Chapter 13: As Long As You Admit It
Li Hao, worried that the manager would trouble him, immediately called Ruan Mianmian to his office. After all, the incident occurred in his department, and the main culprit was his niece, Li Xiaofei. If he didn’t handle it, and that crazy woman Ruan Mianmian made a fuss later, both of them might be held accountable.
Ruan Mianmian responded promptly and went to Li Hao’s office without hesitation.
Li Hao forced a smile onto his plump face and said, “Ruan Mianmian, Xiaofei has come to me and admitted that she locked you in the restroom during lunch break. I’ve asked her about the reason. Mainly, you scolded her this morning, so I’ve called you both here for Xiaofei to apologize to you. Let’s put this behind us. We’re all colleagues and have to work together, so it’s best to keep the peace. Does this arrangement work for you?”
Ruan Mianmian turned to Li Xiaofei and asked, “Li Xiaofei, what do you have to say? Was it you and Fang Yali who locked me in the restroom?”
Li Xiaofei held her head high with arrogance. “I won’t deny it. Yes, Fang Yali and I did it.”
Ruan Mianmian responded with a simple “Alright, as long as you admit it.” She then addressed Li Hao, “Supervisor Li, first, I need to clarify something with you. Since you’re the supervisor, you should understand the whole story. This morning, Li Xiaofei assigned me an unreasonable task to go out and discuss a project. I politely refused. She then insulted me for not knowing what’s good for me. Unable to endure it, I retorted. She became furious and threatened to deduct fifty points from my performance. She was at fault first. Then, during lunch break, she locked me in the restroom out of spite. Supervisor Li, I’d like to ask, is it appropriate for Li Xiaofei, as a team leader, to behave this way? Or is it that, relying on you as her uncle, she feels protected and can bully other employees with impunity?”
Li Hao felt his anger rising. Was Ruan Mianmian deliberately trying to settle scores with him?
He snapped, “Ruan Mianmian, I called you here for Xiaofei to apologize to you. That’s already giving you face. Don’t be ungrateful!”
“Oh, so Li Xiaofei dared to bully me openly because you gave her the courage. You really are a model supervisor.”
Unable to contain herself, Li Xiaofei retorted, “Ruan Mianmian, what are you shouting about? Didn’t you come out of the restroom immediately? Nothing happened to you.”
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“And besides, we called you here as a favor. If I didn’t admit it, you’d have no proof it was me, right?”
Ruan Mianmian replied, “So your apology isn’t sincere. Tell me, do you dare admit to all the times you’ve exploited and bullied me? Like always making me bring you breakfast without ever paying, constantly assigning your work and Fang Yali’s work to me, and deducting my performance points if I refuse? And submitting my creative proposals as your own?”
Li Xiaofei scoffed, “So what if I admit it? I bullied you, so what?”
Ruan Mianmian, powerless and without influence, couldn’t do anything to her. If she was bullied, she simply had to accept it.
Ruan Mianmian smiled with remarkable composure. “It’s fine. As long as you admit it. Weren’t you supposed to apologize? Hurry up, then.”
Li Xiaofei picked at her nails. “I was going to apologize, but you talk too much. Now I don’t want to apologize.”
Ruan Mianmian didn’t mind and turned to Li Hao. “Supervisor Li, since everything’s out in the open today, let’s talk about how you’ve exploited me. You always find reasons to make me work overtime. Last week, because you lost important data and damaged my computer, I had to work overnight and nearly collapsed. What do you say about that?”
Li Hao snorted and said, “Aren’t you fine? Did you die? What’s wrong with making you work overtime? Every company has employees working overtime.”
Ruan Mianmian remained calm. “I never said I wouldn’t work overtime. If it’s reasonable, I’m willing. But you exploit me unfairly, and even when I work overtime, you never pay me for it. But as long as you admit it, that’s enough. Now, please ask Li Xiaofei to apologize so I can get back to work. Not everyone can sit in an office sipping tea and finish their tasks like you.”
“You have a terrible attitude. You should apologize to us!” Li Hao was angered by her rebuke and now refused to have Li Xiaofei apologize.
Ruan Mianmian shrugged. “Alright, I knew you two weren’t sincere about the apology. When it comes to anything involving basic decency, neither of you ever does the right thing.”
[Congratulations, host. You’ve successfully stood up to Li Hao and Li Xiaofei. You’ve earned 100 points and 10 days of life.]
Hearing the system’s announcement, Ruan Mianmian mentally cheered and left Li Hao’s office, leaving Li Hao and Li Xiaofei fuming inside.
“Uncle, did you hear that? Ruan Mianmian called us inhuman. I’m so furious!”
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Li Hao squinted as if trying to bore a hole through the door Ruan Mianmian had closed behind her. His eyes, already small due to the fat on his face, became mere slits.
After a long moment, he finally said, “I have an idea. Here’s what we’ll do…”
Li Hao whispered his plan to Li Xiaofei.
Li Xiaofei nodded eagerly. “Uncle, this is a great idea. This time, we’ll really teach her a lesson!”
When Ruan Mianmian left Li Hao’s office, Xu Weiwei quickly asked, “They didn’t give you any trouble, did they?”
“No. Li Xiaofei admitted she locked me in the restroom, but she didn’t apologize.” She wouldn’t give them the chance to make things difficult for her.
“Let it go, Mianmian. Those two are up to no good when they join forces. It’s already lucky they didn’t make things hard for you. Just avoid them in the future.”
Ruan Mianmian smiled and said nothing.
Li Hao and Li Xiaofei were not the kind of people who would let you off just because you didn’t provoke them.
She had already made enemies of the pair. Even if she didn’t antagonize them, they wouldn’t let her go easily.
No matter what, once her system upgraded, if they really made her lose her job, she’d make sure to rack up a hefty amount of points from them before leaving.
Today, she earned a total of 150 points and 15 days of life from Li Xiaofei and Li Hao.
Today’s work had not been in vain.
After leaving Li Hao’s office, Li Xiaofei stayed inside for a long time, as if she and Li Hao were plotting some way to deal with her.
By the time Li Xiaofei finally emerged, it was almost time to clock out.
The two didn’t bother her again, nor did they find any reason to make her work overtime.
As soon as the workday ended, Ruan Mianmian left the company and immediately chose to upgrade her system.
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