Jiang Xiaoyi returned to her run-down old apartment that night. The all-too-familiar noise of neighbors and barking dogs around her didn’t seem to dampen her enthusiasm for work that evening — she stayed up until midnight, finally finishing the analysis report she needed, and submitted the new approval request through the OA system.
And for the first time in her life, Jiang Xiaoyi experienced the feeling of being woken up by a dream—
At six-thirty the next morning, she received a text notification that her OA approval had gone through.
Blearily seeing the text message, Jiang Xiaoyi’s first reaction was to nearly snap fully awake instantly. That was followed by wild joy and excitement, and only after that came the nervousness — the fear this might be a dream.
The final decision-maker for project approvals was Ruiyi’s top executive — meaning Ye Zhen had actually started working at six-thirty this morning?
Jiang Xiaoyi clicked open the OA notification bar and discovered Ye Zhen had started even earlier than she’d thought — just from the OA review notifications alone, she could see that half an hour earlier, at six o’clock, Ye Zhen had already approved five contracts and one meeting summary.
This man, now that he was acting as boss, was actually working quite hard — far more responsible than Jiang Xiaoyi had originally imagined.
And whether it was because good luck comes in pairs, right as Jiang Xiaoyi rushed to clock in and had just sat down at her desk, Xiao Meng from the Administration Department came over holding an application form—
“Jiang Xiaoyi, the company recently expanded with a new department, and a lot of out-of-town new employees are joining, so for convenience, we’ve temporarily converted one of the vacant talent-recruitment buildings in our industrial park into employee dormitories. All the new employees have applied already, but there are still a few rooms left over. I thought you’re renting too, right? Renting outside is really expensive these days, but this round of employee dorms comes with subsidies, so it’s really cost-effective.”
Xiao Meng smiled at Jiang Xiaoyi: “Anyway, there are still a few rooms left, might as well use them. I heard from our department head that if any veteran employees want to apply too, that’s fine — first come, first served.”
Jiang Xiaoyi knew about that talent building in the industrial park. It had originally been built to provide convenient housing for project leads or core personnel when recruiting talent, but since entertainment startups generally had small teams with few staff, the occupancy rate of that talent building had been low — it really had sat vacant for quite a while.
But the original purpose had been to serve as supporting housing for recruited talent, and when it was built, Ruiyi had invested heavily — the building quality was solid, and every room was a high-spec, fully furnished move-in-ready unit, with utilities and internet all covered by Ruiyi. It was also close to Ruiyi’s headquarters building, with a well-developed commercial district nearby. Those who didn’t want to go out to eat could even eat directly in Ruiyi’s cafeteria — simply an ideal living environment.
She never imagined such good fortune could fall from the sky!
Jiang Xiaoyi hadn’t expected that even though she and Administration’s Xiao Meng weren’t particularly close, when it came to this limited-slot dormitory resource, Xiao Meng had actually thought of her first! And from what she observed, Xiao Meng hadn’t handed these application forms out to anyone else.
Jiang Xiaoyi took the application form with profuse thanks, filled it out, and returned it to Xiao Meng.
After that, Jiang Xiaoyi threw herself into today’s work and didn’t think much more of it, since this kind of internal administrative process usually took at least ten days to half a month to come through.
So when Xiao Meng came to find Jiang Xiaoyi two hours later holding the already-stamped and signed application form along with the employee dormitory lease agreement, Jiang Xiaoyi was in a dreamlike daze.
“This fast?”
Xiao Meng nodded: “Yeah, our department head said Mr. Ye happened to be processing documents in bulk today, and urged me to quickly go ask you for it.”
Xiao Meng smiled: “Actually, the one who thought to ask if you wanted to apply was our department head too.” She stuck her tongue out at Jiang Xiaoyi. “Our head told me to ask you, otherwise I wouldn’t have dared to act on my own.”
The Administration Director? She didn’t even have much of a relationship with that person…
Jiang Xiaoyi felt somewhat surprised, but soon after, glancing at the employee dormitory lease agreement in her hands, she was struck by another wave of overwhelming joy.
She was really this lucky!
She’d actually gotten a single room!
Jiang Xiaoyi had helped project leads she coordinated with apply for talent housing before, and single-room requests were usually held to very strict standards — most of the time, people could only apply for two- or three-person shared rooms.
