On his first day at work, our new operations assistant, Zhang, walked into the office looking effortlessly cool—minimalist T-shirt, canvas sneakers, laptop in one hand, earbuds in the other. He paused, scanned the room, then confidently approached the front desk and said:
“One latte, no sugar, please.”
The receptionist blinked. “Are you… Zhang, the new hire?”
He froze. “Wait… this is the office?! I thought this was a trendy café!”
Fair enough. With our Nordic-style workspace—light wood floors, greenery, soft lighting, diffusers, and open seating—it wasn’t a completely unreasonable guess.
From that day on, he earned the nickname “Café Zhang.” Despite his reserved appearance, he turned out to be the silent hero of the team—always helping behind the scenes, never seeking credit. Within three months, he was promoted to operations lead, the fastest ever in that role.
Now, every time he joins an onboarding session, he laughs and says, “Just don’t walk in and order a coffee like I did.”
