As the end of the workday drew near, Wen Xin casually closed the files on her desktop and let out a small yawn.
It was her first day at Qi Qing, and everything felt fairly leisurely. Manager Liu from the department was a pretty easygoing older sister type. After a simple greeting that morning, she had outlined some tasks for Wen Xin, explained the recent projects the department was handling, and then told her to come to her with any questions—or to ask Gao Qiu sitting nearby, for that matter.
“I imagine you’ve done some research on our company before joining us,” Manager Liu had said. “Qi Qing covers a wide range of core businesses—wellness and health, travel real estate, five-star hotels, golf courses… There are plenty of areas where the Cultural Creative Department gets involved, and the work can get pretty demanding at times.”
“But I believe in your abilities.” Manager Liu had given Wen Xin’s shoulder a light pat. “I took a close look at your resume during the interview. It’s impressive. Now we’ll be working together—let’s keep learning from each other and make our work even better.”
They were just standard pleasantries, but they still made Wen Xin feel respected.
“No, no,” Wen Xin had replied quickly, shaking her head with genuine sincerity. “I should be the one learning from you.”
“Let’s learn from each other,” Manager Liu had said with a smile, letting the topic drop. “It’s your first day, so no rush on work. There are summaries of our past projects saved on the computer. Take a look and get some inspiration.”
“Got it,” Wen Xin had responded promptly.
“Go ahead and get to it.” Manager Liu still had some files to compile. Once Wen Xin left, she turned to her own tasks.
~~~
But even as she worked, her mind wandered. Speaking of Wen Xin, she really was a nice young woman—perhaps a bit too reserved at first glance, but she spoke and acted properly, treating everyone with gentle courtesy. She was quite likable.
That said, truthfully, Manager Liu hadn’t expected Wen Xin to get the job so smoothly during the interview. The creative design position placed a heavy emphasis on experience. Wen Xin’s previous work history would have been fine at an ordinary company, but Qi Qing wasn’t ordinary. Unless someone had exceptional talent or a standout successful project, they wouldn’t make exceptions—especially not for someone who had been let go from their last job.
Maybe she just got lucky.
Manager Liu sighed. The workplace wasn’t a place where luck mattered much. If she truly had explosive luck, she wouldn’t have been fired from her previous company in the first place.
No point dwelling on it.
With her files compiled and neatly bound, Manager Liu headed to the director’s office. It wasn’t until she knocked on the door that another possibility occurred to her—one she hadn’t considered.
What if Wen Xin had connections inside the company? If so, everything suddenly made perfect sense.
She wondered who that connection might be.
Having navigated the corporate world for years, Manager Liu knew better than to pry into such things, whether they existed or not. Still, curiosity was human nature, and she couldn’t help speculating a little in the back of her mind.
“Has Liu Jie had breakfast?” Shi Qianyu pulled out her pen and began signing documents. She had arrived unusually early today—earlier than usual. Manager Liu hadn’t expected her to be in, given that she had stayed late the night before working on a hot IP collaboration. With no meetings scheduled this morning, she could have slept in.
“I have, I have,” Manager Liu replied. Remembering Wen Xin, she quickly added, “By the way, Director Shi, that new girl we hired for our department started today. You weren’t here for the interview, so you haven’t seen her yet. Should I bring her over?”
“No need.” Shi Qianyu signed the documents and handed them back effortlessly. “About that form I sent out yesterday—Liu Jie, could you urge everyone to fill it out ASAP? I need them by end of day.”
She seemed utterly unconcerned about Wen Xin.
“Got it.” Manager Liu nodded and left the office, completely unaware that the so-called connection was right in front of her—not far away at all.
Of course, she also didn’t notice that shortly after she left, Shi Qianyu made a phone call to the Sichuan restaurant downstairs.
Clipping her phone between her shoulder and ear, Shi Qianyu freed both hands to pull Wen Xin’s resume from a stack of files on her desk. She glanced over it briefly, and a deeper smile flickered in her eyes.
“Hello, I’d like to reserve a private room, please.”
~~~
The timeline snapped back to the present. Wen Xin glanced around the office. Most of her colleagues had already left.
Only then did she shut down her computer. It was her first day; she didn’t want to seem like she was leaving too early, even if there wasn’t much to do. She had to at least pretend to stay busy. That afternoon, Gao Qiu had mentioned that the company was collaborating with a super popular domestic animation IP. They were designing merchandise based on the movie’s plot, and Director Shi was heavily invested in the project. Naturally, no one dared slack off—a single design draft might get revised eight hundred times.
