Derailed - Chapter 3
Shen Yilin.
That was the intern’s name, according to the group chat.
Gao Yan had barely taken him into Fred’s office when the gossip started in the firm’s other chat—the one where everyone slacked off without management watching.
Yu Huan switched on her computer and checked it occasionally as she organized her work for the week. When she finished and went out on an errand, Niettie was giving Shen Yilin a tour.
“This is our working area. The room we just passed is Fred’s office. He’s our most senior lawyer and the boss, but he’s often out, so we usually go to Rhys if we need anything. He’s a partner. His office is at the end of the corridor on the left, third door on the left…”
Petite Niettie, who was under a meter sixty, looked like a hobbit beside Shen Yilin, who appeared to be over a meter eighty.
He turned sideways and bent his head obligingly, listening with serious attention.
People always said a nephew took after his maternal uncle.
With his handsome, strong features, Shen Yilin did bear a resemblance to Gao Yan. But Yu Huan couldn’t remember Gao Yan ever being this approachable or awkward. Even on the occasions when he was modest, something of a person accustomed to authority remained in his bones: confidence and ease.
As she considered that, Shen Yilin glanced over unexpectedly.
Their eyes met. He seemed surprised, then immediately smiled at her, two faint dimples appearing in his cheeks.
With those features, he had a rather attractive smile.
By the time Yu Huan came to work the following day, the receptionist had arranged a desk for him.
His workspace was more of a small private room near Fred’s office: convenient, with glass windows and a glass door. A large wooden desk stood in the middle, with a rack of CDs behind it and legal reference books the size of encyclopedias beside them.
Given his position in the firm’s hierarchy, Shen Yilin shouldn’t have had such a good office.
But considering the business Gao Yan brought them every year, and the fact that its previous occupant had resigned, it was understandable. The room would only be empty otherwise.
At the moment, Shen Yilin sat there alone, leafing distractedly through some documents and looking around through the glass walls and door. He seemed bored.
*If anyone needs help, feel free to give work to our intern, @Yilin,* Fred had instructed in the group chat that morning.
Half a day passed without a response.
The firm had taken on a few wealthy heirs like Shen Yilin before. Usually, their job consisted of drawing a salary while doing very little, then leaving within two or three months—sometimes before a major matter was even finished.
Everyone generally treated them with deference, or had a meal with them and made friends, keeping the relationship pleasant so they would send business the firm’s way in future. No one expected them to do any real work.
Apparently realizing this, Shen Yilin eventually came out of his office after a long stretch of boredom.
“Um, Ms. An, do you need a hand with anything?” He seemed to have decided to take the initiative, starting at the nearest desk.
Amy looked up, a little surprised. Perhaps feeling she couldn’t refuse outright, she paused, then handed him a document. “Could you make five copies of this?”
He looked slightly taken aback, but smiled and nodded. “Sure.”
Photocopying, printing, delivering documents…
All morning, no one assigned Shen Yilin any substantial work.
At lunchtime, when Yu Huan looked toward his office again, it was empty. Someone had been busy in the kitchenette instead.
“That smells wonderful,” a passing colleague murmured.
Yu Huan smelled it too. Black coffee, apparently. The air carried its scent straight toward her office.
“You’re making coffee?” She got up to refill her tea.
“Yes. Everyone’s so busy, and I can’t help much, so I thought I’d make coffee to keep people going.” Shen Yilin handed her a cup as he spoke. “Try some.”
As expected, it contained a dark black liquid.
Yu Huan raised her eyebrows, but accepted it under his eager gaze. She had barely taken a sip when he asked expectantly, “How is it?”
“…Quite good,” she said honestly.
“Really?” His face lit up at once, his mouth spreading into an unrestrained smile. “I’ll take some to everyone else.”
The coffee smelled rich and fragrant.
Ten minutes later, the scent filled the office, and Rhys summoned Yu Huan on the internal phone.
“This is pretty good coffee, isn’t it?” He sat in his office chair with a cup in hand. “But Mr. Gao didn’t put his nephew here to learn how to make coffee for us.”
Yu Huan could more or less see where he was going. “Then get someone to supervise him.”
Rhys nodded. “You can take him for the next two months.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Of everyone qualified to supervise interns here, you’re closest to his age. And I looked at his résumé. You come from the same place.”
After leaving Rhys’s office, Yu Huan asked Niettie for a copy of Shen Yilin’s résumé.
His American university wasn’t especially highly ranked, but wasn’t bad either. He had majored in law and minored in computer science, with a varied collection of internships—none particularly useful for work at this firm.
His résumé wasn’t outstanding. Without Gao Yan’s connection, getting into the firm would probably have been difficult.
Yu Huan scrolled down. Under high school, she suddenly noticed F City No. 1 High School: the top school in the neighboring city, and the one both she and Gao Yan had attended.
