Shell felt like he had accidentally stumbled upon some big news.
He had always suspected that the boss didn't particularly like Ji Mi, after all Ji Mi was too green and neither his appearance nor his style seemed to be the type He Jingyan usually favored.
But he was perfect for a sudden crush, wasn't he?
With this thought, Shell felt like he had opened the door to a whole new world.
"Shell?" Ji Mi interrupted his daydreaming.
"It's nothing," Shell realized Ji Mi was completely unaware of the situation and didn't dare to betray He Jingyan's secret.
He habitually wanted to pat Ji Mi's shoulder, but forcibly restrained himself, making up a random excuse to brush it off.
Ji Mi thought Shell was just being weird and didn't look into his flustered behavior.
At noon, the weather was bright and sunny. The four of them carried their trays to eat in the garden. Shell was again overly attentive in serving food to Ji Mi, to the point where Ji Mi began to suspect if Shell had done something to wrong him.
After lunch, they packed a sandwich to feed their workaholic boss.
He Jingyan had been in a long meeting since the morning. The topic was rather complex and the meeting was still ongoing.
Seeing that the secretaries were on a tight schedule, Ji Mi offered to wait there himself.
Finding it boring while waiting, he wanted to chat with Fu Qianyao, but watched helplessly as his friend was called into the meeting room for questioning.
When Fu Qianyao saw him in the hallway, he shook hands with Ji Mi tremblingly, looking quite tragic, as if he had washed his neck clean and was ready to meet his doom.
Having lost his friend to be his "electronic pet", Ji Mi went to find Jing.
[I'm so sleepy after lunch, but my boss is still working hard. I really want to knock him out and drag him to rest for a while.]
[Sigh, it's tough. When he speaks, the leaders on the other side get so nervous their faces turn pale. Who could imagine what kind of life I'm living every day?]
Jing: [If your boss isn't making you work with him, why don't you take a nap?]
Ji Mi exaggerated: [I'm acting as his personal bodyguard.]
Looking at the slender wrists in Ji Mi's profile picture, Jing couldn't imagine how much use this bodyguard could be.
He questioned: [If the other side gangs up on him, what's your job?]
Ji Mi directly gave up on medical treatment for his boss: [I'll call the crematorium.]
Seeing Jing so energetic, he was curious: [Don't you have a lunch break over there?]
Jing replied: [I have some work now, others are assigning blame.]
Ji Mi was confused: [Then why are you playing on your phone?]
Jing: [The content is too boring, I get sleepy if I listen too much, so I've been secretly playing Fight the Landlord to stay awake.]
Ji Mi: "..."
Wait, how has he not been fired with this work attitude?
Puzzled, he couldn't help but glance into the meeting room through the semi-transparent wall.
After four hours of meeting, others were visibly struggling, while He Jingyan's reaction was utterly ordinary.
He sat there seriously, twirling a pen between his fingers, his gaze fixed on the PowerPoint presentation on the screen.
Probably handling multiple tasks at once, He Jingyan occasionally glanced at his phone, tapping it under the table with an indifferent expression.
Then, noticing Ji Mi outside, he told the organizer to take a five-minute break.
Others started drinking water or moving around, some even brought in bowls of noodles.
Ji Mi handed him the sandwich and heard him say, "Help me buy a cup of coffee."
With the prospect of a housing allowance raise, Ji Mi's consciousness had improved, so he asked for the most expensive cup at the beverage shop.
The server apologetically said, "I'm sorry, we're out of coffee today. Would you like some milk tea instead?"
Since He Jingyan didn't have any dietary restrictions, Ji Mi agreed to change the order.
However, not knowing which toppings He Jingyan preferred, Ji Mi generously asked the server to add all of them.
Ji Mi hadn't quite realized that whether it was getting food at the cafeteria or adding toppings to drinks, as long as it was dine-in, he could benefit from his good looks, often getting portions nearly double the normal amount.
Two minutes later, Ji Mi received a cup of eight-treasure porridge.
As it was entering winter, he had ordered the warm version.
The paper cup obscured the contents inside, and when Ji Mi received it, he felt the portion was a bit off, but didn't think much of it.
In the elevator, Ji Mi announced to Jing: [Now I've been promoted from personal bodyguard to top-tier milk maid.]
On the other side, He Jingyan suddenly coughed a few times.
