After work, Evelyn and Alexander headed back together.
Alexander noticed Evelyn scribbling in a small notebook. “What are you writing down?” he asked.
“What did you think of today’s internship?” Evelyn replied without looking up.
“Share it with me too!” Alexander said with a grin.
“No way. This is my private stuff.” Evelyn turned him down flat.
She was afraid he’d laugh at how childish it was.
“Come on, share it. Maybe I can teach you a thing or two.” Alexander knew how to coax her.
Evelyn turned her head and stared at him. Her eyes were full of doubt about his sincerity.
“You don’t trust me?” Alexander asked.
“Nope.” Evelyn didn’t bother to spare his feelings.
Alexander just smiled and shook his head helplessly.
After a moment, Evelyn let out a sigh she couldn’t hold back. “Alexander, I think I’m pretty bad at handling people.”
“What makes you say that?” he asked.
“I feel like I’m working hard. I do my best with everything I’m told to do. But it still doesn’t seem to make everyone happy.” Evelyn sounded frustrated.
“You’re not a hundred-dollar bill. How can you expect everyone to like you?”
“I know that! But I still feel like I can never quite fit in with them.” Evelyn pouted.
“Evelyn, why are you doing this internship at the company?”
“For the internship credit.” Evelyn turned to face him.
“If it’s just for the credit, then why worry? You’ll get a grade in the end anyway.”
“But if I do a good job, won’t my evaluation be better?”
“Then you only need to please Secretary Harper. You don’t have to deal with everyone else.”
“No, that’s not… I don’t know how to explain it. I just feel lost. I don’t know how to do it right. Sometimes, when I’m busy with work from one secretary, the tasks from another secretary get pushed aside. If the other secretary’s work is urgent, I have to drop what I was doing first. That delays the earlier work. So even though I’m busy all day and often have to work overtime, I still can’t find a balance.” Evelyn poured it all out.
“I’ll talk this over with you later,” Alexander said. “I want to eat your stir-fry tonight.”
“Oh, okay!” Evelyn nodded.
For her, cooking dinner wasn’t a big deal. As long as Alexander was willing to teach her a few tricks so she could survive in the workplace.
When they got back to Sterling Manor, Alexander didn’t rush to say anything to Evelyn. He went straight upstairs to take a shower.
Evelyn changed clothes and headed into the kitchen to make dinner.
Alexander walked into the kitchen. Evelyn was making soup.
“Evelyn, why do you always make the soup last?”
“So it won’t get cold by the time we eat.”
“But you cook the dishes first. Don’t they get cold first?”
“Yeah, but we like our soup hot, don’t we? If you prefer it cool, I’ll make the soup first next time.” Evelyn answered sweetly.
“What if my mom and I wanted one cold drink and one hot one? What would you do?”
“I’d put it in the middle. When it’s done, I’d scoop out a bowl first.” Evelyn smiled.
“Don’t you think you deserve some privileges?”
“Yes!” Evelyn nodded. “So what should I do?”
“Since you’re the cook, if you can’t find a way to balance things, then you make the call.”
Then it hit her. Alexander was teaching her something. But for a moment, she couldn’t fully grasp it. She’d have to figure it out slowly.
“What’s this dish called?” Alexander pointed at the tofu on the counter.
“Mapo Tofu. I just learned the recipe yesterday. Today I’m trying it out. You’ll have to taste it later.”
Without a word, Alexander turned and walked to the cupboard.
When he came back, he had a pair of chopsticks in his hand. He picked up a small piece of tofu and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly. Evelyn watched him expectantly.
“It’s terrible.” Alexander frowned.
“Oh.” Evelyn’s face fell.
“Don’t believe me? Try it yourself.” Alexander picked up another piece and fed it to her.
Evelyn opened her mouth and ate it. The next second, she looked up at him. “I think it’s fine!”
“Yeah, it’s okay.” Alexander echoed, then ate another piece.
Evelyn suddenly caught on. “You tricked me!”
“That’s called a white lie.”
“Where’s the white part?”
“Don’t you think it’s a nice surprise to find out later?”
“…” Evelyn was speechless for a long time.
She could never win against Alexander.
After cooking, the rice was ready.
They sat down for dinner.
Alexander chatted with Evelyn while they ate. “Did you ever study an article called ‘The Principle of Overall Planning’ before?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think you applied that principle to cooking tonight?”
Evelyn nodded. Then she thought for a moment and shook her head. “There’s time allocation and sequence. But there are still areas I can improve. For example, I could make the soup in a pressure cooker. That would save time. And while the soup is cooking, I could do other things.”
Evelyn thought it through and found a way to improve.
“Progress!” Alexander said with a smile.
Evelyn grinned triumphantly.
“Focus on eating,” Alexander reminded her.
Evelyn resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Alexander’s mood was really like the weather in June. Sunny one moment, cloudy the next. Even a sudden shower.
After dinner, Evelyn went to take a shower.
When she came out of the bedroom, Alexander was sitting on the sofa in the living room. He was writing something on a piece of A4 paper.
“Why aren’t you doing that in the study?” Evelyn asked curiously.
“Come sit next to me.” Alexander lifted his eyes and called her over.
After a while, Alexander drew four boxes on the paper. He marked them by priority. Next to them, he listed some work items.
“What’s this?” Evelyn asked, curious.
“Wait a minute. I’m going to teach a little fool something.”
“Who?” Evelyn asked reflexively.
The next second, she realized Alexander meant her. She couldn’t help fighting back. “You’re the big fool!”
Alexander shot her a look. Evelyn’s momentum instantly wilted.
Ah, well. Whoever was stronger when they were together was the one in charge at home.
There were plenty of cases like that. Lively in front of outsiders, but a worm at home.
Just as Alexander was about to explain how to arrange time properly, Evelyn exclaimed, “Wait! I’ll go get my notebook!”
With that, she ran off to grab it without waiting for his response.
Alexander was teaching her something! What a valuable experience!
If she forgot to write it down, it wouldn’t be so easy for Alexander to talk to her again. And then she’d regret it and bang her head against the wall.