83. An Unexpected Visitor

Perhaps it was because Li Yanbin truly valued Chen Liwan’s phone call. In any case, when Chen Ruowen once again arrived just on time on the sixteenth floor the next day, that deafening broadcast had indeed vanished.

However, after entering the office, Chen Ruowen noticed that everyone was looking at her with rather peculiar expressions, leaving her utterly bewildered.

“Why are you all staring at me?”

“N-no, nothing at all…” Several colleagues hastily denied it, quickly averting their gazes.

Seeing Chen Ruowen frown, Li Zichun, who stood near the door, was the first to smooth things over. She walked over to Chen Ruowen, glanced toward Manager Yu Yan’s office at the inner end, and whispered,

“To be honest… we’ve raised complaints about that broadcast so many times. We all feel the HR department doesn’t need to follow the sales playbook. It’s just…” She smiled, “Now the broadcast is gone and the morning meetings have been canceled. It does feel a bit strange to get used to.”

Once she broke the ice, Zhang Liling came over too, lowering her voice as she gathered around Chen Ruowen: “Last night, we all got a call from Manager Zhou. She asked if you were having any trouble adjusting. I mentioned the morning meetings and the group exercises, and Manager Zhou told us to keep her updated.”

Chen Ruowen gave a thoughtful “oh,” then asked, “It was Manager Zhou who called you? Not Manager Yu?”

Zhang Liling glanced back into the inner office and lowered her voice further: “The morning meetings and exercises were both her idea. How could she be the one to say anything against them?”

Chen Ruowen’s expression grew a little perplexed.

Zhang Liling continued, “She used to be in sales, and this whole routine was something she brought from her previous company. None of us like it, but she never listens to our feedback.”

To leave a salesperson in charge of human resources…

Chen Ruowen didn’t quite know how to judge Li Yanbin’s appointment decision.

But in the end, it didn’t matter. As long as it didn’t affect her, she couldn’t be bothered with the inner workings of someone else’s company. Now that the things she hated most were gone, she decided she might as well stick around.

Newcomers usually don’t have much real work at first, and Yu Yan’s division of labor among the three interns was clear.

Wu Mingkai, being the only male, was assigned to assist with the most stressful task—recruitment. The spring hiring season is the busiest time, and every year at this time, Guangxun hires several interns for the HR department, whose daily work consists solely of making phone calls, not much different from telemarketing.

Another girl, Yu Yi, was assigned to Yang Xiaojun and Pang Qi to learn how to make spreadsheets in preparation for the coming month’s salary calculation frenzy.

As for Chen Ruowen… Remembering Chen Liwan’s instruction to “let her interact with people from different departments,” Zhou Huan deliberately arranged for Chen Ruowen to sit next to Li Zichun, who was in charge of external relations, and also told Yu Yan, “When Zhang Liling organizes activities, Miss Chen can go observe as well.”

Observe—helping wouldn’t be necessary.

“…This is the plan for the new employee mixer we’re preparing to hold in early April. Over the next couple of days I’ll be confirming the time and attendance with each department manager. When the time comes, you’ll come with me. How does that sound?”

Zhang Liling held a stack of event documents and had a brief discussion with Chen Ruowen.

For a moment, Chen Ruowen’s face looked a little odd, but she nodded nonetheless.

“What’s wrong?” Zhang Liling, ever attentive, noticed the subtle change in her expression.

You asked for it… Chen Ruowen arched a brow.

“Why do you need so many department managers at a new employee mixer?” she questioned, clearly baffled.

“Well…” Zhang Liling paused, then gave an official explanation. “New employees always have lots of questions for their department heads. The mixer gives them a chance to communicate directly.”

“And does that really require HR to organize a special meeting?”

“Of course not. But we also give them an opportunity to interact with managers from other departments…”

Chen Ruowen’s brows twitched, but she said nothing more. “Send me the plan.”

Zhang Liling breathed a sigh of relief, lending her the annotated paper file and sending an electronic copy as well.

It’s true, a new employee mixer doesn’t really need the leadership to attend—but without them, how would the higher-ups know about their staff’s efforts?

Of course, this isn’t the sort of logic you can say out loud.

The paper document was neatly marked, with different colored markers used to distinguish important times, steps, and departments, evoking a style reminiscent of Zhao Yan.

Strangely, the electronic version was all in a single font from start to finish, spanning several pages and looking nothing like the work of the same person.

As Chen Ruowen buried herself in the documents, the HR office door was knocked upon again. Zhou Huan entered, dressed in a black professional skirt suit.

Her regular visits had become so routine that the HR staff no longer felt as on edge as they had in the beginning.

But this time was different. After entering, Zhou Huan made a welcoming gesture toward the door, instantly sending everyone’s heart racing.

Was it another intern with an absurdly impressive background?

Or… could it be President Li himself?

With all eyes on the door, a tall young man walked in.

He was strikingly handsome, well over six feet tall, wearing a light blue casual shirt with a white long-sleeve tee underneath, adorned with black letters. His dark blue jeans and white sneakers lent him a clean, innocent air that contrasted with his charming eyes.

The women in the office were instantly smitten.

The young man’s gaze swept the room, then he smiled and strode purposefully to the second row of desks.

“What are you looking at?” He braced one hand on the desk, bending down toward Chen Ruowen and the proposal in her hands.

Suddenly confronted by someone so close, Chen Ruowen’s first instinct was to slap him. But something in her subconscious told her she didn’t mind this man’s presence. She turned to look at him and was momentarily stunned.

“What are you doing here?”

It was Gao Tang—yet not the Gao Tang she was used to. Gone was the flamboyant pink shirt, gone were the sunglasses that always seemed to hide half his face. Today, he looked unexpectedly fresh and approachable.

“Just stopped by after signing a contract, thought I’d check in on you.” Gao Tang smiled, his mesmerizing eyes curving with warmth. “Want to grab lunch together?”

“You dressed like this to sign a contract?” Chen Ruowen was clearly skeptical. “This isn’t really your style… Where’s your pink shirt?”

Gao Tang felt a pang of exasperation.

Out of hundreds of shirts, that’s the only one she remembers…

“I like to keep it low-key every now and then. It’s exhausting to be this handsome all the time.”

His shameless self-praise made Chen Ruowen laugh, and Gao Tang grinned, then gently pulled the document from her hands and set it aside, nodding toward Zhou Huan.

“Manager Zhou, may I borrow your employee for the duration of a meal?”