L&H - 15

Yu Qing didn’t take Fu Ji Chen’s message seriously. She stopped bantering with him and urged him: [Go upstairs and eat. I can handle this myself. PS: That phone call earlier? Great acting—truly masterful :).]

Fu Ji Chen raised his head, glanced at her, and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

He didn’t reply further, nor did he leave.

The crowd of onlookers hadn’t dispersed yet, and more people kept arriving.

Their gazes were all fixed on Fu Ji Chen, completely ignoring Yu Qing.

Pan Zheng noticed the growing number of people lingering in the hallway and near the cafeteria entrance. “Why aren’t you all going to eat?”

Though reluctant to leave the juicy drama, they had no choice but to comply after Pan Zheng spoke. However, to get another glimpse of Fu Ji Chen, they hurried into the cafeteria, made a quick loop, and came back out, pretending they’d already eaten.

After all, everyone wore the same uniform, so Fu Ji Chen wouldn’t recognize them anyway.

The flow of people in and out of the hallway seemed busier than before.

Earlier, Yu Qing’s remark—”The men you covet, I don’t care for; the men I desire, wouldn’t look twice at you”—had been overheard by Pan Zheng as he turned the corner, missing not a single word.

Pan Zheng knew what the boss wanted to ask publicly, so he posed the question on behalf of the boss. “Can’t you two resolve this properly instead of arguing here in the hallway?”

With the boss present, it was unavoidable to explain.

Xiao Yilin shot a glance at Yu Qing, hoping to temporarily defuse the situation and avoid causing any disturbance in front of the higher-ups—it wouldn’t look good.

Pan Zheng immediately saw through Xiao Yilin’s intentions.

He understood Fu Ji Chen’s mindset well. The fact that Fu Ji Chen had stopped meant he wanted to clarify the matter publicly. If Yu Qing had been wronged, she deserved justice and vindication.

When the boss had staged that fake phone call earlier to covertly send a message to Yu Qing, Pan Zheng realized the boss might be falling deeper—but the boss himself probably hadn’t fully grasped it yet.

Pan Zheng looked at Xiao Yilin, then at Yu Qing. “If neither of you wants to speak up, I’ll go ask someone else. Arguing like this in front of the cafeteria is unacceptable.”

Yu Qing gazed out the window, remaining silent.

Xiao Yilin knew there was no way to avoid addressing the issue now; she couldn’t brush it off.

“President Fu, Secretary Pan, I’m the regional manager for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area under Dixin’s sales department,” Xiao Yilin introduced herself.

Pan Zheng nodded, signaling her to continue.

Xiao Yilin began recounting the conflict between her and Yu Qing.

Her narrative remained fairly objective, without embellishing or distorting the facts.

She also didn’t shy away from acknowledging her own mistakes.

She was aware that replacing Boss Qian with a stronger distributor—even before terminating the previous contract—wasn’t an unforgivable offense in the eyes of the boss. After all, it was done for the company’s benefit.

Fu Ji Chen glanced at Yu Qing.

So he had guessed correctly that night. When she insisted on her principles, others weren’t pleased because it affected their vested interests. He had long understood the saying: “Water too clear has no fish.” Since entering society, he had grasped this truth.

As a boss, he understood it even better.

Most of the time, he turned a blind eye to such matters.

But if something truly violated principles and harmed the company, then he would handle it strictly according to procedure.

Xiao Yilin continued, “Even if Lawyer Yu harbored some resentment toward me because of the Beijing distributor issue, I understand and don’t blame her. It’s normal for conflicts to arise between different positions at work. But as a lawyer, she shouldn’t hold up my Tianjin contract without reason.”

Taking a deep breath, she added, “I oversee the entire Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, managing over thirty distributors. Replacing old distributors and developing new ones is a routine part of the job. If every time Lawyer Yu finds excuses to delay my contracts, how am I supposed to do my job?”

