Chapter 66

The people from Broad and Elegant had no mood to stay and continue observing; they left one by one through the back door of the meeting room, each wearing a solemn expression. As Xia Xi walked, she observed them, yet she could not see any flaw in any of them.

The corridor was very quiet, with a thick carpet laid on the floor, so even the sound of footsteps was eliminated.

Just now in the meeting room, there were many people, so Gao Ge couldn't conveniently question her; now that she had no reservations, her eyes nearly burst as she grabbed Xia Xi's arm and shouted, "Is it you? Did you give our design proposal to Present Cypress or not!"

The team members were all astonished, not understanding why Gao Ge would say such a thing.

Xia Xi also found it unbelievable—why would Gao Ge decide that she had betrayed the company? Upon reflection, it somewhat made sense, as Gao Ge had always been dissatisfied with her; when faced with this situation, she naturally habitually directed her blame toward the person she disliked most.

Xia Xi's mind raced as she considered how to resolve the predicament; not wanting to argue with Gao Ge, she uttered only three words, "Believe it or not: it wasn't me."

Her tone was icy, showing no sign of how angry or devastated she was, which only strengthened Gao Ge's conviction that the insider was her, especially since she had seen Xia Xi meeting privately with Present Cypress's Deputy General Manager Zhang Wanli yesterday.

At that moment she had felt something odd, though she couldn't put it into words; now she finally understood that during a bidding process, one should avoid conflicts of interest and minimize contact with competitors. Yesterday morning, Xia Xi happened to run into Zhang Wanli; they were acquainted, so a greeting would have been fine, but she shouldn't have met him alone!

Who knows what the two of them exchanged.

Now the facts are laid bare; surely Zhang Wanli promised Xia Xi some benefit, which is why she gave him the design proposal.

This traitor! How hateful! So many of them had worked overtime, painstakingly producing the proposal over ten-plus days, even busy during the New Year holiday, only to have Xia Xi hand it over to the competitor, catching them off guard. It's a shame that yesterday she had heard of Xia Xi's resume and had revised her opinion of her, planning to talk privately and apologize. Because all along she had thought Xia Xi lacked ability and had gotten in through connections.

Just as Gao Ge was about to fling out the evidence in her hand, the sound of colleagues on the verge of tears came from nearby.

"What should we do now?"

"What else can we do, tough luck! We're up to present this afternoon, but with the design proposal gone, what do we have to present?"

"Couldn't we go explain things clearly to the person in charge of the Xu Clan? It's that shameless Present Cypress company that stole our design! We can provide a series of drafts, including the initial concepts."

"Present Cypress is a big company; we've only been around a short time—will the Xu Clan believe us?"

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"I don't know… I just want to cry."

A tragic atmosphere permeated the team; everyone's mood shifted from initial anger to utter despair, because they felt there was no room for maneuver left in this matter.

Xia Xi pressed her lips, remaining silent and overly calm, twisting her wrist to break free from Gao Ge's hold. Gao Ge's gaze was like arrows, almost about to pierce several holes in Xia Xi's face.

The elevator descended to the first floor; Xia Xi took out her phone from her bag and called Lu Mingji, this matter couldn't be kept from him: "Something happened…"

After she briefly explained the whole situation, Lu Mingji on the other end also turned pale, not expecting such a turn of events.

Lu Mingji: "Do you know who did it?"

"Saying that now is meaningless; the urgent priority is how to steady the Xu Clan and continue participating in this bidding."

The Broad and Elegant colleagues all stared at Xia Xi in disbelief; having come to this point, she still thought about taking part in the bidding—wasn't that wishful thinking? The proposal was gone! What would they present? Lu Mingji pondered for a moment, chose to trust Xia Xi, and since she said that, there must be a way: "Like this, I'll rush over to meet you right away; you guys book a room first, and when I arrive we'll hold a meeting to discuss how to handle this."

Xia Xi said "Okay," went to the front desk to get a room, and walked back holding the key card.

The rest were like headless flies, completely at a loss, only knowing to circle around Xia Xi.

*Lu Mingji hadn't even had time to eat lunch, grabbed his car keys and drove to the Junrui Hotel. Xia Xi had previously sent him the room number; upon arrival, he parked steadily, got out of the car, tossed his keys toward the parking attendant without caring whether they were caught, and strode inside.

He pushed open the suite door; inside, eight people were either standing or sitting, and aside from Xia Xi, the others had drooping brows and eyes, their heads almost hanging to the floor.

