When Hearts Collide: From Ashes to Love

Marian was startled and immediately logged in to Tencent Meeting. The tech lead began concisely explaining the development issue: apparently, there had been a hidden bug in the previous code, just now discovered by a testing teammate. Everything that had been written before would need to be scrapped and redone.

She didn't even wait to hear the end of it before her brows knitted into two fuzzy caterpillars. Scrapping everything and starting over—what a workload. Could they still deliver on time?

The tech lead followed with his prognosis: it would take at least another half month to finish.

Marian's eyes widened, her heart pounding. Unable to stop herself, she unmuted, "Zhang Gong, I just assured the client on Friday that we'd definitely deliver in a week. And now we're telling them it'll be another two weeks? The client will definitely be unhappy."

As project manager, Marian's job was to handle both external and internal responsibilities—externally, to please the client by offering guarantees; internally, to coordinate the team and schedule tasks. While occasional delays were common, a scenario like this—where she'd just promised one thing only to break it immediately—was rare. In fact, this was the first time such a thing had happened to her since joining Xinruan Technology a year ago.

Zhang Gong, the tech lead, sighed. "It's already happened, and there's nothing we can do now. I'm sorry, but you'll need to communicate with the client again."

Though Marian felt a surge of frustration, Zhang Gong's words promptly deflated most of it. Right—what had happened was done; there was no point in losing her temper. The priority now was damage control.

As her subway reached the station, Marian exited, tapping her card while brainstorming how to tell the client about the delay—ideally, so they wouldn't be too angry or would at least keep their anger to a minimum.

By the time she arrived at the office, her mind had cleared, and she was no longer panicking.

Since she was already there, she figured she might as well switch on her computer and work, preparing a brief update on the project situation for Monday's meeting.

Halfway through drafting it, there was a knock at the project department door. A pleasant voice rang out in the quiet hallway: "Marian, do you have a moment? I have some questions."

It was Julian, the new "Little Zhou."

Marian paused her typing and stood up, nodding. "I'm free. I'll be right there."

Julian smiled warmly. "Great, I'll meet you in the conference room."

Carrying her laptop, Marian headed to the conference room.

Inside, Julian spoke modestly. "Marian, you might already know my background. I recently returned from the U.S. to take over Xinruan Technology. I don't know much about the company's projects yet, so I'm hoping you, as an experienced member, can help."

Xinruan Technology had been founded by Old Zhou more than a decade ago. The company had around 300 employees, specializing in financial software. They were one of the top software suppliers in the country and had gone public two years prior, with business thriving. But earlier this year, Old Zhou's health took a downturn, prompting him to urgently recall his son, Julian, from the U.S.

Julian resigned from his position as an engineer at a large American company to come back and inherit the family business, but he had zero management background. Left with no other choice, he humbly sought guidance from his staff.

Marian looked up to meet Julian's genial gaze and offered a faint smile. "You're too kind. If there's anything you need to know, just ask. If I know it, I'll tell you everything without holding back."

Julian chuckled. "You're the one being kind here. We're about the same age—no need to call me 'sir.' It makes me feel old."

Marian's cheeks colored. "Alright, sure," she responded quickly.

She couldn't help an internal sigh of relief. Julian indeed seemed different from the typical domestic boss, possibly because he'd studied abroad. He valued a flatter hierarchy and was easygoing, lacking the stale air of many local managers.

Suddenly, she thought of another person who'd also come back from the U.S. Why was the contrast so sharp? After six years, that other man remained withdrawn and aloof.