Hearing everyone respectfully call out, He Li turned his head and saw Yu Qingge walking gracefully toward him with Wei Wei beside her. He felt a little annoyed—hadn’t she just said on the phone she wouldn’t come? Why was she here now?
Perhaps guessing what he was thinking, Yu Qingge narrowed her eyes and quietly sent him a message. He Li glanced at his phone when he felt the vibration…
[You’re the man I like. If something happens to you, how can I let someone else protect you? Of course I have to protect the one I love myself!]
Her message was full of overbearing CEO energy, yet strangely comforting to read.
He Li couldn’t help but look up at her as she approached. When she reached his side, Yu Qingge subtly gave him a flirtatious wink, her eyes bright with a radiant smile. But once she turned her head, her expression returned to cold indifference.
Wu Qian’s eyelids twitched wildly. He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but it seemed like the always-cold and distant Director Yu had just smiled… at He Li?
He wasn’t completely certain. After all, Yu Qingge had turned only slightly toward He Li, and it happened so quickly.
Still, a sense of unease crept over him, as if something terrible was about to happen.
“Calm down, calm down. I must’ve seen it wrong,” he told himself. “Director Yu is a wealthy goddess. No matter what, she couldn’t possibly be interested in someone like He Li.”
“Smile at him? Who does he think he is? He’s not worthy!”
“It must’ve been my imagination.”
Trying to suppress his anxiety, Wu Qian quickly stepped forward with a flattering smile. “Director Yu, what brings you here? If something needed addressing, you could’ve just had someone call me. No need for you to personally come all the way here…”
Before he could finish, Yu Qingge frowned slightly.
Wei Wei, already in sync with her, immediately cut Wu Qian off, her tone cold and stern. “Director Yu’s time is valuable. Spare the unnecessary talk.”
“We heard you were just about to punish He Li for leaving work yesterday without approval, is that correct?”
Wei Wei showed no courtesy. She knew very well that her boss, the goddess CEO, had taken a special interest in He Li. Offending He Li was like courting death.
Wu Qian’s future looked grim.
She was certain that Yu Qingge was currently figuring out the best way to deal with Wu Qian. And since Yu Qingge was about to act, as her secretary, Wei Wei naturally had to play along.
Understanding this, there was no way Wei Wei would be polite to Wu Qian.
But Wu Qian, clueless, simply thought she was always like this and nodded. “That’s right, Secretary Wei. He Li left the office yesterday afternoon without my approval. He skipped work.”
“I called him over today to explain and write a reflection letter to acknowledge his mistake.”
“Who knew he’d refuse to admit fault?”
“Instead, he disrespected his superior and lied through his teeth.”
“He claimed he had approval from upper management.”
“And said HR sent me a notification, but I didn’t see it. When I asked who approved it, he couldn’t name anyone!”
“And just now he even made a phone call—I bet he was trying to get someone to cover this up.”
“People like him who think they can do whatever they want just because they have ties to upper management are a danger to the company. They must be dealt with strictly. Otherwise, they’ll eventually harm the company’s interests…”
Wu Qian’s righteous fury made it sound like He Li had committed a heinous crime. The others around looked at He Li with some pity. In their eyes, even if Yu Qingge had admired He Li’s talent before, she surely wouldn’t tolerate this kind of behavior.
However, Yu Qingge’s expression didn’t change.
She simply asked coldly, “HR didn’t notify you?” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“No,” Wu Qian responded quickly. “I checked my inbox—there was no notice from HR…”
“You’re full of crap!!!”
Before he could finish, a frustrated voice came from the doorway. Everyone instinctively looked over—it was the HR manager, Zhang Wu, who had just rushed in.
Trying to calm his temper, he forced a polite smile and greeted Yu Qingge. “Director Yu!”
Yu Qingge gave a slight nod and said nothing more.
Zhang Wu had been called over by Wei Wei. Now that he’d arrived, she spoke up, “What’s going on?”
