Chapter 151: Handling

"The point of today’s meeting is to address this matter. We cannot keep the 'Dafo' studio as it is, so we have no choice but to terminate his employment. Furthermore, we will be sending a legal notice to Chen Xuanyu to recover the company’s losses!"

Everyone looked at each other, then instinctively turned their eyes toward Deng Huanhuan.

Previously, the relationship between Deng Huanhuan and Chen Xuanyu had only been ambiguous, but recently, they had officially confirmed their status as a couple. Naturally, hearing this news, everyone wanted to see how she would react.

Qin Miaoyu also looked at Deng Huanhuan.

Deng Huanhuan spoke up: "That’s impossible. Xuanyu would never do such a thing. His department doesn't even have access to those materials; how could he have leaked them?"

"How? He conspired with clients to obtain the company’s design renderings. And now that he has a girlfriend in the design department, wouldn't it be quite easy for him to get his hands on internal design information?"

Deng Huanhuan looked up, shocked and incredulous: "Me? I have never done such a thing! I don't even know the people you just mentioned, Manager Xu!"

"No one said you were directly involved in the scheme. Weren't you listening? We said Chen Xuanyu obtained company secrets from you!" an employee interjected.

Deng Huanhuan quickly recalled recent events and realized that Chen Xuanyu had indeed frequently probed her about the drawings. She had, in fact, shown him the renderings for the wedding project.

Her voice trembled as she spoke: "I... I just thought that since we were all in the same studio, there shouldn't be anything I couldn't talk about..."

Qin Miaoyu, sitting to the right of Xu Xiaoqi, said coldly: "You didn't know? We emphasized this on the very first day the design department held a meeting, yet you say you didn't know? Are you truly ignorant, or were you just blinded by Chen Xuanyu's sweet talk?"

Deng Huanhuan’s face turned bright red.

"I, I..."

Seeing that Deng Huanhuan couldn't find the words, Qin Miaoyu stopped questioning her and signaled for Xu Xiaoqi to continue the meeting.

After the meeting adjourned, they kept Deng Huanhuan behind.

"Deng Huanhuan, tell us, how much did you tell Chen Xuanyu?" Xu Xiaoqi asked.

"I... I didn't tell him much. Just two drawings, and the rest was just casual conversation!"

After talking for a while, Qin Miaoyu and the others concluded that Deng Huanhuan hadn't leaked the information intentionally, so they let her go.

Once the meeting room door closed again, Xu Xiaoqi asked: "Should we keep her?"

Pei Yixue shook her head: "Let's wait and see. Her attitude toward Chen Xuanyu is still unclear. If she’s crazy in love, we can't keep her."

Qin Miaoyu agreed. If Deng Huanhuan were dissatisfied with the studio's treatment of Chen Xuanyu, keeping her on would be a major liability.

However, a few days later, Deng Huanhuan resigned on her own.

When asked why, she only said that the current work didn't align with her future career plans.

It was clearly a perfunctory excuse, but Qin Miaoyu and the others didn't feel the need to get to the bottom of it and readily approved her resignation.

When Qin Miaoyu left the office for a breather, she happened to run into Deng Huanhuan carrying her belongings out, with Chen Xuanyu waiting outside.

"It's all settled over there; you can report for duty tomorrow!"

As soon as Chen Xuanyu finished speaking, he saw Qin Miaoyu walking behind Deng Huanhuan.

Seeing the change in his expression, Deng Huanhuan looked back and also saw Qin Miaoyu.

She mumbled a greeting of "Manager Qin."

Qin Miaoyu didn't say much. Deng Huanhuan choosing to stay with Chen Xuanyu was well within their expectations.

They were merely colleagues, and she had no obligation to waste her breath trying to persuade her otherwise.

Seeing that Qin Miaoyu only responded with a nod before walking away, Deng Huanhuan felt a pang of sadness.

Chen Xuanyu walked over and put his arm around her: "Since you’ve chosen to leave, don't think too much about it. Besides, this is just a small studio. The place you're going is a large wedding planning company with plenty of paths for promotion. If you stayed here, you'd be stuck under those design department bigwigs, and who knows how many years it would take to advance."

Deng Huanhuan wanted to say she wasn't in a hurry to be promoted, but she was swayed by his next words.

"The mistake I made wasn't actually that big. The company's only loss was those renderings that the clients didn't even like. But they insisted on kicking me out. Since you and I are a couple, even if you didn't quit yourself, they would have eventually found some excuse to fire you too. It's better to leave early!"

After they left, Qin Miaoyu emerged from the side.

She hadn't expected that by simply turning back to grab something, she would overhear such a speech from Chen Xuanyu.

She found it amusing. Whether or not Deng Huanhuan could stay depended entirely on her own attitude. They hadn't intended to fire her from the start; her skills were quite outstanding, and if she could be nurtured, she would have been a valuable asset to promote later on.

But looking at it now, she was easily swayed by Chen Xuanyu, proving she wasn't someone who could handle real responsibility.

However, Chen Xuanyu helped her find a position at a large wedding planning company?

Qin Miaoyu immediately thought of the wedding company that had used their studio's designs. She wondered if they had received the court summons yet.

Back in the office, Xu Xiaoqi was waiting.

"Now that Deng Huanhuan has left, we need to hire someone for the design department, or we won't have enough manpower once the orders pile up."

Since attending Ms. An's bachelorette party, there had been a surge in prospective clients, and they were close to securing two new contracts. If Deng Huanhuan hadn't left, she could have been assigned to some important designs.

Now, they had to wait for someone to fill the vacancy.

"What kind of person are you looking for?"

"Someone with experience. Previously, we could afford to hire someone like Deng Huanhuan and spend months training them, but now time is tight. We need someone who can jump right in."

In the afternoon, Qin Miaoyu headed toward the subway station. Xu Xiaoqi was busy, and Pei Yixue had plans with someone else in a different direction, so she headed back alone.

Liyuan Street, which led to the subway, was a famous commercial street with heavy foot traffic. In addition to various shops, it was lined with trendy bars and several private clubs.

As Qin Miaoyu walked, she looked around and unexpectedly caught a glimpse of Lu Qi'an walking into a bar.

Qin Miaoyu frowned; that bar didn't have a very good reputation.

But, having already made up her mind, Lu Qi'an's business had little to do with her. It didn't matter what he did...

After a moment of hesitation, Qin Miaoyu still sent Lu Qi'an a message.

To her surprise, he replied instantly, saying he was working overtime at the office and didn't have time to go to a bar.

Qin Miaoyu was skeptical; the person she had seen really looked exactly like Lu Qi'an from behind.