Chapter 2 – Lu Heng
Lin Yan stood behind President Lu with a guilty conscience.
He hadn’t submitted his project yet, and that made him uneasy.
And now, of all times, he had run into the CEO in the elevator.
Although the president probably didn’t recognize a low-level employee like him, failing to submit a project on time would definitely make the president remember him very quickly.
Lin Yan regretted stopping to buy steamed buns earlier.
That shop made the buns fresh on the spot. They smelled better than any other place, which was why the line was always long. The only problem was that it was slightly out of the way from the company.
He had to make a big detour to get them, so he usually only went there on the rare days when he arrived early.
At this moment, Lu Heng was also feeling a little uneasy.
He had changed clothes in the parking lot before coming up—now dressed in a crisp suit. Coupled with the fact that he had slept well last night, he looked especially refreshed.
The only giveaway was the faint, hard-to-detect awkwardness in his expression.
After all, he had slept in this very person’s arms just last night.
And now they were meeting again in the elevator the very next morning.
Thankfully, he had already changed out of that person’s clothes. Otherwise, Lu Heng truly wouldn’t know how to explain himself.
Lu Heng’s butler always kept several sets of clothes in his car. Lu Heng was extremely busy with work and rarely went home, and when he did, it was usually at strange hours—either two or four in the morning.
The house staff were constantly on standby, but in the end, they couldn’t predict when the young master would return, so they simply kept spare clothes in whichever car Lu Heng was driving that day.
Once out of the elevator, Lin Yan finally felt released.
He didn’t want to experience that suffocating feeling again.
After walking a few steps, with people passing by around him, Lin Yan felt something under his foot. It pressed uncomfortably against his sole.
He looked down.
It was a collar.
A leather collar.
Not only did it look familiar, even the texture felt familiar. It was exactly the same as the one the cat he had picked up yesterday was wearing.
Lin Yan felt puzzled. The cat had clearly still been wearing it when he left home.
Could it be that he remembered wrong and had taken it off?
He slipped the collar into his pocket, planning to check later whether the cat still had one on.
Sitting at his workstation, he sent the files over.
The tension in his chest finally eased—his task was complete.
…
At nine o’clock in the morning, President Lu called all members of the technical department into a meeting.
Normally, only mid-level managers attended this kind of meeting. Lin Yan, a mere underling, had no qualifications to be there.
Bang.
Everyone in the conference room straightened their backs. In an instant, the room became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
Lu Heng flipped through the submissions. On the large screen, patches of red and blue filled the display, dense lines of code spreading across it.
As the screen scrolled, it was nothing but error messages. Lu Heng’s expression darkened.
This was what the three technical departments had handed in?
He lowered his gaze. There was still one department’s data missing.
“Technical Department Four,” he said coldly. “Where is yours?”
The secretary leaned in to explain, “We just received the data file from Department Four. Would you like to view it?”
Lu Heng’s chest rose and fell. He braced one hand on the table, supported his head, and pressed his temple before finally speaking, his thin lips parting slightly.
“Open it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Alright.”
The secretary immediately pulled up the file they had just received.
The next second, the screen was replaced, and lines upon lines of data and letters crowded the display.
Lu Heng had still been angry, but the moment he saw this file, some of that anger subsided.
“Take a look at this.”
As he spoke, he turned toward the people in the conference room. Everyone present was a director from the technical departments. Lu Heng glanced at each of them—these were people who had been with the company for many years.
What gave Lu Heng the biggest headache were these so-called company veterans. They occupied important positions yet produced no real results. He had intended for them to direct their subordinates, but instead they were like loose sand—forget being reliable, they couldn’t even be pulled together.
“President Lu, although our department has some mistakes, we did complete the client’s requirements,”
the director of Technical Department One spoke up.
Lu Heng shot him a glance.
“Completing a task must be built on a solid foundation.”
With that one sentence, no one dared to speak again.
Enough.
“Basic mistakes, and even missing deadlines,” Lu Heng said, suppressing his anger.
“What exactly is the company paying you for?”
He deliberately lowered his voice.
In the silent conference room, every word was still perfectly clear to everyone present. They exchanged looks, and no one spoke.
Leaning back in his chair, Lu Heng continued in the same low tone, “You need to understand what you’re doing instead of just going through the motions. Every task is connected. If one person delays or messes up, the next person has to stay up all night fixing it.”