This batch of talent housing at Ruiyi was quite high-spec — even though it was called a “single room,” it was actually a complete apartment, spacious enough that a family of three could move in without issue.
But Jiang Xiaoyi soon had a question: “For my single room, will the rent be higher, right?”
With such a large space, at the sky-high rental prices around Ruiyi, wouldn’t that be equivalent to paying several times the rent alone? She’d rather be assigned to a two- or three-person shared room and split the rent instead.
“No, no. Our department head said the rent is the same price as a three-person room.” Xiao Meng waved her hand. “This discount is apparently a special allowance from Mr. Ye — he said he wants to secure good benefits for all the new employees. You’re lucky you caught this wave — super cost-effective. You should sign it quickly.”
So that’s how it was!
Fearing this stroke of luck might slip away, Jiang Xiaoyi hurriedly signed the contract, and after handing over the copy the company needed to keep, she carefully examined the one she kept for herself and found the contract almost suspiciously fair—
Not only was there no deposit required, all those strict clauses were completely absent too!
Jiang Xiaoyi, thinking she’d soon be packing up and moving into her new dorm, finally leaving her run-down old apartment behind, felt a dreamlike sensation. She was so happy she couldn’t help herself — instinctively wanting to share it with someone, and before she quite realized it, she’d already quickly sent Ye Zhen a WeChat message—
“I got a super cost-effective employee single room! Planning to move in tomorrow night! To celebrate my good luck, I’ll treat you to dinner tonight!”
Actually, Jiang Xiaoyi regretted it the moment she sent it. She was no longer the domineering CEO Jiang who could arrange anyone’s schedule at will — she had no business arranging things for others now. Ye Zhen had only just returned and was in the middle of pushing forward institutional reforms, already terribly busy. Even though the two of them had shared that parallel-timeline adventure, back in normal life, speaking to Ye Zhen with such familiarity clearly wasn’t appropriate. After all, even treating him as a friend, outside the bounds of friendship, Ye Zhen was still her boss.
Jiang Xiaoyi thought about it and immediately decided to recall the message. But just as her finger tapped the message, Ye Zhen’s reply had already arrived—
“Good.”
A single terse word, yet it sealed tonight’s dinner plans.
Just now she’d been the one to volunteer to treat him to dinner, but now that Ye Zhen had agreed, Jiang Xiaoyi instead felt nervous and uneasy, as if she suddenly had no idea how to interact with Ye Zhen. Before, whenever he’d said he was hungry, she could just whip up a bowl of noodles for him — but now…
Now that Ye Zhen had turned back into Mr. Ye, and the last meal he’d treated her to had been that expensive Japanese place too, could she really just take him to some casual home-style restaurant? Reciprocating properly would require finding a decent-tier restaurant too…
Fortunately, work soon washed away Jiang Xiaoyi’s uncertainty, and she quickly threw herself back into her tasks.
And it seemed her luck today wasn’t used up yet — not long after finishing sorting through a project proposal, Jiang Xiaoyi actually received a bank card deposit notification.
Jiang Xiaoyi looked down and discovered this was a reimbursement payment from over half a month ago.
Her coworkers’ phones in the same office also started chiming with notification sounds. Wang Yani had clearly received her reimbursement too, her eyes lighting up: “Wow! Wasn’t this payment supposed to only be issued at year-end after performance review? Looks like the news I heard is true!”
“What news?”
Wang Yani wheeled her chair over next to Jiang Xiaoyi: “You didn’t hear? Mr. Ye’s been pushing bold reforms of Ruiyi’s institutional systems lately. The reimbursement system we complained about every day was the first thing to get axed — now you don’t need a project to succeed before you can get reimbursed, as long as you can reasonably prove it was used for client and project development, you can be reimbursed. Mr. Ye is encouraging us not to worry about expenses, to be bold in developing clients!”
“That’s not all! The year-end performance evaluation methods have been changed too!” Wang Yani looked around, and after confirming Eunuch Li wasn’t around, lowered her voice to share, “If someone being evaluated gets more than a 90% negative review rate, they lose their performance bonus for the first year. If that happens two years in a row, they’re transferred and demoted directly.”
