81. Three Consecutive Frights (Part One)

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The first day of work was remarkably simple. In the morning, there was some training and paperwork; at noon, under Zhou Huan’s lead, Chen Ruowen chose a place near Guangxun for lunch—after returning, Zhou Huan filled out the reimbursement form while sobbing.

With Zhou Huan’s discreet hints, Yu Yan was rather terrified about having such a “great Buddha” join her department. But as a non-professional HR with a sales background, Yu Yan always adhered to the principle that “the boss’s words are law,” and she carefully remembered the several key points Zhou Huan had specially told her.

That afternoon, Yu Yan handed an organizational chart and some basic HR materials to the three interns, instructing them to study and memorize them.

Yu Yi and Wu Mingkai were Human Resources majors, so their foundational knowledge was solid; their main focus was memorizing the structure chart. Chen Ruowen, on the other hand, patiently read through the two-hundred-plus pages of the e-book and gained a preliminary understanding of her future tasks.

Yu Yan had originally arranged for Fang Jing to train the three newcomers, but Fang Jing, who was supposed to handle training, said she had to organize an external training session for the marketing department that afternoon and passed the responsibility to the department assistant, Li Zichun.

Li Zichun, though not in charge of training modules, was smooth and adept at explaining department tasks and regulations to the newcomers, making one marvel at how even a mere assistant could be so capable.

While the first day’s work was simple, the barrage of relentless questions after work nearly made Chen Ruowen spit blood.

Assistant Pan was, naturally, waiting downstairs at Guangxun before the designated time. Upon getting in the car, she was faced with Chen Liwan, who had abandoned his own company’s affairs to pick up his daughter. The car had barely moved two meters when they received a call from Bai Jinyan. Back home, Yang Anxin was fully dressed, pacing back and forth at the door. After entering her room, Guo Jingyuan popped her head in, knocking inquisitively on the door...

These people seemed under some kind of spell, each opening with the exact same sentence—

“How was your first day as an intern?”

Chen Ruowen felt like dying.

Her only consolation was that news of her internship leave hadn’t spread widely. Otherwise, if her circle of wild friends all called one by one to ask, she’d truly be driven mad.

Chen Ruowen, who hated repeating herself, had to recite her feelings about the day for the fifth time, then shooed Guo Jingyuan back to her own room to memorize vocabulary.

After showering, Chen Ruowen picked up her phone and swiped open a freshly received WeChat message.

Gao Tang had sent her a screenshot. The image showed a status post from his feed, which was paired with another person’s status, and that status had yet another image...

Chen Ruowen’s eyes spun.

“What on earth is this?” she asked.

Gao Tang quickly replied with a tongue-twister: “A college senior of my sister’s senior’s high school classmate said she saw you at her company today.”

“You’re interning at Guangxun? How does it feel?”

...

Chen Ruowen, deceased.

...

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Though Zhou Huan said she didn’t need to clock in, it was her first day, so she had to maintain appearances.

Chen Ruowen arrived at Guangxun Tower right at the start of work, carrying the temporary badge Li Yanbin had given her the day before, and took the express elevator from the underground parking lot up to the sixteenth floor.

She was startled as soon as the elevator doors opened.

It was as if the office building had a central loudspeaker installed, its volume cranked to the maximum, blaring a powerful and rousing male voice singing.

“…Guangxun is our home, let’s strive for our dreams! When that moment of success arrives, I finally reach the hall of honor!…”

What in the world is this!

It was unbearably awful!

Covering her ears, Chen Ruowen dashed to her department, but the music overhead was like a demonic spell, impossible to escape.

The other colleagues seemed to have been there for a while. Apart from the two new interns who, like her, paled and furtively covered their ears, the other veterans handled their computer files with ease, as if the broadcast song didn’t exist.

Seeing Chen Ruowen’s “ghost-struck” expression, Li Zichun, who sat at the outermost desk, smiled at her first.

“It’s always like this at first. You’ll get used to it after a while,” she said.

“…Guangxun is our home, let’s keep fighting for youth! Let’s shed sweat energetically, and one day, brilliant flowers will bloom!…”

Chen Ruowen inched closer to Li Zichun, still covering her ears. “What did you say?”

That damned broadcast! She couldn’t hear a thing! How had she not noticed this strange company habit yesterday?

Li Zichun looked a bit helpless. “I was saying…”

“Never mind, never mind.” Zhang Liling came over and interrupted Li Zichun. “You can’t hear anything now anyway; let’s talk later.”

“…I grow in Guangxun, Guangxun gives me strength. No matter where my tomorrow leads, I’ll never forget these years at Guangxun, never forget~!!!!!!”

The chorus ended with a long note, and the soaring male voice nearly shattered Chen Ruowen’s eardrums.

But surely, the song was ending now? Hearing the slightly calmer interlude from the broadcast, Chen Ruowen lowered her hands and tried to regain composure, but Li Zichun immediately stopped her.

“Don’t! It’s not…”

Before she could finish, the broadcast erupted into an even more terrifying, high-pitched song.

“…Ah! Guangxun! Ah! Guangxun! Lead us—forward~~!!!!”

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Showing off with a vocal flourish at the end? Belting out high notes with a long, drawn-out finale?

This was too much!

Who on earth wrote this dreadful song?

Chen Ruowen was on the verge of collapse, thinking that if she ever found the composer and singer responsible, she’d make sure that terrible singer was banned for good!

What nonsense was this!

Finally, the broadcast came to an end. Zhang Liling walked over and warmly led Chen Ruowen to her workstation.

“It’s true, it takes some getting used to at first. After a while, you’ll adapt.”

Chen Ruowen said nothing, then turned to Li Zichun, who had just tried to speak to her.

“What were you saying earlier?”

Li Zichun smiled and shook her head. “Nothing important.”

But things didn’t end there. Just as Chen Ruowen was about to sit down, the broadcast sounded three chimes. Hearing this signal, all the veteran employees, including Manager Yu, promptly rose from their seats and left the office.

“Come on, let’s go to the morning meeting.”

Zhang Liling tugged Chen Ruowen along and beckoned to Yu Yi and Wu Mingkai. The three newcomers, confused, followed her out.

In the corridor, all departments on the sixteenth floor had left their workstations and formed two neat lines.

What was this about?

Chen Ruowen was utterly baffled.

Just as she was about to ask, the broadcast, which had been silent for only a few seconds, sounded with a melodious female voice.

“The first item for the morning meeting: company anthem chorus—‘Song of Guangxun.’”

As soon as she finished, the familiar prelude started again. Chen Ruowen’s face froze.

“Really, this is going to kill me…”