At this point, Lu Heng paused.
Wasn’t that exactly the case?
He himself had stayed up most of the night with them yesterday.
“With poor mental condition, do you think what you submit is something we can hand to the client?”
The meeting ended with Lu Heng’s reprimand.
He had no mood to argue further with them and only asked the director of Technical Department Four to stay behind.
“President Lu.” Zhao Ming sat across from him, respectful and upright.
“I already told you last time—any materials and documents must be submitted on time.” Lu Heng folded his arms across his chest, one leg slightly raised.
“President Lu, it really wasn’t intentional,” Zhao Ming explained. “Someone in the department forgot to submit it to me, so it got delayed.”
Zhao Ming’s words carried an obvious implication.
Lu Heng understood perfectly.
A classic workplace trick: once something goes wrong, responsibility gets passed around, and no one is at fault.
Since Lu Heng had no concrete evidence, he didn’t pursue it further. After all, this was currently the best data they could present to the client.
“Who prepared this data?” he asked.
“A newly confirmed employee in the department—Lin Yan,” Zhao Ming answered honestly. In technical work, he admitted he couldn’t match the younger staff.
“Lin Yan.”
…
Zhao Ming returned to the department, his steps hurried, bringing an oppressive atmosphere with him as soon as he arrived.
Everyone in the office noticed immediately. Whenever the director came back with a dark expression, it meant he had just been scolded by the president.
The four of them exchanged glances, then wordlessly opened their small private chat group.
Lin Yan’s phone kept vibrating. With unease in his heart, he opened it—only to see that nothing serious had happened. It was just the group chat. He instantly let out a breath of relief.
The group had been created by the department members. Their department had five people besides the director. One of them constantly tried to curry favor with the director, and the others all disliked him, so they hadn’t added him to the group.
At first, Lin Yan hadn’t thought much of the guy—he just liked flattering people.
But after being maliciously targeted a few times, Lin Yan had officially joined the complaining camp.
The group name was: [Work-slave]
cx Little Angel: [The director’s back. Did we get scolded?]
Wang Hao Is a Handsome Guy: [Hard to say. Look at that face.]
yy Genius Representative: [Look—that guy just went in again, all eager.]
Just as Lin Yan read that message, he looked up and saw Sun Ning sneak into the director’s office.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Lin Yan didn’t join the discussion. Instead, he sent a photo of the cat he had taken last night to the group.
yy Genius Representative: [Aaaah, that cat is so cute!]
Wang Hao Is a Handsome Guy: [Since when did you get a cat?]
Lin Yan Yan Yan Yan~: [Picked it up last night.]
yy Genius Representative: [Why can’t I ever pick up a kitty?]
cx Little Angel: [The cat looks really clean, and it even has a collar. Could it belong to someone who lost it?]
Lin Yan Yan Yan Yan~: [Maybe. I asked in a few stray-pet groups last night, but no one knew.]
cx Little Angel: [Did you make a post?]
What Chen Xin meant was a local-city app. The app was developed by their own company, and Lin Yan had even written some of the code for it.
The app mainly promoted local social connections. It only covered people within the same city, and posts usually reached just a few kilometers around, so almost everyone nearby would see them.
Lin Yan Yan Yan Yan~: [I posted, but no one’s replied yet.]
cx Little Angel: [Then just wait and see. Maybe they haven’t noticed it yet.]
Lin Yan Yan Yan Yan~: [Yeah. Is there a pet supply store nearby?]
Wang Hao Is a Handsome Guy: [There’s one on the second floor of the building across the street. It’s pretty big. My girlfriend and I just went there a few days ago to buy stuff for our cat—great value for money.]
yy Genius Representative: [What, you have a cat too?]
Wang Hao Is a Handsome Guy: [The boss at home wanted one, so we bought a cat. Originally wanted to adopt, but the cats at the shelter weren’t very friendly with us.]
yy Genius Representative: [I’m tired of saying “I’m jealous.” Once I wrap up this project, I’m definitely getting a cat.]
Wang Hao Is a Handsome Guy: [Kittens really are cute.]
“Lin Yan!”
Sun Ning stormed out of the director’s office and shouted Lin Yan’s name as he charged toward him.
