8:35. Qin Tiewei circled his desk for the third time, checking his white-gold Rolex every few minutes. My instructions were clear: when Chen Huan comes at 8, send him to Human Resources and update me with a call. He hadn't yet received this call. No disruption to the careful order of his morning. If he doesn't come… what am I going to tell the investors when we meet in 3 days? Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore.
"Xiaowen, get me Manager Zhou." He spoke into the desk phone. Straightening up, he crossed to the corner of the office and settled into an accent chair.
***
Manager Zhou, the head of Human Resources, arrived quickly. Lips pursed, clipboard clutched to her chest. "I don't think he's coming, President Qin," she said.
"Okay." He nodded. First, I'll find someone else, even if I have to bring them in from another country; someone who doesn't make me want to hurl at the sight of them. I don't want to have to move the investors' meeting… that's the last resort. It'll make me look incompetent.
"President Qin." Manager Zhou's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Qin Tiewei stared at her; he hadn't even registered her sitting across from him.
"If he does come," Manager Zhou continued, "paying an intern a salary… I think you're setting a bad precedent here. They should–"
"Do we not pay them?"
"Well… no."
"Why not?"
Manager Zhou gave a short, scoffing laugh at the incredulity of the question. "They're working for the experience. At QinX." She emphasized the last two words. "That gives them an advantage when they apply for real jobs elsewhere. Anywhere."
Qin Tiewei's thoughts flashed back to Chen Huan's apartment. Filthy. Disgusting. Cramped so that every breath of air suffocated you. He couldn't believe he had somehow contributed to that… state of living.
His tie suddenly felt too tight around his neck. "Pay all of them."
"What?" Manager Zhou's eyes widened in disbelief. "You…" She sputtered. "You can't be serious. QinX will collapse on itself."
He loosened his tie. "Give all the interns back pay, minimum wage that matches the duration of their time here. No department can have more than one intern after this month. Fire any spillovers."
"President Qin. This is–"
"My company. Work out the kinks with the finance director, but get it done."
"Respectfully, President Qin. The General Manager made these decisions for a reason. He–"
"Draft his dismissal paper. He's fired as of this moment."
"Sir?"
"I was too busy at Qinhai. QinX is my priority, and I trusted him and Liu with it. They both failed me. Liu is still useful. He's not."
Manager Zhou swallowed. Certain that any more protests could make her the next victim.
"Are we clear on everything?"
"Yes, President Qin." Manager Zhou rose to her feet. As she did, a knock sounded at the door.
Qin Tiewei's secretary, Xiaowen, ushered in a young man with a smallish frame. Chen Huan.
Manager Zhou's expression soured even more at the sight of him.
Qin Tiewei tightened his tie, relief flooding his chest. He came. Good. My standing with the investors… will be saved.
Chen Huan's pulse quickened as his eyes tracked Qin Tiewei. He looks so handsome under that light. Ai! He looks handsome under every light. He's just so–
"You were supposed to be here an hour ago." Manager Zhou snapped at him.
Chen Huan swallowed as he caught a glance of Qin Tiewei checking his wristwatch. "I… Traffic was bad."
Qin Tiewei silently scoffed. Disrespectful. Slobby. Tardy. Liar. His list of bad habits continues to grow.
Manager Zhou gave him a once-over, then scoffed. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to go to my office."
"I was told you were here."
"Does that mean to come here?"
"No. I just thought…" Chen Huan trailed off. I just thought it was a good excuse to see President Qin. A blush crept up his cheek.
"Let's go."
"Stay!" Qin Tiewei's voice cut through the room, and all eyes turned to him. He only gestured to the couch.
When they'd both seated, he fixed a glance on Chen Huan. This… His hair is brushed neatly. Even his clothes seem normal. He looks more like a human today. Could it be that I caught him at a bad time? No. I don't think there's an excuse for how messy that room was.
Chen Huan's eyes dropped at Qin Tiewei's intense gaze. Fuck, he still hates me. He wriggled his palms on his thigh.
"Let's hear your demands," Qin Tiewei said.
"I…" Chen Huan's voice came out smaller than he had anticipated. Unable to form the words, he cleared his throat. The things he wanted… he didn't really need any of them. But he had to ask, didn't he?
"We don't have all day," said Manager Zhou.
Chen Huan suddenly got an idea. A really cool one. "Can I do that paper thing?"
"What paper thing?" Qin Tiewei asked.
"The… paper thing. Like in the movies. When you scribble something on paper and…" He made a sliding gesture with his hand.
Manager Zhou groaned, almost accurately expressing Qin Tiewei's own pain.
Qin Tiewei glared at Chen Huan. He's treating this like a joke. Fine, I'll humor him. He snapped a finger at Xiaowen."First, paper. Then get Liu here."
Much to the chagrin of both Manager Zhou and Qin Tiewei, Chen Huan scribbled on the paper and slid it, face down, on the coffee table towards President Qin.
Qin Tiewei glanced at the paper, then at Chen Huan. Why is he so disrespectful?
With yet another groan, Manager Zhou retrieved the paper and glared at its content. "This is ridiculous!" She handed it over to Qin Tiewei.
