章 70: The Smugness Under the Hostility
Leng Yuchen became more and more depressed as An Qi continued to not answer the phone. Most importantly, due to the sudden appearances of Leng Jin and Gu Xiaonan, he had not had time to tell An Qi what would happen in the congress next.
"Leader, why do I feel like you're upset?" In the VIP elevator, Sheng Jie felt as unsettled as Leng Yuchen.
Since An Qi's appearance, Boss Leng's moods had been constantly changing. Although Sheng Jie would occasionally see a few smiles on his face, Leng Yuchen's moods were far less predictable than they had been in the past.
In the conference room on the 43rd floor...
An Qi and Shi Zhiwen were already seated in their designated seats. Although An Qi had been to Hairui's office building before, compared to the Leng Group's office building, Hairui's was like a small workshop that was located in the urban-rural fringe area.
Also, the conference room was not so much on the 43rd floor as it was on both the 43rd and 44th floors combined. After all, in China, the word "four" was still quite taboo, so whether it was the fourth floor, where Auntie Sun was located, or the 44th floor, which had been deliberately concealed, the hidden meaning was the same. Four was just simply taboo.
At the moment, the entire conference room was filled with people, and many more were still rushing in. Their faces were all puzzled, and they did not know why the Leng Group had suddenly gathered all of the partners. They were all wondering...
Could it be that the Leng Group is going to terminate the contracts, then take control of the companies and run the businesses themselves?
Everyone was wondering this same thing as they looked down. After looking around, An Qi's attention was suddenly attracted by a person who had just taken a seat.
It was Gu Xiaonan, who was dressed very professionally. Leng Jin was sitting beside her, and the two were talking and laughing freely with one another.
Everyone in the conference room all had different motives for being here, which made the conference look more like a well-arranged murder mystery dinner banquet! Just when An Qi's intuition told her that she should run away, Leng Yuchen and Sheng Jie arrived.
Everyone held their breaths when they saw Leng Yuchen. The noisy conference room suddenly became silent, and An Qi felt that she would even be able to hear a pin drop.
Leng Yuchen weaved through the crowded conference room under everyone's gazes, then took a seat in the middle of the table. This congress was originally not held on his account. In fact, it was the elders who had wanted to put a spin on Leng Jin's return by officially announcing Leng Jin's position as the Vice President of the Leng Group.
So, Leng Yuchen figured that he might as well go along with it and put on an act with the pictures that Gu Xiaonan had sent him this morning. However, when Leng Yuchen's gaze swept across An Qi, his body stiffened uncontrollably and his mood suddenly shifted. This made his demeanor seem even colder.
In contrast, Leng Jin looked like a spring breeze, which was surprisingly consistent with the feeling that he gave to other people when they were around him. It was no wonder that the elders regarded him differently.
Clack Clack Clack
Crisp sounds were heard from Gu Xiaonan's high heels as they click-clacked across the marble floor. But, to An Qi, the noise sounded more like the screeching of fingernails scratching across a blackboard, and it caused everyone present to feel very uncomfortable.
An Qi sneered inwardly. Gu Xiaonan only thought about how she wanted to show off in front of Leng Yuchen and Leng Jin. She'd totally disregarded how she her behavior might make others feel.
Ahem.
Gu Xiaonan cleared her throat in front of the microphone, causing everyone in the conference room to focus on her. At that moment, Gu Xiaonan felt like a queen. She even felt that this was simply the most splendid moment of her life!
"Good morning, leaders, colleagues, and partners. I'm very glad that..." As Gu Xiaonan began to speak, listening to her opening speech made An Qi feel a little nauseous.
She could feel strong hostility coming from Gu Xiaonan, who would look up to glare at her with hostility from time to time. And... Hidden beneath that hostility was smugness.
An Qi lowered her head and smiled helplessly. Since things never seemed to occur as people often wished, she could only respond quickly and efficiently according to the situation.
Shi Zhiwen looked at An Qi, who had her lips tightly pressed together. He knew that although she wasn't saying anything, she must have already lost faith in her heart.
At times like this, he wanted to hug An Qi's trembling shoulders, then tell her in a low voice to not be afraid. He wanted to remind her that she would always have him. But, he didn't dare to be so bold.
As expected, right after Gu Xiaonan introduced the newly appointed Leng Jin, she directed her gaze towards An Qi's direction amid the partners' applause.
She then said, "Next, I want to announce something that makes me feel a little embarrassed. You guys might not know that besides being the Leng Group's HR manager, my father is also the president of Hairui, one of the Leng Group's partners. However, due to the mistakes of the lower-level employees, the number of goods delivered by Hairui every month was insufficient this past month, which caused the Leng Group to be dissatisfied with Hairui's performance. The reason why we've called you here today is to address this, in hopes that similar things will not happen."
After Gu Xiaonan finished speaking, she looked at An Qi in an arrogant manner. Although she was far away from An Qi, her eyes were like endless whirlpools that were waiting to engulf An Qi until she drowned within them.
As everyone held their breaths, Leng Yuchen took the microphone that Gu Xiaonan had just passed to him. He did not get up, as he was the most important person there, and it seemed not to be worthwhile for him to get up in this meeting.
Although An Qi had said that she would solve her problems by herself, those ill-meaning photos had now been sent to his office, which clearly indicated that Gu Xiaonan had begun to take action on her side.
As such, if he did not cooperate and perform according to the other party's script, Leng Yuchen was worried that things would become complicated and swiftly go in an unpredictable direction. At that time, if he were to hurt An Qi again, he would never forgive himself for it.
"Who is responsible for the handover between Hairui and Leng Shi?" Leng Yuchen asked into the microphone, causing everyone to shrink their heads back evasively.
Although she'd already anticipated that somebody would make things difficult for her, An Qi had never thought that the person would be Leng Yuchen! After her heart skipped a beat, An Qi raised her hand.The scene was similar to a pupil getting punished in class.
"Stand up! I can't see!" Leng Yuchen's voice increased dramatically as he shouted into the microphone, which caused everyone to lower their heads even more in fright.
"Hey, he's talking about you! Move away so you don't harm or implicate others. Don't drag down our cooperation with the Leng Group!" In the same row, a person was pointing at An Qi, who was about to stand up.
Shi Zhiwen's fists subconsciously clenched, and just as he was about to crash into that person's face with them, An Qi reached out and stopped him. Tears welled up in An Qi's eyes as she felt extreme pain in her heart, but she endured it and kept quiet.
At that moment, Shi Zhiwen's pupils constricted. He didn't understand why Leng Yuchen, who had solemnly vowed to protect An Qi from getting hurt again yesterday, would turn his back so heartlessly on her today, letting the sensitive An Qi suffer such humiliation in front of everyone!
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