My Second Life As A Secretary

Chapter 1.1 – The President’s Surname is Gu

He Zening stood outside the conference room, anxiously looking at her watch. President Gu’s schedule was full for today. In fifteen minutes, he needed to be on the twelfth floor to negotiate with a collaborating company. But at the moment, he was still at a meeting inside the conference room, having a heated discussion behind closed doors.

“Should I interrupt his meeting?” He Zening wondered, feeling conflicted.

A week ago, she became a secretary to the Zhen Feng Group’s President. At the time, she had two colleagues. Both were beautiful and tall women with fair complexion. Nonetheless, President Gu Siye fired one of them within a week. The other had resigned, the reason being she had to take over her family’s business. Before she left the company, she generously gave all her personal belongings and snacks to He Zening.

He Zening was originally an assistant to the two secretaries. But ever since the two left, she had to shoulder all their responsibilities. Her stress naturally was over the roof. Fortunately, she got help from her colleagues, otherwise, she would already have gone insane.

Another ten minutes passed. Time was running out. He Zening felt the urge to rush in to give a reminder when the door suddenly opened. President Gu walked out of the conference room, looking cold and austere. He was tall and slender, dressed in a neatly-tailored, dark suit. His whole demeanor exuded self-restraint.

Even though he was an attractive man, He Zening dare not look at him.

She instantly walked up to him, handed over the prepared documents and politely affirmed, “President Gu, you have five more minutes.”

He took the documents and casually flipped through them as he walked with big strides towards the elevator. He Zening followed right behind. President Gu’s long legs meant that with every one stride he took forward, she had to take two steps to catch up with him.

That brought her mind back to her first day at work… she had worn a pair of high heels, imagining she could finally live a glamorous, white-collar dream. But when she finally got off work, she immediately went to buy a pair of flat-heeled commuter shoes. Let others worry about walking gracefully, she just wanted to save her feet!

He Zening was distracted for a minute and only noticed belatedly that she had fallen behind. She walked faster, trying to keep up with him. Just then, a young lady walked past them holding a stack of documents. By some stroke of fate, the young lady stumbled forwards and lost her balance. Her papers flew all over the place like snowflakes. Gu did not stop for even a second. The young lady was left panicking; she was immediately on her knees, picking up the papers herself.

Without a doubt, this lady wasn’t the heroine in the story.

Although He Zening wanted to help a fellow coworker, she was pressed for time. She excused herself and hurried to the elevator just in time to press the button. As a secretary, she must have the foresight to anticipate the President’s next move. They stepped into the elevator together. In a few moments, they arrived at the twelfth floor just in time for the meeting.  She finally felt relieved.

Zheng Wen Ang walked out of the conference room, greeting them. “Miss He, go back to your office. I will call you later,” he said.

“All right,” she nodded. “ Thank you, special assistant Zheng. Please excuse me.”

Zheng Wen Ang was the President’s sidekick, thus they called him special assistant Zheng. He was one level above the President’s executive assistant. Zheng had special executive authority which enabled him to represent the President in making policy decisions. Unlike executive assistants, whose focus was to oversee the President’s activities, Zheng’s focus was on managing the company.

In comparison, He Zening was just a runner. With no technical background, she had to take on any miscellaneous duties. And because of the long hours and workload, at one point, there were more than three secretaries with rotating shifts.

When she got back to her desk, she took out the calendar and confirmed the President’s schedule for the rest of the day. After that, she glanced at the computer.

Today was April 16th. It’s the tenth day of her ‘arrival’…

Never in her wildest dreams did she think this would ever happen to her. Before transmigrating into this world, she was devotedly working on her research project. When she woke up, she was stunned to realize she wasn’t herself anymore. The person looking back at the mirror looked different, but she had the same name as her. On that same day, she got a letter from Zhen Feng Group; she would start her secretariat job in three days.

When she saw the name Zhen Feng Group, she thought it sounded familiar… almost as if she had heard of this company before. Only when she arrived at the company and personally met with President Gu was she convinced that not only did she transmigrate into another world, but she did into a novel world.

After all, in real life, how often do you meet a company President who’s rich and handsome like a celebrity?

His surname is one of the common surnames used in novels. Not only does his name sound familiar, the background was also an alternative world. (The city she was living in is called City A, in the Hua Country.) He Zening was certain of her assessment; this was not just a simple novel. This was a novel centered on the life of a President of a company.

He Zening had read a total of between 300 to 500 novels of the same genre. Thus, she was currently in a dilemma trying to recall which novel had a male lead called Gu Siye. ‘Is he the main character from “President Gu’s Guide to Courting a Wife”, “Mrs. Gu, Your Vest is off Again!” or  was it “The Frosty President Gu’s Petite Wife”?’ she pondered deeply, almost obsessively.

But even after days, He Zening still did not have the answer. It didn’t help that the male protagonists in novels frequently had the surnames Gu, Lu, Shen, and Fu, and the first names frequently used are usually combinations of Chen, Ye, Cheng, and Mo. Her memory was confused after reading too many novels.