Chapter 85 The Pot Flies from Behind

In the following days, Su Nian's work focus was very clear: before Director Lan assigned a new task, she concentrated on revising the rejected design draft.

Thanks to Lan Ting's "masterstroke" modifications to the final draft of the winter clothing design, Su Nian had more new ideas for adjusting his own design, his efficiency was significantly improved, and his work pace became much faster.

By Wednesday, Su Nian's design modifications were nearing completion.

In the afternoon, she was fine-tuning the design details on the computer when the tranquility in the office was suddenly broken by a burst of hurried footsteps.

Director Lan walked in with a grim expression, followed closely by Zhang Yue with a grim expression.

The client representative standing at the door, clutching several printed designs tightly in his hands, his voice almost boiling with anger. "Is this the final draft you submitted? The sleeve length is a full three centimeters shorter than we requested! You only discovered this problem after the samples were made. Do you have any idea how much time this will delay the project?"

Director Lan's eyes instantly locked onto Zhang Yue. "What's going on? Didn't you check it carefully before finalizing it?"

Zhang Yue's eyes flickered for a moment, and he suddenly turned to Su Nian, his voice carrying a subtle hint of evasion: "Director Lan, Su Nian helped check the dimensions of this part... I thought she was always careful, so I didn't do a second check."

Everyone in the office turned their eyes to Su Nian, with a mixture of surprise, confusion, and a hint of anticipation.

Su Nian suddenly looked up, her heart seemed to be tightly grasped by an invisible hand, and it sank to the bottom in an instant.

——What a great trick of “the pot flying from behind”, Su Nian felt as if he suddenly stood in the C position in the workplace blame-shifting competition.

She clearly remembered that Zhang Yue did ask her to help check the data last Friday.

"I made comments at the time, specifically noting where there were problems and suggesting a recheck..." she explained anxiously.

"Annotations?" Zhang Yue frowned, pretending to be confused. "I didn't see it. Did you forget to save it?"

Zhang Yue continued, "It's understandable that newcomers will make mistakes when they first start working on these tasks, but you certainly didn't tell me..."

With just a few words, he had already lightly pushed the responsibility onto Su Nian, appearing "reasonable" while clearing himself of all blame.

The client glared at him, and Director Lan's expression darkened. "Su Nian, verifying documents is the most basic job. How could such a mistake happen?"

Su Nian opened her mouth, wanting to explain how hurried she was at the time, and wanted to look up the chat records to prove that the document had indeed been sent, but looking at Zhang Yue's expression that said "there's no point in saying more at this point", and then looking at the client's angry face, her throat suddenly seemed to be blocked by something, and she couldn't utter a word.

She knew in her heart that any explanation at this moment would seem like shirking responsibility - after all, her name was clearly signed in the checklist, and she couldn't find the document with the key annotations right away.

In the end, Director Lan invited the client representative to the office for communication, and it took a lot of effort to calm the situation down.

She even contacted the other boss and only put an end to the controversy by agreeing to design an additional series for the next quarter.

The sunlight still fell on the desk through the gaps in the blinds, but now it felt a bit cool when it fell on Su Nian.

For the first time, she truly realized that the calculations hidden behind the smiling faces often caught people off guard and left them helpless.

After Director Lan sent the client representative away, the air in the office seemed to freeze, and even the wind from the air conditioner had a "melon smell".

Su Nian sat stiffly in her seat, her fingertips cold. The design on the keyboard was still in the final stage of adjusting the details, but she could no longer concentrate.

The gazes of her colleagues were like fine needles, pricking her and making her feel uncomfortable.

Some people quickly lowered their heads and pretended to be busy, while others openly glanced at them out of the corner of their eyes, and the sound of whispers drilled into their ears like mosquitoes.

There is never a shortage of people who like to watch gossip in the workplace. Everyone is waiting to watch the big gossip of "The Fall of the Rookie"!

She could imagine what kind of judgment was hidden in those words. A newcomer who had just joined the company caused so much trouble to the company because of "negligence", which was almost a taboo in the workplace.

Zhang Yue had returned to his seat and was sorting documents with his head down, his shoulders slightly shaking. It was unclear whether he was trying to calm down his "frightened" emotions or secretly rejoicing that the crisis had been successfully transferred.

Su Nian looked at her back, and her heart felt like a mixture of all five flavors. Grievance, anger, and disappointment intertwined together, making her chest feel stuffy.

She remembered the whole thing clearly.

Last Friday morning, Zhang Yue hurriedly stuffed a stack of design drafts into her hands, saying that the client was pressing her and hoped that Su Nian could help check the data. Her colleagues in the group were busy revising the winter clothing design and could not spare the time.

She had unfinished work at the time, but seeing Zhang Yue's anxious look, she softened her heart and agreed. Looking back now, that was clearly a prelude to taking the blame.

She did find a problem with the data and marked it in red on the edge of the table, indicating that the sleeve length was abnormal and suggesting re-checking.

It was almost noon when she finished all the verification work. She immediately informed Zhang Yue that there was an anomaly and sent the file to her.

Su Nian has always had the habit of backing up chat records and files, but now when he hurried to look through the chat records, those key messages disappeared out of thin air, as if they had never existed - as if they were sucked away by a black hole in the workplace.

Zhang Yue’s words “newcomers are bound to make mistakes” kept circling in my mind like a curse. It turns out that “understanding” in the workplace can become a weapon to shirk responsibility.

Su Nian just felt powerless and had no way to defend herself.

At this moment, Li Yue quietly slid the chair to her side, patted her arm gently, and handed her a note with the words "Don't be afraid, I believe you!"

After reading the note, Su Nian felt a little comforted. It turned out that in addition to the pot, there was also true love in this office.

Until the end of the day, Su Nian was listless and walked like a wilted cabbage.

She packed her things slowly, and only came downstairs at the last moment, her steps heavy.

She lowered her head and didn't even notice when she met Mr. Chen who came to see Director Lan outside the design department, perfectly interpreting the "True Story of a Corporate Animal's Disillusionment".

Chen Ran looked at his daughter in a trance and was extremely confused: This child looked like she had just lost a big competition, and lost miserably.

It wasn't until she got into Si Yan's car that Su Nian said, "I made a mistake today."

Si Yan had already noticed that something was wrong with the little girl.

His hand holding the steering wheel paused slightly, and he backed the car that had just started into the parking space and parked it, then turned sideways to look at Su Nian.

She lowered her head, her fingertips unconsciously picking at the corner of her clothes, her eyes were red but she stubbornly refused to let the tears fall.

He didn't rush to ask, but just slowed down his tone and said softly: "What is it? Please tell me slowly. I know you are not a careless person."

Perhaps it was his gentle tone that lowered her guard, or perhaps it was the pent-up grievances that finally found an outlet, Su Nian sniffed and told him everything about the farce that had taken place in the office that afternoon.

From Zhang Yue asking her to help check the data, to her marking and annotating and sending files after discovering the problem, to Zhang Yue's flat denial and excuse of "newcomer's negligence" when the client held her accountable, and even the subtle glances and whispers from her colleagues, she recounted them all with red eyes.

"I did make a comment and clearly told her there was a problem with the sleeve length," Su Nian clenched the corner of her clothes, "but she insisted she didn't see it, and I don't know how the message disappeared from the chat history... Now everyone thinks it's my fault. Director Lan even promised to design an extra collection next quarter to calm the client's anger. This is all because of me..."

At the end of her speech, her voice choked and she could no longer speak.