089: If it costs me my life, so be it—do as you please!

Forget it. Letting him misunderstand her like this was fine.

It would make it easier to end things with him.

In any case, nothing could ever happen between them.

Better to let someone else have him.

Xiao Qi drew a breath and lifted her eyes to him. "Yes. I'd rather look for Yi Yang than look for you, because he is better than—"

"Get out."

The two words came out like a roar.

Xiao Qi bit down hard on her lower lip and turned to leave.

Yi Chen's handsome face darkened with a cold, sinister look. He wanted nothing more than to storm out right now and strangle the person who had driven him into such a fury.

His phone rang. He tugged at his tie and answered. On the other end, Lin Baisen's deep voice sounded heavy and stern. "What do you plan to say to me about the Sapphire matter?"

Yi Chen walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, his gaze dark. "Dad, the Sapphire matter was someone trying to frame Xi Yang. She's my girlfriend, so I have to help clear her name."

"I don't care whether it's a frame-up or not. You kept her at TC and let the whole company gossip about her being in your office every day. I accepted the fact that she was your girlfriend, but you also promised me that her relationship with you would not be exposed. Is this how you keep your word?"

Yi Chen said calmly, "It was precisely because no one knew she was my girlfriend that so many people attacked her. I don't want to betray your trust, so I never said at the company that she was my girlfriend. And Xi Yang never complained once. As a man, when she is being attacked by so many people, do you think I should just stand by and let her be bullied alone?"

Lin Baisen did not answer at once.

After a brief silence, Lin Baisen said in a low voice, "A girl like that was never someone you should have been with in the first place. If you continue to ignore all restraint, if you even disregard the company for her, then I will not stand by and do nothing anymore."

Yi Chen very much wanted to say that she was the only person he had ever loved, the one he had loved for so many years, the one he could not lose...

But even if he said it, his father would probably remain unmoved.

After all, the Sapphire had indeed been taken by Xi Yang, and the evidence was conclusive. He could only take a step back. "I'll transfer her to another department. Starting today, I guarantee she won't run afoul of a single thing in the company."

Since his son had already yielded, Lin Baisen naturally would not press him any further. "Since you've realized where the problem lies, I won't make things difficult for the two of you anymore. But I still have to remind you: that girl is not suitable for you."

"Whether she's suitable or not, I know for myself. Dad, I still have work to do."

The call ended.

Yi Chen looked out at the night beyond the glass, a thick shadow of gloom settling between his brows.

Xu Lu went out to the back garden and, after looking around, took out her phone and called. "Why did you tell Baisen about the Sapphire matter? I promised Yi Yang I wouldn't make things difficult for Yi Chen anymore."

"Sis, if I don't tell my brother-in-law, he would find out sooner or later anyway," Xu Hui said. "Yi Chen insisted on throwing himself into the pit. Besides, if we don't bring Yi Chen down, Yi Yang will never have a chance to rise. I'm doing this for Yi Yang's sake too."

Xu Lu said nothing more. It was true. If Lin Yi Chen remained seated in the CEO's chair, then Yi Yang would never have a chance to stand out at TC.

Back in her room, Xiao Qi finished her shower and lazily perched on the windowsill to look at the moon.

"Tonight's moonlight is so faint."

Little White lifted its cat-like eyes and looked at the moon as well. "Xiao Qi, are you going to work tomorrow or not?"

"The talk completely fell apart, so of course I'm not going."

With that, she immediately pulled out her phone and opened the calculator, tapping away at it. No one knew exactly what she was calculating.

Little White was curious and jumped onto her to take a look. "Xiao Qi, what are you calculating?"

"My salary," Xiao Qi said, juggling three things at once. While she calculated, she also thought things over, answering Little White without stopping. "Lin Yi Chen said the salary he was giving me was the highest in the industry, which would be three times what I make delivering takeout. So if I calculate it that way, my monthly salary..."

"They're paying you such a high salary, and if you leave, aren't you being unfair to the money?"

In truth, she thought so too.

Xiao Qi tipped her head back and stared at the ceiling. "But we've already argued ourselves into a dead end. If I go back to work at the company, wouldn't that make me look like I have no dignity at all?"

"What is dignity? Can it be eaten? Can it be spent? Can it be looked at like a handsome man?" Little White lectured her with the solemn air of an old white-browed hermit. "Which is more important, that bit of dignity of yours, or enjoying the wonderful life this planet has to offer?"

Xiao Qi frowned and thought about it. "It seems like money is more important."

"Exactly. Don't leave just because that Joanna provoked you with a few words. You don't even have that much tolerance, and you're still supposed to be an alien? Since you're an alien, you have to stay at TC and fight those who attack you to the very end."

Xiao Qi tugged at her fingertips again and bit her lip. "Actually, my leaving isn't entirely because of Joanna. Even without Joanna, even without the Sapphire, you know our relationship is fake. I'm not really Ye Xi Yang, so the two of us were always going to part sooner or later. And I'm afraid that the longer it drags on, the harder it will be for me to let go of him. So it's better to leave sooner rather than later."

Xiao Qi came to the CEO's office first thing in the morning, ready to hand in her resignation letter. Before she could even submit it, President Lin did not even look at her before saying, "Pack your things and go to the Project Development Department."

"Huh?"

At the words, Xiao Qi looked blankly at him, then remembered. "Isn't the Project Development Department Yi Yang's department? Why do I have to go there?"

