Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

"Good morning, Assistant Ling!"

Guiying stood with her back straight and greeted him with a robotic voice.

"Good morning, Miss. Cai. How are you feeling?"

"I am f-fine!"

He laughed. "It's fine to feel nervous, Miss. Cai. First days are supposed to be like that. The atmosphere in this company is also very friendly and everybody is helpful. So you can ease your tensed up shoulders."

She appreciated his encouragement and felt the pressure drifting away bit by bit.

"So yesterday, I gave you the general gist of an assistant's responsibilities, right?"

"Yes. As an assistant, we are mainly responsible to manage the CEO's calendar, correspond on his behalf, keep him informed of the latest developments, help him manage time and prioritize tasks, prepare documents and presentations, maintain confidentiality of sensitive information, organize meetings, events and conferences, plan his travel arrangements and itineraries, screen all the incoming requests to meet the CEO, handle administrative challenges, assist him with monitoring budget and expense reports, act as a liaison between different departments and provide support for any special CEO-led projects."

Assistant Ling beamed. "That's wonderful! You remembered every one of them. I see you have a great memory and understanding."

He took a tissue and wiped the tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

"A-Are you okay, Assistant Ling?" She asked, concerned.

"I am fine. I am just feeling emotional. Finally, I will have somebody to share my seemingly never-ending workload."

Zixin stepped in just at that moment, making their heads turn. Guiying held a somber expression and signaled Zixin to apologize to Mr. Ling right now.

Look, he is crying because of you!

Zixin walked towards them and Assistant Ling greeted him. "Good morning, Sir. Please don't mind my tears."

"I am sorry, Ling. Please forgive me," he lowered his head."

"..."

What was this response for my good morning greeting?

"I have been a terrible boss, overloading you with my selfish requests all the time. I realize that this is unfair to you. I won't do it again."

Assistant Ling stepped back, covering his mouth in utter shock.

Did he just understand all the troubles of my life?

He followed Zixin's gaze that looked at Guiying for confirmation to know if he did it the right way to which she nodded.

Aha! It's all Miss. Cai's magic! Otherwise how would this hopeless Romeo have ever understood my pain and suffering!

Mr. Ling gazed at Guiying as if she was a fairy from a distant land who only came to bless him.

I swear you will have my undying loyalty from now on, Miss. Cai! He shed invisible tears.

Zixin said, "Let her know all that she has to do. I will be at my desk if you need my help."

As he passed by Mr. Ling, he whispered in his ear, "Give her the kind of work that will have her close to me at all times."

"..."

"Also, don't bully her with too much work," he cautioned him.

He marveled at his hypocrisy and audacity.

Are you in any position here to warn me of bullying anybody!?

He focused back on his conversation and cleared his throat. "So as you explained all the responsibilities very well, I will let you start with three of the easier ones. Manage Sir's calendar, correspond on his behalf and screen the people wanting to meet him. This will help you get the hang of how his schedule looks and what kinds of people are in constant communication with him."

Her face lit up with a radiant smile.

This sounds manageable! Guess the charm of Uncle Guiren's chocolate really worked.

"Yes, I got it!"

Assistant Ling nodded with appreciation at her passion. "Good, good. Come with me. Your laptop and access are all ready. I will initially guide you with his calendar management and the responses you need to draft according to the requests."

"Thank you!"

At a desk that was a little farther away from Zixin's, Guiying took her seat, taking a deep breath. She looked at her new, shiny laptop and her welcome kit all ready and set up. A nervous and giddy sensation spun her mind.

Does this how a corporate job's experience feel like?

From a distance, Zixin read the excitement in her eyes and his heart jumped up and down with fuzziness. But a matter of grievance remained, which he asked Assistant Ling. "Didn't I tell you to give her work that will let us be together?"

He smiled. "Sir, you have placed your trust in me to guide, Miss. Cai, right? As her senior, I feel I have given her the right type of work to start with, considering that she knows nothing about corporate life. She can follow and assist you in meetings when she has gained enough experience. She needs to get used to your work life and style first."

"You don't have to make such good points," Zixin sulked.

After all, his family had given him his own mission to accomplish. How would he achieve that if there would be little to no chances to meet her?

Guiying logged in her laptop and as soon as she opened her mail, she saw a flurry of unread messages that made her head spin. At first, she couldn't understand the context of those emails at all, but Assistant Ling had provided her with the files and resources to understand what every mail chain's communication meant.

I will first have to read these.

After a good four hours of constant reading, Guiying closed the last file and yawned. Her stomach grumbled with hunger which was when Assistant Ling just arrived.

"Miss. Cai, ready for lunch?"

"Yes."

"I see you have been reading non-stop. You don't have to consume everything on the first day."

"Oh that's fine. I am done reading all the files anyway."

"..."

He stared at her, dumbfounded. "All of them? There are more than twenty files here."

"Yes."

He gasped. "H-How? That too in just four hours?"

She blinked. "Oh it took four hours because I was new to understanding all this stuff and terminologies. But then I got the hang of it."

"..."

So it means it would have taken her even less time if she hadn't been new to it?

"No, seriously how? There is just so much data to read."

Guiying didn't understand the source of his shock and scratched her head, embarrassed. "This much is actually nothing. I have read far bigger and fatter books than these files and all in a single day. I have been reading since middle school, I guess? Plus, I am a writer. I am used to constantly reading a lot of stories because that's what makes me learn and improve. So I became a fast reader over time."

"..."

How much time a regular newbie would have taken? Hell, how much time I took to read through everything!

"You…"

Guiying nervously straightened up.

D-Did I do something wrong?

Assistant Ling burst into tears. "You are a Goddess!"

"..."