The woman’s expression instantly turned grim.
Su Qingnuan ignored her and continued, "If you don’t want us to bring this matter to the boss, I hope you can provide us with a reasonable explanation."
"A reasonable explanation?" The woman sneered. "I’m just following the rules. What reasonable explanation? This is a workplace, not a school. Stop holding on to your naive thinking. I have no obligation nor need to explain anything to you."
After saying this, the woman lifted her foot and started walking away.
Gu Xiaoxiao glanced at Su Qingnuan and quickly stepped forward to block the woman’s path.
"Ma’am, as Qingnuan just mentioned, if you won’t give us an explanation, we can go to the boss."
"Go ahead!" The woman laughed mockingly. "Go! Just two interns, and you really think you’re all that."
Pushing past Gu Xiaoxiao, the woman continued walking forward.
"Hey! You’re truly unreasonable!"
Gu Xiaoxiao shouted at the woman’s retreating figure, attracting a fair bit of attention.
Su Qingnuan tugged at Gu Xiaoxiao and said in a low voice, "It’s no use. It seems she won’t listen to reason or force."
"Then what do we do?" Gu Xiaoxiao frowned. "We can’t just keep doing menial chores forever, can we?"
She came here to learn, not just to do odd jobs.
If the higher-ups truly intended to make things difficult for her, she would rather return to school and continue studying.
"Let’s talk to the boss." Su Qingnuan raised her head with a resolute gaze and looked upstairs. "Since she doesn’t think we’ll go to the boss, we might as well go directly."
"...But we’re only interns. Will the boss really listen to us?" Gu Xiaoxiao asked worriedly.
Su Qingnuan turned her head and looked at Gu Xiaoxiao. "We only have two possible outcomes today—one is continuing to do menial chores, the other is finding the boss and becoming proper interns, or leaving the company altogether."
When they joined the company, they had both come with immense effort and determination.
Neither of them was willing to just do odd jobs or leave without trying.
But Su Qingnuan had already made up her mind.
Her gaze was firm, showing no trace of retreat.
Gu Xiaoxiao stared at her for a while, then laughed. "Since you put it that way, how could I possibly refuse?"
"I don’t want to!" Gu Xiaoxiao interrupted her, linking her arm with Su Qingnuan’s. "If this place won’t keep us, there’ll always be somewhere else for us. If it’s just doing odd jobs, I’d rather go work as a waitress in a restaurant."
Su Qingnuan hesitated. "Have you thought this through? This opportunity wasn’t easy to come by."
"So what about opportunities?" Gu Xiaoxiao pouted. "Better to have none at all. Besides, I only applied here because I wanted to work with you, so no more useless talk. If you’re not staying, neither am I."
Her heart warm and trembling, Su Qingnuan hugged Gu Xiaoxiao’s shoulder and said softly, "To have a friend like you is truly my good fortune."
"Obviously!" Gu Xiaoxiao patted her shoulder and smiled faintly. "So remember, if you ever succeed, don’t forget about me."
"Got it." Su Qingnuan laughed as she nudged her forward. "But now isn’t the time to talk about that. Let’s go see how things stand first."
They had been sweeping floors in the company for the past two days, so if nothing else, they were thoroughly familiar with the company’s layout.
It didn’t take them long to find the manager’s office.
The company’s president, Fu Yihan, rarely showed up at the office, as most matters were entrusted to the manager.
Su Qingnuan’s earlier comment about the meeting was based on something she overheard Fu Yihan mention. But it was a video conference, and Fu Yihan would not be attending in person.
The two of them loitered at the door for a while. Once they confirmed the manager was inside, they finally stepped forward and knocked on the door.
Pushing the door open cautiously, they entered a spacious office. Directly opposite the door was a large desk filled with various items.
"Manager Huang." Su Qingnuan walked in, smiling politely. "Hello, I’m Su Qingnuan, an intern who joined the company this year."
The person behind the computer took a moment to glance at her. "What do you need?"
"...I’d like to discuss something with you, Manager Huang..."
Su Qingnuan briefly but clearly explained the situation from the past two days.
While she spoke, Manager Huang kept his head down, his hands never stopping their work.
Seeing his demeanor, Su Qingnuan already felt her hope draining away.
When she finished speaking, she stood upright, waiting for Manager Huang’s response.
The scratching of the pen suddenly stopped. Manager Huang leaned back in his chair and looked at the two of them meaningfully.
"So, you’ve come to me because you want me to assign you suitable internship positions?"
Su Qingnuan shook her head, then nodded.
Manager Huang raised an eyebrow. "What’s that supposed to mean?"
"Even though I know these are just baseless rumors, I’m still curious—why did it happen that way? Why was I placed in that particular spot, selected out of forty others?"
"Curious?" Manager Huang asked.
Su Qingnuan quickly nodded, her eyes full of anticipation.
"Heh!" Manager Huang withdrew his gaze and twirled the pen in his hand. "We selected forty people in total, based on their ability and time management skills. You must have seen that requirement on the front page of our website, right?"
They had indeed seen it at the time, but they had thought it was merely about weeding out people prone to tardiness and hadn’t given it much thought.
"The people ahead of you all arrived hours early, with the latest among them arriving forty minutes early. We value time management, not wasted time. So, for those who arrived more than half an hour early, they were all out."
Eyes wide with shock, Su Qingnuan hadn’t expected this to be the reason.
Meeting her astonished gaze, Manager Huang chuckled lightly. "Any other questions about this matter, intern?"
"No... none." Su Qingnuan adjusted her tone.
"If there’s nothing else, return to your work."
"...Manager Huang, are you saying...?" Su Qingnuan cautiously probed.
Manager Huang, his head still lowered and busy with his task, continued speaking without pause.
"Don’t underestimate menial tasks. The archive room contains records of all our company’s major and minor projects from the past few years. If you can make good use of those materials, it will be immensely valuable for you."
Suddenly enlightened, Su Qingnuan quickly bowed her head in thanks. "Thank you, Manager!"
Then, giving the dazed Gu Xiaoxiao a nudge, the two of them left the office.
Outside the door, Gu Xiaoxiao still seemed confused.
"So, we’re here purely based on luck?" she asked in a small voice.
Su Qingnuan nodded, linking arms with her and smiling. "Exactly. And judging by Manager Huang’s demeanor, there’s a high chance he won’t be getting rid of us anytime soon!"
"Should we still go to the archive room then?" Gu Xiaoxiao asked, her face twisted in worry.
Pausing in her steps, Su Qingnuan furrowed her brow in thought before finally saying, "Let’s go! Manager Huang said there’s plenty of valuable material in the archive room, so why not?"