The Female CEO Falls in Love with Me

After a brief bickering with Yurong, Li Yan was in a good mood at work. However, not long after starting work, an issue arose—Hai Fu called and directly reached his office, asking him to go to the administrative department.

His relationship with Hai Fu was clandestine; if something came up, she'd usually call his personal phone, rarely through the office line. Clearly, this was official business, and from her tone, it wasn't a small matter.

"What's wrong?" Wen Qianyi noticed the change in his expression and asked.

"Oh, it's probably nothing. Maybe because I've been in sales every day and haven't been attending to security matters, the general manager is calling me for a report." Li Yan smiled slightly.

Wen Qianyi wasn't easily fooled. She could guess that if someone like Hai Fu was calling, something must be wrong with the security team. "You should go handle it first. There won't be any issues here."

Li Yan nodded and promptly went to the administrative department.

His relationship with Hai Fu had grown closer over time, but within the company, they strictly maintained distance, as if they had no connection at all.

Recently, Hai Fu had noticeably changed in her personality and dress, but that only happened after hours. At work, she remained as she always had.

Li Yan asked her why she didn't slowly change to look more vibrant. Hai Fu said she initially thought about it but later felt if she became flashy and fashionable, she'd lose her distinctiveness among other female colleagues. This current image might be more appealing to Li Yan, and at home, she could have a different look just for him. This made Li Yan both sweat and feel touched.

Over time, the fleeting rumor between him and Hai Fu had faded from people's minds. He seldom came over, and only a few familiar friends greeted him.

When he arrived at Hai Fu's office, he saw her busy with a serious expression.

"General Manager Hai, you wanted to see me?"

"You're here..." Hai Fu pointed to a chair, asking him to sit down, then looked for a printed document and handed it to him, "Take a look first!"

Li Yan actually hadn't been neglecting the security team like before. Whenever he started work, he'd first drop by to get a sense of the day's situation. Earlier, when he stopped by, he hadn't noticed anything unusual with the security team. So, when he got the document, he was quite curious.

Looking at it closely, he couldn't help but frown.

"Finished reading? What do you think?" Hai Fu set down her other work, adjusted her glasses, and looked at Li Yan.

"Chen Aiyuan is lying."

"Jiang Lele also says he's lying, but there's no evidence."

The document discussed an employee from the planning department, Jiang Lele, allegedly stealing company project plans to sell to a competitor. The issue was whether to handle it internally or refer it to the judiciary. One of the pieces of evidence against Jiang Lele was that she returned to the planning department alone one night. Jiang Lele claimed the planning department director, Chen Aiyuan, asked her to come back and copy something. The security team's records, as noted by Li Yan, also indicated it was Chen Aiyuan who asked Jiang Lele to return. But now Chen Aiyuan flatly denied it, saying he never asked Jiang Lele to return for copying, nor did he say so to Li Yan, even claiming Jiang Lele bribed the security team to falsify records.

"Isn't it obvious? If Jiang Lele wanted to steal information, doing it during work hours would be safer than deliberately returning at night; she'd also need a key. Besides, if she truly bribed the security team, would she need to forge records? She could just delete that segment or delete the footage from that night, claiming a malfunction, and the evidence would be gone." Li Yan handed the document back, "Hmph, this forgery is too obvious."

Hai Fu wasn't as relaxed: "Yes, it's very fake, and I believe so too, especially in you. But... when it comes to getting strict and taking it to court, it's all about evidence. Jiang Lele can't prove Chen Aiyuan gave her the directive, and you can't prove Chen Aiyuan acknowledged that on the day."

Li Yan had nothing to say; there definitely wouldn't be evidence. Who would record a normal task assigned by a superior for proof? Not just Jiang Lele—if Ye Jiahong gave him notice, he wouldn't have any proof either.

Like the day Wen Qianyi took leave, it was communicated through Ye Jiahong. If those three items weren't what Wen Qianyi left, but a trap by Ye Jiahong, Li Yan wouldn't have any evidence either.

And when he, as deputy head of security, called Chen Aiyuan for confirmation, it was just a phone call. Usually, it would suffice, but who records phone calls? Even if Hai Fu called for inquiry, it would just be a call—recording wouldn't be possible.

"Scapegoat..."

After speaking, Li Yan smiled, "It seems like Chen Aiyuan has surely played this trick before, just that it might have been better concealed and not exposed. This time, it's likely there's no going back. Even without evidence, can the company still keep him?"

Hai Fu was not as relaxed, "You're right, Jiang Lele is just a scapegoat. Chen Aiyuan vehemently denies it, and neither your words nor Jiang Lele's can serve as evidence. Even if the company has suspicions, without direct evidence, they can't just fire him. But I believe he has already prepared a way out, and since things have come to this, he will leave sooner or later. The problem is... we can't do anything about him, and the loss from this incident alone isn't small, not to mention we don't know how much we've lost before."

