dignity

"Shiyao! Over here!" Jin Yuxi stood in front of the villa area gate and saw Qu Shiyao riding her little electric scooter wobbling over from afar. She immediately stood on tiptoe and waved.

Beside the door, Lin Weiwei and Zhang Li were looking down at their phones, while Wang Qian, who had won the bidding task, hadn't come over yet.

Qu Shiyao parked her electric scooter and walked over when Lin Weiwei put down her phone and casually asked, "Hey, do you know anything about Sun Mei's situation?"

Upon hearing this, even Zhang Li and Jin Yuxi subconsciously stopped what they were doing, pricked up their ears, and leaned forward slightly.

Sun Mei disappeared without a trace, ignoring phone calls and messages, and she didn't participate in this mission that could both earn her money and keep her close to Boss Si. It was all too abnormal.

Qu Shiyao knew exactly what was going on, but she deliberately didn't say it directly.

She looked around, bewildered. "Huh? Are you talking to me?"

Lin Weiwei rolled her eyes dramatically, annoyed, and snorted, "Otherwise what? Am I talking to a ghost?"

"Oh dear, I thought so!"

Qu Shiyao immediately clutched her chest, feigning sadness, and even pointed at Lin Weiwei with a wronged expression, concluding, "You don't even address her properly when you ask a question, you unfilial descendant!"

The system nodded frantically. Their group name was "A Loving Family," and Lin Weiwei was designated by the host to be called "Big Sister," which was indeed unfilial!

Lin Weiwei's face flushed with anger, and her fists clenched. She gritted her teeth and said, "So! Assistant Qu! Do you even know anything about this?!"

"I don't know!" Qu Shiyao spread her hands, her expression utterly innocent and pure. Before Lin Weiwei could explode, she changed the subject:

"Oh? Senior Lin, you care about Sun Mei so much? I didn't know you two had such a good relationship?"

"Who cares about her!" Lin Weiwei bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and to make it more believable, she deliberately used a sarcastic tone as she spoke:

"I just noticed that my competitor suddenly disappeared, and I suspected that she might be up to something underhanded!"

Zhang Li, who was next to her, immediately lowered her head even further and swiped her fingers across the phone screen rapidly, pretending that she wasn't listening.

Just then, a voice, perfectly mimicking the sounds of tea and filled with worry, rang out softly:

"Sigh~ I'm actually a little worried about her~ After all, we didn't go back together after the team-building event~ I wonder if she's run into some trouble~"

That voice... it sounds so much like her!

Lin Weiwei was startled. Seeing Qu Shiyao looking at her in surprise, she immediately denied loudly, "It wasn't me! I didn't say that!"

She suddenly turned her head to look behind her, and saw Jin Yuxi squatting by the flower bed behind her, grinning and looking up at her with a big smile.

Realizing her actions had been discovered, Jin Yuxi immediately stood up, flashing an extremely bright smile: "Hi! Weiwei! What's wrong? Why are you looking at me?"

Lin Weiwei's gaze gradually deepened as she stared at Jin Yuxi, as if contemplating whether to braise or steam this troublemaker.

Jin Yuxi felt a chill run down her spine from Qu Shiyao's gaze. She quickly moved behind Qu Shiyao, trying to use Qu Shiyao's body to block the death stare.

Just then, a taxi stopped, and Wang Qian came out carrying a file folder.

As soon as she got out of the car, she saw the bizarre scene of Lin Weiwei's ashen face, Jin Yuxi hiding behind Qu Shiyao, and Zhang Li acting as if it were none of her business.

Wang Qian instinctively ran to Lin Weiwei's side, carrying the documents, and looked warily at Qu Shiyao: "Sister Weiwei, what's wrong?"

She unconsciously stood between Lin Weiwei and Qu Shiyao, thinking that Qu Shiyao and the others were bullying Lin Weiwei.

Lin Weiwei took a deep breath and pressed her throbbing temples: "I'm fine!"

"Everyone's here? Let's go!" Ignoring the undercurrents between them, Qu Shiyao showed the electronic pass given to her by Si Cheng, and the group entered the villa area in a grand procession.

Upon arriving at the conspicuous villa in Sicheng, an elderly butler, who appeared to be over fifty and possessed a composed demeanor, was already waiting there.

When he saw Qu Shiyao leading the group, followed by a string of female assistants with different styles but equally bright eyes, he was completely stunned.

"Miss Qu?" The old butler looked at the woman who looked very much like the gentleman's beloved and asked for confirmation.

"Yes, it's me!"

Qu Shiyao stepped forward, took the file bag from Wang Qian and handed it over, "Mr. Butler, these are the documents that President Si wants."

The old butler did not take it, but looked embarrassed: "This... I'm afraid it would be better for Miss Qu to hand it to the gentleman herself. I am just a butler and it is inconvenient for me to handle it."

Qu Shiyao didn't make things difficult for him. She took the documents and followed the old housekeeper into the house with her children.

"Miss Qu, the master is in the study on the second floor." The old butler respectfully said to Qu Shiyao, and as he turned around, he saw that the others behind him did not stop at all and were about to follow him upstairs.

"Ahem!" The old butler quickly stopped her. "Miss Qu, the master means that you should go up alone."

Qu Shiyao, who was almost on the second floor, turned around in confusion: "President Si must have wanted to talk to me about work! When it comes to being familiar with the job, Senior Lin and Sister Zhang Li are much better than me!"