Upon seeing Lu Mingji, those few could barely muster energy, moving their lips to give a perfunctory "President Lu."

Lu Mingji was drenched in sweat despite the deep winter, his hair a bit messy; he took off his coat, sat on a single sofa, and said: "I've already heard the situation from Xia Gong; the current state of affairs…"

"President Lu, have you really figured out what happened?" Gao Ge interjected coldly, then pulled out her phone, found a photo, and tossed it onto the coffee table, saying, "I don't want to say more, lest you accuse me of deliberately targeting Xia Xi—you look for yourself."

The phone smashed onto the glass coffee table with a "bang," cutting off Lu Mingji's words; he lowered his eyes to the screen, where Xia Xi sat opposite a man, the background appearing to be a coffee shop.

Others, out of curiosity, craned their necks to take a glance, recognized the man as Present Cypress's Deputy General Manager Zhang Wanli, then slowly turned their heads, gazing at Xia Xi with complex expressions.

Gao Ge's eyes were red; she longed to rush forward and slap Xia Xi twice, saying, "The man in the photo is Present Cypress's Zhang Wanli! I happened to catch him on camera yesterday without meaning to, and today our proposal has become Present Cypress's—doesn't that prove anything?"

"Xia Xi could never betray Broad and Elegant." Lu Mingji, not wanting to blame Gao Ge in this situation, spoke in a calm tone: "I understand your feelings; everyone's hard work has gone to waste, and it's hard to accept at once, but this photo really doesn't prove anything."

Gao Ge seemed to have heard something absurd, let out a sudden laugh, and felt utterly disappointed in Lu Mingji as her boss: "President Lu, at a time like this you're still shielding Xia Xi—have you considered our feelings? Is it just because she's your junior that you have no limits in favoring her?"

Lu Mingji glanced at Xia Xi; though the atmosphere was so grim he shouldn't have laughed, he couldn't help himself: "Look, this is exactly the low-key attitude you demanded—no wonder the misunderstanding arose."

Gao Ge was brimming with anger that had nowhere to go, her whole body trembling; hearing that, she suddenly stared blankly at Lu Mingji: "What… what do you mean?"

Lu Mingji slightly lifted his chin, pointing at Xia Xi: "I said Xia Xi could never betray Broad and Elegant because she is one of its partners. When we founded the company, I brought her in as a partner; she didn't want to handle management, so I took care of everything while she focused on design. While she was abroad, she also completed several major projects for the company—the library in Yuan Prefecture, for instance, was her design, though she never put her full name on it, so many people don't know."

Everyone's gaze toward Xia Xi was no longer doubtful, but a mix of surprise and admiration.

The Yuan Prefecture Library has become one of the region's landmark buildings, drawing countless tourists to check in; even the local TV station reported that a single library boosted Yuan Prefecture's tourism economy, and it's rumored that a historical drama will be filmed there this year—designed, surprisingly, by Xia Xi.

Indeed, the designer's signature is XI, which is none other than the 'Xi' in Xia Xi.

Lu Mingji watched the shifting expressions of those present and chuckled; not a single person among them knew that Xia Xi was a partner of Broad and Elegant? Although Xia Xi keeps a low profile in everything, some information ought to be disclosed publicly—it's normal for a few to be unaware, but for everyone to be ignorant is a bit outrageous.

"No, when you joined the company, shouldn't you have checked via Tianyancha who the core members are?" Lu Mingji asked sincerely.

Someone answered sincerely: "Who has the time to look that up?"

Xia Xi crossed her arms, leaning against the sofa back; the calm on her face began to falter, a hint of irritation appearing: "Is now really the time to talk about this? This afternoon's bidding—are you planning to improvise on stage?"

Everyone's bodies jolted as they finally remembered the neglected matter.

Lu Mingji said: "I'll go to the Xu Clan's person in charge to request an investigation."

Xia Xi rose to straighten her clothes: "I'm the team leader; I bear responsibility for this incident, so I'll go with you, and incidentally consult whether we can change the order, placing Broad and Elegant's presentation last."

Although the two were full of fighting spirit, the others didn't hold much hope.

The investigation would take time, which they couldn't afford. If it yielded no result, they'd only suffer a silent loss. Xia Xi also mentioned changing the order, but the bidding deadline is tomorrow afternoon, making it impossible for them to produce a new design proposal in such a short time to present.

Every path is blocked; it's no wonder they feel pessimistic.

(End of chapter)