Red Glasses lowered her head again, her voice hushed and mysterious: "What kind of questions did HR ask during your interview?"

Xia Tian made a thoughtful expression: "Uh... they asked about my past experiences, the cases I've handled, and then there was a simulation of a layoff..."

"Yes, that's it."

Red Glasses said quietly, "Your main job moving forward will be 'employee optimization,' and it's quite urgent."

Implied in her words, she habitually corrected Xia Tian's phrasing, turning "layoff" into "optimization."

After a pause, Red Glasses continued, "I'll explain the specifics to you in a bit, but just keep it in mind. Also, handling this kind of thing... hmm, might be a bit stressful, so be prepared."

In the eyes of Red Glasses, a professional woman with almost two years of work experience, Xia Tian, a member of the Ivory Tower still in school, might need some time to adapt to what was coming next.

However, to her surprise, Xia Tian just nodded slightly and said calmly, "Is it that our company's optimization notice this time was rather vague, so many employees didn't see it?"

"Ah? That... yes." Red Glasses was taken aback.

"And the severance compensation offered is somewhat debatable?"

"Uh... that's also true."

"And after the layoffs, there might be some differences in opinion with employees, or even historical disputes lingering?"

"Yes, yes... but that won't really concern you, since you're just an intern, by then you should already have left..."

Listening to Xia Tian use subtle yet clear language to foresee the current issues with the company's employee optimization, Red Glasses adjusted her frames.

She marveled, "I thought I'd have to explain it to you bit by bit, but you caught on right away!"

Xia Tian smiled humbly: "I've encountered similar cases before, and learned a bit about these things in school, just happened to connect the dots."

Red Glasses steadied her mind, suddenly recalling her brother-in-law's reminder in the office earlier, mentioning she might have to learn from this intern...

Just why didn't she ask to see this girl's resume earlier?

Red Glasses, being quite easygoing and having a decent level of relationships, didn't feel a strong sense of crisis from her colleagues.

She generously praised: "You know more than just a little, when I was in school, I didn't understand any of this... with your level, you'll definitely become a great lawyer after graduation. Someone who doesn't know might think you've been working here for a long time already!"

Xia Tian covered her mouth, her eyes curving into a pretty arc as she laughed.

Clearly, today's task was to outline the main points of the work, but Xia Tian was so perceptive that the majority of the prepared words Red Glasses had were left unspoken—though she didn't have much time to prepare them anyway.

So she could only speak spontaneously.

"Speaking of which, it's pretty interesting. The company is rushing layoffs, I heard many senior employees are on the list..."

"Obviously aiming to cut costs. But while laying off so many people and saving money, they're also spending extra to hire an outside project team. They're doing some EAP, the full name seems to be..."

Red Glasses pressed her temples, trying to think.

"Employee Assistance Program," Xia Tian answered without hesitation.

"Yes—that's it. When I went to their presentation, that's what they said!"

Red Glasses expressed amazement once more, feeling this intern was truly impressive.

"You even get this?"

Xia Tian replied with an affable smile: "This relates to psychology... I've done similar cases before too."

"You really are well-versed..." Red Glasses sighed again, "I heard many people were vying for this internship position, no wonder they chose you!"

She recalled her brother-in-law telling her earlier that this young girl also had connections.

Yet, a connected person with such strong capabilities—despite herself being a relationship-based hire—still paled in comparison.

But the person in front of her was just an intern, so there was no competition, and besides, her brother-in-law might need those "friends" eventually.

Red Glasses maintained her composure, continuing, "Where was I... oh right, the EAP presentation."

"Whether they can assist employees, I don't know, but for the eyes—it's incredible!"

When she mentioned this, Red Glasses' lenses seemed to almost shine with excitement: "There's a teacher named Nan, their looks... I honestly think they could debut right on the spot! The remarkable thing is they're very capable too, almost unbelievably so, like... only the kind of person you'd see online. You get what I mean?"

"Ah, that impressive?" Xia Tian covered her lips with her hand, holding back her smile.

"Indeed, if they weren't here, I'd suspect they were one of those 'masters.' Yet, on site, he was cooperating with one of our own, typically a very serious small leader. Let me tell you, at that time..."

Red Glasses became more animated, speaking nonstop.

Xia Tian pressed her fingers more firmly against her mouth corners, looking from afar like girls sharing a secret and not wanting to disturb others in the office area.

After a while, Red Glasses finally felt satisfied with her rant: "What a pity, Teacher Nan only attended that one presentation. Since then, the EAP Project Team's presentation frequency has dropped, and there hasn't been a single one this week."

"Yes, such a shame." Xia Tian nodded.

"And their office is located in the administration area, even though our office area has plenty of empty space... such a pity."

"Truly a pity." Xia Tian took a deep breath, finally managing to regain control, lowering her hand.

After speaking so much in one go, Red Glasses couldn't help but pant lightly. She grabbed her small water cup, taking a big gulp as if to soothe herself, or perhaps to savor something.

"Oh dear, I went off topic, just speaking whatever came to mind, I should've briefed you on work matters first."

Xia Tian was very understanding: "It's alright, Sister Hong, I also enjoy listening to these."

Red Glasses felt greatly comforted: "You're so sweet, let me think. In HR, their usual way is that when discussing optimization with employees, it typically requires us to—"

She hadn't finished speaking.

Then they heard a "click" as the director's office door next to them opened.

From their workstation's angle, they could directly see her brother-in-law, the director, inside.

Watching their colleague who had been talking with the director step out, Red Glasses excitedly pulled Xia Tian up: "Let me introduce you to our... director!"

Meeting the boss is obviously a key priority for a newcomer.

Red Glasses grasped Xia Tian's soft little hand, and after knocking on the door twice, she went right in.

"...Director, this is our new intern."

The brother-in-law director looked up, instinctively putting on a friendly smile.

But before he could say anything, his phone rang.

"Hello, boss?"

Even from a distance, Red Glasses and Xia Tian could hear the uncontrollable roar from the phone.

Red Glasses instinctively closed the office door with a click and locked it.

The director's smile froze on his face, then gradually fell.

Xia Tian took a half-step back, letting Red Glasses shield her, appearing as an appropriately bewildered and out-of-place intern.

But her heart tensed slightly, focusing all her attention, trying to catch the words from the handset as best as she could.

Faintly, she caught words like "Client," "Withdrawal of investment," "Termination of cooperation," "Problem," and "Get clear."

Then the person on the other end of the call listed requirement after requirement, while the director kept shaking his head, explaining continuously.

After a full five minutes, the anger on the other end of the line showed no signs of waning. In fact, it seemed to increasingly target the director standing right there.

Xia Tian saw the director finally reveal an impatient expression, waving his hand at the two to tell them to go out first.

Red Glasses was relieved.

Xia Tian was reluctant to leave.