Li Yan nodded, "If we didn't know, it would be fine. The most infuriating thing is knowing that he's pulling strings, yet because he arranged for a scapegoat, we can't do anything against him. But we can use his reputation to shut him out, spread the news about his treachery, and see which other company dares to take him."

Hai Fu shook her head, "It's useless. Without detailed information, it's just verbal slander. Providing detailed disclosures would involve other companies, which would certainly deny it and support Chen Aiyuan, including those who have colluded with him before. Even if they know, they might not necessarily use Chen Aiyuan, but for the sake of interests, they would still support him. One party against many, and by then, the public opinion would turn against our company. Even uncovering him wouldn't help the company's reputation; instead, it would raise suspicions about us."

Li Yan thought about it and saw the point. A company against an individual, no matter the form, ends up aiding the individual. As for Chen Aiyuan, he has already planned his retreat; someone like him wouldn't care about reputation. Conversely, like taking kickbacks, people like him may be fewer, but not unique. As long as he has the ability, lies low for a while, someone will still use him.

"If it's all useless, then why did you call me here?"

Hai Fu shot him a glance, "You're involved too. If this blows up, Chen Aiyuan can counter-sue for you and Jiang Lele conspiring to frame him! What good is my belief in you? The law only believes in evidence. Moreover, even internally, there might be a larger group of people who believe you two ganged up to frame Chen Aiyuan. Otherwise, with his director position, generous benefits, salary, and reputation, why would he need to do such a thing? It's different with you guys..."

Li Yan couldn't help but curse and laugh, "Come on, isn't this prejudice? Does it mean that as a small employee, I look like a betrayer?"

Hai Fu found it a bit amusing, "In fact, neither your reputation nor Jiang Lele's compares to Chen Aiyuan's, and you don't have a good reputation. For instance, if I were to punish you, do you think others would believe it's without reason? They'd surely think you wronged the company. That's the influence of image and reputation..."

"Where is Jiang Lele? I want to talk to her and understand more."

Before Li Yan spoke, he suddenly stood up, and Hai Fu was slightly surprised, thinking he was about to do something; they've only just started work, what if someone came by... she was just thinking the door wasn't locked, but then she heard him solemnly say something else, making her silently curse; this guy was deliberately messing with people.

...

Jiang Lele was in the guest room of the administration department.

Apparently, the company had known about this issue for a while, but it was only officially addressed today. Hai Fu summoned her for questioning, and then let her rest for a bit in the guest room.

Even though it's work hours now, being anywhere in the company, Jiang Lele felt a bit like she was under soft confinement. At this moment, she deeply regretted it, but there's no medicine for regret in the world. One couldn't blame her for being too naive; Chen Aiyuan was too cunning, usually disguised too well. Who could have thought a sudden urgent task from the boss was a trap?

The door opened, and Jiang Lele stood up abruptly, now a bit worried if the company was handing her over to public security.

Seeing that it was Li Yan who entered, she was a bit surprised.

"It's you?" She then recalled what she had told him on the phone before, "What are you doing here? To laugh at me?"

Li Yan sat down and lit a cigarette, "Do you find yourself funny now, Milking Girl? Do I have the mood to laugh at you? Just now CEO Hai said, your director Chen accused me and you of colluding to frame him!"

Jiang Lele felt a bit sheepish, "So... did I involve you? Sorry."

"You're just a pawn. Can't blame you, I'm the deputy security captain; if it wasn't you, whoever else Chen Aiyuan found would still have involved me."

Jiang Lele sat down next to him frustratedly, then frowned and said, "Could you stop smoking? We both are now under soft confinement! This already feels like a cage, and the smoke makes me even more uncomfortable."

Soft confinement? A cage? Li Yan hadn't thought she saw it that way, so he put out the cigarette. "It's not that serious. The company probably kept you here because if you went back, you wouldn't be focused on work. If someone asked, you might spill the beans, potentially affecting other colleagues in the planning department. It's also convenient to get your side of the story anytime; after all, you can escape as a monk but not the temple, right? There's no need to confine you."

Hearing him say this, Jiang Lele felt slightly better.

"Tell me, how did Chen Aiyuan set you up as a scapegoat? Was it for love? For money?"

(Thanks to the brothers who tipped yesterday: Small Two B, dongmin8061, Nie Ruo, CP Pampas, Graceful in Moonlight, A Kind of Love Called Breakup, Real. Talkative, Reader 100505081224547, ╃伤箺憊篍╃, Proud Jelly 123, Night々Spirit) (To be continued, to know how the story progresses, please log in to www.qidian.com, for more chapters, support the author, support legit reading!)