Everyone put their phones down and looked at Sun Ning.
“Why are you yelling?” Lin Yan said.
“Didn’t I tell you President Lu needed that data file this morning?” Sun Ning glared at him, nostrils flaring.
He clearly looked like someone who had just been chewed out.
He’d gone in to flatter the boss and ended up getting scolded.
“You did,” Lin Yan replied casually. After all, the scolding hadn’t been aimed at him.
“Then why did you submit it so late?”
“Is that really such a hard question to think about?”
That single sentence completely threw Sun Ning off. His anger turned into confusion.
“What did you say?”
“You were already late when you gave me the file,” Lin Yan shot back when he saw Sun Ning pretending not to understand.
Sun Ning stared at him. This guy actually dared to talk to him like that.
“Don’t make things up.”
“You handle backend data too,” Lin Yan said coldly. “Do you really not know whether I’m making things up?”
Sun Ning was left speechless.
“Fine. I can’t argue with you. But if there’s anything wrong with the data, that’s on you.”
That was the last straw.
Originally, Lin Yan hadn’t planned to make a big deal out of it. He had already spent a long time fixing the incorrect commands in Sun Ning’s files.
And now this guy was shamelessly saying it was all Lin Yan’s responsibility?
Then Lin Yan was going to settle this properly.
“Hah. My responsibility?” Lin Yan stood up.
Lin Yan was half a head taller than Sun Ning. The moment he stood up and met Sun Ning’s gaze, Sun Ning’s arrogance immediately faltered.
“Why don’t you take a good look at the mistakes in your own file?” Lin Yan said, lifting his chin slightly.
Wang Hao, who was sitting across from Lin Yan, couldn’t stand it anymore. He had never liked Sun Ning to begin with, so he spoke up, “Lin Yan helped you fix your errors. Forget being grateful—you’re actually blaming him. Tsk, tsk.”
That only made Sun Ning angrier.
“Are you serious? Me, thank him? I’m the project lead. That’s his job. Why would I thank him?”
“Oh, really?” Yang Yang on the other side chimed in sarcastically.
“Lin Yan is usually very punctual. If the submission was delayed, either the file had too many errors and slowed everything down, or someone deliberately didn’t mention the submission time.”
Sun Ning was hit by their words one after another. He nodded slowly.
“So now none of you take me, the person in charge, seriously, huh?”
“I didn’t say that,” Yang Yang snorted.
“Fine, fine.” Seeing that he couldn’t out-argue them, Sun Ning lifted his head and glared at Lin Yan.
“The director is looking for you. Get ready to be scolded.”
With that, Sun Ning walked off and plopped down at his own workstation.
The group chat was still buzzing with heated discussion, but Lin Yan didn’t have time to check it. He straightened himself and headed for the director’s office.
At the door, Lin Yan knocked.
“Come in.”
He pushed the door open and closed it behind him.
The director’s office was clean and tidy. A desk and chair, shelves of books behind, along with some equipment.
Zhao Ming was standing with both hands on the desk. When he saw Lin Yan enter, his attitude changed instantly. He smiled and said, “Xiao Lin, have you been very busy with work lately?”
Lin Yan frowned slightly, then shook his head.
“Busy or not, it’s all work I’m supposed to do.”
Zhao Ming lowered his head with a faint smile.
“If that kid Sun Ning had your sense of responsibility, he wouldn’t be making mistakes all the time.”
He gestured for Lin Yan to sit.
“Don’t overthink it. You’re the most capable and reliable person in our department.”
Lin Yan felt it was strange. Normally, this man would have scolded him already. Why the sudden praise today?
“No, Director Zhao. It’s just my duty.”
“There’s a file here that keeps having errors. Could you help me take a look?” Zhao Ming opened a file on the computer and turned the screen toward Lin Yan.
Lin Yan smiled and agreed, though he couldn’t help complaining internally: Here we go again. Checking competition files for his ‘son.’ This is already the third time. Might as well have me do the whole thing for him.
“How about I just send it to you, and you can edit it directly?” Zhao Ming added.
Lin Yan: Damn. Right on cue.
What else could he do? He could only smile and reply, “Sure, Director Zhao. Just send it to me. I’ve taken a quick look—there aren’t many issues. I can finish it for you before I get off work.”