As the car drove into the rest area, it was already past 6 pm. Ju Li’s stomach was growling, but since the boss hadn’t mentioned being hungry, she was too embarrassed to speak up.
Just as the driver was about to refuel, Zhong Liyan suddenly spoke: “Go buy something to eat. Be back in 15 minutes.”
With that, he got out of the car first and headed toward the restroom in the rest area.
The driver mentioned that he would get something to eat after refueling. Only then did Ju Li feel comfortable leaving him behind and stepping out of the car herself.
As she walked away, the driver, Old Liu, couldn’t help but sigh, “Fresh graduates really are like kids… but this one’s quite sensible.”
After using the restroom, Zhong Liyan walked through the food stalls and spotted Ju Li paying for a purchase at a steamed bun stand.
Instinctively, he reached into his pocket for a cigarette but then remembered he was trying to quit. He had nothing left to smoke.
Rubbing his nose, he glanced around and quickly spotted a convenience store, where he could definitely buy cigarettes.
But instead of heading inside, he took a deep breath and walked toward the roadside instead.
Standing under a tree, he pulled out his phone and swiftly found HR Department’s number. As soon as the call connected, he got straight to the point: “Ann, please draft a regularisation contract for Ju Li.”
“Boss… Ah, understood.” Ann, the highest-ranking HR executive, at the deputy general manager level, second only to the chairman, was momentarily stunned.
Just like Qiao Baitong was the head of PR and also at the deputy general manager level, Ann held the same rank in HR.
“Alright, arrange for it,” Zhong Liyan said before hanging up.
On the other end, Ann clutched her phone, speechless for a long moment.
What… How did she become a permanent employee after just one day?
When she left work today, Zhu Jingyi had mentioned that the chairman took his temporary secretary on a business trip to Suzhou. She had thought it was odd, why bring a clumsy newcomer?
And now, not even two hours later… she was being made permanent?
And the boss personally called to make it happen?
That girl… From what she remembered, she was plain-looking, had an unremarkable degree and was only hired because Zhu Jingyi vouched for her potential.
Wait…
She had assumed Ju Li was related to Zhu Jingyi.
But now… Could she actually be related to the big boss?
…No way, right?
Thinking back to Zhong Liyan’s tone when he gave the order, Ann’s imagination started running wild.
Licking her lips, she didn’t dare waste time. She immediately called her subordinate, Deputy Director of HR Liang Xiaotong, instructing her to personally handle Ju Li’s promotion and have the contract ready by tomorrow.
Tonight, for some people, was bound to be an eventful night.
When Liang Xiaotong received a call from her direct superior, asking her to personally handle the promotion of an intern, she was utterly dumbfounded.
Why did she, the deputy director, have to do it personally?
No, more importantly, why was Ju Li being promoted so soon?
And from the way her superior put it… the big boss himself had called and issued the order directly?
And… Ju Li?
It wasn’t the stylish and charming Zhang Beibei who got promoted, but the rather ordinary Ju Li?
Even the sting of losing her bet to Zhu Jingyi couldn’t override her shock at this moment.
Still reeling, she opened her laptop, found Ju Li’s resume and reread it several times.
Even after memorising it, she couldn’t see anything special about it.
Completely average. No family background. No connections. Just a poor college graduate renting a place miles away in Pudong New District.
So how…
How did this completely ordinary intern warrant a personal call from the big boss?
How did she deserve to have the deputy director of HR personally handle her promotion, oversee her contract and manage her onboarding?
After over half an hour of disbelief, she bit her lip and reluctantly dialed Zhu Jingyi’s number.
…
At the company, Zhu Jingyi was still working overtime, focused on a quarterly budget report when the call came in. He answered absentmindedly, his mind still in spreadsheet mode, until Liang Xiaotong’s frantic tone pulled him back.
“What did you just say?” Zhu Jingyi asked, confused. He really hadn’t caught all of it.
“You heard me! Just now, our big boss, Zhong Liyan, personally called my superior to instruct an immediate promotion for Ju Li! That girl! First day on the job and she’s already been handpicked for a full-time position!”
“…”
Zhu Jingyi put down his mouse and stared blankly at his computer screen for a moment before bursting into laughter.
Meanwhile, Liang Xiaotong was still complaining, “And you! You knew Ju Li was related to the boss, but you didn’t tell me? You just wanted to scam me out of a few free meals, didn’t you? Luckily, I never offended that girl, otherwise, I’d be in real trouble!”
“Wait, no, that’s not–” Zhu Jingyi raised an eyebrow, ready to explain.
He was almost certain Ju Li wasn’t related to the boss.
If she had that kind of background, she wouldn’t have needed to trick him, the head of admin, just to get into the company.
That girl was sharp, she didn’t need powerful connections.
But before he could clarify, Liang Xiaotong cut him off, still grumbling, “I’ll get the paperwork done. I’ll send it your way for approval.”
“…Fine, send it over. I’ll approve it immediately.” Zhu Jingyi’s voice was calm, but his mind was racing.
What had Ju Li done to impress the chairman so quickly?
“Was it because of that speech draft?” he asked before hanging up.
“Yep, that’s what my superior told me.” Liang Xiaotong sighed, exasperated. “I really misjudged this one.”
“Haha, see you at lunch tomorrow.”
After hanging up, Zhu Jingyi stared at his phone, lost in thought.
The moment that speech draft was approved, he had suspected that PR head Qiao Baitong had helped Ju Li write it.
What he couldn’t figure out was how she had convinced Qiao Baitong.
And now, because of that draft, she had shot straight to full-time status, skipping a six-month internship entirely.
That was a serious exception.
He… had definitely not misjudged her.
She was sharp.
Thinking back, he suddenly felt a little better.
At least he wasn’t the only one she had outmaneuvered.
From the looks of it, even the veteran PR head Qiao Baitong and the chairman himself, Zhong Liyan, had fallen for Ju Li’s tricks.
On this seemingly ordinary night, Zhu Jingyi’s impression of Ju Li shifted.
She was no longer just a regular intern.
She had transformed into an extraordinary rising star in the corporate world…
The kind that glowed from head to toe.
The kind equipped with flashy buffs, both cunning and formidable.
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