Chapter 60 Unexplainable Reasons

The company's pantry was thirty square meters in size, and dozens of employees usually ate their lunch here. At this moment, there were about a dozen people inside.

Ruo Lan greeted Jiang Yang and Liang Xiaoqing, inviting them to sit down at a round table. The three of them formed a small circle, their eyes meeting, and the atmosphere began to grow somewhat strange.

The other employees looked at them and could sense the bizarreness of the situation, but no one dared to step forward and strike up a conversation.

"Jiang Yang, did Auntie come to celebrate your promotion to the head of the design department?" Ruo Lan asked as she opened her takeout meal box.

"You could say that, I suppose. After all, this is my first time holding a managerial position," Jiang Yang felt that phrasing it this way was barely acceptable.

However, hearing these words, Liang Xiaoqing interpreted them in an entirely different way. Why did their conversation make her feel like an outsider?

Suppressing the rising anger in her heart, she said, "Manager Wang, I am just bringing Jiang Yang an ordinary lunch; it's hardly any celebration. I'll be coming to drop off food frequently from now on, is that alright?"

"As long as it doesn't interfere with the company's normal work, you can come every day. Our company doesn't restrict family members from visiting," Ruo Lan said with a beaming smile.

Hearing the word "family," Liang Xiaoqing's previously gloomy expression softened slightly. She explained, "Although I am Jiang Yang's aunt, the two of us—"

"I know," Ruo Lan interrupted. "He has been taken care of by you since he was a child, and the two of you share a very close bond. Supervisor Jiang has mentioned all of this. Therefore, as an elder, you frequently coming to see him is certainly something I, as a company leader, wouldn't mind."

Liang Xiaoqing was stunned: "An elder?"

"Aren't you Supervisor Jiang's aunt? Doesn't that make you an elder?" Ruo Lan asked with an amused smile.

To actually be addressed as Jiang Yang's elder—Liang Xiaoqing's volcano of wrath was on the verge of erupting. Yet, she still forcibly suppressed her churning anger and explained, "Perhaps you didn't know, but although I am Jiang Yang's aunt, there is no blood relation between us."

"Oh... So that's how it is... No wonder I thought you took such good care of yourself, you look less than forty years old..."

"Enough!" Liang Xiaoqing slammed up from her chair. Pointing a trembling finger at Ruo Lan, she said, "You... what grudge do you hold against me..."

Yet Ruo Lan looked at her with an expression of utter astonishment and asked, "Auntie, what is wrong with you?"

Beads of sweat the size of soybeans oozed from Jiang Yang's forehead, and he hastily tried to smooth things over. "Sister Xiaoqing, please don't be upset. Manager Wang probably just doesn't understand the situation."

"She is practically launching a direct verbal assault right to my face, and you're still telling me not to be upset?" Liang Xiaoqing shouted loudly, completely losing her composure.

"Auntie, what did I say? Isn't showing respect to our elders the right thing to do?" Ruo Lan continued to fan the flames with an innocent look. "Supervisor Jiang, did I say something wrong? Auntie truly looks very young, clearly well under forty."

"You!" Liang Xiaoqing slapped the table with a sharp *thump*, biting her lip as her entire body trembled.

Everyone in the pantry could sense that the atmosphere was wrong. Although they didn't know the exact details, judging by the conversation they had just witnessed, Manager Wang was clearly intentionally provoking this Miss Liang.

One by one, the employees picked up their lunch boxes and tiptoed out of the pantry to avoid being caught in the crossfire should the battle escalate.

Liang Xiaoqing glanced at Ruo Lan, then at the deeply embarrassed Jiang Yang. Being a smart woman, she understood in an instant that these two were definitely not in any ordinary supervisor-subordinate relationship.

"Fine, Jiang Yang, is this how you're going to play me?" Tears welled up in Liang Xiaoqing's eyes, and she wiped them away. "Good, I'm leaving! I'm not eating this meal today!"

She kicked her chair back, took large strides, and marched straight out of the company.

Jiang Yang glared fiercely at Wang Ruo Lan, who simply put on an innocent expression and said, "Jiang Yang, what's wrong with Auntie? Aren't you going to chase after her and ask what's the matter?"

Careless about whatever act she was still putting on, Jiang Yang hurriedly broke into a run to chase after her.

By the time he reached the elevator lobby, Liang Xiaoqing was already wiping her tears as she boarded the elevator.

"Sister Xiaoqing!" Jiang Yang shouted loudly, but she simply pressed the close-door button.

He had no choice but to sprint down the stairs. He had to explain things clearly to Sister Xiaoqing; otherwise, she would definitely jump to the conclusion that he had deliberately brought Ruo Lan along to upset her.

They had finally managed to patch things up after so much difficulty, and they absolutely could not break apart again over this incident.

It took Jiang Yang less than a few minutes to descend the thirteen floors. Rushing out of the stairwell, he immediately caught sight of Liang Xiaoqing just stepping out of the building, still seemingly wiping away tears with her sleeve.

He ran up swiftly, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to a stop. "Sister Xiaoqing, listen to my explanation. Things are not the way you think."

Xiaoqing halted, turned to look at him with reddened eyes, and pointed back up at the building. "Jiang Yang, what kind of relationship do you actually have with that woman?"

"She..." Jiang Yang choked on his words, but the very next second, he blurted out, "She is just the general manager of our company."

"General manager? Would a general manager talk like that? Would a general manager require you to report to her that I'm coming? Would a general manager call me aunt?" Xiaoqing fired a rapid succession of rhetorical questions like rapid-fire artillery at Jiang Yang.

Jiang Yang took her hand. "Sister Xiaoqing, listen to me. We did have some history before, but right now we are simply ordinary colleagues..."

"Some history?" Xiaoqing jerked her hand away. "What kind of history? If you two have nothing going on, why do you see each other every single day?"

"She is my general manager, what can I do?" Jiang Yang found himself unable to defend himself; he truly could not explain to anyone else the things Ruo Lan had done.

"You can resign! How do you expect me to feel with you acting all ambiguous with her like this? How are we supposed to stay together?"

"I..." Jiang Yang hesitated for a moment before he could only say, "I cannot resign."

"Just because of that lousy supervisor position? How much money can that possibly make? If you lose your job, I'll support you!"

Jiang Yang was stunned. He never imagined that a woman would say such a thing, especially since she herself had only started her first day at a new company today.

"It's not because of the supervisor job; I can give up that work, but..."

"Then why can't you resign?" Liang Xiaoqing asked again, a sudden, bitter smile appearing on her face. "But what? But you just can't bear to leave that woman, is that it?"

Jiang Yang was once again rendered speechless. He could not explain that the reason he could not resign was because Ruo Lan had threatened him, claiming that if he left the company, she would frame him for leaking client information.

If he truly told Xiaoqing the truth, Ruo Lan might actually send him to prison—there was nothing that woman wouldn't stoop to.

"Speak! Go ahead and speak!" Xiaoqing demanded, bursting into tears once more.