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COMPLETED |I Mistook My Boss For My Sister... Now She Demands Marriage! — Transcript

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0:00I mistook my female boss's wet chat for
0:02my little sisters and kept sending her
0:05allowance money out of the blue. At the
0:07dinner table, Tango glared at me
0:09resentfully. "Did you block me
0:11recently?" My chopsticks paused. "No.
0:14What's wrong then? Why aren't you
0:17sending my allowance?" She put down her
0:19chicken wing, counting on her fingers. I
0:22haven't gotten a single scent since
0:24September. Didn't we agree on 500 a
0:26month? My dad chimed in. Your brother
0:29doesn't make that much. Giving you 500
0:31is already generous. Don't push your
0:34luck. But it was a promise. Tang Xiao
0:37wasn't having it. She pulled out her
0:38phone and showed me. Look, the last
0:40transfer was August 27th. Nothing at all
0:43since then. I instinctively opened my
0:46own wet chat, scrolled to my transfer
0:48history. Sept E500, Octi 500, Nauvoo
0:53500, D600.
0:55That time she said she needed winter
0:57clothes. So, I added an extra 100, John
1:01500. Every single transaction was clear
1:04as day. But the receiver wasn't my
1:06sister. It was Su Wan, my direct boss,
1:09head of R&D depth, too. My finger swiped
1:12over her profile pick, an orange cartoon
1:15cat. Exactly the same as Tangu's. I
1:18thought it was a funny coincidence when
1:20I added her. Even chuckled to myself
1:22about the destiny. I'm not laughing
1:24anymore. 5 months, two, 600 bucks. All
1:28sent straight to my boss. Ro Tang Xiau
1:31waved her hand. Why is your face so
1:33pale? Nothing. I locked my screen. I
1:36probably sent it to the wrong person.
1:38I'll just resend it to you later. Who
1:40did you send it to? A coworker. Tang
1:43Xiao. Yu went, "Oh." And didn't push it.
1:46I shoved a piece of tofu into my mouth.
1:48My brain was totally shortcircuiting.
1:51Suan accepted the 2 600 and didn't say a
1:55single word. Didn't even send a question
1:57mark. Is that normal? Hell no. I
2:00desperately tried to recall the last 5
2:02months. Did Suan's attitude towards me
2:05change? In September, she asked me to
2:07grab her a coffee once. She'd never made
2:09me run errands before. In October, at
2:12the department dinner, she voluntarily
2:14sat next to me for the first time. In
2:16November, there was a major screw- up on
2:18a project. It was totally my fault, but
2:21she covered for me in the meeting. In
2:23December's performance review, she gave
2:25me an A in January just last month when
2:28I was working out until 1:00 a.m. She
2:31ordered late night snacks for me. I
2:33thought she was just an awesome boss.
2:35Looking back now, I'm sweating bullets.
2:39Does she think I'm hitting on her?
2:41Sending 500 bucks like clockwork every
2:44month. Doesn't that seem like a simp
2:46subscription? Tang Yuan, stop eating. My
2:49mom reached out and felt my forehead. Do
2:52you have a fever? Your face is flushing.
2:54No, just a little tired. I picked up my
2:57bowl, scarfed down the rest, went back
3:01to my room, and started scrolling
3:03through my chat with Suan. Aside from
3:06work messages, it was squeaky clean
3:08except for the five transfers she
3:10accepted. No replies, no refunds, no
3:14thank yous. absolutely nothing. I stared
3:18at the orange cat avatar on my screen
3:20for a solid 3 minutes. It's the fourth
3:23day of the Lunar New Year. I go back to
3:25the office in 3 days. 3 days. I have to
3:28figure out how to smooth this over.
3:30Option one, play dumb. Boss Sue, my
3:33sister has the exact same avatar as you.
3:37I transferred it to the wrong person.
3:39Could you refund me? Sounds like I'm
3:41asking for a gift back. Option two,
3:43don't mention it. Pretend nothing
3:45happened. Just make sure not to send it
3:47wrong again. But what if she really got
3:49the wrong idea? My phone buzz. Su Wan
3:52sent a message. Tang Yuan, did you go
3:56back to your hometown? 11 p.m. and the
3:58boss is hitting me up for a chat. In the
4:00past, I would have thought it was about
4:02work. Now I can't read it like that at
4:04all. Yes, boss. Su got home on the
4:07second. M. Get some good rest. Just that
4:10one line. before, I would have instantly
4:13turned off my phone and slept today. I
4:16stared at those words. Get some good
4:18rest. Read them back and forth eight
4:20times. Get some good rest. Is she being
4:24polite or caring? I placed my phone face
4:26down on the nightstand and closed my
4:28eyes. I'm so screwed. I feel like I
4:32might not be able to act normal around
4:34Suan ever again. Early the next morning,
4:38Tang Xiaoyu pushed the door open. Bro,
4:41did you transfer me 500 last night?
4:43Yeah, making up for it. Did that person
4:45you sent it to by mistake refund you?
4:48Not yet. Then hurry up and ask for it
4:50back. It's over two zero bucks. She sat
4:54on the edge of the bed. Is it a male or
4:56female coworker? Female. Tang
4:58Xiaoyu<unk>s expression changed
5:00instantly. Female coworker. You send a
5:03female coworker 500 every month for 5
5:06months. I said it was a mistake. Even if
5:08it was, why didn't she refund you? She
5:11gave me this. I see right through you.
5:14Squint. Are you a sugar daddy? Shut up.
5:17I pulled the blanket over my head. Stop
5:19making stuff up. Oh, I'm telling you, if
5:21mom finds out, if you dare, tell mom.
5:24You're not getting a single sin of
5:26allowance ever again. She scoffed,
5:29dragged her slippers, and walked out.
5:31The moment the door closed, I heard her
5:34mutter, "Fo, I'm not an Fboy. I'm an
5:37idiot. On the fifth day, I didn't leave
5:39the house, neither on the sixth for two
5:43whole days. I stalked Suan's witch hat
5:45moments from start to finish. She rarely
5:48posts. Like one post every 3 months. Her
5:52latest was on New Year's Day. A night
5:54view out a window captioned, "New year.
5:56Four likes, zero comments. I noticed a
5:59detail. The angle of the photo meant it
6:02was taken from a high-rise. You could
6:04see the entire CBD skyline. She lives in
6:06a luxury high-rise on the east side
6:09compared to me sharing a four-person
6:10rental in an urban village. Whatever. No
6:13point comparing. I closed moments and
6:16started plotting what to do when I get
6:19back to work. Plan one. Confess face to
6:21face. Say it was a mistake. Ask for the
6:24money back. Pros. Straightforward. Cons.
6:27If she didn't get the wrong idea.
6:29Bringing it up makes it awkward. Plan
6:31two. Request a WeChat transfer refund.
6:35Add a note. Transferred by mistake. My
6:38bad. Then wait for her to return it.
6:40Pros: No face to face needed. Cons: She
6:44could easily pretend she didn't see it.
6:46Plan three. Say absolutely nothing. Just
6:49let it go. Pros: Zero awkwardness. Cons:
6:53I lose two 600 bucks. My monthly salary
6:57is 6800 after tax. 2 600. That's 11 days
7:01worth of my hard-earned cash. I can't
7:04just let it go. I finally went with plan
7:06two. Heading back on the seventh fall on
7:08the high-speed rail, I drafted that
7:11message 20some times before hitting
7:13send. Hi, boss Sue. Those transfers from
7:16before were a mistake on my end. Sent
7:19them to the wrong person. Sorry for the
7:21trouble. Really sorry about that. The
7:23second I sent it, I shoved my phone into
7:25my bag. Planned to ignore it for 2
7:27hours. Ended up pulling it out 3 minutes
7:30later. Read. No reply. Another 10
7:33minutes passed. Still no reply. Half an
7:36hour later, my phone rang. Not a wet
7:38chat text, a voice call. Suan was
7:42calling. I almost yeed my phone. The
7:45passenger next to me gave me a weird
7:47look. I took a deep breath. Wait, no. I
7:50took a really deep breath, then
7:52answered, "Boss Su Tang Yuan." Her voice
7:55was super calm. Couldn't read any
7:57emotion. What did you mean by mistake on
7:59your end? Well, my little sister has the
8:02exact same avatar as you. I wasn't
8:05paying attention and accidentally sent
8:08her allowance to you. Dead silence on
8:10the line for 2 seconds. The orange cat,
8:13right? Another 2 seconds of silence.
8:16Then Sue one dropped a total bombshell.
8:19I know you what? The very first time I
8:22received it, I knew you sent it wrong.
8:24Then why didn't you say anything? I
8:27wanted to see how long it would take you
8:29to notice. What is that supposed to
8:31mean? Was she testing my observation
8:33skills or playing some mind games with
8:36me? Boss Sue, we'll talk about the money
8:39in person tomorrow at work. She hung up.
8:41I sat there frozen holding my phone. The
8:44only sound was the train roaring. Talk
8:46in person. Talk about what? How? I've
8:49got a seriously bad feeling about this.
8:52It feels like this isn't going to go
8:54down like any of my plans. Got back to
8:56my apartment at 9:00 p.m. My roommate Li
8:59Jiang was gaming. Didn't even look up
9:00when I walked in. You're back? Yeah. Got
9:03a package on the table. Arrived before
9:05the holidays. I dropped my bags to
9:08check. A small box. No sender address.
9:11Opened it up to find a mug printed with
9:14an orange cat almost identical to that
9:16we chat avatar. A note stuck to the
9:19bottom of the mug. Happy New Year. No
9:21signature. I flipped the note over. a
9:24line of small text on the back. You
9:26don't need to send the sixth one. The
9:28sixth one. February's. Not only did she
9:31know I messed up. She even knew I'd been
9:34totally clueless this whole time. She
9:36was literally waiting for me to send it
9:38again in February. What on earth is this
9:40woman playing at? I set the mug on the
9:42desk and collapsed into my chair. Lee
9:46Ciang finally turned away from his
9:48screen, glanced at the mug. Who gave you
9:51that? Pretty nice. You got a girlfriend
9:53or something? My boss gave it to me.
9:56Leang almost dropped his controller.
9:58Your boss gave you a mug. Is your boss a
10:02guy or a girl? A girl. How old is she?
10:0428. Is she pretty? I opened my mouth but
10:08didn't know how to answer. Is Suan
10:10pretty? Objectively speaking, out of
10:13everyone I've met in real life, she's
10:15easily top tier. Even with her hair tied
10:17up and no makeup, her skin is flawless.
10:20suit pants make her legs look incredibly
10:22long. She never smiles during meetings,
10:25but the few times she does, I've only
10:28seen it twice and both times it was
10:30directed at me. Yeah, she's pretty. I
10:33said, Li Jiang gave me this look like
10:36everyone in the world gets it except for
10:38me. Bro, did you do something and you
10:41still don't realize what's going on?
10:44Yeah, I did something. I sent my boss 5
10:48months of allowance straight. She
10:49accepted it and even sent me a cat mug.
10:52Tomorrow at work, she said we'd talk in
10:54person. I barely slept all night. When
10:57my alarm went off at 700 a.m. I looked
11:00at myself in the mirror. My dark circles
11:02were so bad it looked like I got punched
11:04in both eyes. Got dressed and headed
11:06out. Grabbed an Americano on the way,
11:09trying to wake myself up a bit. Walked
11:12into the office building. Swiped my card
11:14for the elevator. Just as the doors were
11:16closing, a hand reached in and stopped
11:18them. Suan, black coat, gray scarf,
11:23holding a thermos. She walked in and
11:25stood to my left. Just the two of us in
11:27the elevator. Morning, she said.
11:30Morning. How was your new year, Boss
11:32Sue? Not bad. You? Not bad. The ride up
11:36to the 30th floor was dead silent for 10
11:38seconds. Suddenly, she spoke up. Did you
11:41get the mug? I did. Thanks. You're
11:43welcome. She glanced at me. Consider it
11:46interest.
11:47The interest on 2600 is a single mug.
11:50That interest rate is way too low. Boss
11:53Sue, about that money. Ding. We reached
11:56the 17th floor. The doors opened. Liu
11:59Ting from marketing was standing there.
12:01Suan didn't say anything else. Walked
12:04straight out and I followed. As we
12:06passed Liuing, she gave me this sneaky
12:08little wink. I ignored her, got to my
12:10desk, and sat down. open my laptop
12:13pretending to check emails, but I
12:16couldn't process a single word. Suan's
12:18office is in the glass partition at the
12:21end of the hall. The door was slightly a
12:23jar. 9:30 a.m. Department morning
12:26meeting. The five of us sat around the
12:28small conference table. So, one opened
12:30her notebook. Her eyes swept over
12:32everyone. I need the spring festival
12:35campaign review reports by EOD today.
12:37Also, the KPI allocation plan for the
12:40new quarter will be discussed in this
12:42afternoon's meeting. Tanguan,
12:45stay behind. The other three gave me a
12:48look, got up, and left. Chen Hao was the
12:51last to leave. As he passed by, he
12:53deliberately bumped my chair. Tang Yuan,
12:56first day back after the holidays, and
12:59you're already being kept after class by
13:01the boss. I ignored him. The door
13:04closed. Su Wan put down her pen, leaned
13:07back in her chair, and looked at me. I'm
13:09not planning to refund your 2600. My Let
13:12me finish. She raised her hand. When you
13:15sent the first transfer, I did think you
13:18made a mistake, but you didn't say
13:20anything, so I figured I'd wait and see.
13:23Then the second month came and I was
13:25sure you definitely messed up. Then why
13:28did you? Because I found it quite
13:30interesting. Interesting. My two 600
13:33bucks is interesting to you. You as a
13:35person. She looked at me. The way she
13:37looked made me squirm. You don't talk
13:39much at work. Never speak up in
13:41meetings. But every proposal you hand in
13:45is the most detailed in the entire
13:47department. Do you know in the year and
13:49a half you've been here? Exactly how
13:51many sentences you've voluntarily spoken
13:54to me? I shook my head. 17 sentences.
13:57She actually counted plus the two in the
13:59elevator today. 19 sentences. I didn't
14:02know what to say to that. I guess this
14:05makes it 20. But sending allowance to
14:08your sister every month. Suan picked up
14:10her thermos and took a sip on time and
14:13consistent. Never missed a single
14:15payment. So I knew you weren't an F boy.
14:18You just hadn't been saying things to
14:20the right person. I felt like there was
14:21some deep hidden meaning there. But I
14:23didn't dare overthink it. So about the
14:26money, she cut me off. do something for
14:28me and consider the two 600 my
14:31consulting fee. Do what? I need someone
14:34to go with me to the industry networking
14:36event this Saturday. You mean like a
14:38plus one as a colleague? You can think
14:40of it that way. I couldn't figure out
14:42what she was playing at, but if the 2600
14:45is gone, so be a tea. Better than
14:48letting her hold it over my head. Sure.
