Chapter 7

When Chu Wen learned that Chu Muchao was returning to China, and that his parents intended for Chu Muchao to join the company to familiarize himself with the business, they had already planned to arrange a position for him that would allow him to stay close by and keep an eye on things.

I feel at ease when I have someone by my side.

But he couldn't pick Chu Muchao up on the day he returned to China.

The welcome banquet was hosted by Qin Ye for her.

When he returned from his business trip, Chu Muchao had already joined the company.

After finishing his work, he realized that Chu Muchao hadn't been home for dinner for several days.

Thinking of the message Qin Ye sent half an hour ago, Chu Wen unconsciously frowned in annoyance.

He always seems to be a little slower than others and always misses out on a lot of things.

He led Chu Muchao to his office.

The table has been cleared and the tableware has been set out.

Chu Muchao had a pink rabbit cushion placed on his chair, and a cup of perilla drink in front of him.

Chu Muchao walked over, pinched the soft pink rabbit cushion with his fingers, and spoke in a soft, gentle voice.

"Brother, this is... specially prepared for me? I didn't see you have such a cushion before I came."

Chu Wen raised his eyes slightly: "Yes, sit down and eat."

Today's diet has clearly been improved again.

There was still some medicinal soup available, but the meat dishes looked much more appetizing; it was a dish of jadeite fish flowers.

The grass carp is scored with crosshatch cuts, coated in flour, and deep-fried until crispy and fragrant. Two delicately carved spheres of lettuce are placed on top of the red broth as a garnish.

Chu Wen caught it precisely in just a few seconds of eye contact.

Use clean chopsticks to pick up a piece of fish and put it into Chu Muchao's bowl.

"Try it."

"Did my brother ask the chef to make this?" Chu Muchao took a bite.

The soup of the jade fish flower is sweet. She wasn't very picky about taste before, but ever since she tried the spicy flavor, she's been craving it.

"Mmm, it's delicious, I like it. Bro, have you ever had crayfish? I want to eat crayfish tonight, the spicy kind."

Chu Wen's face remained expressionless.

Spicy food is bad for your health.

Chu Muchao didn't expect Chu Wen to agree, so he pursed his lips, ate his food in silence, and didn't say a word.

Chu Wen looked up at the girl in front of him who was eating with her head down, and frowned in annoyance.

"I'll have the chef cook tonight."

Chu Muchao looked up instantly, his eyes crinkling into a smile.

"Thank you, brother. I knew you loved me the most."

Chu Wen chuckled: "All you do is act cute."

"Just use your usual coquettishness." Chu Muchao winked at him. "Brother, I still want to eat fish. Can you pick some for me?"

"good."

Chu Wen always granted Chu Muchao's every request.

She stopped eating her own food and used the same chopsticks she had used to pick up fish and meat to continue serving food to Chu Muchao.

-

After lunch break, Chu Muchao returned to the sixteenth floor.

As Chu Muchao walked around to the lobby via the private elevator and passed the public tea room, he heard voices coming from inside.

"You've all met our new interns, right?"

"Yes, I've met her. She's quite pretty. She helped me find the information last time I went there. She hasn't been here long, but she's quick to learn. She must be quite smart and clever, right?"

"I really envy you for having such a clever new person. The intern we hired last time couldn't be taught no matter how we taught him. When the manager asked, he would say that we hadn't taught him. Later, he went to the manager and complained that we were ostracizing him. Now he has resigned. I'm speechless with anger."

"I don't know if she's clever or not, but she's definitely smart. She's only been here for less than a month, and I've already seen her get into a luxury car after get off work. Tsk tsk."

Chu Muchao hadn't yet figured out who the familiar voice belonged to.

Upon hearing this, she remembered.

It must have been the colleague who asked her about her perfume in the elevator and then followed her up the stairs from the first floor to the parking garage.

It's her, Miss Mu Mu.

The system's voice suddenly rang out, startling Chu Muchao so much that he accidentally bumped into the glass display case next to him.

The commotion in the corridor also alerted the three people in the tea room.

The chat suddenly stopped.

Chu Muchao remained calm, took a step forward, and waved to the people in the tea room.

"good afternoon."

Jiang Lan, who had stirred up the gossip, paused for a moment.

The gossip about her made her feel awkward, and she panicked for a moment.

But then she thought, she was just an intern who had just entered the workforce, what did she have to be afraid of?

Even if they gossiped in front of others, I doubt this intern would dare say anything.

Jiang Lan pouted, took the arm of her female colleague next to her, and gestured towards Chu Mu: "Look, this is the intern I was just talking about. It's good that she has a pretty face."

The two female colleagues next to him were stunned, their eyes wide as if they had seen a ghost.

—Is this person's emotional intelligence really that low?

—They didn't do anything wrong, so why is it so sharp?

The two looked at each other and saw the disapproval in each other's eyes.

Chu Muchao smiled, her eyes crinkling, "Thank you for praising my beauty, but my strengths go beyond just being pretty."

Jiang Lan's face darkened, clearly not expecting Chu Muchao to talk back. She lost face but didn't know how to refute him.

Two other female colleagues spoke up at the right time.

