CEO, I'm Not The Girl You Once Knew (Hiatus)

Nine

Shi Xiao Xi rearranged herself again before doing a brisk knock on his office door.

"Come in," came Mr. Han's voice.

Shi Xiao Xi took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Good morning, Mr. Han," she greeted, walking over to his desk.

"Good morning, Miss Shi. Please have a seat," he said, not looking up from his paperwork.

Shi Xiao Xi nervously sat on the chair in front of his desk, straightening her back and crossing her ankles. Her mother had drilled it over and over again in her mind that although they might come from a poor background, manners and proper posture could always dictate how a true lady behaves. For Shi Xiao Xi, proper posture became an instinctual habit.

"I've already processed your paperwork, and now the only thing left is to introduce you to CEO Lin..." Mr. Han trailed off as he finally managed to take a look at her.

"It rained," she said awkwardly, fiddling with the sleeve of her blazer. "And I didn't bring an umbrella."

Unable to help herself, she added helplessly, "Do I look that bad?"

Mr. Han awkwardly cleared his throat, glancing at the heavy tracks of falling raindrops on his window. The diffused grey light of the darkening sky didn't even allow a hint of sunlight to pass through, and the rolls of thunder were often accompanied by unanticipated flashes of lightning.

"No, Miss Shi," he responded after a while, and Shi Xiao Xi's face fell. Mr. Han was a terrible liar. "Come on, I'll brief you on the way to CEO Lin's office."

They walked out of his office together, and Shi Xiao Xi attentively paid attention as Mr. Han told her about her administrative duties.

"You're basically CEO Lin's secretary," he said, as they sidestepped a rushing staff carrying a thick stack of documents. "That means you'd be responsible for a lot of things, including but not limited to: managing budgets, bookkeeping, attending telephone calls, handling visitors, maintaining websites, travel arrangements, and preparing expense reports. You might also manage all the details of running high-level conferences and be responsible for arranging the lunch catering of a meeting, and of course, writing down MoMs."

Shi Xiao Xi tried hard to keep up. Skimming through Ai Wei's memories, she said, "MoM—minutes of meeting or meeting minutes."

Mr. Han nodded. "I'll send you the format later."

Shi Xiao Xi licked her suddenly dry lips. Maybe she'd bitten off more than she could chew.

"Don't worry," Mr. Han said, aware of the sudden apprehension of the woman beside him. "All of those duties are basically just in theory anyway—CEO Lin has a lot of assistants to take care of all those other trivial matter, and I'm the one usually responsible for arranging the meetings. Since you're new to the company and the job, you'll be given a short period of adjustment until you get accustomed to the position."

Shi Xiao Xi nodded. Now that she had managed to snag this chance, she needed to earn all those staggering digits that was stated in her job salary.

"Here we are." Mr. Han pushed open a tall glass door and entered a spacious hall. To Shi Xiao Xi's eyes, it looked more like a luxurious lobby, with high-end sofas and glass tables with glossy magazines spread out on top of it.

Shi Xiao Xi followed Mr. Han to a long porcelain desk on the right side. There was a wide computer screen on the center of the desk, and a sleek, black lamp was on its opposite end. Behind the desk was a swivel chair, and Shi Xiao Xi could see a stylish calendar beside the computer.

"Miss Shi, this is where you're going to be working from now on."

Shi Xiao Xi couldn't help but feel excited. Throughout her life, all she had ever known were exhausting jobs with meager pay. To pay for school, Shi Xiao Xi had to work several part-time jobs on different restaurants, hauling small tips from generous customers. To pay for her bills when she became an adult, she had to work day and night as a cashier, a salesclerk, even a masseuse. This was the first time that she had her own workplace.

"Anything else you need to ask me?" Mr. Han smiled.

Shi Xiao Xi took a deep breath. Truthfully, she wanted to cling to the kind man and beg him to guide her for the rest of the day in case she made any mistakes. But that was ridiculous. Mr. Han was a busy man—already, he had taken a lot of precious time to orient her. She couldn't depend on his kindness forever.

"I'll be fine," she said, hoping it'll be true. "Thank you, Mr. Han. I appreciate everything that you've done for me."

"Say nothing of it, Miss Shi. I took you in because I think you have the capability to be CEO Lin's secretary." With another smile at her, Mr. Han pushed open the door at the end of the hall. It was the door labeled with the plaque 'Chief Executive Officer'. "Now we just have to introduce you to CEO Lin."

Shi Xiao Xi clutched the paper bag tightly in her hands. Her heart in her throat, she followed Mr. Han into the office.