LA ⋆ Chapter 1: The City Pasture

At half past noon, the plaza between several office buildings in the Second Ring was packed with people.

Sheng Yao had found it strange when he passed through during his school days. Nothing was happening, so why were so many people just standing around? It wasn't until after graduation, when he entered the workforce and became a corporate slave, that he became one of them.

Not for any particular reason. Just standing there catching the breeze and smoking a cigarette. Between two of the office buildings was a covered walkway, and wind occasionally swept through the small plaza. The storefronts on either side sold feed for the work cattle, some Bian-something delivery, some Rui-something, some Ku-something, and so on. It was basically a natural pasture for beasts of burden.

This was the second-best moment of the entire workday.

Sheng Yao often gathered with two other laborers to smoke: Tony, male, a programmer with thinning hair, and Capybara, female, a K12 operations worker who was exceptionally skilled at slacking off under pressure and was determined not to let the company gain a single advantage from her.

The three came from different companies and hadn't shared detailed information, instead going by their nicknames. Sheng Yao's nickname was Mantou.

Their initial acquaintance happened purely because they caught each other's eye in the crowd while smoking on the plaza. To ease the awkwardness of six eyes meeting, Capybara spoke first: "Wow, what kind of trouble did you run into that you're all smoking Liqun?"

Sheng Yao and Tony exchanged a glance and discovered that all three of them were indeed smoking Liqun. This cigarette had a real kick to it. Fair enough.

"Stupid boss." "Stupid coworker." "Stupid client."

After that, the three naturally gathered every day at noon.

Under the blazing sun, the covered walkway cast a shadow, and the air conditioning bleeding out from the coffee shops on either side barely relieved the oppressive heat.

Tony's hand trembled slightly as he held his cigarette. "Fuck, the new parachuted executive is laying people off like crazy. My boss and coworkers all got cut. Now I'm holding up the entire team by myself."

Capybara's fingers were slender as she brought the cigarette to her lips and took a drag. "Layoffs are a good thing, honestly. I pray for my N+1 every single day. That wretched woman keeps calling me in for talks, trying to hit me with PowerPoints, but she just won't cut me. What a drama queen!"

Tony, trembling with cold rage: "I'm the one who got kept…"

"Oh," Capybara paused. "Good luck."

Sheng Yao sighed wearily and didn't respond. The economic climate was bad, jobs were hard to find, and the workplace environment was a mess. Recently his own company had been reshuffling personnel too. The president's office had lost two people last month, and he worried he might be next. He'd already started browsing job recruitment apps in advance.

Sheng Yao had always felt that landing his current job was pure dumb luck, like a blind cat stumbling onto a dead mouse.

Back when he graduated, he hit dead ends everywhere. "How do I find a job" was essentially "How do I fill my stomach," which is to say, "How do I survive."

Sheng Yao, a philosophy major, thought this question was truly too philosophical. He'd encountered an existential soul-searching crisis the very moment he entered society. How had he ended up studying such a neither-here-nor-there, neither-left-nor-right kind of major.

Fortunately, his current company took him in. At the time, the recruitment posting had vague requirements listing things like Chinese, philosophy, management, and so on. He had never imagined that as a fresh graduate he'd land a position as president's assistant.

Sheng Yao's resume was thoroughly unremarkable. He hadn't participated in any activities during university, had no awards, and was just like the tens of thousands of ordinary graduates flooding the job market. Passed the English Level 4 exam, proficient in Office.

The only difference was his extensive part-time work experience. He'd fried fries at some fast-food chain, made bubble tea at some milk tea shop, and had even worked on auto parts at a car factory. A wild variety spanning a huge range.

Just as Sheng Yao was consoling himself that factory work or making bubble tea wasn't so bad, he became Cheng Ai's assistant.

Cheng Ai had more than one assistant, but only Sheng Yao also held the role of personal assistant, and his work desk was even placed inside Cheng Ai's office. Later, he figured the boss had probably just taken a liking to his jack-of-all-trades functionality.

One cigarette burned down.

Capybara asked: "Rui's?"

Tony: "Rui's."

Sheng Yao looked at the message that had popped up on his phone and shook his head. "I'll pass."

