No classes that morning.

The three of them got to the company early.

Xu Ye had barely sat down in his office when Zhang Xiaoyan came in to remind him. "Director Xu, you have an interview at nine thirty this morning. The Finance Weekly people just called to confirm. And these are the three pitch decks the investment department got this week."

"Leave them there."

"Okay." Xu Ye looked Zhang Xiaoyan over. She seemed a lot more confident, and he smiled. "You've changed a lot while I was away."

"Have I?" Zhang Xiaoyan hadn't noticed any change in herself at all.

Xu Ye nodded. "You wouldn't notice it yourself. Go on, get back to work. When the interview people get here, take them to the conference room."

"Okay."

The change in Zhang Xiaoyan wasn't in her looks but in how she carried herself. When she first came to the company, she'd been stiff and had a lot of nervous habits. She couldn't look people in the eye when she talked, never knew what to do with her hands, walked around tense, and jumped if anyone so much as called her name.

Now all of that was gone. Xu Ye didn't know if it was because she'd gotten used to the place or because of something else. Like Li Tongwen, for example…

Zhang Xiaoyan had shown Xu Ye the interview questions the day before. He'd skimmed them and left it at that.

He could rattle off the official line without even trying these days. He didn't need to prepare at all.

He turned on his computer and put on some instrumental music, then unscrewed the lid of his cup. He took a sip and found the water too hot, so he opened a drawer, took out a jar of Ningxia goji berries and dropped a dozen or so into the cup. With that, Xu Ye was on the clock.

Meanwhile.

Chen Qingqing and her three roommates had arrived at their classroom. The four of them sat in a row: Zhang Ruowei on the far left, Jiang Yu on the far right,…