CHAPTER 177: CHAPTER 179: CAREFULLY SELECTED WALNUT CRISP COOKIES

Some people are too arrogant, not just causing harm, but also feeling smug about it!

Su Xingyu looked at her, his voice slightly cool: "Who did it is clear in their own mind."

"What do you mean!" Xia Ranran erupted suddenly, embarrassed and furious like someone whose mask had been torn off, "Su Xingyu, don’t falsely accuse people without evidence, what are you insinuating? What did I do, what did I really do?!"

"Ranran," Zhuang Heng gently mediated from the side, "Just give the newcomer a break. You’re two-star and soon to be three-star this year, why bother with a one-star colleague? We all know it wasn’t you, justice speaks for itself."

Those words seemed impartial, but every sentence actually suppressed Su Xingyu.

Su Xingyu said: "Zhuang Heng, no need to pretend here."

But this time, even Anna and Fang Luohua sided with Zhuang Heng: "Xingyu, don’t be like that, the incident with the test sheet really wronged you, but Miss Zhuang meant well, don’t take it out on her."

Ha, it turned out she was taking her anger out on Zhuang Heng?

If it weren’t for the fact that Anna and Fang Luohua had been somewhat kind to her since joining the company, Su Xingyu would have cursed them too, she chuckled coldly, turned around, and walked towards her seat.

Xia Ranran looked at her back and was still not satisfied: "Hmph, what a nuisance."

Fang Luohua glanced at her disapprovingly: "Ranran, you need to manage that mouth of yours better, you’re almost like Yun Xi now, always saying unpleasant things. I’m telling you, Xingyu is my new recruit now, so don’t bully her."

"When did I?" Xia Ranran muttered in dissatisfaction at Fang Luohua’s comments. However, she didn’t dare to actually go against Fang Luohua, she was only a two-star photographer, while Fang Luohua was four-star—in the company, there was an unwritten rule that as long as a conflict doesn’t cross the line, the lower star rating should yield to the higher star rating.

That’s why Xia Ranran and Yun Xi dared to openly bully Su Xingyu, even if they didn’t gain anything, they wouldn’t lose out.

Fang Luohua sighed, shaking his head, the world of women was truly terrifying.

He had vaguely heard about the grudge between Xia Ranran and Su Xingyu, originating from nothing more than a cup of coffee, such a trivial matter, he completely couldn’t understand how it escalated—this morning, his original intention to have Xia Ranran help print documents included the hope that the two would heal their rift and get along harmoniously.

But who would have known...

Sigh, forget it, if I’d known these two wouldn’t get along, I wouldn’t have had Xia Ranran pass things along.

He and Miss Zhuang’s earnest intentions were truly misplaced.

Fang Luohua was extremely helpless, no longer trying to persuade Xia Ranran, he walked towards Su Xingyu’s desk.

Su Xingyu was still angry, but she had always dealt with her emotions in a straightforward manner, immersing herself in the world of photography. She focused on sorting the conference materials, aligning target consumer research data with several key camera indicators, sketching and analyzing specific-demographic camera requirements.

Fang Luohua called her several times in succession before she heard.

"So focused," Fang Luohua looked at her with a smile, the afternoon sunlight slipped softly through the office window, casting a beautiful silhouette of her slender figure like a delicate orchid, "Not angry anymore?"

"Getting upset with such people?" Su Xingyu said, "It’s better to spend more time on meaningful things."

"You’ve got the right attitude," Fang Luohua’s smile widened, compared to girls like Xia Ranran and Yun Xi who were always petty, this hardworking girl seemed more appealing to him, "Come on, let me treat you to tea, there’s a nice teahouse nearby, consider it an apology for giving you incomplete information this morning."

Su Xingyu was amused by him, closing the materials at hand: "It’s not your fault."

"Why isn’t it my fault?" Fang Luohua said, "Since the organization assigned me to mentor you, it’s my dereliction of duty."

"I’d better not," Su Xingyu said, "I don’t have the habit of afternoon tea."

"Oh really?" Fang Luohua’s sharp eyes caught the package on her desk, "What is this, walnut pastry? No wonder you don’t want to go out for tea with me, secretly keeping the good stuff!" then, he glanced at it more closely, "How curious, why does it look so familiar? It seems like... Oh! This is the pack I helped Miss Zhuang buy this morning at Rongyun House!"

His voice was so loud that his one sentence attracted many people to look their way.

"Xingyu, Miss Zhuang is really good to you," Fang Luohua obliviously kept marveling, "Freshly baked walnut pastries, she picked just that one pack carefully and gave it all to you!"

This wasn’t Zhuang Heng being good to her; it was clearly her stealing Lu Shifeng’s food.

She unconsciously glanced at Zhuang Heng and found Zhuang Heng looking at her, more precisely, looking at the walnut pastry beside her. Zhuang Heng’s meticulously painted eyes were filled with disbelief, even her face with applied makeup seemed slightly pale, it took several seconds before her gaze moved from the walnut pastry to Su Xingyu’s face: "It’s all with you."

One sentence, she knew, and she knew too.

Among all present, only the two of them knew the truth.

Su Xingyu’s heart suddenly surged with a sense of revenge, like a serf suddenly liberated from oppression. She looked at Zhuang Heng and said: "Yes, it’s all with me, I didn’t know you had picked it out carefully, really sorry."

No one could beat Zhuang Heng at sweet-talking previously, as she was stuck into swallowing her grievances like dumb swallowing a bitter pill, now she would make her eat it back! Hmph!

Indeed, Zhuang Heng’s expression stiffened slightly but showed no anger.

What could she say? Claim that these walnut pastries were bought for Lu Shifeng and that she couldn’t understand why they ended up with Su Xingyu? Or accuse Su Xingyu of shamelessly trying to woo someone else’s future husband? No matter how she spoke, arguing like this with a nameless junior employee from her noble stance would only lower herself to wife-like squabbling, inviting ridicule.

She had no choice but to swallow her pride silently.

With a forced smile, Zhuang Heng said: "Just some walnut pastries, it’s nothing significant."

Su Xingyu returned a wry smile: "Yes, just walnut pastries, it’s indeed nothing significant. But since it’s not appropriate for me to enjoy these good things alone, why don’t we share with everyone and eat together?" Saying this, without waiting for Zhuang Heng’s response, she opened the pack of walnut pastries and invited Fang Luohua and others: "Please help yourselves, Miss Zhuang is treating."

"Wow, can we really eat it?" Fang Luohua drooled over the fragrant walnut pastries, yet still widened his clear eyes and earnestly asked, "This morning, when I accompanied Miss Zhuang to purchase them, she said they were for a very important person, I almost thought she meant our big boss, but it turned out they were for you. Is it appropriate for us others to eat?"