Chapter 315: My Mom Wants to Treat You to a Meal

Now is not the time to pursue responsibility; Xia Xi has already figured out the whole story. After a moment of silence, she spoke gently: "Mrs. Li, as a mother, I fully understand your feelings. Anyone would feel terrible and would surely want to get to the bottom of this."

Her words hit Li Tai's heart; she eased her expression, sat down again, and took a sip of tea.

Xia Xi weighed her words, speaking softly: "But, to be honest, we in the renovation design are also quite innocent in this accident. Engineer Gao has a point: that staircase had some problems from the start of its construction." Xia Xi's speech slowed more and more, fearing that if her tone became a bit harsh, it would reignite Li Tai's anger: "The builders only considered aesthetics and artistry, not safety."

"All this talk is just dodging responsibility." Li Tai snorted coldly, slammed her teacup onto the coffee table, making a heavy thud.

"I'm not saying this to dodge responsibility; I'm analyzing from a fair angle—we truly shouldn't bear full responsibility." Xia Xi forced a smile: "Why don't you first tell me your demands?"

Li Tai sat upright, without beating around the bush, and said bluntly: "You've perfectly handled the staircase problem……"

Xia Xi immediately agreed: "That's natural."

"Don't rush, I haven't finished." Li Tai gave her a glance: "Do this job for free, and also cover my mother's medical expenses and compensation for mental distress."

The office fell silent in an instant.

Gao Ge was the first to change expression—giving her a free renovation of such a huge private estate is pure fantasy!

This isn't free renovation; it's paying to do the renovation. Such a thing doesn't exist.

"What, can't speak? Don't want to take responsibility?" Li Tai glared, her sarcastic gaze on Xia Xi: "Your earlier words made me feel comfortable; I thought you were reasonable, but I didn't expect you to just say nice things."

Xia Xi's face stiffened slightly; she indeed could not agree to Li Tai's demands outright.

"Mrs. Li, why don't you go back first? I'll call our General Manager Lu to discuss." Xia Xi said helplessly: "After all, I'm only half a boss; I can't decide alone."

Before leaving, Li Tai warned: "You'd better not fool me."

Xia Xi personally saw her out, returned to the office, exchanged a glance with Gao Ge, and sighed wearily.

Gao Ge no longer felt innocent as before; she apologized: "Sorry, it's our oversight—we missed the staircase issue, causing the company a loss." Seeing Li Tai's fury, the company must give her a satisfactory explanation.

Yu Xiaoxiao stood aside, face ashen, fingers digging into her palm, not daring to say a word.

Li Tai had snatched this order from Xia Xi through scheming; who knew such an accident would happen? Now she regrets it so much she wishes she could slap her past self twice.

"The deed is done; don't dwell on it." Xia Xi pressed her knuckles to her brow: "I'll call General Manager Lu to see what he says."

Gao Ge slumped and grew restless, humming in acknowledgment as she left the office. Yu Xiaoxiao followed with her head down.

"Come with me." Gao Ge suddenly turned cold, addressing the person behind her.

Yu Xiaoxiao lifted her eyes, meeting Gao Ge's icy gaze; her heart raced, and she silently followed Gao Ge into her office.

After the door closed, Gao Ge turned, looking down on the person before her: "Was the email from Assistant Xia Xi really filtered out by you? I know you have some clever tricks, but I advise you not to play games with me now—I don't have that much patience."

In Xia Xi's office, she noticed Yu Xiaoxiao's reaction was off; if it were truly her work negligence, she'd be anxious, guilty, even panicked—how could she act guilty and avoid eye contact?

Yu Xiaoxiao's body trembled, a choked sob escaping as she confessed: "I saw that Li Tai was anxious about the renovation schedule, so I went to talk to her. Since Xia Gong had the Jingyu Yuan project, he surely wouldn't take her private estate seriously, so Li Tai gave this order to us. When I received the email from Huang Shiyu, I thought Xia Gong knew about my behind-the-scenes moves, and figuring she wouldn't be that kind, I didn't give it weight and just deleted it."

After hearing this, Gao Ge felt a stone lodged in her chest, almost making her cough up blood.

She only wanted to know what the email was about, but unexpectedly, there was this hidden situation.

Gao Ge closed her eyes, hands braced on the desk, struggling to breathe for a while, then coldly stared at Yu Xiaoxiao: "I always act on principle, with no exceptions. When this is over, you should resign yourself."

Yu Xiaoxiao burst into tears: "Engineer Gao, I know I was wrong—please give me another chance."

