The café Ye Zhen specified was quite a distance from the office, and it was raining today too, but “bowing to five bushels of rice” — needing the paycheck — Jiang Xiaoyi braved the elements and finally got the coffee back.
Only, the moment she carried it into Ye Zhen’s office, he glanced at it once and pressed his lips together, handing the coffee straight back to Jiang Xiaoyi —
“This isn’t what I asked for.”
Had she really bought the wrong thing?
But Ye Zhen’s expression made Jiang Xiaoyi a little flustered, and she began to doubt herself — had she really forgotten some detail in a moment of memory lapse?
Just as Jiang Xiaoyi was racking her brain trying to recall, Ye Zhen said gravely, “The corner of the latte art is ruined.”
……Are you kidding me right now?
Jiang Xiaoyi leaned in to look. “Which corner is ruined?”
Ye Zhen glanced at her. “The top left. That feather stroke was drawn too long — it ruins the whole aesthetic of the latte art. This is beneath this shop’s usual standard, a real step down in quality.”
“……”
The man summed it up infuriatingly: “This kind of botched latte art is more unpleasant than having no latte art at all.”
“I’m not drinking this coffee, because it’s already imperfect.” Ye Zhen folded his hands and smiled. “Pour it out and remake me one without any latte art, using the coffee machine.”
……
Jiang Xiaoyi carried the coffee out of Ye Zhen’s office, expressionless.
For this temporary assistant job that paid five to six times her usual salary, she’d initially felt secretly delighted. Now she finally understood — easy money is hard money, in every sense.
The salary amount and the boss’s level of insanity were directly proportional, it seemed.
So she’d braved the wind and rain, running all that way, for absolutely nothing?
Couldn’t he have just said from the start that coffee without latte art was fine too?
She’d truly never met a man this finicky and fussy before in her life!
Wasn’t an airhead supposed to be easy to please? Did this Ye Zhen not even have the basic decency expected of airheads?
**
But this was far from the worst of it. Not long after taking that hit from Ye Zhen, Eunuch Li showed up again to stir up trouble with a dark face —
“Meeting time!”
He looked at Jiang Xiaoyi with displeasure. “What are you standing around for? Go prepare the meeting room and pour the tea!”
Jiang Xiaoyi, who had just finished five hundred psychological test questions and dizzily learned there was still an in-person counselor evaluation waiting for her, was already irritable and couldn’t help talking back: “Director Li, didn’t we just hire a new employee a month ago? Why does preparing the meeting room and pouring tea still fall on me?”
This thankless task had been Wang Yani’s job before, but ever since Jiang Xiaoyi joined the company, it had fallen to her, as the newer junior member.
Having the most junior person in the department handle the tea-pouring and menial chores was an unspoken workplace rule, and Jiang Xiaoyi had always fully accepted it — it’s just that now, after two years of waiting, she’d finally gotten a junior colleague below her, and naturally expected to hand off this duty.
But Eunuch Li, without even thinking, said matter-of-factly, “The new hire is male. Of course pouring tea should be done by a woman — unless we hire another female new hire next time, it’ll always be you.”
Why couldn’t a man pour tea? Were female employees in the workplace just destined to spend their whole careers doing menial support tasks, serving others?
Jiang Xiaoyi was practically fuming. So this tea-pouring job was passed down through women only, never to men.
“For project work, it’s more suitable for men — someone needs to take the lead, and that should be men. You women just need to handle the support and logistics.”
“This job is too important — Jiang Xiaoyi, you’re clearly not capable enough for that responsibility. You women aren’t mentally tough enough for it.”
……
Jiang Xiaoyi thought back to how Eunuch Li had used the exact same excuse to steal her projects before, and old grudges mixed with new anger surged up together — and it was precisely at that moment that she got a WeChat message from Ye Zhen —
“You have half an hour to check over this document.”
No “please,” no “thank you,” a pure command.
Jiang Xiaoyi calmly set her phone down and didn’t reply.
Not long after, Ye Zhen followed up with a call. Jiang Xiaoyi ignored it entirely, refusing to pick up.
Sure enough, ten minutes later, Ye Zhen showed up in front of her with a sour face: “Do I need to personally come ask you to do your job?”
