Since they weren't going to T City, Ling Ruoke couldn't just stay at Pei Shi's house doing nothing. She decided to go to the company to see if there was anything she could help with. She also wanted to distract herself from constantly worrying about Ping An crying during the weaning process. Just thinking about it made her heart ache.
When I arrived at the company, everyone was very enthusiastic, crowding around me like a swarm of bees. The guys were alright, they just talked. But the girls weren't content with just talking; they also took action, touching one and hugging another.
Finally, Xia Mo gave the order: "Nobody's going to work? Don't think you can slack off just because the boss is back!"
Xia Mo was, after all, the current manager, so his words still carried considerable weight, and everyone immediately scattered like birds and beasts.
Ling Ruoke covered her mouth and giggled, looking at Xia Mo and saying, "It seems I've lost all my authority in their eyes. I'll have to rely on you to protect me from now on!"
Xia Mo looked terrified. "If you say that, I'll have nightmares tonight."
Ling Ruoke casually grabbed some documents from the table next to her and tapped him on the shoulder. "Alright, let's talk in the office."
As she spoke, she walked towards Xia Mo's office, her gaze catching sight of the person in the corner, and she sighed softly. Unexpectedly, while she didn't hold it against her, Mei Yanting acted as if Ling Ruoke had wronged her.
From the moment Ling Ruoke stepped into the office, Mei Yanting only glanced up once, then lowered her head again, pretending to be engrossed in her work. Everyone else happily crowded around to share the snacks Ruoke had brought, but Mei Yanting didn't touch a single one.
When everyone noticed that Sister Ruo was ignoring Mei Yanting, they became even more certain that Sister Ruo also disliked her and didn't want to talk to her. Everyone already disliked Mei Yanting, and now they despised her even more. Even someone as gentle and kind as Sister Ruo disliked her; that showed how bad her character was.
Mei Yanting wasn't unaware of everyone's gazes, but she could only pretend not to care. She kept her head down, staring at the documents in front of her, her hands clenched tightly on the desk, her nails digging deeply into her palms.
Ling Ruoke wasn't upset, but things in life can't always go as planned, so she could only accept it. She walked into the office first and sat down opposite Xia Mo's office chair.
"Seriously, what brings you here today?" Xia Mo and Ruo Ke have been working together for a long time and are not far apart in age. They have gradually become like friends and often tease each other.
Ling Ruoke smiled slightly. "I already answered, it really is because I need to wean my son. We've tried everything, but nothing worked, so we had no choice but to resort to this. By the way, I'm at your disposal today, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Control you? I'd rather die than live any longer!" Xia Mo shuddered.
“I’m serious. I’m living at your boss Tan’s house, and it’s not good to be idle all day, so I thought I’d come to the company to find something to do.”
Xia Mo could tell she was serious, and thought for a moment. "How about this, there's a new proposal coming up recently, and Bei Bei is in charge. Why don't you give her some guidance and finalize the draft? The proposal is needed next week."
“No problem.” Ling Ruoke was happy to find something to do. “By the way, tell them later that I’m treating them to dinner.”
"No wonder I heard magpies chirping outside my window this morning. Turns out someone's treating us to dinner today!"
Ling Ruoke was amused by him.
The two chatted about the company's recent situation, and Xia Mo even sought her opinion on some matters. After their conversation, Ling Ruoke went out to find Lin Beibei to discuss the proposal with her.
Lin Beibei was sitting right next to Mei Yanting.
Ling Ruoke continued her discussion with Lin Beibei. Mei Yanting, however, didn't even turn her head once, let alone greet her. At that moment, she was utterly disappointed in her.
As it approached the end of the workday, Ling Ruoke moved among the desks, reminding everyone not to leave yet, but to have dinner together before going home. She was ultimately soft-hearted, and deliberately tapped on Mei Yanting's desk, though she didn't call her name.
Mei Yanting neither looked up nor uttered a sound. Some colleagues, disapproving of her behavior, curled their lip and snorted coldly, finding her increasingly annoying. The boss had already condescended to be courteous, yet she still acted arrogantly—disgusting!
