Director Xu returned to the office just after half past twelve.

She stepped out of the elevator carrying a simple black lunch bag, the heels of her shoes clicking steadily against the polished floor as she walked across the large open space of the Design and Managerial team’s department.

The room was quiet, still in the lull of the lunch hour. The desks were empty, left behind by employees who had taken advantage of their break to escape for fresh air or food.

Director Xu preferred not to eat in cafés or restaurants. She hated noise, hated chatter, and hated anything that could waste even ten minutes of her time.

She was average height but still carried a commanding presence, her posture so straight it seemed like her spine had never once known relaxation. Her dark olive suit was perfectly pressed, her black hair pulled into a tight, low bun. Not a strand was out of place. Her only accessories was a stainless steel watch and a pair of pearl earrings.

Her sharp eyes scanned the office out of habit as she walked through it, her gaze calm.

Then she noticed something.

A figure still seated at one of the desks near the window.

The girl had her head down on her arms. Long, silky black hair falling like a curtain over her face. Her body rose and fell in the unmistakable rhythm of sleep.

Xu Lu Yan paused mid-step.

Her brows twitched ever so slightly.

She glanced at the nameplate on the desk. It was bare. Must be one of the new hires. Today is their first day and here she was, sleeping.

The initial assumption settled in quickly. A lazy type. One of those who look polished on the outside but fold under pressure. She won’t last.

Xu Lu Yan didn’t say a word. She resumed walking and entered her office in the back corner of the room, glass panels lining the walls on two sides. The blinds were always drawn halfway, giving her full visibility of the floor while offering some distance from it.

She set her lunch down, pulled out her chair, and sat. She then turned slightly to the side.

From her desk, she could still see the new hire through the glass, the girl's sleeping form half-soaked in sunlight. Her cream blouse shimmered faintly where it caught the light.

Xu Lu Yan clicked her pen once. Then again.

On your first day, she thought, her expression unreadable. Bold.

She pulled the lid off her lunch and picked up her chopsticks with the same composure she applied to every task. She began eating quietly, flipping through the documents stacked beside her. Printouts of contracts. Budget estimates. A model roster with highlighted names.

Her morning had been entirely consumed by back-to-back meetings with modeling agencies.

She had met with two separate management teams, both vying to have their clients featured in Sheunghua’s next high-profile campaign. It had been tedious... smiling managers, fussy agents, egos dressed in designer sunglasses. Everyone wanted something, and no one wanted to hear “no.”

The models themselves had been the least difficult, though one had brought a dog to the meeting. Another asked if the campaign could be shot in the Maldives. Xu Lu Yan had politely declined, then quietly vetoed her from the shortlist five minutes later.

There was talent, to be sure. But she wasn’t here to babysit influencers.

After lunch, she had one more meeting scheduled: this one with her team.

The big campaign had been greenlit by the higher-ups that morning. She’d be announcing it officially at 2 p.m.

It was a new nationwide rebranding project in collaboration with RouYu Skincare, another sub-company under their parent corporation’s umbrella. Design, marketing, visuals, print, digital. It would all be handled internally, and her team would lead the direction.

There will be meeting with the CEO Li An Qi tomorrow. She was one of the Zhang princesses. The Zhang corporation was known to have 4 prince and princesses, the chairman's grandchildren.

None of their faces were public, and only 2 of their names were known. The eldest grandson Li Jun Jie, who was the current CEO of Zhang's Coal and Steel, and Li An Qi, the CEO of RouYu Skincare.

The two youngest Zhang prince and princess were unknown, not even their names were public.

The stakes were high. This wasn’t just about putting out pretty content, it was about cementing their division’s reputation and influence. One slip-up, one delay, and the board would smell it like blood.

She chewed slowly, flipping to a project outline and skimming the initial timeline draft.

Internally, she was already reorganizing how the workload would be split.

And now, one of the new hires was asleep at her desk.

Her gaze drifted back through the glass.

This one won’t make it two weeks.

Her clothes looked clean and pretty. Maybe used to being handed things. Not built for pressure.

Xu Lu Yan had seen dozens of their kind before.

She sighed, shaking her head. The rest of the team would return from lunch soon.

—

The peace didn’t last.

At precisely 12:58 PM, the soft hum of returning footsteps filled the hallway. Conversation and movement filtered into the once-quiet floor as the Design and Managerial team trickled back in from lunch.

