She arrived at the office area, panting and clutching her bag, only to find that everyone had vanished; the place was completely empty.
Song Mai quickly pulled out her phone from her pocket. It was nine o'clock sharp. Logically speaking, she wasn't late, but it was impossible for all of these people to be late or absent.
As Ji Fenghe walked out of the office with the documents in his hand, he saw the woman standing at her workstation, looking completely bewildered.
He looked as if he had been pulled out of the rain.
"cough--"
He coughed lightly, and Song Mai immediately looked in his direction as if she had seen a savior.
"Manager Ji."
"The department meeting is at nine o'clock every Tuesday morning. Everyone is already here, hurry up and go."
"Thanks."
After hurriedly thanking her, Song Mai took off her coat, which was mostly soaked, grabbed a notebook and pen from the table, and rushed to the conference room without thinking of anything else.
The conference room was full of people. Since Ji Fenghe hadn't arrived yet, many were looking at their laptops and reviewing their reports, while others were whispering among themselves.
The moment Song Mai pushed open the door, the whispering stopped instantly, and the conference room fell silent. Everyone turned to look at her as if by reflex. Only a woman sitting to the left of the head of the conference table seemed completely oblivious to the change in atmosphere, keeping her head down and looking at the documents in her hands without ever looking up.
But their gazes were all different; some showed disdain, some contempt, and others mockery and ridicule.
Everyone had their own assigned spot, but Song Mai was the only newcomer. She stood there somewhat awkwardly, searching around for an empty seat.
Fortunately, Su He waved to her in time: "Sister Mai, come sit here with me."
Upon hearing Su He's words, Tang Lanlan finally raised her head and gave Song Mai a deep look, though Song Mai didn't notice.
Su He sat in a seat against the wall. Song Mai walked over and noticed an empty seat next to her, but the seat was so inconspicuous that she hadn't seen it before.
Su He whispered, a hint of apology in her eyes:
"I'm sorry, Sister Mai, I forgot to tell you about the meeting. It rained this morning and I was delayed on the way. I just sat down and realized you weren't here. I was just about to send you a message when you arrived."
Song Mai smiled and said, "It's nothing, why are you apologizing? I should have left earlier. If I had arrived a little earlier, even if I didn't know about the meeting, I could have followed everyone else to the meeting room."
She wasn't prepared. She thought that as long as she left home at her usual time, she wouldn't be late. She overlooked the fact that various situations could arise when she first arrived at the new company, and she should have arrived a little earlier to deal with them.
Although the air conditioning was on in the conference room, it had only been running for a short time, and the room was not warm yet. The cold air that had accumulated overnight seemed to be fighting against the warm air coming from the vents.
Song Mai was only wearing a thin sweater, and her pants were half wet, clinging to her calves as if they were bound with two pieces of cold, hard iron.
She shivered from the cold and rubbed her hands together to feel some warmth.
"Sister Mai, why are you dressed so lightly? It's cold today, you'll catch a cold if you're like this."
Song Mai was so cold that her whole body stiffened, but she still forced a smile.
"My coat got wet, so I took it off and left it outside. It's okay, the air conditioning will be fine after a while."
Su He was a little worried about her, so she immediately started to take off her coat.
"Your pants are still wet, that won't do. You can wear mine for now."
Song Mai quickly pressed her hand down: "It's really okay, and you'll catch a cold if you take it off and give it to me. I'll bear with it, and I'll warm up in a little while."
Just as Su He was about to insist, Ji Fenghe walked in and sat down.
"Everyone, before we begin the meeting, let's welcome our new colleague in the translation department. She will soon be a member of our big family. We hope you all get along well."
Song Mai then stood up and said, "Hello everyone, my name is Song Mai, and I am a Spanish major. I am new to the company and there are still many things I don't understand about the company and the department. If there is anything I do not do well, I hope you will forgive me."
Her words were so gracious and appropriate that Su He was the first to applaud in welcome, and the others couldn't very well not applaud either, so they all gave a perfunctory clap.
Without further delay, Ji Fenghe immediately asked the translators in charge of each project to report on the project's progress and any problems encountered.
The entire meeting was almost entirely unrelated to Song Mai, but she listened attentively and occasionally gleaned information about the project from the discussions and reports of the other participants.
However, she always felt that the air from the air conditioner was not warm enough, and even after the meeting ended, she still felt a chill lingering in her body.
Everyone took their belongings and returned to their seats. Song Mai hesitated for a moment before speaking to Ji Feng.
"Manager Ji, what are my work assignments for today?"
Ji Feng didn't even look up: "Have you finished reviewing yesterday's materials?"
"I've already finished watching them all."
"Okay, I'll have someone send you a new one later."
After saying that, he walked out of the conference room.
Song Mai frowned, a feeling she couldn't quite put her finger on.
Never mind, maybe she's overthinking it.
Back at her workstation, she poured herself a large glass of hot water and felt better. A stack of documents on her desk had been replaced. Song Mai took a deep breath, encouraged herself, and then opened the top document to read.
Meanwhile, Chu Xing had just returned to his office after finishing a meeting.
The company's acquisition plans are currently in full swing, and several R&D projects have also been launched at the same time, making this the busiest time of the year.
He had hoped to have a good chat with Song Mai about her feelings about starting the job, but he was too busy to have any time.
"How is she?"
Assistant Lu was pouring tea for the man, and he knew immediately who the man was asking about.
"She hasn't started working yet; Ji Fenghe is still having her look at project materials. But I heard from the translation department that she almost missed work this morning."
The man moved his hand.
"What happened?"
"I heard it was because of the weather. It rained heavily in the morning, and it seemed inconvenient for her to ride her electric bike. She arrived at the company just in time, completely soaked and looking rather disheveled."
Upon hearing this, Chu Xing's eyes darkened, as if he were pondering something.
"Go buy her a women's outfit and send it to her. I'll send you the size."
Assistant Lu nodded, then felt that something seemed off.
Just as I was about to lift my foot to leave, I paused again.
"Is it really appropriate for me to go and bring her clothes...?"
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