“I wonder if you’ll end up on our project team later,” Gao Qiu had sighed. She actually hoped Wen Xin would join her group soon. The rest of her team was all guys—no other women—and it was driving Gao Qiu crazy. “I really wish you’d come.”
“I hope so too,” Wen Xin had said with a smile, playing along. She had seen the movie; the art style and world-building were great, and she loved it. She knew exactly how big a hit it was. If possible, she would love to contribute her own interpretations and designs.
But precisely because it was such a massive hit, Wen Xin felt uncertain. It depended on whether Shi Qianyu wanted her involved. She wasn’t clueless; a one-night stand wasn’t capital for her career—it could even become a liability.
Wen Xin was terrified of that. People changed. Shi Qianyu might find her amusing today, toying with her for fun, but tomorrow she could get annoyed and kick her to the curb. Getting into Qi Qing was pure luck; Wen Xin didn’t want to lose such a great job.
Yet perhaps influenced by Gao Qiu’s words, a tiny spark of anticipation flickered in her heart anyway.
Wen Xin left the company smoothly, without running into Shi Qianyu.
She breathed a sigh of relief, took the bus home. That Sichuan lunch had been filling, so she had no appetite for dinner. She rummaged in the fridge for a ready-to-heat meal, ate it, then retreated to her room and fired up her game.
Wen Xin didn’t have many friends in real life, but she had plenty of online ones, mostly from gaming. She was loyal like that—stuck with the same MMORPG for five years, gradually building her circle of friends there.
She logged in, finished the guild quests, greeted a few close online buddies, then opened the chat with a contact named 【Shi Yu】.
She had only recently added Shi Yu. After that one-night stand, Wen Xin had spent time recuperating at home, venturing out less and logging into the game more. That’s when she met Shi Yu.
Shi Yu was a newbie, low level but skilled. Wen Xin had noticed her and, eager to recruit talent, invited her to the guild.
Unexpectedly, Shi Yu sent a friend request right back.
Wen Xin accepted—after all, she was the one who had scouted her. In real life, Wen Xin was slow to warm up; online, she was no different. But Shi Yu was a chatterbox who could keep a conversation going solo.
Before long, they had become friends.
Through their chats, Wen Xin learned Shi Yu seemed like her—a corporate drone, invisible during the day and only online at night. Private messages pinged to her phone, but Wen Xin didn’t want to interrupt her work, so she usually waited for Shi Yu to message first.
Sure enough, it didn’t take long for Shi Yu’s private message to pop up: 【Good evening! How was your day?】
Wen Xin relaxed and started typing. She was in a good mood today, happy enough to share with her other online friends—and with Shi Yu too.
Yu An: 【Pretty good. I officially started my new job today.】
Shi Yu: 【Awesome! Looks like that trip to the Wishing Fountain yesterday paid off~】
The Wishing Fountain was a popular spot in the game—beautiful scenery, with random low-difficulty mobs that dropped good experience. Wen Xin liked hanging around there for easy EXP when she had time.
Yesterday had been the same. Shi Yu’s level was too low for the guild’s new event, which was a big loss. As vice guild leader, Wen Xin took guild matters seriously, so she had taken Shi Yu to the fountain area to level up.
While waiting for mobs, they chatted now and then. When Wen Xin mentioned starting her new job tomorrow, Shi Yu suddenly suggested: 【We’re right by the Wishing Fountain now—perfect for some good luck. Why don’t you make a wish, Yu An?】
Yu An: 【Haha, nah. Probably won’t work anyway.】
Shi Yu: 【Of course it will! Sincerity makes it real. Come on, quick!】
Under Shi Yu’s urging, Wen Xin had no choice but to toss a wish bottle inscribed with “smooth entry into my new job” into the spring. At the time, it had just been for a bit of mental comfort, but to her surprise, it had actually come true.
Of course, that assumed she ignored the highly dramatic fact that her boss turned out to be her one-night stand. Still, Wen Xin was more than satisfied. The company hadn’t sent the wrong offer letter; they had truly hired her. The office environment was excellent, her manager and colleagues were kind and approachable, and her future prospects looked bright…
With results like that, why not try for more? Brimming with anticipation, Wen Xin wrote out another wish and tossed the bottle into the spring.
Shi Yu: 【What wish did you make this time?】
Wen Xin gave Shi Yu a rough rundown of her hopes. “I wish to join the project team of my choice,” she said.
“I wonder if the spring water god even saw my wish,” she added.
A few seconds later, Shi Qianyu, on the other side of the screen, curved her lips into a smile.
“…”
Don’t know if the spring water god saw it.
Well, she certainly had.
