The screen and keyboard between online friends sometimes reduce inhibitions.
Typically introverted people may become talkative, while usually calm individuals might act wild everywhere, since no one knows each other offline anyway.
However, this was Ji Mi's first time speaking so boldly.
Besides his quickened heartbeat and tense body, while waiting for the other's response, he couldn't help but gasp, wondering if he had lost his mind.
Ji Mi took a sip of mineral water to calm his emotions, forcibly shifting his attention.
The laptop in front of him had been with him for six years, running slowly, with the fan making a muffled sound under the strain.
Listening to the noisy startup of the machine, Ji Mi clicked on the [Xiao Hong Assistant] on the desktop.
He chose remote in the function type, entering his office IP and password.
This computer had a high network latency rate. Having gotten used to the company's new equipment, he truly understood what it meant to go from luxury to frugality.
He used to not mind the lag much before, but now he got bored after waiting just a few seconds.
Ji Mi's gaze drifted back to his phone, the Cute Heart interface flickered, and a new message popped up right on cue.
Jing: [Oh.]
Jing: [Are you interested in office romance?]
This handsome guy skipped over the compliment about his physique, perhaps out of shyness, or maybe because he was used to being praised and no longer cared.
The topic he brought up was so shocking that Ji Mi felt struck by lightning just imagining it.
So Ji Mi refuted quickly, like a cat accidentally rolled into a sweater, its fur standing on end from static electricity.
[Of course not!]
Jing found it somewhat amusing: [Then why did you notice whether he has muscles or not?]
To defend his innocence, Ji Mi didn't hesitate to throw his boss under the bus: [If he's too weak, I can't help but worry.]
Jing: [Quite humanitarian of you.]
Ji Mi: [I'm concerned he might die halfway through his career, like the founding emperor.]
Hearing this, Jing sensed Ji Mi's attitude.
Jing analyzed coolly: [You don't seem to like this boss very much.]
Ji Mi really didn't want to reminisce about He Jingyan, so he changed the subject abruptly: [If you were a boss, would you be upset if your subordinates disliked you?]
Jing clearly didn't care much about this aspect: [I'd rather they didn't like me too much.]
Ji Mi: "..."
He stared at this line of text, propping up his head and blinking.
Just then, the computer successfully connected remotely, and he sat up straight in front of the screen, immersing himself in work.
He found the unfinished monthly report from the development team, opened the auxiliary tool for making tables, divided various games by track type, and sorted out the milestone external data for each group.
Ji Mi worked diligently and patiently, burying himself in it for half a day. The chatter and laughter of a couple on a voice call from the room on the right didn't disturb him at all.
When he looked away from the computer again, it was already 1:30 in the morning.
The couple was still on their long phone call, probably playing games together. The guy would occasionally yell out "Watch me dominate!"
The noise wasn't heard by Ji Mi alone. Soon, another roommate opened their door and shouted, unable to bear it any longer.
"Are you an idiot? Do you absolutely have to leave your last words? Why the fuck in the middle of the night?"
Silence fell, and the night became quiet.
Ji Mi had always been well-behaved and considerate since childhood, always treading carefully. Knowing the poor soundproofing here, he became even more cautious when showering.
He didn't lazily accumulate dirty clothes in the hamper, but washed them and wanted to hang them on the large balcony outside. However, it was already filled with a long row of other people's underwear and socks.
They were probably roughly stuffed into the washing machine, dumped with a bunch of detergent, spun for a few cycles and then ignored. They were wrinkled and emitted a strong fragrance.
Ji Mi paused, then silently returned to his own room.
The master bedroom had a well-lit bay window with a folding small rack set up, which could make do for hanging clothes.
"Seems like there are quite a few dress shirts..." Ji Mi pondered worriedly after hanging them up.
Transitioning from campus to workplace, the environment was completely different. He should add some more suitable clothes.
But he had been so busy in the office building that his wardrobe still consisted of his student-era outfits.
Fu Qianyao had also mentioned this to him a few times, telling him to buy some new styles.
"Although the company doesn't have a dress code and lets everyone dress as they like, people's faces aren't randomly grown, so it's okay if others dress carelessly, but you're wasting your looks..."
"Go take a look at the neighboring Zone 2. We don't need to be fashion pioneers, but at least don't just throw on whatever you grab in the morning!" Fu Qianyao was exasperated.
Hongni had bought two tech park zones, with almost identical decorations and facilities, separated by a road, making them neighbors.
Zone 1 was entirely allocated to the game business group, while Zone 2 squeezed in traditional internet businesses like communications, e-commerce, and film and television.
Although the zones were close and could visit each other, the overall style of the employees was very different.
