"It's alright, I have a few ideas, but I'm not particularly satisfied with any of them."
......
"Xiao Li, I've finished eating. I'm going back to the company now."
The recording continued until she left the cafeteria and returned to the company. Along the way, she encountered acquaintances who greeted her. Then she arrived at a relatively quiet place, where the occasional sound of typing on a keyboard and mouse could be heard.
There was a long blank space after that. Zhou Li guessed that Jiang Jianhuan had accidentally bumped into the little bear's switch, and the recording continued until the battery died.
Just as she was wondering, she saw Jiang Jianhuan come out and bend down to lower the sleeves that were rolled up at his wrists.
"Sister!" Zhou Li called out impatiently, waving the little bear in her hand at her.
"Be careful next time, don't touch it."
"What's wrong?" Jiang Jianhuan followed her gaze to her hand.
“You accidentally bumped into it and recorded some random stuff.” Zhou Li played the recording back to her. In the noisy shopping mall, the moment Fang Xiaoli’s voice came out, Jiang Jianhuan’s face froze, and everything around them fell silent.
She listened intently to the recording, her heart pounding in her chest, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
I didn't even dare to breathe too hard, for fear that this was just an illusion.
After hearing herself mention the sun and the sea level, Jiang Jianhuan's tense nerves slowly relaxed. She loosened her fingers, feeling a slight sting. Her palms were already marked with red welts.
"Lili... how do I transfer this recording to my phone and computer?"
Zhou Li was frightened by her appearance, but still told her everything in detail.
"Just connect it to the computer port with a data cable."
"That's great!" Jiang Jianhuan gradually came to his senses, his eyes instantly filled with immense joy, and he couldn't help but hug her and kiss her hard on the cheek.
"Lili, your sister loves you!"
“I love you too,” Zhou Li said, stunned.
The two went home separately, and Jiang Jianhuan almost couldn't wait to copy the recording as a backup and listen to it carefully again.
Once she made sure their conversation was clear, she had never found the weekend so difficult to endure.
On Monday, as soon as she got to work, Jiang Jianhuan went to see Jiang Yuan. After listening to her story, Jiang Yuan looked serious and dialed the internal line to call Fang Xiaoli in. When Fang Xiaoli saw Jiang Jianhuan inside, she immediately panicked.
"Director, what can I do for you?" Fang Xiaoli forced herself to remain calm and asked with a composed expression. Jiang Yuan placed her fingers interlaced on the table and nodded towards Jiang Jianhuan with her chin.
"It's like this, there was a plagiarism dispute regarding your entry last week, but since there was no evidence at the time, I couldn't handle it."
Jiang Yuan spoke in a steady voice, her words clear and slow, as if slowly torturing Fang Xiaoli's heart. Her face had already turned pale at a visible speed.
"Now Jiang Jianhuan has found enough evidence to prove that the idea belongs to her, and she wants to confront you face to face."
As these words fell, disbelief appeared in Fang Xiaoli's eyes. She gritted her teeth and resisted to the very last moment.
"Really? Then where is the evidence?"
Jiang Jianhuan pressed the record switch. After a chaotic intro, Fang Xiaoli heard her own voice and stared at her in disbelief.
"you!--"
"How did you get this?!"
Jiang Jianhuan breathed a slight sigh of relief. She had been worried that Fang Xiaoli would deny everything, which would inevitably cause more trouble. But now, judging from her reaction, the crime was confirmed.
She said calmly.
“I accidentally touched the light switch during that meal. Oh, right—” She waved the little bear hanging on her phone in front of her eyes.
"This is a recording device. A friend gave it to me so I could record my inspirations, fearing I might miss them."
"Thanks to this thing she gave me, the truth of the matter was revealed by a twist of fate."
Fang Xiaoli's face was ashen, and she looked utterly dejected, as if all hope was lost. Jiang Yuan's eyes flashed with understanding, and she nodded to Jiang Jianhuan.
"You can go out now. I want to talk to her alone."
Jiang Jianhuan stepped out, closed the door, leaned against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief, but felt a desolate emptiness in her heart. She composed herself and returned to her seat.
About half an hour later, Fang Xiaoli came out with red eyes. Most people knew that the two of them had entered Jiang Yuan's office early in the morning, and combined with the recent events, they instinctively started to speculate.
Seeing her like this, they couldn't help but exchange a glance, as if they had discovered something extraordinary.
Subsequent developments completely confirmed everyone's suspicions.
Fang Xiaoli began to tidy up her things, and the desk gradually became clean and empty, making it look like she was about to resign on the spot.
Xie Shuang and Zhou Ran immediately surrounded them.
"What's wrong? Xiao Li, what happened?!" The two were surprised and uncertain, glancing at Jiang Jianhuan with both open and covert eyes, but she seemed oblivious to everything, focusing on her own business.
Fang Xiaoli shook her head, not daring to meet their gaze, and quickened her movements, as if she couldn't wait to leave.
Before they could ask any more questions, the door to Jiang Yuan's office had already been opened. She stood there, dressed in trousers and high heels, exuding an imposing aura.
"Put aside what you're doing for now and let's have a meeting."
The office staff exchanged glances, but still picked up their notebooks and followed Jiang Yuan inside as instructed. Before closing the door, they couldn't help but peek out through the frosted glass. Fang Xiaoli was there alone, still engrossed in packing her personal belongings.
"I mainly want to talk about one thing today." Jiang Yuan opened her phone and placed it on the table. A female voice came from it, and everyone listened intently before realizing that it was a recording.
As they listened to the contents, many people's expressions changed. They frowned and hesitated to speak, with Xie Shuang and Zhou Ran being the most obvious examples, their faces showing undisguised embarrassment.