Jiang Xiaoyi feigned complete ignorance: “I’m sorry, Director Ye, did you just call me? Sorry, I’ve been busy pouring tea and preparing the meeting room for Director Li, and didn’t notice my phone…”
Hearing this, Ye Zhen’s face immediately darkened as he turned to look at Eunuch Li. “Don’t you have hands and feet? Can’t you pour your own tea?” He pointed at Jiang Xiaoyi. “Is she supposed to pour tea for you?”
Eunuch Li’s face went pale with fright: “No, no, Director Ye…”
Jiang Xiaoyi felt a little touched — even with all his boss-syndrome quirks, maybe Ye Zhen had the occasional flash of decency after all. Was it a bit unethical of her to use him against Eunuch Li like this…
But before she could even finish savoring that touched feeling, she heard Ye Zhen declare, resounding and firm —
“She pours tea exclusively for me!”
“……”
Ye Zhen was still visibly annoyed. “From now on, you’re not to order her around. She’s my temporary assistant — if she pours tea for both you and me, doesn’t that put you on equal footing with me?”
“Not at all, not at all, Director Ye, I won’t have her pour tea again…”
……
Never mind — she really shouldn’t have any high expectations of Ye Zhen.
Watching Eunuch Li bowing and scraping while Ye Zhen stood there with a sour face, Jiang Xiaoyi thought, if Eunuch Li was poison, Ye Zhen was clearly no less toxic — might as well let the two of them fight it out, using magic to defeat magic.
**
Despite the long-term exploitation, the working class’s tolerance is remarkably strong — Jiang Xiaoyi smoothly passed the psychological evaluation, in perfectly healthy mental shape, and was officially hired as Ye Zhen’s temporary assistant.
“This afternoon, convene a meeting for all mid-to-senior management. Print out the meeting materials, one copy per person, and record the entire meeting.”
For Ye Zhen, calling a meeting was just a single sentence — but when it came to Jiang Xiaoyi actually carrying it out, she realized just how much labor and effort it required.
First was confirming and booking the meeting room, making sure the projector and other equipment in the room were all ready for use. Then came the seating cards — preparing those went quickly enough, but arranging their positions was a delicate matter — which people sat in the center at the head, who was arranged left and right in what order — a single misstep there could seriously offend people.
Sending meeting notices by email alone was completely useless, because most mid-to-senior management barely checked their emails, so Jiang Xiaoyi had no choice but to call each one individually to confirm —
“I’m sick, can’t make it.”
“I’ve got a client meeting, scheduling conflict, can’t come.”
“Something came up, I’m on leave.”
……
The mid-level managers in the department were relatively obedient and responded actively to the meeting notice, but quite a few of the senior executives with real power — either well-connected or backed by influential ties — simply didn’t bother with Ye Zhen. Some at least gave excuses, while others ignored Jiang Xiaoyi’s calls entirely.
Although Ye Zhen was the group’s crown prince, as a young, inexperienced outsider parachuted in, he clearly hadn’t earned people’s respect yet. But the moment he arrived at Ruiyi, he’d gone straight into a personnel reshuffle, which had clearly threatened the interests of those already established.
So several of Ruiyi’s veteran power factions were likely planning to use this meeting to make their stance clear and give Ye Zhen a taste of his own medicine — warning him to know his place and just be a figurehead “crown prince,” without interfering in the company’s actual power structure.
After going around calling everyone, Jiang Xiaoyi found that out of five senior executives, only one claimed they’d attend — and even said they’d be arriving half an hour late.
As the one who convened the meeting, she was responsible for ensuring attendance, and Jiang Xiaoyi grew increasingly anxious — this was like a fire breaking out at the city gate and the fish in the moat suffering for it.
Sure enough, when the afternoon meeting began and Ye Zhen saw the senior executive seats uniformly empty, his face immediately darkened. But Ye Zhen didn’t ask Jiang Xiaoyi to call and urge them again — he simply went ahead and started the meeting on his own, then dropped a bombshell out of nowhere —
“Anyone who didn’t attend today’s meeting is also no longer needed going forward.” Ye Zhen smiled. “In short, they’re all fired.”
The mid-level managers in attendance were clearly stunned, and Jiang Xiaoyi was dumbfounded too.
