Chapter 17 Pa''s Afternoon Tea
"Mr. Zhou, I want to tell you something, but... I don''t know if it is appropriate to say it or not." Pa
aroused Ryan''s interest, and before Ryan got a chance to speak, she continued saying,"I know that Ye
ispetent and she has helped you a lot in all these years, but she has also brought many troubles to
you and thepany. For instance, she knows that you want to gain more profit from the Shining
Company''s case, but she still took the liberty to change the wine party into a press conference.
Naturally now you will make a lot less money than you were hoping for.
Pa saw that Ryan wasn''t too happy with her words but she still went on to add,"You''re the boss of
thispany. She gets her sry from you but she keeps helping the client''spany save more
money. Although she works here, she is only seen helping otherpanies. You''d better rethink on
your decision to employ her."
While listening to Pa''s words, Ryan recollected Autumn''s performance in thepany over the
years.
In all these few years, Autumn hadpleted several big cases on her own. She was highly praised by
all the clientpanies. Ryan, who was her boss, seemed to be a nobody in front of her.
Pa continued saying,"Mr. Zhou, I''ve heard that... she secretly takes bribe from the clients. She
seems to work for you, but in fact, she takes a lot of advantage of her position to feather her nest."
"It''s impossible!" Ryan suddenly raised his head. He didn''t believe that Autumn was such a person.
"I''ve seen how Ye grows into an excellent worker in thispany over these years. She is absolutely
not that kind of a person," he said.
"Mr. Zhou, are you sure about that?" Pa was certain that Ryan didn''t trust Autumn any longer. So, as
long as Ryan remained suspicious of Autumn''s behaviour, she might have a chance to get promoted
and rece her. "Do you think that she is still the same person you hired years back? I''ve heard that
her grandmother is seriously ill, so she just made forgivable mistakes of epting others'' money,
right?"
"What do you want to say?" Ryan couldn''t help but frown. Although he was unwilling to believe that
Autumn could change so much, he couldn''t find any reason to retort Pa.
What''s more, he just got to know that Autumn''s grandmother was seriously ill, so she definitely was in
need of more money.
"Mr. Zhou, please know that if you continue putting Ye in such an important position and allow her do
everything without your authorisation, she may not even treat you as her boss anymore." Pa smiled
and said,"I''ve heard that... ourpany is going to select a nning director. I want to remind you that
you shouldn''t appoint Ye to this position. Otherwise, you will have to regret about it in the future."
Pa believed that she could be promoted as the nning director if Autumn lost her chance to
Ryan frowned and said,"You can leave now. When Yees back, ask her toe and see me in my
office."
"Okay." Pa thought that she shouldn''t be so impatient now. She could surely get the chance once
Ryan was suspicious of Autumn.
Pa came out of Ryan''s office in a good mood. She happened to see Autumn who just got back from
the Shining Company. She walked up to her and said,"Look. Our hero is back. I''ve heard that you
finally got Shining Company''s case. Congrattions."
"Thank you." Autumn realised that Pa was only trying to mock her but she pretended to not see
through her intentions.
"You''re wee." Pa sneered and said,"Oh, right. Mr. Zhou wants to see you in his office."
Autumn slightly frowned. On seeing Pa look so happy, Autumn knew that something was amiss.
Before going back to her own office, Autumn went on to see Ryan. Ryan was sitting at the tea table,
making tea. He greeted Autumn when he saw her. "Ye, you''re back. Come over here and have a seat.
Have a sip of the tea that I just made."
Autumn had no interest in drinking tea. So she tly asked Ryan who was in front of her,"Mr. Zhou, you
want to see me? Is there anything you want me to do?"
"Not much. Just one trivial thing." Ryan slightly smiled and said,"You just got the Shining Company''s
case, and I know you have worked really hard for it, so to celebrate the sess, I want to invite you all
for dinner tonight. What do you think?"
"Great." Autumn slightly nodded. "But I won''t be able toe. You can go ahead with otherdies of
ourpany and have fun. I have something important to do tonight..."
Ryan was pouring the tea. When he heard Autumn, he paused for a while and then continued. He
smiled and said,"You should alsoe out with us. You''ve made the biggest contribution to the Shining
Company''s case. What''s more... I also have an important thing to announce tonight."
"But..." Autumn was in a dilemma.
"Don''t turn me down this time. It''s settled then. Also when you go out, can you tell others about the
dinner too?" Ryan was blunt in his tone. He didn''t give Autumn any chance to say No.
Autumn frowned and walked out of his office. She didn''t notice that Ryan kept staring at her while she
was walking out of the room.
After she came out, Autumn told Le that Ryan had invited all of them for dinner tonight. Autumn knew
that Le was efficient enough to inform everyone at office about the dinner in less than half an hour''s
time.
"Ye, we''ve all benefitted from you this time." Although Le seemed to please Autumn but she only said
those words out of jealously.
Autumn doubtfully looked at Le and then noticed the smile on her face. She was confused whether
she could trust Le for her word or not.
Thedies outside were excited about the dinner. Autumn then walked towards her office to call
Charles. On her way, she saw Pa look at her with a forced smile the moment she turned her head.
She was confused.
When she called Charles, someone else answered the phone. It was David on the phone. David
respectfully greeted her as ''Mrs. Lu''.
In the beginning, Autumn was a bit surprised to hear David greet her in this manner. But David had
been working for Charles for a long time. So, naturally he must have been aware of her identity. The
thought of David''s proximity to Charles eased her confusion.
"David, is Mr. Lu there?" asked Autumn.
"Mr. Lu..." David took a quick look at Charles who was in a meeting in the conference room. He then
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spoke,"He is in a meeting right now and I''m afraid that the meeting will take some more time. If you
have anything important to say, you can leave a message. I will tell him as soon as he finishes the
meeting."
"Nothing important. . .." Autumn then stood up, stretched and looked at the busy street outside the
window. "I just want to tell him that Mr. Zhou is taking us out for dinner tonight. I didn''t get a chance to
refuse, so I won''t be able to get back home early and prepare dinner for him."
"Okay. I will tell him once hees out from the meeting." David thought in his head, ''no wonder Mr.
Lu quickly leaves the office these days after he goes off work, someone waits for him at home.
He even makes Mrs. Lu personally cook for him. He is such a bossy man.''
"Mrs. Lu..." After Autumn finished talking to David, she was about to hang up. But she heard David
speak again,"Could you please tell me where you are going for dinner? If Mr. Lu asks me about itter,
I can tell him."
Autumn told him the address and then hung up the phone.
Since they had just bagged the Shining Company''s case and they were all going to have dinner
together in the evening, the atmosphere in the office was more rxed than usual. Pa bought her
colleagues the afternoon tea. She even asked Le to bring one for Autumn.
"Ye, Pa bought this for you." Le smilingly put the food on Autumn''s desk. Autumn smiled and
thanked Le, but she didn''t intend to eat it.
She was unwilling to eat Pa''s food.
Autumn looked up at Le and asked,"Anything else?"
Le got close to Autumn and mysteriously said,"Ye, do you know why Pa is so nice to buy us the
afternoon tea today?"