Under this system, that meant…
Before Jiang Xiaoyi could say anything, Wang Yani’s eyes were already sparkling: “That means Eunuch Li’s days of throwing his weight around are numbered! If he wants to keep his position in the Project Incubation Department, if he doesn’t want to be transferred and demoted somewhere else, he’s going to have to work hard to please us. From now on, our department won’t be his personal kingdom anymore! Why do I suddenly feel like we working-class folks are finally masters of our own destiny?”
Wang Yani’s tone was full of admiration for Ye Zhen: “I never expected our Mr. Ye to be so handsome yet kind-hearted — he really has come down from heaven to seek justice for us working people! Every single one of these reforms he’s rolling out right now hits exactly at the pain points, doesn’t it? And have you noticed? The direction of his reforms feels almost like he personally experienced getting beaten down as a lowly worker himself…”
Jiang Xiaoyi really wanted to say — the Mr. Ye you admire really did personally get beaten down, and that’s exactly how he transformed from a vicious villain into this current handsome, kind-hearted persona.
But honestly speaking, Ye Zhen’s reforms really were bold, and implementation had come with the force of thunder — the “tank” work style he’d once taught Jiang Xiaoyi, he was now putting into practice himself without reservation. The experience of switching places to become a grassroots worker in the parallel timeline had given Ye Zhen a lot to think about, and his reform plans always precisely struck at Ruiyi’s pain points. Almost the moment news of the institutional reforms broke, it was met with overwhelming praise—
“Mr. Ye is amazing — not only did he fix the reimbursement system and the year-end evaluation system, he even tackled the secondhand smoke problem. All the smoke detectors have now been upgraded to a new version linked to sprinkler systems. Last time Director Miao tried to light up in the office again, the moment he lit his cigarette, water sprayed down.”
“When I first heard this I thought it was fake — apparently one of the contracts got badly damaged, and Director Miao had to go find the partner again to re-sign it. He got a harsh internal reprimand from Mr. Ye over this, and had most of his year-end performance bonus docked because of it.”
“No wonder I ran into Director Miao this morning looking so disheveled.”
“There’s more — I have a classmate in Director Miao’s department, and apparently Mr. Ye split all of Director Miao’s docked bonus equally among the employees in his department.”
“Is that really true?”
“Yeah, according to my classmate, each of them got ten thousand yuan. Mr. Ye said it was compensation Director Miao owed them for the health damage from secondhand smoke he forced on them. Director Miao’s face turned green — apparently he’s developed a kind of PTSD around cigarettes now, and he’s trying to quit smoking with a miserable expression these days. When clients offer him cigarettes, he doesn’t even dare accept, afraid he’ll cave and smoke — he only carries gum with him now.”
“I heard Mr. Ye also focused on updating and clarifying the workplace sexual harassment clauses in the employee handbook, with especially strict rules on protecting female employees, cracking down hard on inappropriate off-color jokes in the workplace.”
…
Ye Zhen carried out every decision with precision and speed — whether in the tea room, the elevator, the cafeteria, or the restroom, almost every corner of the company had employees discussing him — every topic revolved around Ye Zhen’s reforms.
Compared to Ye Zhen’s previously cold, unapproachable image, everywhere Jiang Xiaoyi went now was praise and admiration for Ye Zhen.
This man was blessed by heaven with both talent and a handsome face, and now, with this whole set of reforms added, his overall public image had achieved nearly a complete 300% reversal.
Ye Zhen’s previously much-criticized shuffling of executives’ positions was also finally starting to show real results. Taking advantage of the moment when executives had been moved off their familiar posts, he conducted a thorough investigation of Ruiyi’s entire staffing situation, precisely identifying loyal and capable veteran employees for promotion, which greatly boosted morale across Ruiyi.
Even though Ye Zhen had piloted a system for on-time departure and capping weekly overtime at a certain limit, more and more people were actually voluntarily choosing to stay late to work — because under Ye Zhen’s reforms, everyone’s income was now much more directly tied to their own performance, so more people were willing to work overtime to strive for their own income.
All of Ruiyi’s employees followed suit, and the atmosphere was excellent. Whether it was Jiang Xiaoyi’s imagination or not, the familiar faces she saw in the elevator every day seemed to have an improved spirit and outlook.
Because Jiang Xiaoyi had successfully returned to the Project Incubation Department, Ye Zhen soon got a replacement assistant — indeed, a male assistant this time.