Among those present were several informants planted by the senior executives, and emboldened by their backing, one of them stood up at once, showing Ye Zhen no face at all: “Everyone politely calls you Director Ye, but you making arbitrary personnel changes is already unacceptable — and now this? Do you really think you’re some crown prince who can do whatever you want, that everyone must submit or perish?”
Being publicly challenged like this in front of everyone was a severe loss of authority and face — how would Ye Zhen possibly get out of this?
While Jiang Xiaoyi was tense on his behalf, Ye Zhen remained perfectly composed. He patiently waited for that mid-level manager to finish, then smiled: “What’s your surname?”
“My surname is Lin, my name is Lin Kai!”
Lin Kai was one of the old fox Director Miao’s people — based on Jiang Xiaoyi’s understanding of the company’s internal politics, this move was clearly something several senior executives had coordinated beforehand, having him take the lead so the other mid-level managers would follow suit.
Riding the momentum, Lin Kai angrily continued, “If you keep this up, we’ll definitely submit a joint petition to the entire board. Old Director Ye may be the controlling shareholder, but this company is the fruit of all our hard work. If you keep acting recklessly like this, I, Lin Kai, will be the first to resign right now!”
Sure enough, the other mid-level managers with backing quickly chimed in in agreement: “I can’t accept the company being run like this either — I’ll resign too!”
“Me too!”
……
For a moment, the meeting room was filled with a chorus of resignation threats.
Ye Zhen remained perfectly calm. Not only did he not try to stop this wave of resignations, he even made a call to HR right in front of everyone: “Lin Kai wants to resign. Come over and process his exit paperwork.”
Hanging up, he glanced at Lin Kai. “You know your surname isn’t Ye, right? The way you’re talking to me, I almost thought you were my father’s illegitimate son from outside.”
Ye Zhen’s face turned cold: “Since I’m the only son, if my father’s the emperor, who’s the crown prince if not me? You?” he said with a hint of malice. “You think you can stage a rebellion?”
The man’s expression could change like the weather — one moment stern, the next his face burst into a smile as he looked at the stunned Lin Kai: “You can leave now.”
Ye Zhen added, “After all, since you’ve resigned, you’re no longer part of the company, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for you to attend an internal company meeting.”
Lin Kai hadn’t seen this coming at all and looked a bit awkward: “I…”
But Ye Zhen ignored him completely and simply looked around the whole room: “Those who defy me will not prosper. That’s my style. I won’t change it. Lin Kai said that as long as I keep this style up, acting recklessly, he’d resign — he’s a man with principles, so I respect that, and I’ve granted his wish. The meeting was recorded from the start, and it faithfully documents that Lin Kai resigned voluntarily, so there’s no severance pay.”
Ye Zhen smiled. “This is what happens when you rebel.”
He glanced at the rest of the attendees: “Now, who else said they wanted to resign just now?”
……
Lin Kai’s strong-arm tactic was meant to give Ye Zhen a taste of his own medicine right from the start, and it would have worked on most normal people. After all, outnumbered as he was, someone parachuted in to manage a company — with no experience and still so young — would surely not dare offend the entire mid-to-senior management team at once. So Lin Kai’s move was meant to force Ye Zhen to back down under normal circumstances.
Lin Kai’s plan had been solid — once Ye Zhen showed any sign of softening, he’d immediately seize the opportunity to offer him a graceful way out, achieving the effect of “shaking the mountain to scare the tiger.” On the surface, everyone would reconcile, Ye Zhen would come to accept reality, and he wouldn’t dare act so aggressively again in the future.
Unfortunately, Ye Zhen was a lunatic, not a normal person at all. He clearly didn’t care about the company’s operations — an unpredictable, tyrannical despot, ready to fire anyone whenever he pleased.
“Firing all of management might cause some short-term chaos in company operations, but the worst that could happen is a loss — and I have plenty of money, I can afford to burn cash running Ruiyi even without senior management. If a month isn’t enough, two months. If two months isn’t enough, three. As long as I pay high enough salaries, I can build an obedient new team and management from scratch.”
“None of you sitting here are irreplaceable — to me, it’s simply a matter of swapping people out if it doesn’t work.” Ye Zhen smiled. “And I’ll bet you, if I just throw money at it, someone with equal ability will be ready to take your place by tomorrow.”
Ye Zhen sneered. “So don’t think a mass resignation can threaten me.”