“Did your department send a notice to Wu Qian yesterday?”
“Of course we did!” Zhang Wu nodded firmly.
He then glared fiercely at Wu Qian. “You’re really good at lying with your eyes wide open!”
“Who said I didn’t notify you?”
“I sent you an email—you didn’t even reply.”
“Just in case, I even sent you a text!”
“I gave you two different notifications and you ignored both?”
“If you had a problem with me, you could’ve said so directly. Did you really need to pull this kind of shady trick to throw me under the bus?”
“Hmph, look clearly—here’s the email timestamp! And here’s the text log…”
As he spoke, Zhang Wu displayed both the email and text message records for everyone to see.
Wu Qian froze. He genuinely hadn’t seen the email or text…
Wait a second—he had just started the job yesterday and had deleted the inbox thinking the previous planner’s messages weren’t important. And as for the texts, he remembered he’d turned on spam filtering for unknown numbers…
Crap!!!
Realizing what happened, Wu Qian’s legs went weak.
“I… I might’ve… accidentally… deleted the email…”
“And the text… I might’ve blocked it…”
His voice trembled as he stammered through the explanation.
Zhang Wu scoffed, “So it really was your problem.”
“What were you thinking? Even if you didn’t see the message, couldn’t you have just asked me directly?”
“You ignored everything and insisted I didn’t send a notice?”
“You even accused He Li of skipping work on purpose?”
“Look at you—unbelievable!”
His voice was full of contempt. You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
Wu Qian’s face turned ugly. Realizing he was clearly in the wrong, he didn’t dare say a word.
Then Yu Qingge’s cold voice rang out. “Now that it’s clear this was your mistake, you’ll need to take responsibility. Apologize to He Li and the others, and from now on, you’re on probation.”
“You will also write a 10,000-character reflection for He Li. When he forgives you, this matter will be considered settled.”
“In addition, your year-end bonus and several other performance rewards will be transferred to He Li.”
“Ten… thousand…” Wu Qian trembled. A 10,000-word reflection and probation, and he had to wait for He Li to forgive him?
What if He Li never forgave him—would he be fired?
Even if he did, Wu Qian’s bonuses for the year would all go to He Li?
Wasn’t that punishment too harsh?
He only misunderstood He Li. He Li didn’t even suffer any real loss. Did he really deserve this?
Feeling wronged, Wu Qian looked up, wanting to protest.
“You have a problem with that?” Yu Qingge’s cold gaze met his, her voice devoid of emotion.
Wu Qian shivered and quickly stammered, “N-No… Director Yu’s punishment is fair.”
He felt utterly humiliated. A sudden urge to quit surged in his chest.
But then he remembered—Jiuli Group was a giant in the gaming industry. If he left, he wouldn’t find a better job…
Wu Qian immediately dropped the idea of quitting.
Unfortunately for him, Yu Qingge wasn’t done yet.
“Since you don’t have a problem, then why are you still standing here?”
She urged him forward.
Gritting his teeth, Wu Qian looked at He Li, who wore a completely indifferent expression, and forced himself to lower his head. “He Li, I… I’m sorry. I really misunderstood you this time.”
“Please don’t take it to heart!”
“No problem!” He Li smiled cheerfully. “As long as Chief Planner Wu sincerely reflects, I won’t take it too seriously.”
He deliberately emphasized the word “reflect.”
Clearly reminding Wu Qian not to forget about the reflection letter.
Wu Qian got the message, and his lips turned blue with anger. But he had to force a smile and nod.
He had no choice—he needed He Li’s forgiveness.
Without it, he could lose his job any time during probation.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to reflect sincerely!” he gritted out, the words squeezed from between his clenched teeth.
But He Li, acting as if he didn’t notice Wu Qian’s fury at all, gave him a carefree grin and nodded with satisfaction—an infuriating expression that made Wu Qian feel like his head was about to explode.