Chapter 16: Sixteen: Attracting bees and butterflies with carefree smiles in such a way

The training drills of the security department weren’t difficult, mainly lining up in parade formation, turning left and right, punching and kicking with military boxing, doing push-ups, and then training in the use of various types of security equipment. Ji XiaoYu didn’t want to be too showy to attract anyone’s attention, so he deliberately performed well within the normal range; nothing too eye-catching, but he didn’t do anything to make himself get punished. After a few days, the security guards stopped taking this new kid so seriously.

Seven days flashed forward and on the morning of October 8th, the staff who came to work in Block A of the HongSheng Building suddenly discovered that the security guard at the lobby security desk had changed to a new person with delicate features and a clear complexion. Wearing a brand-new military-green uniform, his slender waist was wrapped with a belt, so he looked like a bamboo tree growing out of the water, slender and upright, fresh and pleasant.

When the new security guard talked to people, he was very polite, warm, and thoughtful and he looks at everyone with a bright, full smile, which revealed rows of shiny, neat little white teeth. This blinded the eyes of many employees – especially the women. Many people walked past and had to take a second look or they even turned back with nothing to say, but still managing to speak a few words here and there.

If they hadn’t been rushing to punch their timecards, the new security desk would probably be surrounded by a group of pretty young ladies.

At 8:52, Zhou SiYu entered the lobby wearing a skirt and carrying a small bag. As she was heading towards to the elevator, someone suddenly called out next to her, “Zhou Jie, good morning!”

Zhou SiYu turned her head and looked and suddenly opened her eyes wide, “Hey, aren’t you the little delivery guy from Old Li’s Home-Cooked Dishes? Why are you wearing this outfit all of a sudden? I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“Oh, yeah, I changed jobs and became a HongSheng security guard.” Ji XiaoYu touched the brim of his hat and laughed, “Thank you for taking care of me before, Zhou Jie. We’re kind of colleagues now too, so if there’s anything I can do to help you in the future, just say it.”

He had always had a good impression of Zhou SiYu, so he felt a bit of gratitude towards her. If this young woman hadn’t ordered some Old Li’s Home-cooked Dishes delivery, he wouldn’t have had the chance to come to the HongSheng Building and he wouldn’t have encountered Cheng YuTang. So, he wouldn’t be a HongSheng security guard and his wages wouldn’t have gone up a lot.

Zhou SiYu was both surprised and sincerely happy for Ji XiaoYu. “That’s great, congratulations! Are you free tonight? Zhou Jie invites you to have a meal, as a celebration for you.”

“No, no, no, I should treat you. Zhou Jie, what do you like to eat?”

“I can do that, but I can’t eat too much high-fat food at night, or I’ll get fat…….”

“It’s already two minutes to nine o’clock. Which department is yours, don’t you have to punch for work?” someone coldly interjected, interrupted Zhou SiYu.

Zhou SiYu turned stiffly, stammering out her reply, “Cheng, Cheng Zong! I-I’m from the marketing department. I’m sorry, I’ll go up and punch in!” As she spoke, she secretly shot Ji XiaoYu a “hope for the best” look. Then, stepping on her high heels, she ran off faster than a rabbit.

A few people who had just entered the lobby immediately ran off, lest they be caught by Cheng Zong.

Ji XiaoYu’s heart cried out about the bad luck, but he faced Cheng YuTang and spared no effort to show a blooming, flattering bright smile, “Cheng Zong, morning.”

“……..” Cheng YuTang’s eyes twitched and he looked at him with a blank expression, “Working hours are not the time to be unscrupulous. Slacking off and affecting the regular work of other people, what should be done according to HongSheng’s employee code?”

Ji XiaoYu opened his mouth but couldn’t answer.

Over the holiday, Liang ShaoGang did show him the rules and regulations of HongSheng, but there were so many and they were complicated, so he had just flipped through it and then threw it into the cabinet. How can I remember the specific terms?!

Zhao BaiXin, who was following next to him, wondered how the little delivery guy had become a HongSheng security guard and, picking up on the mood, said with astute awareness, “According to Article 12 of the company’s employee code, depending on the severity of the circumstances, a verbal warning or a fine ranging from 100 to 1000 yuan, even dismissal can be dealt to those who have a bad impact on others.”

Didn’t I just say a few words, how can it be so serious?! Ji XiaoYu was shocked and rushed to say, “Cheng Zong, I’ve only come to work for my first day today, I didn’t deliberately violate the company code! I promise I’ll never do it again. You can’t fine me, much less dismiss me!”

Seeing that he was sweating from the stress, Cheng YuTang said slowly and firmly, “I’ll take this as a first-time offense on your first day of work. You will be given a verbal warning today, as an example for next time.”

Ji XiaoYu quickly agreed and after Cheng Zong left, he was relieved. Aiya, that scolding almost scared this poor pheasant to death.

Wasn’t Cheng YuTang, the president of a group company, a little too idle, personally taking care of a little security guard?

……

Cheng Zong rode up the private elevator up to the top floor and went into his office. Then, to the Zhao BaiXin who was following on his heels and was about to report on the day’s schedule, he issued a directive, “Notify Yang YiPeng of the security department to change Ji XiaoYu’s position.”

In the lobby, the most important thing for security guards was to pay close attention to the identity and movements of the people entering and leaving and to do a good job of checking and registering them in time, to ensure that the company’s employees could have a safe, secure, and quiet working environment. Not to be like a lady who is laughing at the door of the club, attracting bees and butterflies with carefree smiles in such a way, disturbing the company’s order.

