'Who's blowing up my phone?'
He opened it to find a new group chat on his WeChat.
Group Chat Name: Utopia
All the unread messages were from this group, and the number was still growing.
'Judging by the profile pictures, Lin Wanyu must have created the group. But who's the one with the black background?'
Opening the group chat, Gao Yuan scrolled to the very top and began reading from the first message.
"@Er Darling, didn't you want to change yourself? I pulled Qingqing in, too. We're going to give you a makeover together."
That message was from Lin Wanyu.
Er was his WeChat name, chosen because he was the second oldest child in his family.
"You two are being all lovey-dovey and you have to drag me in to watch? Isn't that a bit much!"
This had to be from the account with the black profile picture: a cool, aloof beauty walking a Doberman.
It now seemed this must be Li Mengqing, the troublesome woman who had given him his makeover today.
"What are you talking about? We're best friends. We should share the good things, right?"
"Then lend me your boyfriend for a bit."
"He's all yours, go on!"
...
Gao Yuan could barely handle the wild things the two women were saying in the group chat. It was even more intense considering Li Mengqing had furtively asked him those intimidating questions earlier today.
'Can you just give your boyfriend away like that?'
'Did they even ask for my opinion?'
Gao Yuan silently vowed to teach Lin Wanyu a lesson she wouldn't forget.
As for the suggestion that he be given to Li Mengqing to "use" for a bit...
...well, while Gao Yuan probably, possibly, most likely wouldn't refuse, it was a three-person group. He should at least have some sense of participation, right?
His chance came the very next moment.
After bickering in the group for a while, Lin Wanyu and Li Mengqing escalated to posting pictures.
Gao Yuan could tell they were at Lin Wanyu's house—the sofa was familiar. But they had each sent a picture of their gorgeous legs, and Gao Yuan was having trouble telling them apart.
Both pairs of legs were fair, tender, and slender, without an ounce of fat on them. 'It's a shame they're not pedaling a tricycle,' he thought.
After sending the pictures, they both tagged @Gao Yuan, challenging him to tell whose was whose.
This was psychological torture!
The two of them apparently waited for a bit, and when Gao Yuan didn't reply, they upped the ante. Each posted a fifteen-second video, maxing out the recording time limit.
And, of course, they filled Gao Yuan's entire phone screen.
So much pale flesh!
From their delicate feet to the gentle curve of their thighs... who could possibly resist that?
Gao Yuan finally heaved a long sigh after scrolling through all the unread messages.
The two women had apparently kept drinking after getting home; Gao Yuan could see three empty red wine bottles on the coffee table in the video.
He silently congratulated himself for not taking them home. Otherwise, he'd probably have to brace himself against the walls just to get to work tomorrow.
He stealthily sent a message in the group: "Good night, you two beauties!"
He put his phone on the nightstand, set his alarm, and went straight to sleep.
...
The next morning, his alarm went off, and Gao Yuan got up immediately.
He glanced at his phone. The first thing he saw was a text alert for a 100-yuan deposit.
After checking to make sure there was nothing urgent, he washed up, changed into his workout clothes, and started his five-kilometer morning run.
Once again leaving under the security guard's astonished gaze, he ran straight to the Qiantang Riverfront.
While running along the riverbank today, Gao Yuan came across a group of seniors. Their leader was blowing a whistle in a steady rhythm, and Gao Yuan noticed that these men and women, all at least fifty, were running more effortlessly than he was.
Panting heavily, he simply fell in behind their group.
After running for a while, Gao Yuan discovered it was much easier to run in time with the whistle's rhythm. Before he knew it, he had covered three kilometers.
He immediately broke away from the group and started to head back.
Once he left the group and was running on his own again, his breathing grew heavy and his legs felt like they were filled with lead.
Relying on the allure of the money, Gao Yuan forced himself to endure.
Back home, he had to sit on the sofa for a full half-hour before he recovered.
He opened his fitness app and was shocked by what he saw.
He had actually run ten kilometers that morning in about the same time as the day before. No wonder he was so exhausted.
He took a quick screenshot of his workout record and sent it to the group chat, then went to wash up and make breakfast.
...
The benefits of just two days of exercise were already obvious.
When he arrived at the company that morning, Gao Yuan could clearly feel himself standing taller, and he felt much more energetic.
He had just turned on his computer and logged into DingTalk when a message notification popped up.
The message was from Sister Sun, the head of the human resources department.
"President Gao, I received a notice from headquarters yesterday. Leadership is coming to inspect the e-commerce department today. Do we need to prepare anything?"
Gao Yuan knew, of course, that Vice President Guo from headquarters was coming today. Her purpose was clear, too: to take over his duties.
The company had eliminated the Director of E-commerce position, and this vice president would be taking on the role concurrently.
Gao Yuan wasn't too resentful about it.
'I'm just a fish on their chopping block. If they don't want me, fine. It's not like I want to serve them anymore, anyway.'
'With his abilities, would he really have trouble finding another job?'
'Besides, now he had the superpower of cash. Who knows, maybe one day he'd get a crazy idea and just buy the whole company.'
'Then all of them—the vice president, the director of HR—they'd all have to walk on eggshells around him.'
Plus, he had 500,000 yuan in cash sitting in his account, so he wasn't under any financial strain for the time being. He'd even get a 60,000-yuan severance package for leaving. There was no pressure at all.
"Business as usual is fine."
Gao Yuan replied simply.
He thought the conversation would end there, but to his surprise, Sister Sun sent another message. "President Gao, I'll be resigning soon, too."
Gao Yuan found Sister Sun's resignation a bit sudden.
He hadn't received any company notice about her being laid off, which meant she was resigning of her own accord.
"Everything seems fine. Why resign? Did you get a better offer?"
Gao Yuan and Sister Sun had a good relationship. They had been working together for three years, and she always handled his expense reimbursements perfectly. Moreover, eighty percent of the people in the e-commerce department had been recruited through her.
"It's not a better offer, it's a family matter."
Gao Yuan chatted with Sister Sun for a while and learned the reason for her resignation.
It was all for her child. It just goes to show how devoted parents are.
Sister Sun's child was taking high school entrance exams this year, but their grades had slipped this semester. Since her husband made a good living, he wanted her to stay home to keep a closer eye on their child.
Gao Yuan wouldn't try to talk her out of it. Instead, as her superior, he offered her an idea.
He would take advantage of Vice President Guo's visit to suggest, from the company's perspective, that they lay Sister Sun off. That way, it could be framed as a cost-saving measure.
If Sister Sun resigned voluntarily, she wouldn't get any severance pay. If she were laid off, however, the company would have to give her at least a month's salary as compensation.
Ten thousand yuan wasn't a huge amount, but it wasn't insignificant either.
A little after ten in the morning, Gao Yuan and Sister Sun went downstairs together to receive Vice President Guo, who had come from headquarters.
Vice President Guo had always been in charge of the group's offline business, which hadn't seen much of a recovery this year. With him, the director, being dismissed, she was the only one who could take over.
This woman was impressive. She had been with the group for ten years and, despite being only a year or two older than Gao Yuan, had already reached the rank of vice president.
In Gao Yuan's office, the two exchanged pleasantries, and then Gao Yuan handed the materials he had prepared to Vice President Guo.
Given that Vice President Guo might not be familiar with the e-commerce business, he also explained the contents of the handover materials and called in the managers for each platform one by one to make introductions.
By the time the handover was complete, it was already past twelve.
As Gao Yuan walked out of the office, holding a box with his personal belongings, the system's notification sound once again echoed in his mind.