As a brief temporary assistant, Jiang Xiaoyi handed off quite a bit of work to him.
Beyond going over business-related schedule matters, Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t resist adding some advice: “There are some of Mr. Ye’s habits you’d better familiarize yourself with — for instance, his coffee absolutely must have latte art, and the latte art has to be nearly perfect. Also, your tie has purple in it — he doesn’t like purple, I’d suggest switching it out. And sometimes he can be impatient, might demand documents delivered within five minutes when it’s not actually that urgent — you need to gauge the urgency yourself. He’s often all bark and no bite — he might seem difficult, but he’s actually not a bad person. When he’s throwing a tantrum, just smooth it over like petting a cat the right way…”
Only once Jiang Xiaoyi actually started talking did she realize just how much she’d unknowingly come to know about Ye Zhen’s fussy little quirks.
The new assistant across from her was a young man. He widened his eyes, looking somewhat incredulous at Jiang Xiaoyi, his tone bewildered: “Sister Xiaoyi, are you trying to scare me? Mr. Ye isn’t difficult at all!”
Jiang Xiaoyi was a bit surprised. She sized up the young man in front of her a few times — had Ye Zhen really found the perfect assistant this time, someone who could match his boss-complex and endure anything without complaint?
The young man, unaware of what Jiang Xiaoyi was thinking, only smiled shyly: “I think you’re overthinking it. Mr. Ye’s actually really good to me. This morning he wanted coffee, and I don’t really know how to use the coffee machine — I finally managed to make a cup, though the taste probably wasn’t great, but Mr. Ye frowned and drank it down anyway, didn’t say anything to me about it.”
“You said he hates purple — I didn’t notice that either. He did glance at my tie a few extra times, and I was actually nervous at first, thinking maybe I’d matched the colors poorly, so I anxiously asked him about it and told him my grandmother had specifically given me this tie as a birthday gift — and he actually praised the tie, said it looked great.”
Jiang Xiaoyi felt increasingly like they weren’t even talking about the same boss…
The young male assistant, oblivious to this, was practically singing Ye Zhen’s praises: “Mr. Ye’s actually really approachable. There was one time he urgently needed a document, and while I was printing it, the printer jammed and broke down. I was scared to death, thought Mr. Ye would fire me — instead, Mr. Ye went to the print room himself, and super coolly fixed the printer, pulled out the jammed paper, and even taught me on the spot how to deal with paper jams. You have no idea, he looked so cool doing it!”
“…” No way…
“Mr. Ye really cares a lot about his employees. He’s been pushing institutional reforms across Ruiyi recently, gets hounded by phone calls from all those executives, often forgets to eat because he’s so busy — but every time, he waves me off to go eat first myself.”
In the young male assistant’s telling, Ye Zhen was completely the kind of perfect boss you’d only find in novels.
Completely different from what Jiang Xiaoyi herself had experienced…
After finishing the handover with the young assistant, Jiang Xiaoyi was still in disbelief.
Finally, she couldn’t help but grab the new assistant and ask: “What’s your body fat percentage? How many vials of blood did they draw during your physical?”
The new assistant looked at Jiang Xiaoyi strangely in response: “Body fat percentage? What about my body fat percentage? My height and weight should be within a normal range — have I gained weight recently? And what do you mean about the blood draw during the physical? I just did the standard checkup Ruiyi requires for all new hires…”
…
The new assistant left, and Jiang Xiaoyi sank into deep discontent—
Ye Zhen was just treating people this differently?
What did he even mean by this?! Before, she’d worked diligently and conscientiously, and yet Ye Zhen had been dissatisfied with this, dissatisfied with that, nitpicking as a daily routine, never repeating the same snide remark twice. Now with a new male assistant, suddenly there were no demands at all! Instead, it made her, who’d kindly warned the new assistant out of good will, look like some troublemaker trying to stir up conflict!
And to think she’d thought of sharing news about getting a single room with him first!
Jiang Xiaoyi checked her watch — it wasn’t long until the end of the workday, but she suddenly no longer felt like treating Ye Zhen to dinner at all.
But unfortunately, what you dread comes anyway — with a “ding,” a message from Ye Zhen arrived—
“Meet at the Ruiyi front entrance in ten minutes.”
