Back in the room, Su Banxia, exhausted after a day of playing with the kids, thought about the contract Pei Shaoze had given her before the weekend that still needed handling. It was crucial for Dingsheng, so she didn't dare slack off and hurriedly prepared to work.
She rummaged through the desk for a while but couldn't find the contract anywhere, which made her anxious. She clearly remembered placing it right there.
"Shiqing, did you move the contract on my desk?"
Unable to find it, she went to Fang Shiqing's room to ask, thinking maybe she had taken it for some use.
Fang Shiqing was still upset with her over what had happened earlier and replied coldly, "No, why would I touch your contract?"
Su Banxia grew even more worried. Only she and Fang Shiqing were in the house, so she naturally trusted Fang Shiqing. But if it wasn't Fang Shiqing, then who could it be?
She had taken the two kids out early in the morning, and besides, they were exceptionally well-behaved and wouldn't easily mess with her things.
Frowning deeply, she said, "The contract is missing. I remember putting it on the desk. This is a major project for Dingsheng, and there's only one copy of the contract for now. If I mess this up, Dingsheng will lose even more."
Pei Shaoze had placed great importance on this contract, repeatedly urging her to avoid mistakes and pay attention to details when he gave it to her. Now she had lost the document.
Fang Shiqing, as a manager at Dingsheng, knew something about this contract. Pei Shaoze indeed valued it highly. If Su Banxia had lost it, she couldn't imagine the consequences.
She also got up anxiously, heading to Su Banxia's room. "Ah, are you sure you didn't misremember where you put it? Let's search carefully!"
Su Banxia grabbed her, looking serious. "I remember very clearly. It was on the desk. It couldn't have vanished into thin air."
Something right in front of them, untouched by anyone, couldn't just disappear—unless someone had taken it!
If she had simply forgotten where she placed it, she would have found it after tearing the room apart, but she still hadn't.
She thought back to what had happened earlier, and a name suddenly popped into her mind. "Zhang Shanshan! Did she come into my room?"
When she wasn't home, only Fang Shiqing and Zhang Shanshan were there. Given Zhang Shanshan's attitude toward her before, it was hard not to suspect her.
Hearing Su Banxia target Zhang Shanshan again, Fang Shiqing got genuinely angry. "Banxia! How could it be Shanshan! I know you have a problem with her, but you can't—"
"Shiqing, you can't just see her as a saint because she took a knife for you!" Su Banxia interrupted her, her face full of worry.
Despite Su Banxia's certainty, Fang Shiqing ignored her, sticking to her own belief. "It's definitely not her! You'd better search properly yourself."
How could someone who risked their life to protect another do such a thing? Besides, she hadn't seen Zhang Shanshan enter Su Banxia's room.
With that, she sulkily returned to her own room, refusing to help Su Banxia look for the contract.
Watching the door close behind Fang Shiqing, Su Banxia sighed. Now, Fang Shiqing's mind was completely taken over by Zhang Shanshan. If Zhang Shanshan truly meant well for her, it would be fine, but she worried that Zhang Shanshan's approach to Fang Shiqing had ulterior motives.
Even that accident might be a mystery.
The whole day passed without a single word between Fang Shiqing and Su Banxia, leaving the two kids puzzled. Mommy and godmother were acting like strangers.
"Brother, why aren't Mommy and godmother talking?" Guoguo stood at the door, tugging at Haohao's sleeve.
Haohao glanced over casually. "Just a little disagreement. Mommy and godmother are so close; of course they'll talk."
In Haohao's eyes, his mom might ignore anyone else, but she would never ignore her godmother.
The next day, the two kids, still waiting for their godmother to take them to school, were woken up early by Su Banxia. "Guoguo, Haohao, get up quickly. Godmother is busy today and can't take you to school. I'll drop you off."
She knew Fang Shiqing was angry with her, so how could she trouble her to drive the kids to school today? She had to get up early and take a taxi instead.
Guoguo was still half-asleep, but when Su Banxia spoke, she forced herself up and headed to the bathroom.
When Fang Shiqing got up, the living room was empty. She glanced at Su Banxia's locked door and guessed she had taken the kids to school. A breakfast was left for her on the table.
Su Banxia arrived at the company very early, with only a few people around. She wanted to explain everything to Pei Shaoze before the meeting started, to minimize the damage as much as possible.
She waited in the office for a long time, but Pei Shaoze didn't show up, making her regret coming so early.
Finally, at work time, Pei Shaoze arrived right on the dot, heading toward the office. She quickly approached him.
"President Pei—"
"Come with me." Pei Shaoze cut her off and walked toward the meeting room, motioning for her to follow.
Su Banxia hesitated. She had nothing prepared—how could she go to the meeting room?
But Pei Shaoze didn't stop, and if she delayed any longer, she might lose sight of him.
She set aside her worries and hurried after him.
The meeting room was already filled with board members and partners. Su Banxia sat down beside him and was about to speak when Pei Shaoze beat her to it.
"Secretary Su, bring the contract."
He asked for the contract right away, making Su Banxia tremble. She leaned in close to Pei Shaoze's ear. "President Pei... the contract... it's missing..."
The main issue was that she hadn't even seen the contract, so she couldn't recreate it from memory. She knew her own limits and couldn't draft a new cooperation plan on her own.
Pei Shaoze's face darkened as he looked at her. "What do you mean?"
He hoped he had misheard. At this critical moment, she was telling him the contract was missing? Did she know what that meant?
Su Banxia knew how serious this was and kept apologizing. "I'm sorry, I don't know how it happened. I clearly remember putting it at home... but I can't find it. I'm sorry, it's my fault."
The board members all turned to look, wondering what was going on.
Noticing the attention, Pei Shaoze waved his hand and said coldly, "Get out first."
"President Pei—"
"Out!"
Su Banxia tried to say more but was cut off by Pei Shaoze's angry voice.
"Yes!" She nodded, her face pale, and didn't dare stay in the meeting room any longer.
As soon as she stepped out, she ran into Yan Xin, who looked surprised. "Banxia? Why are you out? Where's President Pei?"
He knew today was the day Pei Shaoze was negotiating the contract, and logically, he should have taken Su Banxia inside early. But why had she come out? It didn't look like she was fetching documents.
Su Banxia looked up to see Yan Xin staring at her curiously.
"President Yan, I've messed up... I lost the contract for this cooperation." She hung her head, clearly still blaming herself.
"What... you mean the contract for the deal Shaoze is discussing right now?"