Inside Juan Yi Garment Company, Li Xiaoru had just arrived at her office when she heard some explosive news, the kind that made her blush so hard she wished she could crawl into a hole and never come out.
"General Manager Li sure has a lot of nerve. I heard she caused quite a stir at the Bo Corporation."
"She's always been like that. Such a snob. She used to look down on all those fresh - graduate job applicants. Now that some of them have become successful, capable, and high - ranking in other companies, she wants to poach them."
"Discussing this first thing in the morning. Did I hire you to gossip?" Li Xiaoru said with a straight face and gritted her teeth.
The employees immediately fell silent and scurried out of the tea room.
Having worked on the manuscript all night, she was so exhausted that she was on the verge of fainting. If it weren't for her strong willpower, she definitely wouldn't have been able to hold on until now.
She forced her eyelids open and walked towards her office. Just as she reached the door, she saw Assistant Jiang, who had been waiting for a while.
"Assistant Jiang? I'm so sorry. I didn't receive any notice that you were coming. It must be the receptionist's oversight."
He waved his hand. "Manager Li, I'm not here to see you."
Li Xiaoru was taken aback. "Then why are you here?"
"Didn't General Manager Li tell you?" Assistant Jiang feigned surprise. "I thought you'd know at least a bit about such a big thing."
She glanced at the employees who seemed to be working hard on the surface but had their ears perked up, listening intently. She forced a dry laugh with an unpleasant look on her face.
"Come into my office with me."
After they entered, Li Xiaoru pulled down the blinds.
"Assistant Jiang, could you please tell me what happened again?"
"Hey, don't be so formal."
He waved his hand playfully. "It's just that General Manager Li had a conflict with the company and then borrowed five million from the Second Young Master."
"I'm here today to collect the interest. I wonder when your father goes to work? I've been waiting for half an hour."
Li Xiaoru was so shocked that her face turned deathly pale.
"Five... five million?"
Assistant Jiang looked like an innocent and honest man. "Yes, five million. You really didn't know about this? I thought General Manager Li had discussed it with you before going to the Second Young Master. He said that one of your brothers was fired from the company and the other got into a drunk - driving accident and injured a pregnant woman, and they both needed money urgently."
"Oh my god, what on earth is going on..."
As someone who had just returned from studying abroad, she had focused almost entirely on her studies and rarely got involved in these schemes and intrigues. Not to mention that these things were done by her own family.
Her brothers had always been Li Xiaoru's role models and positive examples. But when reality hit, no one could claim to be completely aboveboard.
Assistant Jiang achieved his goal and pretended to be innocent with a smile. "Since General Manager Li isn't here, I'll come back another time."
"By the way, Manager Li," he turned around at the door. "Today is the last day for the design draft from A Hairui. The Second Young Master told me to remind you to send it to his email as soon as possible."
Li Xiaoru watched as the door slowly closed, feeling as if her soul had left her body. In just a few minutes, she had learned so much information that was hard to digest: her father causing trouble, her brothers getting into trouble, and the matter of submitting the design draft for A Hairui.
She was on the verge of a breakdown. Or rather, she had already broken down.
She dragged her feet and slowly walked to the desk, picked up her phone, and quickly found that number to call.
Beep... beep...
"Hello?"
"I can't design it. I really... can't design it."
Bo Jingyu had just come out of the bathroom, drying his hair. Hearing her sobbing and aggrieved voice, he didn't feel the slightest bit of pity.
"Do you want to break the contract?"
Li Xiaoru shook her head. "I apologize for my father's actions. I really didn't expect things to turn out like this. You don't need to use such means to torture me. I'm not the kind of person who clings on."
He was confused. "I just asked him to pay the minimum monthly interest according to the bank's requirements. What means? I don't quite understand what you mean."
"You sent Assistant Jiang here specifically to tell me these things. Isn't it a hint for me to stay away from you? Fine! I'll stay away from you right now. As long as you let my father and the others go, I'm calling off our engagement!"
The name Assistant Jiang immediately rang an alarm bell in Bo Jingyu's mind. In just an instant, he understood what was going on. It was nothing more than Bo Siming playing tricks behind his back, trying to put pressure on Juan Yi to take revenge. He wanted the society and the public to question his character and work ability, and then use this to push him down from the position of president.
How childish.
"Don't lose your composure. You're the manager of Juan Yi now, half of the backbone of the whole company. If you collapse, who will hold it up?"
Bo Jingyu continued drying his hair. "If I had such intentions, not only would I play tricks, but your company would be completely destroyed. You can't even see through such a simple trick. What's the use of having a brain from a returned overseas student?"
Li Xiaoru was dumbfounded. She was talking about calling off the engagement, but instead, she was being lectured by him?
"Do what you're supposed to do and don't get involved in the rest. Today is the last day to submit the draft. I'll go to your company later. We must win this A Hairui order."
With that, Bo Jingyu hung up the phone. After drying his hair, he walked into the cloakroom.
Looking at the row of neatly arranged suits and shoes, a picture of when he was with Shen Ximan suddenly flashed through his mind. To deliberately bully her, he had made her remember the shoe sizes and colors and even personally supervised her recitation. Now, when he thought about it, he would involuntarily smile. But the smile didn't last long and soon faded.
The prominent logos were engraved on those soulless objects. The direct sense of irony made Bo Jingyu stand still for a while.
Who would have thought that their first encounter would bring such great risks? Who would have thought that the once - ugly Shen Ximan would become the high - ranking President A Hairui, a combination of beauty and wisdom, sitting on the top throne, leisurely enjoying the scenery.
He casually picked out a few items, got dressed, and rushed downstairs.
"The hard - working bee is going to collect honey?"
Bo Siming was sitting in the living room, cutting bacon with a knife and fork. He didn't forget to greet Bo Jingyu sarcastically.
"At least I'm better than a fly like you." He adjusted his tie expressionlessly.
Bo Siming got angry and raised his voice. "What did you say?!"
Bo Jingyu was changing his shoes at the entrance. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Using your assistant to sow discord and constantly snooping around like a fly. Aren't you tired?"
After saying that, he turned the doorknob and walked out.
"Second Young Master, be careful on the road." Steward Yan said with a beaming smile.
Bo Siming was so angry that he tightly held the knife and fork. He glared at Steward Qin. "A fly? That upstart kid actually dared to call me a fly? He's really gone too far!"
"Eldest Young Master, shh, shh!"
He was so angry that he didn't even notice her reminder.