Wu Qian had planned to use the situation as an excuse to make an example of He Li. That way, he could establish his authority. But what he didn’t expect was that He Li wouldn’t play along at all. Not only did He Li ignore him, but he even talked back in front of everyone.
Wu Qian felt he couldn’t keep face anymore. He figured maybe it was because he was new, so He Li didn’t take him seriously. Still, as his superior, he should at least be shown some respect, right? Even if He Li didn’t like him, he shouldn’t have been so blunt. Now, things had gotten awkward for everyone.
But at this point, Wu Qian had no choice but to press on. If he backed down now, others would only see him as weak and easy to bully. Then no one at work would take him seriously.
With that in mind, and already seething from being shut down, Wu Qian spotted a few curious colleagues peeking over after overhearing their exchange. He immediately barked at He Li, who was already at the door, in a sharp tone.
“You think skipping work is justified now?”
“He Li, let me tell you, just because you’ve got some skills and the higher-ups appreciate you, doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want!”
“Company rules apply to everyone.”
“No matter how capable you are, when you make a mistake, you still have to be punished!”
“I may be the new chief planner, but I’m absolutely not afraid of undisciplined veterans like you!”
“And in my view, your mistake isn’t just leaving without permission—you also disrespected your superior. If you apologize sincerely and write a 1,000-word reflection admitting your mistake in front of everyone…”
“Then maybe I’ll consider being lenient.”
“Otherwise, your actions are enough to get you fired!”
Wu Qian’s voice wasn’t quiet. With the office door wide open, plenty of people nearby heard everything. Even Wei Huo and a few others peeked their heads around to see what was happening.
Everyone looked at He Li with sympathy.
“Sigh, He Li’s in real trouble now.”
“Wu Qian just got here and wants to establish dominance. He’ll make a big deal out of any small mistake and won’t let go.”
“Yeah, He Li’s just unlucky.”
“Wait, didn’t He Li actually take leave yesterday?”
“Of course he did. Don’t you know him by now? He always slacks off but never gets caught.”
“Wu Qian doesn’t know that. He probably assumed there was no approval and got excited about using He Li to make an example.”
“Tsk, couldn’t he have just checked?”
“Forget it. Wei Huo tried to remind him yesterday, but he wouldn’t listen.”
…
The surrounding chatter continued, but because the voices were low, Wu Qian didn’t catch what they were saying. He was focused on He Li, who had stopped walking, hoping he would finally bow his head.
But He Li just found him laughable.
“Are you sick or something?”
“You keep going on about how I made a mistake? What mistake?”
“Skipping work? Please, why don’t you check with HR and see if my absence yesterday had upper management’s approval?”
“HR should’ve sent you a notice, right?”
“What? You didn’t get one? Or maybe you didn’t check?”
“Or worse, you saw it and pretended you didn’t—trying to use your position to bully me just to build your own authority?” He Li sneered coldly. That final question was a brutal hit.
But now, He Li’s words painted him as a despicable person using his power to step on subordinates for personal gain. That kind of person… was easy to hate.
You could see it clearly from the way the others were now looking at Wu Qian—with growing coldness and disgust.
Wu Qian was starting to sweat. This guy He Li was way too sharp-tongued. Now, not only had he failed to build his reputation, his image was tanking. If this kept up, who knew how many people in the company would end up resenting him—or even trying to sabotage him behind the scenes?
Just the thought of it made Wu Qian uneasy.
He started to wonder if maybe he had picked the wrong person to mess with.
But he quickly shook off that idea.
“He Li, don’t you dare slander me!”
“HR’s notice? Sorry, I didn’t see it.”
“And you’re saying someone approved your leave?”
“Then why don’t you tell me who it was?”
“Say the name—let’s hear it!” Wu Qian stared coldly at He Li, confident he had nothing to show. After all, he really hadn’t seen any notice from HR.