"Delay?" The person next to him immediately looked over.
He Jingyan flipped his phone face down on the table and shook his head, "It's nothing, just choked a bit."
"Do you need me to get you some water? The pantry is right next door," Fu Qianyao asked, looking ready to stand up at any moment.
He Jingyan didn't need to be waited on like this and indicated it wasn't necessary.
While waiting for Ji Mi to return, he stared at the message mī had sent, utterly baffled.
What kind of department full of demons and monsters was this, with such a bizarre relationship between superiors and subordinates?
At first, mī cursing his boss seemed relatively normal, then it evolved to being a hitman, and now it had turned into breastfeeding?
He replied: [Do you need me to call 110 for you? Does your boss really not need to be investigated?]
At this moment, Ji Mi's attitude towards He Jingyan was extremely good, saying: [Being his subordinate is awesome.]
After sending this message, he pushed open the door of the meeting room.
As they were about to discuss some technical iteration modules, He Jingyan asked him to sit in for a while, so Ji Mi sat down nearby.
"They were out of coffee, so I bought milk tea," Ji Mi explained.
Speaking of which, could this drink even be classified as a milk product? He Jingyan was skeptical.
But when he lowered his head to take a sip, he couldn't suck anything up, for the first time in his life doubting his own lung capacity.
He stared at the cup as if observing an unknown creature: "What is this thing?"
Ji Mi said: "Added red beans, pearls, pudding, and I think some grass jelly too, just a little bit of each. You can see which one you like and we can order it next time."
It turned out he had brewed a pot of high-calorie hodgepodge for himself, He Jingyan nearly had his blood sugar spike.
In front of so many people, he couldn't say much. Just as he was thinking of catching Ji Mi after the meeting to talk, Ji Mi approached him first.
"How was it?" Ji Mi was asking about the taste.
He Jingyan's cheeks hurt from drinking: "I feel like I'm about to evolve as a species."
Ji Mi said: "Was it so delicious you're about to ascend?"
He Jingyan twitched his lips: "I can eat five pearls in one sip, I'm about to turn into a peashooter."
Ji Mi: "..."
Then he discovered that He Jingyan was still a bit annoying. Not content with just saying it, he went and changed his default avatar on OC.
When Ji Mi refreshed, he saw a green peashooter next to the name "Delay".
Ji Mi: "."
He silently expressed his protest by changing his own to SpongeBob, the dehydrated and dejected version.
After a while, He Jingyan didn't come to talk to him, but had clearly noticed this little action.
When Ji Mi checked again, that peashooter had already turned into Mr. Krabs!
"He Jingyan," he really couldn't stand this person's antics anymore and called out his boss's full name.
But when he turned to look at the office, He Jingyan wasn't inside.
·
"I know everything now!" Shell said to He Jingyan with a heavy heart.
He Jingyan was in the pantry pouring a large glass of lemon water to cut the grease, when he saw Shell seriously blocking the doorway, almost thinking his secretary was about to stage a rebellion on the spot.
"What do you know?" he asked, puzzled.
Shell spoke with tears in his words: "I thought you were increasing my benefits because you saw how miserable I was, but I was wrong all along, you didn't have a change of heart at all!"
He Jingyan sneered: "Sleeping in a 23,000 yuan apartment, where exactly are you miserable?"
Shell spoke with hidden meaning: "So little Ji assistant living in Tangjing is the one who really softened your heart, huh."
He Jingyan had originally been about to walk out, but hearing this, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"I'm not wrongly accusing you, am I? You must have sent him home on Saturday! And you've gone out to play together before, right?" Shell interrogated.
He Jingyan didn't understand how he had guessed this. If being tricked into a gay bar and Ji Mi running over to rescue him counted as going out to play together.
Shell proudly explained: "Although I didn't check the surveillance footage, I've been in love before!"
He Jingyan said calmly: "That day we went to see Yin Qian and the others. It would have been too late for Ji Mi to take the subway home, so I just gave him a ride since it was on the way."
"And after dropping him off, you were still thinking about it, so you asked me about his rent," Shell added.
He Jingyan said, "The previous benefits were unreasonable. The group advertises this as a high-tech industry with high-income employees, but in reality, they're crammed into old, shabby apartments... The high turnover rate in the industry is closely related to their living conditions."
Moreover, making games is undeniably hard work, with little time for rest.
