Chapter 41 "Unspoken Rules"
The celebration party for Zhaoye Company was held in the banquet hall on the third floor of Zunyue.
Qu He arrived around noon, and the banquet hall was already mostly full.
There were more people inside than she had imagined. Several mainstream media outlets and some industry leaders who were rarely seen on ordinary days were also there, which surprised Qu He.
But what made her even more uncomfortable than these things were those subtle, almost imperceptible glances.
"That's Quhe?"
"I heard she and Mr. Qian dated for seven years...no wonder she got promoted so quickly..."
From the moment she entered the banquet hall, she noticed people whispering about her.
These comments mostly came from former colleagues at the company, their whispered gossip, the glances they cast out of the corner of their eye, and their ambiguous yet disdainful smiles.
Qu He's fingers were icy cold.
Xiao Lin from the secretariat quickly led her to a less crowded area, speaking softly, "Sister Qu, don't take it to heart, those rumors are just people spreading them..."
Qu He smiled faintly: "What are you saying?"
Xiaolin choked for a moment, her eyes flickering: "It's... what's been circulating at the company lately..."
She said coldly, "What are they spreading? Are they saying I got ahead through underhanded means? Or that I had a seven-year secret relationship with Qian Zhaoye?"
Xiaolin smiled awkwardly, not daring to say anything.
"Sister Qu, not everyone thinks that way."
Xiaolin tried to explain and said something more, but was called away by other colleagues. She had no choice but to give up and left with the words, "Sister Qu, I believe you," before being pulled away.
It is precisely at this time that such rumors and gossip have surfaced.
Their intentions are despicable!
It goes without saying who's behind this!
Qu He remained silent, raising her eyes to look at Qian Zhaoye in the center of the banquet hall.
He was dressed in a suit and tie, smiling broadly, enjoying the flattery and compliments from those around him, beaming with joy, as if he had everything under control.
"Oh."
Qu He smiled. Was this his proof?
Did he use rumors to force her to commit the crime, leaving her nowhere to escape and ultimately forcing her to beg to return to his side?
In the crowd, Qian Zhaoye seemed to sense something. He turned his head and met her gaze. His eyes lit up, and after saying something to the people around him, he walked straight towards her.
"Ahe," he said, walking up to her with a fake voice, "You look beautiful today."
Qu He lowered her eyes and didn't look at him.
Qian Zhaoye, however, was unfazed by her coldness and said with a confident smile, "I knew you would come."
Even if she blocked all my contact information, she still showed up in the end.
This is enough to prove that Qu He still has feelings for him.
Qian Zhaoye made no attempt to hide his gaze as he looked Qu He up and down. She was wearing a dark green dress today, which made her skin look even whiter and made her stand out in the crowd.
Qu He raised her eyes, her gaze icy: "Those rumors about the company, you're the one who spread them."
It's not a question, it's a firm conviction.
Qian Zhaoye did not deny it. He took half a step forward and said with self-righteous affection, "Ahe, I said I would prove it to you."
He even spoke with a hint of self-righteousness: "Besides, how could that be a rumor? That's our past love story."
"In love?"
Qu He seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, and said sarcastically, "Qian Zhaoye, not everyone can treat feelings like a game and deceive people like you."
He used such despicable methods to force her to submit, yet he still thought it was out of deep affection.
That's disgusting!
Qian Zhaoye's smile froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "Have you forgotten? You used to be the one who always wanted us to go public..."
"That's because I was blind back then!"
Qu He's voice suddenly rose, then she restrained herself and lowered it again, "I didn't know you were a liar! That's why I was so easily fooled by your lies! Now I'm awake!"
Qian Zhaoye was about to say something when several reporters approached from a distance: "Mr. Qian, may we have a chance to interview you? About Zhaoye Technology's future development plans..."
Qian Zhaoye was stopped in his tracks and had to turn around to deal with them.
Qu He immediately turned around and took the opportunity to leave, but before she had taken a few steps, she heard even more unrestrained discussions.
“Look, look, they came out one after the other, something must have happened.”
"I knew it! Qu He, a recent graduate from a non-major field, becoming President Qian's secretary right after graduation? There's no such thing as a free lunch."
"Tsk tsk, the secretary profession is indeed murky..."
The whispers weren't loud, but they seeped into Qu He's body like venomous snakes, impossible to shake off.
The proposals she stayed up all night working on, the collaborations she negotiated after drinking herself into oblivion at dinner parties—every step she painstakingly took...
Seven years of hard work were easily wiped out by just a few words.
Three men can make a tiger.
The phrase "unspoken rules" completely obscured everything about her.
Qu He let out a deep breath.
"If what happened between Secretary Qu and President Qian is true, then what about Qiao Mian?"
They lowered their voices, but the schadenfreude in their words was unmistakable.
"You know what, during the few days that Secretary Qu was on leave, Qiao Mian frequently went to President Qian's office."
"So, Qu He was outshone?"
"How pathetic! They go through all that trouble to climb up here, only to become someone else's stepping stone in the end..."
At this point, those people looked at Qu He with pity, but upon closer inspection, that pity was tinged with schadenfreude.
Quhe suddenly became the center of attention.
She knew that in their eyes, she was probably just a joke—someone who climbed the social ladder by relying on a man, only to be abandoned in the end.
So what?
Qu He glanced back.
In the crowd, Qian Zhaoye was speaking eloquently to the reporter.
Qu He's lips curled into a mocking smile as she walked towards the back door of the banquet hall.
On the other end, Qian Zhaoye was being interviewed by reporters with ease.
During the Q&A session, several reporters eagerly raised their hands, and their questions invariably revolved around Zhuang Bieyan. Clearly, they wanted to extract some rumors about Zhuang Bieyan from him, which was also their purpose for coming today.
After Qian Zhaoye randomly picked a reporter to answer, his gaze lingered on a reporter in the middle of the third row, and their eyes met silently in the air.
The reporter stepped forward with the microphone, deliberately raising her voice: "I would like to ask Mr. Qian, I heard that you are planning to get married soon?"
The people in the banquet hall instantly quieted down.
Everyone's eyes darted back and forth between Qu He and him.
Qian Zhaoye smiled, unconsciously turning the hand holding the microphone to reveal the wedding ring on his hand: "Yes, we are indeed preparing for the wedding recently."
"Congratulations." The reporter pressed on, "Would you mind revealing your significant other?"
Qian Zhaoye stepped through the crowd and looked at Qu He not far away, his tone deliberately warm: "She is a very good person and has always silently supported my career."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "She's been with me at the company all these years..."
As he was speaking, he didn't notice a sudden commotion breaking out in the crowd not far away.
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