14:5010:30 a.m. ma'am. See you in the hotel
14:52lobby. Wear a suit. She looked down and
14:55went back to her files. I awkwardly
14:57stood up to leave. When I reached the
14:59door, she called out to me again, "Tang
15:02Yuan, make sure you send the allowance
15:04to your actual sister from now on on.
15:06Don't mess it up again." After saying
15:09that, she turned a page as if this whole
15:11thing was just a minor blip. But when
15:14she said it, I saw her mouth. Wait, I
15:16saw a fleeting expression on her face.
15:19It didn't look like she was joking. It
15:20looked like she was saying something she
15:22actually regretted. Back at my desk,
15:25Chanhao leaned over. So, get chewed out.
15:28No, just talking about work. What kind
15:31of work requires closing the door? He
15:33let out a laugh. The kind of laugh that
15:35makes your skin crawl. Tang Yuan, let me
15:38be real with you, Su Wan is not as
15:41simple as she looks. You shouldn't get
15:43too close to her. Thanks for caring. I'm
15:46doing this for your own good. He lowered
15:48his voice. Do you know what level she
15:50was at HQ? She got demoted down here.
15:53What does that have to do with me? Of
15:55course it does. If you let her use you,
15:58Chen, bro. I turned to look at him. I
16:01haven't finished my campaign review
16:02report yet. Is yours done? He slinkedked
16:05away awkwardly. I opened my document,
16:08fingers resting on the keyboard, but I
16:10didn't type a single word. My mind was
16:12filled with everything Suan just said.
16:1417 sentences. She actually kept count of
16:17how many sentences I've spoken to her. 2
16:200 p.m. KPI allocation meeting. The five
16:24of us sitting together. Su Wan projected
16:26the new quarter's project list. Onto the
16:29screen. We have three major projects
16:32this quarter. The Shanhi brand total
16:34overhaul, the East Side Commercial
16:37Complex Marketing Plan, and the internal
16:39bid for the group's annual brand promo.
16:41She looked around. Shan Hi goes to
16:43Chenhao. Chenhao nodded, looking
16:46extremely smug. East Side Complex goes
16:49to Tang Yuan. Chanhao's expression
16:51instantly dropped. East Side Complex was
16:54the biggest account of the quarter. The
16:56budget was more than double Shan His
16:58Boss. Su Chen Ha spoke up immediately. I
17:02did the preliminary research for East
17:03Side last year. I'm much more familiar
17:05with it. I read your research report. Su
17:08Wan didn't even look up. It wasn't
17:10detailed enough. I can supplement it.
17:12Tang Yuan will take it. She clicked to
17:14the next PPT slide. Any questions? Chan
17:18Ha opened his mouth, but nothing came
17:20out. After the meeting, the sound of him
17:22slamming the door could be heard two
17:24walls away. Liuing sneaked over for
17:27marketing to find me, leaning over my
17:29cubicle divider. Tang Yuan, heard you
17:32got the east side complex. That's a huge
17:35gig. Doesn't boss Su usually give those
17:37to old Chen? What kind of luck did you
17:40stumble into? No idea. Could it be? She
17:43gave a scandalous look. Leu Ting, your
17:47marketing department monthly report is
17:49due today. Are you done with it? She
17:51bolted instantly. Worked overtime until
17:547:30 p.m. Everyone had left the office
17:57except for me and Suan. She came out of
18:00her glass office. Carrying her bag,
18:03passing my desk, not leaving yet, just
18:06looking over the east side materials a
18:08bit more. She stood there and watched me
18:10for a few seconds. Don't stay up too
18:12late, okay? She took two steps and
18:14stopped again. Don't forget about
18:16Saturday. I won't. She left once the
18:19office was completely empty. I leaned
18:22back and spaced out for a bit. The water
18:24in the orange cat mug on my desk had
18:26already gone cold. Wednesday, Thursday,
18:29and Friday past surprisingly peaceful.
18:31At the office, Sue Juan treated me no
18:34differently than anyone else. Strictly
18:36business, clean, and professional. I
18:39even started to wonder if that
18:41conversation on Monday was all just a
18:43dream. The only abnormal thing was
18:45Chenhao. Over the last three days, his
18:47attitude towards me upgraded from
18:49unfriendly to clear hostility. During
18:52afternoon tea on Thursday, he loudly
18:54said in front of three co-workers. Young
18:57people sure climb the ladder fast these
18:59days. Who knows what kind of skills
19:01they're relying on? Nobody engaged. I
19:03didn't either. Not because I'm the
19:05bigger person. It just wasn't worth it.
19:08Friday afternoon. Su Wan sent a message
19:11in the group chat. Industry networking
19:13event this Saturday. Tang Yuan will
19:16accompany me. Everyone else has the
19:18weekend off. Chenhao instantly replied,
19:20"Receive?" The exclamation mark on that
19:23receive. Radiated so much anger I could
19:25physically feel it. Saturday 9:0 a.m. I
19:29put on my one and only suit and headed
19:32out. I bought it during a huge online
19:34sale last year. The pant legs were a bit
19:37long, so I hemmed them up myself with
19:39safety pins. When I got to the hotel
19:42lobby, Sue Wan was already there in a
19:45red dress, black suit, jacket, hair let
19:49down. It was my first time seeing her
19:51wear a dress and my first time seeing
19:54her with her hair down. We're here.
19:56Let's go. She naturally walked ahead. I
19:59followed a half step behind. The
20:01networking event was in the hotel
20:03banquet hall. About 20 or 30 people
20:05showed up, middle and upper management
20:07from various companies. When signing in
20:09at the door, the receptionist greeted
20:11her. Boss Su, this is my colleague, Tang
20:14Yuan. Great. We've seated you at table
20:176. On our way over, more than a few
20:20people greeted Suan. Boss Su, long time
20:23no see. Suan, when are you heading back
20:26to HQ? Oh, my boss Sue, you look
20:30gorgeous today. She smiled and replied
20:33to each of them. Handled it flawlessly.
20:36But the second we reached a secluded
20:38spot. She dropped the smile. She
20:40muttered one word under her breath. I
20:42couldn't help but ask. Then why did you
20:44come? There's someone I have to show my
20:46face to. So he sees me. Who? She didn't
20:49answer. Her eyes shifted to the
20:51entrance. A man in his 50s walked in
20:54accompanied by two younger guys.
20:57Suan<unk>s expression flickered for a
20:59split second. I couldn't pinpoint
21:01exactly what the emotion was, but it
21:03definitely wasn't happiness. Whatever
21:05happens next, don't say a word, she
21:08warned in a low voice. Got it. The man
21:11noticed Suan and walked straight over.
21:14Sean, you're back. He smiled and reached
21:17out his hand. How's your dad's health
21:19lately? He's fine. Thanks for asking,
21:21Uncle Joe. Sue Juan gave a brief
21:23handshake and let go. The man then
21:26looked at me. My colleague, the man's
21:28gaze lingered on me for less than a
21:31second, then moved away. Shia Wan, your
21:34dad's situation has always weighed on my
21:37mind. That proposal I mentioned last
21:39time, how much have you thought about
21:41it? Still considering, don't consider it
21:44for too long. He patted Suan's shoulder.
21:47Time waits for no one. After saying
21:49that, he leapt. The moment he turned
21:51around, Suan dropped her perfect
21:54manufactured smile. Who is he? I
21:56couldn't help but ask Joe Yangu, vice
21:59president of the industry association.
22:01He used to be my dad's business partner.
22:04Later, he used dirty tricks to swallow
22:06my dad's shares and pushed him into
22:08getting severely ill. She spoke in a
22:11very flat tone as if talking about
22:13someone else's business, but her
22:14knuckles were white from gripping the
22:16thermos. So, you came to this networking
22:18event to let him know you're still
22:20around. She cut me off to make him
22:23uncomfortable. I looked at her side
22:25profile and suddenly realized everything
22:29I knew about her before was just surface
22:31level. She's not just a strict
22:33department boss. Speaking of which,
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23:02it out. Halfway through the networking
23:04event. There was a segment for brief
23:06company presentations. Our company was
23:08fourth in line. Suan went on stage and
23:12spoke for 5 minutes. The topic was a
23:15review of classic case studies from last
23:17quarter. She spoke very steadily,
23:19crystal clear logic. A lot of people in
23:22the audience were nodding except for
23:24Xiao Jianguo sitting in the front row,
23:26glued to his phone the whole time. After
23:29she finished and stepped down, passing
23:31by Zhao Jianguo, he suddenly spoke up.
23:34Shia Wan, nice case studies, but your
23:37current platform is a bit too small
23:39scale. Suan didn't stop walking. It's
23:42enough for what I need. Your dad didn't
23:45think small like that back in the day.
23:47She stopped in her tracks. No matter how
23:49big my dad thought back then, he still
23:52got ripped out by the roots, didn't he?
23:54Ja Yanguo<unk>s smile froze for a split
23:56second. Suan
23:58continued walking. As she passed by me,
24:01she whispered, "Let's go." We stayed at
24:04the networking event for just over an
24:06hour total up. Walking out of the hotel,
24:08she stood by the entrance and took a
24:11deep breath. "Thanks for coming with me.
24:13I didn't even do anything. You just
24:15standing there was enough. She turned
24:17her head to look at me. Going alone
24:19makes me look too lonely. All right, so
24:22my role today was basically a breathing
24:24background prop. Let's go. Lunch is on
24:27me. She took two steps forward and
24:29stopped. Any food allergies? No. All
24:32right, then. She took me to a Japanese
24:34restaurant next to the hotel, a tiny
24:36storefront. You had to turn into an
24:38alley to find. We ordered two set meals,
24:41sitting face to face. Halfway through
24:44the meal, she suddenly asked, "Tang
24:46Yuan, you've been at the company for a
24:49year and a half. How much money have you
24:51saved up?" "Not much. Give me a number."
24:53"A little over 30 kaiika. Is that enough
24:56for a down payment?" "Down payment? A
24:58down payment for a house in this city?"
25:00I let out a laugh. I'm missing a zero.
25:03She didn't laugh. Have you ever thought
25:05about jumping ship? I have, but haven't
25:08found the right fit. What if I
25:09recommended one for you? I put down my
25:12chopsticks. What do you mean? Oceanic
25:14Real Estate, the client for the East
25:16Side complex. They're hiring a planning
25:18director. The annual salary is three
25:20times what you're making now. Three
25:22times. I'm making nine before taxes
25:25right now. Three times would be 27K.
25:28What level of experience are they
25:30looking for? 3 years of experience with
25:32major project case studies. She paused.
25:35if the east side complex is done well.
25:38That's a ready-made case study right
25:39there. I stared at her for a long time
25:42before saying so giving me the east side
25:44complex wasn't just a regular task
25:47assignment. The task assignment was
25:49definitely one reason. She picked up a
25:51piece of salmon with her chopsticks. The
25:53second reason, like I said, your
25:55proposals are the most detailed. Is
25:57there a third reason? She didn't answer
25:59me. Just looked down and ate her fish.
26:02We walked for a bit on the way back.
26:04didn't say much. When we got to the
26:06subway entrance, she suddenly asked me a
26:09question. Where does your sister go to
26:11school? Normal university. Sophomore.
26:14What's her major? Chinese language and
26:16literature. Not bad. She pulled out a
26:18subway card. Tanguan. About that 2600.
26:22You don't need to. I started. She
26:24glanced at me. It's not a consulting fee
26:27anymore. We're even today. She smiled.
26:30The third time I'd seen her smile. All
26:31right. We're even. She walked into the
26:34subway station. I stood at the entrance
26:36watching her silhouette disappear around
26:38the corner of the escalator. Stood there
26:40for a long time. Lei Shang was right. I
26:44really don't have a clue what's going
26:45on. But this time, I might not be the
26:48only one trying to figure things out.
26:50First thing Monday morning, Chen Ha
26:53slammed a cup of coffee down in front of
26:54me. Must have been a tiring weekend. I
26:57looked at the coffee, didn't touch it.
26:59What's that supposed to mean? I heard
27:01you and bossu went to the networking
27:03event together. He gave me a loaded
27:05smile and even grabbed food together.
27:08Word travels fast. It was a work
27:11assignment. Oh, a work assignment. He
27:14repeated it. His voice wasn't loud or
27:17quiet, just loud enough for the two
27:18colleagues next to us to hear. Tang
27:20Yuan, I've been in this department for 3
27:23years, and I've never been taken out
27:25solo by bossu. You get this kind of VIP
27:28treatment after a year and a half. Color
27:30me impressed, Chen. Bro, if you have
27:33something to say, just say it. Say it
27:36directly. He leaned in a little closer.
27:39Do you and Su Wan have some sort of
27:42inappropriate relationship going on?
27:44Dead silence for two seconds. Say that
27:47again, I said. Tang Yuan Chenha.
27:51Suan<unk>s voice echoed from down the
27:53hall. She was standing at the door of
27:55her office, holding her thermos,
27:58expressionless. come in. The two of us
28:00walked into her office, one after the
28:03other. The door closed. Su Wan sat down
28:06and looked straight at Chenhao. What
28:08inappropriate relationship were you just
28:10talking about? Chenhao's expression went
28:12a bit stiff. But he doubled down. Boss,
28:16I just feel like it's unfair. A project
28:18as massive as the East Side complex
28:21given to a rookie who's only been here a
28:23year and a half and taking him out alone
28:25for networking over the weekend. First,
28:27the assignment of the East Side complex
28:30was a decision I made based on
28:32competency evaluations. The rationale
28:34was laid out perfectly clearly in the
28:36email. Second, Bonnie, I take someone
28:39with me to the networking event every
28:41quarter. Last quarter, I took Liu Ting.
28:44Why didn't you have a problem with it
28:45then? Third, she paused, placed her
28:48thermos on the desk. This inappropriate
28:51relationship you're accusing us of. Do
28:53you have proof? Chanhao stayed silent.
28:56If you don't have proof. Do you know
28:58what spreading these kinds of rumors in
29:00the workplace is called? Do you know
29:02it's called defamation? And you're not
29:04just defaming Tang Yuan, you're defaming
29:07me. Chenha's face flushed bright red.
29:10Boss Sue, go back and fix the Shanhi
29:13proposal. There were three data errors
29:15in your last pitch. Have it on my desk
29:18by Wednesday. Chinhao walked out looking
29:20like he'd just been slapped across the
29:22face. I got ready to leave. Two. Su Wan
29:25stopped me. If he runs his mouth again,
29:27you don't need to. Got it. When can you
29:30get the initial plan for the east side
29:32complex done? Before this Friday. Good.
29:35She looked down at her documents. I
29:37walked out and returned to my desk.
29:39Chenhao wasn't in his seat. My coworker
29:41Zhao leaned over and whispered, "Tang,
29:45bro." Chenhao was just in the pantry on
29:47the phone talking smack about you for
29:49minutes. Let him. He said he's going to
29:51snitch to VP Wang. VP Wang is the VP in
29:55charge of our department. Suan's direct
29:57boss said he's going to report the boss
30:00for playing favorites and ask him to
30:02investigate your relationship. I put
30:04down my mouse. It started as an
30:06accidental allowance transfer. How did
30:08it escalate into this? Wednesday noon. I
30:12was eating in the cafeteria. Tangi
30:15sent a bro. I want to sign up for an els
30:19prep class. It's 5 bucks. Can you
30:23sponsor half? Sure. I opened WeChat pay.