Most workplace cliques that thrive on forming alliances are, at their core, cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong — those bound together by mutual benefit scatter once the benefit runs out; those bound by shared power crumble once the power fades. The moment they encounter an even more unpredictable authority, they immediately turn into a scattered mess to save themselves.
No one dared say the word “resign” anymore. Once they realized Ye Zhen wasn’t joking, these informants quickly notified the senior executives, and before long, those executives who’d claimed to be sick, meeting clients, or on leave all started trickling in one after another —
“Director Ye, we never got the notice.”
“Really, had no idea. Never got notified.”
Ye Zhen was completely unpredictable, but he seemed bad-tempered and ruthlessly decisive, not someone easy to push around. These senior executives, all seasoned workplace veterans, immediately shifted the blame onto Jiang Xiaoyi.
Ye Zhen turned to Jiang Xiaoyi and demanded an explanation: “How did you send out the meeting notice? You can’t even manage a simple notification properly?”
Jiang Xiaoyi had no way to defend herself.
What could she say? If she said she really had notified everyone, wouldn’t that offend the senior executives? All she could do was swallow the bitterness and take the blame.
At this point, she couldn’t be the one to speak up first — but if Ye Zhen ever asked whether she’d sent the emails and made the calls, Jiang Xiaoyi could defend herself.
But Ye Zhen clearly suffered from the common ailment of all bosses — having never worked his way up from the bottom, he had no idea how things actually got done, and naturally assumed that convening a meeting was as simple as sending out a single notice, with no idea how much of a “sandwich” someone like Jiang Xiaoyi was, stuck surviving between conflicting demands.
He didn’t even bother asking, simply looking at Jiang Xiaoyi and assuming her fault by default: “When I call a senior management meeting, I absolutely do not tolerate lateness, early departures, or absences. Whoever causes this kind of problem is out, period. Don’t let your poor notification skills make me end up calling in the wrong people.”
Ye Zhen’s tone was cold, like some jade-faced judge of the underworld: “Next time this happens, you’re out. This time, I’ll let it slide, but your performance bonus for this month is docked.”
He looked at Jiang Xiaoyi: “I have a bad temper, but I’m not short on money. Firing someone just means paying severance — to me, that’s just a number. There’s no one irreplaceable at work either. I have exactly one principle — whoever makes me unhappy, I’ll make them unhappy too.”
“Let me put it plainly upfront, that’s just how the workplace is — either endure it, or get out.”
Ye Zhen paused. “So, Jiang Xiaoyi, as my temporary assistant and employee, since we’ll be working together long-term going forward, I hope you’ll remember this: I won’t adapt to others, so I hope you learn to adapt to me quickly.”
……
Throughout the rest of the meeting, Jiang Xiaoyi absorbed nothing at all, her face burning hot.
It wasn’t as though Eunuch Li had never lectured her before — for the sake of money and survival, she could endure quite a lot. But she’d always been a well-behaved, proper student since childhood, and had never been reprimanded this harshly in front of so many mid-to-senior management before. Her heart swung from hot to cold — first came the grievance and embarrassment, then indignation and injustice, feeling that her self-respect had been deeply wounded.
Office politics — in the end, it was always the lowest-ranking cannon fodder like her who bore the brunt of it!
Why should she, Jiang Xiaoyi, keep slaving away for garbage like Ye Zhen?
It’s not like a bit of stinking money mattered that much — it wasn’t like she couldn’t find another job!
“Director Ye, I can’t do this job. I quit.”
After the meeting ended, in Ye Zhen’s office, Jiang Xiaoyi threw these words down with a stony face.
She wasn’t earning this money anymore!
Ye Zhen was clearly a bit surprised. He raised an eyebrow at Jiang Xiaoyi, said nothing, and calmly poured himself a cup of tea, composed as ever, as if he’d already predicted Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t have the backbone to actually quit.
How dare he look down on people like that. She, Jiang Xiaoyi, had principles!
To make her stance clear, Jiang Xiaoyi said angrily, “I can’t stand even one more day in this high-pressure, harsh work environment! I clearly already notified them — you should be scolding them, not me!”
Ye Zhen took a sip of tea, settling into a boss-like posture, and glanced at her. “Ten times.”
