Leap Forward Comics: Watch How I Become a Villainess

Chapter 9 The Scheme Begins

Xia Lan stormed into Duanmu Cong's office like an angry kitten: "Cong!"

Duanmu Cong looked up, and a ray of sunlight shone on his profile, showcasing the aesthetics of light and shadow. His sharply defined features constantly spoke of this man's superior beauty.

He raised his deep eyes and looked at his beloved girl: "Lanlan, you're here. Did you sleep well last night?" In the comic, this scene has its own spotlight effect.

However, Xia Lan was clearly not captivated by this scene; all she could think about was standing up for Wen Shiyu: "Why did you specifically instruct the security guards not to let Xiaoyu in?"

"Huh?" Duanmu Cong was clearly taken aback by Xia Lan's abrupt question and remained stunned for a while.

"Can you stop being so childish?" Xia Lan saw that he was speechless after being questioned, and wondered if he was feeling guilty: "No matter what grudge you have, humiliating people is wrong, Acong..."

"No," Duanmu Cong tried to defend himself, "You know Wen Shiyu likes me, but I just don't want her near me. Besides, didn't she always bully you in school?" He also couldn't bring himself to talk about the engagement party, having kept it to himself and never daring to tell Xia Lan. Ever since he stormed out last time, he'd made it a rule that Wen Shiyu wasn't allowed into the Duanmu Group building, let alone any collaborative projects. He didn't care; he had other projects that could turn things around…

"That's all in the past, and...and..." Xia Lan looked away, pursed her lips, and added, "Besides, I don't think she still likes you..."

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't say them.

"Okay, I understand. I'll just cancel this rule then." Duanmu Cong walked over and, as usual, patted Xia Lan's head to coax her.

This time, however, the small gesture of patting each other's heads made Xia Lan feel a little awkward for the first time.

Seeing that she was somewhat unwilling, Duanmu Cong assumed that she was still angry, so he smiled and continued to coax her.

“Ah Cong,” Xia Lan suddenly pushed his hand away, her expression turning serious, “I want to go work with the project team. I don’t want to be your assistant anymore.”

"Why do you suddenly want to change jobs?" Duanmu Cong frowned slightly.

"I want to do something useful." Xia Lan was very serious. She had indeed thought carefully about what Wen Shiyu said, but she could realize her value in Duanmu Group as well, so there was no need to go to Wen's Group.

"No." Duanmu Cong shook his head and refused.

"Why?" Xia Lan hadn't expected to be rejected; he thought Duanmu Cong would agree. This outcome was clearly unexpected.

“Managing projects…it’s too tiring, and you also have to socialize,” Duanmu Cong frowned again. “I don’t want you to work so hard. I can support you…”

“I can endure hardship, and I can take charge of the project.” Xia Lan was clearly dissatisfied with Duanmu Cong’s reaction.

“Taking charge of a project is not child’s play… You are not qualified enough, you can’t act rashly…” Duanmu Cong said patiently.

"What did you say?" Xia Lan could hardly believe her ears. He was calling her a frivolous person...

"Lanlan, isn't being an assistant great? It's easy and you don't have to do anything..." Duanmu Cong didn't understand why, after two years as an assistant, he suddenly wanted to pursue a career. In the two years since graduation, they had been in an ambiguous relationship, their relationship unclear. Although they had never officially said they were together, they had always tacitly acknowledged their status as boyfriend and girlfriend. He had already planned that if he met the KPIs his parents had set for him next year, he could regain the initiative and get his family to agree to his marriage with Xia Lan.

If Xia Lan focuses on her career and projects now, how will she have the energy to get married next year?

"Ah Cong, I don't need you to support me. Do you think I'm incompetent and can't live without you as my assistant?" Xia Lan didn't understand why Duanmu Cong kept saying he loved her but was unwilling to support her.

"Why do you think that? That's not what I meant!" Duanmu Cong was also a little unhappy, feeling that Xia Lan didn't understand his situation at all and was being unreasonable with him. She had no idea how much pressure he was under for her sake.

But Lu He knew all this. At this moment, Lu He was sitting in the president's office of the Wen Group, leisurely drinking coffee.

According to the system's explanation, she knew that Duanmu Cong was still unable to break free from his parents' control. His authority was limited to giving Xia Lan a small assistant position, and he had no ability to arrange for her to move to another important position. Therefore, she was not worried at all about what would happen if Xia Lan and Duanmu Cong proposed to switch jobs and pursue their careers. The male and female protagonists would never take the initiative to clear up misunderstandings; they would need other people to do it. This was an ironclad rule in this type of domineering CEO novel.

So if Xia Lan brings it up, they will inevitably misunderstand and argue.

The phone rang, and Lu He picked it up, glanced at it, and answered.

"Manager Wen, the matter is settled." This was Xiao Yang's work report.

Lu He wore a mocking smile, ready to fully unleash her green tea charm.

The two had a big argument, and Xia Lan ran out of Duanmu Cong's office crying.

Just as Duanmu Cong was about to give chase, his phone rang.

"It's terrible, young master! Something's wrong with the products we're about to launch for the holiday event!"

"What?" Duanmu Cong had no choice but to give up on going out to chase his girlfriend. After all, if there was an accident at the company, he would have even less say in front of his parents. "What happened?" he asked anxiously.

"The warehouse caught fire for some unknown reason, and there was no time to salvage the goods..."

"Then hurry up and notify the factory to replenish the stock! There's still a month left. Even if we have to pay extra, we have to rush the production. We can't just release supplies during the event!" Duanmu Cong's handsome face was filled with anger.

"I've already asked... but... all the outsourced manufacturers are fully booked with Wen's goods... no one can take our order volume now... Mr. Cong, what should we do?" The person on the other end of the phone was clearly very anxious.

At this moment, Duanmu Cong could no longer maintain his elegance and composure. He hurriedly called his driver: "Wait for me in the parking lot downstairs!" He had to go and talk to these outsourced factories in person.

At the same time, he instructed his subordinates to first report the losses to the finance department and then contact Duanmu's own two factories to expedite the production of the goods.

Xia Lan was actually pacing back and forth in the lobby on the first floor, still angry. She hadn't left the company yet. When she saw Duanmu Cong rush out of the elevator in a panic, she thought he was coming to chase after her. She was gathering her emotions, waiting for Duanmu to come and coax her. But to her surprise, he didn't even see her. He walked straight out of the lobby, got into his car, and drove away quickly.

Xia Lan, who had chased after him and was standing at the entrance of the company building, stared blankly in the direction where Duanmu's car had gone, her eyes filled with disappointment.