30:26This time I stared at the avatar three
30:28times. Double checked the nickname three
30:31times to confirm it was Tang Xiao.
30:33Before hitting send, once bitten, twice
30:36shy. After sending the money, I casually
30:38asked, "Why is your avatar exactly the
30:41same as my bosses?" "What boss? My
30:43department head is also an orange cat.
30:46For real?" She sent in El Mau me. Could
30:49it be my drawing? My avatar I bought
30:51from an artist on Billilly. It's a
30:53custom piece. Only two exist online. My
30:56hand froze. Only two exist online. Then
31:00the other one is with Sue Juan. What's
31:03the artist's name? Hold on. She scrolled
31:06for a bit. Good night, Orange Cat. Why?
31:09Orange cat. Good night, orange cat. I
31:11opened Suan's moments. Moments. Scrolled
31:14way back. Found a post from 2 years ago.
31:18She shared an article back then title
31:20side hustle survival died for modern
31:22youth. Her caption was just two words
31:24trying it. I clicked into the article
31:27interviewed eight young people with side
31:29hustles. Case hash five a planning
31:32director at an ad agency drawing custom
31:35avatars in her spare time. Screen name
31:38Goodn Night Orange Cat. The interview
31:40was from 2 years ago. Suan drew it. That
31:43orange cat avatar was drawn by Su Wan.
31:46She drew one for Tang Xiaawu Yu and kept
31:49one for herself. Only two exists online.
31:52So Tang Xiaou was her client from the
31:55very beginning. Then she must have known
31:57who Tang Xiaawyu was ages ago. Knew Tang
32:00Xiaawyu<unk>s last name was Tang. Knew
32:03Tang Xiaoyu was my sister. Or is this
32:07just a massive coincidence? I turned
32:09this discovery over and over in my head
32:11all afternoon. The more I thought about
32:13it, the weirder it felt. Right before
32:16clocking out, I did something that might
32:17have been stupid. I looked up my
32:19referral record from when I joined the
32:21company. Our company requires an
32:23internal referral code to join. I
32:26originally submitted my resume on a job
32:28board. During my HR interview, they said
32:31my resume came through the internal
32:34referral channel. I never really paid
32:36attention to it. But in the referral
32:38column, it said Suan. A year and a half
32:41ago, I didn't even know Suan, but she
32:43referred me for the job. I shut my
32:46laptop and stared at my own reflection
32:49in the black screen. What kind of 4D
32:51chess is this? 10 p.m. I sent Suan away
32:55chat. Boss Sue, there's something I want
32:58to ask you. Go ahead. My internal
33:01referer when I joined was you, right?
33:03The typing indicator on her end flashed.
33:05Then stop. stopped, then flashed, went
33:09back and forth three times. Finally, she
33:12replied with three words. We<unk>ll talk
33:14tomorrow. Talk tomorrow again. This
33:17woman, does she just love pushing
33:18everything to tomorrow? I didn't press
33:21her but knew exactly this whole thing is
33:24no longer just about an accidental
33:26allowance transfer. Thursday morning at
33:28the office, Su Wan's office door was
33:31shut. The blinds were drawn, too. You
33:33couldn't see inside. 9:30 a.m. morning
33:36meeting as usual. She acted perfectly
33:38normal. Talked about project progress.
33:41Assigned tasks. Didn't give me an extra
33:44glance. Didn't keep me behind after the
33:46meeting. She didn't step out all
33:48morning. At noon, I went to the pantry
33:50for water. Just as I turned the corner,
33:53Chanhao was blocking the way. Standing
33:56next to him was someone else. Xiao from
33:59HR. Tang Yuan. Xiao waved me over.
34:02There's something I need to verify. What
34:04is it? Your referral record from when
34:06you joined. We're auditing last year's
34:09referral bonus payouts. And we noticed
34:11in your referral column, it says
34:14supervisor Su Wan, but supervisor Su Wan
34:18was still at HQ back then. Logically,
34:20she wouldn't have known you. Did you two
34:22know each other prior? Chanha was
34:24glaring at me from the side, looking
34:27like he was praying. I admit it right
34:29then and there that we were an item. No,
34:32we didn't. I said when I submitted my
34:34resume, I applied online. I don't know
34:37why it turned into an internal referral.
34:39All right. It might have been an
34:41automated system assignment. Jiao jotted
34:43something down in her notebook. This has
34:45happened before. It wasn't necessarily
34:48done manually. So, we're good. We're
34:50good. I asked. Yes. Thanks for
34:53cooperating. Jao left. Chenhao didn't.
34:57Don't you think this is super fishy?
34:59Chenro, what exactly are you trying to
35:01say? I'm saying he took a step forward
35:04before a Sue Jan transferred to our
35:07department a year ago. Do you know what
35:09her position was at HQ? No. Deputy
35:12director of the HQ planning center,
35:14managing over 30 people. She was
35:17transferred down here under the guise of
35:20supporting the branch, but she was
35:22actually pushed out. So, so now she's in
35:26our department just laying low.
35:28Everything she does has a motive,
35:31including being nice to you. I looked at
35:33him. You think she's being nice to me
35:35for an ulterior motive? Figure it out
35:37yourself. He patted my shoulder and
35:39walked away. I stood in the pantry. The
35:42water in my cup was full. It overflowed.
35:45300 p.m. Su<unk>s office door open. She
35:48stepped out and stood in the doorway.
35:51Tang Yuan, come in. I followed her
35:54inside. She closed the door. The blinds
35:57were still drawn. About what you asked
35:59me last night, I'll answer you now. I
36:01sat up straight. I was the one who
36:03pushed your resume through. Why? We
36:06didn't know each other. We didn't. But
36:08your sister knew me. I froze. Tang Xiao
36:11Yu was my client. Two years ago, she
36:14found me online to commission an avatar.
36:16We added each other on wet chat. Later,
36:19as we chatted, I found out her older
36:21brother was looking for a job and that
36:23he was in advertising planning. our
36:25company happened to be hiring. So, you
36:27referred me. I looked at your portfolio
36:30at your last company, that total brand
36:33overhaul you did for the bubble tea
36:35chain. It was excellent, better than
36:38most people I've interviewed. Did you
36:40see my portfolio first? Or did you know
36:42Tang Xiaawu first? She glanced at me. I
36:46knew Tang Xiaoyu first. Then did you
36:49refer me because of my abilities or
36:53because of Tang Xiao Yu because of your
36:56abilities? She answered without
36:58hesitating, Tang Xiao, just let me know
37:01you existed. But whether to refer you or
37:04hire you, that depended on your work.
37:07Then why didn't you tell me? There is no
37:09need. Don't you think this feels very
37:12very what? very light. I carefully chose
37:15my words like a carefully orchestrated
37:17setup. Suan didn't speak. She picked up
37:20her thermos and took a sip. After
37:23setting it down, she said something I
37:25totally didn't expect. You're right. It
37:28was a calculated setup, but not against
37:30you. For myself, what does that mean?
37:33When I was transferred down from HQ, I
37:36needed someone I could trust on my team.
37:38Your sister spent all day on wet shot
37:41hyping up how reliable her brother was,
37:43how genuine you are. I bought it just
37:46based on what my sister said. Plus your
37:49portfolio. She leaned back in her chair.
37:51Tang Yuan, are you mad? I didn't say
37:54anything. I wasn't mad. It was a feeling
37:57I couldn't explain. So my joining this
38:00company, being assigned to this
38:02department, being looked after by her,
38:05none of it was an accident. But if it
38:07wasn't an accident, then what was real?
38:11Was the east side complex a setup, too?
38:14No, you earned that yourself. What about
38:16the networking event? I legitimately
38:19needed someone to go with me. What about
38:21the two 600 buck? She went silent. The
38:24two 600. She paused. That really was an
38:28accidental transfer. I accepted it
38:30because she stopped. This was the first
38:32time I'd seen Suan. Stop mid-sentence.
38:36Because what? Because that was the
38:38allowance you were giving your sister.
38:39Her voice softened. I don't have any
38:42sibling. When I saw that 500, it wasn't
38:44about the money. It was that feeling of
38:46being remembered on time every month. A
38:49given with no strings attached. She
38:51didn't finish. But I I understood. She
38:54wasn't short on money. She was short on
38:57the feeling of having someone care about
38:58her. The office was quiet for half a
39:01minute. I broke the silence. Boss saw.
39:03From now on, if you want, I can keep
39:06sending the allowance. She looked up at
39:08me and smiled for the fourth time. Do
39:10you know what you're saying right now? I
39:12do. You're saying to your boss? I'm
39:15saying to someone who doesn't have
39:16sibling. If she doesn't mind, she can
39:19share a little sister's allowance quota.
39:21She stared at me for 3 seconds. I don't
39:23want an allowance. Then what do you
39:26want? Give me the east side complex
39:28proposal by tomorrow. She pushed the
39:30documents forward, looking down. Her
39:32hair covered her face, but I saw the
39:35tips of her ears turn red. Friday 4 p.m.
39:38I submitted the initial plan for the
39:40East Side complex. Sue Juan spent 2
39:43hours reading it line by line, then
39:46posted a message in the group. The plan
39:48is approved overall. Detailed revision
39:50notes have been emailed. We'll pitch on
39:53Monday. Chenhao replied in the group
39:55with a thumbs up, but that thumbs up
39:57definitely wasn't meant as a compliment.
39:59When it was time to clock out, Su Wan
40:02came out of her office, stopped by my
40:04desk for a second. The plan is well
40:06written. Thank you. Two people from the
40:09client side are coming on Monday. One is
40:11their planning director, Xiao Muan. The
40:14other is the VP of marketing, Xiao Muan,
40:17likes to nitpick the details. Make sure
40:20you have your data models ready.
40:21Understood. She took two steps and
40:23turned back around. Don't pull an
40:25allnighter this weekend. Okay. She left.
40:28Next to me, Jalay let out an extremely
40:31faint but extremely genuine T. I
40:35pretended I didn't hear it. I didn't
40:37pull an allnighter over the weekend. But
40:39I basically worked from morning till
40:41night. Ran three versions of the data
40:43model for the East Side complex. Each
40:45version built upon the last. Running
40:48extra sets of parameters. Monday
40:50morning, 900 a.m. pitch time. Three
40:53people from the client side showed up.
40:55Up, one more than Su Wan had
40:57anticipated. There was Xiao Minuan, in
41:00his early 40s, wearing glasses, who
41:02immediately started flipping through the
41:04proposal index. Another young guy, his
41:07assistant. The third person didn't sit
41:09down, stood by the window looking at the
41:11view. A middle-aged man in a sharp suit.
41:14From the back, he looked to be in his
41:1650s. I glanced at Su Wan. Her expression
41:20had changed. It wasn't nervousness. It
41:22was a flash of alertness that she
41:24quickly suppressed. I recognized that
41:26back from the networking event last
41:28Saturday, Joe Janguo, one of Oceananic
41:31Real Estate's shareholders and the VP of
41:34the industry association and the person
41:36who according to Suan used dirty tricks
41:40to steal her father's share. He turned
41:42around and smiled at Suan. Shiao Wan,
41:45mind if I sit in and listen? As it
41:48happens, I have a stake in the east side
41:51complex project, too. Suan paused for
41:54only half a second. Welcome. Please have
41:56a seat. The pitch began. I took the
41:59lead. Suan chipped in when needed. 20
42:02minutes in, everything was going
42:03smoothly. Ja Muan was very satisfied
42:06with the data model. He asked several
42:08technical details back to back and I
42:11answered them al. When we got to the
42:12promotional strategy section, Joy Yang
42:15Guo spoke up. Mr. Tang, right? He
42:18flipped through his printed copy.
42:20There's a community engagement plan in
42:21this strategy. The estimated data
42:23conversion rate is 12. Where did you get
42:26this number? Actually, Suan and I had
42:28role-played this exact question. I could
42:31explain the data source perfectly
42:33clearly. This data is based on three
42:35reference case studies. I know it's a
42:38reference. He cut me off. What I'm
42:41asking is among the reference cases, is
42:44there one that completely matches the
42:47scale of the east side complex, there is
42:50about a 10% variance in scale. Then this
42:5312% is inaccurate. He closed the printed
42:55copy. Strictly speaking, it's
42:57unscientific. Jao Minguan pushed up his
43:00glasses and said nothing. I opened my
43:03mouth to explain and felt Su Wan lightly
43:06brush my hand under the table. President
43:08Joe makes a fair point. Su Wan took
43:11over. 12% is the result of the
43:13preliminary model. During actual
43:15execution, we will run phased
43:17validation. Page 23 of the proposal
43:20details the adjustment mechanism. If
43:23President Xiao would turn to that page,
43:25Jo Yang Guo didn't turn the page. He
43:28looked at Suan Shia Wan. I'm not trying
43:31to nitpick. I genuinely feel that for a
43:34project of this caliber, your team, he
43:36glanced at me, might need to mature a
43:38bit more. Suan<unk>s response was swift.
43:41Our team is indeed young, but the
43:43advantage of being young is we don't use
43:46old methods to solve new problems. The
43:49meeting room was quiet for a brief
43:50moment. Jao Minuan chose that moment to
43:53speak up. We<unk>ll take this. We<unk>ll
43:55discuss it internally for a round. Bosu,
43:58Mr. Tang, good job. The pitch ended.
44:01After seeing the client's awe, Su Wan
44:04stopped me in the hallway. You did well
44:07today. Jo Yang Guuo found a hole in it.
44:10It doesn't count as a hole. More like a
44:12difference in perspective. He didn't
44:14actually care if it was 12% or 11. He
44:17came to see me. See you about what? To
44:19see if I was doing well at this branch.
44:22She walked into her office. The better I
44:24do, the more pissed off he is. Why?
44:27Because the higher my chances of
44:29returning to HQ. She sat down and didn't
44:31say anything else. But those words were
44:33like a seed planted in my brain. She's
44:36going back to HQ. She's always wanted to
44:38go back to HQ. Then what about me? What
44:41do I do if she goes back to HQ? Got back
44:43to the rental that night. Li Jang was
44:46making instant noodles. Grab an egg for
44:48me, he said without looking back. I
44:51grabbed an egg from the fridge and
44:52handed it to him. Leaned against the
44:54kitchen door frame, spacing out. "What's
44:57wrong now?" he asked while stirring the
44:59noodles. "Nothing. You've been talking
45:01less and less lately." He turned off the
45:03stove. Does it have to do with that
45:05female boss of yours? How did you know?
45:08You were talking in your sleep the other
45:09night. Called out, "Boss, so I'm taping
45:13my mouth shut when I sleep from now on."