If the latter were urban ladies, the former were forest wildmen, especially during project beta testing periods, when colleagues in pajamas and slippers often appeared.
Ji Mi wasn't that careless, he just wasn't anywhere near refined.
At the time, after hearing Fu Qianyao's advice, he didn't care about wasting his looks or not, as long as he was clean and proper. Besides, many people in the development team dressed similarly to him...
But now things seemed different.
Standing by the bay window, he suddenly thought that although the executive office didn't hire based on looks, the secretaries were all very well-groomed.
Compared to his monotonous and youthful attire, they knew how to manage their image, carrying themselves with a certain air.
The more Ji Mi pondered, the more out of place he felt. Newcomers were already prone to sensitivity, and the next day he unconsciously paid attention to this aspect.
"Delay will be back at work tomorrow, we'll have an internal meeting in the afternoon," Noah announced briskly.
He walked to Ji Mi's workstation, his casual-style suit jacket open, the gray fabric unwrinkled, cufflinks gleaming with precious metal.
Noah continued: "We'll mainly report on the progress of current connections, then discuss future development strategies and benchmark logic. If you haven't been assigned anything, just listen in and assist."
Ji Mi listened attentively while lowering his eyes to look at his own sleeves.
He hadn't noticed much before, but now he realized they had actually faded a bit from washing.
Although Noah wasn't scrutinizing him, his curled fingertips pinched his sleeves as if to hide them: "Alright, I'll take notes."
After work, Ji Mi went to a nearby high-end shopping mall, intending to buy a few more mature-style jackets.
But clothes that looked good in the window always seemed odd when he tried them on.
His aura was too pure, with a rare youthful quality rarely seen. Once he tried to dress more maturely, it didn't suit him from the inside out.
Ji Mi quickly abandoned the idea and headed into a brand store with a minimalist style, picking out some thick clothes in mild color schemes.
The salesperson praised his good taste, saying these pieces were comfortable yet structured, combining trendiness and practicality, suitable for wearing right away if worn alone.
"Student, do you have a membership? Points can be redeemed for parking vouchers and small gifts," the salesperson asked at checkout.
Ji Mi didn't explain that he had long since graduated, just shook his head: "I don't have a membership."
It was his first time shopping at such a place. Previously, he mostly shopped online or at independent street stores.
Because the quality at those places varied, he had to carefully select each time to avoid pitfalls, inadvertently accumulating experience and developing a good eye.
The salesperson enthusiastically asked, "Would you like to register today? It's valid throughout the mall, and the winter new arrivals will be coming soon, you can come browse then too!"
Ji Mi was about to reflexively decline, but as he switched to his salary card to pay, he suddenly changed his mind and scanned the QR code to join.
He didn't resist this small change in himself, but rather felt a sense of excitement.
By confronting this old habit, it seemed he could be more certain that he was moving further and further away from his obscure past, until completely severed from it.
The salesperson handed over the shopping bag, providing warm and attentive service, seeing him off at the store entrance.
She said, "It's going to rain in a few days, be careful when you go out."
Shanghai's autumn and winter were always accompanied by bouts of rain, the weather damp and bone-chilling. The already congested traffic became even more inconvenient, requiring people to take an earlier bus to work.
Ji Mi hated this season. After hearing the salesperson's words, he immediately checked the weather forecast.
Sure enough, the coming days would be either overcast or showery.
Ji Mi's operating strategy evolved with the times. When he returned home and saw the evening push notification, it happened to be a reminder about the local weather changes.
[Cute Heart Call:
Your city is gradually cooling down. Enter the winter season together with them~]
When he clicked on this notification, a rainy pattern appeared on the page along with two options.
"Enter Winter" or "Cancel".
Ji Mi: ?
Your planning team is really working hard for daily active users.
But what exactly are you up to?
Easily piqued by curiosity, Ji Mi confusedly tapped on "Enter Winter", and the app quickly jumped to the friends page.
There was only one lonely Jing in the list. After clicking on the avatar, the system sent a card message to the other party without a second confirmation step.
System: [The weather is getting colder recently. Your friend: mī is a bit concerned about you~ Please remember to stay warm and bring an umbrella.]
Ji Mi: "..."
Damn, is this system's functional positioning an automatic wingman?
Although Ji Mi had a little interest in Jing, he hadn't thought about being so proactive, but there was no option to retract.
Jing had always been in an unread state, with the last online time on the homepage being 24 hours ago, and the IP still in Shanghai. It was unclear whether they could receive this broadcast message in time.
Ji Mi left a message saying "Clicked by mistake", and closed the app as if Jing were an electronic pet.
The next morning, he was groggy when he got up and completely forgot about the rain.
