"Can you stop?" Ling Chuse asked angrily. "You weren't doing too well to begin with, but ever since you hired your bodyguard, you've done nothing but cause trouble."
"But Dad, we can control him, and we are his employers. We can..."
"Stop! You can go after him if you really believe that this is the best decision," Ling Chuse sighed. "But remember this, I will not bail you out anymore. If anything goes wrong and you end up causing trouble while finding or convincing him to be your slave, neither I nor the family will shield you. We will discard you," he said in a harsh tone.
...
Back in Yan Yuiling's office, Yi watched Yan Yuiling lay her head on the table without moving. She had been sitting there for about 10 minutes without doing anything.
Yi knew that it had to do something with Ding Feng but wasn't quite sure what he should say. Human interaction wasn't that easy after all.
Yan Yuiling, meanwhile, felt stressed. With someone like Ding Feng on her bad side, she was afraid that he would use his father's influence to cause trouble for her relatively small company.
Playing through different scenarios in her head, she felt like if Ding Feng decided to go after her company, there wasn't much she could do.
Of course she could always turn back to come to Ding Feng and apologize, but that was out of the question. If it came to it, she was prepared to give up the company and thought about her future if that were to happen. For now, all she could do was fight to the end.
"Ms. Yan?" Her secretary put her head through the door. "Ms. Yan, there you are. The weekly meeting is about to begin; please hurry," she said and pulled her head back, feeling some guilt for letting Ding Feng even come into the office.
Yan Yuiling got up in shock and walked towards the meeting room, followed by Yi. For now she needed to keep going. The busy day wouldn't wait for her.
Arriving at the busy room, multiple managers and team leaders looked up as they saw Yan Yuiling walking in.
The turmoil caused by Ding Feng, visible in their minds, made them come to the meeting with a different attitude than usual. Normally, they would comply with most of Yan Yuiling's wishes, believing in her business strategy, but today it was different.
The meeting started off normally, with a discussion of present and future projects, but suddenly the vice head of the company spoke up.
"Ms. Yan, what happened today? Why did you throw out young master Ding Feng from the Ding family?" he asked.
"That was a personal matter; it has nothing to do with the company," Yan Yuiling replied.
"Ms. Yan, you know who young master Ding is, right? Even if it was personal, treating someone like Ding Feng with disrespect could put everyone in this company in danger."
"What happened did already take place. What can I do about it?" Yan Yuiling asked angrily. Nobody knew what happened yet it already seemed they were on Ding Feng's side.
"Ms. Yan, we already had a meeting without you today regarding this topic. We came to the conclusion it would be best if you apologized," the vice president said.
Raising her eyebrow Yan Yuiling was about to respond, but the vice president continued to speak. "And to leave no grievances behind and please the young master, you should also fire the person responsible. Fire your bodyguard and apologize; that should be enough," he finished his words.
The room turned quiet as everyone waited for Yan Yuiling's reaction. Looking at the faces of the managers and team leaders, Yan Yuiling's face turned grim.
No one but the vice president could look her in the eyes, but everyone seemed to be on board with his words. It seemed like one single event was enough for her employees to turn on her.
"I won't apologize, and I won't fire him. Ding Feng deserved this treatment, and I can't go back now. I understand your concerns and, as always, try to make the best decisions for our company, but this one time I simply can't do that. If you are concerned about your future and want to leave, you can resign by tomorrow. But I would appreciate it if you continued to trust me like you did before. We worked together to build this company from the ground up, so I would appreciate that now, as tough times have come, you stay by my side to fight," she said. In the end that was all she could do. She knew that a lot of people might resign, fearing for the future of the company, but Yan Yuiling hoped for the best.
The meeting concluded, and Yan Yuiling returned to her office, continuing to work as hard as ever.
Yi, who witnessed the situation, was quite shocked. This situation felt like something similar that took place quite often in his world. Rejecting the young master of a mighty clan spells disaster for the whole family, just on the company scale.
Just as he was about to say something, Yan Yuiling's newly bought cellphone rang.
Looking at the display, it was her mother calling. Yan Yuiling took the call, preparing for more arguing.
After about 30 minutes the call concluded, and Yan Yuiling was as exhausted as ever. 30 minutes of arguing with her mother, who wanted her to marry Ding Feng from the very start. Now, more than ever, she felt truly hurt.
"Yuiling," Yi finally spoke. "Don't forget, even with everyone turning against you, I am your bodyguard, and I will protect you. If you want to, I can kill Ding Feng right now."
Yuiling turned around in surprise, as she totally forgot the presence of Yi, who had probably heard the entire call.
"That's it!" She suddenly shouted out loud in excitement. A new idea popped up in her mind, and it was all thanks to Yi.
"What? Should I kill him?" Yi asked in surprise at the sudden mood shift.
"No, no need for that," she said, surprised that Yi would just offer to kill people for her. "I will tell you about my plan tomorrow. First, I need you to stay silent. My new idea needs to be planned out," Yan Yuiling said, finally somewhat at ease and excited for the future.
idea needs to be planned out," Yan Yuiling said, finally somewhat at ease and excited for the future.