45:15Spill. What's the situation? I ran
45:18through everything in my head. The
45:20accidental transfer. She purposely
45:22didn't refund the mug. the networking
45:24event. Jao Yangu, the internal referral,
45:28Tangi Au being her client, her being
45:31pushed out of HQ down to the branch.
45:33Every single thing taken individually
45:35has a logical explanation, but put
45:38together, it always feels like there's a
45:40crucial missing puzzle piece. Let me ask
45:43you one question. Lee Jen brought his
45:45noodles to the dining table. Is she good
45:48to you? Yeah, I guess. Is she good to
45:51others? Average. Well, there you go. He
45:54slurped a mouthful of noodles and
45:56mumbled. If someone treats you better
45:58than they treat others, either they need
46:01something from you or they care about
46:03you. What do you think she needs from
46:05me? The East Side complex. That was an
46:08opportunity she gave you. She wasn't
46:10begging you for it. Think again. I can't
46:13think of anything. Then it's the second
46:15option. He said that and took his bowl
46:18away. Tuesday was entirely peaceful. Su
46:21Wan stayed in her office all day, only
46:24came out once to take a call. Speaking
46:27in a foreign language, I couldn't catch
46:29what it was about. Chenhao was also
46:32well- behaved all day. He rushed out
46:34three versions of the Shanhi proposal
46:37and all of them got rejected by Su Wan.
46:40Around 5:00 p.m., I received an email.
46:44Send Wang Minguan, VP of the company.
46:48The content was just one line. Tang Yu
46:51Wan, come to my office at 2 p.m. on
46:53Friday. Didn't say what it was about. I
46:55asked Suan. She didn't know either. VP
46:58Wang is looking for you. She frowned.
47:00For what? The email didn't say. Okay,
47:03I'll ask around for you. By Thursday
47:06night, Suan sent me a wet chat. I asked
47:10VP Wang. He said it's a routine chat.
47:13Don't be nervous. A routine chat. I've
47:16been here a year and a half and I've
47:18never been routinely chatted with by the
47:20VP. Friday at 200 p.m. I knocked on Wang
47:23Minguan<unk>s office door and went in.
47:25VP Wang was in his early 40s, tall, hair
47:28a bit thinning. There was a handkerchief
47:30for golf clubs on his desk. Have a seat.
47:33Thanks. VP Wang Tang Yuan writes, "Been
47:37with the company for a year and a half."
47:39Yes. The proposal for the East Side
47:41Complex was well done. I read it. Thank
47:44you. But I didn't call you in here today
47:46to talk about that. He leaned back in
47:48his chair, hands folded over his
47:50stomach. There's a situation I'd like to
47:52understand. Go ahead, someone reported.
47:55He paused. That you and supervisor Su
47:58Wang have a relationship that exceeds
48:01normal collegial bounds. What are your
48:03thoughts on that? I knew Chenha had gone
48:06and snitched VP Wang. That's not true.
48:09Elaborate bossu. taking me to the
48:11industry networking event was a normal
48:14work assignment. Last quarter she took
48:16Liyu Ting from marketing the east side
48:18complex project assignment as an email
48:20trip. It was based on competency
48:23evaluations. As for private
48:25interactions, I paused. There are none.
48:28Wang Minguan looked at me for a few
48:30seconds. Tang Yuan, let me ask you a
48:33question. Answer me honestly. Has Suan
48:36ever mentioned to you about her
48:38returning to HQ? I didn't expect him to
48:41ask that. Really? No. She mentioned the
48:43possibility of returning to HQ once, but
48:46no concrete details. Wang Muan nodded.
48:49HQ is indeed considering transferring
48:51her back. She's been at the branch for a
48:53year. Her performance is obvious to
48:55everyone. Word from the top is next
48:58quarter at the earliest. What does that
49:00have to do with me? It has everything to
49:02do with you. He sat up straight. After
49:04she leaves, R&D depth 2 will need a new
49:07head. Upper management has two
49:10candidates. One is Chen Hao. The other
49:13is you. I froze. I've been here a year
49:15and a half. Chen Hao has been here for 3
49:18years. VP Wong. My seniority. Seniority
49:22isn't the only criteria. He waved his
49:24hand. Ability, performance, project
49:27experience. We look at all of that. But
49:29there is one prerequisite. You and
49:31Suan's relationship must be completely
49:33clean. If there's any hint of exchanging
49:36favors or work assignments influenced by
49:38a personal relationship, not only are
49:40you out of the running, Suan's transfer
49:43will be affected, too. I understand. He
49:46stood up. Figure out what you need to do
49:48yourself. Pretend we never had this
49:50conversation today, but keep it in mind.
49:53I walked out of the VP's office and
49:56stood in the hallway for a full minute.
49:58Chanhao's snitching was real. But Wang
50:01Mingua didn't exactly call me in for an
50:03innocent chat today either. He was
50:05drawing a line in the sand for me while
50:07also dropping a total bomb. Suan is
50:10leaving back on our department's floor.
50:13I saw the lights in Suan's office were
50:15still on awe. She was standing by the
50:17window back facing the glass wall
50:20looking lost in thought. I didn't go in,
50:22just went back to my desk. After hours,
50:25everyone had left. I was the only one
50:27left tweaking the data model. Suan<unk>s
50:29office door opened and she walked out
50:32still tweaking the model. What did VP
50:34Wang say to you? I looked up. Her
50:37expression held a little something more
50:38than usual. Couldn't exactly put my
50:40finger on it. Maybe concern, he said.
50:44You're heading back to HQ. Suan<unk>s
50:46footsteps paused. What else did he say?
50:49Said Chenhao. And I are the candidates
50:52to replace you. What else? and that you
50:54and I have to be completely clean. She
50:57didn't say anything. It was dead silent
50:59for maybe 10 seconds. Then she pulled up
51:02a chair and sat down across from me.
51:04Tang Yuan, do you think we're clean? I
51:07looked at her. Most of the office lights
51:09were off. Only the lamp at my desk was
51:11on. The light hit her face. Half in
51:14light, half in shadow. I don't know. I
51:17told the truth. I don't know either, she
51:20said. Another few seconds of silence.
51:23But I do know one thing," she started.
51:25Her voice was lower than usual. "What if
51:28I go back to HQ?" "Not if. It'll most
51:31likely be next quarter. I'm going to
51:33recommend you take over R&D depth, too.
51:36Not because you sent me 5 months of
51:37allowance, and not because I drew
51:40Tangio's avatar. It's because your
51:43proposals are genuinely the best."
51:45Chenhao won't go for that. Chenhao's
51:47opinion doesn't matter. As long as Wang
51:50Muan agrees. Wang Muan<unk>s attitude
51:52today. He was testing the waters. Su Wan
51:56cut me off. You just need to keep doing
51:58what you're doing. Deliver results on
52:00the east side complex. Don't worry about
52:03the rest. What about you? What about me?
52:05After you go back to HQ, I paused.
52:08Didn't know how to ask. After you go
52:10back, will I still see you? After you go
52:13back, can I still send you allowance
52:15money? Both of those questions were way
52:17too stupid. After you go back, what are
52:20you going to do about Zhao Jangu? She
52:22froze for a second. Probably didn't
52:24expect me to ask that. Going back to HQ
52:27is exactly how I deal with him. She
52:29stood up. It's getting too late today.
52:32Let's go. She packed her bag. I shut
52:34down my computer. The two of us walk out
52:37of the building, one after the other. At
52:39the entrance, she asked, "How are you
52:41getting back?" "Subway, then bus. I'll
52:44give you a ride. It's on the way. No
52:46need." She turned to look at me. Is it
52:49because of what VP Wangs said? No, I
52:53just I I thought about it. I just want
52:56to walk for a bit. She didn't push it.
52:58Just not it. Got in her car. It drove
53:00about 10 m and stopped. The window
53:03rolled down. Tang Yuan, are you still
53:06using that mug? I am. Don't break it.
53:08The window rolled up. The car drove off.
53:11I stood on the curb watching the tail
53:13lights fade away. suddenly felt a
53:16tightness in my chest. It wasn't pain.
53:19It was the feeling of losing something.
53:21Before you even had time to figure it
53:23out, over the next two weeks, everything
53:25hit the gas pedal. The East Side complex
53:28proposal entered its second round of
53:29revisions. The client gave us 17 points
53:32of feedback. Su Wan and I pulled four
53:35all-nighters tweaking a Meanwhile,
53:37Chenha's Shanhi project was tanking. The
53:41client was extremely unhappy with his
53:43version two. Literally slammed the table
53:45in his face. During our internal company
53:47meeting, VP Wang specifically shouted
53:50out the east side complex. Tang
53:52Yuan<unk>s team is highly efficient.
53:54Every department should learn from them.
53:56Chen Hao was sitting in the back, his
53:58face practically green. The day after
54:00the meeting, something happened. I got
54:03to the office in the morning and noticed
54:05someone had messed with my computer. The
54:07files on my desktop were out of order. I
54:09checked the login logs. Someone used my
54:12work computer at 3:00 a.m. Logged in
54:14with my account, but I was sound asleep
54:16in my apartment at that time. I went to
54:19Shiao Xiao in it. Asked him to look into
54:22it. Half an hour later, Shiao got back
54:24to me. Tang, bro. At 3:00 a.m. Man,
54:28someone logged into your account on your
54:29PC. Open the Eastside Complex proposal
54:32folder. Did they download it? Can't
54:34confirm that, but a USB drive was
54:37plugged in. The plug-in history shows
54:39it. Someone stole my proposal. My first
54:41thought was Chenhao, but I had no proof.
54:45I went to Sue Wan. The proposal got
54:48leaked. She looked up. Her expression
54:50instantly turned dead serious. What
54:52happened? I told her what it found.
54:54After listening, she immediately picked
54:56up the phone. Xiao Xhao, pull up the
54:59security footage for that desk. What? No
55:01footage. Our department's hallway camera
55:03broke 3 days ago and it hasn't been
55:06fixed yet. Suan put the phone down. Who
55:09do you suspect? Hard to say without
55:12proof. Then I'll just say it. She looked
55:14at me. Chenha. I didn't answer which
55:17basically meant yes. If the proposal was
55:20leaked to a competitor, we just lost the
55:22east side complex. She stood up but
55:25without evidence. We can't alert the
55:28snake in the grass. Change the key parts
55:30of the proposal first. Swap out the core
55:33data. Adjust the strategy framework. If
55:36we submit a 100% change version to the
55:39client, all the perfect details we had
55:41before will have to be redundant. That's
55:44still better than letting someone else
55:45use our stuff to pitch against us. She
55:48was right. I spent two days and two
55:51nights rewriting the core section,
55:53modifying it, not tearing it down
55:56completely, but keeping the framework
55:58intact while swapping out the data
56:00backbone and execution paths. Basically
56:03the same skeleton, but totally different
56:05muscles. If someone uses the old version
56:07to pitch, as soon as they present it,
56:09they'll realize it's completely
56:11different from our final version. Then
56:13it'll be crystal clear who copied who.
56:15On the third day, the results came in in
56:18on the bidding list for the east side
56:20complex. A new company was added, Ruda
56:23Advertising. Ruda's planning director is
56:25named Ma Chang. He worked at our company
56:28for half a year back in the day and is
56:31super tight with Chenhao. Suan laughed
56:35when she saw the list. It wasn't a happy
56:37laugh. Just as I thought, she picked up
56:40the phone and called Xiao Minguan.
56:41President Xiao about the pitch. There's
56:44something I need to tell you in person.
56:46If it's convenient, let's meet this
56:48afternoon. 3 p.m. Su Wan and I arrived
56:51at Oceanic Real Estate. Xiao Menuan
56:54received us in his office. Su Wan didn't
56:57beat around the bush. President Xiaho
57:00Rua advertising is a recent addition to
57:02the pitch. Right. That's right. They
57:05just submitted their letter of intent
57:06last week. Why have you seen their
57:09proposal? Not yet. Official pitches are
57:12next Monday. Suan opened her laptop,
57:15pulled up my old proposal and the new
57:17ones side by side, and placed it in
57:20front of Xiao Minguan. These are two
57:22versions of our proposal. The old one is
57:24the first draft from two weeks ago. The
57:26new one is the final version we locked
57:29in yesterday. The core strategy
57:30underwent major adjustments. Jao Minuan
57:33looked at both versions, pushed up his
57:36glasses. That's a pretty massive
57:38overhaul. Why so many changes? Because
57:41we have reason to believe the old
57:43version was leaked. Suan showed him the
57:46screenshot of the USB plug-in logs.
57:49These are our internal IT logs. Someone
57:52got onto my colleagueu's computer and
57:54stole the old draft. Jao Minuan's
57:57expression shifted. Are you implying?
58:00I'm implying. If the proposal Rua
58:02submits next Monday is highly identical
58:05to our old draft, that's no coincidence.
58:08Jao Minuan stayed silent for 10 seconds.
58:11Boss Sue, that is a very serious
58:14accusation. I know, which is why I'm not
58:17here to ask you to make a judgment
58:18today. I'm just asking you to keep a
58:20close eye out when the time comes. After
58:23leaving Oceanic Real Estate, Su Wan Zat
58:26in her car for a bit without starting
58:28the engine. What are you thinking about?
58:30I asked, thinking about why Chenhao
58:33would do this. To fight for the
58:35director's spot. So, if the East Side
58:38complex tanks, I won't have a solid case
58:40study to my name and the director's spot
58:43naturally goes to him. Then why didn't
58:45he just focus on doing a good job with
58:47Shan Hi because he can't? Suan gave me a
58:50look and suddenly smiled. You don't talk
58:54much usually, but you hit the nail on
58:56the head when it counts. Learn it from
58:58you. She didn't respond to that. Just
59:00started the car. The heater was blowing
59:02warm air in the car. It was drizzling
59:05outside. She dropped me off at the
59:07intersection closest to the subway. Tang
59:09Yuan. Yeah. The pitch next Monday. Are
59:13you ready? Born ready. If we win, she
59:16stared at the red light ahead. I'll
59:19treat you to Japanese food. That same
59:21place as last time. Not necessarily. The
59:25light turned green. Depends on my mood.
59:27I got out of the car. The rain was
59:29getting heavier. By the time I ran to
59:31the subway entrance, I was half soaked.
59:34standing at the entrance watching her
59:36car merge into traffic. In that moment,
59:38something suddenly clicked for me. From
59:40the very beginning, from the day I
59:43accidentally transferred that allowance,
59:45everything was like a chain of clues.
59:47One link connecting to the next. Tang
59:50Xiaoyu, the orange cat avatar, the
59:53internal referral, east side complex,
59:56Joe Gianguo, Chenhao, the leaked
59:59proposal. If you pulled Su Wan out of
1:00:02this chain, none of this would have
1:00:04happened. But if you leave her in the
1:00:05chain, every single thing points in the
1:00:08same direction. Monday pitch day, there
1:00:10were six people sitting in Oceanic Real
1:00:12Estate's main conference room. Jao
1:00:14Miwan, his assistant, the VP of
1:00:18marketing, legal, and Xiao Jiangu. Three
1:00:21agencies were pitching us Ruida and a
1:00:23small out of town agency drawing lots
1:00:26for the order. Rudo went first. We were
1:00:28second. The third agency went last. Rui
1:00:31is Ma Chang, a tall, lanky guy. Went
1:00:34into the conference room with two
1:00:35assistants. They pitched for 45 minutes.
