Qian Meng raised her brow. It was fine if people didn't recognize her, but this was the first time someone thought she was someone else. She didn't know how to respond to this situation.

  "Can you give me a second? I'll just respond to an urgent text," she said politely. The smiled that accompanied the words was impeccable. Jia Shu didn't think anything of it and waved her to go ahead.

  Qian Meng pulled out her cellphone and opened Mo Qingchen's chat.

  [Your HR manager thinks I am the new secretary. Too confused to respond.] She sent the message out.

  The response came in record time from Mo Qingchen.

  [I have an hour or so before I finish work. Emergency calls. Have fun and dupe my employees.]

  Qian Meng blinked. Was he feeding her bad behavior of making fun of people? She didn't mind. If he gave her explicit permission to dupe them, she would take full advantage of the situation and tour the office. Maybe even get in on the gossip.

  This was definitely running errands for the CEO, okay?

  Qian Meng pushed her phone into her bag and gave Jia Shu a blinding smile. "I'm glad to be here."

  Jia Shu clapped her hands in delight. "Excellent. You already sent your paperwork so I won't need you to fill out too many forms." Her tone was bright and cheery. "Oh and don't worry, I won't bore you with the company's introduction video. How about you promise me you'll watch it on our website?" she winked.

  "Of course!" Qian Meng chimed in with a playful wink.

  Qian Meng liked this woman. She seemed like a girl that didn't take life too seriously. She got the feeling that if she were an employee, she would be glad for such an HR manager.

  "Take a seat Xiulan, and we'll go over a few things." She ushered Qian Meng into her office, closed the door, and returned to her desk.

  Qian Meng sat down and started to look around the room.

  "I assume you have already gone over the job responsibilities, but I would like to discuss them to avoid any confusion," Jia Shu explained as she sat down.

  "Sure." Qian Meng leaned back into her chair. It was warm as if someone had just been sitting in it.

  "Your main responsibility above all is to make sure Mr. Mo follows his schedule and is informed of any and all changes. He's actually very militant about it." Her tone became serious. "He'll expect you to be on top of meetings, calling everyone in question and making sure everyone is on time. You will need to confer with the Software Architects often because they mostly come and go from the office." Jia Shu shuffled some papers around her desk as though she was looking for something. "You knew about travel, yes?"

  Qian Meng shook her head. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

  "You are expected to travel with Mr. Mo as needed."

  Qian Meng was confused. She hadn't seen Mo Qingchen travel with the secretary.

  "Actually, the traveling has posed a problem for us. The current executive secretary is in her last trimester of the pregnancy and she hasn't been able to travel for a while. She will go on leave in a week. Mr. Mo's work has been growing so he now requires two secretaries instead of one," she explained to Qian Meng.

  "Oh." Qian Meng couldn't say anything else.

  "You have no idea how great it is to have you here," Jia Shu said, still shuffling through papers. Then she stopped abruptly and sternly said, "Now, I must warn you. Mr. Mo is a tough man to work for. Though he's fair and generous to his employees, he expects impeccable work." She looked straight at Qian Meng to emphasize the seriousness of her statement.

  "Thank you for the warning. But I don't think it is going to be an issue for me." Qian Meng was impressed by her equivocation.

  Jia Shu smiled and nodded her head approvingly.

  "Don't worry. As I gather, others may have tried to be his friend. I am not interested in that," Qian Meng added slyly.

  "Good. Because that is highly improbable." Jia Shu paused. "More like impossible." She let out a small chuckle. "Forgive me for being inappropriate."

  Actually, what she had said was not overly inappropriate. She wasn't badmouthing her boss. She was warning the new employee… gently.

  "Oh, please." Qian Meng waved her hand in front of her face. "I can't stand uptight people dragging their feet in the corporate machine," she admitted honestly. "We'll get along well." She announced.

  Jia Shu grinned warmly. "I hope you will come to me with any concerns you may have here."

  Qian Meng smiled. "Hopefully, I won't need to bother you, but I will if I need to."

  "Just remember that Mr. Mo needs to remain your top priority. If he's unhappy, everyone's unhappy." She almost began to roll her eyes but caught herself.

  She cleared her throat nervously and handed Qian Meng some forms to fill out. With that, she led Qian Meng into the reception area with instructions.

  The forms looked normal. Qian Meng put them aside and into a folder.

  "Come. Let me give you a brief tour of the building before I bring you to Mr. Mo's office." Her smile was dazzling.

  The next half an hour was spent mingling with various personnel. They seemed friendly enough. Inviting faces and warm pleasantries were showered on Qian Meng. They were absolutely delighted until they were told she was the secretary.

  "Hang in there," cried a small girl, hugging Qian Meng tightly.

  How ridiculous.

  Jia Shu led her away from the group of employees. "Are you ready to meet the big guy?" Her long legs moved swiftly down the hall. She gave Qian Meng a friendly wink to their mail carrier as they passed him by.

  "Is he expecting me?" Qian Meng's brow creased curiously.