The boss is coming?

The preparations for the annual meeting were steadily underway. Early Monday morning, He Si followed the manager and got busy, leaving the task of event registration to Qin Hua.

Qin Hua was quite pleased with it, even voluntarily covering He Si’s registration fee.

He Si quickly reimbursed Qin Hua and soon put the matter out of his mind.

As expected, handling the annual meeting required frequent trips to Jiayi. Assistant Cen even gathered a group of social media influencers contracted with Jiayi for He Si to familiarize himself with, ensuring that two key segments—the live broadcast and the red carpet—would run smoothly during the event.

He Si rarely surfed the internet or watched short videos, and even though some of these influencers had sizable followings, he recognized none of them. Memorizing their faces took considerable effort.

As December arrived, the weather grew colder. Although He Si was naturally tolerant of the cold, he had switched to a thick down jacket.

With only three days left until the annual meeting, he paused his other tasks to accompany the manager through the event’s procedures repeatedly.

That afternoon, the sky was overcast, and light snow began to fall without warning.

The office, usually quiet except for the clatter of keyboards, suddenly buzzed with activity as everyone gathered by the floor-to-ceiling windows to admire the snow-covered scene below.

He Si remained seated, efficiently packing his things.

“Hissss,” a sound came from across the room.

He looked up.

Qin Hua was leaning over the partition between two desks, careful not to put his full weight on it.

“Heading to the venue again?” Qin Hua asked.

“Yes.” He Si stood up, swung his shoulder bag behind him. “Going to check the site and go over the process with the Jiayi team.”

“Really working hard,” Qin Hua said.

“Not too bad.”

He Si was about to leave when he noticed Qin Hua still staring at him, so he asked, “What’s up?”

Qin Hua whispered, “The annual meeting is almost here.”

“I know,” He Si replied, puzzled.

“Do you remember what happens after the meeting?”

“…”

“December 31st at 6 p.m., West Hall Plaza…”

“I remember,” He Si interrupted wearily. “Don’t worry, the time is free. I’ll be there.”

Only then did Qin Hua smile, tear off a few sheets of paper, and turn to head to the restroom for a paid break.

The venue was somewhat remote; it took even longer to get there from the Marriott. By the time He Si arrived, the Jiayi team and the manager were already present—the manager had driven from elsewhere for convenience.

He Si greeted everyone.

“No wonder it’s so cold today. Turns out it’s snowing,” Assistant Cen said, rubbing her arms and stamping her feet to keep warm. Seeing He Si brushing snow off his clothes and hair, she smiled and asked, “You still had to walk some distance from the subway, right? Was it cold?”

Before He Si could answer, Assistant Bi said softly, “He’s wearing so many layers, how could he be cold? We’re the ones freezing.”

To maintain a sleek image, Assistants Cen and Bi had long abandoned their down jackets, braving the bitter winter clad only in coats.

At this moment, both were dressed formally, their faces pale from the cold.

After brushing off the snow, He Si placed his bag on a toolbox. Having run all the way, he felt warm rather than cold. Seeing Cen and Bi shivering, he took off his down jacket, hesitated, then handed it to Assistant Bi.

“You wear this first. The annual meeting is about to start—don’t catch a cold.”

He actually wanted to give it to Assistant Cen, but given the delicate boundaries between men and women, lending a jacket could be misinterpreted, so he gave it to Bi instead.

Assistant Bi was pleasantly surprised. “Huh? Aren’t you going to wear it?”

He Si explained, “I’ll be working soon. Wearing such a heavy jacket will just get in the way.”

“But not wearing it risks catching a cold.”

“Even if I put it on now, I’d have to take it off later anyway. Just hold it for me until I’m done.”

Assistant Bi, nearly sniffling from the cold, noticed He Si was only wearing a thin sweater beneath but looked robust enough to run several laps in the snow. After a moment’s hesitation, he gratefully accepted the jacket and put it on.

Instantly, he seemed revived.

Seeing Assistant Cen still shivering, He Si was at a loss. The banquet hall had central heating, but since it wasn’t yet the annual meeting, the lights were not fully on, nor was the heating—no special accommodations were made for them.

Still, he went over to close the main door, better than nothing.

The manager, bundled up like a wrapped dumpling in a thick down jacket, bustled about. She called He Si outside the banquet hall to coordinate the live broadcast setup with hotel staff.

With the manager present, He Si spoke little, mostly listening quietly.

“Don’t rush to pack up the props after the event. We’ll have you collect them later. Also, be careful during the live broadcast—make sure no unauthorized people wander into the shot. We need to archive the footage, and the edited videos will be posted on the official account…” The manager rambled on, then suddenly remembered something and turned to He Si.

“By the way, the boss is definitely coming, right?”

He Si immediately caught the key point from her words. “The boss is coming?”

“Yes,” the manager replied, surprised. “You didn’t know?”

He Si said, “When I checked with Assistant Cen the day before yesterday, she said the boss might not come.”

The manager recalled and slapped her forehead. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Yesterday, Cen Chen told me the boss has cleared his schedule and might be coming after all.”

He Si was speechless.

Sometimes, working as a group had its drawbacks—information could get mixed up and cause misunderstandings.

“I’ll confirm again,” He Si said at once.

“Alright, go ahead.” The manager waved him off and added, “The boss wants to avoid mingling with those influencers and just attend as a regular employee. But since he’s still the boss, he can’t be treated the same as us. So check again. If he’s coming, we’ll schedule him to appear at the very end. After the live broadcast finishes, he can go in then.”

He Si acknowledged this and went back into the banquet hall to find Assistant Cen.

Assistant Cen had just finished inventorying the props for the annual meeting, identifying some missing items, and was on the phone.

He Si waited briefly, but when it was clear the call would take some time, he stepped forward and briefly asked his question.

Assistant Cen sighed. “You should ask President Shen directly. His plans have changed several times—I’ve forgotten whether I told you last time that he was or wasn’t coming.”

He Si hesitated, then said, “Should I call him?”

“Didn’t you add him on WeChat? Just ask him there,” Assistant Cen said. “Don’t worry, President Shen’s practically glued to WeChat these days and replies quickly.”

He Si retrieved his phone from his bag.

Though they had exchanged a few work-related messages initiated by the boss before, this was the first time He Si was reaching out proactively.

He carefully typed his message in a memo app, reviewed it twice, then sent it to the boss.

Meanwhile, in Jiayi’s conference room, the phone beside Shen Zhi lit up. He glanced at it but didn’t reply, placing it back on the table.

Half an hour later, the meeting ended. Shen Zhi called Assistant Ma, instructing him to prepare the car to take him to the annual meeting venue.

Assistant Ma hurried downstairs to start the car.

Shen Zhi returned to his office, handled some minor tasks, then took a coat off the rack and put it on while adjusting his cuffs as he headed out.

At the office door, he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.