I Am More Paranoid Than the Villain – Chapter 92

She Will Be Responsible

Keeping the only gift she ever gave

Wen Lan collected three years’ worth of information on Lin Shu within two days and placed it neatly on Shen Man’s desk.

“President Shen, Miss Lin is now the Director of Design at Lin Group. A project at our company has been transferred from its original person-in-charge to Miss Lin.”

Shen Man gave an absentminded “en,” carefully flipping through Lin Shu’s resume from the past three years.

Lin Shu’s performance abroad was outstanding. Not only were her grades in every subject among the best, but she had also participated in various design competitions, winning enough championship titles to stun anyone.

Looking at a photo of Lin Shu holding a trophy, her small face serene yet not without a touch of arrogance, Shen Man couldn’t help but let the corners of her lips hook upwards.

Ever since Lin Shu left, she had tacitly accepted in her heart that there would be no more intersection between the two of them.

As if she were escaping, she didn’t inquire about anything related to Lin Shu.

Lin Shu’s return this time was probably to get revenge on her for what happened back then.

Shen Man closed the file and saved a string of numbers to her phone.

After a moment of thought, she added the contact name ‘Shushu’.

Shen Man turned off her phone, a satisfied smile on her face.

She gently placed the file in a cabinet, looked at Wen Lan, and said with a smile, “How is this project progressing now?”

“The handover was completed this morning. The project’s person-in-charge was left with a belly full of anger by Miss Lin’s picky and arrogant nature, and everyone else was also scolded until they were gray-headed and earth-faced¹.” Wen Lan said, then hesitated.

Seeing Shen Man’s encouraging gaze, she continued, “Miss Lin seems to be targeting our company.”

Hearing this, Shen Man let out a light laugh.

Wen Lan was puzzled. She frowned slightly and said with a serious expression, “President Shen, no one in the project department is willing to discuss the next steps of the collaboration with Miss Lin.”

“Hand this project over to me to be responsible for,” Shen Man said, the smile on her face not diminishing in the slightest.

Wen Lan was astonished. She dutifully advised, “President Shen, things are far from the point of needing you to personally ride out on your horse². This is their responsibility; they should and must do it well.”

Shen Man shook her head gently, leaning back to rest comfortably against her chair.

She toyed with the pen in her hand and said leisurely, “This project… I’m probably the only one who can negotiate it.”

Wen Lan’s face still showed disagreement.

After a moment of silence, she said in a low voice, “President Shen, was the person from that day Miss Lin?”

Shen Man’s eyes turned cold.

Wen Lan felt a little scared in her heart. She lowered her head and said hurriedly, “When I was delivering the clothes that day, I saw someone wearing the same clothes as you, President Shen, while waiting at a red light.”

Hearing this, Shen Man’s stern expression softened.

Looking at Wen Lan, she said in a deep voice, “Just do the matters within your scope of duty well. Don’t concern yourself with things you shouldn’t.”

“Yes, President Shen.” Wen Lan kept her head down, replying respectfully, not daring to try and dissuade her further.

She didn’t understand Shen Man’s decision.

As the company’s President, Shen Man had many things to handle every day. Taking a new project upon herself would undoubtedly increase her workload.

Moreover, in the past, if the project department had encountered a difficult partner and showed signs of cowardice, Shen Man would have given them a harsh lecture, not taken it over with such a good temper.

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In the afternoon, the documents related to the project arrived on Shen Man’s desk.

Shen Man looked through them once, then picked up her phone and dialed that unfamiliar number.

After a long wait, a cold voice came from the other end, “What is it?”

“Shushu, the new project our company is collaborating on with your esteemed company will be handled by me from now on,” Shen Man said in a soft voice.

“By you?” Lin Shu let out a light snort from her nose, a haughty laugh in her throat. “Call me Director Lin.”

“Director Lin.” Shen Man’s lips curved up as she followed good advice as smoothly as water flows downstream³ and changed her form of address.

Lin Shu’s arrogant posture could easily annoy others, but to her, it was like a proud cat holding its head high, asking to be petted—cute and interesting.

And conquering a proud young miss was, after all, a kind of life pleasure, adding beautiful color to her dull and monotonous life.