At lunchtime, Xia Xi had little appetite, hand on her forehead, thinking about how to handle the Li Tai matter.

Huang Shiyu went downstairs and brought up a familiar thermos, placing it on Xia Xi's desk: "Sister Xi, have something to eat first. General Manager Xu told me to supervise your meals, and I still need to report to him."

Xia Xi: "……"

She opened the thermos and asked: "What are you eating?"

"I ordered takeout and am about to eat." Huang Shiyu didn't disturb her, leaving the office.

Just as Xia Xi took a bite, the phone on the table rang; she answered, seeing Xu Yanfeng's handsome face on the screen, which couldn't heal her bad mood. Before he could ask, she volunteered: "I'm eating."

Xu Yanfeng smiled, then immediately sensed Xia Xi's off mood, his mouth flattening: "What's wrong? You look upset."

"Something came up at the company; Lu Mingji isn't here, so I'm handling it."

Xu Yanfeng was about to speak when Xia Xi suddenly exclaimed, leaning toward the screen: "Lu Mingji called me back—let's talk later, bye, see you tonight."

Xu Yanfeng: "……"

This morning Xia Xi called Lu Mingji but got no answer; he replied with a message saying he was in a meeting, inconvenient to take calls, they'd chat at noon, guessing the meeting had ended by now.

Lu Mingji: "Something happened at the company?"

Xia Xi: "How do you know?"

"If nothing had happened, would you be calling me? Surely not just to ask if I'm tired from the meeting or if I'm used to the food elsewhere." Lu Mingji chuckled lightly: "Go on, what's the matter?"

Xia Xi put down her chopsticks and carefully explained the Li Tai matter to him.

Lu Mingji remained silent.

Xia Xi grew a bit anxious: "Don't stay silent."

Lu Mingji turned the question back: "What do you think?"

"A waiver is absolutely out of the question; we can't set such a precedent." Xia Xi said seriously: "If this got out, it would surely be exploited by opportunists—future clients could fake accidents to get free renovations, and the company wouldn't survive."

Lu Mingji pondered, then agreed: "You're right."

"……" Xia Xi picked up her chopsticks again, speared a piece of meat, chewed slowly; with someone backing her, she wasn't so bothered: "So, General Manager Lu, what's your high opinion?"

Lu Mingji said: "We can cover Li Tai's mother's medical expenses, and give her this order at a 20% discount. That's the maximum concession the company can make; any more would be impossible." This goes against merchant principles.

Given such an accident, even if Li Tai went to court, she wouldn't have a leg to stand on. The company offering some money aims to stabilize the customer's emotions and maintain its reputation.

Xia Xi understood; as a friend, she exchanged a few pleasantries with Lu Mingji, then ended the call.

After work, Xia Xi came home and collapsed onto the sofa, limp as a pancake. Xu Yanfeng had arrived earlier, bustling in the kitchen, he juiced oranges, brought a cup to Zi Heng, and passed another to Xia Xi.

Xia Xi was too tired to lift her hand, so Xu Yanfeng placed the orange juice on the coffee table.

"At noon you said something happened at the company." Xu Yanfeng sat beside her, squeezing her shoulder: "How serious is it?"

Xia Xi pushed up with her elbows, lifted her upper body, took the orange juice and drank a few sips: "It's okay; I discussed it with Lu Mingji and confirmed a solution. However, the subsequent negotiations with the client will still be a tough battle."

Xu Yanfeng raised his hand to cover Zi Heng's eyes, leaned forward, and kissed Xia Xi's lips: "Do you feel better now?"

Zi Heng was watching TV when his vision suddenly went dark, leaving him utterly speechless.

Xia Xi hadn't spoken yet when she heard a ringtone; she picked up the phone, only to realize it wasn't hers, the screen showed 'Zhong Nüshi', she raised an eyebrow and casually asked, 'Who is Zhong Nüshi?'

Xu Yanfeng said: "My mother."

Xia Xi: "……"

Xu Yanfeng removed his hand covering Zi Heng's eyes, took the phone from Xia Xi's hand, before answering he guessed the intention of Zhong Yinghong's call: "My mother wants to formally invite you to a meal; she mentioned it to me last time."

"Having a meal?" Xia Xi, like a cat stepped on its tail, perked up from her listless demeanor, her whole spirit revived: "Where are we eating?"

Xu Yanfeng wore a teasing expression: "Maybe at the old residence. What, are you scared?"

Xia Xi silently set down her cup, didn't rebut his words, she really was a little afraid.