Besides, what’s with the security uniform? So tight and narrow, exposing all the curves of the body, not serious and solemn at all, it also has to be changed!

Zhao BaiXin was surprised and said, “Changed to which position?”

In his opinion, Ji XiaoYu, who didn’t have any skills except his face and his butt, shouldn’t have been brought in at all. He was suitable to be kept at home as a pet. But, no, if Cheng Zong thought it was fun, then there was nothing that could be said.

Cheng YuTang thought for a moment, “Go and guard the underground parking lot.”

There were only a few people there, the environment was simple, and the light was a little dim too, so there shouldn’t be a mess of things there.

“Yes, please wait while I inform Yang YiPeng.”

Zhao BaiXin thought quietly, changing positions after just one day at work, this Ji XiaoYu kid is really HongSheng’s number one man.

However, his position was transferred to still be a little security guard, which indicated that Cheng Zong didn’t take Ji XiaoYu seriously. He was only a temporary fresh experience, so he probably wouldn’t see this person after a while.

……

Ji XiaoYu was in the middle of the first day of work. He started work at 8am so by the time it was 4pm, it would be eight hours and the day’s work would be over. During this time, he registered visitors, paid attention to whether there were any suspicious or dangerous people entering or leaving the building, and patrolled in the ground floor lobby. The workload was nothing compared to what it was previously at Old Li’s Home-Cooked Dishes.

He and Zhou SiYu hadn’t been in touch all day, the both of them probably scared by Cheng Zong’s reprimand that morning and so the unarranged meal was forgotten.

At four o’clock, Liu WeiRen came to work. He didn’t say a word, just snorted through his nose.

Except for the shock from Cheng YuTang in the morning, Ji XiaoYu had still been in a good mood overall, so he didn’t worry about Liu WeiRen’s attitude. He just went back to the security department while humming to change out of his uniform and fill in the day’s duty log.

Just as he finished filling it out, Yang YiPeng came in.

After several drills over the National Day holiday, Ji XiaoYu had been trained to become familiar with all kinds of military postures, so he immediately got up, stood up straight, and, with a neat and beautiful salute, said, “Hello, Captain!”

“At ease.” Yang YiPeng had to admit, this kid’s movements were pretty eye-catching. He cleared his throat and said, “I’m here to inform you that starting tomorrow, you don’t have to be on duty in the Block A lobby…….”

“Why?!” Ji XiaoYu felt panic in his heart and his eyes went round, “I’ve only been on shift one day, are you going to fire me? What am I not doing well? Captain, you tell me and I’ll change!”

“Who said you were getting fired, I haven’t finished my sentence yet.” Yang YiPeng wanted to laugh a little and it was hard to keep his face straight. “It’s just a position transfer. You don’t have to go to the lobby anymore, switch to the underground parking lot.”

“So that’s it, ah, scared me.” Ji XiaoYu let out a sigh of relief. “Captain, what about my salary?”

“No change, the same as before.”

“That’s good, good.” Ji XiaoYu finally let go of the worry in his heart and another smile appeared on his face. He quipped, using a remark from a scene in a TV show last night that he had learned, “I am a building block of the company, moving whenever I’m needed!”

He didn’t lose his job and his salary was the same, so there was no problem. As for what specific duties, that didn’t make much difference to him.

“Good that you understand, so just do it. Later, go to the underground parking lot and find Fang DaXing, the security team leader over there, to learn their job responsibilities and duties.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Yes, Captain!”

Yang YiPeng watched Ji XiaoYu transform like the sky clearing after rain back to his simple-minded appearance in the blink of an eye and he couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy.

After a few days of contact, he had found this kid wasn’t acting foolish, he was just a little silly. Maybe he was the second generation of the rich family who was too used to being protected, who didn’t know the wisdom of the world and the suffering of the human beings. And now, when his family had fallen, he had to come out to work to earn money.

In addition, Yang YiPeng also felt a little confused about the instructions issued today.

Since Cheng Zong had opened the back door to Ji XiaoYu and put him into the company, it was reasonable to say there was a bit of affection, but it was only a day before he changed his job. Although the salary and conditions were unchanged, the working environment and level of decency were more than a little worse, to say it flat out, this was actually the equivalent of a downgrade.

That is to say, Ji XiaoYu was also confused and didn’t understand why but he only cared about the amount of salary, so he wouldn’t worry about it.

Yang YiPeng casually asked, “You can drive, right?”

Ji XiaoYu answered in a crisp manner, “Reporting to the captain, no!”

“No need to be so loud.” Yang YiPeng was a bit speechless, letting a guy who can’t drive stand guard in the parking garage, wasn’t that a bit unreasonable? “Don’t all young people like to play with cars? Why didn’t you learn?”

“Reporting to the captain, no money, so I couldn’t afford to learn!”

The cost of learning to drive was 4800 yuan in Xing Cheng. Ning City was even higher, nearly 6000 yuan. Whether it was last year or now, Ji XiaoYu didn’t go learn to drive – the spirit was willing but the wallet was weak.

A row of black lines spread across Yang YiPeng’s forehead. He could so confidently say he had no money. This kid really wasn’t an ordinary person. “Forget it, you should go to the parking garage first to report in, let Fang DaXing arrange specific work for you.”

“Yes!”

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Footnotes:

1. Spirit is willing but the wallet is weak (心有余而钱不足啊): play on the common idiom ‘the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak’ to indicate a strong desire but no ability/resources

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hey Zhao BaiXin, how about you keep your judgy comments to yourself >:O