A few minutes later, Han MeiYuan let out a helpless sigh,
"Sigh, here's the thing, I don't think your plan needs a major makeover. If you're unwilling to go to dinner, make a few more calls to Manager Wu, placate him verbally, and things might work out."
Su Qiqi knew Han MeiYuan was trying to persuade her, but she asserted her refusal.
"Team Leader, I'm not good at socializing like this."
"What's so difficult? These men just want to have meals and drinks with women. You're still young, don't take life too seriously. Some things aren't as easy as you imagine."
Han MeiYuan had gone through this herself back in the day. She simply had accepted this fact without much internal struggle.
"I mean, I know what Manager Wu meant just now, but I don't want to be that kind of person."
Su Qiqi was not naive nor was it her first day at work. She'd seen such things many times before.
Perhaps this could be a shortcut to success, but if she sold her soul and body, what would be left of her?
"You…"
"I was just thinking about what's best for you…"
Han MeiYuan felt personally affronted as her "kind intention" was rejected.
"Thank you, Team Leader. Be careful yourself in the future. Manager Wu is not a good person. Don't lose both your dignity and your resources."
After Su Qiqi paid for the ride, she got off the taxi, leaving Han MeiYuan behind by herself.
On her way back to the office, Han MeiYuan grew increasingly angry. Su Qiqi was not the naive young girl she had originally thought, she simply looked down on Han MeiYuan.
Despite being fully aware of the unwritten rules of the workplace, Su Qiqi had left Han MeiYuan embarrassed, letting her demonstrate how to curry favor with superiors.
Han MeiYuan thought, it's a pity that Su Qiqi was still too young, some of her words were way too absolute.
There was no way Han MeiYuan could let Su Qiqi off the hook.
Chen Jinhai had been anxiously waiting for news in the office, pacing back and forth.
Han MeiYuan usually kept him updated with the slightest changes, but she had gone for hours without a word.
It was already after office hours, when the office door was swung open by a distraught woman.
Chen Jinhai turned around to see Han MeiYuan with her makeup streaked by tears.
"What happened? MeiYuan?"
Han MeiYuan leaned feebly against Chen Jinhai's arm, sobbing so much that she could barely get her words out,
"Boss, I did my best today. You know what kind... of person Manager Wu is. I had already reserved the restaurant, but Su Qiqi... sob sob sob..."
Chen Jinhai couldn't stand to see Han MeiYuan crying like this and asked through gritted teeth,
"What did that brat do again? After giving her such an opportunity."
Chen Jinhai had always despised Su Qiqi's two-faced nature, now that his beauty was suffering, he felt even more upset.
"I just asked her to call Manager Wu more often, maybe have a few cups of tea. I didn't ask her to do anything else. Isn't this just normal communication? But she... she thought I was asking her to sleep with him, and then she said... said that I am that kind of person... "
Han MeiYuan exaggerated the story to make herself look pitiful, which made her feel a bit better.
"What? She's got some nerve, she's your subordinate for god's sake. Who does she have backing her up to be so arrogant?"
Chen Jinhai slammed his hand on the table. He had always been Han MeiYuan's protector at work. Now, Su Qiqi's bullying Han MeiYuan was equivalent to bullying him.
No matter how much power was behind her, he had to scold her.
Returning home, Su Qiqi was dead tired.
In her opinion, there was nothing majorly wrong with her original plan.
She managed to find an excuse to escape today. Even if Han MeiYuan held a grudge against her, it was worth it, since Han MeiYuan wasn't genuinely helping her.
When Jin Muchen entered, he saw Jin Lin waiting at the door.
"What's wrong?"
"She fell asleep, didn't cook."
In the living room, Su Qiqi had fallen asleep while still holding her crossbody bag.
Jin Muchen sidestepped the shoes thrown on the ground, glanced at Su Qiqi, and quietly left.
Jin Lin watched the scene unfold and whispered.
"Aren't you going to cover her with a blanket?"
"..."
"Suit yourself."
Jin Lin didn't wait for a reply, turned around, and went upstairs. In the past, when there was no one to cook, he had also gone hungry.
He was already used to it.
The next morning, Su Qiqi got up early. Realizing that she had slept through the previous night without making food for Jin Lin, she felt somewhat guilty.
So, she made a very generous breakfast in the morning.
Jin Lin had no qualms about eating everything.
"This kid really knows how to survive, eats when there's food, still lives when there's not."
Su Qiqi muttered to herself as she cleaned up to leave for work.
She wondered whether Jin Muchen would remember to find someone to take care of Jin Lin when she leaves.
The next day at work, as soon as Su Qiqi arrived at the office, she noticed her colleagues were all giving her sly looks.
Only after she grabbed a colleague sitting opposite to her for an explanation, did she find out that Chen Jinhai had expressly asked to see her as soon as he arrived at work.
This surely meant nothing good.
As Su Qiqi thought this, she was startled as she opened the door.
The floor was littered with drafts of her previous plan.
Chen Jinhai had evidently gone through her workstation the day before.
"Boss, is there something you need?"
Chen Jinhai, with his back to Su Qiqi, suddenly threw a stack of papers right at Su Qiqi's face.
None of the complaisance from yesterday remained.
"Which heaven did you fall from, exactly? Our company is small, we can't afford to retain such a big Buddha like you."
Chen Jinhai's words were filled with sarcasm, leaving Su Qiqi perplexed.
If she had any powerful connections, she wouldn't be struggling like this.
"Boss, I…"
"I know you disdain doing minor things, as you have a grand ambition. We both know the truth about that incident back then. I should have seen it then, you have big ambitions."
As Chen Jinhai talked on, Su Qiqi grew more and more confused, as she couldn't remember what he was referring to.
"Back then? I've only been with the company for a few years."
Chen Jinhai sneered at the corner of his mouth. He had heard about Su Qiqi a long time ago, otherwise he would never have hired her.
"You were quite famous back then. They all thought you were just a copycat, a gunman, but I saw your own design in it. I didn't expect you to be a lone wolf. Now you are thinking of biting me."
Su Qiqi finally remembered what the incident was.
When she just debuted as a designer, one of her works encountered a plagiarism scandal.
She had no power or influence back then, not even someone to stand up for her, so the matter ended without resolution.
But that should not be a stain on her life.
"Boss, I have told everyone about the truth of that incident. You have no need to threaten me with it."
Chen Jinhai almost burst into laughter hearing Su Qiqi's righteous indignation.
"You think they would believe you?"
"Even I don't believe your so-called evidence."
The person rumored to be plagiarized was a celebrity in the design industry. Naturally, no one would believe Su Qiqi, a newcomer in the industry.
"Just because I don't have much experience, you would rather believe those rumors than the me from back then?"