Immediately, the mischievous look on Xu An'an's face vanished in a flash. Putting down the half - eaten spring roll pitifully, she stared at Xu Qingqing, looking utterly lost.
"Mommy, did I do something wrong? Should I have saved all the spring rolls for Sister Yunyun?"
Xu Qingqing instantly grasped what Xu An'an meant. Patting the little girl's head lovingly, she played along with her daughter's act.
"It's not your fault, sweetheart. We had no idea these were Sister Yunyun's hometown specialties. It was just an innocent oversight..."
The little girl frowned, looking as if she'd committed a grave sin. Her adorable expression was so heart - melting that no one could bear to punish her.
All the colleagues at the table were captivated by Xu An'an's big, watery eyes.
Suddenly, a longing for a daughter welled up in their hearts. They stopped consoling Xie Yunyun and instead whispered words of comfort to Xu An'an, as if a loud voice might scare her.
"An'an, don't be scared. Sister Yunyun isn't mad at you. She's just..."
A colleague sitting next to Xu An'an gently patted her on the shoulder, trying to come up with an excuse for Xie Yunyun.
But the words got stuck in his throat. He couldn't find a reasonable explanation for Xie Yunyun's outburst.
Even if Xie Yunyun missed her hometown, she could order takeout after the annual dinner and have as many spring rolls as she wanted. How wonderful that would be!
Moreover, Xu Qingqing had left two spring rolls. It wasn't as if they'd eaten them all. There was no point in her crying.
After stammering for a while, the colleague finally came up with a rather flimsy excuse.
"She misses her hometown so much that she just wants to eat some hometown food."
Xu An'an tilted her head and looked at the bespectacled uncle in front of her, her chubby face full of confusion.
"But our kindergarten teacher said we shouldn't be greedy. We should share delicious food with others."
"Uncle, did our kindergarten teacher teach us wrong?"
The bespectacled male colleague was speechless.
At that moment, an older colleague started turning the lazy Susan to liven up the atmosphere. "Everyone, let's not just sit there. Keep eating."
Seeing that no one was indulging her tantrums anymore, Xie Yunyun seemed to be deeply aggrieved. She sniffled softly as she poked at the rice in her bowl.
It was as if others were isolating her and not letting her eat.
How could these people be like this? She was crying so sadly because she missed her hometown, but not a single one of these heartless men cared about her!
As she thought about it, Xie Yunyun stabbed at the rice in her bowl with extra force, stealing glances at Xu Qingqing, who was chatting amiably with her colleagues.
Xie Yunyun had always had a secret crush on Lu Chuanbai. Although she never intended to marry him, she secretly hoped that he would stay single so that she could admire him from afar.
But to her dismay, Lu Chuanbai not only got married but also had two kids.
Xie Yunyun's heart shattered. She simply couldn't accept this reality.
In her mind, she was convinced that Xu Qingqing must have used her children to climb the social ladder, and Lu Chuanbai was forced into the marriage.
Xie Yunyun's sobbing dampened the hard - won jovial atmosphere.
Xu An'an wasn't going to let her get away with it. If she dared to make her mommy uncomfortable, then she'd make sure Xie Yunyun was embarrassed too!
Throwing down her chopsticks, Xu An'an burst into tears. "Uncle, you're lying! Sister Yunyun is clearly mad at me for eating her spring rolls!"
"Otherwise, why has she been crying non - stop?"
Xu An'an cried so hard that she kept hiccupping. Her fair, chubby face was streaked with tears. Her big, watery eyes glistened with unshed tears, making her look extremely pitiful.
The male colleagues at the table, who had initially felt sorry for Xie Yunyun, now felt their hearts break at the sight of Xu An'an's misery.
Instantly, they shot angry looks at Xie Yunyun, and their attitudes did a complete 180 - degree turn.
The bespectacled colleague next to Xu An'an patted her on the back to help her stop hiccupping while scolding Xie Yunyun in a reproachful tone.
"Don't you think you've gone too far? They didn't eat all the spring rolls. Your constant crying and making a scene have scared the child!"
The other male colleagues nodded in agreement. They no longer saw Xie Yunyun's crying as pitiable but rather as annoying.
Xu Qingqing lovingly hugged Xu An'an into her arms. Although she knew that Xu An'an was just trying to defend her and was deliberately crying to embarrass Xie Yunyun, she still felt heartache seeing her daughter cry.
Lu Chuanbai's face was as dark as ink. He put down his chopsticks, turned around, and gently took Xu An'an's hand, coaxing her to stop crying.
Since Lu Chuanbai had stopped eating, the others at the table naturally didn't dare to pick up their chopsticks either. Gradually, they started to resent Xie Yunyun.
If Xie Yunyun had been more generous and not caused trouble, the atmosphere at their table would have been as cheerful as that at the other tables. Instead, it was so stifling that no one dared to speak.
"An'an, be good. Sister Xie Yunyun isn't mad at you."
"Then why has Sister Yunyun been crying?"
Xu An'an cried with a face full of grievance. She timidly glanced in the direction of Xie Yunyun, whose face was pale and stiff, looking extremely afraid that Xie Yunyun might be offended.
Lu Chuanbai frowned tightly. An understanding employee immediately spoke up, scolding Xie Yunyun angrily.
"Of course it's because Sister Xie Yunyun doesn't understand the rules and doesn't know how to share! An'an, stop crying. This isn't your fault."
Xie Yunyun was scolded with a face full of grievance. She threw her chopsticks on the table and directly showed her displeasure.
She just wanted to eat some spring rolls. Why was everyone against her?
She hadn't done anything wrong.
Why did everyone assume it was her fault just because this little kid threw a tantrum?
Why were they trying to please the kid at her expense?
Seeing that Xie Yunyun dared to show her displeasure, the leader thought she was being overly presumptuous and increasingly childish.
"If you don't want to eat, just leave. Don't ruin our mood here!"
"The company isn't your home. No one has the obligation to indulge you!"
Moreover, Xu Qingqing and Xu An'an were the family members of the president!
Who did Xie Yunyun think she was to show her displeasure in front of them!
Originally, the leader thought Xie Yunyun was a hard - working and promising employee worth cultivating. But now, he realized that she was so petty - minded!
The more Xie Yunyun thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. She turned around angrily and left.
Lu Chuanbai's table was at the back of the restaurant. As Xie Yunyun left, she had to walk through most of the restaurant. All the other employees in the company stared at her, wondering what had happened.
Some employees who had heard about the incident at Lu Chuanbai's table immediately spread the news of Xie Yunyun's foolish behavior.
As the saying goes, good news never goes beyond the gate, while bad news spreads far and wide.
In no time, the news that Xie Yunyun had shown disrespect to the president's wife, made things difficult for her, and even bullied the president's child into crying was all over the place.
Everyone thought that Xie Yunyun was in the wrong, and no one stood by her side.