He Li frowned. Could it be that Yu Qingge forgot to inform HR? No way. Even if she had, her secretary Wei Wei would’ve handled it. But Wu Qian didn’t seem like he was lying either…
He Li was puzzled for a moment.
Seeing He Li frowning in silence, Wu Qian grew smug again.
“What? Can’t answer?”
“Hmph, you’re just trying to bluff.”
“You might’ve scared someone else with that act.”
“But not me. Do you think someone like me got promoted to chief planner by being gullible? You’re still too green to fool me!” Wu Qian was clearly getting full of himself.
Now even the onlookers were beginning to doubt.
“What’s going on? Did He Li really not get approval?”
“Was he bluffing? But that’s not like him…”
“Hard to say. They both seem pretty confident.”
“Could it be a system error?”
“Maybe Wu Qian never saw the notification and this is all just a misunderstanding?”
“Could be, but judging by their reactions, even if it’s a misunderstanding, this feud is locked in now!”
…
This time, Wu Qian heard the whispers clearly. He was annoyed—what the hell? He Li’s obviously lying and bluffing, but people are still trying to defend him? Was his standing in the company really that solid?
Wu Qian was getting jealous. The thought of everyone siding with He Li made him feel threatened. He started to believe he should find a way to suppress He Li—or even push him out of the company.
After all, he was the chief planner of Wuyun Studio. But if the rest of the team would rather trust He Li than him, that was a bad sign. It made Wu Qian feel insecure… and even more hostile toward He Li.
But He Li didn’t respond to him at all. He quietly pulled out his phone.
He wanted to ask Yu Qingge what was going on, so he called her directly.
At that moment, Yu Qingge had just arrived at the office. Seeing He Li calling her first thing in the morning filled her with joy. She picked up immediately.
“Hehe, missing me already? Calling me so early in the morning…”
“What are you imagining now?” He Li cut her off helplessly. “Quick question—did you notify HR yesterday about me going out?” New chapters come out on g.com first.
“Of course I did!” Yu Qingge nodded. Then she asked, “Why are you asking?”
Hearing her confident answer, He Li glanced at Wu Qian.
Wu Qian glared back. “Who are you calling?”
“What? Trying to use your connections to cover up your mistake?”
“Hmph, that’s not going to work. If you’re already this reckless now, I can’t imagine how out of control you’ll be in the future. I have to report you to the CEO as a potential threat to the company.”
“You better pray you can keep your job!”
He wasn’t quiet, and Yu Qingge heard every word.
“Hmm? Who’s talking? What does that mean?”
“Someone’s targeting you? Who? Tell me!” Her voice was icy cold. It was obvious—if He Li said the name, Wu Qian would be in serious trouble.
He Li shrugged. “Calm down. Why are you so fired up?”
“Just send Wei Wei over. Ask her to check with HR whether a notice was sent to the chief planner about me leaving yesterday.”
Yu Qingge immediately understood what was going on.
She muttered, “I’ll come myself!”
“No need for that. This little thing doesn’t need your personal attention.”
“Besides, if you show up, the whole office will start pestering me about our relationship. Do you want to drive me crazy?”
He Li sounded exasperated. Yu Qingge grinned and nodded playfully.
“Fine, I’ll send Wei Wei right now!”
She ended the call decisively.
He Li raised an eyebrow. That girl sure didn’t hesitate to hang up.
But he didn’t think much of it.
Wu Qian, on the other hand, scoffed.
“I want to see who’s going to back you up. Once they show up, I’ll expose your little inside connection!”
“I’m sure the CEO won’t tolerate this kind of behavior either, right?”
His voice grew smug, his tone playful. Wu Qian figured that not only would he crush He Li today and assert his authority, but if he could also expose a backdoor connection and report it to the beautiful CEO, maybe she’d even be impressed.
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, grinning from ear to ear.
He Li just looked at him with pity.
Then, a cold voice rang out from not far away…
“What’s everyone standing around for?”
That familiar voice made He Li freeze—and turned the expressions of everyone else serious.
“Director Yu!”