Joining Penguin Video

At 7:30 the next morning, it was Li Xun's first day on the job.

He looked up at the imposing Innovation Building, home to Penguin Video, and marveled, "What a magnificent building! This is where I'll be working for quite some time!"

He stepped inside.

He arrived on the fourth floor, at Penguin Video's Human Resources Department.

It was still early, so the office door hadn't been opened yet, but two young women were already waiting outside.

When they saw Li Xun, both women nodded in greeting.

"Are you here to check in too?" Li Xun asked.

"Yeah. You are too?" one of the round-faced girls replied.

Li Xun nodded and asked with a smile, "Which departments are you two joining?"

"The Screenwriting Department at the Original Series Center. What about you?" The girl who answered smiled, revealing two shallow dimples. She was very cute.

Li Xun smiled back. "What a coincidence. I'm joining the Screenwriting Department at the Original Series Center too."

The two women warmed up to him a little.

"I'm Han Qiaoling, from Beijing Film Academy. I majored in dramatic literature and screenwriting." The round-faced girl took the initiative to shake Li Xun's hand.

"I'm Li Xun. Nice to meet you." Li Xun shook her hand as he replied.

"I'm Zhou Hongsu, from Huaxia Communication University. I majored in dramatic literature and screenwriting too. So, we've both introduced ourselves, and you're still keeping us in suspense? Is your school so impressive that you're afraid we'll feel inferior?" the dimpled girl teased.

Li Xun scratched his head. "No, no, I'm not keeping it secret. It's just that you wouldn't know it even if I told you. I graduated from Lijiawan Senior High School. Does that ring a bell?"

The two women stared at Li Xun in surprise. Zhou Hongsu hesitated before asking, "You have a high school education?"

Li Xun nodded.

"Wow, that's impressive. You must have some special talent!" The two women offered a brief compliment and didn't press him further.

Before long, someone from Human Resources arrived. After they completed the basic onboarding procedures, a young woman from the department led them to the Screenwriting Department at the Original Series Center on the fifth floor.

As they walked, the group chatted.

Han Qiaoling could barely hide her excitement. "Wow, it's huge! No wonder it's a Fortune Global 500 company. You know, all my classmates were incredibly envious when they heard I'd gotten into Penguin Video."

Zhou Hongsu smiled. "Did you apply to Penguin Video because it's huge and a Fortune Global 500 company?"

"Of course. Why else? What about you two? Why did you apply to Penguin Video?"

Zhou Hongsu's face filled with longing. "On my first day at Huaxia Communication University, I heard almost everyone around me talking about Senior Sister Dai. Like her, I came from the mountains and fought my way forward through countless late-night study sessions. That's why I know better than anyone how hard Senior Sister Dai must have worked to achieve what she has today. I admire her more than anyone else does. She's my idol, my role model! Now that I've graduated, and Penguin Video happened to be hiring screenwriters, I had to try—even if my chances were only one in ten thousand. I wanted to work at Senior Sister Dai's company because she's my role model. Don't you think it would be wonderful to work for someone you look up to?"

Han Qiaoling nodded in agreement. "I may have gone to Beijing Film Academy, but Senior Sister Dai, who graduated from Huaxia Communication University, is famous there too. She's my idol as well."

Li Xun couldn't help interrupting. "Sorry to butt in, but who's this Senior Sister Dai you're talking about? She sounds like a big deal."

"You don't even know Senior Sister Dai?" Han Qiaoling stared at him in disbelief.

Li Xun asked blankly, "Am I supposed to?"

The two women and the young woman from Human Resources all nodded. Almost in unison, they said, "Yes, because she'll be your immediate supervisor."

"Immediate supervisor? Is she really that impressive?"

Li Xun hadn't looked into who his future supervisor would be.

"Is she really that impressive???" Zhou Hongsu shot Li Xun a scornful glance. "I'll give you a free rundown on your future boss: Penguin Video's senior vice president, head of the Original Series Center, founder of Penguin Video's copyright library, chief producer, chief screenwriter of the Screenwriting Department, and champion of super web dramas. So, do you think Senior Sister Dai is impressive?"

"She's impressive, very impressive!" Li Xun hurriedly nodded.

Who would dare say a vice president at a Fortune Global 500 company wasn't impressive?!

"That's what you call impressive? Do you know how old Senior Sister Dai is this year?" Zhou Hongsu asked, her face full of admiration.

"Thirty-five?"

Normally, Li Xun would have guessed that a vice president at a Fortune Global 500 company was over forty. But judging by Zhou Hongsu's proud expression, this Senior Sister Dai was clearly young!

Sure enough, when she heard his answer, Zhou Hongsu raised her eyebrows. "Thirty-five? You were already guessing as young as possible, weren't you? And you still guessed too old! I'll tell you: Senior Sister Dai is only twenty-nine by East Asian reckoning. A female vice president at a Fortune Global 500 company before she's even thirty. How about that? Impressed?"

"I'm impressed. Completely convinced," Li Xun said with a nod.

He meant it. For a young woman of twenty-nine with no connections to rise to the position of vice president at a Fortune Global 500 company—it didn't take much thought to understand how difficult that must have been.

They entered the elevator, and the doors slowly closed. A sudden flash of inspiration struck Li Xun.

"Twenty-nine, Senior Sister Dai, vice president, Fortune Global 500..."

Put together, those details stirred a strange sense of familiarity.

A spark flashed through his mind. Just as he was about to grasp it, Han Qiaoling interrupted him.

"Hey, you still haven't told us. Why did you apply to Penguin Video?"

Li Xun came back to himself. Why had he applied to Penguin Video? He'd been a screenwriter in his previous life; he couldn't spend this whole life delivering takeout, could he? He'd seen the job posting for Penguin Video and applied. It was that simple. But he couldn't exactly tell them about his previous life, could he?

"I... Well, I wanted to find a job that suited me better," Li Xun replied simply.

"A job that suits you better? What did you do before?" Zhou Hongsu asked curiously.

Li Xun hesitated.

"You're an interesting guy. What, was your previous job classified? Were you in intelligence?" Zhou Hongsu blurted out.

Li Xun gave a self-deprecating smile. "I wish I'd worked in intelligence, but they wouldn't have wanted me. I'm just a little embarrassed. I was still delivering Haotuan Delivery yesterday."

"Haotuan Delivery???"

All three women in the elevator turned to look at Li Xun.

Li Xun nodded firmly.

The two women: "..."

Wasn't everyone in Penguin Video's Screenwriting Department supposed to be a genius, with at least a degree from a top university? Fine, there was no rule saying someone with only a high school education couldn't be self-taught. But Haotuan Delivery?! Even a web novelist would make more sense—their work at least had something to do with writing. But Haotuan Delivery? What was that supposed to be?

Everyone knew Haotuan couriers often spent more than ten hours a day delivering takeout. With a job like that, when would he have had time to study screenplays?

Just as the three women were trying to process this, the elevator stopped on the fifth floor. They had arrived at the Screenwriting Department of Penguin Video's Original Series Center!