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Chapter 48 The Marionette
Jiang Guier's fingertip hovered in mid-air on the phone screen. At that moment, Lu Qing's message popped up. She glanced at it briefly and was about to open it when she hesitated.

I simply swiped my finger across it without opening the content to read it in detail.

Her fingertips were slowly pressing on the message Lin Wan had sent, which was displayed on the screen.

【Guigui, stop being so willful.】 This simple line of text, just six characters and two heading symbols, made Jiang Guier feel suffocated.

She slowly curled her fingers, only feeling a dull pain as her nails dug into her palms. This pain cleared her muddled mind somewhat.

A faint smile appeared on her lips, a smile that was neither a smile nor a frown. It turned out that Lin Wan was her mother's person.

Her decision to hire Qian Xin was a test.

He wanted to test where her mother's bottom line was and what she really wanted to do, but he didn't expect that the person who would take the lead in the tough battle would be Lin Wan.

Just two days ago, she felt she could rely on this person, who taught her how to deal with others and how to handle problems. Now, however, he has become the one teaching her to "be obedient."

It's ridiculous to think about it.

It turns out, she was always a clown, a marionette.

She sat in the car for a long time, her mind a jumbled mess. It's strange how people can suddenly connect things they hadn't thought about before and then understand them because of some event.

She thought about the things her mother had done to get her to study abroad, Lin Wan's sudden appearance, and Qian Xin's report. All of this made the grievances she wanted to suppress keep surging up.

"Ha." She couldn't help but laugh, her voice sounding particularly light and airy in the quiet carriage. It carried a hint of self-deprecating bitterness.

It turns out that my mother's intention to "do what's best for her" never disappeared.

Even after you're an adult and earn your own money, you'll still feel bitter and upset in this situation.

All the words she wanted to say were instantly choked up by the phrase "I'm doing this for your own good," turning her into an ignorant sinner, completely ungrateful.

"Sigh..." Jiang Guier sighed heavily.

Lin Wan's words, "Don't be willful," have already convinced me that what she's doing and thinking now is just reckless and ignorant nonsense.

The sound of keys clicking was particularly noticeable in the quiet carriage. Jiang Guier suppressed the urge to make a phone call, typed a series of characters, then suddenly stopped and deleted them one by one.

Forget it, no need.

She held up her phone, the darkness instantly engulfing his face. Leaning back in the driver's seat, she stared at the light-colored velvet on the car roof and suddenly felt utterly powerless, unable even to muster the will to argue.

Nobody was on her side.

She knew that Ms. Jiang Yun loved her, but this love was too heavy, too intense, and made her feel like she couldn't breathe.

She suddenly remembered what her grandmother had said in the hospital a couple of days ago.

I suppose Grandma had already seen it all back then.

"Beep beep." The phone's notification sound rang again.

Jiang Guier looked at the pop-up message but didn't want to click on it.

"Drip."

"Drip."

"Drip."

"..."

Before the phone screen could even dim after the first message, another message came in, one after another, like a bombardment.

Jiang Guier picked up her phone and opened it, only to find a series of messages from Qian Xin.

Interestingly, this wasn't a private message, but rather sent in a work group chat.

Qian Xin talked about the cause and effect of this matter in the work group, as well as the fact that she was about to be fired. Her words were very manipulative.

Jiang Guier frowned. This was completely different from when she had begged her earlier, which meant that Qian Xin had someone backing her up.

There's no need to guess who this person is; the answer is very clear.

Jiang Guier didn't say anything, opened the group chat, and kicked Qian Xin out. Qian Xin, who was chatting enthusiastically, didn't expect to be kicked out.

Helpless, she could only take a screenshot and send it to Lin Wan.

When Lin Wan saw this screenshot, she realized that some things were beginning to change.

On her WeChat screen, Jiang Guier's chat box was quiet and blank.

This is not a good sign.

Almost simultaneously, Jiang Guier's message popped up: [I want to grow towards the sun! Not become a flower bound and forced into the shape others want me to be, without even the right to complain of pain.]

Lin Wan was completely stunned. She didn't dare to think whether Gui'er knew or was just sighing. She didn't dare to ask, and her words became more cautious.

She edited and deleted repeatedly, finally asking casually, "What's wrong? Why are you feeling this way?"

Jiang Guier saw the message but didn't even bother to reply.

She switched back to Lu Qing's message, which she had previously ignored, and slowly replied, "[He's family. Can you help me find him?]"

Lu Qing was being tormented to the point of exhaustion by Shen Huaizhou. Several of his program modifications failed to run properly due to bugs that needed fixing.

When the phone information appeared, I didn't realize it at first.

As soon as I saw the name, I perked up again.

"Lu Qing, what are you doing?"

As if he had been placed under surveillance, Shen Huaizhou turned his face away from the computer screen, startling Lu Qing so much that she gripped her phone tightly.

Seeing the obviously guilty face on the other side, Shen Huaizhou frowned and moved his hand away from the keyboard. "It seems I've been here too long, giving you time to do other things while you're doing nothing."

"I'm innocent, senior brother! I was just on my way to make some changes." Lu Qingxin was heartbroken.

"I told you, don't look for her." This time, Shen Huaizhou didn't indulge Lu Qing anymore. He stood up and grabbed the delivery jacket from the back of the chair.

"Senior brother, where are you going!" Lu Qing asked anxiously.

Shen Huaizhou glanced at him, said nothing, and walked out.

Lu Qing followed behind, saying, "Senior brother, don't go! I didn't mean to do anything. I was wrong. I shouldn't have gone to gather information. You can scold me."

Shen Huaizhou pressed the elevator button and turned to the side, saying, "Let's go back."

"Senior brother, don't be so heartless! How can you bear to abandon me?" Lu Qing clutched his chest, his heart pounding.

Shen Huaizhou didn't want to look at this eyesore even once.

"Ding."

As soon as the elevator doors opened, he stepped inside. Seeing that Shen Huaizhou was really leaving this time, Lu Qing rushed forward and grabbed his hand in a strange and funny manner, "Senior brother, please, don't go."

"go back!"

"I won't go back."

"You'll regret it if you don't go back."

"I'll regret it if I go back."

"President Lu, President Lu, the module is running smoothly, the problem has been fixed." Someone from the project team rushed out to report the latest situation to Lu Qing.

"What!" Lu Qing loosened his grip, and Shen Huaizhou pushed him away.

By the time Lu Qing jumped up again to pull him back, the elevator doors had already closed. He could only press himself against the elevator door and wail, "Senior brother, you tricked me again."

He lay on the door, wailing, completely disregarding the stares of others.

How could he not be on edge? He had been working on this for almost half a month without making any progress and was making frequent mistakes, while his senior brother had finished it as soon as he arrived.

He hasn't managed to appease her yet, and he's clearly angered her; he's in big trouble now.

(End of this chapter)