After the introductions.
There were two staff members that even Producer Fu Sihong did not know too well, probably because they were only transferred here today as well, and so they introduced themselves when it came to their turn.
Seeing all the new colleagues, looking at the view outside the windows and the well-equipped office, Zhang Ye was feeling extremely satisfied with everything. Central TV Department 1 was just as its name suggested. The way they spent their finances was shown clearly by the resources littering the office and work area. The workplace’s environment could be said to be the best in the industry and also the largest. Standing here, Zhang Ye could not find any faults at all. Other than satisfied, there was still satisfaction! Compared to this place, his previous departments at his old workplaces were basically just kennels!
Fu Sihong said, “Teacher Zhang, why don’t you familiarize yourself with the team first, I will go out to bring a few more people over. Some of them are still not here yet.”
Zhang Ye turned around and said, “Sure, please do what you need to.”
Fu Sihong turned around to leave the office.
When he left, several of the team also livened up. From that, it seemed that Fu Sihong wasn’t really a person anyone could easily talk to.
Assistant Director Zhang Zuo said, “Teacher Zhang, I’ve always liked your programs. When I heard from the leader yesterday that you would be doing the program planning for our new Thursday evening program, I was the first one to register to transfer over.”
Assistant Director Ha Qiqi also said cheerfully, “If we’re talking about who was the first one to be confirmed for this new program team, then it has to be me. Even before the program team had been formed, my name was already on the list, but it was just a normal transfer for me as my previous program has already stopped airing. I really hadn’t expected that Teacher Zhang would join us, but as long as we follow Teacher Zhang’s command, then nothing will go wrong for sure. Didn’t all of Teacher Zhang’s past program productions all get popular wherever he went?”
Technical Director Wu Yi nodded and said, “I think we won’t even need to use our brains to work anymore. As long as we follow Teacher Zhang’s commands, everything should go smoothly and the ratings will surely be great!”
As they were all meeting for just the first time, they did not really know what to say, nor did they know how Zhang Ye was like as a person. To be on the safe side, they simply said some words that would suck up to Zhang Ye and that would ensure nothing was said wrong.
Zhang Ye was enjoying it too. Well said, really well said.
Chenchen glanced at them, then glanced at Zhang Ye and smirked a little. “Hur hur.”
Zhang Ye: “…”
Everyone: “…”
Ha Qiqi asked, “Who might this beautiful little girl be?”
Zhang Ye said, “She’s my relative. I will be taking care of her for a few days as there’s no one available to look after her.”
Ha Qiqi smiled and squatted down, saying, “This little one is really too cute. I’ve never seen such a beautiful child before.” These words of hers sounded more sincere compared to earlier.
“Chenchen, greet her,” Zhang Ye said.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtChenchen listlessly greeted her, “Auntie.”
Ha Qiqi said, “What a good girl!”
Zhang Ye said helplessly, “What’s so good about her? This kid is always so troublesome.”
Being criticized in front of so many people, Chenchen did not like it, so she said, “Zhang Ye, you’re the one who’s troublesome. There are always news reports of you ‘fighting’ with others.”
Pfft!
When Ha Qiqi heard that, she nearly burst out laughing!
The others were also trying to hold in their laughter, not daring to laugh at all. The kid was indeed right. When it came to being troublesome? Who could be more troublesome than the famous face-smacking Zhang of the entertainment circle!
Zhang Ye was very embarrassed by this. Damned kid, why was she so disobedient. It’s only my first day at work and you’re already dragging me down? He snapped at her, “Shoo, shoo. Go and play somewhere by yourself.”
Chenchen who was waiting exactly for this opportunity immediately slipped away to the row of windows in the office and stuck her neck out to look down. When she got tired of standing, she found a chair for herself and sat there beside the windows.
Zhang Ye told his colleagues, “This kid is a little different from other children. Don’t judge her by seven or eight year old age. She’s really more like a little adult and doesn’t like to talk much or play. I don’t even understand what she’s thinking of all day. In any case, I will be bringing her around for these two days, so if she offends you guys in any way, please accept my apologies in advance. Don’t take it up with her, and if possible, could everyone also keep an eye on her and keep her from running around?”
A young male staff member quickly said, “Teacher Zhang, look at you. Why do you need to be so polite with us? Children are all like this. It’s normal.”
Wu Yi said, “Yes, it will be fine.”
Ha Qiqi, seemingly going with the flow, said, “When you’re not around, I’ll help you look after the child. Leave it all to me.”
Zhang Ye said, “Is that really alright, Sister Qi?
Ha Qiqi happily said, “Since you’re already addressing me as Sister Qi, even if it’s not OK, it has now become OK.” With just a few exchange of words, she had already observed Zhang Ye as someone easy to get along with. Indeed, Zhang Ye did not have any airs about him and was very polite when speaking. As a result, Ha Qiqi also opened up a lot more and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely take good care of her.”
Zhang Ye quickly said, “Then I give you my thanks.” He knew that he couldn’t possibly keep an eye on Chenchen all day. With someone like Ha Qiqi helping him, Zhang Ye was also less worried now.
For the next half hour, Zhang Ye continued conversing with his colleagues, as other than chatting, there was no work to do at the moment. They talked about everything under the sky, but the conversation still mainly revolved around Zhang Ye. For example, they asked him for the meanings behind certain poems, the truth behind the Peking University incident, or the reason why he beat up Lee Anson after the Spring Festival Gala this year. After all, many of them had only known about Zhang Ye from the news and media. They didn’t know the details or the insider’s point of view. Since they did not know—or to better phrase it, did not know the full story—they were naturally more curious as well. Seeing how Zhang Ye was such a easy person to talk to, they started asking one by one, not knowing that Zhang Ye would really answer them and do a tell-all.
