Chen An returned from Shenzhen and rushed to the cinema. By the time he arrived, it was already past nine in the evening.

The lobby was empty as usual, but as soon as Chen An entered, he noticed something different. All those eyesore maintenance signs had been put away, the LED screens were no longer glitching, the screens that should be on were lit up, and the counter surfaces had been cleaned spotlessly. It couldn’t be called brand new, but at least it no longer had that tottering, dying atmosphere.

The person on duty today was a male employee. They all wore name tags now, and Chen An glanced at it—it read “Tao Yu.”

Chen An pulled his suitcase and asked, “Where’s the manager?”

Tao Yu was calculating inventory in the stockroom while waiting for customers, following Cheng Lele’s instructions. Hearing the question, he answered without thinking: “She’s in the men’s restroom.”

Chen An thought he had misheard: “What?”

Only then did Tao Yu look up: “Oh, Boss Chen, you’re here.” Remembering what he had just said, he completed his explanation: “The manager went to inspect the men’s restroom earlier. She said the restroom was still very dirty, so she went to clean it herself.”

“Where’s the cleaning staff?”

“The manager fired the cleaning staff. She said we could do it ourselves.”

“…” Chen An paused, his tone unfriendly as he questioned, “Then why aren’t you doing it?”

Tao Yu took the scolding looking aggrieved, not daring to argue back.

Chen An said, “Go call her out.”

“Oh.” Tao Yu pushed open the counter door and had only taken two steps when Chen An stopped him again.

“Wait a moment.”

Tao Yu stopped, seeing that Chen An’s expression was very conflicted, as if he were pondering something momentous.

Chen An asked, “Do you think it’s normal for the manager to do this? How should a normal person react when they hear the manager is doing such work?”

“Huh?” Tao Yu had just graduated from vocational school and didn’t really understand workplace politics. Hearing his boss suddenly ask this, he was a bit dumbfounded.

He guessed the boss was implying the manager was putting on a show.

Tao Yu hurriedly said, “We all want to know how much money you spent to poach Manager Cheng to come here. She works so hard, like an AI robot that doesn’t need recharging.”

Reading emails was one thing, but hearing someone else say it was another matter entirely. The more Chen An listened, the worse he felt, even thinking resentfully: Isn’t the reason the leader is so exhausted because you people are all useless? What good are you people?

Seeing Chen An’s dark expression, Tao Yu vigorously praised her further: “Boss Chen, to tell you the truth, the cinema’s situation has never been very optimistic. Before Manager Cheng came, everyone was just going through the motions day by day, because working hard didn’t lead anywhere, while those who slacked off actually had it comfortable. But as soon as Manager Cheng arrived, she decisively got rid of all those people in one fell swoop. It seemed a bit ruthless, but everyone was secretly applauding. After all, we didn’t want the work environment to be so toxic either.”

Chen An actually didn’t care much about the employees’ evaluation of Cheng Lele. His mind was still on the person working in that men’s restroom. He had just made a decision yesterday to treat Cheng Lele as an ordinary subordinate, and now he wasn’t sure whether stopping a manager from her diligent work performance was something a normal boss would do.

What would a typical boss feel upon hearing this? Probably gratified?

He imagined Tang Xin going to clean a men’s restroom. He wouldn’t feel as angry and distressed as he did now, but would simply think himself a terrible boss, because it would sound more like the perverted methods of an unworthy teacher punishing students back in school days.

After observing for a while, Tao Yu continued, “We thought Manager Cheng would be that kind of harsh leader, but she’s actually very approachable to those of us employees who stayed. She speaks and acts without airs, is inspiring, and doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty with hard work. She’s the kind of good leader who’s very energetic and down-to-earth, Boss Chen.”

“Oh.”

Chen An continued brooding, thinking that he had just recently cut the budget, and Cheng Lele’s hands-on approach might be partly related to his capricious and unprofessional behavior. But ultimately, a boss cutting the budget wasn’t wrong. If he had cut too much, a qualified subordinate should negotiate and communicate with the boss for the department’s benefit or work performance. What he hadn’t expected was that Cheng Lele had agreed to everything in one breath.

He had thought the budget had a lot of padding, but it turned out she was absorbing it internally.

This wasn’t a good work habit—it would make people feel she was easy to manipulate, easy to bully. Perhaps at Tongda, this was her style?

Tsk, then wasn’t she constantly being manipulated and bullied?

Chen An couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

After all that build-up, Tao Yu finally asked hesitantly, “Boss Chen, Manager Cheng has been here for several days now. Should we hold a welcome party for her?”

Chen An raised an eyebrow and nodded. This was in line with workplace protocol—he could participate openly and legitimately.

“What about the budget? Should we get reimbursed from you later, or—?” Tao Yu, afraid the other party might regret it, struck while the iron was hot to nail down the matter.

Chen An said, “I’ll join you. Let me know once you’ve set the time.”

Tao Yu nodded, somewhat surprised. The boss usually only came to the cinema to sleep, and even employee meetings were brief and to the point—he didn’t seem like someone who enjoyed joining such gatherings.

Perhaps it was out of consideration for the manager.