Chapter 138: Classmates or Enemies

Lin Xi took some time out of her morning to stop by the office.

Engineer Chen was stunned to see her. The office was empty, save for the two of them. Lin Xi closed the door, glanced through the glass at the others busy with their own tasks, and stepped over to their workstations without sitting down.

"Engineer Lin?" Chen asked, puzzled. "I thought you took the day off?" He looked her up and down; she was dressed casually, not at all like someone who had come to work. Usually, Lin Xi stuck to sharp, professional attire, rarely wearing skirts, and even then, only in muted colors. Today was different. Looking closer, she was wearing delicate, carefully applied makeup. She looked more like she was headed to a date.

"I am. I just stopped by on my way," Lin Xi said, opening her email on her phone and showing it to him.

Chen took the phone, looking blank, but two seconds later, his eyes widened. "He sent this?"

"Yes."

"This set of data—Huasheng, FK, and Dili all received it."

Chen was astonished. "And how do you know that?"

Huasheng needed no introduction, and FK and Dili both held significant positions in the domestic smart chip industry. Judging by the timestamp, the three companies had only just received the anonymous email, yet Lin Xi already had the news. The speed was...

"General Manager Shen of Huasheng and our General Manager Cheng are related."

"I heard that! Our sales manager is General Manager Shen's wife, after all. But what about FK and Dili?"

"I have a former classmate working there."

Chen had known Lin Xi had extensive connections in Beijing, but he hadn't realized the extent of them.

"So, this confirms it was him, then?"

"More or less." Lin Xi took back her phone and pulled up her chat history with her former classmate to show Chen.

Two minutes later, Chen’s expression turned strange. He didn't quite understand. "Why would he do this? Wasn't he doing well at Feiyun?"

Lin Xi smiled. "Not well. He wouldn't be satisfied working under me."

"Why?"

"Because in his eyes, he should be our equal, not a mere assistant."

"He doesn't actually think that by sending this data to those three major companies, he'll be able to jump ship, does he?" Chen thought that was quite naive.

Lin Xi shook her head. "With a non-compete agreement in place, he can't jump ship. Those three companies aren't part of his plan. His only goal is to cause trouble for us—or specifically, for me."

Chen stared at Lin Xi for a long time before tentatively asking, "You don't seem angry, Engineer Lin?"

It wasn't just now. Ever since the incident with the Huasheng R&D department, he felt Lin Xi hadn't shown any anger. She handled problems as they arose without losing her temper. If she hadn't been sure who it was back then, what about now? She looked far too calm, as if everything were going exactly according to her plan.

Chen had a sneaking suspicion that Lin Xi had other plans in store. Everyone knew how meticulous she was about her work; her assistant’s actions were no small matter. Given her personality, she should have been planning something big.

"Because there's no need to be angry," Lin Xi said with a smile. "Isn't it for the best? The evidence is solid; Feiyun won't keep him, and he’ll be blacklisted in the industry."

Not just this industry—any field with even a tangential connection would likely want nothing to do with him.

Chen suddenly realized, "Engineer Lin, have you been waiting for this day?"

"Not exactly." Lin Xi wasn't that idle. "I just considered the possibility. If he had worked hard, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to trouble him. At the end of the day, this is his own doing."

Curiosity piqued, Chen asked, "Were you two really classmates? Are you sure you weren't enemies?" He added, "I noticed it from the moment that kid joined the company. The way you two interacted was strange. Especially him."

Lin Xi leaned against the desk, finishing organizing the emails to send to the Vice General Manager. She replied slowly, "We weren't really classmates. We only spent a little over a month at the same school."

"We weren't enemies, exactly. But things were certainly unpleasant back then." Because she was familiar with Chen, she briefly recounted the story from their high school days.

After listening, Chen was dumbfounded. He stared at her for a long time before finally reacting, his face full of indignation. "That kid looks like a decent human being, but he’s absolute trash! Isn't this just school bullying? God, it really is true that what goes around comes around. It’s destiny that he fell into your hands—he deserves it!"

After hearing the backstory, Chen didn't feel a shred of pity for the boy. When he thought about it, this situation wasn't entirely of Lin Xi’s making. Just as she had said, if the kid hadn't been harboring ulterior motives and had just focused on his work, none of this would have happened.

"Revenge is a dish best served cold," Chen said, giving her a thumbs-up. "You’ve really let off some steam."

Lin Xi smiled. To her, it wasn't as dramatic as Chen made it sound, but she didn't bother explaining further.

***

As she stepped out of the office, Lin Xi ran into her assistant.

They locked eyes. The latter tightened his grip on his documents, his expression unchanged as he asked the same question as Chen: "Engineer Lin? I thought you took the day off?"

Lin Xi’s gaze swept across his face. "Yes, just stopped by to pick something up."

"Oh... I see." The man let out a silent sigh of relief.

Seeing this, Lin Xi’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. "You're taking leave at the end of the month to go back to school?"

"Ah, yes, that's right. I've already cleared it."

"I'm taking a day off. If anything comes up that day, just check in with Xiao Liu."

"Engineer Lin, whenever you have a moment, could you sign my leave request?" He needed her approval to take time off.

"I can do it now," Lin Xi said.

He hadn't expected her to be so agreeable and paused before answering. Once she signed it, Lin Xi didn't chat; she left the company immediately.

Upstairs, Chen emerged from the office to see the assistant peering out the window, likely trying to determine if Lin Xi had truly left. Chen, already annoyed at the sight of him, glared at the man’s back. Fearing he might lose his temper and give the game away, he didn't say a word and headed into the lab, fuming.

Outside, Lin Xi stood at the entrance for two minutes before Bai Xu’s car pulled up. He had come to pick her up specifically, as her second brother was coming from his own office and it wasn't on his way.

After getting in, Lin Xi asked, "Did you get what I asked for?"

"In the back," Bai Xu said, gesturing to the bouquet on the backseat. "It was a mission you assigned—how could I dare not execute it?"

Lin Xi hummed.

"Hey, let me tell you something funny. Look at this." Bai Xu handed her his phone, the screen displaying a photograph of a woman.