The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Alpha Decides to Go On Strike (GL) - Chapter 9

After the meal, Su Li hadn’t yet decided on her afternoon plans when Shen Mo suddenly received a phone call and had to leave.

At the hotel entrance, she said goodbye to Su Li and brought up the matter of meeting the parents: “We’re getting married soon. My father wants to meet you. Are you free this weekend?”

“Of course!” Su Li nodded emphatically.

Meeting a future father-in-law was such an important matter that even if she weren’t free, she would have to squeeze out the time!

Shen Mo’s expression remained unchanged: “I’ll come to pick you up then.”

With that, she lowered herself and got into the black sedan.

When Su Li returned to the company in the afternoon, the first thing she did was call Qiao Mumu and the HR manager into her office.

Shen Mo’s assistant was highly efficient. While they were having dinner, the estimate for the damaged jacket had already been delivered to Qiao Mumu. Qiao Mumu would face a lawsuit if she fell even a single penny short of the 620,000 yuan bill.

In the office, Qiao Mumu just kept crying with her head down, making the HR manager’s toes curl in embarrassment.

She cleared her throat, proactively breaking the deadlock, and placed a document on the table: “Su Zong, this is Qiao Mumu’s performance review for the past two years.”

“Mhm.” Su Li picked it up and quickly flipped through it.

On every simple, easy-to-understand review form, Qiao Mumu’s scores were all red, indicating failure. Yet, in the bottom right corner, there were the words “Qualified, Approved,” signed by her direct supervisor.

Yes, the person who had written these jokes was Su Li herself.

Su Li pretended not to notice, cleared her throat, and said: “Qiao Mumu’s performance review is too poor. I don’t think she is competent for her current job.”

“Ah?” The HR manager dug in her ear. “What did you say?”

Su Li rubbed her nose and repeated: “Qiao Mumu is not competent for the job of General Assistant!”

The HR manager finally heard clearly and widened her eyes in surprise—she had tried countless times to fire Qiao Mumu, only to be stopped by Su Li.

She truly hadn’t expected to hear these words from Su Li in her lifetime.

Qiao Mumu finally stopped crying, sobbing one breath at a time.

She looked at Su Li: “No, you can’t… Su Li, you can’t fire me!”

“Your behavior this morning nearly cost the company a key partnership. Technically, I could fire you unconditionally,” Su Li looked at her. “But considering you’re a long-term employee, I’ll have HR give you the standard severance package.

“Please hand over your work to the office staff over the next two days and leave.”

Qiao Mumu shook her head frantically: “No!”

Su Li stood up, intending to leave the office: “Sister Chen, she’s your responsibility now.”

The HR manager’s eyes were practically sparkling: “Understood, Su Zong, don’t worry!” Glancing at Qiao Mumu, she promised with a smile: “I guarantee you won’t see her tomorrow!”

“Su Li!” Qiao Mumu shrieked and suddenly lunged forward to hug her leg. “I don’t believe it. You can’t possibly discard me!”

Tears streamed down her upturned face: “Is this because of what happened this morning? Did that Shen Mo give you a love potion? How could you do this to me?!”

Su Li said coldly: “Let go!”

“Wuwuwu—” Qiao Mumu cried even louder. “I, I have to compensate her 620,000 yuan, and you won’t help me, and, and you’re firing me…”

She hardened her resolve: “I’m not leaving. If you fire me, I’ll just squat in your office. I’m not going anywhere!”

The HR manager stepped forward and physically pulled her away: “Qiao Mumu! You’ve been fired. Let go of President Su immediately.”

She took out her phone and threatened: “If you don’t let go, I’ll call the police! Then you’ll have more problems than just paying compensation!”

Qiao Mumu trembled with fear.

She continued to plead: “Su Li, Su Li… don’t send me away. I, I don’t want to leave you, wuwu…”

Su Li considered this for a moment, then looked at her and asked: “If you stay, you must accept a demotion and a pay cut, working as a regular clerk in the office.

“Can you accept that?”

“Su Zong!!!” the HR manager wailed. “Can you please be firm with your decision!”

Qiao Mumu, who had been hesitating, immediately nodded obediently when she heard the HR manager’s words: “I, I accept!

“As long as I can stay by your side, I’ll do anything.”

Su Li nodded and looked at the HR manager: “Sister Chen, arrange it this way for now.”

She had never truly intended to fire Qiao Mumu. She still needed her to draw out the big fish, Fang Yuan Technology. The performance today was partly for show and partly to warn Qiao Mumu.

