Chapter 320: Chapter 320: Let Her Leave!
In the trash bin, there was not just garbage, but also some glue, paperclips…
A complete mess of everything.
Just as Maeve was about to remove the trash bin, Lin Qi quickly stepped forward, grabbed her hair, and flung her onto the office chair.
With a crash, Maeve tumbled from the chair onto the floor, her pencil skirt snagging and tearing on the desk corner.
Everyone was shocked!
What surprised them wasn’t that Maeve had thrown coffee on Lin Qi – such behavior was not uncommon for Maeve.
During her new employee training, she was exceedingly harsh on the newcomers. Yet, she was that type of boss who was adept at workplace PUA, using a carrot-and-stick approach; one second she would slap an employee, the next she’d be calm and comforting, exploiting the Stockholm syndrome of her subordinates to manipulate them just so.
As a result, her team members revered her; despite Maeve’s harshness, they still bent over backwards for her.
But this approach didn’t work on Lin Qi.
Maeve dared to splash her with coffee, but Lin Qi wouldn’t stand to be treated like that!
“Lin Qi! What are you doing?”
“How dare you lay hands on Ms. Mia!”
“You are really…”
A group of people gathered around, helping Maeve to her feet.
With the assistance of others, Maeve shakily stood up, casually straightening her skirt. Her face was scratched, grimy paper wads glued with 502 adhesive stuck to her face, an utterly sorry sight!
“You bitch!”
Maeve, losing control of her rationality in an instant, lunged at Lin Qi.
Lin Qi stepped back, and in the next second, Han Na suddenly shielded her, pushing Maeve away.
Maeve did not expect Han Na to stand up for Lin Qi right in front of her: “Han Na! Whose team are you on?!”
Han Na said: “Ms. Mia, calm down, don’t be impulsive. She’s still pregnant with Xiao Bao, don’t lay a finger on her!”
Maeve, unable to contain her anger: “You see clearly who is the one being unreasonable here! She was the one who hit me first!”
Han Na clenched her teeth, glanced at Lin Qi, then turned to Maeve: “I have seen it clearly, it was you who poured coffee on Lin Qi first, and Lin Qi was simply retaliating! Luckily, your coffee had been sitting for a while; if it had been freshly brewed, splashing such scalding liquid on someone, especially aimed at the face, could have caused disfigurement. Who would be responsible for that? Anyone would find it unbearable, right?! Ms. Mia, you’ve gone too far this time!”
Maeve retorted: “You…! So you’re taking her side now, talking back to me like this?”
She couldn’t believe it.
Given Han Na’s timid nature, always meekly obliging, never daring to confront a supervisor, now, to think she would stand up against her for Lin Qi!
Han Na felt a bit guilty herself; pushed around by Maeve for so long, she had always been submissive, but the thought of Maeve moving to hit Lin Qi, and the potential harm to Lin Qi’s unborn child, worried her.
Without much contemplation, she stepped forward to defend Lin Qi.
Han Na declared loudly: “She is my friend!”
Just entering the field of employment, Qi Lichuan witnessed a tense stand-off in the vast office, everybody on their feet.
As he approached, he saw Maeve and Lin Qi standing face to face.
Lin Qi was splashed with coffee; Maeve also looked completely disheveled.
The two seemed to have had an altercation, with scattered documents, a fallen office chair, and a shattered coffee cup all over the floor.
His expression turned gloomy in an instant. He walked over and asked coldly, “What happened!?”
As soon as Maeve saw Qi Lichuan, she immediately went up to explain.
But Lin Qi said, “Without any provocation, Ms. Mia threw coffee on me.”
Qi Lichuan glared at Maeve.
Maeve said, “President Qi, don’t listen to her nonsense! It was she… she talked back to me first.”
“Talked back?” Lin Qi sneered, “You’re just a team leader, what position do you think you’re in? Talked back? You really think of yourself as the Empress Dowager, huh!”
Qi Lichuan said, “Lin Qi, calm down.”
He coaxed her softly and gently.
Maeve, seeing Qi Lichuan being so tender towards Lin Qi, was momentarily stunned.
Qi Lichuan called the manager over, “You, go to International Trade across the street and buy a set of replacement clothes. Make sure to bring back the receipt and the bill for reimbursement.”
Seeing Lin Qi’s clothes splashed with coffee, his top priority was to have her change out of the dirty clothes.
The manager nodded and hurried off.
Qi Lichuan led Lin Qi into his office.
Just as they entered the office and Qi Lichuan closed the door, he saw the stains on her and hesitated, wondering whether to take off his jacket and drape it over her.
But in consideration…
Knowing Huo Tingdong’s temperament, he would definitely not like his wife wearing another man’s jacket. This level of discretion was necessary.
Qi Lichuan asked, “What exactly happened?”
Lin Qi said, “After I became a regular employee, I was directly transferred to Ms. Zhou’s team to take charge of the projects she assigned to me. Suddenly, Ms. Mia came to me, asking me to help her team complete a project task, demanding the completed plan to be submitted to her before the end of work. This was not within my job responsibilities, but I still took it on reluctantly.”
After a pause, Lin Qi continued, “After I finished the planning case, I was ready to submit it to her at the end of work, but she wasn’t satisfied, and we got into an argument, and then you saw what happened. She threw coffee at me, and I pushed her.”
She finished recounting the events in one breath.
Listening to her, Qi Lichuan felt a headache coming on and massaged his brow, “Lin Qi, I’m sorry.”
Lin Qi knew that Qi Lichuan must be feeling very guilty.
After all, Huo Tingdong had entrusted her to his care, and in his brief absence from the office, she had been bullied.
Lin Qi said, “President Qi, don’t worry, I won’t let Mr. Huo know about this.”
Qi Lichuan said, “I’m not afraid of him knowing. He entrusted you to me, and I failed to take good care of you.”
Lin Qi said, “I didn’t suffer any loss! She bullied me, and I fought back! President Qi, the conflict between Ms. Mia and me has been building up over time and has become quite deep. Her sabotaging me is a common occurrence. But I didn’t want to make a fuss over such trivial matters. However, she’s become too petty and it’s affecting my work.”
Qi Lichuan said, “I know, you are a very magnanimous girl. Just a word from you, and Maeve would have been fired long ago.”
As long as Lin Qi whispered into Huo Tingdong’s ear, Maeve would be packing her things and leaving immediately.
But Lin Qi didn’t want to upset the balance of workplace relationships. Despite being married to Huo Tingdong, she didn’t elevate herself to a high position as a result. When at work, she behaved as usual, hoping to get along peacefully with all her colleagues.
However, if Maeve kept targeting her, she wouldn’t be able to stand it anymore.
Qi Lichuan said, “I will fire her tomorrow and have her leave.”
Lin Qi said, “She is responsible for this incident, and I am too. If she apologizes to me and promises not to provoke me again in the future, I am willing to keep the peace.”