Ye Zhen smiled. “I’ll give you ten times your salary this month. No performance deduction either. I’ll also reimburse a hobby-related expense for you, and grant you one reasonable request.”
He paused, then put on a look of insincere regret on his face, infuriatingly: “I was originally planning to offer you these terms. But since you want to quit, I’ll just find another assistant.”
……
Ten times? And no performance deduction either?
Wait a moment… Han Xin could endure the humiliation of crawling between someone’s legs…
Jiang Xiaoyi pressed her lips together: “Sorry, Director Ye, I was just joking with you just now, I never actually planned to quit.”
Ye Zhen’s expression was rather playful: “Didn’t you just say you couldn’t stand it for even one more day?”
Jiang Xiaoyi said calmly, “I think I can still endure a bit more.”
Ye Zhen twirled his teacup. “Didn’t you say the work environment was high-pressure and harsh?”
Jiang Xiaoyi kept a straight face: “Mainly, you’re just too outstanding, too perfect, and being around you makes me feel inadequate by comparison. I’m constantly worried my own imperfections might affect you, and I feel inferior and my sense of self-worth drops, so subconsciously I wanted to run away. But there’s a saying that goes, ‘though fierce winds rise, one must never give up on life’ — working alongside someone like you is exactly how I can better myself. I should rise to the challenge instead.”
What backbone? What principles?
Principles meant biding your time and preserving your strength! The green mountains remain, the rivers keep flowing!
Ye Zhen was truly detestable, but hey, who could argue with the power of money!
Now the man’s face wore a look of complete command over the situation, utterly unsurprised by this outcome, his expression that of someone being magnanimously generous: “So, tell me — what are your hobbies? Whatever you want to learn, I’ll cover a year’s worth of fees. Go think it over, and bring the receipt for me to reimburse.”
What hobbies could Jiang Xiaoyi possibly have? Her mind went completely blank. Even if she had things she liked doing, she came home from work every day like a dead dog — where would she even find the energy to develop a hobby?
But letting Ye Zhen save money would be cruel to herself!
If she couldn’t think of a hobby right now, then she’d simply invent a brand-new one on the spot!
Jiang Xiaoyi returned to her desk, mulling it over, and suddenly recalled the club where she’d worked part-time during college — wasn’t that exactly a hobby?!
So she immediately pulled up the club’s webpage and paid for an annual membership.
Half an hour later, she walked into Ye Zhen’s office holding the electronic bill and payment receipt.
“Fire-Extinguishing Club?” Ye Zhen took the bill and frowned. “What is this?”
Jiang Xiaoyi answered without missing a beat, completely composed: “Director Ye, my dream used to be becoming a firefighter. Though I ultimately didn’t make it, fire-extinguishing became my hobby. This club offers an ultra-realistic fire-extinguishing experience — it makes my soul feel at peace, like I’ve finally found where I belong.”
This time, genuine surprise crossed Ye Zhen’s face. He looked at Jiang Xiaoyi a couple more times, somewhat at a loss for words: “Your hobby is certainly… unique.”
But despite that comment, he readily approved the reimbursement for Jiang Xiaoyi.
Once she got the money, Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t leave right away. Instead, she pressed her lips together and looked at Ye Zhen: “Also, Director Ye, you said earlier you’d grant me one request, right?”
Ye Zhen raised an eyebrow. “You should treasure this opportunity — think it through carefully, but don’t go overboard. Have you decided already?”
“Mm.” Jiang Xiaoyi nodded. “I’d like an electronic photo of you.”
Ye Zhen had assumed Jiang Xiaoyi would ask for a promotion or overseas training, or at the very least, tickets to some concert — but instead, she wanted nothing else at all, just a photo of him!
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Why do you want my photo?”
“Because when I drew your portrait last time, I didn’t handle a lot of the details well. If I have a photo to reference, my drawing skills should improve.”
Ye Zhen frowned, his expression full of suspicion and guardedness: “Do you take me for a fool? What do you actually want the photo for? You think I’ll believe that excuse about practicing your drawing skills?”
Jiang Xiaoyi was dead set on getting that photo, and with no way out now, she had to push through: “I did lie — the real reason I want your photo is out of vanity. I want to show off to my friends how handsome my boss is.”
