One Morning

To be a good assistant, you needed to know your boss well, and you needed to know him better than anyone else did.

Having been working in the business world for years, Lin Mochen understood this even better than Lin Qian. So when Lin Qian went home that night, she had a new email from her brother.

The email had all of Li Zhicheng’s personal information. His experience was simple and was all listed with just a few lines.

He was the second son of Xu Yong, Aida’s Chairman of the Board, and the youngest grandson of an army commander in the Southwest Military Region. It suddenly seemed obvious.

He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. No wonder he joined the army. Having a career in business might not have originally been what he wanted to do.

He had a brilliant record within his first few years. At his university, he won awards like “Best Military Performance” and “Leadership Award in Global University Student Military Forum.” After joining the army, he won more awards, like “Third-Class Personal Merit,””Second-Class Group Merit,” and “Outstanding Contribution Award in Falcon Confrontation Action,” etc.

There was also some trivial information about him in the email. Lin Qian wondered how Lin Mochen had even gotten it.

For instance, he had given out financial aid to a number of out of school children using his own military salary but had refused to ever meet the children in person. That reminded Lin Qian of the episode they had on the train. He had lent her his bunk to sleep in, but had refused to exchange a few words with her. How much does he hate talking to other people? He’s so strange!

Another piece of information was that he didn’t have a girlfriend and seemed to have never had one. That surprised Lin Qian. He’s already a 25-year-old man! The military life really must be abstinent and dull.

On her way to work the next day, Lin Qian was still thinking about the new information. He’s single. It’s great that I won’t have to take care of his possibly complicated private life like some assistants and secretaries do. He doesn’t have a secretary, which is something that I have to consider. I should ask HR to recruit him a secretary. Someone smart and competent, but not so smart and ambitious as to threaten my own value in the future.

Dawn had just broken when Lin Qian arrived at the office.

She’d come that early on purpose. An assistant should, of course, show up before her boss. As a veteran, Li Zhicheng must have a habit of getting up early. Who knows what weird time he might show up.

The day before, soon after their meeting, she received notification of her nomination as CEO Assistant from the HR department. Lin Qian quickly packed and moved her stuff to the cubicle outside of the CEO office on the top floor. Though hating to part with her, the two girls, Song Xianxian and Yang Xiru, were jealous of her as well. But according to the message from HR, her position was still within the CEO Office, so the two girls would still be under her guidance for the time being.

Opening the office door softly, Lin Qian found the room dark and empty. It seemed like no one was inside.

Lin Qian turned on the light.

Left by the former CEO, the office had been furnished elegantly and luxuriously, with bright lighting. Now that it had its new owner, the tall black bookcase had been nearly emptied. The file cabinet next to it was empty too. The spacious room looked vacant.

Some newspapers were scattered on the desk. Lin Qian tidied them up, and put the chair neatly back behind the desk. She then got some good tea out of the tea cabinet and started looking for cups.

Hmm, where are the cups? When I came in yesterday, I thought I’d seen one on the desk. Oh wait, that was actually just a huge green military thermos. Well, it isn’t there now.

She searched around the room for a teacup, humming, but to no avail. She finally opened the door to the balcony.

Looking up, she was startled.

The balcony had also been built by the flashy former CEO. It had a green mini golf course on one side and a beach umbrella with a couple of patio chairs on the other.

Li Zhicheng was sitting in one of the woven chairs, dressed in a suit. He wasn’t wearing a tie and his shirt collar was slightly open. He looked calm and casual, a look rarely seen on him. He had an open book in one hand and rested the other on the arm of the chair.

Hearing the door open, he put down the book and evenly turned his head.

As soon as Lin Qian took in the scene, the first thought that came to her mind was, Damn! What time could he have possibly gotten up? Does this mean that I’ll have to get up even earlier to beat him here?

Her second reaction was to quickly look around.

Well, it’s no surprise that his huge military thermos is on the coffee table next to him. It looks like there’s a dark and fragrant tea inside of it. So he likes drinking fermented Pu-erh tea. And the book in his hand is…huh? Sun Tsu’s Art of War? He has a worn classic edition.

By his knees were a few pieces of paper, with notes taken in pen. Lin Qian glanced at them. His handwriting was clear and firm. She saw many sayings and phrases like “pay someone back in their own coin,””use a cat’s paw to get rid of someone,””feint somewhere and attack in another place,””suit the action to the word,” and “wait at ease until your enemy is exhausted,” etc.

