The next day.
Amid a crowd of very strange looks, Bai Ge once again clocked in at the last possible second and entered the office as usual.
The moment he stepped inside, he sensed something was off.
"…What's with you all staring at me like that?"
Feeling deeply uncomfortable under everyone's gaze, Bai Ge rubbed his face, then touched his hair.
Nothing wrong.
No dirt on his face, hairstyle intact.
Bai Ge looked back at them in confusion, but the collective stare showed no signs of easing.
"???"
He turned his head slightly.
As if guided by fate, both he and Keqing were looking at the same person.
"Wang Fatty," Bai Ge said, "you tell me—what's going on?"
Hearing Bai Ge call him out, the clerk—Wang Fatty—shrunk his neck a little in fear.
For a moment, he thought Bai Ge was about to come looking for trouble.
But seeing Bai Ge perfectly fine, with all limbs intact and no visible injuries, Wang Fatty grew puzzled.
"Could it be… Lady Keqing didn't find him yesterday?"
"Then today…"
Recalling Keqing's instructions, Wang Fatty's eyes toward Bai Ge filled with a hint of pity.
"Nothing much. Lady Keqing ordered that once you arrived this morning, you were to go straight to her office…"
Wang Fatty said quietly.
"Huh?"
Bai Ge's confusion deepened.
"Did she say why?"
"That… I don't know…"
Wang Fatty shook his head, though his expression clearly suggested he had more to say.
"?" Bai Ge waited for a moment, but no follow-up came.
He simply turned around and headed straight for Keqing's office.
"Anyway… good luck, Bai Ge."
From behind, Wang Fatty's self-proclaimed whisper reached Bai Ge's ears.
Bai Ge paused for half a step—then sped up.
As a seasoned workplace veteran from his previous life, what kind of nonsense hadn't he seen?
This level of mystery only made him curious.
He wanted to see exactly what kind of big job Keqing had prepared for him.
—
Reaching Keqing's office, Bai Ge pushed the door open without ceremony.
As expected, a purple silhouette sat upright behind the desk, diligently processing documents.
Every time he entered, it was the same scene—unchanging through the ages.
It made Bai Ge sigh inwardly.
Doesn't she get back pain sitting like that all day?
Unbidden, an image surfaced in his mind of Keqing, young yet suffering from lumbar disc herniation, grimacing in agony while seeking out an old physician for massages—her expression completely collapsing.
…Then again, Vision holders probably had stronger bodies. Maybe she didn't have to worry about that?
Bai Ge wasn't sure.
What he was sure of was that after the tragic lessons of his previous life, he would never sit like that again.
He was scared straight.
At the sound of the door opening, Keqing—who had been writing—looked up.
Seeing Bai Ge, a radiant smile bloomed across her fair, delicate face.
"You're here! Close the door first."
Her voice was gentle.
Then she took a document from a side cabinet and handed it to Bai Ge.
Bai Ge opened it in confusion.
Inside was a promotion and transfer order.
It stated that starting today—
Bai Ge, formerly an ordinary clerk under Keqing,
Was being transferred to Yuehai Pavilion, the largest secretarial institution in Liyue,
To serve as a secretary.
Nominally, he would be assisting Ganyu.
In practice, he would answer directly to Keqing and take over the portion of secretarial duties Ganyu handled for her.
In other words—
From today onward, Bai Ge had become Keqing's personal secretary.
"…Ah, hell."
At this point, Bai Ge couldn't hold it in anymore.
He'd slapped the boss in the face yesterday, and today she promoted him.
This kind of operation—
He had never seen before.
Normally, not getting sabotaged behind the scenes would already count as mercy.
Even emperors in ancient times, when trying to show magnanimity and buy goodwill by listening to dissent, wouldn't promote someone straight into a position where they had to see them every day!
"This is just disgusting on a whole new level!!!"
"Keqing, are you serious?"
Bai Ge couldn't help asking, pointing at himself.
"Aren't you the biggest advocate for efficiency? I'm a walking bottleneck!"
"If I become your secretary, you'll never finish your work again!"
To be honest, Bai Ge really didn't want to be Keqing's secretary.
Some people might think being a beautiful boss's secretary sounded tantalizing.
But Bai Ge knew better.
In the adult world, once you're tired enough, nothing is tantalizing anymore.
Besides, it wasn't Keqing being his secretary.
Going from elite-level slacking straight into nonstop grinding?
Absolutely unacceptable.
"So that's exactly why you need to find ways to finish a day's work within normal working hours!"
Keqing said with a hint of smug satisfaction.
"You said it yourself yesterday!"
She handed another document to Bai Ge.
He took it and read aloud, word by word:
"On the Exploration of Raising Salaries, Expanding Staffing, and Rational Work Allocation within the Yuheng Star's Department, as well as the Definition of Standards."
Reading this, a powerful sense of foreboding surged in Bai Ge's heart.
"I thought what you said yesterday made a lot of sense," Keqing continued calmly.
"So today, I promoted you so you could put it into practice."
"Well? Aren't I treating you well?"
"From now on, you'll be working side by side with the Yuheng Star every day~"
As she spoke, Keqing smiled brightly.
A purple cat head—
Yet somehow she wore the cunning grin of a fox.
Bai Ge:
"Wow. I really, really thank you."