“President Shen, I have an interesting discovery here. I wonder if you’re interested in hearing it.” Lin Shu crossed her legs, her beautiful and cold little face filled with scheming satisfaction.

“Director Lin, please speak,” Shen Man said politely, giving her enough face⁴.

Lin Shu wanted to keep Shen Man in suspense, but she didn’t see any anxiousness on Shen Man’s face.

Dissatisfied in her heart, she said coldly, “I designed a piece of work during my sophomore year, and I unexpectedly saw a similar design on a certain product from your esteemed company.”

“I wonder what President Shen’s thoughts are on this?” This sentence was delivered in a deliberately lowered voice, filled to the brim with mockery.

Shen Man’s fine brows furrowed slightly.

Just as she was about to ask a question, an email arrived in her company inbox.

“President Shen, take a good look!” Lin Shu said coldly, hanging up without hesitation after she finished speaking.

Shen Man looked at the darkened screen, feeling a bit helpless.

She clicked open the email and began to read it carefully.

This design proposal had been provided by one of the company’s designers. She had been quite satisfied when she first saw it, only asking the designer to make simple revisions before approving the plan.

The email Lin Shu sent contained a detailed comparison of all the details. Even a layperson could tell at a glance that the two works were the same.

The matter of creative plagiarism could be big or small.

Although this was a mistake made by a company employee, it was the company that would ultimately have to bear the consequences.

In a situation like this, the best outcome was to buy the other party’s work.

As the thousand pieces of gold⁵ of Lin Group, Lin Shu was not short on money.

Coupled with her own first-class design skills, she was not lacking in fame, fortune, or platforms for showcasing her work.

Shen Man pondered for a long time before dialing Lin Shu’s number again.

This time, Lin Shu answered in seconds.

“President Shen, have you thought it through?” Lin Shu asked in a haughty voice, as if she had long anticipated this scene.

Shen Man’s expression didn’t change, showing not a shred of the panic of someone who had a handle held on her. She smiled calmly and asked, “Shushu, what do you want?”

She had changed the form of address, not calling her ‘Director Lin’.

This signified that this public matter would be resolved as a private grudge.

Lin Shu didn’t object, laughing triumphantly. “Tonight at seven, come here. Remember to bring one thing with you.”

After speaking, she gave an address.

Shen Man noted it down.

She put her phone aside and opened the drawer on her left. Inside was a delicate little box.

This was the only thing Lin Shu had ever given her.

An accessory from a cloth doll—a pure gold bell.

Shen Man picked up the box and clasped the bell tightly in her palm.

This thing that should have been thrown away, she had kept it all this time.

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After finishing a day’s work, Shen Man drove to the address Lin Shu had given.

It was a high-end residential complex, a place where an inch of land is an inch of gold⁶, arguably the most expensive and best location in the area.

Shen Man parked the car and received a text message on her phone. It was from Lin Shu.

“Buy groceries, cook.” Four simple words, carrying a thoroughly commanding tone, devoid of emotion.

Shen Man chuckled and searched for a nearby supermarket.

Soon, Lin Shu sent another message. “The key is in the tree in the flowerbed by the entrance.”

“Okay, I got it,” Shen Man replied with a smile.

Lin Shu bit her lip and quickly retracted the message.

Realizing this action was a case of the more one tries to hide, the more one is exposed⁷, she puffed her cheeks in annoyance, regretting the superfluous act.

A knock sounded on her office door.

Lin Shu quickly adjusted her expression and said coldly, “Come in.”

“Director Lin, there’s a document here that needs your signature,” the person said, bowing at the waist, not daring to look Lin Shu in the eye.

Everyone in the company, from top to bottom, knew that the parachuted-in director⁸ of the design department was Chairman Lin’s thousand pieces of gold.

At first, many qualified people were unconvinced, attempting to teach this young miss a bit of color to see⁹.

Lin Shu wouldn’t eat soft or hard¹⁰, and her design skills were extremely strong, even better than the company’s most famous designer.

She quickly used her own ability to make the others shut up, but there were still many who were unconvinced in secret.

Especially that group of people with seniority in the company; they absolutely refused to be suppressed by a little girl who had just graduated.

