Cheng Yuan's face darkened. He felt that Rong Ci was only acting this way because she was relying on her status to demand special treatment. "Secretary Rong, please correct your work attitude. Do you think this place is your home?!"
Rong Ci picked up her bag, her expression as indifferent as ever. "If you are dissatisfied, you can fire me right now."
"You—"
Cheng Yuan had recently accompanied Feng Tingshen to Country A, but he was well aware that Rong Ci had already submitted her resignation.
Even though he enjoyed Feng Tingshen's deep trust, the company was not his personal kingdom. He didn't have the authority to simply tell Rong Ci to get lost.
Furthermore, Rong Ci was very highly regarded by Old Mrs. Feng. If she went there to complain, even if he was certain Feng Tingshen would protect him, he still wouldn't come out of the situation ahead.
Rong Ci ignored him and walked right past him to leave.
Cheng Yuan's face turned green with rage as he stomped out of the Secretary Department.
Jiang Zhe noticed his foul expression and asked, "What happened?"
Cheng Yuan explained the situation to him.
Jiang Zhe was genuinely surprised. Usually, he was the one who had more contact with Rong Ci, and he had a decent understanding of her personality.
He couldn't help but say, "That doesn't sound like something Rong Ci would do. Could there be some kind of misunderstanding?"
"There's no misunderstanding. That's exactly how it went. In my opinion, Rong Ci is just using her status to act privileged. She isn't nearly as good as you usually claim."
Jiang Zhe paused. "Maybe it's because she's resigning and has started to stop caring?"
Yet, Rong Ci had been quite diligent in her work lately, appearing no different than usual.
Just then, Feng Tingshen walked over from a distance. "What's going on?"
"It's Secretary Rong," Cheng Yuan reported. "She left work before finishing her tasks."
"If you're dissatisfied, just follow the proper procedures to fire her."
It was clear that Feng Tingshen didn't care about the matter at all.
Jiang Zhe and Cheng Yuan were both stunned upon hearing this. It wasn't that they found Feng Tingshen's indifference toward Rong Ci surprising, but rather the implication of his words. He seemed to have no idea that Rong Ci had already submitted her resignation.
But wasn't her resignation his idea in the first place?
Had they gotten it wrong?
Just as they were about to speak, Feng Tingshen's phone rang.
It was a call from Lin Wu.
Feng Tingshen didn't look at them again. He headed toward the elevator while answering the phone. "I'm getting off work now. I'll be there in a moment..."
Jiang Zhe and Cheng Yuan looked at each other in silence.
Jiang Zhe eventually asked, "Is it possible President Feng forgot?"
"That is indeed a possibility."
After all, Feng Tingshen had never been one to pay much attention to Rong Ci's affairs.
On the other side of town.
Feng Jingxin was very close to Old Mrs. Rong. Previously, whenever Feng Jingxin was home, Rong Ci would usually bring her daughter along when she visited the Rong family.
But now, even though Feng Jingxin had returned to the country, she hadn't called Rong Ci once in all these days. Instead, she called Lin Wu every day, claiming she missed her terribly after only a few days apart.
Since that was the case, Rong Ci saw no reason to force the issue.
Besides, given how close Feng Jingxin and Lin Wu had become, she didn't even want to imagine how angry the old lady would be if she found out.
And so, for this visit, Rong Ci didn't go to Feng Tingshen's place to pick up her daughter. She returned to the Rong residence alone.
The traffic was a bit heavy, and by the time Rong Ci arrived, it was already past six in the evening.
When Old Mrs. Rong saw her, her smile faltered. She reached out and touched Rong Ci's face with a pained expression. "You've grown thin."
Rong Ci's eyelashes fluttered slightly. "Work has been busy lately."
The old lady sighed. "No matter how busy you are, you must eat properly."
"I know, Grandma. I'll be careful."
Rong Ci sat down beside the old lady and leaned her head against her shoulder, drawing warmth from her presence.