As soon as it was time to leave work, the group of people escorted Ling Ruoke and Xia Mo to the restaurant. Only Mei Yanting lagged behind and did not follow.
People didn't like her to begin with, and no one called out to her; they just acted as if she didn't exist.
Once she figured everyone had left, Mei Yanting finally left the office. Her lips remained tightly pressed together, her face expressionless, but her heart was in turmoil.
Because everyone was surrounding Ling Ruoke, asking her questions and chatting amongst themselves, Ling Ruoke didn't notice that Mei Yanting hadn't followed. By the time she noticed, they were already at the restaurant. "Didn't anyone call Mei Yanting?"
Everyone fell silent. They thought to themselves, "They were discussing so loudly just now; even a deaf person could hear them. Do we have to beg her to come?"
"Should I call her?" said the receptionist.
"Chen Li, she lost her phone. Why don't you call the office?"
No one answered the office phone. Not wanting to spoil everyone's mood, Ling Ruoke simply ordered the food and started eating.
When Ling Ruoke returned home that evening, she mentioned the incident to Tan Peishi, still feeling somewhat emotional.
Tan Peishi curled her lip and said, "There are plenty of ungrateful people in this world, and Mei Yanting is just one more. You're too kind-hearted. If it were me, I wouldn't even want to look at someone so ungrateful! Since coming to Z City, how much kindness has she received from you? Now that she's ended up like this, it's her own fault. What right does she have to blame others? Such an ingrate should be dragged out and shot!"
Ling Ruoke simply smiled wryly and offered no comment.
For the next two days, Ling Ruoke focused intently on her proposal and ignored Mei Yanting. She was kind, but that kindness wasn't meant to be trampled on.
Four days had passed, and Ling Ruoke, preoccupied with her child, was starting to feel restless. Since the child's birth, he had never left her side, so four years was a very long time. She couldn't sleep well at night without seeing his adorable face.
On the fifth day, something unexpected happened to her.
It was morning, around ten o'clock. Everyone was focused on their work; the only sounds besides the clatter of keyboards and quiet discussions were the clatter of keyboards.
Suddenly, the receptionist brought over a woman. The woman was about forty years old and looked quite fierce. Her makeup was smeared, like a smear on a wall, and she looked particularly creepy.
The receptionist walked ahead, talking to someone, and then called out to them, "Mei Yanting, this auntie said she's looking for you."
Everyone immediately turned their attention to Mei Yanting; after all, people are a bit gossipy.
Mei Yanting was called upon and stood up, confused. She didn't recognize the woman either, so she was a little bewildered. Just as she was about to ask, she unexpectedly—
The woman, who had just been glaring fiercely, now resembled a tigress that had been provoked. Her fur bristled, and she lunged at Mei Yanting, her hands aimed directly at Mei Yanting's face, shouting, "You shameless vixen! I'll curse you for having that seductive face of yours, for letting you seduce my husband, for letting you seduce my husband..."
Before anyone could react, Mei Yanting was grabbed hard. She instinctively leaned back, so the man grabbed her hair, pulled her close, and tried to tear at her face with both hands. He was hurling insults and profanities at her.
Ling Ruoke was the first to react. She squeezed the woman's wrist firmly with one hand, making her release her grip. "Ma'am, please calm down. How can you hit someone before you've figured things out?"
The woman glared menacingly at Ruoke, opening her mouth wide to hurl insults, spitting all over Ruoke's face. "How can you possibly find out? Ask this shameless vixen how she seduced my husband! So young and already learning such bad habits, flirting like a prostitute! If I don't tear her face off today, these vixens will think I, their wife, don't exist!"
“You can’t just hit people like that. Here’s what we’ll do: I’m the boss here. You and she will both come to my office and we’ll get to the bottom of this. If you continue to cause trouble here and damage my company’s reputation, then I don’t mind taking legal action.”
The woman considered it for a moment, then snorted coldly and huffed as she stomped her high heels in the direction Ruoke pointed.
"Mei Yanting, come here too, and explain things clearly." Ling Ruoke took a deep breath to calm her anger.
