Chapter Fifty-Six: Sowing Discord

At first, she hadn’t thought there would be any significant trouble. At worst, the Haihe Company might not meet expectations, and if that happened, she would simply return home and look for a new partner. Yet, inexplicably, upon hearing Fu Zhichen’s promise, it was as if she suddenly gained a powerful ally—a sturdy pillar of support at her back—leaving her with nothing but boundless reassurance.

For this trip, Fu Zhichen had already packed nearly everything she would need. As Pei Susu checked over the luggage, she couldn’t help but marvel at his meticulousness. With everything prepared, she thought she could now await their departure in peace. But suddenly, a phone call disrupted her rhythm.

“President Pei, have you seen the news just now?”

Pei Susu frowned at the question. “I haven’t had a chance yet. Can you give me a summary of what happened?”

There was a note of severity and urgency in the other’s voice, and since it had already made the news, it was clearly no trivial matter. As she listened, she opened her laptop and searched for the latest headlines. Soon enough, she found the incident her employee referred to.

“Someone ended up in the emergency room after using our product? Have we ruled out any other points of contact?” Pei Susu calmly inquired.

“Not yet… Our people are negotiating, but the other side contacted the media first. We only learned about this through the news report.”

Who, after suffering a product-related injury and falling unconscious, would make their first move to contact the media?

“Investigate our competitor companies. I suspect this is their doing,” Pei Susu instructed methodically. “Online meeting in five minutes. Let’s resolve this before I can leave for Wanjiang with peace of mind.”

Her steady tone helped ease the anxiety of her employee on the other end of the line. “Understood, President Pei. I’ll make arrangements right away.”

Fu Zhichen had been listening nearby, his demeanor unperturbed. When Pei Susu hung up, she couldn’t help but feel a bit exasperated. His own company was in trouble, yet he seemed entirely unconcerned.

“President Fu, the company might be in for some real trouble this time. Aren’t you going to call a meeting to reassure everyone?”

Seeing her smile at him, Fu Zhichen reached out and gently played with a strand of her hair.

“Isn’t my President Pei here to handle it for me?”

My President Pei…

Such simple words, yet as they lingered between his lips and teeth, they somehow took on a hint of intimacy.

Pei Susu stood up with her laptop, coughing lightly. “I’ll head back to my room. This isn’t a major issue—it’s obvious someone’s behind this. But I still need to reassure the employees.”

Such petty business tactics were nothing she took seriously. Although the news was trending online, it was clear that the comments were mostly from paid posters; the discussion wasn’t nearly as intense as it appeared, nor was the spread particularly wide. Otherwise, she would have returned to the office immediately, even if it meant working overtime.

“All right, then. Go ahead, big sister,” Fu Zhichen said, his eyes fixed on her. “I’ll go cut some fruit for you.”

Pei Susu didn’t catch the second half of his sentence, hurrying upstairs with her laptop. Fu Zhichen’s study was certainly not an ideal place—he often held meetings there with the Fu Group, and if anyone recognized the setting, their secret would be out. The bedroom, on the other hand, while decorated in a similar style, wouldn’t give anything away at a glance.

She opened the video conference, and her team had already begun investigating as she’d instructed. Media attention had cooled somewhat, so tension among the staff was less than she’d expected.

“Once you’ve finished checking other points of contact, I want a clarification post within twelve hours. We need to snuff this frame-up out before it gains ground.”

This product line’s quality control had been personally overseen by Pei Susu. There was no way such an incident could occur; she was sure of it, and she trusted her team.

After assigning a few more details, Pei Susu rubbed the corner of her eye. The long hours had left her weary, so she didn’t notice the slender, elegant hand bearing a plate that had already appeared in her camera’s frame.

“The fruit is ready.”

Fu Zhichen set the plate down and was about to sit on the bed when a flurry of question marks rolled through the video chat. Zhou Haoyue even coughed several times as if something was stuck in his throat.

The sudden sound snapped Pei Susu to attention. She turned to see that Fu Zhichen’s figure had already appeared halfway in the camera and hurriedly switched off both the camera and the microphone.

“I’m in a meeting—with the video on,” she said, half exasperated, half amused, as she pushed his hand away. “Did you do that on purpose?”

Though Fu Zhichen could be a bit cunning at times, this clearly wasn’t one of those moments.

“I didn’t notice the camera,” Fu Zhichen replied blandly, though there was a trace of grievance in his eyes. “Don’t you trust me?”

Seeing his expression, Pei Susu’s heart softened unexpectedly and she sighed. Faced with his allure, even her prized judgment wavered, so she patiently reassured him before finally shooing him out of the bedroom. She switched her camera and mic back on.

The chat was still buzzing with gossip, no one noticing she had returned.

“I feel like that hand and voice just now seemed familiar…”

“Me too! And that person was already in the shot! Did anyone record or take a screenshot?”

“Come on, who would record this? We’re not creeps, secretly crushing on President Pei and recording her meetings…”

“…”

“Ahem.” Pei Susu cleared her throat, and the scrolling comments stopped dead.

She said with a half-smile, “Weren’t you all having a lively discussion? Is there some good news you can’t share with me?”

Zhou Haoyue couldn’t help but laugh into the mic. “Everyone’s just a bit curious about your significant other, President Pei. But I also feel like…”

He didn’t finish, as Pei Susu unceremoniously muted his mic. The other staff didn’t matter, but Zhou Haoyue occasionally met Fu Zhichen; if he was bold and imaginative enough, he might just guess Fu Zhichen’s true identity.

No way could she let him finish.

“Is all the work for tonight finished? If you have time to gossip about my private life, you’d be better off solving the crisis that’s making us work overtime.”

She had a point, and the employees quickly reined in their curiosity. Zhou Haoyue even sent her a private message:

Zhou Haoyue: [You’re not mad, are you? I was just a little curious, but I didn’t really mean to pry into your personal life.]