The truth was laid bare.
Qiao En's heart went cold, but her face remained calm.
She sneered, "Director He, why are you telling me all this? Do you not know what kind of people Director Zhou despises the most?"
He Peng had thrown out his bargaining chip, thinking Qiao En would take it, but he never expected that she would outmaneuver him.
Zhou Jin'an detested the unfaithful and disloyal; He Peng had committed a taboo.
In Nanchen's upper management, no one dared to knowingly break the rules. As a company veteran, He Peng became the first to cross the line, and with his misdeeds exposed, severe punishment was inevitable.
He stood before Qiao En, sweating profusely from his forehead.
Qiao En glanced indifferently at He Peng, pulled out a chair to sit down, and pushed the spread-out contract closer to herself, "If there's nothing else, Director He, I'm busy."
Qiao En bowed her head and quickly entered work mode.
He Peng didn't leave; his heart was in turmoil, and his mind was in disarray.
He had not had many interactions with Qiao En and was not familiar with her ways.
Back when she was Secretary Qiao, he didn't take her seriously, seeing her merely as someone who relayed messages.
But now, he had fallen into her hands.
That recording would send him into an abyss from which he could never recover.
He was accustomed to a life of triumph; he did not want to become a stray dog.
"Secretary Qiao."
He Peng's voice trembled as he begged for mercy.
Qiao En did not look up, as if she hadn't heard him at all.
A "thump" resounded as He Peng kneeled before her.
"Secretary Qiao, I deserve to die. I was foolish and hurt Little Xu. I owe her an apology."
As He Peng spoke, he sobbed loudly.
"My wife was diagnosed with cancer last month, and my daughter is only in her second year of university. Little Xu wanted to marry me, but now I can't abandon my wife and daughter to be with her..."
"So, you deceived her into getting an abortion, and then you brought up breaking up with her?"
Qiao En interrupted He Peng.
He had been weeping profusely, but at her words, he suddenly froze.
Qiao En's emotionless eyes stared steadfastly at him.
In that moment, she made a decision.
"Director He, given the circumstances, how do you plan to make things right with Little Xu?"
Qiao En leaned back in her chair, the soft lighting casting a gentle glow on her head. She appeared tender, yet her gaze was like a stealthy knife, cutting without drawing blood.
"I... I will take care of her family. Little Xu has a younger brother who has just started university. I will support him throughout his studies and do everything in my power to help him find a job later on. Her parents are both ill, and I will contact the best doctors to treat them. Secretary Qiao, I assure you, I will do everything I can to make amends for the wrong I've done."
He raised his right hand in an oath, seemingly sincere.
Qiao En was not a judge; she had no right to determine whether He Peng was guilty or not.
She couldn't stand on a moral high ground to condemn him, either.
The dead are gone, but the living must go on. What she could do for Little Xu was probably just that.
"Remember what you just said."
Qiao En gave a hint, and He Peng immediately nodded vigorously like pounding garlic.
"You have the copy of that contract, don't you?"
Qiao En asked.
"Yes, I'll go get it for you right now."
He Peng rushed out and then ran back in like a whirlwind.
"Secretary Qiao, this is the original contract, and this is the copy."
He laid out both contracts in front of Qiao En, his face beaming with hopeful eagerness as he was catching his breath.
Qiao En took the copy and returned the original to him.
"This is all I need."
He Peng took it with both hands, bowed deeply to Qiao En, "Secretary Qiao, thank you for giving me this opportunity."
His eagerness for Qiao En to reassure him only served to stir up disgust within her.
"Have I?"
Qiao En's expression turned as if she would disown him the next second.
He Peng was frightened, his face pale as ash. His recently eased heart was now stuck in his throat again.
His very life was in Qiao En's grasp, and he was completely at her mercy.
"Secretary Qiao, I swear, if I don't fulfill my promise, may I be struck dead by a car the moment I step outside!"
He Peng's voice quivered with urgency.
Qiao En casually flipped through the contract, furrowed his brows, "Whether or not I give you a chance still depends on your performance, doesn't it, Director He? If you perform well, you have to fight for the opportunity yourself. If you don't perform well, opportunities won't come knocking on your door. You agree, isn't that right?"
Despite being young, Qiao En argued his points meticulously.
He Peng nodded emphatically, "Secretary Qiao, you're right, I will definitely perform well."
After He Peng left, the meeting room finally fell silent.
Qiao En stood up, positioning herself in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
She felt very uncomfortable, uncertain whether it was for Little Xu or for herself.
In the vast Rong City, they were like ants, desperately climbing upwards, but no matter how high they climbed, they couldn't change the fate of ants.
Such was the case for Little Xu, and so it was for her.
The copy of the contract was enough to prove Qiao En's innocence, but she wasn't in a hurry to find Zhou Jin'an.
She wasn't impulsive.
If he deliberately made things difficult, there naturally was a reason for making life difficult for her.
If she proved herself this time, what about the next?
Qiao En and Zhou Jin'an were essentially the same kind of person. Once they saw through the other's intentions, they would never alarm the target prematurely.
They would bide their time and wait for the opportunity to win decisively with a single move.
Two days later, Qiao En completed her assigned work as promised.
Detail-oriented, she had organized the projects she handled into a statistical table by chronological order, marking key items and also making special notes in the remarks section for areas that required attention.
When she handed this detailed statistical table to Zhou Jin'an, he looked at her intently.
During this time, she had often stayed up late. Her eyes were sunken, her figure thinner, and while her skin was pale, it lacked luster.
"Leave it here,"
said Zhou Jin'an indifferently.
"Yes, Director Zhou," Qiao En complied, setting down the statistical table.
Her slender face held a smile, "Director Zhou, may I leave now?"
Zhou Jin'an's face darkened instantly.
She wanted to leave, like a slippery loach; just as he clenched down, she was ready to slip away.
"Is everything taken care of?"
His cool lips curved slightly, certain that Qiao En had not taken care of everything.
After all, he had set this trap for her, and without releasing his grip, she couldn't free herself.
But as the saying goes, the blue outshines the indigo.
Qiao En came prepared.
She placed the copy of the contract in front of Zhou Jin'an, her voice gentle, "Director Zhou, it can prove my innocence."
The copy of the contract showed the correct amounts of money.
Moreover, Qiao En had made a very discreet mark on the bottom right corner of the penultimate page.
Without careful examination, it was unnoticeable.
She had many clever tricks that Zhou Jin'an was unaware of.
Just like he was unaware that Qiao En, to prevent any forgery, would subtly mark all the documents, contracts, receipts, etc., that she handled.
Zhou Jin'an's face turned as black as coal.
"So you really want to leave?"
Qiao En didn't respond; she simply smiled graciously, saying to Zhou Jin'an, "Director Zhou, thank you for your care, until we meet again!"
She walked away briskly, in a hurry.
As if she couldn't wait to put distance between them.
Zhou Jin'an sat in his boss chair, tugging at his tie forcefully, tossing it away in a fit of annoyance.
"Get He Peng to see me!"
Zhou Jin'an bellowed in fury over the phone to Chen Yin.
However, it was all to no avail.
Stepping out from the Nanchen lobby, Qiao En felt a great weight lifted off her shoulders.
Standing at the top of the stairs, she tilted her head back and deeply inhaled the air.
It tasted of freedom.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her arm.