She went on to explain why the argument erupted at the cafeteria entrance. “Because Lawyer Yu held up my contract, that distributor has now been snatched by Le Meng.”

“When I arrived at the cafeteria just now and ran into Lawyer Yu, I lost my temper…”

She left it at that.

Pan Zheng turned to Yu Qing. “Lawyer Yu, do you have anything to add or clarify?”

Yu Qing repeated her earlier statement: “I didn’t hold up the contract. I never saw it, yet somehow it ended up on my desk.”

Though it wasn’t peak lunch hour, the cafeteria grew increasingly crowded.

Gossip spread like a tornado across every work chat group. Upon hearing such explosive news, everyone rushed to the scene to see for themselves. The elevators were busier than during rush hours, packed to capacity.

Qiao Yang also arrived, but she wasn’t there for the gossip—she was looking for Fu Ji Chen.

She was baffled as to why Fu Ji Chen would take an interest in a quarrel between two women.

From her understanding of Fu Ji Chen, he would typically delegate such internal trivialities to Dixin’s upper management.

Yet today, unprecedentedly, he patiently listened to the entire story.

The gossiping women who had been pacing back and forth in the hallway at least ten times were now more focused on Qiao Yang and Fu Ji Chen.

Previously, they only gossiped based on hearsay, but today they witnessed the two of them together with their own eyes.

They stood so close to each other.

In fact, they made quite a matching pair.

The women couldn’t help but wish they could switch places with Qiao Yang for just ten seconds—then they’d be within ten centimeters of Fu Ji Chen.

Qiao Yang moved to stand beside Fu Ji Chen and quietly asked, “What’s going on?”

Fu Ji Chen’s first instinct was to glance at Yu Qing. Sure enough, her enigmatic gaze drifted over, silently measuring the distance between him and Qiao Yang.

Fu Ji Chen shifted his focus and finally responded to Qiao Yang, though he didn’t speak. Instead, he subtly tilted his chin toward Xiao Yilin and Pan Zheng. Without drawing attention, he walked to the window, maintaining an appropriate distance from Qiao Yang.

The window was already open, but he leaned slightly further out.

Unexpectedly, Qiao Yang also stepped forward.

Qiao Yang had no interest whatsoever in the conflict between Xiao Yilin and Yu Qing. She had been present during the heated argument at Friday’s meeting.

“Should we go inside?” she asked Fu Ji Chen.

Fu Ji Chen glanced disinterestedly out the window. “No rush.”

Qiao Yang lowered her voice further. “You standing here is going to cause this hallway to get blocked soon. Some of them have already gone in and out of the cafeteria several times—not to eat.”

Fu Ji Chen looked at Yu Qing again.

Yu Qing was watching him too. Their gazes met for a brief moment. Her expression seemed to warn him: The distance between you and Qiao Yang isn’t far enough—not nearly far enough.

Helpless, Fu Ji Chen took another half-step back toward the wall.

One more step, and he’d be pressed against it.

Qiao Yang noticed the strange undercurrents passing between Fu Ji Chen and Yu Qing—a subtle, unspoken intimacy.

Perhaps, she was overthinking things.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the bag on Yu Qing’s shoulder. Earlier, the group chat had exploded with speculation that Yu Qing had hooked up with Zhao Shuqun, and that he had even gifted her the bag.

Because Xiao Yilin had been “poached” by Yu Qing, this entire scene at the cafeteria entrance had unfolded.

Another thirty seconds passed.

Fu Ji Chen still showed no sign of leaving.

Qiao Yang suggested, “Why don’t you go eat first? I’ll handle it with Secretary Pan. I’m familiar with everyone at Dixin—I’ll check what’s really going on. Once it’s resolved, I’ll report back to you.”

Fu Ji Chen repeatedly opened and closed the window. “This matter… I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it well.”

Qiao Yang joked lightly, “Are you doubting my ability to get things done?”

“It has nothing to do with your competence.”

“Oh?”

Qiao Yang was puzzled. She turned to look at him, her brow furrowed.

