Volume One, Chapter 12: Unfavored

The head of the Human Resources Department stood up and stepped forward, taking the USB drive from Zhou Cong’s hand.

Zhou Cong glanced briefly in Shen Qingqing’s direction, then turned and left.

The video on the USB was soon projected onto the large screen in the conference room.

It clearly documented the entire process of Wang Ying locking the exhibition hall door.

“How could this happen?” Wang Ying suddenly turned her head, her face pale as she looked at Xu Minyu.

Xu Minyu did not look back at her, but her expression was equally grim.

She had seen with her own eyes that the data was completely erased—how could it possibly be recovered?

“Wang Ying, you are fired,” the HR head finally spoke.

“Manager, I just didn’t like Shen Qingqing and wanted to play a joke on her,” Wang Ying stammered, trying to defend herself.

“A joke?” The HR head slammed the table hard. “Do you think being locked inside overnight is funny?”

“I was wrong,” Wang Ying said, her face ashen, turning to Shen Qingqing to beg for forgiveness. “I’m sorry for being so willful. If you’re still upset, you can lock me in there as punishment…”

Before Shen Qingqing could respond, the HR head scolded her, “Do you think this is child’s play? You can’t just brush off responsibility by calling it willfulness.”

Wang Ying’s face darkened as she glanced at Xu Minyu.

Xu Minyu neither met her gaze nor intended to speak on her behalf.

Clenching her fists tightly, Wang Ying pleaded, “Manager, please give me another chance.”

The HR manager sat back down, casting a subtle glance at Xu Minyu, his tone growing calm. “If you were acting on someone else’s orders, I might consider giving you a chance… but if you were the mastermind, why would I?”

Wang Ying froze, glancing once more at Xu Minyu.

This time, Xu Minyu did not avoid her gaze but looked at her with a warning glare.

Wang Ying’s heart pounded. The manager’s words suggested he had likely figured out that Xu Minyu was the mastermind—he just needed her testimony.

But Xu Minyu was the eldest daughter of the Xu family, and she had seen clearly yesterday how doting Xu Mingxuan was toward her.

Wang Ying bit her lip, thinking: If I continue to side with Xu Minyu, maybe there’s still a sliver of hope.

If I betray her now, I might end up caught in a pincer attack.

She lifted her head and took full responsibility: “Manager, it’s just my immaturity and a mistake I made alone. No one else is involved.”

The HR manager sighed in disappointment.

At that moment, Shen Qingqing stood up. “Then how do you explain this?”

She pressed the button on the voice recorder in her hand, and a soft but firm voice filled the conference room:

“It’s settled. I guarantee smooth sailing for you at Mo Corporation; if not, I can arrange for you to join the Xu family. This bet, you can only win.”

That voice was none other than Xu Minyu’s.

“This was accidentally recorded by a museum staff member,” Shen Qingqing said, turning to Xu Minyu. “Do you have anything to explain?”

The room erupted with murmurs.

If the recording was truly made by staff, then there was both witness and evidence.

Neither Wang Ying nor Xu Minyu could escape guilt.

Xu Minyu clenched her phone tightly, silent.

Wang Ying grew restless and looked anxiously at Xu Minyu. “Miss Xu…”

“Shut up!” Xu Minyu snapped at Wang Ying, losing all her earlier composure.

“Since the evidence is conclusive, as the head of HR, I have the authority to dismiss you both,” the HR head stood up and announced the verdict. “Whether legal action will be pursued depends on the victim, Shen Qingqing…”

“Manager, my brother wants to speak with you…” Xu Minyu stood and interrupted.

Just then, the HR manager’s phone rang.

It was Xu Mingxuan calling.

The HR head frowned and looked up at the camera in the upper right corner of the conference room.

After a pause, he answered the call.

The control room for the conference room cameras was just next door.

At that moment, Zhou Cong and Mo Lingcheng were seated in the control room, watching the conference in real time.

Zhou Cong looked puzzled. “Boss, you went through all that trouble recovering the data to help Shen Qingqing, right? Then why didn’t you stop Xu Mingxuan from helping Xu Minyu get off scot-free?”

Mo Lingcheng leaned back, his gaze sweeping over Shen Qingqing’s desperate face. “Who said I’m helping her? I’m just revealing the truth. Whether the culprit is punished is for the judge to decide.”

Moreover, giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him to fish.

Only by letting Shen Qingqing face reality will she understand what true retaliation means.

With that, he stood and left the monitoring room.

Zhou Cong followed, curling his lips in disdain.

He didn’t believe a word Mo Lingcheng said.

When they returned from Ban City, Mo Lingcheng had urged him to quickly transfer five million to Shen Qingqing, saying he wanted no ties with her.

Yet after just a few days in Jiu Dui Village, how many times had he helped Shen Qingqing already?

Tonight especially, he hadn’t even eaten dinner and went alone to rescue her.

Coming back starving, he was still looking for someone to restore the data.

They say even heroes falter at the temptations of a beauty—what’s wrong with admitting that?

Back in the conference room, the HR manager hung up and sighed as he looked at Shen Qingqing, then hurriedly ended the meeting.

The matter of Shen Qingqing being locked in the exhibition hall concluded with Wang Ying’s dismissal.

As for Xu Minyu, bearing the title of Xu Mingxuan’s sister, she walked away unscathed.

Xu Minyu smiled faintly, stood, and straightened her white dress.

So what if Shen Qingqing knew it was her? So what if it was proven?

She still couldn’t shake her position an inch.

“Those who aren’t favored must endure some grievances…” Xu Minyu swayed her hips and left.

Although her plan was foiled, as long as Xu Mingxuan stood by her side, Shen Qingqing would never win.

“Xu Mingxuan is truly despicable!” Xiao Meimei couldn’t help but curse.

Did he have no sense of right and wrong?

His fiancée suffered, yet he showed no pity and even called to absolve the real culprit.

Shen Qingqing, however, remained calm, standing still.

Only the lingering pain in her ankle reminded her: Barefooted, if you want to win, you must resolve to shake the world upside down.

When she returned to the dormitory, Shen Qingqing had already regained her gentle, cheerful demeanor.

Xiao Meimei glanced at her several times, filled with sympathy.

“Qingqing, someone will come who truly cherishes you.”

Though they had only spent two days together, Xiao Meimei could see that Shen Qingqing was a warm-hearted person.

“Thank you, Meimei,” Shen Qingqing smiled softly, saying no more.

She had once believed that enduring hardship and quietly waiting could exchange kindness and warmth for a loving home—a home with parents, a partner, friends, and children…

But reality taught her that kindness does not always beget kindness.

As lights were about to be turned off, Xiao Meimei suddenly sat up excitedly and shook Shen Qingqing vigorously.

“Qingqing, look! The wicked have received their comeuppance.”