly Mai Ding’s first experience being excluded by a group. Compared with people mocking and cursing his relationship, this was nothing. Just as he stood there unsure what to do and was gathering the courage to ask again, the documents suddenly appeared in front of him. He looked up gratefully, then froze in shock for several seconds. “C-C-Cao…”
“Are you looking for trouble? Why are you swearing at people?!” someone shouted. Seeing that he had been misunderstood, Mai Ding frantically waved his hands. “No! I said Cao, not cào. Why would I say cào? I never say cào.” You just said it three times. Watching Mai Ding panic through his explanation, Cao Cheng Yi tossed the documents at him. “Enough. These are what you came for.”
Elio’s Notes: Cao Cheng Yi’s surname, 曹 (Cáo), sounds close to 操 (cào), a very vulgar “fuck.” Mai Ding stammering “Cao” is why everyone thinks he is swearing.
“Why are you in Marketing?”
“This is where I work.” Cao Cheng Yi thought Mai Ding was making a ridiculous fuss. Mai Ding supposed the company was so large that it was normal they had never run into each other, though it was strange that neither An Zi Yan nor Xiao Si had ever mentioned it.
“Cheng Yi, you know him?”
“Know him? He’s just the guy who played with my cousin’s feelings and dumped her afterward. He’d better take those documents and leave. I don’t want to look at him.” Cao Cheng Yi denied knowing him completely and, at the same time, branded Mai Ding as a scumbag throughout Marketing. Understanding absolutely none of what had just happened, Mai Ding could only wander back toward the elevator in confusion. He would ask An Zi Yan about it later.
Zhu Qiang came out again while answering his phone. “All right, I’ll come up right away.” Today really was cursed, Mai Ding swore inwardly. Zhu Qiang hung up and said, “You work under An Zi Yan, right?”
“Huh?! What?!” Mai Ding whipped his head around in alarm. The reason he panicked so badly was that what he heard sounded like: You’ve done it with An Zi Yan, right?
“I’d advise you to find somewhere else to work. With the way he handles people, he’ll never accomplish anything. I’ve seen plenty like him. Young, arrogant, convinced they’re extraordinary. Before long he’ll end up slinking out of the company like every other useless piece of trash.” Mai Ding could tolerate plenty of things, but he could not bear listening to anyone speak badly about An Zi Yan. He grabbed Zhu Qiang by the front of his suit. “What did you say?”
“What are you doing? Let go!” Zhu Qiang grabbed Mai Ding’s wrist and tried to pull him away.
The elevator chimed and its doors slowly opened. Both of them instinctively turned around. Inside, someone leaned against the elevator wall with a phone in one hand and the other tucked into his trouser pocket, his suit seemingly doing its utmost to live up to the body and face wearing it. Seeing the scene in front of him, An Zi Yan frowned unhappily. “Something came up. I’ll talk later.” He hung up and pointed at the hands gripping each other. The moment Mai Ding released Zhu Qiang, An Zi Yan pulled him to his side.
“Get this straight. He’s mine.”
What was he saying?! The tiny Mai Ding inside Mai Ding’s head was practically clawing his own face bloody. Mai Ding hurried to add, “That’s right. I’m his subordinate.”
“Don’t touch what’s mine.”
Please stop talking!
“Don’t touch his subordinate,” Mai Ding translated desperately. Then he put on a touched expression. “Thank you, sir, for taking such good care of your subordinate. I’m deeply honored.” Before Zhu Qiang could react, An Zi Yan pressed the elevator-close button and shut him outside. As the elevator continued upward, Mai Ding finally exploded. “Stop pouring fuel on the relationship between Marketing and Public Relations! What happened just now was a misunderstanding. You can’t ruin something important just because you don’t like the sight of him!”
“I don’t like the sight of him. So what?”
“Are you a child? A real man knows when to bend and when to stand firm. You can’t…”
“If you keep talking, I’m going to kiss you.”
Mai Ding immediately shut his mouth. The elevator doors opened, and Guo Ping was already waiting for An Zi Yan. Everything that had just happened vanished like an illusion. An Zi Yan listened seriously to Guo Ping’s report as they walked inside. “What did they say?”
“They said there’s nothing they can do either.”
“Tell them they’ll have to find a way even if there isn’t one.” He took the documents Guo Ping handed over, flipping through them while giving instructions. Serious and steady, he showed no trace whatsoever of what had happened moments ago.
“All right. I’ll handle it now.”
“Mm. One more thing.” An Zi Yan stopped Guo Ping. “From now on, don’t send that… right, what was his name again?” I’ve been at this company for a while now. You’re allowed to remember my name! Most of Mai Ding’s shouting at work happened entirely inside his head.
“Mai Ding?”
“I think that’s his name. Send him to Marketing less often from now on.”
“Why?”
“His communication skills are still too poor. It could affect cooperation with Marketing.” An Zi Yan said it in an impeccably serious tone.
You’re the one actually damaging the relationship with Marketing! Mai Ding wanted to cough up blood. He was convinced this company would shorten his life. Weakly, he handed the documents from Marketing to Feng Fei Meng. She looked at him with malicious amusement. “Not bad, you. I just heard you’re the kind of scumbag who plays with women’s feelings, got someone’s older sister, dumped her once you were bored, and nearly gave her depression.” It had only happened a few minutes ago! Weren’t the departments supposed to hate each other? The rumor had already traveled upstairs, and it was getting worse as it spread.
“Wow. Didn’t think the new guy had it in him.”
“Teach me how to play with women too.”
Surrounded by his coworkers, how could Mai Ding, a man who valued his reputation as much as his life, endure such humiliation? He desperately wanted to explain: I only stole that woman’s boyfriend, and she didn’t get depression. But after thinking about it carefully, that explanation did not sound much better than the rumor. Forget it. A real man had to learn to endure humiliation and walk his own path no matter what other people said. At least An Zi Yan was the one person in Public Relations who knew the truth. At least he understood Mai Ding. Mai Ding turned his gaze toward him.
“I can’t believe Public Relations hired scum like you.” The one person in Public Relations who understood Mai Ding left him with only that sentence. Mai Ding nearly shouted An Zi Yan’s name the way he normally would and ran up to shove him from behind. Just endure a little longer. The moment they stepped through the front door at home, their positions would reverse and Mai Ding could thoroughly teach An Zi Yan a lesson. Sigh. What position did Mai Ding think he had to reverse in the first place?