Chapter 057: Taking the Initiative

Lin Luyao listened from the side, unable to help feeling somewhat disappointed: If only she hadn’t slacked off two years ago and had taken that programming elective; if only her programming skills were above average and something she could be proud of; if only she had gone up with Tan Fang just now… Would she have gained more as well?

But there were no “if onlys.” All she could do was seize the present and shape the future.

Ever since she joined the company, Lin Luyao had become increasingly aware that what she’d learned at school was far from sufficient. She felt like a sponge thrown into water, desperately absorbing every bit of new knowledge she could.

Still, at her current pace, it was not nearly fast enough.

Thinking back on the meeting that afternoon, when everyone was stumped by the same problem, Lin Luyao’s heart sank again: If only she knew more, she could have solved it right there in the meeting… Instead, now everyone was troubled by a proposal that was barely more than an outline.

While Lin Luyao worried over her proposal and looked up information, the end of the workday arrived almost unnoticed.

“Time to clock out! Luyao, want to grab dinner together?” Tang Xiao, who sat next to Lin Luyao, stretched lazily and invited her.

“Yes, sure! Just give me another minute—let me finish reading this part…” Lin Luyao nodded quickly, eager not to miss out.

“So diligent?” Tang Xiao glanced over, curiosity piqued. “Let me see what you’re looking at.”

As she spoke, she craned her neck toward Lin Luyao’s screen.

“This is great stuff! Luyao, where did you find this?”

Tang Xiao took a look and realized it was an analysis from the marketing department, mapping out brands and products within a specific category. They’d even developed a kind of rating system, assessing brands and products from multiple dimensions.

She thought to herself, if they could draw on this material, their own work would become so much easier.

“I just found it on the intranet,” Lin Luyao replied.

“Hurry, send me the link before they change the permissions! Let’s study it while we can,” Tang Xiao urged.

Some posts on the intranet were public, but others had restricted access. Normally, something as “internal” as this document should have been set to “visible only to the same department.” Clearly, the person who posted it had either overlooked this or simply forgotten.

As the saying goes, “strike while the iron is hot”—all the more reason to learn what they could before anyone realized.

＊＊

Over dinner, Tang Xiao asked Lin Luyao how she was adapting to the job and whether she’d faced any difficulties on her first day. She reassured her, “If you run into any problems, just come find me! Not just me—Xu Jia, Zhenzhen, Zhenxin, any of us. If you see someone around, ask. Don’t feel awkward. After all, that’s how we all got through as well.”

Tang Xiao herself had only joined the company a year before Lin Luyao and had just passed her probation review. Yet now, she carried herself with such confidence that no one would guess she was only a year out of school.

“Really, don’t feel embarrassed, and don’t think you’re bothering us by asking questions. With all the work we have each day, taking a minute or two to help you isn’t a problem at all. Learn from Cheng Li—see how proactive she is?”

After a day of observing them, Tang Xiao had formed a general impression of both newcomers. The one she got along with better, Lin Luyao, sat quietly absorbed in her own research, only joining conversations when someone addressed her directly and never initiating small talk.

Tang Xiao couldn’t help worrying about her. If Lin Luyao spent the whole year like this, her peer evaluation score at next year’s probation review would surely suffer. And if her overall performance wasn’t particularly impressive, whether she could stay on at all would become a real question.