Chapter 8
Murong Yan continued his meeting in the car, staring intently at his laptop screen, seemingly immune to motion sickness.
Murong Cheng fell asleep soon after getting in and only woke up when they arrived at Guangyu.
Murong Yan and Duan Shao had already left. Only he and the driver remained.
The driver turned on the overhead light. “Mr. Murong, we’ve arrived.”
Murong Cheng hurriedly got out, bowing his thanks. “Thank you for the ride, and thank you, Mr. Cheng.”
The fact that he had arrived at the company in the CEO’s Rolls-Royce spread like wildfire through the company gossip channels the next day.
Even though it was a company holiday, and no one was at work.
After the National Day holiday, when Murong Cheng returned to work, the “secret” of his ride back from the beach resort with the CEO was common knowledge. Everyone was now even more certain that he was CEO Murong’s younger brother.
For their first long holiday since joining the company, both Murong Cheng and Mu Haoqiong returned to their hometowns. Although they had just been home for the summer break a few months prior, those few months since graduation felt like an eternity.
With the two extra days off, Murong Cheng spent five of the nine days attending various banquets, two days recovering at home, and one day catching up with high school friends. Four of the five banquets were weddings. Almost every day, he was bombarded with questions about his job and his relationship status.
His job was easy to answer. Guangyu, a leading company in its industry, was well-known even in his hometown of H City, far from A City. His parents beamed with pride whenever asked about their son’s employment.
However, whenever the conversation shifted to his relationship status, his mother, Xing Li, would look at him expectantly, then sigh in disappointment when he shook his head.
“Xiao Cheng, don’t overwork yourself in A City. If you have any questions at work, ask your seniors for guidance,” his mother said, packing a large bag of local specialties into his suitcase before he left. “Take these for your colleagues and superiors.”
“Mom… no one needs these things nowadays,” Murong Cheng said, looking at the suitcase filled with dried fruits and coconut candy.
“Silly child, you don’t understand. It’s the thought that counts,” Xing Li patiently explained. “You’re a new employee, you’ll need guidance from your seniors. Bringing them some local specialties is always a good gesture.”
“Fine, Mom. But please, not too much! It’s heavy!” Murong Cheng grumbled.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Xing Li stopped and looked at him. “Son, now that you have a job, it’s time to think about settling down. It’s a pity I’m so far away in H City and don’t know anyone in A City to introduce you to…”
Murong Cheng touched his nose. “Mom, I’m not in a hurry…”
“I know people in big cities get married later, but you should start dating. You’re a handsome young man, I wasn’t worried before, but now you need to be more proactive,” Xing Li rambled, her eyes starting to redden. “You rarely come home. I worry about you being alone out there.”
“I know, Mom, don’t worry,” Murong Cheng hugged her. “I’ll be more proactive. I’ll think about it when I get back to A City.”
He wasn’t the only one being pressured about his relationship status.
The first thing Mu Haoqiong asked when he returned to their apartment on the last day of the holiday was whether he had been pressured into blind dates.
“No blind dates, but my mom did urge me to find a girlfriend,” Murong Cheng said, dropping his heavy suitcase and collapsing onto the sofa beside Mu Haoqiong.
Mu Haoqiong showed him a series of photos on his phone. “Look, my mom. She collected these from everywhere.”
Murong Cheng: “She’s got it all planned out?”
“Yeah,” Mu Haoqiong nodded. “Quite a few. Want to join me?”
Murong Cheng: “Huh? How?”
Mu Haoqiong: “Blind dates are awkward. I was thinking of setting up a group date, the two of us and two girls. Next weekend, or the weekend after, what do you think?”
A double blind date. That was a new one.
Murong Cheng hesitated.
“Silence means consent!” Mu Haoqiong declared, scrolling through the photos. “Pick one you’re most interested in. I’ll pick one too, and we’ll arrange a meeting.”
Murong Cheng: “I’ll… pass for now…”
He had promised his mother he would be more proactive, but not this soon.
Mu Haoqiong didn’t give him a chance to refuse. “Fine, I’ll pick two then. It’s just a first meeting, nothing serious. Just think of it as making new friends. It’s settled. I’ll contact them now. We’ll meet next weekend!”
Back at work, Murong Cheng resumed his idle existence.
When his parents asked if he was having any difficulties at work, he couldn’t bring himself to admit that everyone thought he was an inside man, and he was basically getting paid for doing nothing.
Out of boredom, he posted on a forum he frequented.
It was a job-hunting forum he had discovered during his senior year. Besides job postings and internship opportunities, it also had a general discussion section.
[#What to do when mistaken for the CEO’s brother because you share the same last name?
As a new employee, because my last name is quite unique, my team leader assumed I was a relative of the CEO. Every day, colleagues subtly inquire if I’m the CEO’s younger brother…]
He used a new account. He had always lurked, reading others’ job-hunting experiences, never posting or commenting. His profile picture was the default gray avatar, and his username was a string of random characters.
