Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Later that evening, Ji Yunzhuo returned home and handed a contract to Xia Yinxi: "Here's your employment contract."

"You..." Xia Yinxi looked at it for a while, then raised his head in disbelief. "You're paying me fifty grand a month?"

Ji Yunzhuo nodded. "If you think it's too little, we can bump it up."

Xia Yinxi opened his mouth, hesitated, then finally said, "You're not using this to launder cash, are you?"

"This amount isn't worth laundering."

Xia Yinxi: "..."

I'm so done with you rich people.

After fuming silently for a moment, Xia Yinxi scribbled his name with a heavy hand. "Alright, CEO Ji, when do I start?"

"Just go to HR tomorrow to do the onboarding." Ji Yunzhuo paused. "Come with me tomorrow morning. Don't go alone."

His reputation as a directionally challenged person was already set.

Xia Yinxi shook his head. "I'll just grab a taxi. Going with you would be way too flashy."

"Flashy?" Ji Yunzhuo frowned.

"It's not good for people to know about us." Xia Yinxi picked up his copy of the contract, trotted up the stairs, and waved at the person downstairs. "Gonna crash now, goodnight CEO Ji."

If everyone found out he and Ji Yunzhuo were already married, it'd be super awkward when the real young master came back.

He was just so kind and thoughtful.

Ji Yunzhuo sat alone downstairs, totally stunned for a while.

What did he mean, it's not good for people to know about them?

Did Xia Yinxi think... he wasn't good enough to show off?

For the first time in his life, Ji Yunzhuo started doubting himself, while the culprit, totally clueless, was wrapped up in his blanket, sleeping like a baby, all smug about his good deed.

At 8:00 the next morning, Xia Yinxi hit snooze.

At 8:05, he hit it again.

At 8:10, same thing.

At 8:15, and again.

...

At 8:43, Xia Yinxi finally sat up, still half-asleep.

"I don't wanna go to work."

System [Sys] was shocked by the almost hour-long struggle to get out of bed, its electronic voice even getting smoother. "But it's your first day on the job."

"I already worked in my last life."

"Host, what was your monthly salary in your past life?"

Xia Yinxi opened his eyes. "Five grand."

With that, he got up, threw on some clothes, and went to wash up. A job paying fifty grand a month deserved his full, motivated self.

Ji Yunzhuo had already finished breakfast and was reading on the couch. The cook saw Xia Yinxi come down and brought out breakfast that had been reheated twice already.

"Sys, he's actually reading a book." Xia Yinxi thanked the cook and secretly griped to the system while eating. "My dad reads at home in the morning too. Are all rich people's hobbies this healthy?"

Was this a standard CEO thing?

At 9:30, Ji Yunzhuo was ready to head to the office. He stood up and looked at the guy still eating with his head down.

They awkwardly made eye contact. The two, totally not on the same page, got nothing from each other's look. Xia Yinxi chewed for a bit, thinking, why isn't he leaving? Is he waiting for me to bow him out like a king?

Xia Yinxi swallowed a bite of fried egg. "See you?"

"..."

A luxury car engine revved up outside. Xia Yinxi was confused. "Is he in a bad mood?"

"..."

The cook set a glass of warm milk next to Xia Yinxi and whispered, "Young master, the CEO usually leaves at nine on the dot. Looks like he was waiting for you today."

Xia Yinxi thought it was weird. "But I told him yesterday I wouldn't go with him."

The cook just sighed.

"..." Xia Yinxi let out a dry laugh and changed the subject. "Why do you guys call him 'young master'?"

Ji Yunzhuo has had his own place for ages. Shouldn't you call him 'sir' or 'CEO Ji' or something?

The butler and maids at his house all call Xia Yucheng "sir."

"We used to take care of the CEO's daily needs at the Ji family's old mansion. When he moved out and didn't want to hire new staff, we all came with him. The title just stuck."

Xia Yinxi nodded. "Why did he move out by himself?"

According to rumors, Ji Yunzhuo is the only one of his generation in the Ji family, so he should be living at the main house.

"The old man kept pushing him to get married, so the CEO moved out to avoid it." The cook smiled while clearing the dishes. "Now that you're here, the old man must be very happy."

"That's not necessarily true..."

What would an old man be happy about with a man like him?

"Hey, leave that. I'll clean up."

"It's no trouble."

Ji Yunzhuo's home wasn't far from the company, about a half-hour drive. Xia Yinxi took a taxi and went to work empty-handed.

The Ming Ji Group building was more than ten times larger than where he worked in his past life. As soon as he arrived downstairs, a woman in a suit approached him. "Hello, are you Assistant Xia?"

Xia Yinxi was startled. "Hello?"

"Please follow me." The woman led him upstairs. "HR is on the second floor. After you complete the onboarding, take the elevator card and go straight to the top floor. That's where CEO Ji works."

"You're too kind." Xia Yinxi quickly waved his hand. "Just call me by my name."

Drop the "you" formalities!

"Didn't peg you as so easygoing." The woman smiled as she helped Xia Yinxi register his info and process the paperwork. There were three or four people in the office, all busy with their own tasks, but their gazes still drifted over subtly.

