That night, Li Dagang called Xie Yingying over to discuss business.
After finishing their business, Xie Yingying mentioned the incident from that morning, where Shu Qingqing was criticized in the conference room and came crying to her to vent.
Li Dagang looked smug upon hearing this. "This Fan Yashi is doing a good job. I told you, there isn't a man alive who isn't swayed by beauty. Besides, Lu Bochuan never liked Shu Qingqing to begin with; divorcing her is only a matter of time."
"Wasn't Shu Qingqing challenging me before? Let's see how smug she can be now."
Xie Yingying chimed in, "You truly had the foresight."
Li Dagang then frowned again. "However, we still need to prepare for both scenarios."
Xie Yingying asked, "What do you mean?"
Li Dagang explained, "Lu Bochuan is highly guarded. Who knows when he'll let Fan Yashi touch his computer. Didn't you say Shu Qingqing kept pulling you aside to vent yesterday? She's emotionally frustrated right now and in need of comfort. Take this opportunity to build a good relationship with her, then badmouth Lu Bochuan in front of her to make her even more disappointed in him. When the time is right, I'll step in and see if I can persuade her to help me again."
Xie Yingying nodded. "I understand."
To make it look more realistic, Shu Qingqing had specifically found a very emotional movie the night before and cried for over an hour.
When she woke up the next morning, her eyes were swollen like walnuts—as ugly as could be.
But this was exactly the effect Shu Qingqing wanted. She didn't even put on makeup, just wore a pair of sunglasses and went straight to the company.
Upon arriving at the company, she happened to run into Xie Yingying.
"Madam, why aren't you taking off your glasses?" Xie Yingying asked.
Seeing that no one else was around, Shu Qingqing took off her sunglasses and said aggrievedly, "Director Xie, last night Lu Bochuan fought with me again over that woman. I'm really so mad I could die!"
Seeing her eyes in such a state, Xie Yingying held back her amusement and offered a few words of comfort.
Seeing that she had achieved her desired effect, Shu Qingqing didn't say much more. After all, they weren't too familiar with each other yet, and saying too much would only make the other party suspicious.
Unexpectedly, when it was time to get off work, Xie Yingying took the initiative to come over and offered to go shopping with her to help her relax.
Although Xie Yingying had comforted her yesterday, it was just putting on a show. She hadn't expected her to be so proactive this time.
Shu Qingqing felt that Xie Yingying might have an ulterior motive, but she agreed anyway.
After all, she had her own motives too.
After shopping, the two went to eat.
While eating, Shu Qingqing began to shed tears again. "Director Xie, you don't understand. Others think my marriage to Lu Bochuan is so glamorous, but Lu Bochuan left for several years without even giving me a single phone call. I raised the child all by myself through sheer hard work."
"He finally came back, and I thought we could get along well and maybe have another child, but he absolutely refused."
"Now he's fighting with me and sleeping in a separate room over a female secretary. Tell me, what should I do?"
"How can I win his heart back!"
Seeing her crying with tear-filled eyes, Xie Yingying probed tentatively, "Madam, I understand you. I've been let down by a scumbag before too. Actually, I think... we women don't need to always rely on men."
Shu Qingqing wiped away her tears. "Director Xie, we're not at the company right now, so just call me Qingqing, and I'll call you Yingying. My only good friend has family issues right now and can't comfort me, and the other society ladies don't like talking to me. You're the only one willing to keep me company, so let's not be so distant."
"Alright then, Qingqing... I heard President Lu signed an agreement with you before you got married... right?"
Shu Qingqing nodded, her expression looking even more heartbroken than before. Even though the agreement had long been torn up by Lu Bochuan, she certainly wasn't going to say that out loud.
Xie Yingying took the opportunity to sit next to her. "Look, you graduated from a prestigious university and you're so beautiful. There's no need to be so heartbroken over a man. To put it bluntly, you were only able to marry President Lu because you were his secretary, and now President Lu is treating that new assistant so well... maybe in the future..."
Xie Yingying left the rest of her sentence unsaid, but Shu Qingqing understood why she had been so proactive in inviting her to go shopping today.
It must be that Xie Yingying told Li Dagang about her fight with Lu Bochuan, so Li Dagang told her to take the opportunity to drive a wedge between her and Lu Bochuan.
Perhaps later, Li Dagang would look for her again and ask her to help destroy the evidence in Lu Bochuan's hands.
But it didn't matter. After all, both of their goals were the same: to get on good terms with the other party.
Following that, the relationship between the two got better and better.
Because the two of them were getting so close, Shu Qingqing didn't secretly go to see Lu Bochuan in order to prevent Xie Yingying from noticing anything unusual.
Of course, she also forbade Lu Bochuan from coming to find her.
One afternoon, while she was chatting with Xie Yingying, Lu Bochuan suddenly sent a message asking her to come up to the top floor.
Shu Qingqing politely declined.
Xie Yingying was just telling her about when she first joined the Lu Group, and she might be able to glean some useful information.
She continued chatting with Xie Yingying.
However, not long after, Lu Bochuan actually came down personally.
"Shu Qingqing, come with me for a moment," Lu Bochuan said, trying his best to keep a dark expression on his face.
Shu Qingqing frowned. Why did Lu Bochuan come over? Moreover, his acting was terrible. What if Xie Yingying noticed something?
So she sneered, "Do I have to go over just because you tell me to? Why should I go? To watch you and that Fan Yashi act all lovey-dovey?"
After saying that, she shot Lu Bochuan a look, signaling him to leave quickly.
Lu Bochuan knew Shu Qingqing was acting. He pursed his lips, stepped forward, and grabbed Shu Qingqing's hand. "Yashi said you sent her a message cursing her yesterday. Come upstairs with me and apologize to her!"
With that, he dragged her into the elevator without giving her a chance to argue.
"Qingqing!" Xie Yingying took a couple of steps forward in concern, but ultimately didn't dare to approach.
Once inside the elevator, Shu Qingqing was just about to praise his good acting when Lu Bochuan grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss.
A few seconds later, the elevator doors opened, and Lu Bochuan quickly let go.
After pulling her into his office, he pinned her against the wall and continued kissing her.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Bochuan finally released her and pulled her down to sit on the sofa. "You haven't come to see me for three days in a row."
"Aren't we putting on an act? Besides, we're together every day when we go home."
Lu Bochuan leaned over and kissed the corner of her lips again. "But knowing you're in the company makes me want to see you all the time."
Shu Qingqing paused.
Lu Bochuan had never spoken to her in such a tone before. It wasn't exactly gentle, but rather... pitiful, like a sad little puppy abandoned by its owner.
Shu Qingqing was amused by her own description. She was just about to speak when a knock came from the door outside.
"President Lu, I'm here to bring you coffee."
It was Fan Yashi.
Shu Qingqing immediately got up from Lu Bochuan's lap and casually smashed a cup from the coffee table onto the floor. "Lu Bochuan! You're actually scolding me again over that bitch Fan Yashi! I'm going to fight her!"
With that, Shu Qingqing lunged toward the door.
