Chapter 9 Scheming and Spoiled Stepsister VS Cold Childhood Sweetheart Brother

The entire morning was spent in the conference room reporting on their work. The manager and department heads were present, evaluating and scoring the interns' performance.

"Are Li Yun and her team really that capable?" Xu Qingran looked at the people presenting on the stage; their plan was indeed quite good.

Both the design and planning details were handled exceptionally well, showing no signs of being an intern's skill level. Among the intern groups showcased earlier, their group is currently the most outstanding.

"It's okay, we're very capable too," Jiang Zhiyi reassured her team members.

Having seen the plot, she naturally knew the inside story. Moreover, Li Yun had even asked Supervisor Li to help polish their group's proposal, which was definitely against the rules.

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but this is an assessment, and the results are linked to the final internship grade.

"It's our turn, let's go," Du Yang called to the two of them from the side.

After the presentation, their group finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was decent, basically meeting their expectations.

After all the interns finished their presentations, everyone left.

...

Two days later.

When the results were announced, Li Yun's group unsurprisingly won first place.

After returning home that evening, Jiang Zhiyi began her dramatic performance.

She could use this incident as an excuse to vent her anger on the male lead, highlighting the unreasonable and capricious nature of the female supporting character.

After entering the room, she ignored Fu Xunzhou and went straight back to her room, looking very unhappy.

"What's wrong? Who bullied you?" Fu Xunzhou lifted her out of the bed and asked her softly.

“Our group didn’t do well in this internship project evaluation,” she replied.

Fu Xunzhou knew the outcome; he had reviewed her proposal and found it indeed had many shortcomings and was not up to par.

"It's okay, keep trying next time." He didn't want to put too much pressure on her.

"The first place winner cheated! It's not fair at all. Brother Xunzhou, you have to punish them!" Jiang Zhiyi said a lot to Fu Xunzhou, expressing her dissatisfaction.

"Okay, I understand. I'll have someone investigate tomorrow. We'll deal with this matter after the results are in. Get up and eat first."

Jiang Zhiyi was naturally unwilling to wait. If she was unhappy now, then no one should be happy either.

"Don't wait until tomorrow, fire them now. Don't you believe me? I'm not eating, I'd rather starve to death. You don't care about me at all, you don't like me at all."

Jiang Zhiyi immediately started throwing a tantrum.

"I really hate them, why won't you help me? What use are you to me? Get out of here, I don't want to see you!"

"Listen to me, stop making a fuss." Fu Xunzhou grabbed her.

"Brother Xunzhou, can you fire all those ugly bastards? I don't like them at all, and now I have to work with them every day. I'm so annoyed."

Fu Xunzhou could only continue to comfort her.

Jiang Zhiyi remained unmoved and deliberately tried to escalate the situation.

"I don't care!" She threw down what she was holding, scattering pieces all over the floor.

Fu Xunzhou tried to stop her from moving around, but she accidentally pushed him to the ground. His hand hit the glass shards, and blood immediately started flowing.

Jiang Zhiyi was somewhat stunned.

She just wanted to annoy him, but she didn't intend to hurt him.

"I'm fine," Fu Xunzhou said to her.

He turned around and took a small first-aid kit from the cabinet next to him to treat his wounds.

"I..." Jiang Zhiyi hummed a few times.

After bandaging her wound, Fu Xunzhou came over to coax her, "Be good. I'll find out. Then you can do whatever you want, okay? Get up and eat first, or the food will get cold."

"I won't eat it, you don't care about me at all..." She lowered her head dejectedly, pretending that she hadn't meant to be wronged, her eyes red.

Fu Xunzhou ignored her words and directly had the nanny bring in the food.

"Take a bite and you'll get a check; fill it out yourself."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhiyi hesitated as expected. After a long while, she asked, "Really?"

Fu Xunzhou was amused by her greedy little face; this trick always worked. "Would I lie to you? Listen to me."

"Okay." Jiang Zhiyi didn't refuse again; who would turn down money? She then took a few more desserts.

She took a bite; it was cloyingly sweet and not tasty.

Seeing the man in front of her intently watching her eat, she couldn't help but be mischievous: "Do you want some?"

Seeing that she was enjoying her food, Fu Xunzhou nodded and gestured for her to get him a piece to try.

Jiang Zhiyi picked up a piece of food and prepared to feed it to him, but then she pulled her hand back and refused to give it to him.

Seeing that she was deliberately teasing him like this, Fu Xunzhou affectionately tapped her head.

She wasn't angry at all. Instead, she smiled, took a bite of the dessert, hooked her arm around his neck, and kissed him.

They exchanged their flavors.

"Is it good? I think it's too sweet."

She looked at his face.

The man's gaze deepened, and he answered seriously, "It is indeed a little sweet. Let me try it again."

"Hmm..."

...

The next day.

Everyone in the office was busy with their own tasks. The surroundings were relatively quiet, but not quite.

Listen carefully, and you can hear all sorts of subtle sounds: the sound of computer typing, the discussion within the project team, the sound of the printer working...

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps sounded.

Supervisor Li and Li Yun looked flustered as they were hurriedly called away by several serious-looking managers in suits, without even having time to tidy up the documents spread out on their desks.

This situation is far too conspicuous.

Everyone's attention was drawn to it, but no one dared to look openly.

Only after the person had left did the people in the office dare to raise their heads.

"What's going on? Such a big commotion so early in the morning," a colleague muttered.

Before anyone could react, the office erupted in a flurry of chatter.

"I heard it's about the last competition. Their group cheated and got reported. I also think they're acting strangely." Xiao Chen, sitting in the front row, spoke first, with a hint of smugness on his face, as if he had expected this day to come.

"Yeah, they often argued about the plan, and their progress lagged far behind ours, but they still got first place. I admired them back then, but I never expected they cheated." Xiao Zhang chimed in, his tone full of disdain.

"If they don't get first place, it's not your turn. Are you just jealous?" A discordant voice came from the corner.

The one speaking was Xiao Zhao, who usually didn't get along with Xiao Zhang. He was standing with his arms crossed, a mocking smile on his face.

"I never said I could get first place. I just can't stand people who cheat." Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen immediately became agitated, his face turning bright red, and his voice rising several decibels.

“There are still no results, and spreading rumors is a serious matter!” said Sister Li, a long-time employee who had been silent until now. She frowned and looked serious. “Don’t spread rumors. Let’s wait for definite news.”

"Let's wait for the official announcement. Be careful, walls may be overheard. Let's all keep quiet and avoid discussing this further," another colleague chimed in, offering a timely reminder.

Jiang Zhiyi sat at her workstation, quietly listening to the discussions around her, her pen twirling idly in her hand.

She didn't participate in the discussion, only occasionally raising her head, a hint of understanding flashing in her eyes.

The murmurs in the office continued for quite a while before gradually subsiding.

Although everyone appeared to have returned to their work, their minds were clearly not on their jobs.

Every now and then, someone would look up in the direction the group had left, exchanging quiet glances with their colleague next to them.

Not long after, the people who were being investigated returned to the office.