"Cheng Ai: Red chili oil."

Capybara asked: "Going to buy your boss coffee again?"

Sheng Yao: "Mm."

Cheng Ai didn't drink coffee from these chain shops. He wanted the hand-ground, hand-brewed stuff from the rocker uncle across the street.

Cheng Ai was the type who was very particular about food, with a refined and finicky palate. Not picky, finicky. He didn't insist on eating the absolute best. He just wanted what suited his taste.

From the moment the coffee was ready to when it was delivered upstairs couldn't exceed ten minutes. That was the optimal window for enjoyment. So Sheng Yao had to stand by and wait. He couldn't order in advance.

The rocker uncle's coffee shop was called "Gǔn," and the background music was an irritating blast of heavy metal.

Sheng Yao crossed the street and arrived at Gǔn. He wasn't sure whether there was actually a coffee called Red Chili Oil, but the moment he walked in, he saw the long-haired, tattooed, denim-clad rocker uncle add a spoonful of chili oil into the coffee.

Sure enough. Finicky.

On the counter sat a new product promotional sign: Red Chili Oil. Burning and hurting you from the inside out.

Sheng Yao found the ad copy hard to look at and averted his gaze.

Gǔn's coffees weren't all this bizarre. Cheng Ai had started with butter latte and osmanthus latte, flavors with a lingering sweetness, then moved on to salted cheese, the savory kind.

Recently he'd been drinking Americano more often. Sheng Yao wasn't sure if the boss's work stress had also gotten worse lately.

The rocker uncle asked: "Still want the combo?"

Sheng Yao nodded, eyeing the beautiful cakes in the glass case. What flavor should he pick today?

The combo was coffee plus cake, any combination, with a twenty percent discount. Cheng Ai didn't like sweets, but he always ordered the combo, then made a face of disgust before tossing the cake to Sheng Yao. Sheng Yao had tentatively asked once why he didn't just order coffee alone, and Cheng Ai said the combo came with a discount. Sheng Yao shrugged. He didn't dare question the boss's decisions.

Sheng Yao pointed at a purple cake. "I'll take this one. The grape cheesecake."

All things considered, aside from these odd little tasks, Cheng Ai was already a model boss. Sheng Yao's salary was drawn directly from Cheng Ai's budget, benefits were maxed out, taking time off was easy, overtime was paid by the hour, and accompanying the boss on outings was billed separately. The compensation really far exceeded the market average.

Considering that Cheng Ai was the type to order a combo just to get the discount, Sheng Yao felt grateful for his own treatment while simultaneously praying the company wouldn't collapse under Cheng Ai's leadership. It probably wouldn't collapse that easily. His company was a subsidiary of a listed group, occupied an entire building in this prime real estate, and according to gossip from the break room, the president was the board chairman's son, who had been parachuted in a few years ago, right around the time Sheng Yao joined.

Compared to the company folding, the likelihood of him getting laid off was far greater. Cost reduction and efficiency gains meant cutting small fry like him.

Work was work, after all. You came out to serve, and as long as the money was right, Sheng Yao could accept most things.

At one p.m., Sheng Yao, carrying the coffee and cake, returned to the office on time.

The president's office was on the 18th floor, minimalist white decor, striped soundproofing flooring, bright lighting, spacious and neat workstations, everything running smoothly. Everyone was long used to seeing Sheng Yao bring coffee.

Cheng Ai's office was at the far end, fitted with electronically controlled smart-tinting frosted glass partitions that were usually kept opaque. Sheng Yao was used to it. There was no requirement for him to knock when entering or leaving. The boss was working all day long.

This time, he pushed the door open directly.

"Got your——" His words cut off abruptly, and the hand holding the coffee froze mid-air. After a moment of processing, his eyes and hands moved quickly to shut the door behind him.

He had seen Cheng Ai leaning against the edge of his desk. A man with a striking figure was leaning in close against him, the man's face blocking Cheng Ai's, his hands braced on the desktop on either side, while Cheng Ai's hands were resting on the man's waist.

From Sheng Yao's angle, the two of them were kissing, and he, it seemed, had just interrupted their moment.

Sheng Yao's throat moved. He swallowed unconsciously.