150. The portrait is placed in the most upright position

Ling Ling knew she would no longer have anyone to support her. As Wen Ruier had said, if the truth came out, they would both be suspended to cooperate with the investigation. Given Wen Ruier's shameless behavior, this wouldn't be his first time doing this, yet there had never been any negative news about him, demonstrating his ability to seduce the public. They were all experts in applied communications, but this was the first time Ling Ling had expressed such dislike for the industry. Fine, she chose to swallow her anger. Tomorrow, she would submit her manuscript as agreed, visit her clients as scheduled, and chat and laugh with Wen Ruier as if nothing had happened. Ling Ling retrieved a change of clothes from her office closet and found a hotel downstairs. Before bed, she bought a bottle of melatonin from a 24-hour pharmacy, hoping to force herself into a good night's sleep. The next morning, when Ling Ling entered her office as usual, she saw the cleaning lady emerging, dragging a heavy floor scrubber. "What's going on?" she turned to ask Shaoyao, who was writing a business plan at her desk. Shaoyao said with a happy look, "Boss Wen came by this morning and said you're too busy every day, so he asked the cleaning staff to clean it up and give it a fresh look, which will bring good luck. He also bought a huge bouquet of flowers for your desk, saying it was to celebrate our successful ad campaign with Aojie!" Lingling glanced coldly at her desk. The large bouquet, filled with a variety of flowers, reminded her of the funeral wreaths used at rural funerals as a child. "Don't put it in my office. It's too big for me to see. Put it at the entrance of our Group A. If anyone asks, just say we're waiting for Boss Wen to write a couplet." Lingling's reaction left Shaoyao and the others a little confused. But Ling Ling didn't explain. Her high heels made a clattering sound as she struggled to pick up the unlucky bouquet of flowers and threw it at the office door. When she came back and took a closer look at her office, she found that Wen Ruier, the habitual criminal, was indeed meticulous. The iron rule that murderers usually return to the scene of the crime seemed to apply to him as well. He took away the paper cutter she had scratched him with last night and replaced it with a new, unopened one. The bloodstains on the floor were completely gone. She couldn't even remember where they had been splashed. She clenched her fists, her whole body trembling slightly. She knew Wen Ruier was a tough guy, but she didn't expect him to be able to beat her so badly. Ever since Wen Ruier's beastly behavior last night, his position in her heart had completely fallen from the altar. She no longer regarded him as an elder who could not be surpassed, but was just full of infinite contempt for his rough behavior. This...

Ling Ling knew she would no longer have anyone to support her. As Wen Ruier had said, if the truth came to light, they would both be suspended to cooperate with the investigation. Given Wen Ruier's shameless behavior in society, this couldn't be his first time doing this. Yet, there had never been any negative news about him, demonstrating his ability to confuse the public. They were all experts in applying communication techniques, but for the first time, Ling Ling hated this industry so much.

Well, she chose to swallow her anger.

Tomorrow, she will submit the manuscript as agreed, visit the client as scheduled, and chat and laugh with Wen Ruier as if nothing had happened.

Ling Ling took out some clothes from the closet in the office and went downstairs to find a hotel to stay in. Before going to bed, she bought a bottle of melatonin from a 24-hour pharmacy, hoping to force herself to have a good night's sleep.

The next morning, when Ling Ling walked into her office as usual, she saw the cleaning lady coming out dragging a heavy floor scrubber.

"What's going on?" She turned and asked Shaoyao who was writing a plan at her workstation.

Shaoyao said with a joyful look, "Boss Wen came by this morning and said you were too busy every day, so he asked the cleaning staff to tidy up the place to make it look brand new and bring good luck. He also bought a big bouquet of flowers for your desk to celebrate our successful victory in the Aojie advertising campaign!"

Ling Ling glanced coldly at her desk. The huge bouquet of flowers was filled with all sorts of flowers, which reminded her of the funeral wreaths used in funerals in the countryside when she was a child.

"Don't put it up in my office. It's too big for me to see. Put it up at the entrance of our Group A to show off. If anyone asks, just say we're waiting for General Wen to write the elegiac couplet." Ling Ling's reaction left Shaoyao and the others a little confused.

But Ling Ling didn't offer any explanation. Her high heels clattered as she struggled to pick up the ill-fated bouquet and tossed it to the office door. When she returned to her office and took a closer look, she discovered that Wen Ruier, the habitual criminal, was indeed meticulous. The ironclad rule that murderers always return to the scene of the murder seemed to apply to him, too. He had taken the paper cutter she had used to scratch him the previous night and replaced it with a new, unopened one. The bloodstain on the floor had completely disappeared; she couldn't even remember where it had been splashed.

She clenched her fists, her entire body trembling slightly. She knew Wen Ruier was a ruthless character, but she hadn't expected him to be so brutal as to leave her completely unscathed. Ever since his beastly behavior last night, his place in her heart had completely fallen from grace. She no longer considered him an untouchable elder, but instead filled him with boundless contempt for his brutal behavior. This contempt was her most powerful weapon at this moment, and she would target him and kill him without mercy.

She turned on her computer and saw that Xi Jing had already sent her the new contract renewal. She smiled with satisfaction. She gathered up the documents she needed her boss's signature and prepared to bypass Wen Ruier to report to Fang Tuowu.

