Gu Susu softened her tone, not wanting to argue with her. "Saying such things without any evidence is slander."
The woman paused for a moment, then quickly glared at Gu Susu with disgust. "How dare you lecture me! These documents are the evidence. How can you, a newcomer, be assigned the spring launch event?"
"Why can't a newcomer handle the spring launch event? We designers always win with our designs. Do we need to follow seniority?"
"What design skills do you have? And you're still acting so high and mighty here..."
"Sister Na, Sister Na! Calm down. Why bother arguing with a newcomer?" Finally, someone stepped in to stop them from fighting.
However, the woman called Sister Na became even more indignant, pointing at Gu Susu and saying, "It's not your place to lecture me here!"
Another colleague came to pull her away, advising, "Sister Na, calm down. Someone without the skill can't handle it even if they get the chance. The chief designer will still need you to save the day."
Sister Na sneered, "We'll just have to wait and see."
Gu Susu took a deep breath and stopped paying attention to them.
The people who came to mediate clearly had no good intentions; they were all targeting her, waiting to see her make a fool of herself.
She suppressed her annoyance, turned, and looked at the documents on the desk.
A single clap doesn't make a sound. Seeing that she had withdrawn, the others couldn't stir up any more trouble, so they dispersed.
Gu Susu wouldn't let these people affect her mood, but she was certainly not a pushover.
If anyone dared to spread rumors about her and Chang Qingchuan again, she wouldn't be easy to deal with!
After a while, Zhuang Ying leaned towards her and said softly, "Sister Susu, are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"Tang Na was originally in charge of the spring launch event designs. The chief designer suddenly assigning her to you must have made her uncomfortable, so she's deliberately picking on you. Just ignore her."
"Oh, so it was her project. That explains her bad attitude."
Seeing how understanding she was, Zhuang Ying moved closer and said, "That Tang Na is an overseas returnee with some design certificates. She's incredibly self-important. When she first joined the company, she looked down on everyone. The company put her in charge of all the women's fashion launches last year, but she didn't achieve anything, and she still has the nerve to criticize you."
"Her designs lack originality; she's just imitating some internationally renowned big brands. Our company's fashion prices are not low. If customers don't need to buy our imitations, they might as well buy directly from those big brands."
"Exactly, Sister Susu, your analysis is spot on. Look at her, she's an old maid. Only twenty-eight, but she looks older than her age, with very noticeable nasolabial folds."
Gu Susu smiled, thinking that Tang Na was only a year or two older than her and indeed looked quite aged.
However, she wouldn't comment on Tang Na's personal appearance; that would be too impolite.
Sticking to the facts, she had briefly looked at some of Tang Na's designs, and this was likely the problem.
Zhuang Ying patted her shoulder and encouraged her, "Sister Susu, I believe you can do it. Those sketches you helped me with yesterday were amazing. Once they see your capabilities, they'll have nothing to say."
"Thank you, I'll do my best."
By the end of the workday, Gu Susu had reviewed all the materials Tang Na had submitted, which gave her a severe headache.
She wanted to scrap everything and redesign, not out of spite, but because Tang Na's designs were truly unusable.
However, redesigning everything would be extremely tight on time; she wasn't sure if she could complete it for the spring launch.
She couldn't make up her mind and, as the workday neared its end, walked to Chang Qingchuan's office and knocked.
"Come in."
Gu Susu pushed the door open and walked in, closing it behind her.
Chang Qingchuan looked up from his desk and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something? Is that Tang Na giving you a hard time?"
"No, she can't trouble me." Gu Susu handed him a set of documents. "I've looked over these design proposals."
"How are they? Are there any areas that need modification?"
Gu Susu paused and said, "It's not about modifications; the entire design concept hasn't captured this year's fashion trends. If we go with these designs, the spring women's collection likely won't see any improvement."
"Ah, then what do you suggest we do?"
"I want to redesign everything, but I'm worried about the time constraint..."
"Don't worry about that. You come up with the design proposals, and I'll dedicate all my time to helping you with the drafting, and finding other colleagues to assist."
"Is that really okay? But what about Tang Na? Will she accept it?"
"Are the company's interests more important, or her personal feelings? Regardless of whether she accepts it or not, we must prioritize the company's interests. It's urgent to turn around the current situation of our women's fashion in the market."
"But..."
"Susu, don't you forget who brought Mishang's fashion to the international market? Do you not want Mishang to continue its internationalization?"
Gu Susu thought about it. Mishang was the company Qin Tianyi cared about the most, and it was a place where she had once poured her heart and soul.
She couldn't let Mishang's women's fashion continue to be sluggish just because she was afraid of someone's harsh words.
"I'll start designing new proposals now and try to have them ready by tomorrow or the day after. I'll be relying on you for the rest."
"Alright, no problem." Chang Qingchuan made an OK gesture.
Gu Susu suddenly felt a sense of urgency. It seemed she would have to race against time for the next month to complete the designs.
...
There were some matters at Aoxiang Group that he had to handle personally, which was why he returned late that night.
Upon returning to the villa, he quietly tiptoed into Xiao Xingxing's room. Seeing that he was already asleep, with the blanket kicked to the side.
He gently tucked Xiao Xingxing in, then looked at his cute sleeping face.
To be honest, he had used deception to bring Xiao Xingxing to Lancheng, intending to threaten Gu Susu.
Gu Susu cherished this child so much; as long as the child was with him, he wasn't afraid that Gu Susu wouldn't return.
But later, as he interacted with Xiao Xingxing, he genuinely grew fond of the child, unconsciously treating him as his own son.
Every time he saw the child, he longed to have a child of his own with Gu Susu; that would be even better.
A smile involuntarily curved his lips. He believed it would happen soon. Even if Gu Susu was unwilling, once she had his child, she would have no say in the matter.
Feeling a bit tired, he returned to the master bedroom and saw Gu Susu, dressed in a conservative home outfit, busily working on her laptop, occasionally sketching on the drawing paper beside her, completely unaware that he had entered.
Qin Tianyi detested this feeling of being ignored. He put down his suit jacket and walked straight to her side, looking at what she was drawing.