The Ruiyi building was located in what counted as the financial district, surrounded by high-end commercial areas. Jiang Xiaoyi, after much deliberation, found a mid-range restaurant nearby with relatively good value for money, within walking distance, and so told Ye Zhen there was no need to drive.
Ten minutes later was exactly peak departure time at Ruiyi. Jiang Xiaoyi finished handling her last email and squeezed into the elevator to head down, originally assuming she’d likely be the one waiting at the entrance for Ye Zhen, but unexpectedly found Ye Zhen already waiting outside the doors.
This man, having now reclaimed his identity, wore an expensive, sharply tailored suit, standing tall and imposing at the entrance — handsome and commanding. His looks and physique alone were already enough to draw attention, not to mention that all of Ruiyi now sang his praises.
In this state, Ye Zhen was practically a walking advertisement.
Many employees leaving work lately owed favors to Ye Zhen in one way or another, so those who saw him at the entrance while heading out either smiled or greeted him respectfully. Ye Zhen nodded back to each of them in acknowledgment, though he didn’t smile — there was dignity mixed with a bit of distance. His boss’s demeanor was pitched just right.
Rather cold-looking, but genuinely handsome — and thinking about his recent bold reforms, probably in the eyes of all the employees now, Ye Zhen was a young elite who possessed both capability and skillful maneuvering.
But… if she walked toward this glowing elite figure right now, wasn’t that far too conspicuous?
Jiang Xiaoyi tried to blend into the crowd and slip out the door, planning to circle around and text Ye Zhen to meet up elsewhere, but unexpectedly, Ye Zhen had sharp eyes — the moment Jiang Xiaoyi’s head poked out from behind the door, Ye Zhen had already walked over to her.
His face, stern and serious just moments before, broke into a natural smile the moment he saw Jiang Xiaoyi: “Jiang Xiaoyi, why did it take you so long to come down?”
Jiang Xiaoyi had no choice but to grit her teeth and walk toward Ye Zhen under the curious, scrutinizing gazes of all the other employees.
Jiang Xiaoyi still hadn’t figured out how to act around Ye Zhen, but he seemed quite natural about it instead, leading her outward, guiding her to walk on the inside away from the road, while he walked on the outside closer to the passing traffic, slowing his pace naturally and gently, gentleman-like, waiting for Jiang Xiaoyi to catch up.
This had never happened before!
Jiang Xiaoyi looked at Ye Zhen questioningly.
Ye Zhen seemed to sense Jiang Xiaoyi’s gaze and question. He cleared his throat lightly and explained calmly: “This is one of the three framework principles from the Male Virtue EMBA — in any situation, you should leave the better, safer position for the woman.”
Ye Zhen continued, glancing at Jiang Xiaoyi again: “Actually, it would’ve been better if I’d traveled back a little later, because my knowledge reserves were completely sufficient to pass the Male Virtue EMBA exam — unfortunately I didn’t make it in time. If I’d passed the exam, there would’ve been a graduation ceremony and oath-taking afterward, and I could have invited you to attend. If you’d gone, you’d know that nationwide, only a handful of men pass this exam each year. Even though I’ve come back now, the learning experience won’t be wasted — some of that hard-earned, genuine knowledge won’t go to waste either.”
Ye Zhen continued walking, speaking as if it were the most natural thing: “Even though the rules of the two worlds are quite different, some knowledge can still be applied universally — like respecting women.” He cleared his throat and looked away, saying calmly, “Actually, I’ve changed a lot. Don’t you think I’m better now?”
Well, fine…
Under Ye Zhen’s earnestly hopeful gaze, Jiang Xiaoyi could only smile and nod in agreement.
But honestly, Jiang Xiaoyi did feel quite gratified inside.
This Male Virtue training really did seem necessary — it had turned Ye Zhen from a dog into a human being. Truly worth strongly recommending its wider adoption.
**
The restaurant Jiang Xiaoyi had booked wasn’t far. Right now the streets were mostly filled with groups heading off to dinner after work. The summer evening sky hadn’t darkened yet, and looking up revealed beautiful sunset clouds overhead. Ye Zhen, dressed in his uncharacteristically formal attire, walking alongside Jiang Xiaoyi through these everyday streets, made everything feel oddly ordinary. Jiang Xiaoyi took a deep breath, feeling a rare sense of relaxation and comfort.
