7 Scapegoat

After a shower, Li Yan wiped his body and walked out of the bathroom, only to find an unanswered email on his phone.

[There's something inside that you would find interesting.]

Li Yan was not interested, but he saw that the figure in the photo attached looked vaguely similar to Ning Zhi.

Li Yan clicked on it.

The photo made him so angry that he almost crushed his phone.

The first photo was of Ning Zhi and Wu Ming hugging in front of the hotpot restaurant. The second photo was a position-borrowing photo, but in his eyes, it was considered kissing.

"Ning Zhi has done well!" Li Yan angrily threw his phone to the side.

After some thought, he picked it up and dialed Ning Zhi's number.

The sweet and gentle voice he had expected did not appear. It was replaced by a cold robotic female voice, informing him that he had been blacklisted emotionlessly.

Suddenly, Ning Zhi's phone rang, and a series of messages flooded into her phone.

Ning Zhi was awakened by her ringing phone. She opened her phone in a daze and realized that it was early in the morning. She did not respond and turned around to fall asleep again.

Li Yan, who had not received Ning Zhi's replies for a long time, was restless on the other end of the line.

The next morning, Ning Zhi received a call from Secretary Liang.

"Special Assistant Ning, you finally picked up the phone!" Secretary Liang's voice on the other end of the line was anxious. "There was a problem with the Wan Ge project that you were in charge of previously. CEO Li was furious and wanted you to come early to the company!"

Wan Ge? Ning Zhi recalled that she was indeed the one who did the project's final review.

She prepared quickly and went to the company.

"Special Assistant Ning, you're so arrogant. Even Elder Brother Li can't find you!" As soon as Ning Zhi entered the company, she heard Lu Yue's sarcasm.

"Special Assistant Lu, are you done familiarizing yourself with the work? The faster you take over, the faster I will leave your Elder Brother Li alone. Have you thought it through?" She went straight to the CEO's office and knocked on the door before entering.

"President Li, are you looking for me?" As soon as she entered the office, she realized that the atmosphere was not right.

In addition to Li Yan, Secretary Liang, and Sha Lan —the sales department manager —were also there. Everyone's expression was serious.

"Special Assistant Ning, you're finally here." Secretary Liang was about to welcome him when he was subdued by Li Yan's gaze.

"What happened?" She realized the gravity of the matter and quickly walked forward.

"Special Assistant Ning, how did I offend you in the past? If you have any opinion, just say it. There's no need to mess with me!" Sha Lan could not understand why a pretty face like Ning Zhi could stay as a special assistant for so long and handle so many important projects.

Now that such an important project was going to be ruined because of Ning Zhi, how could Sha Lan not be anxious?

"Take a look for yourself!" Li Yan finally spoke and threw the document on the table.

Ning Zhi picked it up skeptically. It was indeed a document she reviewed but the budget amount on the last page had an additional zero compared to the previous one.

"This document isn't right. There's an extra zero at the end!" Ning Zhi immediately pointed out the problem. "When I reviewed it, I remembered clearly it didn't have this zero."

"Aiya, Special Assistant Ning, who else could you blame, if it wasn't due to your negligence? You were the one who reviewed this!" Sha Lan's expression was anxious.

"This is not right. This document and the signature, both are fake." Ning Zhi read it again.

"Whether it's fake or not, Special Assistant Ning, you were the one who reviewed this document last. Now that something has happened, who else can I look for if not you?" Sha Lan was frantically worried.

"What do you mean? Are you saying that I have to take the blame for this?" Ning Zhi finally understood Sha Lan's intention.

Their argument was interrupted by the knocking on the door. It was Lu Yue who walked in with the coffee.

"Elder Brother Li, I thought you might be thirsty from the meeting, so I came in to bring you drinks." Lu Yue's voice was delicate as she sashayed toward Li Yan.

Li Yan frowned unconsciously and looked up at Ning Zhi's reaction. Very calmly, as if she was an outsider, which greatly annoyed him.

"Elder Brother Li, don't blame Special Assistant Ning. Lately, she has been too busy, so it's normal for her to be negligent." Lu Yue's casual words confirmed that Ning Zhi's negligence had indeed caused this crisis.

"Special Assistant Lu, is it even your place to get involved in this matter?" Ning Zhi looked at Lu Yue. Just a single sentence, yet it made Lu Yue feel the pressure.