"Water broke?" Chairman Chen's brows furrowed deeply as he looked at Jiang Han. "Do you know when Lu Yining's due date is, Mr. Jiang?"

Jiang Han immediately felt the suppressed anger in Chairman Chen's tone.

He braced himself and replied, "It's within these next few days."

Chairman Chen was speechless. "The due date is here, so why is she still at the company?"

When watching dramas, Chairman Chen hadn't felt there was any issue with this.

In reality, there really are people who insist on waiting until they go into labor before going home for maternity leave.

But now that he was the boss, the sight of an employee still working at the company when she was due made him feel truly uncomfortable.

If one didn't know better, they might think he was like Yang Bailao, endlessly squeezing his 'slaves' without rest.

And this was a pregnant woman, for heaven's sake.

If something went wrong, it could be two lives lost. Who could take responsibility for that?

Having an employee who was already past her due date working on the job—wasn't that just asking for trouble?

Jiang Han looked awkward. After thinking for a moment, he explained, "It's like this, Chairman Chen."

"The company has seen significant changes recently, and the Marketing Department is under a lot of pressure."

"Lu Yining is the type of person who insists on doing everything herself and is very competitive. Even with having a baby, she insisted on working until the day she went into labor before taking maternity leave."

"I tried to persuade her to take the leave, but she insisted on staying."

"Plus, we've been really swamped lately, so I didn't push too hard for her to go home."

Chairman Chen took a breath, struggling to suppress his anger, and looked at Jiang Han expressionlessly. "If the company is missing Lu Yining, will it stop turning?"

Behind him, Zou Yu curled her lips into a smile. This was the first time she had seen Chairman Chen so furious.

It seemed Mr. Jiang was in trouble.

"..." Jiang Han was speechless.

Chairman Chen's gaze swept over Meng Yanchen and Jiang Han. "Add a clause to the leave policy: mandatory maternity leave starting half a month before the due date."

Both Meng Yanchen and Jiang Han nodded. "Understood."

Chairman Chen suppressed his anger. "We aren't just responsible for the company's profits; we are also responsible for the safety of our employees."

"The company has ten thousand employees, which means ten thousand families."

"The responsibility is immense, Mr. Jiang."

Jiang Han truly felt Chairman Chen's dissatisfaction with him. "I understand, Chairman Chen."

Chairman Chen let out a sigh. "Have someone send some baby formula to Lu Yining."

He knew clearly in his heart that this whole situation was something Jiang Han had orchestrated to maintain his own influence in the company.

Otherwise, any normal manager would not dare to let a pregnant woman who was already past her due date remain on the job.

As for Lu Yining, she was well aware that Company Name was in a special period of power transition.

As a direct subordinate promoted by Jiang Han, she had to fight for her position, whether she wanted to or not.

If she didn't fight, by the time she finished having her baby, there would be no place left for her at Company Name.

She would be gradually marginalized until her career ended.

If she fought, she could gain an extra sense of 'responsibility' from Jiang Han—that he would protect his own people.

Watching Chairman Chen with his serious, old-cadre demeanor, Zou Yu suppressed a faint smile, her eyes sparkling with infatuation.

"..." Qiao Xichen's seatmate craned her neck, looking in the direction where the group was gathered.

She took her phone, walked a bit further away, and called Qiao Xichen.

As soon as the call connected, Miao Miao lowered her voice and said urgently, "Hello? Qiaoqiao, when are you coming back?"

On the other end of the line, Qiao Xichen and Hu Jingjing had just left the police station and returned to Qiao Xichen's rented apartment.

At noon, an old man had brought people and broken into the apartment Qiao Xichen rented to move things out.

Qiao Xichen's neighbor saw it, thought burglars had entered her home, and quickly notified Qiao Xichen.

Qiao Xichen had taken advantage of her lunch break to rush back.

After returning, she realized she had been scammed out of her rent by a small agency.

However, this old man, who claimed to own the place and could even produce a property deed, had a very hostile attitude.

He insisted that Qiao Xichen move out immediately.

With such a huge problem suddenly dumped on her, Qiao Xichen was completely stunned.

Fortunately, Qiao Xichen's friend, Hu Jingjing, had rushed over.

Today, Hu Jingjing had originally planned to happily celebrate her birthday with friends after work.

However, after returning from a project collaboration meeting in the morning, she was informed by her boss that the company was undergoing a 'strategic adjustment' and was laying her off.

They even wanted her to resign voluntarily.

They didn't want to pay severance, so they threatened her with her personnel file regarding the dismissal.

After weighing the pros and cons, Hu Jingjing finally chose to compromise.

There was no other way; if this piece of trash really bad-mouthed her in the industry, she would be covered in filth and wouldn't be able to survive in this line of work.

Since she was being laid off, Hu Jingjing naturally had no heart for working.

She became the one with the most free time in their circle of five.

Knowing that Qiao Xichen's place was being 'raided', she rushed over to help.

She tried every way to persuade the old man to give them a few more days, but the stubborn old man refused.

He gave Qiao Xichen two choices: either pay him rent, or move out immediately.

Qiao Xichen had just paid the rent for the second half of the year to the agency and was broke; where would she find the money to pay rent again?

Even if she had it, she shouldn't have to pay.

That was how the conflict erupted.

Hu Jingjing had grabbed a kitchen knife, which finally scared off the people trying to force their way into Qiao Xichen's room to move things.

In the end, it escalated to the police station.

Right now, Qiao Xichen and Hu Jingjing had just finished mediation at the police station and were walking home.

"What's wrong, Miao Miao?" Qiao Xichen asked, feeling a little guilty.

Miao Miao's mouth twitched. "You really are laid back."

"'What's wrong?' Didn't I send you a message?"

"A big shot has come to the company, and Chairman Meng and Mr. Jiang are accompanying him."

"They want you back immediately."

"You just offended the new director this morning; if he catches you missing again... you can imagine the consequences, right?"

"Besides, from the looks of it, it seems to be the big boss of the company."

"Mr. Jiang was scolded mercilessly because of Sister Yining's situation. He wasn't given any face at all."

Miao Miao, the gossip hub of the Marketing Department, chattered away, spilling everything that had happened at the company to Qiao Xichen.

Qiao Xichen was stunned. "What happened with Sister Yining? Didn't she go to have her baby?"

Miao Miao looked in the direction where the figures had disappeared.

"Sister Yining was already past her due date but was still working at the company. The big boss found out and gave Mr. Jiang a dressing down."

"Anyway, you'd better come back quickly."

"Mr. Jiang got scolded, so it's possible... the new director brought by Chairman Meng might become the target of Mr. Jiang's retaliation. And then we small fry will be... Anyway, just hurry back."

Qiao Xichen readily agreed. "I'll be back as soon as I finish up here."

The two exchanged a few more words and hung up.

"Jingjing, what were you going to say just now?" Qiao Xichen asked, putting down her phone and turning to Hu Jingjing.

Hu Jingjing had been about to talk about her own situation just now, but had been interrupted by the call.

"Oh," Hu Jingjing said with a smile on her face, waving her hand. "It's nothing."

"You should hurry back. I'll help you tidy up the place."