Chapter 12 Good Boss Gao Yan, Worth Employees Returning to…

Chapter 12: A Good Boss Like Gao Yan, Worth a Worker’s Devotion…

Since Xia Huaimeng was present, Gao Yan made no special effort to observe Lu Yingxiao’s expression, nor did he linger unnecessarily. Having delivered his point, he turned and left without delay.

Yet he was confident that, in those fleeting seconds, Lu Yingxiao had received his signal—and understood its meaning.

The moment Gao Yan departed, Xia Huaimeng exhaled like a stranded fish suddenly plunged back into water, gulping air. “Even though this is my fourth year at Shengzao—and I *should* be used to Boss Gao’s intimidating presence—every time I face him directly, I still get incredibly nervous. It’s like being a student caught red-handed sneaking off campus by the head teacher.”

“But hey—did Boss Gao just now glance at you a few extra times?”

“Before, whenever I ran into Boss Gao and greeted him, he’d often brush past me before I even finished saying ‘Boss Gao.’ But not just now.”

Lu Yingxiao looked at Xia Huaimeng with quiet admiration.

She truly noticed everything.

“Maybe it’s because I’m new—he was just sizing me up.”

Xia Huaimeng nodded. “That’s possible—but…”

Recalling her own first day, she grumbled, “Then why didn’t Boss Gao look at *me* a few extra times back then?”

Lu Yingxiao smiled. “Simple. Next time I see Boss Gao, I’ll mention it. He’ll definitely make it up to you.”

Xia Huaimeng was all talk.

It was like fearing your teacher so much that you dreaded being noticed in class—yet feeling unfairly overlooked when the teacher *only* called on others. And yet, if a classmate stood up for you and asked the teacher to pay more attention to you in future, you’d instantly back down, thinking, *Better ignored than seen.*

Sure enough, Xia Huaimeng quickly backtracked.

“No, no, no! Just meeting Boss Gao once means I won’t need a photo of his scowling face to keep me awake all day. If he stared at me a few extra times, I’d be too terrified to sleep!”

Lu Yingxiao teased, “I don’t believe you.”

Xia Huaimeng: “It’s true!”

She raised her right hand high in a solemn oath.

Lu Yingxiao gently pulled her hand down. “Alright, alright—I believe you. If we dawdle any longer, that viral little cake you’ve been dreaming about will be gone.”

Perhaps that viral little cake truly *was* delicious—because Xia Huaimeng immediately grew anxious and tugged Lu Yingxiao toward the break room.

Every floor of the company featured a well-appointed lounge.

The lounge on Gao Yan’s floor was even more luxurious—comparable to a small teahouse—with attendants serving employees who came to enjoy their morning tea.

Lu Yingxiao had worked at large corporations before. She knew corporate life well.

But perhaps she hadn’t risen high enough back then—she’d never experienced a break room this lavish.

Xia Huaimeng leaned close to Lu Yingxiao’s ear and whispered, “So? Are you shocked by how luxurious this break room is? To be honest, I was too—especially since all the pastries here are free. As long as you don’t waste, you can eat as much as you like. I secretly vowed that day: *I’ll work at Shengzao until I drop!*”

“Wait—no—it should be: *For Boss Gao, I’ll work for Boss Gao until I die!*”

Lu Yingxiao chuckled. “Weren’t you just saying Boss Gao looks too fierce—that if he glanced at you a few extra times, you wouldn’t sleep at night? How come you’re ready to work for him until you die now?”

Xia Huaimeng: “That’s one thing—but this is another. Boss Gao may seem fierce, but he’s genuinely good to us, his employees.”

“When I first joined, Boss Gao’s uncle was still at Shengzao. His uncle? Well… he was practically a modern-day Scrooge. Forget morning or afternoon tea—even sipping a drop of the company’s water would earn you a tongue-lashing! We worked overtime until midnight every day—and not a single cent in overtime pay!”

Pausing briefly, Xia Huaimeng asked Lu Yingxiao, “Manager Zhang from HR—you met him this morning, right?”

Lu Yingxiao: “Yes.”

Xia Huaimeng: “Was he especially enthusiastic toward you?”

Lu Yingxiao smiled.

Xia Huaimeng: “That’s just how he is. He’s brilliant at currying favor with people who hold status or connections. Yet oddly, he never once fawned over Gao Yan’s uncle.”

“That just shows how universally despised Gao Yan’s uncle was.”

Lu Yingxiao: “Who’d enjoy being exploited like that?”

Xia Huaimeng: “Oh, there *were* some—the very group of employees Gao Yan later fired, all staunch supporters of his uncle.”

“Their loyalty was mind-boggling!”

“They praised the employee lunches—which were worse than pig feed—as the greatest thing ever! And the prices? Outrageously steep. For a while, I felt like I wasn’t going to work—I was enduring an ordeal!”

Remembering those days, Xia Huaimeng nearly teared up. “It was *brutal*. Luckily, Boss Gao had what it took—and I was fortunate. Within half a month of my joining, Boss Gao drove his uncle out. He swiftly cleaned house and went to great lengths to show genuine care for us employees.”

“Great benefits. No exploitation. Proper holidays. Proper overtime pay. Healthy competition among colleagues—no dirty tricks.”

Xia Huaimeng kept praising—until finally distilling her feelings for Shengzao Construction Company into one sentence: “I love Shengzao. I love working at Shengzao—with Boss Gao here.”

To prove she wasn’t lying, Xia Huaimeng ate two viral little cakes, one after the other.

As she reached for a third—and saw Lu Yingxiao only drinking water—she asked, “Isn’t there any snack you like? You can ask the staff at the counter. As long as it’s not too difficult to prepare, you can have your favorite during afternoon tea.”

Lu Yingxiao: “You can even place orders?”

Xia Huaimeng: “Yes! Boss Gao says, ‘Health is the foundation of revolution. Everyone works so hard for Shengzao—so Shengzao has an obligation to protect everyone’s foundation, and must never shortchange us.’”

Hearing this, Lu Yingxiao objectively remarked, “Boss Gao really *is* a good boss.”

Xia Huaimeng emphasized, “A *very* good boss!”

At that moment, Lu Yingxiao’s phone vibrated.

It was a message from Gao Yan:

“I’ve already spoken to Teacher Xu. Go ahead and add her on WeChat—she’ll accept.”

By Lu Yingxiao’s usual standards for replying to messages:

If it was someone she didn’t particularly want to engage with—but had to reply to—she’d typically respond with a single character: either “Okay” or “Mhm.”

Originally, she’d intended to reply with just “Okay.”

Perhaps Xia Huaimeng’s deep sense of belonging to Shengzao reminded Lu Yingxiao of the exploitative companies and terrible bosses she’d endured before. Faced with this Gao Yan—whom Xia Huaimeng had so emphatically declared a good boss—Lu Yingxiao subconsciously typed two characters: “Okay.”