1. 39. When Someone Farts (Part 3)

Chen Mei's ability to quickly change her expression and quick-witted responses were Sun Fu's greatest nemesis. Reprimanding Chen Mei would make him look like he was abusing his authority while indulging her, which would go against his work ethic and principles.

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"How are you feeling?" Sun Fu started.

"I feel fine. I can still work," Chen Mei promptly answered, though with a weak and soft voice.

Looking at Chen Mei's doughy face, paler than usual, and her feeble posture, Sun Fu gripped the files in his hand tighter. "Don't force yourself. Go home if you're feeling sick."

Chen Mei bit her lip, portraying a diligent employee who wanted to work hard but could not due to circumstances beyond her control. "I can still work, sir." Her eyes were decorated with teardrops that wanted to flow freely but were held back.

Sun Fu gritted his teeth and pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up with his eyes closed. At this point, he was not sure if the little piece of sh*t in front of him was acting or not. "Like I said, don't force yourself and file for sick leave."

With sparkling eyes squeezing out an ounce of what looked like gratitude, Chen Mei gazed at Sun Fu. "Thank you, Sir. But I— can still work."

There is a thin line between patience and tolerance, and this hair-thin line in Sun Fu snapped. He dropped the files explicitly reserved for Chen Mei heavily on her desk.

Thud.

"Since you insisted. I expect you to finish all these by tomorrow before the end of working hours."

Chen Mei eyed the files stacked on her desk. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped as her supervisor kept piling files from the cart next to him onto her desk.

"But—"

"No buts. Your teammates have the same workload. If you want to take that sick leave now, you must present a doctor's note and be cleared by the health and safety officers on the fourth floor before coming back." Sun Fu did not want to implement these rigid company rules, but this was not the first time Chen Mei had taken unpaid sick leave.

After using all her paid sick leave, she took unpaid sick leave during busy company weeks and was allowed to return without going through the proper channels. Sun Fu would rather have HR hire a new staff member. Chen Mei was dragging their team's performance down.

Without changing her expression, Chen Mei's mind was calculating how much money she had left. She had exhausted her savings, and the money she earned from selling scandalous pictures and videos of Liu Leah was almost gone, too.

"I can't stop now, but I need money. Liu Leah has never been this vulnerable before." Chen Mei might have developed a grudge against Liu Leah since her university days but was helpless to oppose her until two months ago.

She didn't bother about the last requirement Sun Fu mentioned. She thought she could always return without a doctor's note and approval from the health and safety officer.

Who could imagine the perks of being Aunt Hi's niece?

Chen Mei decided to stay and work. "I can always have the other girls finish half of those files for me," she thought without remorse.

"Sir, I will stay and work," she tried to convince Sun Fu.

"Alright."

Sun Fu warned her before Chen Mei could heave a sigh of relief. "If any of your work is handed off and finished by someone other than you, expect me to file a report about you."

Chen Mei immediately dropped the act and just smiled at Sun Fu. Without speaking, her smile showed how she was mocking him. She then ignored her supervisor and sat down at her desk.

"Who does this bamboo pole think he is?" Chen Mei muttered, making sure only she and Sun Fu could hear.

Sun Fu was not surprised. He had noticed that Chen Mei had been acting like she owned the place since he started taking the role of their team's supervisor.

Everyone in their department thought she had backing from one of their superiors. They also noticed that Liu Leah had acted friendly towards Chen Mei over a month ago. These two things made them believe she was not just a staff member.

Sun Fu didn't buy it. Given Chen Mei's actions and words, he suspected she had done something to manipulate everyone into thinking she was more than what she seemed.

Sun Fu took a deep breath and exhaled to calm himself. He ignored the little piece of sh*t and left. He knew he was just a supervisor and a newly appointed one at that. His words would only carry a little weight if he complained.

"Keep farting all you want. One of these days, someone will discover and point you out as the source. They will make your name synonymous with sh*t," Sun Fu muttered under his breath as he headed toward his desk.

"What happened to Sir Sun? He doesn't look great."

"Beats me. I think he just gave Chen Mei her workload."

"Oh, that sickly girl? He should give her a lighter load. She is always sick, and I heard a rumor that she is connected to one of our superiors. Who knows what her backer might do if they hear about this?"

"Shh, keep your mouth shut. Let's just do our work and leave early. I still have some catching up to do with my friends."

"Don't you want to help Chen Mei a little? Look how pale she is."

The secretary looked at her gullible deskmate. He was new and unaware of how foolish his remark sounded. She shook her head and decided to give him some advice.

"Listen, Yang Wei, we are all getting paid based on the same amount of time regardless of the workload. Do you know how unfair that is? If we cannot finish our workload in a day but have to submit it the next day, the overtime we use to finish that job is not paid. So, if you want to take some of Chen Mei's workload and finish all yours at the same time before the end of our working hours, be my guest." It was up to her deskmate to decide whether to listen to her advice or not.

This person's name was Zang Lian. She had been used by Chen Mei to get to Liu Leah seven days ago and witnessed how their president Wang Haoran unhesitatingly threw an ashtray at Liu Leah.

From that day onward, she stayed away from Chen Mei. She even requested to be transferred to another team, but her request was put on hold because the company was busy.

…..

Meanwhile, on Wang Zimo's side...

Wang Zimo was signing some papers in his office when he heard Elle's mechanical voice. "Assistant A is at the door." His office was soundproof, so either a secretary phoned him if there were any visitors or Elle notified him.

He had been waiting for this assistant since this morning. "Elle let him in," Wang Zimo ordered. The door opened independently and closed after the person waiting on the other side entered.