He had already walked to the entrance of the community when he felt water droplets falling, and hurriedly went back to get an umbrella.
Unexpectedly, a series of chain accidents followed.
Today's shuttle bus left half a minute early. When Ji Mi ran to the stop, he just caught a glimpse of a string of gray exhaust, and then quickly hailed an online ride-hailing car.
At this time, it was the peak of the commute, and several intersections near the park were congested.
Seeing that he was about to be late, Ji Mi tried to clock in on his mobile, but the straight-line distance wasn't enough. He almost broke the screen trying to punch in.
"Driver, please stop," Ji Mi didn't bother to open his umbrella. "I'll run from here."
The driver looked in the rearview mirror to make sure he wouldn't hit any passing electric bikes: "You're sprinting to work? Be careful."
Ji Mi ran to the sidewalk and successfully clocked in near the park fence, just on the dot of the attendance time. If it had been two seconds later, he would have crossed the red line.
Following the flow of people and slowing down his pace, he quietly caught his breath, relieved that HR wouldn't catch him this time.
"So handsome," someone whispered. "He's so eye-catching, how come I didn't notice him before?"
"He forgot to bring an umbrella. Do you want to go over and do a good deed? He should be from our park. You could also ask which floor he's on."
"I'm fine just looking from afar. I don't want to interact with him! He seems hard to approach at first glance..."
Hearing the discussion of the two girls in front of him, Ji Mi looked around, wanting to see who was so attractive.
And that person was indeed outstanding, wearing a black windbreaker, the whole person cold and aloof, noticeable at a glance.
The moment his gaze fell on the other person, Ji Mi froze slightly.
Then he hurriedly turned his head away.
So they were discussing Delay...
That's not strange for Delay, but it's a bit cruel for himself.
No one wants to encounter their boss at the company entrance after the check-in point. Ji Mi's vision went black for a moment, wanting to use the umbrella to cover his face, but unfortunately, it was too late.
He Jingyan raised his eyelids, his gaze also passing over the crowd, as if equipped with a "Little Mi radar", accurately landing on him.
"Good morning, why are you in the rain?" Ji Mi forced a smile and greeted.
He consciously sheltered the other under his umbrella. He Jingyan was half a head taller than him, so he needed to raise it a bit higher.
He Jingyan looked up at the dripping edge of the umbrella: "I didn't know there would be a shower, forgot to bring an umbrella."
Ji Mi asked again: "Why did the driver drop you off at the roadside?"
The company cars would all drive into the park. It seemed too strange to leave the boss at the roadside.
He Jingyan replied: "I didn't bother anyone, I took a taxi here this morning."
Saying this, he noticed Ji Mi was still confused.
"That person mixed up the parks, stopped at the next one. I didn't notice when I first got off."
Ji Mi: "..."
Even the big boss could go to the wrong workplace.
Can this business group survive until the end of the year?
Taking the elevator to the top floor, the secretaries were chatting in the pantry. Seeing the two of them come in together, they all greeted them.
"Little Mi, this sweater suits you very well," Fang Xiyun glanced at Ji Mi, "and it's different from your style a few days ago."
Shell thus looked at Ji Mi a few more times, puzzled: "Is there a difference? Doesn't he look pretty every day?"
Fang Xiyun described: "Before he looked like a campus heartthrob, now he looks like the face of the company."
Ji Mi curved his eyelashes, responding gracefully with thanks.
Beside them, He Jingyan walked into the pantry and told Shell he wanted a cup of coffee too.
The president's office secretary wasn't responsible for serving tea and coffee. If taken out of context, it would be equivalent to a vice president or director. He Jingyan's tone wasn't commanding either.
His voice carried an imperceptible hoarseness as he lazily walked over to his colleagues, hearing Shell take the opportunity to ask for a raise.
"Can I get a raise for being a part-time barista?" Shell hoped.
He Jingyan sneered: "Are you tired from brewing one Nescafe?"
The pantry had grinding machines and tools like pour-over kettles, and the administration had specially bought all kinds of new beans.
But these careful preparations hadn't been put to much use. This group of people would slack off and drink instant or concentrate every now and then.
After teasing Shell, He Jingyan took out a disposable paper cup, pouring whatever was closest at hand, adding three portions of coffee concentrate.
Anyone with a slightly weak heart could be drugged to death by this concentration.
"Did you pull an all-nighter?" Ji Mi was surprised.
He Jingyan said: "There was an overseas video conference to accommodate their time zone. The agenda was too long and lasted until morning."
So he had finished the video conference, quickly took a shower and tidied himself up, then directly took a taxi to the company.
Just looking at his appearance, outsiders couldn't see any clues. He Jingyan was as usual, without even dark circles under his eyes.