Fu Ji Chen didn’t respond or explain further.

After a moment of thought, Qiao Yang guessed, “Are you saying that without evidence, it’s hard to address issues related to employees’ personal lives? After all, there’s usually no smoke without fire.”

“You said it yourself—it’s usually the case. But there are always exceptions.” Fu Ji Chen closed the window. “Take me and you, for example. If there’s no fire, then what? A normal working relationship can still spark rumors like that.”

Qiao Yang pursed her lips and forced a faint smile. “True.”

Once again, Fu Ji Chen pushed the window open.

Qiao Yang didn’t understand why he kept fiddling with the window.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps approached.

It was Zhao Shuqun. He hadn’t expected the situation to escalate to this extent, drawing in the boss and Secretary Pan.

Xiao Yilin was from his department, and if the matter blew up, it would embarrass everyone.

Today, the gossiping women got their fill of entertainment as two of the group’s most attractive figures gathered together. However, even Zhao Shuqun, tall and imposing as he was, appeared slightly shorter when standing next to Fu Ji Chen.

Zhao Shuqun arrived to smooth things over. He explained to Pan Zheng, “I know about Manager Xiao’s Tianjin client—they’re in a hurry. The delay with the contract caused them to lose the client.”

This directly proved that Xiao Yilin wasn’t making trouble without cause.

As for Yu Qing, Zhao Shuqun put it this way: “Lawyer Yu’s integrity is evident to all. She wouldn’t intentionally hold up a contract—it’s likely a miscommunication or oversight, and the contract was accidentally left behind.”

Xiao Yilin sneered inwardly at Zhao Shuqun, thinking how quick he was to make excuses for his “little lover.”

She unlocked her phone and handed it to Zhao Shuqun. “Director Zhao, take a look for yourself.”

After watching the videos, Zhao Shuqun found himself at a loss for how to defend Yu Qing. Rumors were already swirling about him and Yu Qing, and at this critical juncture, anything he said would only make matters worse.

No explanation would be believed.

The more he tried to clarify, the murkier things would become.

It would only seem like he was covering something up.

Still, he trusted that Yu Qing wouldn’t resort to such childish retaliation.

All eyes were now on Yu Qing, waiting to hear how she would clear her name—or whitewash herself.

Yu Qing understood—they were all waiting to see her squirm.

But Fu Ji Chen no longer looked at her. Instead, he gazed out the window.

Only he knew that her silence wasn’t due to guilt—it was because she couldn’t prove her innocence. No one could verify that someone else had placed those documents on her desk while she was away.

Though they had only lived together for less than three months, he knew many of her habits better than she did. She never left important things lying around—let alone contracts.

But now, without any evidence, her words alone held little weight, especially when Xiao Yilin had proof and had suffered losses. Few would believe her.

Coincidentally, he had just given her a bag yesterday, and today she had gone out with Zhao Shuqun.

Now, all her rebuttals seemed weak and powerless.

So, she wisely chose to remain silent—for now.

When she had evidence, she would strike back decisively.

But even she knew that obtaining that evidence would be difficult, and forming a coherent chain of proof would be nearly impossible.

Fu Ji Chen glanced at his watch—an action that others interpreted as impatience.

He raised his eyes to meet Yu Qing’s. “Has your mouth been sewn shut?”

Yu Qing: “….”

Everyone present: “…??”

The gossiping onlookers: “…!!”

With his hands tucked into his pockets, Fu Ji Chen slowly took a few steps forward until he was just a step away from Yu Qing.

Meeting her slightly startled gaze, he spoke. “Yu Qing, you’re only brave when it comes to picking fights at home. Aren’t you always so good at arguing with me? If I’m ten minutes late coming home, you’d practically punch holes in my car tires. So why are you holding your breath now? Where did that bad temper of yours go—the one you use to bully me?”

Yu Qing stared at him, dumbfounded. He had actually… publicly revealed their relationship!