This is a gift from Song Yunxi to Mu Chen, and also to Li Shenghuan.
"Song Yunxi, what are you doing?"
After shouting, Fu Meilin rushed into the conference room, snatched the phone that Song Yunxi was holding to her ear, and threw it on the ground.
Song Yunxi was suddenly stunned by Fu Meilin's actions. What was she doing? She was making a phone call. What deep-seated grudge did Fu Meilin have against her that she would come in and throw her phone at her?
However, Song Yunxi quickly realized that Fu Meilin had probably overheard what she said to Tantai Yi and misunderstood her meaning.
She walked over and picked up her phone from the ground. The screen protector was cracked into a spiderweb pattern, but the phone was still on the call screen. This was all thanks to the screen protector and phone case Lin Xiaoran had bought for her; she'd have to find time to give the seller a five-star review.
Song Yunxi casually pressed the power button, then held up the black screen to Fu Meilin. "President Fu, you broke my phone."
"You just said you were going to commit suicide, I thought..."
"What do you think I'm holding—a knife or a gun? It's a cell phone. Don't you recognize a cell phone? Anyway, you have to pay for the damage you caused to my cell phone."
Song Yunxi placed her phone on the table, crossed her arms, and sat in a chair, looking quite self-righteous.
"What's so great about a broken cell phone? I'll pay you back." After saying that, Fu Meilin turned to leave the meeting room.
“Hey…” Song Yunxi reached out and grabbed her. “Don’t rush off, sit down and let’s talk about how to compensate her.”
"I'll just buy you the same phone," Fu Meilin said with a sudden realization, then smiled dismissively. "Or do you want money?"
She had known all along that Song Yunxi was greedy, but she never thought that problems that could be solved with money were that difficult.
Song Yunxi didn't answer Fu Meilin's question, but instead asked her another one: "You know about what's been making headlines online these past few days, right?"
“Of course I know. Thanks to you, Platinum Hotel is now the focus of the entire internet. The public relations department is swamped, and even our HR department is working overtime.” Fu Meilin said, sitting down unceremoniously in the chair next to Song Yunxi. “I knew you weren’t a good person all along. So what if you used every trick in the book to seduce President Mu? You still got cursed by the entire internet.”
"Yes, yes, Mr. Fu has the best eye. He can see through me at a glance. I remember when I first came here, you said you wanted me to get out of the Platinum Hotel."
"But you said you were tired of rolling around and didn't want to roll anymore." Fu Meilin certainly remembered what happened that day; Song Yunxi had even taken the opportunity to injure her arm and frame her. Just thinking about it made her angry.
Song Yunxi said, "That was before. Now, after several months of recuperation, I have the strength again and can roll around."
"What do you mean?"
“The current crisis at Platinum Hotels needs someone to take responsibility. Since this matter was caused by me, I think the only way to completely resolve it is for me to leave Platinum Hotels and for Platinum Hotels to issue a clarification to the public.”
"So the suicide you mentioned earlier was about sacrificing yourself to solve this problem?"
Song Yunxi dropped her teasing expression and nodded firmly at Fu Meilin with a determined look. "Yes."
"Song Yunxi, why do you think you can come and go as you please? Do you think you're the most powerful person in the world?" As soon as Fu Meilin finished speaking, a large drop of water fell onto the table in front of her.
Song Yunxi was stunned for a moment. Fu Meilin's tears came so unexpectedly. They weren't even best friends. She was gone, so why was she crying?
Song Yunxi handed her a tissue, "You're reluctant to part with me?"
"Shameless! Who wouldn't want to part with you?" Fu Meilin forcefully pulled out a tissue and wiped her face, but tears still fell one by one.
Perhaps it was this annoying Song Yunxi who reminded her of someone who had disappeared without a word. Or perhaps it was because she hadn't cried in so long, and her eyes needed some tears to wash them away.
Song Yunxi sat there quietly watching Fu Meilin cry for a while, then handed her tissues again. "Don't cry, your makeup is ruined."
"It's my business if my makeup is ruined, and it's my own fault if I look ugly. It's none of your business."
“But if you keep crying, I have to keep handing you tissues.” Song Yunxi said, handing over another tissue. “You’re… wasting tissues like that.”
Upon hearing this, Fu Meilin stopped crying. She angrily threw the tissue on the ground and got up to leave.
Song Yunxi grabbed her arm again: "Don't go yet, I'm not going to mess around with you anymore, let's talk about something serious."
