Lately, An Zi Yan and his younger subordinates in Public Relations had been unusually idle. Ever since Manager Cui returned, he had taken over every important task on the grounds that he had more experience and worked more efficiently, leaving An Zi Yan and the others with nothing but miscellaneous chores. Mai Ding, who had never expected to find himself with nothing to do even at work, thought the situation was serious. He asked Guo Ping, “Shifu, what do we do now?” Liu Wei played with his phone. “What do you mean, what do we do? If they like working, let them work. Getting paid while fooling around is great.”
Feng Fei Meng propped her chin on one hand, bored out of her mind. “It’d be even better if we had a mahjong table.” A bunch of people with no ideals, no goals, and no motivation! Mai Ding, the least experienced person there, could not stand their behavior. If he were their boss, he would never allow his subordinates to loaf around like this.
“If this keeps up, forget about ever getting a raise.” That was the issue Mai Ding cared about most. Fan Shao Jun flipped through a fashion magazine. “Manager Cui has been with the company for years. He still carries a lot of weight in Public Relations. He probably doesn’t want Yan stealing the spotlight.”
“Don’t worry. It won’t last long. There’s no way he can handle everything by himself.”
“Sigh. Can’t everyone in a company just work happily together?”
“No.”
“Yan still isn’t at the company?” Liu Wei asked. Guo Ping glanced toward the office. “He must be out handling something important. He works so hard. To make things easier for us, he takes care of a lot himself. Just look at President Yang’s case. He resolved it without any of us even knowing.” The others nodded in agreement.
Works hard, my ass! There was nothing happening at the company. He was still at home sleeping! Blind idiots! Mai Ding took out his phone and sent An Zi Yan a message.
[You should get up already. Look at the time.]
The message sank without a trace. If Mai Ding never got a raise, An Zi Yan would definitely bear part of the blame! Manager Cui came out of his office, glanced at An Zi Yan’s, and frowned. “Where did An Zi Yan go?” Manager Cui clearly felt that he had both reason and seniority enough to call An Zi Yan by his full name.
“There was a small problem with a case he handled earlier, so he went to deal with it,” Guo Ping said.
“If it’s only a small problem, does he really need to handle it himself? For all I know, he’s still sleeping at home.”
“I drove him to X Company myself this morning.” Guo Ping replied with perfect politeness and just enough hostility, his manner so convincing that no one would suspect he was lying. Manager Cui glared at him before saying coldly, “Call him and tell him to come back. I need to speak with him.” Then he returned to his office. Fan Shao Jun rolled his eyes. “He’s not even Yan’s boss. What kind of tone is that? It’s unpleasant to listen to. He even tried to smear Yan. No class.”
It was not slander. He was telling the truth. An Zi Yan really was sleeping at home! Guo Ping called An Zi Yan, then shook his head helplessly. “He’s not answering. He must still be busy.” Mai Ding had already secretly sent An Zi Yan message after message. Right now he wanted nothing more than to rush home and crush the person buried under the blankets.
Guo Ping gave up after one call, folded his hands behind his head, and leaned back leisurely. “Forget it. Whatever Manager Cui wants with Yan can’t be anything important.” Like boss, like subordinates. Mai Ding was convinced they had not been this way before An Zi Yan became their superior. He quietly slipped into the stairwell and called An Zi Yan over and over. More than ten minutes later, the phone was finally answered. An Zi Yan’s voice was full of irritation at having his sleep disturbed. “What the hell do you want?”
A man skipping work to sleep at home still had the nerve to snap at him. Mai Ding shouted into the phone, “I’m the one who should be asking you that! Get up and come to work.” An Zi Yan held the phone away from his ear until the yelling stopped, then put it back, eyes still closed. “Why should I go to work?”
“Listen to yourself! Manager Cui is looking for you. Luckily Guo Ping lied for you.”
“Go ask him what he wants and tell him I’m busy.”
“I’m not saying that for you. Are you trying to get me killed? Hurry up and come in. I’m serious. Which is more important, sleeping or me?” Left with no other choice, Mai Ding resorted to a threat. The other end of the line went silent. Mai Ding immediately shouted again. “What does that silence mean? You need this long to think about it?! Stop wasting time or else I’ll…” He started searching for something threatening enough to say.
“Or else what?”
“Half an hour. If you’re not here in half an hour, or if you’re even one minute late, I’m going drinking. I’m going to drink a lot, and then I’ll run naked through the office. You believe me?”
“I don’t.”
“Y-you just wait and see.” Mai Ding hung up and marched back to the office in a fury. He had to teach An Zi Yan a lesson. Otherwise, Mai Ding’s words at home would carry no weight at all, and An Zi Yan would never take him seriously. If An Zi Yan was not there in half an hour, Mai Ding was absolutely going to run naked through the office.
Half an hour passed quickly. He could not believe An Zi Yan had not taken the naked-running threat seriously. Maybe he should go to the restroom, strip, take a photo, and send it to him so An Zi Yan would think he was really running naked through the office and get scared. He thought about it, but he still did not have the courage to actually do it. Manager Cui came out again and asked, “An Zi Yan still isn’t back?”
“Mm.”
“What the hell is going on? Didn’t I tell you to call him?” Without waiting for an answer, he returned to his office and slammed the door. Mai Ding left his desk and went outside, looking down through the window one moment and toward the elevator the next. Before much longer, An Zi Yan finally arrived. Mai Ding hurried over and whispered, “You finally came because of me.” His tone carried unmistakable vanity and satisfaction.
“Why are you still wearing clothes? I only came to watch you run naked.”
“I’m not repeating myself again. Be serious! Manager Cui is still waiting for you.”