1:00:38I was sitting in the waiting area
1:00:40outside, so I couldn't hear what they
1:00:42were saying. But Suan's network was
1:00:44wider than mine. She had an old
1:00:46colleague in Oceanic's legal department
1:00:48who snapped a photo of Ruda's core pitch
1:00:50slide for her. Suan scrolled through it
1:00:53on her phone and handed the phone to me
1:00:56without a word. I looked at the strategy
1:00:58framework. It was over 80% similar to my
1:01:01old draft. The data points backing it
1:01:03up. In some places, even the typos were
1:01:06identical. In the old draft, I
1:01:08accidentally typed penetration rate as
1:01:10comprehension rate. There is also said
1:01:13comprehension rate. Hard proof. Are you
1:01:15nervous? Suan put her phone away. Nope.
1:01:19But I'm a little nervous. She said this
1:01:22was the first time she ever admitted to
1:01:24being nervous in front of me. Boss Sue,
1:01:26no matter what the result is today, call
1:01:29me Suan. I paused for a second. Suan, no
1:01:33matter what the result is today, this
1:01:36proposal is the best one I've ever made.
1:01:38She nodded. Then that's enough. Let's go
1:01:41in the I delivered the most important
1:01:43pitch of my life. Standing in Oceanic
1:01:45Real Estate's conference room, facing
1:01:47six people talking from the first slide
1:01:50to the last. an hour and 5 minutes. Jao
1:01:53Muan asked seven questions throughout. I
1:01:56answered all of them with solid logic
1:01:58and data. The VP of marketing was highly
1:02:00impressed with whale. The execution plan
1:02:02for the community engagement strategy
1:02:04legal confirmed its compliance. Joang Wo
1:02:08didn't say a single word. Didn't utter a
1:02:10peep from start to finish. He just sat
1:02:12there looking at me and looking at Suan
1:02:15standing next to me. The pitch ended. We
1:02:17walked out of the conference room. In
1:02:19the elevator, Su Wan suddenly held out
1:02:22her hand. I froze for a second, then
1:02:25took it. Her palm was sweaty. We held
1:02:27hands for about 2 seconds, then let go.
1:02:30You pitched well, she said. Thanks. Now
1:02:34we wait for the results. As we were
1:02:36walking out of the oceanic building,
1:02:38someone called out to us from behind.
1:02:40Suan, it was Jangu. He was standing
1:02:44alone on the step, hands in his coat,
1:02:47pockets. Your eye for talent. He glanced
1:02:50at me. Is better than your dad's. Su Wan
1:02:52turned around. Uncle Jao, why didn't you
1:02:56speak up in the meeting today? Nothing
1:02:57to say. He walked down the steps to eye
1:03:01level with us. The proposal really is
1:03:03solid. That's all. That's all. He
1:03:06paused. But Shia Wan, about you
1:03:09returning to HQ, are you sure you're
1:03:11ready? He turned and walked away. Su Wan
1:03:14stood there looking in the direction he
1:03:16left for a long time. "Let's go," I
1:03:19said. She snapped out of it. "Let's go."
1:03:21This time, she didn't offer me a ride.
1:03:23We went our separate ways. Wednesday,
1:03:26the pitch results came out. Jiao Miuan
1:03:29called personally. Boss Su,
1:03:31congratulations. Your team won the bid
1:03:34for the East Side Complex. Su Wan said,
1:03:37"Thank you." and hung up. Then she
1:03:39walked out of her office, stood in front
1:03:41of my desk. Just two words. Xiao Lai was
1:03:46the first to react, slapped at the
1:03:48table, sick. The other colleagues chimed
1:03:51in with congratulations. Chinhao wasn't
1:03:53at his desk. Around noon, word got
1:03:56around. Rita advertising because their
1:03:58proposal was suspected of plagiarism.
1:04:01Was blacklisted from Oceanic Real
1:04:03Estate's vendor list. Jao Minguan also
1:04:06told Suan something else on the phone.
1:04:08Your old draft and Ruda's pitch were way
1:04:11too similar. We discussed it internally.
1:04:14We suggest you take legal action. Legal
1:04:17action. 3 p.m. Our company's HR and
1:04:21legal departments. We're waiting for
1:04:23Chinhao in the conference room. When
1:04:25Chenha pushed the door open and came in
1:04:27in, he saw Su Wan and me sitting inside.
1:04:31His face instantly drained of color. The
1:04:34legal reps laid the evidence on the
1:04:36table. The USB plug-in logs the proposal
1:04:39comparison report. The unique typo from
1:04:41the old draft appearing verbatim in
1:04:43Ruda's proposal. Chenhao, how do you
1:04:46explain this? His lips were dry. He
1:04:49licked them. Coincidence? Both of you
1:04:52typing comprehension rates. Exactly the
1:04:54same as a coincidence, too. Suan asked.
1:04:57He didn't say anything. The whole
1:04:59investigation lasted an hour and a half.
1:05:02Chan Hao finally confessed. He used a
1:05:05spare key to get into the office.
1:05:07Guessed my computer password. It was my
1:05:09birthday. So stupid. Copied the proposal
1:05:12and sent it to Ma'all. I've been in this
1:05:15department for 3 years. 3 years. He
1:05:18suddenly started yelling. You've been
1:05:19here a year and you're stepping all over
1:05:21me. What gives you the right? He pointed
1:05:24at Su Wan. Because of you and her.
1:05:27Chenhao. Wang Minguan<unk>s voice came
1:05:29from the doorway. Who knows when the VP
1:05:31showed up. You're fired. effective.
1:05:34Immediately, pack your things and get
1:05:36out. Chanhao<unk>s face went from pale
1:05:38to ashen. He opened his mouth, but
1:05:41couldn't get any words out. Stood up and
1:05:43walked out. As he passed by me, he
1:05:45paused for a second. You won, but you
1:05:48won't get far. I ignored him and he
1:05:50left. The conference room was quiet for
1:05:52a biddy. Wang Minguan looked at Su Wan
1:05:55and said to me, "The handling of this
1:05:58matter ends here. Tang Yuan, do a good
1:06:00job with the east side complex. Su Wan,
1:06:04he paused. Your transfer order comes
1:06:07down next week. Suan's expression didn't
1:06:09change. Understood. Wang Minguan left.
1:06:12It was just me and Su Wan left in the
1:06:14conference room. Next week? I said. Next
1:06:18week. So that Japanese food we agreed on
1:06:21tonight? She glanced at me. Does tonight
1:06:23work? It works. We didn't go to that
1:06:25same spot last time. Su Wan picked a
1:06:28nicer place. A Japanese club on the 27th
1:06:31floor in the CBD. Requires a reservation
1:06:34outside the Florida ceiling windows. Was
1:06:37the exact skyline I'd seen in her
1:06:39moments. Your place is right around
1:06:40here. I recalled the angle of that post.
1:06:43Not far. The food arrived dish by dish.
1:06:46We ate for a while without really
1:06:48talking. Finally, she spoke first. Tang
1:06:51Yuan. after I leave about me
1:06:54recommending you for a director. VP Wang
1:06:57already tipped me off. I'm not talking
1:06:59about that. Then what? She put down her
1:07:01chopsticks. Those 5 months of allowance
1:07:04money. I never returned it to you.
1:07:06Didn't you say we were even? The mug was
1:07:08just interest. She pulled her phone out
1:07:10of her bag and opened the payment of
1:07:11payment. I've kept the principal the
1:07:13whole time. 2 600. Not a penny less. I
1:07:17looked at the number on the screen. You
1:07:19ever spent it? No. She pushed the phone
1:07:21toward me. I wanted to return it to you,
1:07:24but could never find a good excuse. Why
1:07:26do you need an excuse? Because once I
1:07:29return it, this is really over. I put
1:07:31down my chopsticks and looked at her.
1:07:33The 27th floor night view was behind
1:07:36her, lit up by the entire city. Suan,
1:07:40you don't need to return this money.
1:07:42Why? Because I was just thinking about
1:07:44it. If it weren't for those accidental
1:07:46transfers, I probably would have never
1:07:48said more than 20 sentences to you my
1:07:51entire life. She looked at me. So this
1:07:53two 600 is the most well spent money of
1:07:57my life. She didn't move for several
1:07:59seconds. Then she picked up a piece of
1:08:01salmon and put it in her mouth, mumbling
1:08:04something I almost didn't catch. I think
1:08:06it's well spent, too. After eating, she
1:08:08dropped me off at the subway entrance.
1:08:11This time, I didn't refuse. The car
1:08:14pulled over. The window rolled down. R&D
1:08:17depu is in your hands. I'm not worried.
1:08:19Then at HQ, I have things to do. She
1:08:23glanced at the distant skyline. Joe
1:08:25Yanguo<unk>'s dirty tricks. It's time to
1:08:28dismantle them one by one. You're one
1:08:30person against, not just one person. She
1:08:33looked at me. I found someone I can
1:08:35trust at the branch. I didn't say
1:08:37anything. Hit me up anytime you need
1:08:39something. No need to send allowance
1:08:42money. She paused, sending it works,
1:08:44too. I'm not returning it. With that,
1:08:46she rolled up the window. The car drove
1:08:49off. I stood by the road, watching the
1:08:51tail lightss disappear. This time, I
1:08:53stood there even longer than before. The
1:08:55wind was strong. I pulled up my collar
1:08:57and walked into the subway station. The
1:08:59day Suan left was a Friday. No farewell
1:09:03dinner. No grand ceremony. She packed
1:09:06her last box at 400 p.m. and sent a
1:09:09message in the department group.
1:09:10Colleagues, starting next Monday, R&D
1:09:13depu will be under the acting leadership
1:09:16of Tang Yuan. Work tasks will continue
1:09:19as usual. Bring up any issues in the
1:09:21group anytime. Thank you all for this
1:09:24period until we meet again. A string of
1:09:27take care bossu flooded the chat. Thank
1:09:29you, boss Su. I replied with two words.
1:09:32Take care. She didn't reply to me
1:09:34individually. At 4:30, I saw her walking
1:09:36toward the elevator with her box. I ran
1:09:39out after her, "Suan." She turned
1:09:42around. I took the mug with me. "That
1:09:44was for you." "No, I mean, this is for
1:09:47you." She took a paper bag from on top
1:09:49of her box and handed it to me. I opened
1:09:51it. An original handdrawn illustration
1:09:53of an orange cat auror size already
1:09:56frame exactly the same as the one on the
1:10:00witch avatar, but with an extra line of
1:10:03handwritten text. Third one, in
1:10:06existence. I stood in the hallway
1:10:08holding the frame, watching the elevator
1:10:10doors close in front of her. Tang Yuan,
1:10:13good luck on Monday, the doors shut. I
1:10:15looked down at the drawing. The orange
1:10:17cat was grinning at the third one in
1:10:20existence. The first one went to Tang
1:10:22Xiaawu Yu. The second one she kept, and
1:10:25the third one was for me. I carried the
1:10:27frame back to my desk, placed it on the
1:10:29table right next to the orange cat mug.
1:10:32Jao Lai peeked over the cubicle divider.
1:10:35Tang, bro, you got a whole cat themed
1:10:37workspace going on. Yeah, cat themed. I
1:10:40sat down and opened my laptop, changed
1:10:42my desktop wallpaper to that orange cat.
1:10:45Just over a month ago, I was still
1:10:47stressing over two 600 bucks. Now, Suan
1:10:52is gone, leaving me with a director
1:10:54position, a framed drawing, and
1:10:56something I hadn't even had the chance
1:10:58to say out loud yet. But it's fine, she
1:11:00said to hit her up anytime. Sending
1:11:02allowance works, too. She won't return
1:11:05it. My first week taking over R&D debt
1:11:072. I thought it would be tough. It was
1:11:10actually way harder than I imagined.
1:11:12Chanhao left and left behind a massive
1:11:15mess. The fifth version of the Shani
1:11:18proposal still wasn't hitting the mark.
1:11:20The client was already threatening to
1:11:21switch agencies. Jao Lai and the other
1:11:24two colleagues had decent execution
1:11:26skills, but without a veteran setting
1:11:28the pace. I had to personally oversee a
1:11:31lot of things. The east side complex
1:11:33project entered the execution phase. The
1:11:35client held weekly sync meetings. Xiao
1:11:38Minuan was getting stricter and
1:11:40stricter. On my busiest day, I had four
1:11:43meetings with a client. Only managed to
1:11:44squeeze in a piece of bread and coffee.
1:11:46Got back to the rental at 1000 p.m. Li
1:11:49Jang was already asleep. I showered and
1:11:52lay in bed scrolling through my phone.
1:11:54There was a new post on Suan<unk>s
1:11:56moments. A photo of the HQ office
1:11:58building. Caption, I'm back. a dozen or
1:12:01so likes below it and a comment from
1:12:04Zhao Jianguo. Welcome back. That welcome
1:12:07back didn't look well intentioned from
1:12:08any angle. I thought about it and sent
1:12:11Suana wet chat. How's HQ? Waited 5
1:12:15minutes. She replied, still testing the
1:12:17waters. How are things on your end? The
1:12:19Shanghi client is about to bolt. Xiao li
1:12:23can't handle them. His technical skills
1:12:26are fine, but he's terrible at client
1:12:28relations. Before letting him interface
1:12:30with them, have him nail down the
1:12:32competitor analysis. Didn't the client
1:12:34say, "The previous proposal lacked
1:12:37highlights." The highlight isn't the
1:12:39creative, it's the data differentiation.
1:12:41I left a competitor database previously
1:12:44in the department's shared drive. Dive
1:12:47third level folder. I went and looked.
1:12:50Sure enough, there was a comprehensive
1:12:52competitor database covering six years
1:12:54of data trends for the same category.
1:12:57When did you make this? When I first got
1:12:59to the ranch last year, made it when I
1:13:01had nothing to do. She made a database
1:13:03this massive just because she had
1:13:05nothing to do. I felt like I suddenly
1:13:08understood again just how lonely she was
1:13:11during her first year at the branch.
1:13:13Thanks. Don't mention it. Suan at HQ is
1:13:18Zo Yanguo putting pressure on you. Her
1:13:20typing indicator flashed for a long
1:13:22time. Finally, she sent. I can handle
1:13:24it. I know I can handle it. Usually
1:13:26means it's really tough, but I don't
1:13:28want you to worry. If you need help,
1:13:30just say the word, okay, get some sleep.