"Xiao Chu? Would you like some coffee?"

"It's too hot today, I'm afraid I'll get sleepy. I'm going to make myself a cup anyway, if you want some, I can make you one too?"

Chu Muchao smiled at the other person: "Thank you, sister, but I don't like coffee, so I won't drink it."

"Okay, then."

"Ugh, it's so hot here, and the air conditioning doesn't even work. Let's go."

Chu Muchao raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping lightly across Jiang Lan's face.

[Miss Mu Mu, don't you plan to deal with this person?]

Chu Muchao hesitated: Should we deal with it? How should we deal with it? As for gossip, although I don't like it, it seems there's nothing I can do about it.

If this continues, it might not just be gossip anymore.

Chu Muchao: They're all girls, what kind of relationship can develop?

【^-^ Malice knows no gender, but there's really no need to worry unnecessarily before something happens. Miss Mu Mu has a great attitude.】

Chu Muchao didn't take it to heart.

Her upbringing meant she wouldn't encounter much malice around her.

Those who could get close to her knew that she was the apple of the Chu family's eye, a little princess who was cherished and pampered. Everyone would try to please her, coax her, and get close to her to gain some benefits.

She couldn't imagine what kind of impact a piece of gossip could have on her.

-

Chu Muchao returned to his workstation.

Shen Jia usually stays at her workstation, either resting or working.

Putting aside her impatient nature, she is actually a very dedicated employee, and she loves her job.

It's rare that he's not here right now.

About ten minutes later, Shen Jia returned.

Chu Muchao took out a sealed bottle of perilla drink from an insulated tote bag hanging on the cabinet door and handed it over.

"Try it, it's sweet and sour and very refreshing."

Shen Jia lowered her eyes, took the glass bottle from Chu Muchao with both hands, and said "thank you" in a muffled and hoarse voice.

Chu Muchao looked up and noticed that Shen Jia's emotions were off; her eyes were red, as if she had just cried bitterly.

Chu Muchao hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What's wrong? Did the director talk to you again?"

Chu Muchao's enthusiastic question opened up a floodgate of conversation for Shen Jia.

"You're crazy! You didn't eat lunch and called me to your office for a talk. After yelling at me, now you know you're hungry and go downstairs to eat, while I have to keep working on an empty stomach!"

"I'm so angry! Was this event planning our responsibility? Why are we being made to take the blame? We already know that the marketing department's preliminary research was inadequate and the data didn't meet expectations, so what does that have to do with me? He wants me to bring a PPT to headquarters, to clearly analyze and explain the reasons for the event's failure with pictures and text, and to point out areas for improvement. He also wants me to write a self-criticism! Xiao Chu, do you think he's crazy?"

"I've never seen such a disgusting person!"

Chu Muchao pondered for a moment and asked, "Do we need to report to the group if previous activities did not meet expectations?"

Shen Jia shook her head: "No need. At least we've never done it this way before. We just have to hold a debriefing meeting and write a report after each event. This report will be compiled and submitted to headquarters at some point."

Chu Muchao didn't care: "Then let's just ignore it. Anyway, we've never been there before, so we don't need to go this time."

Shen Jia took a deep breath, her shoulders slumping: "No, the director said this time is different. Regardless of how the marketing department communicated with the group, this has a huge impact. At the very least, we need to have the right attitude and proactively report the situation to the group. And..."

"I don't know what happened this time. The event was only supposed to end early, but we hadn't even communicated with the group's leaders yet, but it still alarmed President Chu. Maybe this time... this time the impact is so significant that they might pick a few people from our team and the marketing department to take the blame, issue a group-wide reprimand, and maybe even deduct their salaries."

Is it that serious?

I don't think I've ever heard of that before.

Shen Jia was genuinely worried about her situation.

Chu Muchao also realized it.

Tears streamed down the girl's fair face, and her nose, cheeks, and eye sockets were red.

She's probably worried about becoming a scapegoat.

Hearing the system's voice, Chu Muchao nodded.

That must be it. Director Zhou talked to her and asked her to report to the group on her own initiative. Wasn't that just to make her take the blame?

Shen Jia opened the glass bottle and took a sip of the pink drink.

With its sweet and sour taste, Shen Jia might find it quite delicious and a novel flavor if she were in a good mood.

But she couldn't offer any emotional support right now, so she could only give Chu Muchao a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Thank you for bringing me the drink your family made; it was delicious. Ugh... I'm going to work on my PPT now. Director Zhou said I have to go upstairs to report to the group's leaders by 4 PM at the latest."

If the problem stems from a decision-making issue that results in lower-than-expected returns or company losses, then the person in charge of the project should bear the responsibility.

Instead of sending a cannon fodder who wrote Plan B to take the hits.

Chu Muchao couldn't bear it.

"Don't cry, I'll go report it."

Shen Jia hurriedly shook her head and refused: "No, no, you don't know how to report it, and you're just an intern. You might get scolded and then be fired."

Chu Muchao smiled brightly, her eyes crinkling: "It's okay, I'll write it. You go ahead and do your work. Anyway, I'm just here for an internship. If you fire me, then fire me too!"