"Besides, they're just being kind; they're worried that I might not be able to answer Mr. Si's questions and waste his precious time! They're all so sincere!"

She spoke the last sentence with great emotion, as if she were giving a speech.

The old housekeeper: "..." Has the workplace become so complex that you need to form a group to meet with the CEO and answer questions?

And what employee would so confidently say they might not be able to answer their boss's questions?! Aren't they afraid of getting fired?!

But after all, he was just a housekeeper, and he couldn't be sure whether the gentleman really needed brainstorming for work, so he couldn't forcefully stop him.

"Knock knock knock—" The old butler had no choice but to lead the way and gently knock on the heavy solid wood door of the study.

"Sir, Miss Qu has arrived."

"Come in." Si Cheng's deep and magnetic voice came from inside.

The door was pushed open.

The study was large, with bookshelves reaching the ceiling on all four sides, exuding an air of scholarly refinement and wealth.

Si Cheng, dressed in a dark silk bathrobe, sat behind a large desk. The cool moonlight streaming in from the window outlined his sharply defined profile, creating a captivating atmosphere.

"Hey~ striking a pose here?" Qu Shiyao whistled in her mind.

[As expected of a classic domineering CEO, he can strike a pose for a magazine cover anytime, anywhere!] The system also agreed.

Qu Shiyao went in first.

Si Cheng noticed something was off about the footsteps; why were they so frequent?

He looked up! Good heavens! His entire assistant team had come to his villa again!!!

His temples began to throb uncontrollably: "Assistant Qu, I need an explanation. Why did you bring everyone here?"

If he still can't tell that this group of people was brought by Qu Shiyao by now, then he's not worthy of being the CEO.

Qu Shiyao pointed awkwardly at Lin Weiwei: "President Si, it's mainly because Senior Lin and the others are really worried about Sister Sun Mei's condition, and they insisted on coming along to ask..."

Lin Weiwei: "???" When did I?!

Just as she was about to retort, Wang Qian quietly tugged at her sleeve from behind, signaling her to be quiet.

Lin Weiwei could only swallow her words and angrily turned her head to the side.

Si Cheng's gaze swept heavily over the group of women behind Qu Shiyao who were concerned about their colleague.

Anyone with a modicum of sense should have stepped aside at this moment.

However, these people had different thoughts at the moment, and more importantly, the mercenary fee included protection money!

In order to earn some money, they tacitly kept their eyes down, pretending not to understand the CEO's gaze, and didn't even move their feet.

Si Cheng: "..." What's wrong with this world? Is it that he can't lift a knife anymore? Or have these assistants gotten too arrogant?

Where is his CEO authority? Did CAQ Group change hands without his knowledge?!

“Shiyao…” Si Cheng decided not to waste words with those people and looked at Qu Shiyao. “You should know very well what happened to Sun Mei, shouldn’t you?”

He wanted to throw the question back at her to see how much she actually knew.

"Huh?" Qu Shiyao's eyes widened, her face full of innocence and confusion.

"I haven't seen Sister Sun Mei much since the banquet ended. How would I know? Mr. Si, what are you saying..."

Si Cheng stared intently at her, trying to find a flaw in her expression.

The surveillance footage shows that she did not linger after leaving, and seemed unaware that Sun Mei had subsequently entered his room.

The thought of being ambushed on the back of the head by Qu Shiyao that night, and then by Sun Mei... made his head and his self-esteem ache!

This experience, which was beyond his control and even humiliating, enraged him.

He took a deep breath and almost gritted his teeth as he announced, "Sun Mei, she's fired!"

Lin Weiwei and the others exchanged glances. Although they didn't know exactly what had happened, judging from President Si's gritted teeth, things seemed to be in a bad state!

"Oh my god!" Qu Shiyao covered her mouth, her pupils dilating in shock, and continued to press on without any sense of propriety:

"Why, Mr. Si? What did Sister Sun Mei do wrong? This...this is too sudden!"

Jin Yuxi watched with admiration: "Sister, you're really brave! Didn't you see that President Si's face was as black as coal?!"

Si Cheng stared at Qu Shiyao with a gloomy expression, unable to understand how this face, so similar to Shen Qingyi's, could do something so incomprehensible!

Is she genuinely stupid, or is she pretending?!

"Enough!" Si Cheng suppressed his anger. He originally wanted to settle the score with her alone for that night's insubordination, but with so many people around, he couldn't bring himself to speak.

He waved wearily, "Put the documents down, you can leave now."

"Oh, okay, Mr. Si!" Qu Shiyao readily placed the file on the corner of the desk, turning back every few steps with a look of deep regret on her face, as if she wanted to inquire further about her colleague's fate.

A large group of people then left the villa.

Standing outside the villa area, Qu Shiyao said goodbye to Jin Yuxi and the others.

Although nothing earth-shattering happened tonight, CEO Si is concerned about his image, and considering the large number of people watching, he didn't cause any trouble.

Jin Yuxi knew what Sun Mei had done, but she didn't think it warranted being fired by President Si. After all, President Si was enjoying himself too, wasn't he? Could it be that being passively enjoyed had damaged her dignity?

Lin Weiwei and her companions came and went in a daze.

However, having earned an extra 10,000 yuan for nothing, the trip was not in vain.

But everyone had an even bigger question in their minds: Just how badly did Sun Mei do that she could get President Si to personally fire her?