"We need to finalize things with Director Li and head back quickly. Otherwise, if too much piles up, I'll be the one exhausted."
"Don't worry about having too much work in the future. I'll be with you when you work overtime. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."
The two slept in each other's arms. The next morning, after breakfast and makeup, they went to Ke Corporation's office to meet Director Li again.
This time they were successful in arranging a meeting, but Director Li didn't discuss business with them.
The two were led into the office by an assistant. Director Li scrutinized Lu Jiaying with a strange look.
"You are Lu Jiaying?"
Lu Jiaying had never interacted with him before and didn't know how he knew her name. She politely extended her hand to shake his.
"Yes, hello Director Li. This is our group's Young Shao. He's interning at the company during his vacation, and I'm temporarily guiding him to familiarize himself with the business..."
Director Li, over 50, was tall and exuded an air of integrity. He pushed up his glasses and interrupted Lu Jiaying's introduction.
"It's not that I won't cooperate with Zhan Corporation, but that I cannot cooperate with you. Director Lu, if you genuinely want this project, please send a different project manager."
Lu Jiaying exchanged a look with Jiang Jingyu, not understanding his meaning.
"I am the Marketing Director of Grei Electric. If we are discussing cooperation, I believe I am the one who best represents the company's sincerity, so I don't quite understand your meaning, Director Li."
"You are the Marketing Director of Grei Electric now, but that might not be the case in the next second. Our project cannot be ruined by someone with a poor reputation. Therefore,"
He looked at Jiang Jingyu, "send someone reliable."
Jiang Jingyu also didn't understand his words.
Lu Jiaying was undoubtedly the most representative and authoritative person in the marketing department. They were meeting for the first time, so how could she be unreliable?
"I still don't quite understand your meaning. Please speak your mind directly. Director Li, may I ask what Director Lu has done that makes you dissatisfied?"
Vice Director Li looked back and forth between them. Seeing their sincere and unfeigned expressions, he opened his laptop and sat down.
"It seems you two truly don't know about this."
He turned the computer screen towards them.
"I don't know if this is true or false, or if you've fallen into someone else's trap, but since the matter has already blown up to the point where even I know about it, it must be very difficult to handle internally."
"Let's not talk about projects for now. Go back and deal with this first."
The two stepped forward and looked at the computer screen simultaneously.
Upon seeing the content, Lu Jiaying's head buzzed.
Her face turned pale, her whole body felt cold, and she could barely stand.
Jiang Jingyu beside her also had a dark expression, his brows furrowed tightly.
Without further words, they thanked Vice Director Li and said they would send someone else to liaise with him another day. Grabbing Lu Jiaying's hand, he left the office.
The two didn't have time to book flights. They returned to the service office, gave Director Li's contact information to the marketing manager, briefed him on the follow-up work, and drove his car back to Nancheng immediately.
Along the way, Lu Jiaying's expression was solemn, and her hands and feet were cold. Jiang Jingyu held the steering wheel with one hand and held hers the entire time with the other.
Neither of them expected things to turn out this way.
Both were in turmoil, contemplating countermeasures separately, not speaking a word.
They drove at high speed. The journey of over 400 kilometers took just over five hours.
They arrived at the company just past three in the afternoon.
They went directly from the underground parking lot to the marketing department.
As soon as they stepped into the marketing department's territory, they saw everyone casting surprised yet awkward glances at them, but no one dared to speak.
Zhang Xiaoyu, under pressure, rushed to Lu Jiaying.
"Director Lu, you're back. What's going on? Your phone has been unreachable all day, you haven't replied to WeChat, and you haven't checked your emails..."
The hours on the road were enough for Lu Jiaying to consider all sorts of terrible scenarios and prepare herself for the storm.
So, although she couldn't manage a cheerful expression, her emotions were relatively stable.
Pretending to be unaware, she asked Zhang Xiaoyu, "What happened that you're so nervous?"
"Director Lu..." Zhang Xiaoyu looked at her, then at Jiang Jingyu, finding it truly difficult to speak.
"You should go and check the company's internal forum yourself."
The so-called internal forum was an internal office system. It was a software developed by Zhan Corporation in recent years based on their existing social media platform, specifically for office use. Every employee in the company had an account.
It allowed for uploading and downloading public files, as well as group chats and status updates similar to QQ Space.
Lu Jiaying never logged into this system because she wasn't idle enough to pay attention to gossip there.
Moreover, important documents were directly delivered to her office for her to sign in person, eliminating the need to log in.
She had even forgotten her login password, and since her phone was unusable, she couldn't retrieve it.
Seeing her frowning and struggling with it for a long time without success, it was Jiang Jingyu who used technical means to log in for her.
The comment section had tens of thousands of replies.
Although the pictures seen on Vice Director Li's computer had been technically blocked, the public opinion could not be contained.
Of the tens of thousands of comments, all were discussing Lu Jiaying.
It was the first time in Lu Jiaying's life that she detested seeing her own name.
Across the screen, every line, every person's every sentence carried these three words.
Those colleagues hiding behind IDs without real names were, at this moment, like uninformed internet netizens.
Despite knowing nothing, they attached sentences of obscenity, coldness, and heart-piercing words to her name.
Those words felt like bottles of high-concentration sulfuric acid, stinging her eyes as if she were going blind.
The photos were transmitted within a mass email. It was likely done by someone very familiar with Zhan Corporation's software operations and who had the authority to send it out.
Every employee with an account at Zhan Corporation, including senior management, received this email.
It contained video screenshots from that night, depicting Lu Jiaying and Jiang Jingyu being framed.
High-definition, zoomed-in screenshots from various angles, showing their expressions clearly, making it impossible to deny.
The moment she saw the photos, Lu Jiaying's heart collapsed.
But she had confidence in Zhan Corporation's management and knew that the technical department would intervene immediately, preventing the photos from spreading widely.
Moreover, she knew who was behind it, and the matter would be easy to resolve, perhaps with some gossip circulating for a while.
But since it had happened, as two adults, they had to accept it whether they wanted to or not.
However, at this moment, facing tens of thousands of comments filled with insults, ridicule, and sarcasm, she realized her thoughts on the way had been too naive.
Her blood felt frozen. Stimulated by these comments, her mind went blank, and she was unable to utter a single word.