Weiwei got to the eatery first and grabbed a table as the place was getting crowded. She was in a pretty good mood.
It's nice to hang out with Ruxuan and Chengli again, even though we're not colleagues anymore. Some would even say that it's better to hang out as friends, as they don't need to pretend to like me because we work together. If they can be my friends outside of work, it's better than "work friends". You never know if your work friends are your actual friends.
Just then, Ruxuan and Chengli showed up. Ruxuan was cheerful and carefree as always, but Chengli struck Weiwei as stressed and worried. "Overworked," she reasoned.
The three of them ate and gossiped about the office life.
"I haven't heard anything at all about Yihan," Ruxuan said. "I've asked everyone, including Chengli." She looked at Weiwei. "Did she contact you?"
"No," said Weiwei. "And I didn't dare to contact her. She was really angry at me when she got fired."
"Why was she angry at you?"
Weiwei shrugged. "She thought it was me who caused the entire problem. She assumed that I had said something to upset Lántiān." Weiwei sighed. She was pretty rude to me. "Anyway, I hope she's alright."
Ruxuan mused while chewing. "I still don't get why she thought it was your fault. What do you think about all of this?" she asked Chengli.
Chengli blinked and stared at the table. "I don't know."
He's acting strange. What's going on with him?
"What don't you know?" persisted Ruxuan. "Don't you think it was wrong of Yihan to blame Weiwei for what happened?"
"Oh yes," Chengli clasped his hands nervously. "That was definitely wrong."
"See, even he agrees," chuckled Ruxuan. "I'll be right back."
As soon as Ruxuan got up and left the table, Chengli glanced at Weiwei for the first time.
He looks like a scared rabbit.
"Weiwei, I wanted you to know that I'm really sorry," he mumbled. "There is something very important I wanted to tell you." He flicked his head in the direction Ruxuan left. "I'm sorry. You see, I was the one who shared your concerns with Lántiān."
You did what?!
Weiwei stared.
It was gradually beginning to make some sense to her: Chengli was the only person other than Yihan and Qi that she shared her concerns with. He was the one helping her gather the land sale documents. He had access to the Lántiān file.
"You?" was all she could say. "But why?"
"I was hoping to explain to you in person… But I couldn't find a reason… I mean I was ashamed," he faltered and then swallowed hard. "The thing is – my father happens to be one of the big investors in the Lántiān Group. No one in the office knows about it, and I didn't want Ruxuan to overhear. I wanted to be treated as a regular employee, so I kept it a secret. When I heard about those irregularities that you were looking into, I got worried and I told my father. I was worried that he was going to lose money – and he's got very little invested outside of Lántiān. So I mentioned it to him, and he created a stir at Lántiān. That's what really happened."
Weiwei was looking at Chengli as he spoke and felt conflicted. She felt bad for Chengli to some extent, especially now looking so small and vulnerable. But the stronger emotion was building, and it was deep disappointment in Chengli's weakness.
Betrayal is a strong word, but it feels like it to me. And what about Qi? How hard it must be for him because of this selfish action. Would I do the same, if my father was in the same position? Or would I be open about it before letting him know? I don't really know. Life is full of hard choices.
"Could you please forgive me?" said Chengli, he eyes filled with shame and fear. "Could you please keep it a secret from others? I won't be able to show my face at the office, if they find out."
Of course, you won't. And you should be ashamed of yourself!
Weiwei sighed. "That's fine, I won't tell others about your father."
"Thank you, Weiwei! I know how nice a person you are, and how cowardly it was of me to let you get fired for something you didn't do." Chengli now spoke hurriedly quickly glancing around. "I explained what happened to my father, and he wanted to give you this, as an apology from both of us."
He quickly slipped a piece of paper to Weiwei.
What is it?
Weiwei looked at the paper. It was a cheque. She had to read the amount twice before it sank it: it was about one year's worth of her salary.
"I'm really sorry, Weiwei," repeated Chengli pleadingly.
"Chengli, I can't take it," said Weiwei firmly.
"Why? What do you mean?" Chengli's mouth hung open. "Is it not enough? It's a very generous amount."
"I know, but did you think of how it impacted," Weiwei quickly made a mental note that she almost let Qi's name slip. "How it impacted many, how it impacted the whole company."
Chengli stared. "Are you worried about TTT? It's a rich corporation, they will do just fine."
"Are you sure?" Weiwei curbed her anger once again to avoid saying too much about what she knew. "What if it collapses because of this scandal? You didn't want you father to lose his money, but do you care about others, just like him, who might lose everything because of what you did?"
Weiwei moved the cheque across the table back to Chengli. "I can't."
"You lost your job because of me–"
"Yes," interrupted Weiwei. "But it's not just about me. If you want to do something about it, try to fix the bigger problem."
Weiwei saw Ruxuan coming back to the table.
Chengli quickly snatched the cheque and stuffed it back into his pocket. "But how?"
"I don't know," said Weiwei. "Talk to you father, there must be something."
Ruxuan sat back down. "Were you talking about me? That's not nice."
"You," said Weiwei, pretending to laugh. "Why do you think we talked about you?"
"I don't know," Ruxuan shrugged. "Chengli was looking at me as if he was scared of me overhearing him. He must've badmouthed me, right?"
"No, he didn't," Weiwei said with a smile. "It wasn't you he was upset with, it was Lántiān." She gave Chengli a look. "Isn't that right, Chengli?"
Chengli nodded sheepishly.
"Well, that goes without saying," agreed Ruxuan. "Lántiān is evil."