Ling Ruoke walked in the middle, pointing the way for the woman as she went. If she walked in front, she was afraid the woman would pounce on Mei Yanting and tear her to pieces. She particularly hated this kind of drama between the wife and the mistress, so her expression wasn't very good.
"Mei Yanting, you stand over there. This lady, you can sit here." She had to separate the two of them, otherwise they might start fighting and destroy the office, not to mention how badly they might get hurt.
Mei Yanting felt uneasy and obediently stood in the corner. Lately, she had been going to bars frequently and inevitably ended up going to hotels with men. She wondered if this woman was one of the men's wives.
The older woman glared fiercely at Mei Yanting, cursing, "You vixen, shameless! You actually seduced someone else's husband, no wonder you'll never find a good man in your life!"
Ling Ruoke tried her best to keep a positive expression to avoid escalating the conflict. "Big sister, you said she seduced your husband, do you have any evidence? We can't just make things up and falsely accuse others, can we?"
"Who wronged her? Who wronged her?" the woman shouted, pulling a stack of photos from her pocket and throwing them at Mei Yanting.
Ling Ruoke was secretly shocked when she saw the photo, and felt a pang of discomfort, as if she had swallowed a fly. The photo showed Mei Yanting kissing a middle-aged man, whose hand was already on a part of the woman that she rarely allowed to be touched. She exhaled forcefully and looked at Mei Yanting. "Do you have anything to say?"
Mei Yanting, who had been staring at the floor, suddenly looked up, chin raised, at the woman. "Bars are just places like this. I didn't provoke her husband. Before this, your husband frequented bars every day, and he's seen countless women like her. Why are you picking on me?"
These words were like adding fuel to the fire, and the woman's face contorted with rage. She roared "Vixen!" and charged forward like an enraged bull, as if she wanted nothing more than to tear Mei Yanting to pieces.
"Big sister, big sister, calm down!" Ling Ruoke had no choice but to block the woman, afraid that she would really beat Mei Yanting to death. This heavy body was no match for Mei Yanting's small frame.
While holding off the fiercely struggling woman, Ling Ruoke angrily shouted at Mei Yanting, "How can you talk like that? As a woman, you should know how painful it is to encounter something like this. Why do you have to rub salt into her wounds!"
“I don’t have a husband, I don’t understand her feelings!” Mei Yanting turned her head to the side, her tone filled with resentment that she usually didn’t show.
Ling Ruoke was stunned for a moment. If this woman hadn't been in front of her, she really wanted to slap Mei Yanting across the face. It turned out they all saw through her, except for her, who remained stubbornly deluded, thinking Mei Yanting wasn't that bad!
She had thought that the failure of her marriage would make Mei Yanting reflect on herself and do better. But she never expected Mei Yanting to be so resentful, as if someone else had caused her marriage to break down! There really are such ungrateful people in this world!
The disturbance was quite severe that day, and the woman was a fierce character. In the end, the police arrived and took her away, which barely calmed the situation down.
Ling Ruoke was speechless; her head ached. More than anything, she was heartbroken. She hadn't expected Mei Yanting to have reached such a hopeless state. Before leaving the office, she only said four words to Mei Yanting: "Take care of yourself."
That day, Ling Ruoke didn't stay in the office any longer and simply went back to Pei Shi's house to stay there. She didn't dare mention the matter to Pei Shi, otherwise Pei Shi would probably fire Mei Yanting immediately. Mei Yanting had no education or skills, so finding a job wouldn't be easy for her. In the end, she was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to drive someone to despair.
That night, Ling Ruoke barely slept. Lying in bed, she tossed and turned, the chaotic scene from the day replaying in her mind. Although they were in an office, the soundproofing of the glass wasn't very good, so the entire office had probably overheard the woman and Mei Yanting's conversation. Everyone already disliked Mei Yanting; her life was likely going to be difficult from now on.
Indeed, those who reap what they sow will perish!
The week-long deadline had come to an end, and Ling Ruoke could return to her unit tomorrow. She didn't want to deal with these troublesome matters anymore. Fortunately, Xia Mo was there; the capable should do more, so let him worry about it.
Before noon, Xia Mo called her and asked her to come out, saying he had to talk to her.
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