1:13:33Another two weeks passed. The east side
1:13:35complex entered the on the ground
1:13:37execution phase. I brought Xiao Le and
1:13:40two others to work on site for a week,
1:13:42overseeing every single aspect of the
1:13:44community engagement event. The results
1:13:45were better than expected. The day the
1:13:48data for the first batch of events came
1:13:50out, Jao Minguan personally sent me a
1:13:52wet chat. conversion rate 147, even
1:13:55higher than the 12% in your proposal. I
1:13:58took a screenshot of that number and
1:14:00sent it to Suan. She replied with one
1:14:02word, sick. Then sent a second message.
1:14:05Tang Yuan, there is something I need to
1:14:08talk to you about. I've run into some
1:14:10issues at HQ. Joang Guo is pushing an
1:14:13M&A deal. He wants to merge your
1:14:15branch's planning business line into a
1:14:17new company he controls. If the M&A goes
1:14:20through, your entire R&D depth 2 will be
1:14:24restructured. I put down my phone.
1:14:26Restructured. I finally start delivering
1:14:29results. And now the whole department
1:14:31might cease to exist. Does VP Wang and
1:14:34know Wang Mingiwan's stance is unclear
1:14:37right now. He's getting pressure from
1:14:39the top too. Then what do we do? You
1:14:42just do your job. The better the numbers
1:14:44for the east side complex, the higher
1:14:47the branch's value and the lower the
1:14:50chance of being merged. Just focus on
1:14:53that for now. I'll figure out away from
1:14:55HQ for the rest. She didn't say anything
1:14:58else. I put my phone on the table, sat
1:15:01in the hotel's on-site office for a long
1:15:03time. Outside the window was the east
1:15:05side complex construction site. A forest
1:15:08of scaffolding. A few highrises had
1:15:11already topped out. I poured three
1:15:13months of my blood, sweat, and tears
1:15:15into this project. I can't let it go to
1:15:17waste. For the next month, I pushed the
1:15:19east side complex to the absolute limit.
1:15:22Personally followed up on every single
1:15:24on the ground avento. Double-ch checked
1:15:26every single set of data. When the data
1:15:28for the second batch of events came out,
1:15:30the overall conversion rate hit 163
1:15:32among projects of the same volume that
1:15:35ranked top five in the industry. Jao
1:15:38Muan during one of the sync meetings
1:15:41said something in front of everyone.
1:15:43I've been in this industry for 17 years.
1:15:46I've seen my fair share of planning
1:15:48teams. Tang Yuan<unk>s team is the most
1:15:50rock solid I've ever seen. Bar none.
1:15:53That quote made its way to Wang
1:15:55Minguan<unk>s ears. Wang Minguan passed
1:15:58it on to HQ. HQ passed it to Zhao
1:16:01Jiangu<unk>s ears. Xiao Yangu<unk>s
1:16:04eminent deal was shelved that same week.
1:16:06not withdrawn, shelfd because the
1:16:09branch's performance was too damn good.
1:16:11Upper management had no grounds to
1:16:13approve the M&A. Suan called me. Not a
1:16:16wet chat audio call, an actual phone
1:16:18call. You saved all of R&D depth too. It
1:16:23wasn't just my doing. There was Xiao and
1:16:26the others, but you carried the East
1:16:29Side complex on your shoulders. Your
1:16:31competitor database gets credit, too.
1:16:33She went quiet for a second. Tang Yuan.
1:16:36Yay. I feel like I owe you more and
1:16:38more. You don't owe me anything. Are you
1:16:41free this Saturday then? What do you
1:16:43mean? I'm coming back for a trip. My
1:16:46hand unconsciously gripped the phone
1:16:48tighter. For what? To treat you to
1:16:50dinner? I still haven't treated you to
1:16:52that Japanese food I promised. You're
1:16:54flying all the way from HQ just to treat
1:16:56me to dinner. Not just for that. I have
1:16:59some work matters to handle while I'm at
1:17:02it. while you're at it. She always says
1:17:05while I'm at it. Like all the nice
1:17:06things she does for me are just while
1:17:08she's at it. Okay, let's go back to that
1:17:11place on the 27th floor. Okay. After
1:17:13hanging up, I realized I was standing up
1:17:16up. I had no idea when I even stood up.
1:17:18Lee Jen was gaming across from me and
1:17:20said, "You're smiling like an idiot." I
1:17:23quickly wiped the look off my face.
1:17:25Saturday 5:00 p.m. I arrived at the
1:17:28Japanese restaurant. Suan was already
1:17:31there. She looked a bit different. Cut
1:17:33her hair short, right down to her chin.
1:17:35New haircut. HQ is fastpaced. Long hair
1:17:39is too much of a hassle to maintain.
1:17:41Looks good. She didn't respond to that.
1:17:43Looked down at the menu. After the food
1:17:45came, we chatted about some company
1:17:47stuff. The political games at HQ were
1:17:49way more complex than at the branch. Ja
1:17:52Yanguo didn't just control one company.
1:17:54His influence in the industry
1:17:56association extended to every link of
1:17:58the supply chain. Taking him down would
1:18:01require a stepbystep approach. Does he
1:18:03know you're going after him now? Of
1:18:05course. He's always known. She picked up
1:18:07a piece of tuna. But he's not sure what
1:18:10I have on him. What do you have on him?
1:18:12A few things. She brushed it off
1:18:15vaguely. It's not enough yet. Still
1:18:17missing a key piece of she looked at me.
1:18:20Do you trust me? I do. Then don't ask.
1:18:23You'll know when the time comes. Halfway
1:18:26through the meal, she put down her
1:18:28chopsticks. Tang Yuan, you've changed a
1:18:31lot in the past 6 months. How so? You
1:18:35talk more, she said. I thought about it.
1:18:38She was right. Before around her, I only
1:18:41spoke 17 sentences in a year and a half.
1:18:44Now I can knock out 17 sentences in one
1:18:46meal. You've changed to how have I
1:18:49changed? You've never asked me do you
1:18:52trust me before stuff like that. She
1:18:55didn't answer. Took a sip of water. One
1:18:58more thing. She pulled an envelope out
1:19:00of her bag. I need your help with the
1:19:01Jaw Jianuo situation. I took the
1:19:04envelope and opened it. It was a
1:19:06document. An internal financial audit
1:19:09summary from Oceanic Real Estate. What
1:19:11is this? Joe Jungo<unk>s investments in
1:19:14Oceanic Real Estate are shady. He moved
1:19:16funds through related party
1:19:18transactions. Jao Minguan found some
1:19:20leads, but he doesn't dare escalate it
1:19:23directly because Juian Guo has people on
1:19:26the board. How did you get this? Jao
1:19:29Minuan trusts you. She looked at me
1:19:32during the East Side complex project.
1:19:34You established a very solid working
1:19:36relationship with him. He gave this to
1:19:38you through me. He gave it to me. He
1:19:41said if someone has to come forward and
1:19:43blow the whistle on this. He wants it to
1:19:45be someone who has no direct conflict of
1:19:48interest with Jao Janguo. He doesn't
1:19:50want it to be seen as but me, an
1:19:53outsider. While executing the east side
1:19:56complex project, you stumbled upon
1:19:58financial anomalies on the client's
1:20:00side. Reporting it to the relevant
1:20:02authorities out of professional ethics
1:20:04is totally justified. I looked at the
1:20:07document. There's risk involved in this.
1:20:09She didn't hide it. But there's also a
1:20:12payoff. If Janguo goes down, Oceanic
1:20:15Real Estate's new management will
1:20:17remember the East Side complex has a
1:20:19phase 2 and phase three. It'll all be
1:20:22yours. I don't care about that. Then
1:20:24what do you care about if this gets
1:20:26traced back to? Was this your plan all
1:20:29along? No. She pushed the envelope
1:20:31toward me. I've been walking this tight
1:20:33rope for 2 years. From the day he pushed
1:20:35me out of HQ, I've been preparing. Every
1:20:39step has been clean. 2 years. Her coming
1:20:41to the branch wasn't a demotion. It was
1:20:44a setup. I looked into her eyes and
1:20:47suddenly felt that the person in front
1:20:49of me was sharper than any version of
1:20:51her. I thought I knew. Tang Yuan, you
1:20:54can choose not to help. This didn't have
1:20:56anything to do with you in the first
1:20:58place. What do you mean? It has nothing
1:21:00to do with me. I put the envelope in my
1:21:03bag. You spent 2 years digging a grave
1:21:05for that guy. I spent 5 months sending
1:21:08you allowance money. Our relationship
1:21:11has been tangled up since the very first
1:21:13transfer. She froze for a second, then
1:21:16smiled for the fifth time. Wait, no,
1:21:18sixth time. I realized I'd lost count.
1:21:21Okay. She stood up. Then I'll head back.
1:21:24There's an important meeting at HQ next
1:21:26week. I'll walk you out and call you a
1:21:28cab. No need. She grabbed her bag,
1:21:30walked to the door, and turned back
1:21:32around. Tangan,
1:21:34have you been sending your sister
1:21:35allowance money lately? 500 every month.
1:21:39On time. You sure you aren't sending it
1:21:41to the wrong person? I triple check
1:21:43every time. Good. She pushed the door
1:21:45open. After all, there are only three of
1:21:48those avatars online. If you send it
1:21:50wrong again, you won't get it back. The
1:21:52door closed. I sat alone by the window
1:21:54on the 27th floor. Outside was that same
1:21:58skyline. That document was sitting right
1:22:00in my bag. I knew that the moment I took
1:22:03it, I went from a regular ad planner to
1:22:06a pawn in this game of chess. But Suan
1:22:09wasn't using me. She was trusting me.
1:22:12What's the difference between trust and
1:22:14being used? It's that she said, "You can
1:22:16choose not to help. Someone using you
1:22:19won't give you a choice." I downed the
1:22:21last sip of sake in my cup and headed
1:22:24downstairs. The next day, I contacted
1:22:26Xiao Minguan. President Xiao. I looked
1:22:29over the materials. I'd like to talk to
1:22:31you in person. Wednesday noon. Usual
1:22:34spot. Wednesday noon. I met him at a
1:22:36cafe near oceanic real estate. I met
1:22:39Ziao Muan. He looked thinner than last
1:22:42time with heavy dark circles behind his
1:22:44glasses. Tang Yuan, I'll say this
1:22:47upfront. I'm giving you these materials
1:22:49in my personal capacity. It has nothing
1:22:52to do with Oceanic Real Estate's
1:22:53official stance. Understood. Joe X Jango
1:22:57used a shell company called Jing Hong
1:23:00during the construction procurement
1:23:01phase of the East Side complex to make
1:23:03over 20 million in inflated purchases. A
1:23:06portion of this money flowed back into
1:23:08his personal accounts. The evidence is
1:23:11solid. The financial data checks out,
1:23:14but go through the whistleblowing
1:23:15process. It needs to be submitted to the
1:23:18industry association's regulatory
1:23:19committee. Coincidentally, the head of
1:23:22the regulatory committee is Xiao
1:23:24Xiango's college classmate. Then going
1:23:26through legal channels works, but it
1:23:29requires a whistleblower and people
1:23:31inside Oceanic. No one wants to stick
1:23:34their neck out, so you're looking for an
1:23:35outsider, and I'm the perfect fit.
1:23:38During your execution of the east side
1:23:40complex, you have a plausible path of
1:23:42discovery. I can assist you provide
1:23:45procurement contracts and payment
1:23:46vouchers, but the signature on the
1:23:48whistleblower letter has to be yours. I
1:23:51leaned back and thought for a moment,
1:23:53President Xiao, let me ask a personal
1:23:56question. Why do you want to take down
1:23:57Zhao Jangu? Xiao Minguan took off his
1:24:00glasses and wiped them. 5 years ago when
1:24:04he forced Suan's father out of the
1:24:06company. I had just joined Oceanic Real
1:24:08Estate. Suan's dad, Su Jiuan, was my
1:24:12interviewer. He was one of the few
1:24:15genuinely clean people I've ever met in
1:24:17this industry. So, this is repaying a
1:24:19debt. You could say that. He put his
1:24:21glasses back on. Tang Yuan, whether
1:24:23you're willing to do this or not, I
1:24:25won't force you. But you need to know if
1:24:28we don't act, Ja Yong Ghoul will swallow
1:24:30up your branch sooner or later. He
1:24:32shelved the M in a deal for now. That
1:24:35doesn't mean he's given up. Once the
1:24:36heater on the east side complex dies
1:24:38down, he'll come back for it. I know
1:24:40very well this isn't a question of
1:24:42whether or not to do it. It's a question
1:24:44of doing it now or later. I'll do it, I
1:24:47said. Jiao Ming Yuan let out a long
1:24:50breath. I'll prep the materials on my
1:24:52end. You draft a whistleblower letter on
1:24:54yours. We'll submit them together in a
1:24:57week. Okay. On the way back to the
1:24:59office, I sent Suan a message. It's a
1:25:03go. Submitting in a week, she replied
1:25:06with three words. Stay safe. I know the
1:25:09weight of those three words was much
1:25:11heavier than get some good rest. A week
1:25:13later, the whistleblower letter was
1:25:16submitted through a lawyer to the market
1:25:18regulatory authorities. Xiao Muan
1:25:21simultaneously submitted Oceanic Real
1:25:23Estate's internal procurement. Audi
1:25:26report. The day after it was sent. There
1:25:29was total radio silence. Nothing on the
1:25:31third day either. On the fourth day, I
1:25:34got a call from an unknown number. Is
1:25:36this Mr. Tang Yuan speaking? Hi, I am
1:25:40President Joe Janguo<unk>s secretary.
1:25:43President Joe would like to invite you
1:25:45to lunch if it's convenient. tomorrow
1:25:48noon. My back stiffened regarding what?
1:25:50President Zhao says he just wants to
1:25:52chat. I hung up the phone and
1:25:54immediately called Su Wan. She said
1:25:57three words. Don't go. Why? He wants to
1:26:00see you alone. It's either to pressure
1:26:02you or buy you off. Either way, you
1:26:05can't meet with him. Once you meet, he
1:26:07can claim you guys negotiated and he'll
1:26:10muddy the waters. Then I'll just refuse.
1:26:13Don't refuse. Tell his secretary. Any
1:26:15communication can go through your
1:26:17lawyer. I did as she said. Another 3
1:26:20days passed. The regulatory authorities
1:26:22sent an official reply. A formal
1:26:24investigation was open. The news spread
1:26:27much faster than I imagined. That
1:26:30afternoon, Wang Minguan called me into
1:26:32his office. His expression was
1:26:34complicated. Hard to tell if he was
1:26:36happy or nervous. Tang Yuan, do you know
1:26:39what you've done? I do. I blew the
1:26:42whistle on the industry association VP's
1:26:44related party transactions. Do you know
1:26:47what that means? It means he might go
1:26:49down and it also means I might get
1:26:51retaliated against Wang Ming Yuan looked
1:26:54at me for a good while. Did Suan tell
1:26:56you to do this? You shouldn't be asking
1:26:58that. I answered harsher than he
1:27:00expected. What you should be asking is
1:27:02whether the evidence is true? He went
1:27:05silent. It's true. He finally said, I've
1:27:08seen it. Then there's no need to ask
1:27:10anything else. Wang Ming Yuan leaned
1:27:12back in his chair. Suddenly looking like
1:27:15a weight had been lifted off him. Tang
1:27:17Yuan, you've got more guts than I did at
1:27:19your age back then when Sujiwan was
1:27:22pushed out. I wanted to speak up, but I
1:27:24didn't. It's not too late to speak up
1:27:26now. He looked at me, then nodded. All
1:27:29right, I'll back you up. I'll get the
1:27:31materials on the branch's end in order.
