Chapter 22: A New Beginning at Longyu’s Customer Service

Led by the female HR representative, Zhou Ruoyu arrived at Longyu’s customer service department, where she met her new superior: Gao Lan, a somewhat plump, middle-aged woman.

Clad in elegant attire, Gao Lan wore a benevolent smile. The HR representative, bowing respectfully, introduced Zhou Ruoyu.

“Sister Lan, this is Ms. Zhou Ruoyu, our newest recruit for the customer service department. She’s fresh out of college and doesn’t have much work experience, so please take good care of her.”

Turning to Zhou Ruoyu, the HR representative then introduced her to Gao Lan.

“Ms. Zhou, this is Gao Lan, the head of your customer service department. Everyone usually calls her Sister Lan. She will assign your specific work duties.”

Zhou Ruoyu promptly nodded. The young woman understood the cardinal rule of not offending one’s superior, especially since Sister Lan seemed quite amiable, resembling a warm and enthusiastic aunt.

She immediately bowed to Gao Lan, greeting her.

“Hello, Sister Lan! Please guide me well…”

“Oh… You’re Xiao Zhou, aren’t you? My, what a delicate and adorable young lady! Did you just graduate from university? Ah, you’re simply stunning!”

Gao Lan seemed pleased with Zhou Ruoyu’s demeanor, nodding with a smile. Seeing that the two had connected, the female HR representative felt her task was complete.

She quickly excused herself and departed, leaving Zhou Ruoyu standing alone, feeling a little lost.

‘Hey, wait, don’t run off so fast!’

Now alone with Sister Gao Lan, the young woman felt even more out of place. Although Gao Lan had showered her with compliments right away, Zhou Ruoyu found it somewhat unsettling.

For one, she was still a boy at heart and disliked being called “cute.” Secondly, such effusive praise right upon meeting didn’t seem genuine; it felt more like a subtle workplace tactic.

The black-haired, long-haired young woman stood frozen, unsure how to respond, anxious not to appear conceited or, conversely, lacking confidence. After a moment, Gao Lan broke the silence.

With a gentle smile, the middle-aged woman began, “Well… I apologize, but our customer service department has been under significant pressure lately, and we don’t have many people available to train you. Some things you might need to figure out on your own.”

“However, considering you’re new and fresh out of college without experience, I’ll arrange you into an easier team, Xiao Zhou. Your voice is quite pleasant, and you’re a young, pretty girl too!”

Gao Lan’s gaze held a growing sense of satisfaction, yet it wasn’t the kind a superior shows a new employee. Instead, it gave Zhou Ruoyu the unsettling sensation of a madam appraising a beautiful new arrival, making the black-haired loli’s forehead prickle with sweat and a chill run down her spine.

After a brief pause, Gao Lan nodded, seemingly firming up her internal decision.

“Alright, I’ll assign you to Team Nine! Oh, I haven’t explained yet. Our customer service department is divided into nine teams, each responsible for different tasks.”

“Team Nine primarily handles the maintenance of our online gaming community for veteran users. It involves interacting with our old players in the community. The types of questions you’ll encounter are few, and there’s not much patter to memorize, making it very suitable for newcomers to pick up.”

“How does that sound? If you have no problems, then it’s settled. I’ll take you to meet your team leader, Xiao Liu. She’ll be your direct superior from now on. Ask her any questions first, and if there’s an issue you can’t handle, then come to me, understand? After all, I’m responsible for all nine teams and am quite busy!”

Zhou Ruoyu could only nod awkwardly at Gao Lan’s lengthy explanation. As a newcomer who knew nothing, she naturally had to follow the arrangements. However, if Team Nine’s work truly was easy to learn, the young woman would be more than happy.

As for asking questions, she wouldn’t directly bother the big boss with every little thing she didn’t understand; that would be far too bold.

From Gao Lan’s words, it seemed Sister Lan wasn’t as warm-hearted as she appeared on the surface, preferring not to be disturbed. Zhou Ruoyu silently waved off the thought, realizing that the earlier cordiality was indeed just polite formality.

She nodded, then replied, “Understood, Sister Lan.”

With that, Gao Lan led the young woman deeper into the department office. Several desks were pushed together, fixed telephones sat before computers, and colleagues at their workstations held phone receivers in one hand, clicked their mice incessantly with the other, and muttered into headsets.

Witnessing this authentic work scene, Zhou Ruoyu took a sharp breath, then couldn’t help but sigh. ‘Is this… is this the life I’m going to lead from now on?’

Hiss—

‘Ahem, alright, for the sake of my 20,000 yuan base salary, I’ll endure it!’

Standing beside the young woman, Sister Gao Lan seemed to be looking for someone. She glanced left and right, and after a moment, noticed a group of rather ordinary-looking male employees in suits surrounding a tall woman in the lounge area, fawning over her with obsequious flattery.

The woman wore a white blouse and a black pencil skirt, a typical office professional outfit. Her long, curly hair was blonde, and her stunning long legs were encased in black stockings, complemented by black high heels.

Unfortunately, her facial features weren’t particularly striking; heavy makeup was needed to achieve a somewhat flattering effect. Despite this, her somewhat vulgar attire was enough to captivate the surrounding male employees, who chuckled and vied for her attention, each hoping to be the sole winner of the goddess’s admiration.

Their goddess’s expression, however, remained quite placid. Though she occasionally smiled or frowned, her gaze never lingered on one person for long, nor did she completely ignore anyone. The playful atmosphere seemed to revolve entirely around the woman.

So much so that the moment Gao Lan approached and pulled the woman towards Zhou Ruoyu, the small chat group instantly disbanded, and the friendly men silently returned to their workstations.

‘Huh…’ Zhou Ruoyu pinched her chin. ‘Is it really that extreme? Although that older sister is indeed dressed quite alluringly, there are plenty of women in Longyu’s customer service department. It’s not like a nightclub goddess stumbled into a monastery. Why are these guys all fawning over just her?’

Zhou Ruoyu, new to the company, curiously observed the scene, then turned to look at the several customer service ladies working nearby. Uh… well, it seemed that this particular older sister was indeed the most attractive.

More importantly, her attire wasn’t as conservative! Wait a minute, just as Zhou Ruoyu was analyzing the situation, a question suddenly struck the young woman.

‘Hold on, didn’t Sister Lan say she was going to find my team leader? So, if she’s bringing this older sister over now, does that mean this older sister is my… team leader?!’

“Xiao Zhou, let me introduce you. This is Liu Ruyan, the team leader of your Team Nine. Xiao Liu, this is Zhou Ruoyu, the new employee I’ve assigned to your Team Nine.”