*
Before the executive meeting began, Song Yunxi ran into Mu Chen and Jiang Hailang walking together from the general manager's office in the corridor. She wasn't surprised by Jiang Hailang's appearance, because she had already seen Lin Xiaoran in the office earlier.
Jiang Hailang and Lin Xiaoran, knowing that the Platinum Hotel and Song Yunxi were in trouble, cut their vacation short and rushed back.
Mu Chen said, "Don't worry, I'm here."
Jiang Hailang also comforted Song Yunxi: "That's right, they wouldn't dare to do anything to you."
"They" refers, of course, to the shareholders who have consistently opposed cooperation with ST Group, repeatedly lost to Song Yunxi, yet have never given up on trying to kick her out of Platinum Hotel.
Song Yunxi laughed, "They better dare." Moreover, the tougher their attitude towards her and ST Group, the better.
The meeting room was already full, including several minority shareholders who often missed meetings in the past.
As usual, Song Yunxi bowed deeply to everyone present before walking to the last seat and sitting down.
It was President Jiang who spoke first on behalf of his team: "I'm sure everyone has seen the extremely negative news circulating online in the past two days. President Mu and President Song, please provide an explanation and a solution."
The other shareholders nodded in agreement. Even if romantic relationships were a private matter, they couldn't ignore it since it was affecting the commercial value of Platinum Hotel.
Mu Chen said, "Everyone, Miss Song Yunxi and I are in a normal relationship, and we have the support and approval of both our parents. We are now engaged, and our relationship has never involved any third party."
The online rumors are untrue. The public relations department has collected relevant evidence and filed a lawsuit in court. A public statement will be issued after today's meeting.
President Jiang was clearly not satisfied with Mu Chen's answer. "Does issuing a statement really silence public opinion? This is no longer a private matter between the two of you; it's a company issue that requires someone to take responsibility."
“I can take responsibility for this.” Song Yunxi stood up from her seat, and as everyone looked at her with puzzled expressions, she repeated, “If someone has to take responsibility for this, then I will be the one to take responsibility.”
Mu Chen called to her, "Yunxi, sit down first."
What they need to do now is unite against external threats, not make her sacrifice herself to take responsibility.
"Mr. Mu and all shareholders, I am the representative of ST Group. My responsibility at Platinum Hotel is to ensure the hotel's better development and achieve the revenue agreed upon by both parties. Now, due to my personal reasons, Platinum Hotel has been involved in extremely serious negative news, and ST Group and I should take responsibility for this."
Although Song Yunxi hadn't discussed it with him beforehand, Mu Chen understood what she wanted to do after hearing her say that.
"Before coming to the meeting, I sent an email to ST Group, expressing my deepest apologies for the losses I caused to Platinum Hotels and stating that I have resigned to take responsibility."
Just as everyone in the conference room was whispering among themselves, Pan Zhe came in, handed a document to Mu Chen, and whispered something in his ear.
Mu Chen looked up at Song Yunxi, and Song Yunxi nodded slightly at him.
Mu Chen then gestured for Pan Zhe to forward the documents to the shareholders for review. "Everyone, this is an email just sent by ST Group. They have accepted Ms. Song Yunxi's resignation and are deeply sorry for the negative impact ST Group has had on Platinum Hotel. ST Group will issue a public apology to Platinum Hotel and request the termination of the cooperation plan with Platinum Hotel."
Song Yunxi hadn't expected ST Group's response to be so swift. She had only had Fu Meilin send a letter of reprimand to ST Group at noon, on behalf of the Platinum Hotel's HR department, demanding Song Yunxi's departure from the hotel. She herself had also submitted her resignation to ST Group at the same time.
Her phone call to Secretary Wu made her stance crystal clear: as long as ST Group was willing to apologize to Platinum Hotel for her mistake and terminate the cooperation agreement, she would still abide by her promise to Chairman Lee and never return to South Korea.
The termination of the cooperation agreement with ST Group was the best news that President Jiang and others had heard recently, so after Mu Chen signed the termination document on the spot, the shareholders did not make things difficult for Song Yunxi.
Song Yunxi withdrew from the executive meeting early, while Mu Chen remained in the conference room discussing the next steps with the shareholders. Song Yunxi had left, but the negative news circulating online still needed to be addressed.
As soon as Song Yunxi returned to her office, she checked the online comments on her phone. It seemed that Tantai Yi had already begun to take action.