Seeing that the mutton stew was almost ready, the old lady ordered someone to bring a bowl of soup out for her to warm her body first.
Listening to the old lady's caring words and thinking about everything that had happened recently, Rong Ci's eyes welled with tears. Fearing that the old lady would worry if she saw, she quickly suppressed her emotions and asked, "Are Aunt and the others still not back from their trip?"
"Not yet. They're having too much fun. They said they'd be back a week later than planned."
"What about Uncle? Does he have social engagements tonight?"
"Your uncle heard you were coming back and pushed his engagements aside. He said he'd be back to have dinner with us, so he should be home any minute."
"Alright."
As soon as she finished speaking, Rong Changsheng returned.
Seeing Rong Ci, he smiled and said, "Xiao Ci, you're back?" But his smile quickly turned into a frown. "Why have you gotten so thin? Have you not been eating well?"
Rong Ci smiled. "I was just too busy before... I'll definitely eat a lot more tonight."
Rong Changsheng gave a warm grunt of agreement. As the servants brought dinner to the table, he kept piling meat into her bowl.
While Rong Changsheng said she had grown thin, Rong Ci could see that he also looked haggard.
Although she didn't work at the Rong Group, she knew that the company was going through a difficult time. Rong Changsheng was overwhelmed with corporate matters every day, yet he was temporarily unable to pull the company out of its slump.
Over the years, there had been several projects where the Rong Group would never have fallen into its current state if Feng Tingshen had simply lent a hand.
But aside from the two times Old Mrs. Feng had issued a direct command, Feng Tingshen had never helped her.
She suspected that if it weren't for Old Mrs. Feng, Feng Tingshen's misunderstandings would have led him to destroy the Rong Group himself rather than help it.
At that thought, Rong Ci smiled bitterly, and the delicious flavor of the mutton suddenly turned bland in her mouth.
Knowing her difficult position, Rong Changsheng had never asked her to seek help from Feng Tingshen, even when the need was dire.
After dinner, while the old lady was dozing off, Rong Ci handed a card to Rong Changsheng. It contained seventy million yuan.
"Xiao Ci, Uncle doesn't need—"
"I don't have much use for it," Rong Ci said, pushing the card back toward him. "I can't help with much else, so this is all I can do."
It was true that she had been a brilliant student since childhood. She was suited for research and development, but she didn't seem cut out for the business world.
Fortunately, she had applied for several patents in the field of Artificial Intelligence years ago. The technology company she had co-founded with Yu Moxun and the others also paid out annual dividends. Adding everything up, she could easily make tens of millions a year even without lifting a finger.
Rong Changsheng looked ashamed. "You've already given me money so many times, but the company is still..."
It was still barely staying afloat.
"It's because your uncle is incompetent."
"It's normal for a company to require a lot of investment during a transition. Uncle, don't put too much pressure on yourself."
Mentioning this reminded her of the words Yu Moxun had said when they met: "The AI field is developing very fast now. With your development skills and my operational abilities, if you hadn't run off to get married back then, our company would likely have a market value of hundreds of billions by now.
It wouldn't even be a problem to become the leading domestic enterprise in this field. Fortunately, there is still vast room for growth in AI, and we still have a chance. I hope you can return as soon as possible."
If she truly still had her old skills, she could help her uncle with even more financial support once she returned to the company and helped it grow.
By the time Feng Tingshen arrived home, it was already past ten at night.
Feng Jingxin rubbed her eyes. "Daddy, you're back?"
"Mm," he said neutrally. "Go to sleep if you're tired."
"I know. Goodnight, Daddy."
"Mm."
Feng Jingxin went upstairs to bed. Feng Tingshen took a glass of water from the butler and, after finishing it, headed upstairs as well.
The bedroom was still pitch black.
It seemed no one was there.
Feng Tingshen paused for a moment and switched on the light.
Indeed, there was no one.
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