She flashed a brilliant smile, her eyes alight with sunshine. "Mainly because our department director is also surnamed Huo, and I was afraid he'd get confused."
Huo Rou shook her head, indicating she didn't mind.
She let out a soft sigh of relief. "It's good that you don't misunderstand."
"Oh! I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Shen Sitong. I've only been working for a little over a year, and I'm a junior assistant in the product department."
After introducing herself, she saw the robot stopping beside her and casually placed Huo Rou's meal in front of her.
"Sister Huo Rou, please don't take what they said to heart. Brother Luo is very skilled technically, but he was actually wronged by a female colleague at his previous company. He only just finished paying off his debts last month, so he's quite resistant to female colleagues who code."
Shen Sitong defended Luo Chen for a bit. While waiting for her own food, she propped her head up and watched Huo Rou eat.
Huo Rou was unaccustomed to nothing. She ate mouthful by mouthful under Shen Sitong's gaze.
Shen Sitong's food arrived. She proactively picked up a chicken wing and offered it to Huo Rou. "Sister Huo Rou, try this pickled chili chicken wing. It's the cafeteria's specialty!"
Huo Rou smiled gently at her. "Thank you."
"You're welcome!" Receiving Huo Rou's acknowledgment, Shen Sitong's smile became even brighter.
After the meal.
"Sister Huo Rou, let's go to the restroom together." Shen Sitong walked beside Huo Rou, her ponytail swinging in a cute arc behind her.
This wasn't the first time Huo Rou had been invited to the restroom, but it was the first time being invited by someone she had just met.
"No, I don't need to go yet. You go ahead." Although she wanted to be as pleasant as possible, she genuinely didn't want to go right now.
"Oh, Sister Huo Rou, I'm inviting you to the restroom because I want to be friends with you! It's not like you absolutely have to..." Shen Sitong playfully paused at the end, winking at her.
Huo Rou watched her with a chuckle. "Thank you, I've learned something."
"Then let's go to the restroom together." Shen Sitong leaned forward, revealing a row of pearly white teeth as she smiled triumphantly at Huo Rou.
On the way to the restroom, Shen Sitong told Huo Rou about the Information Security Technology Department, including the personality traits of each person.
"You've only been here a little over a year, and you know this much?" Huo Rou, receiving her kindness, began to converse with her as well.
Shen Sitong touched her ponytail, smiling a little shyly yet with a hint of pride. "Oh, I make friends very quickly, so I end up knowing quite a bit..."
Just now, she had sat beside her with that same smile, and Huo Rou found herself smiling faintly. This must be what they called "social butterfly syndrome."
"Thank you for your kindness." Huo Rou, while not particularly concerned about her environment, knew she could adapt to any situation if she wanted to.
However, it was quite rare for a stranger to willingly offer her kindness with a smile and their time.
Shen Sitong smiled shyly. Feeling a bit embarrassed by Huo Rou's thanks, she said, "It's nothing, really. It's just that Sister Huo, you're so beautiful! I really like talking to pretty ladies."
"And your voice is so nice too. I'm actually a sucker for looks and voices," Shen Sitong openly stated the reason for her主动 approaching Huo Rou.
Huo Rou couldn't help but laugh at how frankly Shen Sitong laid out her thoughts and feelings.
Shen Sitong was also very considerate. She gave Huo Rou a brief tour of the building and then escorted her to the elevator, reminding her to get a good rest.
"Sister Huo, we can't get into the Technology Department, so we won't be able to escort you back. Get some good rest during lunch. Those straight guys in the afternoon might try to pick on you."
"I passed by your product department just now and didn't see a lounge. How do you usually rest?" Huo Rou recalled that she hadn't seen any resting rooms. Her own office, however, had one.
"Oh, usually only the director's office has a lounge. We just nap at our desks. Some people bring portable beds."
"Didn't Xiao Yuda say he'd developed a new smart work chair? Hasn't it been rolled out to the company yet?" Huo Rou frowned, remembering what Old Xiao had mentioned before.
"I've never heard of it," Shen Sitong tilted her head, genuinely unfamiliar with the item.
Huo Rou nodded and bid her farewell.
The elevator reached the fifth floor, and one had to pass through a facial recognition system to enter the Technology Department.
Each office door also had a device that required iris recognition to enter, similar to the one in Huo Rou's flower room. However, this one was noticeably larger.
After passing several employee offices, Huo Rou finally returned to her exclusive director's office.
Previously, she had only come in to drop something off and leave. Now, she had time to survey her workspace.
The office wasn't large, but it had bookshelves on two walls, filled with technical books. The desk in front of the bookshelves was equipped with two computers, and four oversized monitors were mounted on a stand, suspended in the air.
And the smart work chair Huo Rou had mentioned earlier was now quietly placed beside the desk.
"This Old Xiao is too stingy," Huo Rou squinted in disdain and turned towards the lounge.
The lounge was beside the bookshelf, tucked away in a small corner, with the door just around the bend.
As she reached the doorway, her phone rang at the opportune moment.
"Old Xiao, it's noon. Do old people really not need to nap?" she began teasing him with a smirk.
"If you say that, I'll be so hurt. I'm only about ten years older than you, is that really necessary?" Xiao Yuda feigned hurt in his retort.
Huo Rou was accustomed to bantering with him and knew he wouldn't get angry, so she continued to tease him shamelessly.
"Yes, it is," her single sentence almost choked Xiao Yuda. "By the way, Old Xiao, you're being unfair. My office has a smart work chair, so why don't the other employees even know what it is?"
She then preempted Xiao Yuda's response by concluding, "You're getting old, and even stingier."
"Little Rou, how can you think of me that way?" Xiao Yuda chuckled, amused. "Ask anyone. Who doesn't know that my company's benefits are the best? It's only you, hiding away in that small village, who knows nothing and just likes to criticize me."
"Then why don't you get one for everyone? Weren't you bragging to me about it every day recently?" Huo Rou twisted the doorknob and entered.
To her sight, the quilt and pillows on the bed were a light haze blue, adorned with some patterns.
It felt like something she would like.
"It hasn't been officially released yet. The one in your office was sent from headquarters overnight after you agreed last night." He paused and then asked, "Did you go into the lounge? How is it? Do you like it?"
"It's not bad," Huo Rou finally offered a compliment.
"Of course, it's good. I decorated it all night yesterday. I even took a plane that was transporting the chairs to fly back and start work," Xiao Yuda asked with a hint of doting affection, "Given how hard I worked, you should agree to it now, right?"