Chapter 12 But how can the butterfly fly again? ...
When Gu Sui arrived at the company, Shang Shu was in her office in a state of panic. The people in the design department already knew what had happened and were whispering among themselves outside the office.
"After working so hard for so long, it's all for nothing."
"I never expected Li Yun to be this kind of person!"
"Yeah, I always thought she was honest, I never expected her to betray us like this..."
The crowd chattered amongst themselves, some expressing regret, others resentment.
Since founding S&S, Shang Shu has encountered some tough business competition, but this is the first time she has faced betrayal from within her own organization. Heartbroken and confused, she felt that everyone's hard work over the past few days had been destroyed, and her rationality collapsed as a result.
She sat in the chair, her arms propped on the desk, her head buried deep in her hair, her long curly hair falling messily over her shoulders. She tried to compose herself, sorting out the problems that urgently needed to be solved in her mind.
First, it is imperative to immediately identify which core manuscripts Li Yun had access to, as well as the channels through which they were leaked, and to protect the parts that have not yet been leaked.
Second, locate Li Yun, send her a lawyer's letter, and file a lawsuit if necessary.
Third, conduct public relations and negotiate with Denali.
Fourth, fourth...
Shang Shu suddenly felt someone put their hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Gu Sui's gentle face.
"Don't rush, we'll take it slowly." Gu Sui's voice was as cool as ever, mixed with a touch of gentle comfort.
"I know." Shang Shu casually smoothed her hair, her eyes slightly red.
So annoying.
She's always been like this; no matter what, she can always pretend to be incredibly strong. But Gu Sui deliberately uses her gentleness to break her down, which makes her feel wronged.
However, Shang Shu knew that there were more pressing issues to resolve, and she didn't have time to wallow in self-pity. Just as she was about to speak, Gu Sui's gentle voice entered her ears again.
"The most urgent task is to have the legal department review Li Yun's confidentiality agreement and non-compete clause, as this is the evidence needed for any subsequent accountability or negotiations with competitors."
"Secondly, have the design department summarize and retain internal evidence that Li Yun has accessed, such as access records of working documents."
Looking at Gu Sui's earnest analysis and listening to her essentially identical approach to solving the problem, Shang Shu felt a strange sense of peace once again.
Gu Sui looked up and met Shang Shu's eyes, his gaze deep and firm: "Leave the public relations part to me, and you handle the internal matters. Can you do that?"
"Okay." Shang Shu quickly agreed, and then instructed Song Lanye, "Lanye, you go to the legal department first, I'll go to the design department with them."
Song Lan was already prepared, and upon hearing Shang Shu's instructions, she rushed to the legal department without stopping.
Shang Shu turned to look at Gu Sui, and seeing that he was also looking at her, she pursed her lips and said to Gu Sui, "Thank you for your hard work."
Gu Sui smiled and asked, "Is it tiring?" She actually quite enjoyed the feeling of fighting alongside Shang Shu.
"Don't push yourself if you're not feeling well. I'm here for you," Gu Sui said softly, noticing her furrowed brows.
Upon hearing this, Shang Shu's heart seemed to stop for a second. A sense of familiarity welled up in her heart. It seemed that she had never changed. Her voice was still so beautiful, still so gentle and steady, so comforting that one couldn't help but be captivated by it.
"Hmm." Shang Shu nodded, snapping out of her reverie, and then led the group of designers in front of the office to the design department.
"Mr. Shang, this is Li Yun's workstation."
"Okay, everyone, put everything else aside for now. You guys need to quickly confirm all the design drafts, documents, client information, email records, chat logs, etc. that Li Yun has been in contact with. You guys need to check all the versions of the drafts she has from the beginning to the present. If there are any manuscripts or sketches that are not recorded, try to keep them if you can find them."
Upon receiving Shang Shu's instructions, everyone quickly sprang into action.
"President Shang, the legal department has contacted Denali's legal counsel, and the human resources department has also obtained the confidentiality agreement signed by Li Yun." Song Lan also completed the task efficiently and returned to Shang Shu's side.
"Okay, how's Gu Sui doing?" Shang Shu asked, leaning against the table beside her, feeling somewhat exhausted.
"President Gu is currently having an online meeting with Guangjing Media," Song Lan replied crisply.
Shang Shu glanced at the darkening sky outside the window. It seemed that S&S was going to break its tradition of not working overtime. She sighed softly and instructed Song Lan to order dinner for everyone who stayed behind.
Shang Shu returned to her office and passed by Gu Sui's closed door. Thinking that Gu Sui hadn't eaten yet, she planned to call Yi Jing Wan and ask the housekeeper to prepare some food and send it over. However, she stopped before dialing, feeling that it wouldn't be very sincere. After all, the last meal she ate was made by Gu Sui herself. Unfortunately, she wasn't very good at cooking. After thinking it over, Shang Shu decided to wait for Gu Sui to finish so they could go out to eat together. She would treat Gu Sui, which would be a way of "personally taking care of things" in a way.
While waiting for her, Shang Shu found two core sketches she had designed for the Spring/Summer collection.
Fortunately, Li Yun hadn't seen those two photos, which at least left her a way out. But no matter what, the leaked parts were enough to cause them a lot of trouble. Thinking of this, Shang Shu rubbed her temples.
Fortunately, Denali has only released a teaser for the new product and hasn't officially profited from it yet. The best-case scenario is that the other party will withdraw the promotion and stop using these designs, but that's obviously too idealistic. After all, the extent of Li Yun's deal with them is still unknown. The worst-case scenario...