Returning to her original life, she’d indeed lost everything she’d had in that other timeline — no privileges, no limitless spending power — yet life wasn’t entirely unfair either. Even as an ordinary cog in the corporate machine, Jiang Xiaoyi still felt the future held hope and unknown opportunities. Everything seemed unpredictable, just as, a few months ago, she’d have sworn she’d never believe she could walk down the street after work with Ye Zhen so calmly and naturally like this.
The restaurant they went to wasn’t comparable to the Michelin Japanese place, but Ye Zhen’s expression was quite relaxed and accustomed to it. After they sat down and he glanced at the menu, this man actually looked a bit embarrassed—
“You haven’t even gotten this month’s salary yet — won’t it be too expensive for you to treat me to this?”
This comment instantly dissolved whatever regret Jiang Xiaoyi had felt earlier — how could she have forgotten? The current Ye Zhen wasn’t the old Ye Zhen anymore. Now, having gone through his authentic Male Virtue EMBA training and nearly ready to graduate with honors, he wasn’t just understanding — he was also considerate and thrifty!
The more she thought about it, the more Jiang Xiaoyi wanted to spend money on Ye Zhen. She couldn’t help but order several dishes according to Ye Zhen’s tastes, then quickly shared with him her recent good fortune—
“I feel like I’m basically fate’s chosen one lately.” Jiang Xiaoyi finished recounting her recent smooth sailing at work, then couldn’t resist bragging about the employee dorm she’d gotten. “I don’t have a mansion to live in anymore, but that employee dorm — I saw the promotional photos before, it’s really great. I even got a single room. I saw the floor plan before — the smallest single rooms are about forty square meters, small but fully equipped…”
Ye Zhen looked rather casual about it: “That good, huh?”
“Yes, it’s really great!”
“That talent building was built back when the previous CEO Liu was in charge — I actually never personally inspected it. I don’t know how the quality is, but employee dorms, aren’t they usually just like that?” Ye Zhen’s tone was natural. “Since you got this company benefit, and you’ve praised the housing this much, once you move in, can I come take a look?”
This was fantastic news!
Jiang Xiaoyi immediately nodded in agreement: “Come, come. Once I move in tomorrow night, I’ll invite you over.”
Ye Zhen frowned: “You’re still staying at your old place one more night? Why not move into the employee dorm tonight? I’ve already had it cleaned for you.” He paused after saying this, then added, “Oh, it’s just the standard cleaning, done for everyone.”
That’s so great!
Jiang Xiaoyi also couldn’t wait to move into the employee dorm immediately, but unfortunately…
“But I haven’t had time to pack up my things at my old place yet. It’s not much, but moving still takes some time. This afternoon I wanted to book a moving company, but apparently the earliest they can come is tomorrow…”
“Jiang Xiaoyi, I’ve noticed that ever since being CEO Jiang, you’ve also become quite wasteful with money.”
Jiang Xiaoyi was confused: “What?”
Where had she been wasteful?
Ye Zhen cleared his throat solemnly: “For something like moving, there’s free labor right nearby to help you — why go spend money outside on a moving company?”
“Where is there some charitable free labor to help me move? The people I’m close to are mostly female coworkers — it wouldn’t be appropriate to have them carry my luggage…”
Ye Zhen took a sip of tea: “Think about it carefully yourself — do you really only know female coworkers? Use your imagination a bit.”
Li… Li You’ai’s nephew?
That was definitely out of the question — Li You’ai not charging her would already be a miracle… but wait, hold on!
Jiang Xiaoyi felt she’d caught Ye Zhen’s hint: “Is it Li You’ai’s nephew? But I really don’t want him to misunderstand that I have feelings for him…”
This time Ye Zhen looked genuinely a bit angry: “Am I not a man?”
“?”
“Such an outstanding, virtuous man right in front of you, and you go through everyone else first! Even Li You’ai’s nephew came to mind before me!” Ye Zhen looked quite displeased. “Am I not a man you know? Jiang Xiaoyi, what do you mean by this?”
You’re a man, yes, but…
“You’re the boss of Ruiyi now, of all things — should I really make the boss do free labor for my move…”
“I’m just your boss?” Ye Zhen’s voice sounded a bit strained. “Didn’t you say I’m also your good, friend?”
That’s true too…
“Let’s eat first. We’ll help you move after.”