She walked to the door of Mr. Fang's office. The fully transparent floor-to-ceiling windows were unobstructed. She saw Wen Ruier, his left arm splinted and heavily bandaged, whispering intimately to Fang Tuowu. The two men then broke into a tacit laughter. She knew that was the common way men exchanged dirty jokes. She didn't know how Wen Ruier would describe this heroic injury to Mr. Fang, and she didn't want to know. She only regretted that the cut she made yesterday was not shallow. She should have cut off a piece of his flesh, so that he would exceed his weight loss goal for the year.

While Mr. Fang turned around to pour tea, Wen Ruier looked at Ling Ling who was standing outside the door. That was the ruthless self-confidence of someone who had a perfectly implemented plan and everything was under his control. If a young girl who was not well-versed in the world was seen by him, she would really be scared away by him.

But Ling Ling curled her rosy lips, smiled at him with an even more focused look than usual, and walked into Fang Tuowu's office with her head held high. The only reason she had the courage to smile at him was because: while I was being tortured to death in this company, you were still basking in the sun in California!

"Mr. Fang, Mr. Wen, I have a good news for you two leaders. Xijing has decided to renew the new contract with our company." Ling Ling's tone was full of enthusiasm.

"Isn't this as it should be?" Fang Tuowu hadn't said anything when Wen Rui'er rushed in to pour cold water on him. "What else can we do? If we don't renew the contract, wouldn't we lose this old client who has always had a close relationship with our company for the first time?"

Ling Ling felt that her face was divided into several layers at this moment. The bottom layer was humiliating resentment, the middle layer was a disguise of trying to be strong, and the top layer was a sweet fake smile facing Wen Ruier.

"Mr. Wen is right. I will be more careful in the future. Taking credit for my own work and thinking that I am above everyone else is indeed a bad habit." Ling Ling smiled sweetly and looked at him sharply, so he shut up.

After Ling Ling handed Fang Tuowu the documents and had them signed, she changed her mind and sat down to formally report to him, "Mr. Fang, Qiao Xi, Yunshang's brand director, has been inviting me recently to be their designer and create a co-branded collection. I've been afraid I'm not up to the task, so I've been hesitant to agree. Of course, I wouldn't take this on as a personal project, so I wanted to discuss it with you."

Before Fang Tuowu could even say anything, Wen Ruier berated her, "Team A has so many brand projects on its plate right now. One has competitors eyeing it, another has a client relationship at stake. What kind of side hustle are you still pursuing? What kind of reputation do you ultimately want in the industry? A reputation based on nasal mask ads, a reputation based on printing copy on toilet paper, a promotion based on a scandal with the boss, and a failed attempt at fashion design? You better get your bearings."

"Thank you, President Wen, for summarizing my struggle. But what should be placed in the most correct position? Isn't it the portrait?"

Fang Tuowu could sense the subtle tension between the two of them, but as a boss, he knew it wasn't necessarily a bad thing for two of his most capable people to have disagreements and keep each other in check. So he stepped in to act as a peacemaker and said, "I think it might be a good thing. We're both in the communications business, and it's rare to have such a good channel and traffic to leverage. Lingling could give it a try. You're asking me this because you've already made your decision, right?"

Ling Ling nodded gratefully.

"Well, will this incident affect your work?" Fang Tuowu asked sternly.

Ling Ling stood up and issued a military order in a joking tone: "Don't worry, Mr. Fang, nothing will affect my main business. I will never dare to act rashly. I know that if any of my actions become headlines, they will be marked with the Tuowu brand. I have never let anything affect my work, right? For example, when my best friend got cancer, I was still connecting with the team outside her chemotherapy room and holding a pitch presentation meeting with the client; and when I was sexually assaulted in New York, I just left the court where the criminal was being tried, and I sat cross-legged on the stone steps outside the court to reply to the client's email. I know everything, don't worry, two leaders." Ling Ling glanced at Wen Ruier deliberately, but he didn't look back at her, just sipping his coffee calmly.

Fang Tuowu nodded with satisfaction, then said to Wen Ruier, "Old Wen, we have to leave quickly and visit Aojie."

Fang Tuowu was the first to leave the office. Wen Ruier then slowly stood up. As he passed Ling Ling, he deliberately leaned close to her and whispered, "Your skirt today shows off your figure perfectly."

Ling Ling couldn't help but shudder. After he left, she had to rely on taking deep breaths to suppress the angry roar in her heart.

These days, Ling Ling tried hard to act as if nothing had happened, but she was actually shrouded in a constant shadow of fear. If someone suddenly appeared from behind her, she would scream in fear. Every night, she no longer worked overtime or stayed overnight at the company. Instead, she left work with everyone else and took any work back to the hotel to do.

She couldn't sleep all night, so she started taking prescription sleeping pills. She didn't know if it was the effect of the drugs, but she felt groggy during the day. Her repressed state finally failed.

She stood in Wen Ruier's office, listening to him cursing for almost half an hour. She felt dizzy and could hardly stand. She couldn't help but think sadly that if her otolithiasis recurred at this time, it would be really troublesome.