Qin Tiewei arched his brow at the first request. "You're not getting snacks and coffee delivered to your work area every morning."
"But you said I should ask for anything I want," Chen Huan pouted.
Qin Tiewei felt a discomfort he couldn't quite explain at the pout. But the mental image of empty snack wrappers stuffed into Chen Huan's desk drawer outweighed the need to grant him heart's desire. "There's a designated time and place for eating."
"I… I can't really work without snacking," Chen Huan protested, lifting his eyes to meet Qin Tiewei's but somehow completely evading it.
"Cafeteria. Lunch time. That's final." He struck it out of the list Chen Huan had scribbled.
"Okay."
Just then, Mr. Liu pushed into the office.
"Good morning, President Qin. Manager Zhou. Chen Huan."
Chen Huan scoffed. Folding his arms, he threw his head to the side. Mr. Liu chuckled at it.
Qin Tiewei noted this with curiosity as Mr. Liu sat down. "You came at the right time." He straightened his tie. "Chen Huan wants your job."
"Ah!" Mr. Liu glanced at Chen Huan, who still refused to look at him. "Huanhuan."
President Qin winced at this. What kind of relationship did these two have? What really caused their disagreement? He cleared his throat. Fixing a pointed gaze at Chen Huan, he asked. "Does this mean I can fire Liu?"
All heads snapped to face him.
Chen Huan's words were hurried. "I forgot to write everything out. I actually want just the title. I don't want to do the work. Mr. Liu can be the Assistant. Lead Software Engineer. He can do all the work."
Manager Zhou rolled her eyes.
Qin Tiewei arched an eyebrow. "So you want the title, but not the job?"
"I don't want to have to answer to Mr. Liu. If I were a rank higher than him, then I wouldn't need to."
"Huanhuan."
"Done," President Qin said.
"Ha! President Qin—" Mr. Liu started to protest, but the words died in his mouth when he noticed Qin Tiewei's piercing gaze.
"This… You want to be paid weekly?"
"Yes. It's what I'm used to."
Qin Tiewei arched a brow. Didn't he just learn that interns are unpaid? How did—
"My dad sends my allowance weekly. So I—"
"How old are you?"
"I'm… I'm twenty-four." Chen Huan answered, confused. What does that have to do with anything?
And still getting an allowance from his dad? That's right. He has to survive somehow.
"No company pays their employees weekly," Manager Zhou cut in.
"This amount you wrote," Qin Tiewei said, "Is it for the week?"
"No o!" Chen Huan protested. "It's for the month. I figured we'll divide it into 4 parts."
"I see." Qin Tiewei frowned at the figure.
"I… I'm open to negotiation," Chen Huan said. "I actually don't really need a salary."
Manager Zhou scoffed again.
Qin Tiewei frowned. If he doesn't really need the money, then why did he quit? And why did he come back? "Is this all you want?"
Chen Huan nodded.
"And you can start work immediately?"
He nodded again.
"And you can meet the deadline of 3 days for the first milestone?" He watched Chen Huan nod again. He looked at Mr. Liu, who seemed to confirm with a nod of his own. I don't trust either of them one bit. He sighed. "Wait outside."
Chen Huan gave a slight bow and exited the room.
"You can't possibly pay him that amount. It's too much." Manager Zhou protested after Chen Huan left.
"Of course, not," Qin Tiewei said, "It's below minimum wage. He's now the Lead Software Engineer. Pay him the proper salary."
Manager Zhou's mouth fell open.
"Plus what we discussed earlier."
She nodded.
"Except the snacks, from now on, anything Chen Huan wants… Give it to him." He continued, "Don't come to me about him again."
"But…"
"Manager Zhou. It seems like your listening skills are diminishing by the minute."
She shook her head. "They're not, sir."
"So, we're done here?"
She nodded and left.
Finally, he was alone with Mr. Liu. "Liu."
"President Qin."
"I'm uncomfortable with this person. I don't like him and I don't trust him."
"That—"
Qin Tiewei lifted a palm to stop him speaking. "I absolutely detest that you put me in this situation," he paused as if letting the words sink in. "When I came up with this idea, you assured me you could build it. But now…"
"I accept responsibility for my mistake, President Qin. I should've been open with you from the beginning. The algorithm is too complex. Even for a senior developer like me."
"Then why did you say it's possible?" He sighed. "Is this a waste of time? Because I just made some decisions… QinX will be ruined without this app."
"It's possible because Chen Huan can do it."
He sighed. I still haven't seen what's so good about this Chen Huan. "I thought the logic would be similar to that of the Qihe dating app."
"Actually… Chen Huan built that too."
Qin Tiewei rose to his feet. Is he telling me an intern built my company's flagship app? "How did that happen?"
"I was… My team couldn't come up with the logic for the complicated app algorithm. Chen Huan came up to me himself with the solution. He had a tree map for the full structure of the app."
He did?
"Even with the tree map, it was still a difficult code to write…. So, I asked for his help."
Help. As long as he only helped and didn't write the code himself.
"And he actually doesn't like working in teams… So he built the whole thing from scratch."
You're fired. Those words were aching to come out of his mouth. His lips trembled slightly. "Go back to work. If you mess up one more time, you're gone from here."