Chapter 14 – The Blind Date
Lu Heng arrived at the office and saw that the things he had thrown on the floor yesterday had been neatly placed back on the desk.
Secretary He had organized everything for him.
Those items had looked strange to begin with, so it was understandable that he had flung them onto the floor.
When Secretary He came to clean up, he simply assumed that someone had played a prank and mailed those things to President Lu.
That must have been why President Lu had thrown them away.
Lu Heng glanced at the box, then moved it to a corner, planning to throw it out when he had the chance.
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
He Lingchen walked in. He had originally thought President Lu would be away for several days, but he returned after only one. As usual, He Lingchen began reporting work matters.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the cardboard box had already been moved to the corner.
Yesterday, when he came to drop off some documents, he had seen a mess under the desk — scattered papers and a pile of random items.
When he took a closer look…
They were all leather paddles, metal clasps, and whips.
Even after serving as Lu Heng’s secretary for so many years, the sight of those items still made him uneasy.
He had no idea who had sent that package.
But since President Lu hadn’t instructed him to investigate it, he assumed his boss had his own reasons.
So He Lingchen quietly picked everything up, placed it back into the box, checked the documents on the floor to make sure nothing important was missing, sorted them, and put them neatly back on the desk.
Lu Heng sipped his coffee and turned on his computer, his thoughts drifting far away. He barely listened to what Secretary He was saying.
He only caught the last part.
“Madam Lu said she will return to the country next week.”
Lu Heng coughed. The moment he heard that, the coffee he had just swallowed went down the wrong way.
“President Lu— here.” Seeing this, He Lingchen took a handkerchief from his suit jacket and moved to wipe Lu Heng’s mouth.
As he reached out—
Lu Heng stepped back, blocking his hand. He took the handkerchief, nodded slightly, and said, “I’ll do it myself.”
He Lingchen realized he had crossed a boundary and tactfully withdrew his hand, then added, “Madam couldn’t reach you yesterday, so she called me.”
“Alright, I know.”
After speaking, Lu Heng raised his eyes, lifted his chin slightly.
Secretary He nodded and left the office.
When the door closed, He Lingchen glanced back.
He felt that Lu Heng no longer seemed as stern as before — there was a hint of gentleness now.
After following Lu Heng for so many years, whenever he reported work, Lu Heng had always been meticulous and serious.
Even the most unimportant document would be personally reviewed by him.
But just now, Lu Heng had said very little and simply let him handle it.
So… does that mean Lu Heng is starting to trust him?
He Lingchen silently encouraged himself. His determination to follow President Lu and work hard grew even stronger.
The soul of a corporate workhorse was awakened once again.
Lu Heng lowered his eyes and glanced at his phone. He tapped the screen lightly with his finger — black screen.
No battery.
This phone shuts down automatically if it isn’t charged for just one day.
He really did need a backup phone.
After plugging it in to charge, Lu Heng turned back to his computer.
Search results popped up one after another in the browser.
At the very top were Lu Heng’s own keywords: [Signs a cat has recognized its owner.]
Lu Heng read carefully.
First point: Always pays attention to its owner.
Hmm. Lu Heng propped his chin with one hand. That does seem accurate.
Second point: Waits for its owner to come home.
Hmm. Lu Heng nodded again. Yesterday, when Lin Yan opened the door, he had rushed straight to the entrance.
Third point: Enjoys physical closeness with its owner.
Does he…? Lu Heng thought about it, then decided to read the next one.
Fourth point: Misses the owner when they’re not around and wants to see them.
Tch.
Is that even reasonable?
He didn’t think he missed Lin Yan that much.
Lu Heng closed the webpage.
Every single point fit him.
He just didn’t want to admit it.
Still, natural law was natural law — something even he couldn’t fight against.
…
When it was time to get off work, Lin Yan packed up his things, preparing to leave.
“Engineer Lin, you’ve been leaving right on time these days,” Wang Hao teased him.
Lin Yan showed his usual honest smile. “I just changed where I work overtime.”
“Engineer Lin is missing Meiqiu,” Chen Xin said, leaning back in his chair and looking up at him.
“Work is work, no matter where you do it.” Lin Yan continued tidying his messy desk, finally finding his charging cable. Only then did he realize his phone hadn’t been charging — the battery was down to 28%.
That should be enough to get him home, but Lin Yan felt a bit anxious about the low battery. After thinking for a moment, he decided to charge it for a while before leaving.
With nothing to do, he started chatting with the others.
Lin Yan glanced sideways and saw that Sun Ning wasn’t at her desk, so he spoke freely about the project.
“Brother Yang, did you finish my part?”
“All done. I was just about to send it to you,” Yang Yang said, making an OK gesture.
Once Yang Yang added that final piece, Lin Yan could go home and tweak the project a bit — it would basically be finished.
For Lin Yan, developing a small program was easy.
Wang Hao shut down his computer, pressed the power strip switch, and was about to speak.
Out of habit, before opening his mouth he glanced toward Sun Ning’s desk. Everyone had been traumatized by her before.
“Did you hear? The company revised the bonus system. Bonuses won’t go to departments anymore — they’ll go directly to individuals.”
Lin Yan’s phone screen lit up. He glanced at it — no notifications. He turned the screen off again, deciding to let it charge properly.
His thoughts were pulled back by the conversation.
“Yeah, I heard too,” Chen Xin said immediately, rolling her chair over to join them. “I ran into Brother Yang from Finance yesterday and he mentioned it.”
The company’s hierarchy was clearly defined, and with so many people in each department, the old rule set by Old President Lu was that bonuses were given to departments, and each department decided how to distribute them.
Of course — the more work you did, the more you earned.
As long as the department submitted a plan following that principle, it was acceptable.
But once the authority was handed to the department directors, countless hidden rules came with it. How things were actually done, and how the money was divided, was entirely up to the director.
Zhao Ming was at least fairly decent — he wouldn’t deliberately withhold people’s pay.
Still, no one could really say what went on behind the scenes.
“As long as you finish the project, you get a bonus,” Chen Xin added, already starting to pack up.
“Didn’t bonuses used to be settled only at the end of the year?” Yang Yang said while typing.
“There’ll still be year-end bonuses too. This one is supposedly a special fund set aside by the president,” Chen Xin raised her eyebrows. “Young President Lu really looks out for us youngsters.”
In a company like this, young people were the backbone.
If you didn’t take care of the low-level workhorses, how would you produce results?
On this point, Lin Yan genuinely admired President Lu.
“True. Even workhorses get their day.”
They all sighed.
Capitalists only needed to throw out a bit of sweetness, and people would give up their lives for it.
“Lin.”
Lin Yan was leaning against his desk, waiting for his phone to charge.
Zhao Ming stepped out of his office with his bag and called out to him.
“Yes, Director, you need me?” Lin Yan replied.
Without wasting a second, Lin Yan unplugged his phone — only then did he realize it hadn’t charged at all.
He stuffed away the cable and jogged over.
The few people who were just about to leave saw the director come out and immediately plopped back into their seats, waiting for Zhao Ming to leave before they dared to go.
“Come on. You’re coming with me to a dinner meeting.”
Zhao Ming didn’t give Lin Yan any chance to refuse and walked off directly.
Left behind, Lin Yan turned to his coworkers and silently complained, mouthing the words: This guy is making me go to a dinner meeting — so annoying.
Even as he complained, his body still followed after him.
Good luck, Chen Xin mouthed back.
The other two raised their thumbs at Lin Yan.
After Lin Yan and Zhao Ming left together, the rest of them started discussing again.
“What do you think the director wants Lin Yan for?”
“Setting him up on a date,” Wang Hao shrugged.