"Once the info session's over, find a hotel near the school and book a room. We're staying here tonight — I've got interviews to run with them tomorrow morning."

"The session finishes by four at the latest. Why not just get the interviews done this afternoon?"

"I'm the one heading up HR at this company. How the process gets done is my call. You just do what I tell you."

The man in the glasses gave his nose a pinch and smiled at the woman standing in front of him. "Oh — and the company will cover the hotel. But it'll only cover one room. So you… understand what I mean."

"Then once the session's over I'll take the subway back and come again first thing tomorrow. It won't hold the work up."

She turned to go, and he moved straight into her path. There was a real edge in his voice. "Zhang Xiaoyan! With your degree and your background — if I hadn't been working things behind the scenes, do you think you'd have gotten into this company at all?"

The look on Zhang Xiaoyan's face got a great deal worse.

When she said nothing, he went on. "If I had ways to get you in, then obviously I have ways to get you out. Think about it. With what you've got, do you really think you'd find another job in Shanghai at anything close to what you're making now?"

Zhang Xiaoyan stayed silent, her eyes full of disgust.

He gave a cold little laugh, entirely unbothered. "That's how it goes in this life. If you want to get something, you always have to lose something. The session's about to start, so I'll go over to the classroom. I hope you'll give it some serious thought — whether the job and the money matter more, or these 'things' you're holding on to."

And that was that.

There was a sound of footsteps past the restroom door, and the man in the glasses was out of Zhang Xiaoyan's sight.

Turning over what he'd said, Zhang Xiaoyan was hit all at…