If employees are treated as disposable resources, few will stay in the long run, let alone establish a comprehensive talent development path.
The internet industry's increasingly competitive campus recruitment packages follow a similar logic.
He Jingyan had noticed the housing issue and asked HR to discuss it. The proposal passed the board's approval without any questionable aspects.
"You really don't have any ulterior motives?" Shell asked.
He Jingyan looked at him, puzzled. "You think I'm lovesick?"
Shell remembered He Jingyan's previous attitude towards those obsessed with love. He had privately commented: "It's a bit stupid."
"I was planning to blackmail you for hush money, but since you're being so upfront, I suppose it wouldn't matter if I told Ji Mi everything?" Shell said.
He Jingyan paused, then asked, "How much do you want?"
Shell almost burst out laughing. "If you have nothing to hide, what are you afraid of?"
"It's better to avoid unnecessary trouble," He Jingyan replied.
Shell conceded, unable to press further.
He declared he wanted pizza for dinner and made He Jingyan treat him.
He Jingyan returned to his office, glancing at his dejected assistant before entering.
Sensing he was being watched, Ji Mi straightened his back, configuring his work environment while pretending to focus on his workstation.
"SpongeBob?" He Jingyan called out to him.
Ji Mi retorted, "I have my own name, with two characters!"
"Sponge?" He Jingyan teased deliberately.
Seeing no response from Ji Mi, but noticing the keyboard being hit harder, He Jingyan said in an affected tone, "Baby?"
At this, "Baby" lost his temper and shooed him into the office.
In the evening, Fu Qianyao asked Ji Mi if he was busy. Today was the NLP lab's health day, and everyone was leaving work on time.
Fu Qianyao messaged: [Remember Plum you asked about? Want me to take you there?]
Ji Mi didn't dare mention that he had not only been there but had also taken his boss to experience it, resulting in He Jingyan being scorned by the bartender.
Recalling the wild scenes from that night, he felt a bit eager.
However, Ji Mi glanced at his computer screen. Compared to going to a bar, he preferred working.
He could feel recognition and value in this career, which was a precious gain. Many people merely sell their time for wages, but he also found joy in his work.
It's just that the boss was a bit irritating, Ji Mi pondered, but couldn't think of a way to handle him.
Back at his rented place, despite the neighbor still on voice chat playing games, he was in high spirits.
With no close friends or family to share with, he told an online friend: [Our company increased our benefits, I'm so happy.]
Jing, seeing him quickly come online, replied: [Your boss finally weaned you off?]
Ji Mi, no longer maintaining his previous composure, pleaded: [I don't want to talk about him on such a joyous day.]
[This afternoon he came to bother me, but I struck back hard. People from other departments nearly faint when they see him.]
After typing this, Ji Mi felt he wasn't really spreading rumors.
Driving the boss back to his own desk was quite an achievement, and during meetings, some colleagues sitting across from He Jingyan were visibly shaking as they spoke.
On the other side, He Jingyan truly didn't understand how there could be such an unpopular executive right under his nose in the business group.
"Are you sure I'm the only one with a bad reputation in the group?" he asked Fang Xiyun.
Fang Xiyun replied, "There are plenty who play mind games and engage in infighting. What aspect are you referring to?"
He Jingyan hesitated, then said, "Poor character, harassing people everywhere?"
Fang Xiyun shrugged, "I really don't know about that. Has a victim approached you? This goes all the way up to the president's level?"
Busy writing his proposal, he said without looking up, "For serious cases, file immediately. For others, follow the complaint process, let people recover emotionally first..."
He Jingyan couldn't figure out mi's exact situation, but felt the other party indeed needed some comfort.
He had seen others handle similar disputes before and recalled the standard phrases, even logging into the intranet to check the records.
He Jingyan compiled these and sent them to mi.
mi asked: [Are you trying to comfort me?]
Jing: [You could say that.]
mi: [I missed out on a lot tonight, didn't even go out with my friends.]
Jing: [Should I send more inspirational quotes?]
Reading this, Ji Mi smiled.
He thought Jing was a bit silly, not very good at consoling people, but found this side of him quite amusing.
Thinking of the performance he hadn't finished watching, Ji Mi felt that inspirational quotes were too bland. Losing interest, he said: [Never mind.]
[But how about...]
[Showing some abs?]