Lin Qian looked back up at him and found him staring at her with his dark, clear eyes.

They watched each other. He slowly began closing his book, put the pieces of papers inside of it, and stood up without making an expression.

Thinking about what he was doing now and what she had learned about him the night before, Lin Qian instantly figure it out.

Is he studying military strategies and tactics, something he already understands, to try and apply them to the business field?

He walked towards her. She quickly smiled at him and said, “Good morning, Mr. Li.”

“Morning.” His voice was calm and collected. He walked past her without emotion.

Lin Qian immediately turned around and followed him back into the room.

It looked like her boss was relying on war tactics to save his business. To that, Lin Qian could only keep her fingers crossed.

When she had started her own business career, Lin Qian had also bought a bunch of books on applying war principles to business; she had tried to gather different ideas and then keep any of importance while getting rid of the junk.

They were books like 36 Military Stratagems Applied to Business, Secrets about the Art of War in Business, and so on. But the only thing she had gained from them were random interesting stories on ancient wars. She considered the lengthy discussion on the application of military science to business as tedious and a waste of time. She didn’t think that one could become a successful business worker just after reading some books on the art of war. Between the two fields, there was still a long way to go. It would involve a lot of real-world experience and intense fighting within the business field.

But as an assistant who had just started her job, Lin Qian wouldn’t tell her boss that he was doing something useless. There was plenty of time in the future for her to find the chance to do so.

For now, she would do exactly what she was expected.

Watching Li Zhicheng sit down behind the executive desk, Lin Qian asked with a smile, “Have you had your breakfast? The restaurant downstairs should have opened by now. The porridge and beef buns they have are pretty good. I haven’t eaten breakfast yet, so would you like me to buy something for you as well?”

She thought that she had phrased everything appropriately by not showing an excessive amount of attention to him while still taking his needs into consideration. He seemed to be a breakfast person as well.

Li Zhicheng looked up and glanced at her lightly. “It’s not necessary.”

Silent for a second, he stood up and strode out of the room.

Lin Qian wasn’t bothered by it and continued to tidy up the office.

Twenty minutes later, Lin Qian had put all the books and files in order. Finally, she placed a small potted plant, which she had brought herself, on the corner of her desk. Clapping her hands together in satisfaction, she settled down in her desk.

With still an hour to go before work officially started, there was no one else on the top floor yet. Lin Qian was just about to stand up and go downstairs for breakfast when she heard low and steady footsteps walking down the hallway.

Those footsteps sound like…

Lin Qian looked up and watched Li Zhicheng come back in. His tall figure was standing straight. His skin was light and he had on a relaxed expression. One hand was in his pant pocket and the other was carrying a small plastic bag. The scent of something steamingly hot wafted through the air.

Lin Qian stifled a laugh.

Well, he didn’t want her to buy him breakfast, but he did go and buy it himself.

He walked through the open glass door. With a polite smile on her face, Lin Qian waited for him to enter his own office. Unexpectedly, he steadily turned around to put the plastic bag on her desk and then immediately turned back to walk into his room.

Lin Qian stopped him. “Mr. Li, is this—”

“I’ve already eaten breakfast,” he said lightly.

Lin Qian was completely surprised. So this is…

“Lin Qian,” he said with a cool look, “I don’t need a woman to run errands for me, even if she is my adjutant.”

Later, at around nine o’clock in the morning, After having a big breakfast, Lin Qian sat down in her cubicle in a good mood. She began sorting out the documents that had just been submitted from different departments for Li Zhicheng to review.

His office doors were closed. Gu Yanzhi was inside meeting with him. About half an hour later, he came out. He smiled at Lin Qian and asked her to go inside the office.

Getting straight to the point, Gu Yanzhi spoke with a faint smile on his face, “Lin Qian, I won’t beat around the bush. This is the first time that CEO Li has been in charge of a company. Frankly speaking, a more experienced assistant should have been given to him. But we’d like to give you a shot. Do your job well, and use your senses in the matters that he’s concerned with.”

Gu Yanzhi was a sophisticated man from the business field. His message was a mixture of threats and rewards, and appreciation and depreciation, which made Lin Qian a little worried. She quickly calmed herself down and replied with a smile, “All right, Mr. Gu. I will.”

Looking surprised for a moment, Gu Yanzhi gave her a final smile and waved goodbye.

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