There are many people participating in the social gathering this time, and at the beginning everyone can be said to be standing on the same starting line.

Now that it's over, of course everyone will compete to see who can run the furthest. As for the criteria, it basically depends on the position, salary, and level of the person you're with.

Of course, even if the person you are dating is not as good as others, you will basically just feel envious and most of the time you will not have any other emotions. After all, the person has passed the review and his or her character is guaranteed.

But for those who didn't make it, the story is different. There's a huge difference between not having the opportunity and simply missing out, and that's where resentment arises.

Therefore, the hot topic in the department store for the next few days will be the social gathering. If there is a hot search, the top ten hot searches will definitely be related to this.

Jianshu has a keen ear and has heard many people's conversations. The content is nothing more than who's partner is and what position they hold, etc. Some people's remarks are mainly full of envy, while the sourness in the tone of others is simply unconcealable.

Most of them were those who wanted to participate but were unable to.

They lost the opportunity to participate, but when they saw others getting good partners, they could no longer suppress the resentment and jealousy in their hearts.

But they are unwilling to reveal their ugly side in front of the winners, so they can only show off in front of the losers.

Yes, losers. In their eyes, those who join a social but fail to seize the opportunity to find a good partner are losers. It is a waste of opportunity.

And Jianshu's Pan Ning is a loser in their eyes.

However, because Jian Shu never interacted with outsiders and basically stayed in the office, those people had no chance to mock her.

But Pan Ning is different. The nature of her job means that she is easy to see. It is very easy for those who are interested to find her, so many people vent their resentment and jealousy on her.

Because she and Pan Ning and Li Li basically only had lunch together at noon and rarely had the chance to meet at work, she was not aware of the fact that Pan Ning was being ridiculed.

Pan Ning deliberately hid it from her, and she only found out about it when Li Li quietly told her about it that day.

After hearing about this, Jianshu's first reaction was anger, followed by self-blame and regret. If it weren't for her, none of this would have happened.

"Ningning, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to accompany me to the social. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been laughed at by those people." During the meal, Jian Shu apologized to Pan Ning with a look of self-blame on his face.

She was being willful and didn't consider the consequences before joining the social. If she had known, she would have gone alone.

Pan Ning, who had just sat down and picked up his chopsticks to eat, stopped when he heard this.

Then he glanced in the direction of Li Li.

Li Li saw her looking at her and smiled ingratiatingly at her glare.

"Don't look at Lily. If it weren't for Lily, I wouldn't know about this. Do you want to hide it from me?" Jian Shu quickly diverted her attention. She couldn't let Lily get involved, otherwise she wouldn't dare to tell anyone next time.

"It's not a big deal. It's just two mean-spirited people saying a few unpleasant things. Don't you know me? How could I possibly suffer a loss? I cursed back at them at the time and forgot to tell you.

"Besides, what do you have to apologize for? You agreed to a lot of conditions when I agreed to attend the social gathering. This is an equal exchange. Since I got the benefit, I should bear the consequences myself," Pan Ning soothed.

"But if you weren't..." Jian Shu knew that this was not the case. Pan Ning agreed to attend the social gathering mainly to accompany her, and those conditions were just incidental.

If it weren't for the fact that she was going to participate, she wouldn't have agreed to it no matter how many conditions were met by someone else.

Pan Ning interrupted Jian Shu before she could finish. "Okay, it's all in the past, so let's not talk about it anymore. I didn't suffer any loss, did I? Those people didn't get any favors from me, and instead I treated them badly. They left looking so dejected. Don't worry, don't blame yourself. I'm fine."

After Pan Ning comforted her, he immediately gave Li Li a wink.

Li Li had just made a mistake and was afraid that she would remember it. Now was her chance to make amends, so she quickly changed the subject and said, "Oh, the food is getting cold. Let's eat first. I'm starving."

Then he stuffed the chopsticks into Jianshu's hand and started eating. His skill in changing the subject was not ordinary.

Holding the chopsticks tightly in his hand, and looking at the two people singing in unison, Jianshu followed their wishes and changed the subject?

He lowered his head and ate in silence without saying anything else.

However, she remembered the few people who had caused trouble for Pan Ning. Since they couldn't control their mouths, she would let others do it for them.

During work in the afternoon, Jianshu was reading a newspaper when Section Chief Li came over.

"Xiao Jian, come out with me for a moment. I have something to tell you." Section Chief Li stood beside Sister Liu's desk and said to Jian Shu.

Jian Shu looked at Sister Liu with some confusion. What had happened? Why did Section Chief Li come to see her?

Sister Liu shook her head in confusion. She didn't know either. Jian Shu was quite low-key in the office. Section Chief Li usually delegated any tasks to others. Why was he looking for her this time?

Unable to figure out the situation, Jian Shu had no choice but to follow Section Chief Li out with a confused look on his face.

In the office, Sister Liu looked at everyone else and asked if anyone knew anything. "Why did Li Ke suddenly look for Shushu? What happened recently?"

"I don't know. I haven't heard anything about it recently."

"Xiao Jian's responsibilities are pretty simple, so it shouldn't be a big deal."

Everyone shook their heads in confusion, indicating that they had no idea.

At this time, one person recalled and said, "I saw the leader looking for Li Ke at noon today. Is it related to this matter?"

Seeing that he might know something, Sister Liu hurriedly asked, "Old Yang, do you know what exactly happened?"

Old Yang shook his head. "I just watched what they were talking about, but we were about to eat, so I didn't pay attention."

Sister Liu was a little disappointed. It seemed that she couldn't find out anything.

"Okay, we'll know when Shushu comes back. Everyone should just do what they should do. Be quiet, or the people next door won't come looking for us again." Sister Liu said.

The others also spoke up after hearing this.

"Yes, yes, let's not talk about this for now."

"I heard that she and Yao Le have been fighting fiercely these past few days, and she seems to be at a disadvantage."

"Is that so? Then we have to be careful. She must be in a bad mood recently, so we can't give her a chance to pick a fight. Although we are not afraid of her, it is a bit annoying to be targeted by her."

Then everyone started drinking tea, reading newspapers, and shut up.