Substitute Bride to the Crippled Billionaire
Chapter 149: Amended - 149 Loss

Chapter 149: Amended: Chapter 149 Loss

Gu Xiaoxiao turned around, saw the person approaching, and chuckled bitterly: "Want some coffee?"

"Xiaoxiao?" Su Qingnuan’s smile vanished as she looked at Gu Xiaoxiao seriously. "What are you thinking about?"

Gu Xiaoxiao froze for a second, then realized—Su Qingnuan couldn’t have coffee.

She rarely made such mistakes unless she had something weighing on her mind.

Facing Su Qingnuan’s questioning gaze, Gu Xiaoxiao nervously shifted her eyes away and murmured: "Actually, it’s nothing... just..."

"Just what?" Su Qingnuan frowned. "Is there something the two of us can’t talk about?"

Gu Xiaoxiao sighed lightly and said helplessly: "Alright, you’ll find out sooner or later anyway."

She raised her head, looked at Su Qingnuan earnestly, and said solemnly: "The Fu family has terminated their contract with our company. The whole office is buzzing about it, claiming the three of us caused this loss. Manager Gao has already requested leave; everyone’s saying he’s looking for another job and running away."

"...Us causing it?" Su Qingnuan responded with amusement: "You believe that?"

"The facts are right there. I don’t have much choice but to believe it..." Gu Xiaoxiao said bitterly. "Who knows when Manager Huang might call us for a chat and fire us."

Fire us?

Su Qingnuan thought back to Fu Yihan’s attitude yesterday; it didn’t seem like he was blaming her.

"Don’t worry," Su Qingnuan reassured Gu Xiaoxiao by patting her shoulder, smiling gently. "No one’s going to fire us; just focus on doing your job."

Gu Xiaoxiao looked at her in surprise and asked doubtfully: "You’re that sure?"

"Well... not entirely sure," Su Qingnuan said with a smile. "This whole thing isn’t our fault to begin with. We finished what we were tasked with; as for the rest, it’s up to the higher-ups to decide."

"True," Gu Xiaoxiao sighed in relief and said humorously, "If we get fired, then so be it. Overthinking it doesn’t solve anything."

"Exactly," Su Qingnuan patted her shoulder again. "Let’s go—no need to overthink."

"Mm."

The two left the break room. Following Gu Xiaoxiao’s earlier words, Su Qingnuan noticed that many people were watching them.

Su Qingnuan raised an eyebrow slightly, leaned toward Gu Xiaoxiao’s ear, and whispered: "Weren’t you always comforting me, saying not to listen or look?"

Gu Xiaoxiao smiled and said: "Okay."

The two returned to their workstations, and Su Qingnuan picked up the unfinished work from before, ready to continue.

"Ring—"

The phone on the desk rang, and Su Qingnuan picked it up.

"Hello, this is the Tech Department."

"Su Qingnuan?"

A heavy voice came through the receiver. Su Qingnuan glanced at the caller ID in confusion: "I am. May I ask who’s calling?"

"Ha!"

A cold laugh, chilling like something crawling out from the depths of the earth.

Su Qingnuan furrowed her brows slightly. Just as she was about to speak, the person on the other end interrupted.

"Come to the boss’s office."

From that voice, Su Qingnuan could tell—it was Manager Huang.

After hanging up the call, Su Qingnuan quickly stood up and headed to the elevator.

Seeing this, Gu Xiaoxiao approached with her belongings and whispered: "What’s going on?"

"Manager Huang wants to see me. I’ll head up first."

"...Call me if anything happens."

Noticing the concern in Gu Xiaoxiao’s eyes, Su Qingnuan smiled softly and said: "Alright."

Entering the elevator, Su Qingnuan took out her phone, hesitating for a while before finally dialing A-Qi’s number.

The call was quickly connected.

"Young Madam?"

"A-Qi," Su Qingnuan gritted her teeth and asked softly, "Is Mr. Fu still at home?"

There was a pause on the other side before a response came: "Yes."

"Alright, thanks."

After speaking, she hung up.

A-Qi stared at the now black screen in frustration, then looked toward Fu Yihan.

Fu Yihan raised an eyebrow: "What did she say?"

"Just asked if you were home."

Fu Yihan’s lips curved slightly, a hint of amusement reaching his eyes: "Asking about me? Shouldn’t she focus on her work?"

A-Qi shook his head. "No idea."

For some reason, looking at his neutral expression, Fu Yihan suddenly found it much more pleasing.

"Let’s go. To the company."

A-Qi hesitated: "Right now? You still have a video meeting this afternoon..."

"I can do that from the company. Doesn’t matter."

Seeing the determination on Fu Yihan’s face, A-Qi didn’t attempt to dissuade him further.

...

Su Qingnuan walked confidently into Manager Huang’s office.

The person seated behind the desk exuded a chilly aura, clearly fuming.

Swallowing hard, Su Qingnuan approached.

"Manager Huang."

Manager Huang lifted his gaze, scrutinizing the upright figure standing before him, his brows tightly knitted.

"Su Qingnuan, you’ve heard about what happened the other day, haven’t you?"

Su Qingnuan paused momentarily and replied: "I fainted that day. I just came back to the office today, so I haven’t—"

"Haven’t?" Manager Huang sneered. "Because of you all, the company suffered heavy losses, forfeited a major contract. Do you understand?"

"...I understand."

Considering the Fu family’s scale, it undoubtedly involved a huge deal. However, Su Qingnuan hadn’t expected the Fu family to be the ones initiating the termination—especially since Fu Yihan had mentioned ending the collaboration just yesterday.

"As long as you understand." Manager Huang withdrew his gaze and said coldly: "This mistake will be noted under your names—one warning. I’ve already informed Manager Gao. You and Gu Xiaoxiao, tread carefully."

"...Understood."

Holding her penalty slip in hand, Su Qingnuan suddenly felt confused.

Not even a month into this job, and she was already in debt...

She still had some money saved up, but how would Xiaoxiao manage?

Ah...

Su Qingnuan tucked the slip away, dejectedly heading downstairs.

When she returned, various gazes turned her way—curious ones, gloating ones, and those eager for drama.

Ignoring them all, Su Qingnuan returned to her desk.

Soon after, Gu Xiaoxiao came over.

"How did it go? What did they say?"

"..."

Carefully, Su Qingnuan took out the slip and handed it to Gu Xiaoxiao.

"They won’t let us go, but..."

Looking at the penalty amount written on the slip, Gu Xiaoxiao suddenly fell silent.

After a long pause, she wailed: "Might as well have just fired me!"

One thousand dollars each.

For Su Qingnuan, the amount wasn’t much, but for Gu Xiaoxiao, it was a serious issue.

"Don’t panic. I haven’t paid mine yet," Su Qingnuan consoled her. "This incident really isn’t fair to us."

Gu Xiaoxiao’s eyes turned red: "It’s not even our fault! That damned Second Master—he has to make things difficult for us! Not only did he make you faint, but he also set us up!"

"Shh!" Su Qingnuan grabbed Gu Xiaoxiao’s hand and whispered: "Quiet down. Someone might overhear."

Gu Xiaoxiao paused, even stifling her sobbing.

Staring at the penalty slip, Su Qingnuan frowned: "Let’s take advantage of the lunch break later and go talk to Manager Huang."

"Will that work?" Gu Xiaoxiao asked anxiously.

Su Qingnuan gave her a wry smile: "Didn’t you just say you’d rather leave than pay this?"