Previously, she went to dinner with Mu Chen and Chi Li, but someone deliberately cut out her from the original video that focused on promoting the "Chen-Chi CP" and released it online. Everyone could clearly see that it was footage from the restaurant's security camera, showing Song Yunxi and Mu Chen sitting together and interacting intimately, while Chi Li sat alone across the table, the three of them having dinner together harmoniously.
Meanwhile, the manipulated photo was also revealed to have been first posted by a CP (couple) fan account named "Did Chenchi give out candy today?" This account was an unknown new account a few months ago, but it quickly gained followers by frequently posting CP comments about Mu Chen and Chi Li, and recently it has been frequently profiting from online sales.
The Weibo supertopic for the Chenchi CP was flooded with netizens, each of whom directly tagged "Did Chenchi give out candy today?" accusing her of posting fake photos, deceiving fans, using Mu Chen and Chi Li to gain followers and make money through product sales, and then turning around and damaging the reputation of Platinum Hotel and Miss Chi's Afternoon Tea.
After a day of silence, the official account of Miss Chi's Afternoon Tea issued a lawyer's letter, stating that it had compiled relevant evidence and was going to file a lawsuit against some netizens who maliciously misled public opinion, including those asking "Did Chen Chi give out candy today?"
Song Yunxi searched online for a long time but couldn't find the handwritten apology letter she sent to Tantai Yi.
If you do something wrong, you should admit it. She previously thought that hype was the only way to attract public attention and make Miss Chi's Afternoon Tea famous. She even went to hang out with CP fan groups.
Thinking about it now, it's really foolish. What Tantai Yi did was real marketing, while she was just being opportunistic and might even suffer a backlash like she is now.
Tantai Yi was clearly trying to protect her, so he didn't follow the public relations plan they discussed at noon. Instead, he focused on condemning the netizens who were more malicious in their hype than her, thus downplaying her presence.
Song Yunxi sent Tantai Yi a WeChat message with just two simple words: "Thank you!"
“Unnie…” Lin Xiaoran stood in front of Song Yunxi’s desk, wanting to say something, but not knowing how to start.
Song Yunxi smiled at Lin Xiaoran and said, "Xiaoran, now you're the only one left in the entire department, so everything from now on depends on you."
I know you're a capable person, you definitely won't be defeated by them, and you'll definitely make our project a success.
"Okay." Lin Xiaoran nodded. "Don't worry, Unnie."
Song Yunxi continued packing her things, putting notebooks, photo frames, and small ornaments into cardboard boxes one by one.
The scene felt strangely familiar; a few months ago, she was packing her things at ST Group before coming to China.
But this departure was entirely different from the last one. This time, she left with a heart full of joy at being freed from constraints.
Carrying the things out of the office, Mu Chen was already waiting outside the door. He reached out and took the small cardboard box from Song Yunxi's hand, and took her hand with his other hand.
Why didn't you discuss it with me beforehand?
Song Yunxi said, "Actually, I hadn't fully thought it through before. I made the decision to do this after talking to Mr. Tantai on the phone at noon and reaching an agreement with Fu Meilin, but by then there was no time to discuss it with you."
Ever since their last trip to South Korea, when they learned that Chairman Lee had sent people to work with other hotels in the same way and had given up on Platinum Hotel, Song Yoon-hee had been thinking about how to resolve the matter.
Since ST Group has lost its sincerity in cooperating with Platinum Hotels, it will certainly not put in any genuine effort or commitment for Platinum Hotels in the future. However, ST Group has not proposed terminating the contract, for two main reasons:
Firstly, Chairman Lee's initial purpose in agreeing to let Song Yoon-hee come to the Platinum Hotel was to restrain Lee Sung-hwan. As long as Song Yoon-hee remained affiliated with ST, Lee Sung-hwan would obediently comply for her sake, thus smoothly completing the marriage alliance with the Jung family.
Secondly, Platinum Hotels is performing exceptionally well, especially with the continuous rise in sales before and after the launch of Miss Chi's Afternoon Tea. Even if ST Group loses its sincerity in cooperation, it will not prevent them from taking a share of the profits when the expected returns are achieved.
Why should she and Mu Chen work overtime to develop plans, personally select ingredients, and vigorously promote and market the products, only to have ST Group reap the benefits without contributing anything?
Therefore, Song Yunxi must step forward as ST Group's representative and shift all responsibility to ST Group. Only in this way will ST Group, after receiving the strongly worded letter of condemnation from Platinum Hotel, take the initiative to terminate the cooperation agreement.
From this point on, Platinum Hotels' GOP is no longer related to ST Group.
This is a gift from Song Yunxi to Mu Chen, and also to Li Shenghuan.
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