What are your plans?

The phone kept ringing insistently.

Someone should have answered it, but everyone in the office was run off their feet and simply had no time.

At eleven thirty in the morning, the office was as chaotic as a marketplace. It was usually busy at this hour, but today was especially hectic.

Shen Yi stood to one side, silently observing the chaos.

Secretary Li had gone out first thing that morning to handle a task President Yuan had assigned. Secretary Pang was frazzled by overlapping appointments, crying, "Who put this schedule together?" No one paid her any attention, leaving her to answer calls while trying to straighten out the tangled arrangements.

The newcomer, Chen Haoyu, was fumbling through receiving colleagues who had come to sign documents, while Secretary Pang was already juggling two phone calls, apologizing over and over.

How had things gotten this chaotic?

Only then did Shen Yi realize that the Secretary Department, which he had assumed could function normally without him, had long since lost its sense of order. Judging by what he saw, this was hardly a recent problem.

The original workflow had been disrupted, priorities were muddled, and everyone could only work on their own tasks without any coordinated direction. The moment a problem arose, everything fell apart. The chaos before him was proof enough.

Secretary Pang finally managed to end one call and was about to return to the email that had to go out before noon when the phone on her desk rang again. Despair was written all over her face.

Shen Yi sighed and was about to reach out, but someone answered first. Secretary Pang looked up in surprise and saw Shen Yi's profile.

"Shen Yi, Secretary Department."

He had said he would stay on the sidelines, but in the end, he still couldn't help himself.

"I'll need to verify that. Email me the details, and I'll get back to you once I've checked."

His steady tone was typical of him. While he was still on the call, the phone beside him rang again, and he pressed the hold button without batting an eye.

After hanging up, he said to Secretary Pang, who was still staring:

"You don't have to answer every call. If it gets in the way of your work, just hang up."

"All right."

"Have you sent the email to Hengfa Pharmaceuticals? It's fairly urgent, so take care of that first."

"Understood."

Shen Yi surveyed the chaos with mixed feelings. Could losing just one person really leave things in this state? It seemed he would have to get everything in order before he left.

He threw himself back into work, updating the procedure manual, observing how his colleagues worked, and noting areas that needed improvement.

But the most pressing task was finding a special assistant to replace him. He contacted several headhunters and received some recommendations, but frankly, none satisfied him.

A special assistant was difficult to find in the first place. The position had been vacant for so long, yet suitable candidates remained few and far between.

Most capable candidates already had jobs, while those between jobs always had one problem or another. Some had left because their former employers had run into trouble; others simply weren't reliable. Even the occasional suitable candidate was a poor match for President Yuan in terms of age. Special assistants in their forties were certainly rare.

Even if he considered someone inexperienced, would President Yuan accept them? No one knew his boss's temper better than Shen Yi, which made choosing a candidate especially difficult.

"This is going to be a problem..."

Shen Yi leaned back, his chair making a faint noise. After all that work, he had made little progress. Could he really find someone suitable within three days? Still, he had to complete this task.

Strangely enough, even though he was looking for his own replacement, he simply couldn't bring himself to put forward just anyone to get it over with.

As he mulled it over, his colleagues began packing up to leave. He checked the time. It was already eight in the evening.

"Heading out?"

"Yes. I'd like to get home early and rest."

But if everyone left, who would handle things for President Yuan? Shen Yi was puzzled.

"President Yuan is still working overtime. Isn't someone staying to help him?"

"Well..." Secretary Pang gave an embarrassed smile. "President Yuan specifically told everyone to leave promptly at eight. There's no need for anyone to stay and assist him."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure of the details..."

"So he's been working late alone? And leaving alone?"

"I heard even his driver only waits until ten."

Shen Yi sighed and rubbed his temples. With no reason to make everyone stay, he could only wave them off and tell them to head home.

"Goodbye, department head!" Farewells rang out one after another. Once Shen Yi was the only person left in the office, everything suddenly fell quiet. The scene was all too familiar. From beginning to end, he was always the one who stayed until the last.

He straightened up again and returned his hands to the keyboard. Working overtime had never been a burden to him. At the very least, he had to finish what he had set out to do today. Beneath the fluorescent lights, he continued working.

About an hour later, the office door opened, and President Yuan walked in, rubbing the back of his neck. Seeing Shen Yi still working, he paused.

Shen Yi happened to be stretching his stiff neck. At the sight of President Yuan, he immediately stood out of habit.

"You haven't left yet?"

"I still have some work to take care of."

President Yuan looked him over, as though asking, What could you possibly have left to do?

To ease the awkwardness, Shen Yi cleared his throat. "Are you going to keep working, President Yuan? Have you had dinner?"

The unexpected concern made President Yuan pause. "...Not yet."

"Would you like me to order something for you?"

Shen Yi immediately understood. It was already past nine; President Yuan must have been hungry.

"Order two meals. You're eating too."

"I don't need-"

"I can't let someone working for me go hungry."

After saying this matter-of-factly, President Yuan turned and went to the kitchenette to get two bottles of water. That should have been a secretary's job, but during Shen Yi's absence, he seemed to have grown used to doing it himself.

Shen Yi's fingers curled unconsciously. After spending so long immersed in secretarial work, his body instinctively wanted to act. He forcibly suppressed the urge.

Better to focus on the task at hand. He picked up his phone and dialed their usual restaurant with practiced ease, ordering two meals.

The elegant lacquered wooden food boxes arrived shortly afterward. Shen Yi set out the meals in the reception room, laid out the napkins and glasses, and carefully checked the dishes. They were all things President Yuan liked.

He was surveying the table setting with satisfaction when the door opened. President Yuan walked in and took the seat at the head of the table as naturally as ever.

"Sit."

At that single word, Shen Yi sat on the sofa opposite him. Dinner began in silence, without conversation or any unnecessary noise, only the faint sound of chopsticks touching dishes. Such quiet should have felt uncomfortable, but to Shen Yi, this was normal.

As he ate, he unconsciously watched President Yuan's every movement, checking whether he needed any help.

Even when he wanted to look away, he couldn't.

Even while eating, the man was impeccable. His movements were smooth and elegant, without a single stray crumb.

Just as Shen Yi was quietly observing him, President Yuan looked up. He set down his chopsticks, took a sip of water, and broke the silence in his low voice:

"What are your plans after this?"

Shen Yi swallowed the rice in his mouth, his throat tightening a little. "...I'm still thinking about it."

"Surely you must have some idea."

President Yuan's gaze settled on his face, lingered for a moment, then he resumed eating.

"It seems the work really wasn't easy."

"It certainly wasn't."

Shen Yi smiled. Looking back on those days of overtime and business trips, of pouring all his time into work regardless of the hour or whether it was the weekend, even he was surprised he had managed to keep going.