Should he change his profile picture? He was browsing his photos when a notification popped up.
Someone had replied to his post.
[1st Floor: Does this affect anything?]
Does it affect anything? Being mistaken for the CEO’s brother?
Where to even begin?
Murong Cheng grabbed his phone and typed rapidly.
The biggest impact was—
[OP: I’ve been here for three months, and my leader hasn’t assigned me any actual work. I’m getting anxious.]
It had been almost three months, only two weeks left of his probationary period. Guangyu had strict performance reviews for new employees. According to the forum, the review included not only evaluations from superiors and colleagues but also a written test on job-related knowledge. And the test would cover his daily work. Having done no actual work, Murong Cheng felt uneasy about the upcoming review.
So, after another few days of idleness, he cornered Xu Yayun after a department meeting and asked for a work assignment again.
Last time, she had brushed him off with the new employee orientation speech. This time, perhaps because he had successfully delivered the concept art to K City, she finally gave him a real task.
After the product launch, the promotional campaign continued steadily. The company had hired Fan Hechang, the country’s most popular sprinter, as their brand ambassador and planned a series of promotional events. Xu Yayun assigned Murong Cheng to oversee these events. A professional studio handled the photography and press releases. Murong Cheng’s role was that of a project manager, ensuring everything proceeded according to the pre-determined plan and reporting back to the company.
Since it wasn’t competition season, Fan Hechang was at his training base in A City, a ten-minute bike ride from Guangyu. This assignment allowed Murong Cheng to work remotely, freeing him from clocking in and out at the office. It was a plum assignment.
However, this all depended on Murong Cheng familiarizing himself with the promotional plan and securing Fan Hechang’s cooperation.
Neither proved easy.
His first day at the training base was chaotic.
Perhaps for privacy reasons, the entrance to the training base was hidden. It was raining, and Murong Cheng was drenched by the time he found it.
Finding the base was difficult; working with Fan Hechang was even harder.
According to the schedule, Murong Cheng was supposed to get a set of training photos on his first day, with Fan Hechang wearing Guangyu’s sportswear, matching the SUV in the promotional images, and posing in specific ways.
However, he couldn’t find Fan Hechang anywhere in the morning. In the afternoon, he finally found him training on the track, but the photography crew was nowhere to be seen.
Murong Cheng didn’t know anyone from the crew, nor any of the training base staff. He hadn’t accomplished anything by the end of the day and, having spent the entire day coordinating and searching for people, he didn’t eat lunch until 3:00 pm and didn’t leave the training base until 7:00 pm.
Getting the press releases was just as challenging.
The PR agency was more responsive than the photography crew, but Fan Hechang was uncooperative. He used his busy training schedule as an excuse to avoid all interviews and Q&A sessions. As a result, Murong Cheng couldn’t deliver the press releases to Yueyi, and he dreaded waking up every morning to her increasingly urgent messages.
Working was hard. Being the CEO’s brother was much better.
[Cheng: Xun-jie, have you worked with the company’s brand ambassador before?]
Unable to handle Fan Hechang, Murong Cheng turned to Zou Xun for help.
[LostAndFound: Fan Hechang isn’t cooperating?]
Zou Xun immediately understood his question.
Murong Cheng sent a pleading emoji.
[LostAndFound: He’s apparently difficult to work with. I heard he wanted to focus on training and didn’t want to do endorsements, but the coaching staff pressured him into signing with Guangyu.]
Murong Cheng understood.
He was being forced to work. No wonder he was uncooperative. An athlete who wanted to focus on training was admirable.
[Cheng: What should I do?]
[Cheng: Sad kitten.jpg]
He shouldn’t have asked Manager Xu for work. He was in a difficult position now. His probationary period review was just days away. He couldn’t afford any mistakes.
[LostAndFound: You’re at the training base. Try to build rapport with him. He signed the contract, he can’t refuse to provide materials.]
That was true.
But despite trying everything for two days—accompanying Fan Hechang during training, even attempting his endurance runs, racking up 18,000 steps a day and collapsing from exhaustion every night—Murong Cheng still couldn’t get his cooperation. The materials he managed to submit were rejected by Pan Yueyi. He could hear the suppressed frustration in her voice messages.
“Ah Cheng, the photos aren’t good. Fan Hechang isn’t wearing the right clothes. He needs to wear the company-provided sportswear, not his own training gear.”
“And the press release needs to be redone. Did someone prepare the answers for Fan Hechang? If not, have the agency prepare them. He can just read them. It needs to be relatable but not too mundane. His answers are too short and lack substance. Send me the revised draft first. The photos need to be done today. It’s already been three days, we can’t delay any longer. Our promotional campaign has a schedule.”
The two long voice messages filled Murong Cheng with dread.
[Cheng: Okay, Yueyi-jie, I’ll do it as soon as possible.]
Before he could send the message, another one popped up.
[Pan Yueyi: I’ll have Zou Xun take over at the training base. You come back to the office.]