Xia Yinxi couldn't help but stand up straight. "Hey, what should I call you?"

"My name is Qiao Yan, I'm the head of HR."

"Sister Qiao, no need to be so formal—it's weird." Xia Yinxi was a bit embarrassed. "Did... President Ji give any instructions?"

He didn't announce to the whole company that I'm here through connections, did he!

Qiao Yan said, "President Ji personally came to HR to tell us you're starting and even grabbed the contract for you to sign... Besides, the personal assistant position has been axed for years. Xiao Xia, since you're calling me sister, spill—what's your deal with President Ji?"

The moment she asked, the already quiet office went dead silent—you couldn't even hear paper rustling. Xia Yinxi paused a beat, then said, "No relationship. My dad asked him to hook me up with a job... Are we done? I'm out, Sister Qiao, bye!"

With that, he grabbed the elevator card and bolted. The HR staff "swished" their chairs together to whisper: "His dad asked President Ji to get him a job?"

"President Ji only hangs with big shots—don't their own companies have openings?"

"Something's up. Definitely something's up!"

"He's so hot—can I say that?"

"Is President Ji trying to hit on him?"

"President Ji... an old tree sprouting new leaves?"

"President Ji's only twenty-six, how's he old!!"

"But Xiao Xia looks like he's in college!!"

Oblivious to their gossip, Xia Yinxi jogged into the elevator and headed straight for the top floor.

Getting out of the elevator, Xia Yinxi looked around and picked a random direction. "Sys, this company is huge."

"Yeah, but host, I'd suggest you just stand by the elevator and call your husband to come get you."

Xia Yinxi snorted. "Get lost on one floor? Who do you think I am?"

Ten minutes later—

"President Ji, you busy? Uh, nothing—I'm in the janitor's break room on the top floor. Can you come grab me?"

A few seconds of silence on the other end, then a soft laugh. "Stay put."

"He's laughing at me?!"

"..."

It was during work hours, so the janitor's break room was empty. Xia Yinxi leaned by the door, waiting, baffled why one floor had so many twists and turns.

Shouldn't it just be one straight hallway?

After five or six minutes, a familiar figure finally showed up. Ji Yunzhuo wasn't wearing a jacket and was holding a paper cup. His dark black shirt made him look even leaner, but the taut muscles under his rolled-up sleeves showed he was no pushover.

He looked like he could pick Xia Yinxi up with one hand.

"Morning, President Ji. Where's my office?" Xia Yinxi smoothly took the cup from his hand, surprised by the cold on his fingertips as he glanced down.

"First, find Gao Qian to get up to speed. The cup's got ice cream."

Xia Yinxi looked up. "So you eat ice cream too, huh."

He thought big shots only ate healthy stuff.

Ji Yunzhuo: "...It's for you."

"!"

Xia Yinxi held the cup with both hands, flattered, and trailed after Ji Yunzhuo, not daring to ask about a spoon.

Gao Qian was Ji Yunzhuo's special assistant. His name was lucky, and his salary even luckier. After Grandpa Ji was rescued from drowning and reached out to Meng Shuxue and Xia Yucheng, that clueless assistant got transferred, and Gao Qian suddenly had double the work.

Ji Yunzhuo had a meeting, so Xia Yinxi was entrusted to Special Assistant Gao. Gao Qian, being a pro, didn't ask why his boss had personally made ice cream for the new guy. He handed Xia Yinxi a little booklet and cut to the chase: "Assistant Xia, this is the personal assistant manual. Give it a look."

"Didn't you say this job didn't exist before? How's there a manual?"

"It actually existed for a bit," Gao Qian explained. "Neither old man Ji nor young Ji needed a personal assistant, so the role wasn't kept. But when that President Ji was in the group, it existed."

"That President Ji" must be the one whose mansion he'd trashed. Xia Yinxi felt a bit guilty and didn't speak, just lowered his head to flip through the manual.

The booklet wasn't thick but detailed the personal assistant's duties, including some extremely unreasonable items.

For example, the personal assistant should maintain the leader's dignity, respond to every word the leader says, and never let the leader face an awkward silence. Another was that the personal assistant should be on call 24/7, ready to come at any time. Yet another was that the personal assistant should be good at adapting on the fly and, in special situations, find ways to soothe the leader's family.

Xia Yinxi was speechless. What did "special situations" mean?

Gao Qian, referencing the employee manual, highlighted a few key points: "Our work hours are 9 AM to 12 PM and 2 PM to 6 PM, with weekends off. You can adjust your time off, but remember to fill out a form to apply for overtime pay for work outside these hours."

"This personal assistant manual is..."

Gao Qian maintained a polite smile. "It was personally drafted by 'that President Ji.'"

"And 'this President Ji'—has he seen this booklet?"

"No," Gao Qian said. "President Ji's original instructions were for me to explain the company's business and work content, but I didn't know what a personal assistant's job entailed, so I only found this manual."

Xia Yinxi: "I see."

So it was just being a head eunuch. For a monthly salary of fifty thousand, he could put up with it.

"Any other questions?" Gao Qian asked. "I'll show you around the company."

"One more question."

"Go ahead."

Xia Yinxi held up the ice cream cup. "Got a spoon?"