With these conversations, their relationships were also pulled closer together. Not only did Zhang Ye’s relationship with them get closer, even the relationship between themselves got better. As this group of people were all from different departments, even if they had seen each other before in the past, today was their first day as a new unit, so they surely had to slowly build up their trust and relationships with each other. A good conversation was often one of the best ways to pull people closer together.
Eventually, they only stopped talking when Fu Sihong arrived back at the office with two new colleagues. They got to know these two newcomers a little before getting ready to unpack and arrange their things again. Things like the Wi-Fi password and intranet login details all needed to be reconfigured again, and there were still many other things that they had to do.
Zhang Ye called out to Chenchen again, “Come here.”
Chenchen did not go over. She said, “But I’m looking at the buildings.”
Zhang Ye said, “Then don’t you run around carelessly in the office. When you get bored, come to my office and look for me. Right, remember to do your homework, didn’t your teacher give you some for the weekend? Where did you put your bag?”
Chenchen patted on the bag she had put on the windowsill. “I know.”
Ha Qiqi laughed and said, “Teacher Zhang, leave it to me, don’t bother yourself anymore.”
“Sure, then I’ll leave it to you.” Zhang Ye then went into his new office.
Once he entered the room, Zhang Ye immediately liked the place. There was a genuine leather sofa set, a genuine leather swivel chair, as well as an abstract piece of art hanging on the wall that he did not understand. He took a seat behind the large office desk and felt really comfortable there. In the past, Zhang Ye had worked at quite a number of places, but strictly speaking, he had never before had a standalone office for himself. This was a first for him. As Zhang Ye climbed up the social ladder, his status and recognizability also increased. This fellow’s situation was becoming better and better!
Not bad!
Not bad at all!
He switched on his computer and messed around with it for a while, then looked through some books at the bookshelf as well. After trying out everything for a while, Zhang Ye calmed down and started arranging his stuff too. He took out his stationery—such as a notebook and a fountain pen, as well as some tea leaves—and placed them in a spot he could easily reach. Of other miscellaneous items, he did not bother with them as the unit would be sure to provide them.
After sitting there for a moment, Zhang Ye pushed the door open to go outside, hoping to familiarize himself with the situation around the office and the other departments. When he had just stepped out of the office, Zhang Ye saw something that left him “vomiting blood”!
He saw Chenchen holding her small bag and walking past the staff members one by one, handing out something to them.
Chenchen: “Uncle, help me with my Chinese homework.”
The young man smiled and said, “Sure, pass it to me.”
Chenchen: “Auntie, help me do my composition.”
Ha Qiqi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but said, “Let me give it a try then.”
Chenchen: “Uncle, help me do my math homework.”
Zhang Zuo cleared his throat and nodded. “Alright, let me take a look.”
In a short moment, Chenchen had already delegated all of her homework. Finally, she even instructed, “Don’t tell Zhang Ye about this. He doesn’t let me to get other people to help me with my homework.”
Zhang Ye was furious. He shouted, “Rao Chenchen!”
Chenchen turned around and saw him, then sighed like a little adult and turned back around. She walked to the front of the aunties and uncles, very consciously taking back the workbooks one at a time from them.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmEveryone was tickled by the look on Chenchen’s face.
Only Zhang Ye could not find any fun in this. He said, “You’re even commanding people to do things now!? They’re all busy and yet you want them to do your homework for you? What did I tell you before we came here?”
Chenchen did not say a word.
A female staff member said, “Teacher Zhang, it’s just a small matter.”
Ha Qiqi also said, “Yes, the child is just playing around with us.”
Many of the staff in the office were speaking up for Chenchen. It seemed that she was rather popular with the people here.
Zhang Ye said to Chenchen, “This is your last chance. If I find you doing that again, I will leave you at home alone.” Saying that, he finally stepped out of the office and went outside to take a look around.
After about 20 minutes, when Zhang Ye returned he discovered Ha Qiqi speaking to Chenchen. An empty desk that Chenchen had “occupied” was now littered with all sorts of snacks—chips, chocolate, soda, milk candy, etc. He didn’t know who gave them to her, but the kid was basically just hugging the soda bottle and drinking from it, holding the chips and munching on them. What a harvest she’d had.
Zhang Ye said, “How much do you intend to eat?”
Ha Qiqi smiled and said, “It’s given to her by our female colleagues, just let her have some if she likes it.”
“Have you thanked the sisters and aunties?” Zhang Ye looked at Chenchen and asked.
A female colleague laughed and said, “She’s already thanked us.”
Chenchen put down the cola and jumped down from the chair. She said, “Zhang Ye, I need to go to the bathroom.”
Ha Qiqi stood up and said, “It’s not so convenient for Teacher Zhang to bring you. Come with me, let auntie take you instead.”
Chenchen hesitated a little but still went over to Zhang Ye’s side. She tugged at Zhang Ye’s arm and urged him, “Zhang Ye, I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Get Auntie Qi to go with you?” Zhang Ye asked her.
Chenchen said, “You take me.”
Zhang Ye said, “You’re still shy around strangers?”
Ha Qiqi said, “Hur hur, the child is really sticking to you.”
Zhang Ye said, “She only thinks of me when there’s a problem.” He pulled Chenchen’s hand and said, “Come along, I’ve just familiarized myself around here. There’s a separate restroom over there. I will bring you this once, but you go there by yourself after that.”
Chenchen nodded.
Sigh.
Looks like the whole morning would be wasted on looking after this child!