The next morning, Jiang Yuxi arrived at the Public Relations Department determined to hold her ground.
But as soon as she stepped inside, she could feel it—the heavy, stifling atmosphere of unspoken hostility.
Colleagues who had been engaged in conversation fell silent the moment they saw her. Others cast furtive glances in her direction, whispering behind their hands.
"She's only here because of her husband.""What does she even know about PR? This is just a joke.""I bet she'll quit within a week."
Yuxi pretended not to hear them as she walked toward her desk, but the weight of their judgment settled on her shoulders like an invisible burden.
She had expected this.
People had already made up their minds about her before she even had the chance to prove herself.
Taking a deep breath, she sat down and began organizing her tasks for the day, determined not to let them get to her.
But just as she was about to start, a warm voice interrupted her thoughts.
"You must be Jiang Yuxi."
Yuxi looked up and saw a young woman standing in front of her desk, holding a stack of documents.
She had shoulder-length brown hair, bright eyes, and a friendly smile—a stark contrast to the cold stares Yuxi had been receiving all morning.
"I'm Xiao Rui," the woman said, setting the papers down. "I work in the same department as you. It's nice to meet you."
For a moment, Yuxi was caught off guard.
She hadn't expected anyone to approach her with genuine friendliness.
Smiling slightly, she nodded. "Nice to meet you too."
Xiao Rui sat on the edge of the desk, lowering her voice slightly. "Ignore them," she said, glancing toward the gossiping colleagues. "They love a good scandal. Just do your job, and they'll eventually find something else to talk about."
Yuxi appreciated the advice, but she knew it wouldn't be that simple.
Still, having at least one friendly face in the office was more than she had hoped for.
"Thanks," she murmured.
Xiao Rui grinned. "No problem. If you need anything, just ask me."
But not everyone in the office was as welcoming as Xiao Rui.
As Yuxi was about to continue working, a sharp voice cut through the office.
"Since when do we let people slack off on their first day?"
Yuxi turned to see a woman approaching—Meng Yiran.
She was tall and elegant, dressed in a fitted white blouse and a black pencil skirt, her dark hair pulled into a neat bun. Her sharp features and cold expression reminded Yuxi of the women who thrived in high society—calculating, poised, and ruthless.
Yuxi recognized the type immediately.
Meng Yiran wasn't just another colleague. She was a woman with an agenda.
And judging by the way she looked at Yuxi, that agenda wasn't in Yuxi's favor.
Meng Yiran placed a hand on her hip and smirked. "If you're done chatting, there's actually work to do."
Xiao Rui rolled her eyes but said nothing.
Yuxi, keeping her expression neutral, met Meng Yiran's gaze. "I was just getting started."
Meng Yiran tilted her head, as if amused. "Good. Because you've been given an important task."
She placed a list in front of Yuxi.
"Coffee orders. For the entire department."
Yuxi blinked. "Excuse me?"
Meng Yiran's smile widened. "Didn't Secretary Zhao inform you? New assistants in PR always handle basic office duties first. Consider this… an initiation."
Xiao Rui frowned. "That's not true. I started as an assistant, and I was never asked to—"
Meng Yiran shot her a pointed look, and Xiao Rui fell silent.
Yuxi glanced at the list. Twelve different coffee orders, each more complicated than the last.
She knew exactly what this was.
It wasn't about office duties.
It was humiliation.
They wanted her to run around like an errand girl, proving to everyone that she was nothing more than a privileged outsider who didn't belong.
For a split second, she considered refusing.
But then she caught Meng Yiran's smug expression.
No.
She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her resist and fail.
With a calm expression, she picked up the list. "Fine."
Meng Yiran's smirk faltered, as if she had been expecting Yuxi to argue.
Without another word, Yuxi turned and walked out of the office, heading toward the nearest café.
If they wanted to test her patience, they'd have to try harder than this.
By the time she returned with the coffees, her arms were sore, and her patience was running thin.
She set them down on the counter in the break room, making sure each cup had the correct name on it.
A few employees snickered as they grabbed their drinks.
"Looks like she really did it.""Maybe she does know how to follow orders after all."
Yuxi didn't react. She simply sat down at her desk, ignoring the whispers around her.
But she wasn't done proving herself.
If they wanted to make her life difficult, she would fight back in her own way.
Later that afternoon, an opportunity presented itself.
A small team was discussing a project—a major PR campaign for an upcoming product launch.
Yuxi had overheard their struggles. They were brainstorming ideas, but none of them seemed to work.
Taking a deep breath, she approached them.
"Excuse me," she said. "I might have a suggestion."
The group fell silent.
For a moment, they simply stared at her.
Then, one of them scoffed. "Mrs. Gu, do you even know anything about PR?"
Yuxi clenched her jaw. "I have experience in marketing and brand strategy. I—"
"We don't need your help," Meng Yiran interrupted smoothly. "This is real work, not a social event."
Yuxi's fingers curled into fists at her sides.
No matter what she did, they had already decided she wasn't worth listening to.
Without another word, she turned and walked away.
Not because she was giving up.
But because she knew this wasn't a battle she could win with words.
She would prove them wrong with actions.
Lunchtime.
Yuxi sat with Xiao Rui, eating quietly while the rest of the employees deliberately ignored her.
Even when she tried to join conversations, they barely acknowledged her.
It was a silent rejection.
A reminder that no matter what she did, they saw her as an outsider.
Xiao Rui sighed. "Give it time. They're just… territorial."
Yuxi smiled wryly. "Territorial? Or just petty?"
Xiao Rui chuckled. "A bit of both."
As they ate, what Yuxi didn't know was that Gu Zeyan was receiving updates about her first day.
Sitting in his office, he skimmed through a message from Zhao Liying.
"She followed through with the coffee orders. Attempted to contribute to a project but was shut down. Colleagues are isolating her."
Gu Zeyan's fingers tapped lightly against the surface of his desk.
He had expected as much.
He knew his company. He knew how ruthless the corporate world could be.
And he knew Yuxi.
She wouldn't complain. She wouldn't ask for help.
She would suffer in silence and fight her own battles.
A small, amused smirk crossed his lips.
"Let's see how long you last, Jiang Yuxi."