She looked happy, new, refreshed, and perhaps more beautiful, and most staff who saw her walk in recognized the ring on her right middle finger, a minimalist design but very neat and clean.
A few dared to ask her playfully about it, but she gave them only open answers. Upon reaching the main building, she walked towards her desk, exchanging greetings with a number of fellow staff who had also just arrived, and eventually with Ketki, her favorite.
This time around, she was on time, but as she walked to her desk, she saw Yin leaned back on her chair with her right hand on top of her desk, absent-minded and lost in thoughts. Mu Rong looked at Yin for a while and then called her softly after getting near her
"Yin."
Yin, upon hearing her name, woke up and apologized to Mu Rong for not having heard her in time. It had been only minutes of thinking about Rama's words, but Yin's face had lost its vibrancy. Mu Rong, concerned, sat down at her desk and leaned over to ask Yin what was happening with her.
"Did you have a fight with him?" Mu Rong asked in a lower tone, not wanting to attract any attention from anyone, and Yin, still exhausted from Balo, stretched her shoulders out, put up a smile and replied to Mu Rong,
"Not really, It's Rama; he just said something negative to me."
"Early this morning?" Mu Rong asked, anger fueling within her. But before they could discuss further, Anzim walked in and stood near Mu Rong, informing her that she was needed in the conference room.
Slightly puzzled, Mu Rong wondered why she was being called to the conference room. With some guesses on her mind, she stood up to avoid wasting any further time and asked Yin to fill in for her. She then first arranged her desk items and put her bag in the last drawer. Yin, being curious, asked Anzim if there was a meeting in the conference room.
She feared it was perhaps about the two invoices, but Anzim, being proud and fond of Rama, would not say another word to any of them. Instead, he excused himself without a word, leaving them to their own conclusion.
Yin, still seated, convinced Mu Rong to go and find out what the whole thing was all about.
"If it's about the two invoices, we have nothing to worry about. I will not see you go down," Yin said to Mu Rong, looking confidently at her.
"Let me get there and see; I will tell you everything when I come back."
Mu Rong left her desk and walked towards the conference room, exercising calmness within her just as Yin had told her to do.
The conference room, which stood alone from the main building, was usually used for meetings and to carry out large work plans, so being called in there had to do with something serious.
"It must be the invoices," Mu Rong debated within herself as she walked towards the conference room. Since the door to the conference room was wide open, Mu Rong skipped knocking and stepped inside. The number of people inside exceeded her expectation. The seating arrangement was planned in a way that the defendant would be under scrutiny from the whole team.
It was clear by first glance that there was a problem as everyone moved their eyes on her the moment she had walked in, including Lu Zheng himself. The issue of the two invoices had reached the regional commissioner through a letter, and he had demanded answers, forcing all the responsible departments to hold a meeting, which was mandatory for all department heads to attend, including Mr. Bangwan himself.
With no one to greet first, Mu Rong stood speechless, and Mr. Sai, having sympathy and seeing her confusion intercepted her quickly, requesting her to sit down facing all the department heads.
Mr. Bangwan, always bored of meetings, glanced at both sides of the seated members and cut straight through the formal procedures of the meeting process, going straight to the main reason.
"Mu Rong, who gave you those two invoices? This is the reason why this meeting is happening because the regional commissioner wants an answer."
Everyone set their eyes intently on her, and Rama, who had sat opposite her, had a mix of sarcastic facial movements that boiled anger in Mu Rong.
"Speak up," Mr. Bangwan spoke with a raised tone, and Lu Zheng, sensing the direction of the meeting, prepared a couple of words within himself to diffuse the situation aimed at pinning Mu Rong as a scapegoat.
"Sir, I don't remember," Mu Rong replied with teary eyes, and Rama, who sat facing her, smiled mockingly directly at her. The entire committee kept staring at her, many not wanting to interfere or even put mud on their hands.
"Wow," Mr. Bangwan replied to her, giving Lu Zheng one quick look to finish the problem as he was eager to leave the conference room and attend to his other things.
"So what do we do?" Mr. Bangwan asked, leaving the question to everyone in the room indirectly. Still, many were not ready to participate in the meeting, and silence ruled the room for a while before Lu Zheng grabbed the opportunity right at the exact time Rama was about to propose a daring solution.
"Let's get to the supplier himself!" Lu Zheng suggested, the idea not satisfying most people yet it was easier to sort.
"What if the supplier was part of it?"
Many thought in their minds but had no courage to go against Lu Zheng so they kept the thoughts to themselves including Rama.
Since everyone maintained their silence, Mr. Bangwan proceeded with Lu Zheng's idea.
"Fine since all of you have no other suggestions. Let's send Anzim to fetch the supplier"
Mr. Bangwan ordered, and Anzim was called in by one of the people inside the meeting. He was quickly given permission by Mr. Bangwan to go sign some petty cash at the accounts office and get a ride to the market where the supplier was.