"By the way, come to my office later," He Jingyan took a sip of coffee and suddenly said.
There were four people crowded here, and Fang Xiyun and the others all thought he meant them, unanimously looking towards him.
"Who are you calling?" Fang Xiyun asked.
He Jingyan found this scene a bit amusing and added: "Whoever is moonlighting as the face of the company is who I'm calling."
Ji Mi was still a bit tense when facing him, even hiding a hint of resistance, unlike how he could joke with Fang Xiyun.
He felt He Jingyan was teasing him, and said a rather vigilant "Oh", then didn't dare to make eye contact, lowering his head to take a sip of milk.
Back at his workstation, he searched "what to pay attention to when talking to the boss for the first time", but the displayed answers were all too slick and worldly-wise.
Ji Mi couldn't do this, and He Jingyan didn't seem like the type to fall for it either. If he got too close to people, he didn't know who would be more uncomfortable.
While he was pondering alone, Jing came online.
[Accidentally clicked on me?]
[Well, your fingers are quite good at picking people.]
Ji Mi bared his teeth at the internet friend: [Slacking off during work hours, be careful I'll cc your boss!]
Jing advised him not to have such hopes: [My boss can't control me.]
Ji Mi: [So you were exiled to Shanghai?]
Jing was silent for half a minute, then replied: [Although the climate here is terrible, it can't be used as Siberia.]
He also said: [You're also slacking off during work hours, doesn't your superior mind?]
Ji Mi: [I don't sit with him, oh. I'm going to see him later, haven't figured out how to get along with him yet.]
[It's hard to describe his personality to you. In short, he's very annoying. If he wasn't my superior, I would probably avoid people like him if I saw them normally.]
Jing responded quickly this time: [If he's decent in character and a normal person, then you can just treat it normally.]
Ji Mi was stunned by this, thinking about He Jingyan based on this line of thought.
Staying at his post after pulling an all-nighter, getting lost on the way to work while still attracting attention, just drinking triple concentrate in front of him, the level of self-destruction just short of chewing coffee grounds directly.
What couldn't a person who could be so harsh on himself do?
So, Ji Mi, dejected and trembling, felt he had described it very accurately.
mī: [But he's a big! Per! Vert!]
After taking his seat, He Jingyan chewed on a mint, its cool flavor invigorating and sharpening his already clear mind.
He hadn't rested at home for days, busy remotely assisting with overseas matters. Upon opening the backend, he found over a thousand new notifications.
Accustomed to excessive workloads, he quickly scanned through them, prioritizing tasks based on urgency, and delegating some to his secretary for follow-up.
ChiChi: [Delay, congratulations on your first day at work after your promotion. May I bother you for a few words?]
He Jingyan glanced at it. ChiChi was the product manager for Cute Heart, who had previously invited him to discuss user experience.
However, He Jingyan had been busy with interactive entertainment business lately and hadn't paid much attention to other matters. After mentally reviewing his schedule, he figured he could spare half an hour.
He simply typed "1" to ChiChi and then opened Cute Heart, which he hadn't accessed in two days.
Originally intending to check the functional modules, upon logging in, he first saw mī's message and caught a glimpse of the avatar this person was using...
He then took a screenshot of mī's profile page, which still displayed an anime photo, seemingly challenging the platform's machine review capabilities.
He Jingyan typed: [Is the AI you're using underdeveloped? Seems to be stuck in a pre-intelligent stage.]
ChiChi hurriedly expressed that he had also noticed this issue, stating that he would arrange for optimization and immediately conduct a user screening to ensure those not meeting the criteria would change their profiles promptly.
Cute Heart relied on interactive entertainment's technical assistance, so the two discussed this matter for a while. Then He Jingyan saw mī complaining about their boss.
He Jingyan frowned slightly, thinking this statement must be a joke, right? Have perverts become so prevalent that you can encounter a victim just by going online?
Just as he thought this, he heard someone knock on the door.
"You asked me to come earlier," Ji Mi stood outside. "I wanted to ask, do you have time now?"
His tone was soft, naturally exuding a mix of innocence and reserve.
He Jingyan responded coolly while clicking his mouse to close OC, causing the screenshot of mī's profile to disappear from the screen.
When Ji Mi entered, his steps were light, his movements somewhat awkward yet unable to suppress his curiosity.
As the mint in his teeth was crushed, releasing a hint of sweetness, He Jingyan inexplicably had a thought.
Ji Mi was very much like a small animal just brought into a strange environment, poking its head around to familiarize itself with the new surroundings.
Well, He Jingyan looked at him without any dislike...
Just felt that this kind of behavior was quite attractive to perverts.