Chapter 5: Taking the Initiative

Since the meeting, Zhong Qing had made her decision crystal clear.

She had gone to extraordinary lengths to come to Xinxing, orchestrating her entire trajectory to get close to Qiao Mingxuan. Of course she wanted to work on projects with him. She had to find a way to bridge the distance between them.

Besides, Shi Yani had told her that Qiao Mingxuan's projects were the crown jewels of Xinxing—because of his iron control and meticulous oversight, he rarely had projects that derailed or couldn't be completed.

But Shi Yani had also warned her: "However, President Qiao is very strict with his work. You newcomers might not be able to handle it if you suddenly start working for him. There are two types of people who can persevere under him: those with strong inner strength and those with thick skin, and both types must be highly capable. In short, those who can work for him are not ordinary people."

Regardless of Ling Na and Lü Pengshan's plans, Zhong Qing didn't intend to hide her intentions. She made her desire to work on projects with Qiao Mingxuan plain to their faces—transparent as glass, bold as brass.

She could read her competitors easily enough.

Ling Na was timid, fundamentally intimidated by Qiao Mingxuan's presence. A single glance between them would take her ages to process, and repeated eye contact felt like an eternity of psychological warfare she couldn't win. As for Lü Pengshan—it was obvious he also wanted to work on Qiao Mingxuan's project, but his temperament and personality were stubbornly rigid. He clearly wanted it but pretended to be reserved, looking down on Zhong Qing's overtly eager and pushy attitude with barely concealed disdain.

Zhong Qing sometimes found Lü Pengshan quite amusing in his contradictions. He wanted something desperately but maintained an elaborate facade—as if he were waiting for Qiao Mingxuan to recognize his exceptional qualities unprompted and come knocking on his door with an invitation.

Her upbringing had taught her a different philosophy entirely: you can't wait passively for what you want. You have to act immediately, proactively, decisively.

So she took the initiative, actively approaching Qiao Mingxuan.

She knew this would make her seem very forward—aggressive, even. Her behavior might be seen as distasteful by some, desperate by others.

But she didn't care.

It was infinitely better than wanting something desperately but being too shy to act, then criticizing others for having the courage you lacked.

In the following days, she worked even harder than before, actively assisting each senior colleague in Department Three and systematically building goodwill. Her desired outcome was simple but strategic: if even one or two people mentioned her casually to Qiao Mingxuan and praised her work, that would be a success—a seed planted.

Gradually, she felt the time was right. Everyone in the third department should have given her praise and compliments when mentioning her to Qiao Mingxuan. The groundwork was laid. She felt it was time to take the next step.

---

One afternoon, when Qiao Mingxuan wasn't visibly busy, Zhong Qing boldly knocked on his office door.

Qiao Mingxuan looked up and saw her through the glass wall and door. For a couple of seconds, he stared straight at the door without moving—frozen in some unreadable assessment.

For reasons she couldn't articulate, Zhong Qing felt a tightness in her throat.

Afterward, she would think she must have been momentarily intimidated by Qiao Mingxuan's powerful aura—that invisible force field he seemed to project without effort.

Fortunately, two seconds later, Qiao Mingxuan said, "Come in."

Zhong Qing quickly arranged her face into a bright, innocent smile and pushed the door open.

She was about to close it behind her when Qiao Mingxuan said, "Leave it open."

She hesitated. If she did, her entire conversation with Qiao Mingxuan would be clearly audible to everyone at the workstations outside—a performance with witnesses.

But having no other choice, she obediently reopened the door she had only partially closed.

She walked to Qiao Mingxuan's desk and stood there, spine straight, ready to make her case.

Before she could speak, Qiao Mingxuan preemptively said, "I let you in to tell you that you can ask Shi Yani if you have any questions. If she can't solve them, ask other more experienced seniors. You new employees aren't yet at the level where you can barge into the department head's office."

His tone was calm, almost conversational, but his words were like a soft knife—gentle in delivery, sharp in impact. Zhong Qing was stunned, glancing back at the open doorway, then down at herself.

When she looked up again, her expression was serious and innocent. "But I didn't 'barge' in just now. I gently pushed the door open and slowly walked in."

"..."

Qiao Mingxuan was visibly taken aback by her effortless yet powerful rebuttal. He couldn't bring himself to ask her to leave in a dignified and indifferent manner—she'd disarmed him with pure literalism.