1:27:34When I walked out of the VP's office, I
1:27:36knew there was no turning back now.
1:27:38Joang Guo probably knew it too because
1:27:41the next day someone showed up at my
1:27:43rental apartment door. It was Ma Chang
1:27:46from Ruida, the guy who stole my
1:27:48proposal. Chenhao's buddy. He was
1:27:50wearing a wrinkled jacket. No expression
1:27:53on his face. Tang Yuan, what are you
1:27:55doing here? Passing on a message, he
1:27:58leaned against the wall. President Xiao
1:28:00says there's still room to turn this
1:28:01around. You withdraw the complaint and
1:28:04he'll let bygones be bygones. You can
1:28:07have phase two and three of the east
1:28:09side complex at a premium price. You're
1:28:12acting as his messenger. I owe him a
1:28:14favor. He sighed. Tang Yuan, I'll be
1:28:17honest with you. A little planner like
1:28:19you going up against Joe Janguo. Are you
1:28:22sure you can win? Do you still have my
1:28:24proposal on you? He froze for a second,
1:28:27deleted it all. Then you can leave. Tell
1:28:30Zhao Yangu. The complaint won't be
1:28:32withdrawn if he wants to send another
1:28:34messenger. Next time, talk directly to
1:28:36my lawyer. Maang looked at me for a good
1:28:39while, then turned and walked away.
1:28:41After two steps, he suddenly turned
1:28:43back. Do you know Suan's dad was just
1:28:47like you back in the day, fearless,
1:28:49uncompromising, ended up getting screwed
1:28:52so hard he couldn't even walk through
1:28:54his own company's doors. And then there
1:28:56is no and then just giving you a heads
1:28:59up. He left. I stood at my apartment
1:29:02door clenched my fists and made a call
1:29:05to su jao yangu sent someone. Her voice
1:29:10instantly shifted. What kind of person?
1:29:12Maang told me to withdraw the complaint.
1:29:15What did you say? Told him to get lost.
1:29:17She went quiet for a few seconds. Tang
1:29:20yuan, you can come back to HQ. What? I
1:29:23requested a position at HQ, senior
1:29:26supervisor of the planning center. This
1:29:28role reports directly to me. If you
1:29:31come, you won't have to stay at the
1:29:33branch and be a target. Suan, if I
1:29:35leave, what happens to the branch? What
1:29:38happens to the east side complex? We can
1:29:41coordinate remotely. You know that won't
1:29:43work. She stopped talking. Suan, when
1:29:46you first came to the branch, someone
1:29:48wanted you gone. Did you leave? No. Then
1:29:51I'm not leaving either. Silence on both
1:29:54ends of the line. You her tone changed
1:29:57to something else. Couldn't tell if it
1:29:59was exasperation or something else. Why
1:30:02are you just as stubborn as your sister
1:30:03says you are? Runs in the Tang family.
1:30:06She didn't try to persuade me anymore.
1:30:08Then be careful. Call me anytime if
1:30:10anything actually happens. Don't try to
1:30:13be a hero. M. I hung up. I sat on the
1:30:16bed looking at the orange cat mug on the
1:30:19desk. From the day Suan left until now I
1:30:22use this mug every day. Never dropped it
1:30:25and don't plan to. The investigation
1:30:27moved way faster than I expected. The
1:30:30regulators summoned Jojanguo three
1:30:32times. Joj Janguo<unk>s legal team tried
1:30:35everything to Blocky, but the materials
1:30:37Xiao Minguan provided were just too
1:30:40solid. Every single fund movement was
1:30:42backed by bank statements. A month
1:30:44later, the industry association issued
1:30:47an official notice. Jao Yangul was
1:30:49suspended from his VP position pending
1:30:51the final investigation results. The day
1:30:54the news broke, Suan sent me a super
1:30:56long chat message. Tang Yuan, I've
1:30:59waited 2 years for today's result. From
1:31:01the day my dad was driven out of the
1:31:03company. I knew I'd have to do this
1:31:06sooner or later. I couldn't have done it
1:31:07alone. Thank you, I replied. You're not
1:31:10alone. She sent an orange cat meme. I
1:31:14saved it. Another two months passed and
1:31:16the final verdict came down. Ja Xiangu
1:31:19was found guilty of related party
1:31:21transactions and bribery. With the total
1:31:23amount exceeding 30 million, he was
1:31:26handed over to the judicial authorities.
1:31:28Oceanic Real Estates Board got a massive
1:31:30shakeup and Xiao Minguan was promoted to
1:31:33executive VP. Our company scored the
1:31:36full contract for phase 2 and phase
1:31:39three of the East Side complex. combined
1:31:42with the revenue from phase 1. The
1:31:44revenue brought in by these three
1:31:46projects accounted for over 40% of last
1:31:49year's total. Wong Minguan announced at
1:31:51the all hands meeting. The director
1:31:53position for R&D depu is no longer
1:31:55acting. Tang Yuan, you're officially
1:31:58promoted. The applause was deafening
1:32:00with Xiao clapping the loudest. After
1:32:04the meeting broke, I stood alone in the
1:32:06hallway for a bit. My phone rang. It was
1:32:08Suan. Congrats. Thanks. How does it feel
1:32:12to be director? Super busy. She
1:32:14chuckled. There's something I need to
1:32:16tell you. HQ approved my proposal to
1:32:18expand the planning center. I've been
1:32:20promoted to deputy director. Congrats.
1:32:22From now on, the branch's planning
1:32:24business line will report directly to
1:32:26me. In other words, she paused. We're
1:32:29officially boss and subordinate now.
1:32:32Except you're the boss and I'm the
1:32:33subordinate. The tables have turned
1:32:36completely. So, I guess you should be
1:32:38transferring the allowance from now on.
1:32:40She completely ignored that. There's an
1:32:42executive meeting at HQ next week. I'm
1:32:45thinking about bringing you along. You
1:32:47can do a debrief as the branch's
1:32:49planning director. Just a quick
1:32:51presentation. Are you free to come to
1:32:53HQ? I am your subordinate. Whatever you
1:32:55say goes. Great. I'll book your flights.
1:32:59Director Sue is lodging out of pocket or
1:33:01comped comped. Where do you want to
1:33:03stay? Anywhere is fine as long as
1:33:05there's a bed. Silence on the line for a
1:33:08second. I've got it booked for you.
1:33:10After hanging up, I realized I was
1:33:12smiling again. Lee Jen shouted from the
1:33:15kitchen on the phone with your boss
1:33:17again. This time you called her
1:33:19director. So damn, she climbs the ladder
1:33:22fast. None of your business. Don't tell
1:33:25me you guys still aren't dating. Just
1:33:27cook your food. Bro, you're blushing. I
1:33:30went into my room and slammed the door
1:33:32shut. The executive meeting at HQ was on
1:33:35Thursday. The hotel Suan booked for me
1:33:38was right across from the HQ office
1:33:40building, just a five-minute walk. I
1:33:42arrived on Wednesday evening. Su Wan was
1:33:45waiting for me in the hotel lobby,
1:33:47looking sharp with her short hair,
1:33:49wearing a dark blue coat and still
1:33:52holding that same thermos. It was a
1:33:543-hour flight. Tired? I'm good. Drop
1:33:57your bags. Let's grab food. She took me
1:34:00to a hot pot restaurant. Hot pot. Didn't
1:34:03you promise Japanese food? Well, you
1:34:05said as long as there's a bed last time,
1:34:08so I figured you didn't have high
1:34:09standards for food either. I do have
1:34:12standards. Having you here is enough.
1:34:15The chopsticks slipped from her hand
1:34:16into the pot. I reached out to fish them
1:34:18out for her. Careful, it's hot. She took
1:34:21the chopsticks without looking at me.
1:34:22Tang Yuan, when did you start acting
1:34:25like this? Acting like what? Like this?
1:34:28She vaguely said like this without
1:34:31explaining further, but I knew it
1:34:33started with the five months of
1:34:34allowance. The cat mug, the framed
1:34:37orange cat drawing, and countless times
1:34:40of we'll talk tomorrow or hit me up
1:34:42anytime. After all these things piled up
1:34:44piece by piece, I became like this, the
1:34:47kind of guy who would tell her, "Having
1:34:49you here is enough." Halfway through the
1:34:51hot pot, she asked me a question. Tang
1:34:54Yuan, have you ever thought about your
1:34:56future? Like work, life, family? I have
1:35:00any specifics? For work, stay at the
1:35:02branch for another 2 years and see if
1:35:04starting my own agency is possible. For
1:35:07life, move into a better apartment. No
1:35:09more roommates. For family. I looked at
1:35:12her, still thinking about it. She didn't
1:35:14push further. After finishing the hot
1:35:16pot, we walked out onto the street. The
1:35:19city where HQ is located is way bigger
1:35:21than the branch city. And the night is
1:35:23much brighter. When we reached the hotel
1:35:26entrance, she stopped. Is the
1:35:28presentation deck ready for tomorrow?
1:35:30Ready? You'll be the only one on stage.
1:35:33I'll be in the audience. Aren't you
1:35:35presenting with me? This is your show. I
1:35:38am not stealing your spotlight. I
1:35:40nodded. Suan, you said you spent 2 years
1:35:43at HQ preparing to deal with Zhao
1:35:45Janguo. Wasn't it exhausting carrying
1:35:48that all by yourself? Her expression
1:35:50softened for a split second. exhausting,
1:35:52but I've gotten used to it. You don't
1:35:54have to be used to it anymore." She
1:35:56looked up at me as the street lights
1:35:58shone down. Her short hair caught a
1:36:00gentle breeze. Are you saying that as a
1:36:03subordinate? No. She stared at me for 3
1:36:06seconds. Then, in what capacity? As the
1:36:10guy who sends you 500 bucks of allowance
1:36:13every month. She burst out laughing.
1:36:15Didn't you say that was a mistake? It
1:36:17was a mistake. But if I could do it all
1:36:19over again, I'd still send it. Do you
1:36:21have any idea what you're saying? I do,
1:36:24Suan. I took a step closer. Are you
1:36:26going to keep accepting my allowances?
1:36:28She lowered her head, twisting the cap
1:36:31of her thermos back and forth and
1:36:33twisting it back again. Depends on how
1:36:36much you send. She raised her head,
1:36:38looking at me intently. A lifetime
1:36:40supply of meals. Warm amber lights
1:36:42spilled out from the hotel lobby's glass
1:36:44doors. In that exact moment, it felt
1:36:47like the entire world shrunk down to
1:36:49just this small patch of light and her
1:36:51standing right inside it. I held out my
1:36:54hand. She looked at my hand, then placed
1:36:56her hand in mine. No more nervous sweat.
1:36:59Her palm was dry and warm. I gripped it
1:37:02tight. Deal. Thursday's highle debrief.
1:37:05I stood alone in HQ's massive conference
1:37:07room facing over a dozen executives
1:37:10presenting the execution and results of
1:37:12the east side complex from the community
1:37:15engagement conversion rates to long-term
1:37:17brand asset growth from data models down
1:37:19to operational details spoke for 40
1:37:22minutes straight without a single sip of
1:37:24water. Two seconds of silence from the
1:37:26audience. Then a massive round of
1:37:29applause broke out. The first one
1:37:31clapping was Suan. She sat in the second
1:37:34row near the aisle, clapping softly but
1:37:36steadily. The director of HQ's planning
1:37:39center. Suan's direct boss stood up and
1:37:43said, "The metrics on this project are
1:37:45top tier across the entire group." Tang
1:37:47Yuan, how old are you? 26. Pulling off
1:37:51an account of this caliber at 26.
1:37:54Impressive stuff. After the meeting,
1:37:56multiple HQ executives came over to swap
1:37:59business cards. Someone asked if I'd
1:38:01consider relocating to HQ. I glanced
1:38:03over at Su Wan. She was talking to
1:38:06someone, but caught my eye with a subtle
1:38:08look and gave a microscopic shake of her
1:38:11head. I smiled, not considering it for
1:38:13now. Still got a lot of unfinished
1:38:15business at the branch. That evening,
1:38:18Suan invited a few people from HQ
1:38:21Planning Center out for dinner, bringing
1:38:23me along. Someone joked during dinner.
1:38:25Director Sue, you poach a total gem from
1:38:28the branch. Su Wan raised a glass and
1:38:31said, "I didn't poach him. He grew
1:38:33entirely on his own." After the dinner
1:38:35wrapped up, we walked along the main
1:38:37street in front of the HQ building. "You
1:38:40crushed it today. You've said that three
1:38:43times already," I said. "Good things
1:38:45deserve repeating." She took a few more
1:38:48steps, then suddenly spun around to face
1:38:50me. "Tang Yuan, about last night."
1:38:53"Which part?" "The deal part. What about
1:38:55it? Are you sure?" more certain than
1:38:57sending allowance. She stared at me for
1:39:00a few seconds, then lightly tapped my
1:39:03arm with her thermos, then make sure to
1:39:05let your sister know when you get back.
1:39:07Tell her what? Tell her she's officially
1:39:09getting a sister-in-law. I was
1:39:11completely stunned. She had already
1:39:13turned and walked ahead. I chased after
1:39:15her. Suan,
1:39:18don't walk so fast. I'm not finished.
1:39:20Finished with what? If you're going to
1:39:22be her sister-in-law, you got to meet my
1:39:24mom. Her pace slowed down a bit. When
1:39:26are we heading back to your hometown?
1:39:28Mid-autumn festival. Is your mom
1:39:30easygoing? She only has one requirement.
1:39:33What's that? Can't be too skinny. Her
1:39:36footsteps ground to a complete halt.
1:39:38Then she spun around to face me, doing
1:39:40something I'd never seen her do before.
1:39:42She gently rested her head on my
1:39:44shoulder just for two or three seconds,
1:39:46then pulled away and walked toward the
1:39:49hotel without looking back. I stood on
1:39:51that massive avenue with the bright
1:39:53lights of the HQ building overhead and
1:39:56night commuters bustling past behind me.
1:39:58I whipped out my phone and sent Tang Xu
1:40:01a wet chat message. Xiao Yu, what's up?
1:40:04That orange cat avatar of yours. The
1:40:07artist's name is good night orange cat,
1:40:10right? Yeah, why? That artist is
1:40:13probably going to be your sister-in-law.
