9:10 AM, Beitong Advertising, workstations for the Third Division of the Financial Business Department.
Yang Yi sat at his desk, not daring to move an inch.
In front of him was a brand-new laptop provided by the company. He had brought his own old one just in case, but it seemed he wouldn't have to pull it out and embarrass himself.
"Here's your 'out-of-home' print ad for today," a female colleague walked over and tossed a USB drive onto the neighboring desk.
"Great, thanks," Yang Yi nodded, but the girl walked away without even looking back.
Yang Yi was certain she was speaking to him because, at that moment, the entire section was empty except for him.
He glanced at the nameplate on the adjacent desk: "Xu Maolin." Lucky break—he was sitting right next to his old buddy.
By 9:30 AM, people began to trickle in, and Maolin arrived.
"You're here," Maolin said, putting down his bag and taking out his laptop.
Looking at Maolin dressed in a sharp suit, Yang Yi felt he looked like a completely different person from the guy back at school. He instinctively touched his own "handmade" suit, feeling a slight sting of disparity.
"That's Brother Miao, your supervisor. And that's A-man, my supervisor. Once Brother Miao settles in, he'll assign your tasks," Maolin pointed to the two desks behind them. "Everyone worked overtime last night. We're having the weekly Monday meeting once everyone is here."
"Got it, got it," Yang Yi replied obediently. His mind was already racing with thoughts of "competitor sentiment reports."
Just then, Brother Miao walked in with a backpack. He quickly slicked his hair back with both hands and flipped open his laptop.
Yang Yi noticed a small white smear on Brother Miao's chin—likely some facial cleanser he'd missed.
"You're here. Look through these materials first." Brother Miao got up to get water and handed a USB drive to Yang Yi.
Yang Yi pointed to his own chin, and Brother Miao instantly understood. "Thanks." He swiped his jaw with the back of his hand, clearing it in one go.
There was only one folder on the USB drive.
"Weibo Campaigns and Content Operations_0723"
Yang Yi copied it to his desktop, returned the drive, and started reading immediately.
Finally, something to do.
What Yang Yi feared most was falling back into his state at Tianchen—ignored, untaught, and spending all day mindlessly refreshing webpages. There, if you dared to slack off and watch a show, the entire team would notice before the intro credits even finished.
The clack-clack-clack of high heels drew closer. A woman with a powerful aura passed Yang Yi's row and sat at the very last desk.
"The boss is here. You'll join us for the weekly meeting in a bit," Brother Miao turned and patted Yang Yi's shoulder.
Yang Yi had attended weekly meetings at Tianchen; the last one was his disastrous competitor report. But while Tianchen met on Fridays, Beitong clearly preferred Mondays.
During the morning meeting, managers like Brother Miao took turns reporting on project progress and issues. Maolin was tapped to take the meeting minutes.
Although Yang Yi was the new hire starting today, the usual "introduction of the newcomer" segment seemed to have been skipped entirely.
Throughout the meeting, even though everyone was speaking Mandarin, Yang Yi could hardly understand a full sentence. Partly because he was unfamiliar with the business, and partly because their speech was littered with industry jargon and English loanwords.
As Brother Miao finished, the female boss spoke up:
"What's the status of the design draft the client needs today?"
"The version was confirmed last Friday. I had the design department work on the final art over the weekend. The visuals come in today," Brother Miao added. "If the final art is correct, we'll print the proofs tomorrow and take them to the client for sign-off."
"Where are the visuals?"
"Uh... they should still be in progress. I'll ask Pan Ying in a moment." The boss's aura made even Brother Miao nervous.
"Don't ask 'in a moment.' Ask now."
"Right." Brother Miao grabbed his phone and stepped out of the conference room.
While Maolin's boss, A-man, was reporting, Brother Miao returned. He glanced at Yang Yi and sat back down.
"Pan Ying finished them late last night. They've been delivered."
"Good. Good work," the boss nodded and continued listening to A-man.
After the meeting adjourned, Brother Miao walked toward Yang Yi with the USB drive from that morning.
"Yang Yi, let's look at the design drafts in this drive together."
Yang Yi stared at the USB. It turned out the drive the female colleague had dropped off earlier was the design draft mentioned in the meeting—the "out-of-home print," the "visuals"...
It was his own fault. He could have avoided the confusion, but instead, Brother Miao had been squeezed between the boss and the design department.
"These are the drafts for client approval today. The creative concept is: in a fiercely competitive stage, our product appears personified in the center, standing out with overwhelming superiority. We use warm tones to express the joy of victory, with a red stage curtain as the background to evoke a high-end, prestigious atmosphere. The copy below lists the selling points: Premium Quality, Preferred Choice, Proven Efficiency."
"So cliché, so tacky," Yang Yi complained internally as he stared at the design.
