Chapter 9

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“I’m sorry, may I know who you are…” Qiao Sisi felt a little awkward.

Li Man laughed. “Ah, let me introduce, this is Wei Ya, Group B’s design director. This is Qiao Sisi, a new designer.”

Wei Ya was tall and gorgeous, with a model-like figure. She looked down at Qiao Sisi and sneered. “So you’re Qiao Sisi. You look plain.”

When Qiao Sisi heard this, she felt that something was wrong. She did not seem to have provoked this person. Why is this woman so mean to me?

“Sorry, do we know each other?”

Wei Ya smiled disdainfully. “There’s no need to know each other. Although you’re here out of nowhere, this is not a place for you to idle around. Don’t take advantage of the situation just because you have a backer. Let me tell you, if you can’t endure the work, you might as well get lost early and give up your position to someone who needs it.”

With that, she turned on her heels and left without giving Qiao Sisi a chance to retort.

Qiao Sisi was puzzled as she looked at Li Man. “Sister Li, did I offend her?”

Li Man laughed. “No, She has a temper. The people in Group B have all been led astray by her. She has some talent, but she is proud. Don’t lower yourself to her level. Focus on your studies.”

With that, she walked away with her cup.

Qiao Sisi wanted to ask her colleagues around her, but when these people met her eyes, they immediately avoided her. They lowered their heads and did their own thing, and dared not speak a word.

Qiao Sisi took a deep breath to adjust her emotions. She ignored these people and buried her head in her documents.

When it was lunchtime, her colleagues went to the cafeteria for lunch, leaving her alone. She was not in the mood to go to the cafeteria for lunch, so she ordered takeaway food and went up to the rooftop alone.

Chen Anna called her, “How did your first day at work go?”

Qiao Sisi sighed. “There’s a lot of pressure! Did I offend many people because I came from nowhere? Do they all dislike me?”

Chen Anna put down the pen in her hand and said, “Sisi, listen to my advice. Either you leave Jinyu now and find another job, or you force yourself to endure it. Don’t care about what others think of you.”

“Both choices are bad!” Qiao Sisi smiled bitterly.

“What else could it be? No company in this world welcomes parachutists. They have no qualifications and are not hired directly. People will tend to speculate about their background. Your only way out now is to prove yourself. Otherwise, everyone will say that you landed a job in Jinyu through Zheng Zeyi.” Although Chen Anna’s words were sharp, they were not untrue.

“Sigh, was I too impulsive yesterday? I shouldn’t have listened to Zheng Zeyi. One false step leads to eternal regret!” Qiao Sisi dug at the rice in her bowl, not having much of an appetite.

“It’s not too late to turn back now.”

Qiao Sisi shook her head. “No, since I’m here and I’m being looked down upon by others, I don’t want to waste this opportunity. I must use my strengths to prove that I’m better than all of them. Even if I want to leave in the future, I’ll have to create my own brand and build my own empire. I will not slink away.”

“Alright, you are strong. Good luck. Let me know if you can’t take it. I’ll take care of your dead body.” With that, Chen Anna hung up hurriedly.

Qiao Sisi stared at the phone for a long time, feeling powerless. What kind of friend do I have?

She could not eat anymore, so she got up and went downstairs.

She walked quickly, not noticing that someone on the other side had overheard her conversation.

That person took a sip of coffee with a smile and said, “She’s an ambitious girl!”

After looking at the design drawings for the day, Qiao Sisi got off work, feeling tired.

As she reached the entrance of the building, someone grabbed her.

She was shocked. When she saw him clearly, she immediately shook off his hand and said, “Zeng Qing, why are you here!”

Zeng Qing’s eyes were fiery. “You go and explain to Zhang Li now that I don’t owe you any money. You’re the one who has been pestering me.”

Qiao Sisi looked at him in disbelief. “Zeng Qing, are you crazy? How could you say such things? Why? Does Ms. Zhang not want you anymore? Does she know that you had an affair and that she’s a mistress?”

“Qiao Sisi, don’t be shameless. All these years, if I didn’t take pity on you, would I have agreed to be your boyfriend? Now that I finally have Lili, you jumped out to block my future. Are you sincere?” At this moment, the little bit of love Qiao Sisi had for Zeng Qing was completely extinguished.

“Took pity on me? Zeng Qing, don’t you have any sense of shame? Weren’t you after the money I gave you—that was why you wouldn’t let me go? Why, now that you’ve climbed up the ladder, you want to dump me? It’s fine. Return the money to me. I won’t stop you from climbing up the ladder.”

“Why should I return it to you? You gave me that money voluntarily. I’ve humored you for so long. I deserve that money.” Zeng Qing was fearless. He said viciously, “Which man would fancy a wild woman like you who has a mother but no proper upbringing? Look at you, poor and wretched.”

Qiao Sisi felt a chill down her spine and raised her hand to hit him.

Zeng Qing grabbed her hand and sneered. “You want to hit me? Come, everybody. Look at this woman, she is a mistress and she wants to seduce me. I refused and she wanted to hit me. How shameless.”

His words attracted the attention of everyone, including some new colleagues in the company. Someone even took out his phone to take a video.

“I was wondering how she was parachuted into the company. So she is this kind of person.”

“That’s right, so disgusting. A mistress!”

Qiao Sisi felt hurt and devastated by the humiliation.

She struggled to break free from Zeng Qing, but he gave her a hard push. Just as she was about to fall, she bumped against a strong chest. Someone grabbed hold of her.

Qiao Sisi turned around and saw Zhang Zeyi’s cold face.

She looked at Zhang Zeyi and forgot to react for a moment. Zhang Zeyi held her hand and pulled her into his arms.

“Zeng Qing, it’s you again. You don’t intend to return the money, that’s why you harassed my fiancée time and again. Do you think that my Zheng family is easy to bully?”

Someone recognized Zhang Zeyi and shouted in surprise. “This woman is Zhang Zeyi’s fiancée. That’s juicy news.”

“Young Master Zheng, even if you have money, you can’t invert right and wrong. Let me tell you, if she doesn’t explain to Lili today, I won’t let both of you off! This matter is not over!” At this point, Zeng Qing decided to go all out.

“It’s not over? It’s not over for who? Alright, I want to talk to Professor Hu about how you faked your credentials and plagiarized someone else’s thesis to get into his class.”

“What?”

“Plagiarizing thesis?”

Qiao Sisi looked at Zeng Qing and felt that her worldview, values, and outlook on life had been refreshed again.