Chapter 007: Feeding the Cat Requires Generosity

On Monday, I went through the onboarding process at Knight Group as scheduled.

When I took the salary slip, my eyes twitched at the after-tax figure of five thousand.

The minimum internship salary at Knight Group was nine thousand, but mine was simply cut in half.

The HR representative offered a practiced, polite smile and added,

"Ms. White's position is quite special, so the salary structure is different."

"I see."

I signed my name with a swift, fluid motion.

This meager paycheck... Being with Alexander Knight was the real perk.

After finishing the onboarding, the HR representative led me to the 30th floor.

"The Collection Department handles contemporary art collection and investment, and occasionally organizes joint exhibitions."

The HR representative pointed to the end of the corridor.

"Mr. Knight's office is also on this floor, at the very end. He doesn't come over very often."

I glanced at the CEO's office at the end of the corridor.

A monthly salary of five thousand was a bitter pill to swallow, but getting up close to admire Mr. Knight's waist-to-hip ratio was worth it.

"There, that's your workstation."

It was a window seat.

"Your supervisor is Director Nancy. She'll come to hand over work with you later."

After leaving the employee handbook and materials, HR left.

I was just clipping on my employee ID when a head with a topknot popped over the adjacent partition.

"Hey there, newbie! Wow, your ID photo is actually amazing!"

I caught a glimpse of a card game on the other's screen.

"Slacking off on company time. You've really mastered this job."

"It's called… optimizing work-life balance for the benefit of our corporate overlords."

I noticed the name on her employee ID: Clara Hayes.

Memories of the original plot suddenly flooded back.

This was Alexander Knight's cousin, a hidden big shot sent by her family to gain experience.

In the later stages, the original female lead couldn't have won Alexander Knight without this cousin's help.

No wonder she could afford to slack off so blatantly under the CEO's very nose.

Clara was about to continue complaining when she caught a figure out of the corner of her eye and quickly switched to the work interface.

"Psst! Sister Nancy alert! Look alive!"

I was about to respond when the sound of high heels tapping the floor approached from afar.

"Lisa White?"

A cold female voice came from behind.

I turned around and met Nancy's scrutinizing gaze.

Nancy was wearing an Armani skirt suit, holding a stack of documents in her arm, and gave me a thorough once-over.

"Director Nancy."

I stood up, my tone neither humble nor arrogant.

Nancy casually pulled out a document and threw it in front of me.

"This is the preview list for next month's art exhibition. There are twenty artworks here. I want a detailed analysis report for each one by tomorrow morning."

I glanced at the list and said calmly:

"Alright, Director Nancy."

Nancy turned to leave but suddenly stopped.

"This version will be used as Mr. Knight's final review draft."

She turned her head, a sneer flickering at the corner of her mouth.

"My advice? Pour everything you've ever learned into it."

After Nancy walked away, Clara immediately leaned over, looking sympathetic.

"Twenty pieces! And they're for Mr. Knight's review. You'll have to pull an all-nighter. Even a mule on a production team wouldn't work this hard!"

"It's over, it's over—you're doomed!"

I opened the document and typed rapidly on the keyboard.

"It's okay, I won't be doomed."

I focused on my work.

When I flipped to the page of the artwork "Fading Spring", the signature JY stabbed at my pupils.

Who in the art world didn't know that name? JY—the talented female painter who jumped from the top floor twenty-three years ago.

During her lifetime, she was rejected by galleries like garbage, but after her death, her paintings became priceless.

I remembered from the original plot that JY's real name was Jiang Ya, Alexander Knight's late birth mother.

Back then, Old Mr. Knight looked down on Jiang Ya for being a Chinese art academy student from a modest family and used his family status to separate her from Anthony Knight.

Jiang Ya secretly gave birth to Alexander and raised him alone until he was nine years old.

After learning the news, Gerald Knight planned to take the child and drive the mother away.

But he encountered strong resistance from Jiang Ya. In response, the old man resorted to a vicious scheme.

It was a ruthless combination of forgeries, plagiarism accusations, and academic fraud—all to tarnish her paintings and destroy her reputation.

Unable to bear the pressure of public opinion, Jiang Ya finally chose to jump off a building, dying in front of Anthony Knight, who went insane on the spot.

After arranging Jiang Ya's funeral, Anthony chose to die for love.