Zhong Qing seized the opportunity with the instinct of someone who recognized when defenses had momentarily dropped. She quickly expressed her thoughts and desires—she wanted to work on his project and learn from him directly.

She expressed her admiration for him with enthusiasm but also carefully calibrated composure, describing him as her future role model and goal, someone whose career trajectory she hoped to emulate.

Qiao Mingxuan felt that this was the most flattering compliment he had ever received—sincere enough to be believable, effusive enough to be suspicious. He looked at the girl in front of him, listening to her continue without showing any emotion on his face.

Unconsciously, one corner of his mouth curled up slightly—a microexpression of amusement he couldn't quite suppress.

Zhong Qing caught that ambiguous smile and knew instinctively: that was enough. She should stop there and not say more. Any additional praise would cross from persuasive into obsequious, and the effect would backfire.

She stopped, waiting for Qiao Mingxuan's feedback, whether he intended to choose her or not.

But when Qiao Mingxuan spoke, his voice seemed to contradict his face—distant, cold, even slightly mocking: "I said in the meeting that who among the three of you will be on which department's project, and which department head you will be learning from on the project, will be decided by the leaders together. We will have our own evaluation criteria. Also—" he paused, removed his glasses with deliberate slowness, and looked directly at Zhong Qing.

Zhong Qing immediately felt the doubled pressure of his aura pressing down on her—without the barrier of glass lenses, his gaze was impossibly direct.

She made sure her feet were firmly planted on the ground, refusing to shrink back even an inch. She fixed her gaze on the small mole at the corner of his eye—a focal point, an anchor.

She heard a hint of warning and admonition in his voice: "As a newcomer, don't reveal your ambition too quickly or obviously. You can't reach the top in one step. I hope you can settle down and do what you're supposed to do right now."

The office door was open. His words must have been heard clearly by those outside—a public rebuke, intentional in its audience.

Zhong Qing was momentarily stunned, mind racing to recalibrate. Then her face immediately broke into a hurt but determined smile—perfectly calibrated vulnerability with just enough resilience to avoid seeming broken.

With that smile carefully arranged, she said to Qiao Mingxuan, "Mr. Qiao, I've taken everything you said to heart. I'll work hard and diligently. Thank you for today, Mr. Qiao!"

She bowed with appropriate humility and turned to leave the office. As she walked out, the hurt but determined smile on her face trembled slightly, as if it were about to shatter—a masterful touch of apparent fragility.

Qiao Mingxuan watched Zhong Qing walk out with that trembling smile, then turn back to close the door for him with considerate politeness despite her apparent distress.

He frowned slightly. For a moment, he seemed to doubt whether she was really just a simple, positive girl, and whether he had gone a bit too far with his public correction.

But immediately, he dismissed that doubt with the certainty of experience.

She was definitely not as innocent and bright as she appeared, nor as "honest" as she claimed to be. Beneath her honest face lay a thousand and eight hundred schemes—elaborate calculations dressed in guileless smiles.

He just didn't know what she was really like beneath all those layers. He would wait and see.

---

Because of the door that remained open that day, everyone outside the office knew that the newcomer named Zhong Qing was "too eager," and Qiao Mingxuan's chilling words demonstrated clearly that he didn't like this "too eager" style of self-promotion.

Based on the principle that the weak are more easily sympathized with, everyone felt a bit sorry for Zhong Qing.

In their eyes, that honest, always-smiling girl who was perpetually accommodating to her seniors had finally managed to fight for a chance, only to be ruthlessly crushed by the seemingly gentle but actually merciless Qiao Mingxuan. They wondered if she had been psychologically traumatized by the experience.

After this incident, everyone agreed that Qiao Mingxuan would inevitably choose one of the other two newcomers for his project, and Zhong Qing was probably completely out of the running.

---

Two days after Zhong Qing took the initiative to see Qiao Mingxuan—on Friday afternoon—she was suddenly notified by Shi Yani: "Quickly, go to the second conference room and call Ling Na and Lü Pengshan too. President Qiao wants to hold a meeting with you new employees."

Zhong Qing immediately called Ling Na and Lü Pengshan. Within three minutes, the three of them were neatly arranged outside the conference room like students awaiting judgment.

When she knocked and entered, Zhong Qing saw Qiao Mingxuan already sitting at the head of the conference table in his customary position of authority. The noise at the door did not disturb him; he remained focused on documents displayed on his laptop screen.