“Alright, I know,” Lin Shu said coldly.

The person hurried out, afraid that moving too slowly would displease her.

Lin Shu glanced at the document, found the contact information for the person in charge, and typed, “Come to my office.”

The cold, hard tone made the person in charge tremble. Amid the sympathetic gazes of other colleagues, they walked towards Lin Shu’s office.

“This is the new plan you designed? You take a good look, what’s the difference between it and the last one? You think you can fool me just by changing the color palette?” Lin Shu forcefully threw the document onto the desk, reprimanding her furiously.

That person didn’t dare to speak, shrinking their head and standing there in fear.

“REDO IT FOR ME! The HR department hired you at such a high salary not for you to muddle through the days¹¹ here. If you can’t even do something this simple, then you don’t need to come to work anymore,” Lin Shu said with a grim face, her voice icy.

“Director Lin, I’ll definitely work overtime tonight to get it done,” the person said in a panic, picking up the document from the desk and jogging out the door.

Upon reaching the main office area, someone cast a gloating look and said in a low voice, “Got scolded by Director Lin again?”

The person clutched the document in their hand, face ashen. “She’s just relying on the fact that she’s Chairman Lin’s daughter to make things difficult for people everywhere. What’s wrong with this plan of mine? Making me revise it again and again, it’s truly picking bones from an egg¹².”

No one echoed this sentiment; instead, it drew a few mocking laughs.

Sitting in her office, Lin Shu could clearly see the commotion outside.

Although that person was hunched over and she couldn’t see their facial expression, she knew that they were definitely talking about her behind her back.

In this design department, a portion of the people took money but didn’t do the work.

They did the simplest things, yet felt their labor was great and meritorious, and looked down on her immensely.

There were also some who got in through skirt-string connections¹³, spending their days trying to fish in muddy waters¹⁴.

The entire company, beneath its glamorous exterior, hid a lot of disgraceful darkness.

Lin Shu let out a light sneer.

Her Lin family’s company would never let these outsiders act so wantonly.

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Estimating that it was about time, Lin Shu left the office.

The moment she left, everyone else instantly breathed a sigh of relief and began to pack up their things with chatter and laughter.

Lin Shu parked her car downstairs in the residential complex.

Looking at the unfamiliar vehicle, she got out and walked over, her gaze falling on the front passenger seat.

The seat cushion was very new, and the seatbelt had no signs of wear.

Compared to the driver’s seat, it was like new.

Her phone suddenly rang.

Lin Shu was startled. Composing herself, she saw the two words ‘Shen Man’ on the caller ID, answered, and said unhappily, “What do you want?”

“Shushu, dinner is ready. Have you arrived?” Shen Man asked with a smile, her gaze falling from the windowsill to a figure below.

“I’ve arrived,” Lin Shu said impatiently, then hung up the phone directly.

Hearing the anger in her voice, Shen Man smiled and put down her phone.

She turned to go to the kitchen and bring out the dishes.

Lin Shu stood outside the door, knocking forcefully.

Hearing the sound, Shen Man walked over quickly and opened the door.

“WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?” Lin Shu’s small face was cold as she reprimanded loudly, “You knew I was coming up, couldn’t you have opened the door in advance?”

These words were spoken as if she was perfectly in the right, as if the two of them were living together.

Shen Man smiled good-naturedly.

Just like in the past, she coaxed gently, “Shushu, don’t be angry. It’s all my fault for forgetting you left the key for me.”

At the mention of this, the annoyance in Lin Shu’s heart surged forth.

Her eyes glared coldly at Shen Man. “Couldn’t you have put the key back where it was?”

“This apartment, does it only have one set of keys?” Shen Man asked back softly.

Lin Shu’s fingertips subconsciously caressed her bag.

In her bag, there was another set of keys.

Shen Man noticed this small movement and understood in an instant.

Without exposing Lin Shu, she said with a smile, “Shushu, go wash your hands. Let’s eat.”

Hearing this sentence, Lin Shu was momentarily transported back three years.

But it was only for an instant before she became clear-headed again.

She was no longer the naive and foolish Lin Shu from back then, and the gentle smile before her was just a false mask.

She wanted this person to pay the price she deserved for what she did three years ago!

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