Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Unspoken Rules of the Workplace

"Have you paid the fine?" Without lifting her head, Tan Xue was signing a stack of reports, and casually asked when she realized it was Chu Dong who had entered.

"Just give me a moment, let me catch my breath." Chu Dong dragged his feet to the sofa and sat down. "I came in early today, I really wasn’t intentionally late."

"Save your excuses. Everyone who’s late has a reason. If everyone acted that way, how would the company function? Hand over the money and you can get to work now." Tan Xue folded her arms, waiting for Chu Dong to pay.

"Two thousand a month, fifty deducted for being late once. Had I known, I wouldn’t have come at all." Chu Dong grumbled as he reluctantly pulled out his wallet. Finding no fifty-note inside, he plucked a one-hundred and placed it in front of Tan Xue.

"Look at you! Very well, just give me a hundred then, saves you from paying next time." Delighted, she took the money, flicked it with her pinky, and tucked it into her own wallet.

"That’s not how it works! Who pays fines in advance? And isn’t the finance department supposed to collect it? You just pocket it yourself?" Chu Dong’s eyes widened.

"Not happy? This is my turf, my rules. Complain again and I’ll raise the price." Tan Xue was clearly annoyed by his nitpicking, meeting his glare with one of her own.

Admitting defeat, Chu Dong lost the contest of staring and slumped back onto the sofa. He leaned forward, surveying Tan Xue’s office. "Where am I supposed to work?"

Without answering, Tan Xue pressed the speaker button on her desk phone. "Xiao Xu, bring in what I asked you to prepare."

Soon, two young employees carried in a small computer desk, set up a laptop, plugged in the network cable, and left.

"This is it?" Chu Dong pointed at the computer desk, which was barely larger than the little tables from his middle school days. Seeing her beam at him, he had no choice but to sit down, power on the laptop, and fiddle with it. At least the specs were decent enough for games.

He heaved a dramatic sigh. Who would have thought that he, the legitimate president of the Chu Group, would be reduced to working as someone else’s secretary just to make a living? The group may be president in name only, but at least the title still carried weight. Now, he was at someone’s beck and call, in a role with no standing whatsoever.

As Chu Dong was still lost in thought, Tan Xue spoke up.

"Today is your first day. Although you were late, considering you paid the fine, I won’t say more. Just be mindful in the future. There are a few things I need to explain, so you can’t say I didn’t warn you when you get fined again." Arms folded, Tan Xue was thoroughly enjoying herself.

"Wait, let me write this down." Chu Dong hurriedly took out a small notebook and pen, ready as if preparing for battle.

Great, he had already lost a hundred just as he started. If he didn’t make money this month—or worse, ended up owing—he wouldn’t even know where to complain.

"You know the working hours, right? Lunch break is from eleven-thirty to one-thirty; use it for meals or personal matters. Work ends promptly at five. There’s no overtime pay, and you cover your own meals if you stay late. Our company values humane management—tasks are never heavy. If you have to work overtime, it means you didn’t use work hours efficiently, which is your own ability problem. So, don’t slack off." Tan Xue tried to keep a straight face, but inside she was secretly delighted to be "instructing" Chu Dong.

He nodded mechanically, calculating in his mind. "Since I’m here, I’ll adapt. When the soldiers come, I’ll use my generals; when the water arrives, I’ll use earth to block it. Every problem has a solution. I, Chu Dong, have seen the world—being a secretary is a piece of cake. Besides, which big-company secretary doesn’t spend their days sipping coffee and gossiping? I’ll be lucky not to die of boredom. And since all the secretaries at Silver Dragon are women, as the only man, won’t I be surrounded by flowers?" The thought almost made him laugh out loud.

"What are you imagining? Don’t you realize what I’m saying is important?" Tan Xue slammed her hand on the desk, startling Chu Dong out of his daydream.

"I’m taking notes!" He scribbled in his notebook, not even sure what he was writing.

"If you dare to daydream again while I’m talking, I’ll show you no mercy!" Her hand still stinging from the impact, Tan Xue rubbed her reddened fingers, growing angrier the more she thought about it. She grabbed a pen from her desk and threw it at him.

He dodged, picked up the pen, and handed it back with a friendly smile, saying nothing. After all, who would hit a smiling face?

Unable to do more, Tan Xue opened her notebook, cleared her throat, and continued her lecture.

"You should shift into work mode as soon as you step into the company. Let me lay out today’s tasks." She sipped from her water cup. "This morning, you need to draft four contracts: one for leasing the group’s shopping center, one for Silver Dragon Real Estate’s land transaction, one appendix for new employee benefits, and one cooperation agreement with our contractor. After that, organize the company’s work plans—weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual—down to the responsibilities of each department and position. Then, company development strategy, operational plans, and a summary of shortcomings and lessons learned in our corporate growth. Ideally, have it all on my desk by the end of today."

"You expect me to do all that?" Chu Dong had started taking notes, but now he was stunned. Not only was this beyond a secretary’s scope, it was impossible to finish in a day—no one could, not even a robot in half a month.

"Of course." Tan Xue tilted her head, shrugged, and smiled sweetly. "Didn’t catch that? I can repeat it for you, as a courtesy to new staff."

"No need." Chu Dong refused flatly, pacing around the room in frustration. "Exploitation, pure exploitation. You really don’t treat me like a regular employee. Drafting contracts is one thing, but what secretary writes development strategy? That should be your job. You’re just shifting your workload onto me!"

She chuckled. "So what? Never heard the saying, ‘If there’s something to do, the secretary does it’?"

"Who told you that?" Chu Dong laughed too. "And you don’t even follow it through yourself."

"What do you mean? Didn’t I just assign all these tasks to you?" Tan Xue was genuinely puzzled.

"You didn’t let me finish. The unspoken rule is: If there’s something to do, the secretary does it," he lowered his voice, "if there’s nothing to do, the secretary does the boss..." Chu Dong lounged on the sofa, hands behind his head, deliberately drawing out the last words, and shot her a flirtatious glance.

"Go to hell!" Remembering the pain from slamming the desk last time, Tan Xue didn’t use her hand. Instead, she spun her chair around, slipped off a high heel, and hurled it at Chu Dong’s grinning face.