Among the first to reenter was Wen Rou, carrying a water bottle in one hand and her phone in the other. She walked toward her desk, then paused when she saw Ke Xin was slumped forward, head resting on folded arms.

She tilted her head, smiled faintly, and leaned down to nudge her shoulder.

“Hey,” she whispered gently. “Ke Xin… you out cold this whole time you were up here?”

Ke Xin didn’t stir.

Wen Rou chuckled to herself. “You must’ve been exhausted. You cleared almost everything out. I’d be dead too.”

She gave her a soft shake but didn’t press too hard. Ke Xin looked peaceful, and Wen Rou didn’t mind finishing the leftovers on her own like she said she would.

A few coworkers noticed. A few more glanced their way.

Some exchanged quiet looks, sharing the same unspoken thought.

First day and she’s already napping at her desk?

Another slacker, huh?

She must’ve coasted through her interview looking pretty.

Their expressions ranged from raised brows to thin-lipped disapproval.

Then came the heels.

The unmistakable, sharp, rhythmic beat of Wei Yi Zhu marching down the row.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she barked, loud enough to snap Wen Rou upright.

Wei Yi Zhu stormed straight to Ke Xin’s desk, lips curled in irritation.

Ke Xin still didn’t react fast enough for her liking, so she brought her palm down sharply on the top of the desk.

SLAP.

Ke Xin jerked upright, eyes blinking slowly as she sat up straight.

From across the office, behind her half-lowered blinds, Xu Lu Yan glanced up from her desk at the motion.

She saw Manager Wei standing over the new hires’ desks, speaking animatedly. She couldn’t hear the words, and the scolded girl’s face was mostly obscured by Yi Zhu’s figure, but she assumed she knew what was happening.

Already being scolded, she thought. That didn’t take long.

Satisfied the situation was being handled, she returned to the document in front of her and resumed reading.

Out on the floor, Manager Wei continued her barrage. All the other employees stopped paying attention, trying to make sure they got busy, or at least looked busy. They were used to Manager Wei's daily yelling, the frequency of it blended in with the ambient office sounds.

“You’re already sleeping at your desk on your first day? Unbelievable. Your fellow new hire is still working.”

She gestured faintly at Wen Rou's small stack on her desk. Wen Rou scrambled to speak.

“Manager Wei, it’s okay! I told her she could rest a little. I said I’d finish the last stack because she already-”

“I don’t want to hear excuses,” Manager Wei snapped. “Passing your work onto others. Is that how you plan to survive here?”

Ke Xin blinked slowly, still saying nothing. She opened her desk drawer and pulled out four neatly labeled folders.

She wordlessly held them out.

Wei Yi Zhu took them with a frown.

Her expression shifted quickly as she opened the first folder.

Inside: a fully organized set of purchase logs, categorized by type: photoshoots, travel, lodging, client dinners. Each entry was cross-checked and color-tabbed. The front page even had a key with a full index listing each tab color's meaning.

She flipped through the next one. Then the next.

Ke Xin began explaining quietly. “This one is for internal vendor expenses. I flagged discrepancies and outdated vendor IDs. This one separates photography and print cost allocations. I referenced last year’s budgets for comparison.”

Manager Wei’s eyes widened. Her lips parted slightly.

Wen Rou leaned in. “Wait, when did you print and organize all of that into new folders?”

“Before lunch.” Ke Xin said straight.

“I tried to tell you,” Wen Rou turned to Wei Yi Zhu, clearing her throat and gesturing to the empty space where the giant stack of binders used to be. “She did almost all of it. I said I’d finish the rest.”

Manager Wei turned and finally noticed the stack was gone.

Completely.

Her mouth opened and closed again, this time with no sound, practically mimicking a fish. A pink flush crept into her cheeks as she processed what she was holding.

She looked back at Ke Xin, who sat calmly, eyes half-lidded with residual sleep, hands folded in her lap.

Wei Yi Zhu cleared her throat. “E- even so, you’re not allowed to sleep during work hours. That’s not professional.”

She turned on her heel and walked off in a hurry, still clutching the folders.

Wen Rou leaned toward Ke Xin with a wide-eyed grin.

“Are you secretly an AI robot or something?”

Ke Xin yawned. “I just don’t like leaving things undone.”