1:40:15No reply for a solid minute. Then a
1:40:18title wave of texts from Tang Sea Yu
1:40:21flooded in. What? You mean the orange
1:40:24catgirl? That gorgeous girl. Bro, you've
1:40:27got serious gain. How did you even pull
1:40:29that off? I texted back, chased her with
1:40:32allowance money. Wait, what does that
1:40:34mean? I'll tell you later. No, you have
1:40:37to tell me right now. Tang Yuan, get
1:40:40your butt back here. I put my phone away
1:40:42and headed back to the hotel for
1:40:44mid-autumn festival. I brought Suan
1:40:46home. I spent the 3 hours on the bullet
1:40:48train giving her a pep talk. Just answer
1:40:51whatever my mom asks. Don't be nervous.
1:40:54She can be blunt, but she means well.
1:40:56Suan kept a total poker face the whole
1:40:59time. Tang Yuan. I've negotiated $30
1:41:02million deals. Attended industry summits
1:41:05and gone head-to-head with Zhao Janguo.
1:41:08It's just meeting the parents. I'm not
1:41:10nervous. You screwed your thermos lid on
1:41:12backwards. She looked down and silently
1:41:16fixed it. The moment we reached the
1:41:18door, Tang Xi Au was the first to burst
1:41:21out. The second she saw Su Wan. She let
1:41:25out the kind of high-pitched squeal only
1:41:27a 20-year-old college girl could make.
1:41:29Oh my god, girl. It's really you. Wow,
1:41:32you look way better than your pictures.
1:41:34Suan was completely caught off guard by
1:41:38this intense energy and froze at the
1:41:40door. My mom walked out of the kitchen,
1:41:43still wearing her apron. She scanned
1:41:45Suan up and down three times. Not too
1:41:48skinny. With just that one line, Suan's
1:41:52shoulders visibly relaxed. At the dinner
1:41:54table, Tang Xiaoyu couldn't take her
1:41:57eyes off Su Wan. So, girl, how did you
1:42:00even meet my brother? Your brother sent
1:42:02me allowance money for 5 months
1:42:04straight. I almost slid right off my
1:42:06chair. Wait, what? Tang Xiao Yu looked
1:42:09at me. So, that was the person you
1:42:12transferred it to by mistake. Turns out
1:42:14it was my sister-in-law all along. She
1:42:16wasn't my sister-in-law back then. I
1:42:18tried desperately to explain, but you
1:42:21never asked for it back. Tango, you
1:42:23pointed at me. You literally told me you
1:42:26were going to get it back from them. I
1:42:28thought about it later and figured
1:42:29whatever. My mom finally put the pieces
1:42:32together. She looked at me and said,
1:42:34"Dumb luck strikes again." Then she
1:42:36turned to Suan. Is work busy? pretty
1:42:39busy. Even if you're busy, you got to
1:42:41eat. Look at how thin your arms are,
1:42:43Mom. My mom stopped talking, but she
1:42:46still insisted on pilot three pork ribs
1:42:49into Suan's bowl. After dinner, Tang Yau
1:42:54pulled Suwa onto the living room couch
1:42:56to check, acting like besties who'd
1:42:58known each other for 10 years. I was in
1:43:00the kitchen helping my mom wash dishes.
1:43:03If only your dad were still here. My mom
1:43:05suddenly sighed. My dad passed away
1:43:07three years ago. A sudden heart attack.
1:43:10If he saw you with such a capable
1:43:12girlfriend, he'd be thrilled. I said
1:43:15nothing. Just slotted the plate onto the
1:43:18drying rack. What do you think of her? I
1:43:20think she's carrying a heavy burden. My
1:43:22mom dried her hands and glanced at me. A
1:43:24girl like her is amazing. Sure, but you
1:43:27need to look out for her. Don't let her
1:43:29shoulder everything on her own. I know
1:43:32you don't know, Jack. My mom's face
1:43:34dropped. Your dad said he knew back
1:43:36then, too. And look what happened. Never
1:43:38told me a single thing when stuff went
1:43:40down. By the time he was gone, I was
1:43:42completely in the dark. She turned her
1:43:44back to me. I stood in the kitchen
1:43:47staring at her silhouette, then walked
1:43:49out. As I passed the living room, I saw
1:43:52Suan and Tang Sea Yu huddling together,
1:43:56looking at a phone. Looks like they were
1:43:59scrolling through Suan's orange cat
1:44:01drawings. Hearing my footsteps, Suan
1:44:04looked up at me. I flashed her a thumbs
1:44:06up sign. She looked back down, her ears
1:44:08flushing red again. A lot happened over
1:44:10the next year. The East Side complex
1:44:13phase 2 hit a 78% sales rate in its
1:44:16first month, shattering the historical
1:44:18record for the entire East Side area.
1:44:20When Xiao Minguan from Oceanic Real
1:44:22Estate called me up, he said, "Choosing
1:44:25your team was easily one of the best
1:44:27decisions I've ever made." Joangu's case
1:44:30went through the legal system. The court
1:44:32ruled him guilty of illegal related
1:44:33party transactions in the first trial
1:44:35involving a staggering 34 million,
1:44:38sentencing him to 6 years in prison the
1:44:41day the news dropped. Suan went alone to
1:44:44her dad's old office building. It had
1:44:46already been liquidated and turned into
1:44:48a convenience store. She sent me a photo
1:44:50underneath the store storefront sign.
1:44:52There was an old heavily faded plaque
1:44:54that read Sue's planning my dad's
1:44:57company. I know Zho Jianguo is locked up
1:45:00now, but my dad's company is never
1:45:02coming back. I didn't say generic crap
1:45:04like everything will be fine because
1:45:07some things genuinely won't ever fix
1:45:08themselves. What's gone is gone.
1:45:11Instead, I said, "Suan, everything
1:45:14you're building right now is the new
1:45:16SU's planning," she replied with a long
1:45:19string of ellipses. Then added, "When
1:45:22did you get so smooth with your words?
1:45:24I've been learning from you for 2 years.
1:45:27It's been over 2 years, she corrected
1:45:29me. 2 years and 3 months, counting from
1:45:32the first time you messed up the
1:45:33transfer. That night, we stayed on the
1:45:35phone for 40 minutes, not talking about
1:45:38anything serious at all, just shooting
1:45:40the breeze. She complained that the
1:45:42landscaping at HQ sucked and that there
1:45:44were only highrises outside her window.
1:45:47I mentioned the ranch cafeteria hired a
1:45:49new chef and the food tasted way better
1:45:51now. She said she drew a new orange cat
1:45:54avatar for herself. I told her the
1:45:56orange cat mug on my desk had cracked a
1:45:58bitter, but I glued it back together and
1:46:01it was still usable. Just throw it out.
1:46:04I'll mail you a new one. No way. Why?
1:46:07It's sentimental. You're so clingy.
1:46:10Always clinging to old things. She
1:46:12didn't follow up on that thread, but the
1:46:15very next day, I received a package, a
1:46:18brand new orange cat mug with a note on
1:46:21the bottom. Mug hash 2. Don't break this
1:46:23one. I put the old one and the new one
1:46:26side by side on my desk. Xiao yolked my
1:46:29desk, looked like a cat cafe. A year
1:46:32later, Suan made director and I worked
1:46:35my way up to branch VP. The east side
1:46:37complex phase 3 wrapped up construction,
1:46:40becoming one of the city's definitive
1:46:42landmark projects. Xiao Muan from
1:46:44Oceanic Real Estate gave a speech at the
1:46:47phase 3 completion ceremony. This
1:46:49project took 3 years from its initial
1:46:52approval to completion. Over these three
1:46:54years, I witnessed a team start
1:46:56completely from scratch, building a
1:46:58regular commercial hub step by step into
1:47:01the absolute future of this city. Tang
1:47:04Yuan, who climbed from supervisor to VP,
1:47:07and Su Wan, who made her way from the
1:47:09branch to HQ. They proved one thing in
1:47:12this line of work. The most valuable
1:47:14asset isn't creative ideas, nor is it
1:47:17resources. It's having someone you can
1:47:20truly trust. The crowd erupted in
1:47:22applause. Su Wan stayed in the crowd and
1:47:25didn't go up on stage. After the
1:47:27ceremony, I found her. Why didn't you go
1:47:30up? Having you up there is enough. You
1:47:32always say that. Because it's true. We
1:47:35walked out of the venue. It was a
1:47:37beautiful sunny afternoon outside. The
1:47:39three towers of the east side complex
1:47:41gleamed as the sunlight reflected off
1:47:43the glass curtain walls. She stood right
1:47:45at the edge of the shadow and the light
1:47:48looking up. Tang Yuan, do you still
1:47:50remember the exact day you first sent me
1:47:53that allowances? September 1st. Wow. You
1:47:56even remember the date? Of course I do.
1:47:59It was Tang Xiaawyu<unk>s first day of
1:48:01school. I always sent her a chunk of
1:48:03change on her first day, but it ended up
1:48:05going to me. And that's how I ran into
1:48:07you. She turned to look at me, the
1:48:09sunlight hitting her face. Her eyes were
1:48:12incredibly bright. From now on, she
1:48:14said, you don't need to send me
1:48:15allowance anymore. Why? Because our
1:48:18money is going to be pulled together
1:48:19anyway. She pulled a small red booklet
1:48:21out of her bag. A marriage registry
1:48:23booklet already signed on her end. When
1:48:26did you even last week while you were
1:48:29away on a business trip? She flipped to
1:48:31the first page to show me. Her name was
1:48:33already written in the applicant slot.
1:48:34Sign it first in case you try to back
1:48:37out. I took the booklet and looked at
1:48:39it, then snapped it shut and tucked it
1:48:42into my bag. Suan M. Seriously, you
1:48:46never let me be the first to speak up
1:48:48about anything, do you? She said,
1:48:51totally justified because you talk way
1:48:53too little with your track record of 17
1:48:56sentences. I'd be waiting until
1:48:58retirement for you to make a move. I
1:49:00burst out laughing, laughing out loud,
1:49:02right in front of the entrance to the
1:49:04east side complex. She started laughing
1:49:06too. Sunlight, glass curtain walls, a
1:49:10little red book, and that orange cat
1:49:12profile picture that had been
1:49:14accompanying me on Witch for two whole
1:49:16years. That night, I shot Tang Xu Yu a
1:49:19text. Seaw Yu, your sister-in-law is
1:49:22officially online. What's that supposed
1:49:24to mean? We got our marriage booklet.
1:49:26What? Then came a solid minute of her
1:49:28spamming my notification. The last
1:49:30notification was a voice note from her.
1:49:32I clicked to play it. She was literally
1:49:34balling her eyes out on the other end.
1:49:37Bro, someone finally wants you. I'm so
1:49:40incredibly moved. I a saw. Suan leaned
1:49:44over and caught a snippet of it. She
1:49:47smiled. Your sister is so adorable. Just
1:49:50ignore her until she's done balling. 5
1:49:52years later, Su Jan and I started our
1:49:56own agency in the city where the branch
1:49:58office was located. We named it Goodn
1:50:00Night Planet. Suanpicked it. Why not
1:50:03call it Sue's planning? I asked. Sue's
1:50:06planning belonged to my dad. She said
1:50:09this agency belongs to both of us. In
1:50:11our first year, we took on three
1:50:13projects and made 8 million in revenue.
1:50:16Our revenue tripled in the second year.
1:50:18By the third year, we won the industry
1:50:21award for top 10 creative agencies. Jao
1:50:24Minuan became one of our biggest
1:50:25clients. The vast majority of oceanic
1:50:28real estate's subsequent accounts were
1:50:31handed straight over to goodn night
1:50:33planning. After Tangg Xiao Wu finished
1:50:35grad school, she joined us as our
1:50:37copyrightiting director. On her very
1:50:39first day, she covered a whole wall of
1:50:41her office in orange cat stickers. Li
1:50:44Jang also joined the crew later to run
1:50:46operations. He constantly complains that
1:50:48Suan is too strict, but never dares to
1:50:51say it to her face. Jao Lai followed me
1:50:53over from the branch office and became
1:50:56our project director. We placed two
1:50:58orange cat plushies at the front desk,
1:51:00one big and one small. They were
1:51:02customordered from a factory based on
1:51:05Suan's drawings. Whenever clients visit,
1:51:08they always ask, "Is your corporate
1:51:10mascot a cat?" I always say, "Yeah, it's
1:51:13a cat we mistakenly send allowance to
1:51:15and could never get back." Nobody ever
1:51:17gets it. But Suan gets it. Every single
1:51:21time someone asks that question, she
1:51:23gives me a knowing look. That look holds
1:51:25a 500 buck transaction, a customized
1:51:29mug, a framed drawing that was the third
1:51:31copy in existence, an afternoon spent
1:51:33faking composure. Add a networking
1:51:36event, a pitch, a whistleblower letter,
1:51:39a hot pot meal, a little red book, and
1:51:42the complete story of our two years. No,
1:51:455 years. No. All the years to come. When
1:51:48we get home at night, our daughter
1:51:50bounds off the couch. Daddy. Mommy.
1:51:53She's 2 and a half. Still a bit wobbly
1:51:56on her feet and throws herself into
1:51:58Suan's arms. Were you good today? Suan
1:52:01picks her up. Super good. Auntie drew
1:52:03kitties for me. Tang Xiu pokes her head
1:52:06out from the kitchen. Hey, I drew them
1:52:08completely by hand. Even though they're
1:52:10not as good as the ones my sister-in-law
1:52:12draws. Suan carries our Dula over to the
1:52:15window. Outside is the city skyline.
1:52:18It's pretty much the exact same angle as
1:52:21the photo I saw in her moments for the
1:52:22first time, except now this is our home.
1:52:26She turns around to look at me. Tang
1:52:28Yuan, you made an absolute killing on
1:52:30those two 600 bucks back then, huh? A
1:52:33principal investment of 2600 with a
1:52:36return. I take a look at her and then a
1:52:39look at our daughter. That is completely
1:52:41infinite. She turns back around, burying
1:52:44her face in our daughter's hair, but I
1:52:46can see her shoulders shaking. She's
1:52:48smiling. The city outside lights up. The
1:52:51orange cat mugs. The earliest one with a
1:52:53crack sits at the very top of the
1:52:55bookshelf. Right next to it is the
1:52:57second one. And right next to that is
1:52:59the third one, the tiny one. Suan Drew,
1:53:03the year our daughter was born with text
1:53:06on the dark base. Mug hash three. Don't
1:53:08break this one. Three orange cats
1:53:11sitting in a neat row standing in the
1:53:13warm light of the living room. I take it
1:53:15all in. Suddenly, I think if I hadn't
1:53:18sent those 500 bucks to the wrong
1:53:20account. If our two avatars hadn't been
1:53:22identical. If she had just refunded the
1:53:25money right away, then none of this
1:53:27would exist right now. But as it
1:53:29happens, she didn't refund it. As it
1:53:32happens, she waited for me to notice. As
1:53:34it happens, I noticed. And as it
1:53:37happens, after noticing, I didn't ask
1:53:40for it back. Some stories start with a
1:53:43mistake, but the best possible ending is
1:53:45turning that mistake into the perfect
1:53:48reality.

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