Shang Shu felt a little dizzy. She then remembered that she had not taken her medicine on time. So she dimmed the office lights to reduce the stimulation, took out her ear medicine from her bag and swallowed it, then closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, trying to alleviate the dizziness.
After an unknown amount of time, the dizziness gradually subsided as the medication took effect, and a human voice sounded in my ear.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Shang Shu opened her eyes and saw that Gu Sui was already standing at the door, with a suit jacket draped over his forearm.
The office lights were dim, but she was still wearing an elegant shirt, with the top two buttons undone, revealing her collarbone, which was partially hidden by a few strands of long hair, and looked particularly alluring in the dim light.
"Much better." Shang Shu awkwardly adjusted her collar, then, realizing what had happened, awkwardly tried to explain, "What did Guangjing say?"
"The Mirror team will prepare several plans. Once they respond and express their stance, we can begin implementation. Don't worry," Gu Sui said softly.
Shang Shu nodded, her anxiety subsiding slightly: "Would you like to have dinner together?"
Gu Sui was somewhat surprised by her invitation. She suppressed a smile and straightened her coat, saying, "I would be honored to accept your invitation."
Shang Shu stood up and tidied up, casually checking the time on her phone: "It's so late!"
She exclaimed in surprise, immediately regretting her earlier suggestion. What restaurants would be open at this hour? The two of them might as well just sit outside the company building and enjoy the breeze.
"Hmm." Gu Sui looked at her and chuckled softly, then said with a hint of enticement, "Let's eat at home, I'll cook."
The word "go home" appears particularly vague and ambiguous.
Shang Shu bit her lower lip. Could Gu Sui think she was doing it on purpose? She couldn't help but think of the Korean story about eating ramen.
But since I was the one who brought it up first, I really had to suffer in silence.
"Oh," she could only reply, feigning composure.
Gu Sui drove, and Shang Shu sat quietly in the passenger seat, watching the street scene recede outside the window. When they were in Aicheng, Gu Sui often took her for drives. They had driven to many places, passing through bustling cities, wandering through lush pastures, and stopping at golden beaches.
Now, sitting in the same spot, the people and my state of mind are different.
Shang Shu couldn't help but feel a little sad. If they hadn't been separated, would they still be so happy?
Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs".
The butterfly withdrew its colors and landed in her palm, willingly breaking its wings. She opened her palm to give the butterfly its freedom, but how could the butterfly fly again?
"What are you thinking about?" Gu Sui turned his head to look at her while waiting for the traffic light to change.
Shang Shu leaned her head against the window frame, her eyelashes fluttering slightly: "It's nothing."
By the light of the streetlights outside the car window, Gu Sui noticed her somewhat tired appearance and assumed she was just exhausted. She looked at the traffic light in front of her and said gently, "We're almost there."
Shang Shu did not answer, but simply tightened her arms around her chest.
Perhaps she had been thinking about too many things, and the exhaustion of her body combined with the laziness of her mind made her try to persevere all the way, but she still fell asleep without realizing it.
Gu Sui parked the car, turned to look at Shang Shu's sleeping face, gently turned up the temperature inside the car, and carefully draped her coat over her shoulders.
The little girl's sleeping face was so beautiful that she wanted to kiss her lips without hesitation.
Gu Suisheng suppressed the impulse, and she suddenly understood why Shang Shu wanted to smoke.
She couldn't watch anymore; if she continued, she was afraid she would really lose control.
Gu Sui pushed open the car door and stood outside in the wind. The cold wind folded up the collar of her shirt. She lowered her head and let her long hair brush against her cheeks in the wind.
"Do you want to catch a cold?" Shang Shu walked to Gu Sui's side with a coat and draped it over her shoulders.
Actually, she woke up when Gu Sui parked the car, but she decided to take a gamble for the first time, because what she wanted was never just a coat.
"Go inside." Gu Sui pursed her lips and locked the car. Compared to herself, Shang Shu, who had just woken up, was more likely to catch a cold. Thinking of this, she quickly walked towards the villa.
This was Shang Shu's first time visiting the waterfront villa. The butler respectfully took her coat. She looked around and saw that the furniture and furnishings were all very simple, much like Gu Sui's style.
Following Gu Sui into the kitchen, Shang Shu naturally sat down in front of the island. Ai Cheng's kitchen also had an island, but it was much smaller than Gu Sui's. In the past, whenever Gu Sui cooked, she would sit in front of the island to keep her company, which Gu Sui jokingly referred to as "adding fragrance to the room."
But thinking about their current relationship, Shang Shu stood up uncomfortably and looked at Gu Sui, who was taking something out of the refrigerator, and said, "Let me help you."
"Okay." Gu Sui did not refuse, handed her several kinds of vegetables to wash, and then simply prepared the meat next to him.
As Gu Sui chopped the vegetables, her eyes couldn't help but dart towards Shang Shu, who was washing them. Shang Shu had her long hair tied in a low ponytail, her brows slightly furrowed, and she was carefully washing the vegetables as if she were handling a meticulous project.
Neither of them spoke. The only sounds in the quiet kitchen were the light tapping of the knife against the cutting board and the suppressed surging of the water in the pot as it was about to boil.
Gu Sui smiled, wishing time could stand still at this moment, as if nothing had changed, as if they were still as warm and sweet as ever.
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