Having babbled this out, she braced herself for Ye Zhen’s scolding — but to her surprise, not only did he not scold her, he readily accepted this explanation —
“Now I understand.” The man’s tone was completely at ease, his expression one of great magnanimity. “I’ll send you the photo, but don’t let it spread too widely — I’m worried about ending up trending online because of it.”
“……”
How ordinary, and yet how confident, can a man be?
Who on earth gave him this confidence? If Ye Zhen ever went viral online, it definitely wouldn’t be because he’s handsome — it would be because he’s insane!
**
Half an hour later, right at clock-out time, Jiang Xiaoyi secretly printed out over a dozen color copies of Ye Zhen’s photo and stuffed them into her bag. The moment work ended, she rushed out — it was time to head to the Fire-Extinguishing Club!
The Fire-Extinguishing Club wasn’t large, fairly niche, and known to few — it had never done any marketing — but it was fully booked nearly every day.
The founder was Dan Hui, a senior a few years above Jiang Xiaoyi. Back in her sophomore year, she’d learned about the club hiring part-time staff through the campus forum, and applied out of trust in her senior. The work atmosphere turned out to be relaxed and lively, and Dan Hui had always looked out for her, paying quite generously too. Whenever Jiang Xiaoyi needed time off for school or family matters, Dan Hui never gave her a hard time about it, and during holidays, whatever benefits the full-time staff got, Jiang Xiaoyi, even as a part-timer, always got a share too.
Thinking back on all this, Jiang Xiaoyi felt a bit wistful — all things considered, even though the Fire-Extinguishing Club wasn’t her real job, Dan Hui was still the best boss she’d ever had.
After several years, the club’s operations had grown even more polished. The professional front-desk receptionist was very courteous: “Miss Jiang, what level of fire would you like today? We have small fire, medium fire, large fire, extra-large fire, and mega fire — five tiers to choose from. The bigger the fire, the more scenarios you can unlock to vent in, and the tools available are richer too…”
“Give me the large fire!” Jiang Xiaoyi declared boldly, then pulled out the color photos of Ye Zhen. “Here, please help me stick these on!”
Ten minutes later, Jiang Xiaoyi was led into a fully prepared “large fire” room, where every mannequin and punching bag had already been thoughtfully plastered with Ye Zhen’s photos, with inflatable mallets, boxing gloves, and other venting tools lined up on the side.
Besides the mannequins and punching bags, there was also a whack-a-mole set — naturally, every mole wore Ye Zhen’s face too.
Not far from the whack-a-mole equipment, there was also a balloon-shooting game, with every single balloon bearing Ye Zhen’s infuriating face.
The large fire room cost more to book, but you get what you pay for — the scenarios unlocked were plentiful too. Jiang Xiaoyi walked into the room, gave a cold smile, and picked up an inflatable mallet first…
**
Having asserted his authority over several senior executives, Ye Zhen went out for drinks with a friend that evening, venting about his recent troubles —
“I suspect my temporary assistant has a bit of a thing for me.” He swirled his glass, complaining with a distinctly humble-bragging tone. “Sure, today’s move to make an example of her wasn’t exactly the smoothest way to handle things, but once I gave her some financial compensation, she forgave me pretty quickly.”
“Then I told her I’d grant her one request, and she actually asked me for a photo of myself, claiming she wanted to show off to her friends. Does she think I’m an idiot? She’s obviously just keeping it for herself on the side.”
Ye Zhen took a sip of his drink and sighed. “I’ve been so harsh on her, and she still acts like this — guess I should be even harsher, hoping she comes to her senses eventually in her work going forward.”
“Though her hobby is fire-extinguishing, which is actually a point in her favor. In case there’s ever a fire, I trust she’d keep me safe.” Ye Zhen smiled. “Hope she keeps building up her fire-extinguishing experience.”
……
**
Meanwhile, at the Fire-Extinguishing Club, in the large fire room, Jiang Xiaoyi was sweating buckets, thoroughly “exercising” — building up precious “fire-extinguishing” experience.
She was mercilessly pummeling the punching bag bearing Ye Zhen’s face without mercy —
“Ye Zhen, today I’m delivering justice on behalf of heaven and beating you to death!”
“Kick your shin!”
“Punch your face!”
“Pound your chest!”
“Pluck your hair out!”
……
Fire-extinguishing — now that’s professional work!