"Let's add each other on QQ later. I'll send these to the client for confirmation first. If there are revisions, you'll be the point of contact for Pan Ying to make the changes."
Pan Ying—presumably the girl from this morning.
At noon, someone suggested a group lunch at the canteen to welcome the newcomer. Yang Yi finally felt noticed, but his heart was warmed only to be doused in cold water:
"New guy treats!" the crowd teased.
Fine, treat it is. It's just a canteen; it won't bankrupt me, right?
Downstairs, Maolin led Yang Yi into a restaurant. Yang Yi double-checked to make sure he wasn't seeing things—it was one of Nanjin's largest catering brands, practically a banquet hall.
"This is the Beitong canteen?..."
"Yeah, grand, isn't it? Over here is the à la carte section; that area by the door is for set work meals."
"Do you have money on your badge?" Maolin checked Yang Yi's ID badge as they ordered. "Probably empty. The company only tops it up when salaries are paid."
"How much is the meal allowance per month?"
"About 500. It doesn't last many meals." Maolin turned to explain to the others, "The new guy just got here, his card is empty. How about we just 'AA' (split the bill) and pay me back?"
"It was always going to be AA, haha!" the crowd replied instantly.
If it's AA, it's AA. Why act like one person is treating? Yang Yi truly couldn't wrap his head around the logic. He watched as Maolin collected everyone's badges and went to the front to pay.
During lunch, the thirteen of them gossiped about everything except work. The highlight was Yang Yi's single status; by the end of the meal, Yang Yi calculated that he already had four potential "candidate girlfriends" in the company whom he hadn't even met yet.
In the afternoon, Yang Yi added Pan Ying on QQ and relayed the client's revisions.
Brother Miao was busy organizing a PPT file. Maolin and A-man spent the entire afternoon in meetings. When it was time to get off work, Yang Yi looked at his colleagues; no one seemed to be packing up. It wasn't until Maolin returned that he pulled Yang Yi out for dinner.
"Don't we turn off the computers?"
"Turning off the computer means you're officially off the clock," Maolin said as they walked.
"How late does everyone stay?" Yang Yi pressed. Back at Tianchen, he used to leave the second the clock struck.
"It varies. But if the boss hasn't left, no one dares to."
Yang Yi indeed saw that as they left, the female boss was still sitting there, staring at her screen.
The two found a barbecue stall and ordered two bowls of noodles and some skewers. Maolin suggested avoiding the canteen since it would be packed at this hour.
"Today you took everyone's cards... was it your treat or was it actually AA?"
"Here's how it works: a set meal is 25 yuan. Anything over that must be paid in cash. We ordered à la carte at lunch, so I swiped 25 from every card and covered the rest in cash."
"So a 500-yuan allowance is basically just 20 set meals topped up every month," Yang Yi noted. He felt grateful for Maolin. Sitting with this burly guy from the Northwest gave him a genuine sense of security.
"It's actually quite good. Among Nanjin companies, Beitong has the best benefits," Maolin said, chewing on meat. "When I first arrived in Nanjin, every meal was just a bowl of noodles. I only treated myself to skewers on weekends."
Yang Yi felt the same. He pulled out the 300 yuan in his pocket and put it on the table. "For the treat. From now on, let's just split everything."
Maolin took a bite of meat, licked his lips, and stuffed the money into his pocket.
"Fine. For this first month, you just eat with me." Maolin had no idea that those were Yang Yi's last 300 yuan.
Heading home that night, Yang Yi swiped his card at the subway exit. Insufficient Balance. His final swipe was used up. He searched his pockets: twelve yuan and fifty cents.
At the small convenience store downstairs, he bought an 8.50-yuan pack of "Color 8" cigarettes and two bottles of water. He was now officially cleaned out.
He could have tried swiping his bank card, but he didn't want to gamble. He didn't want to hear that beep and be told his balance was insufficient...
If his salary didn't arrive tomorrow, he'd have to ask his family for living expenses.
Meanwhile, at Wufang Board Games, Xiao Lin and Mazi sat opposite each other. A girl was beside them, incessantly shuffling the cards, spreading them out, and shuffling again.
"Still not calling Yang Yi today? Tian Ci is almost picked clean by you," Xiao Lin asked.
"Depends on how many people show up. If we're full, we won't call him," Mazi toyed with a deck of cards, his phone screen open to a chat interface.
"Strange, though. He hasn't messaged me either. He won so much the other day, you'd think he'd want to win more while the 'fish' are still here." Xiao Lin looked at the girl beside him as if speaking to her on purpose. "Probably busy dating some girl."
"Has Little Yang contacted you lately?" Mazi asked the girl.
"No," she replied. She continued shuffling, her voice carrying a hint of delicate softness.
Twin ponytails, straight-cut bangs, and delicate collarbones. The girl dealing the cards was actually Quan Quan.