"Because I transferred you there," Yi Chen said, lifting his eyes, his expression faint. "What? Do you have an objection?"

She had a very big objection.

Xiao Qi wanted to say: On what basis are you doing this? Am I the sort of person you take when you want and toss away when you don't? Who do you think you are?

Fine. He was the boss.

Xiao Qi said softly, "Mr. Lin, you're the boss, so whatever you decide, of course I'll follow. But look, I'm a person, not an object. You can't just throw me out whenever you please, right?"

After saying that, Xiao Qi felt as if she had been abandoned and cast aside.

Yi Chen glanced at her indifferently. "Do you know that you're not even as good as an object?"

"..."

Damn him. That was a personal attack the moment he opened his mouth.

So he was dumping her, was he? Fine, then dump her. She didn't care anyway.

She slapped her resignation letter onto the desk. "If you're going to go to all this trouble transferring me, then forget it. I quit. Sign it, and I'll leave right away."

Yi Chen did not even glance at the resignation letter. He said leisurely, "When you joined the company, you signed a labor contract with me for several years. If you keep throwing resignation letters at me, I'll dock your pay and make you work here for free for a long time."

"..."

Damn it, she'd forgotten all about that miserable contract.

Xiao Qi protested, "Even if you're transferring me to Yi Yang's department, shouldn't you at least have told me in advance? Telling me to pack up and leave like this is way too disrespectful, isn't it?"

"I don't respect you?" Yi Chen crossed his arms and looked down at her. "Didn't you say Yi Yang was better than me? Now I'm doing exactly what you wanted. What's the problem?"

"..."

When had she ever said Yi Yang was better than him?

As if he knew what she was thinking, Yi Chen said coolly, "Yesterday you said you'd rather look for him than look for me because he was better than I am."

"..."

She may have said something like that yesterday, but the part about "better" had not actually come out of her mouth, had it?

What she had meant to say was, "because he is easier to talk to than you are."

Ah, let it be a misunderstanding, then. Xiao Qi felt utterly exhausted.

"Yes. I will obey all instructions from the president."

With a spirit utterly beaten down, Xiao Qi turned and walked out.

"I haven't finished speaking, and you're already leaving?"

"..."

Xiao Qi turned back around, still in a state of collapse. "What else do you need from me, Mr. Lin?"

Yi Chen picked up his pen and signed documents. "Since you're going to Yi Yang's department, as long as you stop causing trouble, I'll raise your salary. Bonuses will be separate."

To be honest, it was Xiao Qi's defeated look just now that had amused him.

If he transferred her to Yi Yang's side and she became happy about it...

He would definitely give her a proper lesson.

As for why he had transferred Xi Yang to Yi Yang's department, it was because he was worried the people in the company would bully her.

After all, the Sapphire matter had already spread throughout the company.

At Yi Yang's side, Yi Yang would also be able to protect her.

But...

The moment Xiao Qi heard about the raise and the bonus, she immediately perked up. She rushed over and asked with a smiling face, "Mr. Lin, how much is the separate bonus?"

Her eyes practically glittered with greed as she looked at Yi Chen.

Yi Chen's face went dark. "Three times."

Wow. Triple.

Xiao Qi began counting on her fingers.

Seeing her like that, Yi Chen could not help but say, "Oh, right. Since you're going to Yi Yang's department today, you should settle the money you owe me today."

"..."

All the money in Xiao Qi's head instantly flew away.

She asked tremblingly, "How much do I owe you, Mr. Lin?"

President Lin thought for a moment, then quoted a long figure: "One hundred and one thousand, nine hundred and sixteen yuan and eighty fen."

"..."

Xiao Qi burst into tears. "Mr. Lin, did I borrow your family's ancestral gold or something? How can I owe you so much?"

Yi Chen: "..."

That last line, "How can I owe you so much," had been shouted with great force from the depths of her throat.

Yi Chen considered this, then nodded. "I just recalculated. You do owe me that much. Since you're my employee, I'll waive the change. Just give me one hundred thousand and it'll be fine. You know me; I've always been very easy to talk to."

"..."

Xiao Qi gave him a smile that was not quite a smile. "I owe you that much? How come I never knew that?"

Yi Chen listed it one by one. "You ate my meals for nearly a month, and they were all ordered from very expensive restaurants. There were also the expensive clothes I bought you before, as well as all the meals I took you out for. After giving you a discount on everything, I figured one hundred thousand would be enough."

"..."

Xiao Qi could no longer bear it.

Damn it, he had just said he would give her a threefold raise and a bonus on top of that. He had clearly been toying with her on purpose.

Besides, even adding all those things together, there was no way it came to one hundred thousand.

This was nothing but extortion. Could it be that he also ran a side business in organized crime?

Whatever he did, she refused to acknowledge the debt and refused to pay it. What was he going to do about it?

Xiao Qi folded her arms and said with great composure, "Mr. Lin, I really do want to pay you back, but I... don't have any money."

The look on her face said: no money, no life either. Do whatever you want.

The other party's expression remained calm. He nodded, took out a sheet of paper and a pen, and placed them in front of her. "Didn't I just say I'd raise your salary and make your bonus three times bigger? Write an IOU. You can pay me back later from your wages. I've always been easy to talk to, so I'll be generous and let you repay only three thousand a month. That should be no problem for you, right?"

"..."

As the saying goes, the older ginger is hotter.

How could Xiao Qi, an alien who had only lived twenty years, possibly outwit the great President Lin?