Three years after Jiang Ya's death, the art foundation of Knight Group suddenly emerged to clear her name, retrieving her paintings and remounting them.

Those works that had once been returned by galleries as garbage were suddenly labeled as lost artistic gems and fetched sky-high prices at auctions.

I stared at the auction records of Jiang Ya's paintings over the years and sneered.

Sucked dry during her lifetime, exploited even after death.

Gerald Knight's greed was profound enough to make the devil himself acknowledge a master.

No wonder Alexander Knight would turn so ruthless towards him in the later stages.

Alexander Knight.

I'll help you tear down the cannibalistic hell that is the Knight family.

...

At ten o'clock at night, the city's lights climbed up the floor-to-ceiling windows of the 30th floor of Knight Group Tower.

Most of the office lights were dimmed, except for my workstation.

Alexander Knight stopped in his tracks when passing the Collection Department after stepping out of the elevator, his gaze drifting through the glass curtain wall.

I was biting half a sandwich, my fingers typing furiously on the keyboard.

There was salad dressing on the corner of my mouth, and my long hair was casually tied into a bun. Completely different from the vixen who had seduced him that night.

Jasper Cole followed closely behind, glancing in the direction of his boss's gaze.

"Don't worry, Director Nancy mixed five controversial artworks into the twenty-report list. Ms. White will probably have to pull an all-nighter tonight."

Alexander loosened his tie and left a sentence as he passed by.

"The Administration Department ordered extra special snacks for the CEO's office. Take them to feed the cat."

A cat? On the 30th floor? Jasper’s confusion lasted only a second before his gaze followed Alexander’s and landed on the slender figure bent over her desk. Ah.

"Understood, I'll do it right away."

Ten minutes later, when a lunch box with the Michelin logo was placed on my workstation, I let out a laugh.

An underpaid intern with a monthly salary of five thousand, getting an overtime meal worth thousands...

The capitalists sure know how to fatten up their workhorses.

I wondered if it could be converted into overtime pay.

After finishing the last bite of cod porridge and wiping my mouth, I went back to work.

At eleven-thirty, I clicked the send button, and the report shot into Alexander's email inbox.

I stretched and rubbed my sore neck.

After packing up my things, I picked up my bag and got off work.

Meanwhile, Alexander opened the email and scanned the report quickly.

Lisa's report was well-organized and thorough.

In particular, her evaluation of the market prospects and artistic value of each artwork hit the investment pain points accurately.

Alexander was always strict about work, and few reports impressed him.

When he scrolled to "Fading Spring", Lisa's conclusion snagged his attention.

"The irises in the painting wither in the heavy rain, yet their rhizomes pierce the soil. What is called withering is nothing but a dormant period leading to rebirth from the ashes.

Hope is never a gift from fate, but an exit you carve out for yourself in despair."

His knuckles paused on the touchpad, his brows furrowing slightly.

The words Jiang Ya had spoken over two decades ago while creating "Fading Spring" now collided with the words on the screen.

"No matter how deep the seed is buried, it will break through the soil."

The whisper of his mother before her death suddenly pierced the cocoon of memories.

"Mommy's story has ended, but you must continue painting with your brush."

Alexander's Adam's apple rolled, and he closed his eyes to suppress the suffocating feeling surging in his chest.

He had underestimated her.

He had thought she was a reckless little wild cat, but it turned out she was a fox in cat's clothing.

When Jasper pushed the door open, he had just scrolled to the last page.

A chibi-style figure suddenly popped up on the screen—holding a neon sign that said "Raise my salary"—and rolling around in a pile of money, with a line of small words next to it:

"Boss, even oxen and horses need to eat. A monthly salary of five thousand is only enough to buy a bottle of antacids~"

A low, involuntary laugh escaped Alexander's throat.

Jasper's footsteps faltered, almost thinking he was hallucinating.

"Jasper."

"Here."

Alexander leaned back in his chair, his gaze lingering on the cheating chibi-style figure.

"The base salary for interns is nine thousand. Why is Lisa's only five thousand?"

Jasper replied cautiously:

"You instructed to give her special attention and not let her have it too easy."

Alexander looked up, his voice cold:

"I told you to make things difficult for her, not starve her."

He saved the stick figure and added casually.

"Notify the HR Department to adjust Lisa's salary to twenty-five thousand after tax."

One simply shouldn't be stingy when feeding the cat.