The line was even longer the second time around, and it took over an hour to get their food. By the time they did, Murong Hai had just finished his stroll, so the four of them boarded a hovercar to head back.
On the way back, the discussion group was pinging nonstop. He glanced over and saw the two young men were deep in a discussion about tofu: what it was, where it came from, and how it could be so delicious.
Left: I even asked him about it. I told him Iām bringing some colleagues tomorrow and that weād be late, and he agreed to wait for us until 7! What a great guy!
Right: Iām going to rave about their stall and their event to everyone I know!
Left: Same here!
Assistant Mi thought, āThey sure are full of energy.ā
The unremarkable day passed just like that. After dropping off the boss at home, it was still early, so Assistant Mi brought the two young men back to the office to continue working.
It was strange. These two, who usually left the second the clock struck five, had gotten the day off yet still followed him back to the office.
But that was none of his concern. Back at the office, he secretly placed the treat heād been looking forward to in his girlfriendās drawer, left her a message on her terminal, and got back to work.
At seven in the evening, after work, Assistant Mi asked his girlfriend, Xiao Ling, how the tofu was. Xiao Ling hummed in reply. "It was delicious! It just got cold. I bet it would taste even better hot."
"Do you want to try it hot? If so, I can take you there with me after work tomorrow."
"No, itās okay." Xiao Ling shook her head and said in a hushed tone, "Iāve already made plans with my colleagues. If you want to go, you should sign up and join us!"
"...You made plans?" He was taken aback. "Already?"
"Yeah. Didnāt you know? Arenāt you in that discussion group too?"
āWhat discussion group???ā
Assistant Mi logged into his terminal to take a look and was completely floored. The three-person discussion group from that morning had somehow, in less than four hours, grown to over five hundred members.
"You... you guys got five hundred people to join?"
"Yep. Those two are pretty popular."
"..."
āHe suddenly understood why the interviewer had hired these two.ā
Assistant Mi didnāt know, however, that this was far from the limit. When he woke up early the next morning, his terminal was pinging again. He couldnāt resist opening it, and when he lookedāholy crapāthe discussion group already had over thirteen hundred members.
Not only that, but someone in the group had created an incredibly detailed spreadsheet.
A brings B, C, and D; B brings E, F, and G, and so on, link by link. All thirteen hundred people were perfectly arranged and divided into groups according to who had brought whom.
...
???
He stared, dumbfounded. Scrolling up through the chat history, he discovered that the two young men had pulled an all-nighter just to get this organized.
In that moment, Assistant Mi felt his age.
His 51-year-old self and these 31-year-old youngsters were on completely different levels.
āSo capable.ā
-
For Changhai Group, today was destined to be no ordinary day.
The entire companyāover thirteen hundred peopleāwas preparing to hold its own team-building event after work.
With so many people attending, both men and women, a simple team-building event seemed a bit dull. So, they decided to make it a mixer as well. Who knew? Maybe they could build a bridge of love over a nice meal.
As a result, everyone came to work dressed to impress.
After a full day at the office, the moment the workday ended and everyone clocked out, they all rose from their desks. They headed to the hovercar station not far from the company, ready to board a large transport together to the same place as yesterday.
They were all well-educated young professionals. Despite the large numbers, they were split into organized groups and moved in an orderly fashion. Seeing such a large procession of young people in the bloom of youth was a pleasant sight to behold.