He sat there quietly, without looking up or speaking, yet one could still feel the powerful aura emanating from him—that invisible force field of competence and control.

Zhong Qing could clearly sense that Ling Na was struck by this aura the moment she stepped into the conference room. She felt a distinct chill run down her spine, visible in the way her shoulders tensed.

Besides Qiao Mingxuan, another of his capable subordinates was present—a senior manager named Shi Tao.

Seeing the three of them enter, Shi Tao gestured for them to sit down, then got up and connected the projector with practiced efficiency.

Soon, a document appeared on the screen with several lines of text—their fate for the weekend, displayed in bullet points.

After sending an email, Qiao Mingxuan closed his laptop with a decisive click, glanced at the three new employees who were now present, and gestured for Shi Tao to begin.

"Here's the thing," Shi Tao said without any further pleasantries, standing up and walking to the projection screen. Pointing to the contents of the document, he told the three people, "This is a medical examination institution called 'Zhiqiang Medical Examination.' Now, I'm assigning you a task: please use the weekend to compile a research report on Zhiqiang Medical Examination, including the institution's basic information, business operations, financial situation, team situation, future development advantages and disadvantages, etc. This is a test for you. The requirement is that you cannot ask anyone else for help. Even if you ask your seniors, they won't tell you anything. You have to do it on your own, and whatever you can do is fine. You have two days, and you need to complete the report by next Monday. Now you can ask questions."

Shi Tao's style was clearly inherited from Qiao Mingxuan—efficient, direct, without saying a single unnecessary word.

"I want to ask why we need to research this medical examination institution?" Lü Pengshan asked first, his tone carrying a hint of challenge.

"We chose it randomly. There's no readily available information about this institution on the market, so this will better test your research abilities."

"But it's a non-listed company and doesn't publish financial statements. Where are we going to find financial data?" Lü Pengshan pressed with another question.

"Figure it out yourself." This time, it was Qiao Mingxuan who answered him, voice cutting through the room. "Everything has to be laid out in front of you. You don't need to do the FA job; anyone can do it."

Lü Pengshan looked embarrassed, somewhat unconvinced, but didn't dare to argue back against the thinly veiled criticism.

Ling Na didn't dare to look at Qiao Mingxuan directly. She weakly asked Shi Tao, "Manager Shi, isn't two days too tight...?"

"There's no need to bargain about the time. Just two days. Do whatever you can." It was Qiao Mingxuan who answered again, his tone brooking no negotiation.

Ling Na shrank her shoulders upon hearing this, immediately swallowing back her desire to apply for two more days. It seemed that the leader was intentionally testing their limits—pushing to see where they would break.

Shi Tao looked at Zhong Qing, who hadn't spoken yet. "What about you? Do you have any questions?"

Zhong Qing thought for a moment and asked, "Does this have to be done on the weekend?"

She had been working from dawn till dusk lately. Every day, either Yi Chengcheng was staring at the back of her head as she left for work, or she was staring at the back of Yi Chengcheng's head when she finally came home and her roommate was already asleep. She had planned to spend the weekend actually interacting with Yi Chengcheng face-to-face, but if she was assigned work, they would have to continue their melancholic routine of watching each other's departing figures.

"Yes, that's right. It's not that I intentionally took up your weekend time; it just happened to work out this way," Shi Tao replied to Zhong Qing. "But President Qiao said he'll pay you overtime, with overtime allowances."

Zhong Qing quickly smiled—that honest, simple smile that seemed to be her trademark—and didn't forget to thank President Qiao with appropriate gratitude.

Qiao Mingxuan didn't respond to her comment, maintaining his characteristic distance.

He only glanced at the three people present and succinctly announced, "At next Monday's meeting, you will present and demonstrate your research reports to everyone."

Hearing this ultimatum, Ling Na beside her gasped sharply—a sound of pure panic that cut through the conference room's air-conditioned atmosphere.

Zhong Qing felt the weight of it herself. A presentation. In front of everyone. With only a weekend to prepare research on a company with virtually no public information.

This wasn't just a test of their abilities.

It was a test of everything—their resourcefulness, their resilience, their capacity to perform under impossible pressure.

She glanced at Qiao Mingxuan, who sat there with that unreadable expression, and wondered if this was punishment for her boldness two days ago, or if it was something else entirely.

Perhaps it was an opportunity disguised as an ordeal.

She would treat it as such.