Huo Rou’s expression was serious, but the slyness in her eyes betrayed her.
What a tsundere little cat who hated to be at a disadvantage, Qin Ningyi shook his head and chuckled.
Should I ask next time?
Qin Ningyi entered the company in good spirits. Assistant Xiao forwarded the discovery to the 65th-floor group chat, and everyone gossiped and speculated.
Meanwhile, on the other side, after Huo Rou, with the face of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old, arrived at the Yuda Security lobby, those waiting on the first floor also started gossiping.
“Is this a new intern? Have we reached the point of recruiting undergraduates?”
“Yeah, and she looks only seventeen or eighteen. What can she do right after starting university?”
“Is there a possibility that she’s the person we’re waiting for today…” someone proposed an idea that sounded utterly unbelievable to themselves.
After saying it, they immediately negated it. “No, no, no. In the internet industry, anyone who can be parachuted in, no matter how powerful, has to be a man, preferably bald.”
“Hey! Are you looking down on women?” A female colleague couldn’t stand it and retorted, “Without us from the product department, who would even know about your gadgets!”
A man with a receding hairline sneered dismissively, “Excuse me, the person coming this time is going to our technology department. What kind of code do women write? Look at the gender ratio in our tech department. How could it be a woman?”
Another person said cautiously, “Even if, by some chance, a woman comes, she must be a formidable figure. She definitely won’t be some delicate flower.”
The murmurs grew louder, and Huo Rou overheard quite a bit, her hidden mischievous streak once again clamoring to come out.
Before she could even play the part of a naive youth, the elevator doors opened.
A man in his late forties or early fifties, with sparse hair, hurried out.
“Hello, Director Li!” Seeing him, everyone quickly straightened up and greeted him respectfully.
Director Li didn’t acknowledge them, not even perfunctorily.
He anxiously scanned the lobby, his gaze finally landing on Huo Rou.
“Excuse me, miss, is your surname Huo?” he asked with some uncertainty.
Huo Rou nodded calmly.
“Come, come, everyone, greet our newly appointed Director of the Information Security Technology Department,” Director Li said seriously, turning back to the employees.
He saw the astonishment on everyone’s faces but couldn’t help it. This was a top talent personally scouted by President Xiao. Although he couldn’t see this person as a top talent himself, he was convinced of their CEO’s judgment.
“Greetings, Director.” The employees’ greetings were somewhat disjointed, clearly lacking the energy they had when greeting Director Li.
Huo Rou didn’t mind and nodded, accepting the title.
“Director Huo, I’ll introduce you to our department directors first,” Director Li said very politely to Huo Rou, introducing them one by one. However, when it came to introducing Huo Rou, he hesitated.
President Xiao had called him early that morning, happily gushing about recruiting a top talent to be a director, but only mentioned her surname.
Oh, and that she was very beautiful.
Sensing Director Li’s sudden pause, Huo Rou guessed that Old Xiao hadn’t explained things clearly. She didn’t hesitate; she was clearly adept at such situations.
“Hello everyone, my name is Huo Rou.”
As soon as Huo Rou spoke, the crowd erupted.
It was one thing to look eighteen or nineteen, but how could her voice also sound so sweet and innocent? If it weren’t for the hint of allure within the softness, she would have been indistinguishable from someone eighteen or nineteen.
Some rejoiced, while others despaired.
The men outside the tech department stared, their admiration growing with her voice. The men in the tech department were dejected, their faces full of despair.
This person wasn’t just forced in through some special means, was she? Yuda Security had such a severe problem last year, and this year they thought they’d hire a powerful veteran, but it turned out to be this…
“I agreed to your President Xiao’s invitation to serve as the Director of the Information Security Technology Department because I’ve recently decided to move to Yuchang City to live,” Huo Rou said, smiling elegantly and calmly, ignoring their expressions.
“If you encounter any technical problems you can’t solve, feel free to come to me. But don’t bother me with anything too simple.”
Hearing this, the faces of the tech department staff darkened. Fortunately, Director Li smoothly followed up, dispersing the crowd.
What followed was a series of tedious onboarding procedures. By the time Huo Rou swiped her access card to take the elevator to the fifth-floor tech department, it was already lunchtime.
After finding her office and putting down her belongings, she joined the crowd heading to the cafeteria.
The company cafeteria was fully automated. Except for the star chefs in the kitchen preparing specific dishes, cooking, ordering, and serving were all handled by robots.
After swiping her card to order, one simply needed to find a seat and swipe their card on the designated area on the table, and the robot would accurately locate them.
Once the meal was ready, the robot would deliver the food based on the position of the last card swipe.
Huo Rou sat alone by the window; she preferred not to interact with people if it wasn’t necessary.
The cafeteria was quite crowded during lunchtime, but Huo Rou’s table seemed to be surrounded by an invisible barrier. Everyone tacitly chose other seats.
Huo Rou was happy to have some peace.
“Brother Luo, why aren’t you going to eat with the new director?” On the next table, a person around thirty years old winked and said as soon as they sat down and swiped their card.
The person called Brother Luo had a receding hairline, and Huo Rou recognized him from the loud discussion downstairs with just a glance.
“You trying to pick a fight?” Brother Luo playfully hit him on the head, his tone indicating displeasure. He indignantly took the dish delivered by the robot and stopped looking at Huo Rou’s table.
“Don’t tease Luo Chen, you know he dislikes women,” another person at their table interjected to smooth things over.
“Such a young woman. Look at her hands; they don’t look like hands that write code. She must have done some unspeakable deal behind the scenes to be parachuted in as our director,” Luo Chen muttered as he ate.
Huo Rou heard this without any emotional reaction. She even took out her phone and started recording.
It was time to let Old Xiao hear how she was being maliciously speculated about. Her emotional distress should at least increase her price.
“Brother Luo, how can you say that about a girl?!” a clear female voice rang out, full of disapproval.
“You’re not even allowed to speak now,” Luo Chen apparently had some goodwill towards this girl and didn’t say much more.
Immediately after, a figure in a pale yellow short skirt sat down next to Huo Rou.
“Sister Huo Rou, may I call you that?” she asked, tilting her head, her baby-faced features beaming with a smile as bright as the sun.
Huo Rou hadn’t expected anyone to initiate a conversation, especially since she had tried her best to appear unapproachable.
She turned her head to examine the girl, who looked to be in her early twenties.
“I don’t mean to disrespect you, but mainly…”