The scene where Qiao Mumu offended Shen Mo this morning still made her grit her teeth in anger when she thought about it.

“…” The HR manager slicked back her messy hair, her face expressionless: “Oh.”

She apologized to Su Li with a cold face, then left the General Manager’s office.

After she left, Qiao Mumu handed over the bill, asking pitifully: “Su Li, can you resolve this for me?”

Su Li glanced at it: “I recall that I paid you a very high assistant salary.”

Qiao Mumu fidgeted: “But all my money is, is saved up…”

“Then you can ask Fang Huo to borrow some,” Su Li walked past her to leave. “He’s so rich and takes care of you so well. He definitely won’t be stingy about helping you.”

Qiao Mumu made a face and softly argued: “My relationship with him, with him isn’t good…”

Su Li gave a mocking smile: “Is that so?”

With that, she took long strides out of the room, leaving Qiao Mumu completely behind.

Two days quickly passed, and it was the weekend.

The matter of Su Li meeting Shen Mo’s elders was taken very seriously by her family. That morning, she carried the gift her father had prepared and, dressed in the elegant outfit her mother had specially put together for her, got into Shen Mo’s car.

Seeing Shen Mo for the third time, Su Li still felt a bit excited sitting next to her.

“Are you free on Tuesday? They want us to go try on wedding dresses in City A.”

Shen Mo nodded: “I’ve cleared my entire schedule for next week.”

Su Li’s lips curved upward uncontrollably, and she unconsciously leaned in Shen Mo’s direction.

It wasn’t until Shen Mo turned to look at her that she realized the distance between them in the spacious back seat of the luxury car was less than two finger-widths.

Just as Su Li was about to return to a normal social distance, Shen Mo suddenly leaned in, reaching her hand past Su Li’s cheek.

Their thighs were pressed tightly together, cloth against cloth. Su Li dared not move. In her daze, she felt Shen Mo pat her shoulder.

Su Li asked: “…Was there dust?”

Shen Mo paused, then shook her head.

She said: “I saw it incorrectly.”

The next moment, she slowly withdrew her hand but didn’t sit back down.

Su Li felt the warmth radiating from Shen Mo and couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

She recalled the news of Shen Mo’s love at first sight for her and boldly took hold of Shen Mo’s hand resting on her knee.

Poor Su Li had the looks to be a natural player, but apart from her “emotional history” of secretly loving Qiao Mumu, she had never been in a relationship.

After a long silence, she managed to blurt out: “Your hand is so beautiful.”

Shen Mo quickly took control, meticulously tracing the five fingers of Su Li’s palm with her thumb, making Su Li’s face flush.

She finally stopped at the small callus on Su Li’s right middle finger: “Did you get this from writing?”

Su Li found the topic novel and nodded, “Mhm.”

Shen Mo looked up at her: “Then your posture for holding a pen might not be standard.”

“…” Su Li looked confused. “Huh?”

Shen Mo took out a signature pen she carried with her: “How do you usually hold a pen?”

Su Li unconsciously fell into her rhythm, demonstrating as she spoke: “Just, like this.”

“Holding the pen like this can be a bit strenuous. Try moving your middle finger up, and put your index finger here to help with force,” Shen Mo guided carefully, holding her hand.

Su Li felt something was off, but throughout the process, she could only agree with Shen Mo, “Mhm, mhm, ah, ah,” correcting her posture. The intimate feeling of sharing the ride completely vanished.

Right up until they got out of the car, the mnemonic for holding a pen—”The third finger supports, the second leans, the first presses firmly”—was still echoing in her mind.

Shen Mo was looking at her phone beside her, appearing serious, as if dealing with some important work.

In reality, she was chatting with her junior, the psychological consultant.

Zhou Zhou: 【Sister Shen, Sister Shen, you’re taking your fiancée home to meet the parents today, right? How is the progress?】

Shen Mo: 【Very smoothly.】

Zhou Zhou: 【Wow!】

Shen Mo: 【We had a very pleasant chat.】

Zhou Zhou, who was lazily enjoying her day off on the sofa at home, immediately became interested: 【What did you talk about?】

Shen Mo typed with her head down: 【I helped her correct her pen-holding posture.】

After sending it, she put her phone in her pocket and turned to greet Su Li: “Let’s go in.”

Su Li came back to reality, grinning as she replied: “Okay~”

On the other side, Zhou Zhou scratched her head all morning over the phrase “correct her pen-holding posture.”