Chapter 122 - Problems
Xiu Mei became uneasy as soon as she remembered that rumor but she didn't let it show on her face. If Wan Wan really did get adopted in the Ying family, then it wouldn't be appropriate for her to get close with her. And once Mrs.Ying hears about it, who knows what she will do just to separate them.
"Sister Mei Mei, do you really not remember me?" Wan Wan pouted while looking very pitiful at her.
"Sorry, I really don't remember. I… have a bit of a bad memory ah." She tilted and scratched the back of her head while trying to look as apologetic as possible.
"Eh? But we played together a lot back when I was little."
"I'm sorry, I really don't remember. Maybe you mistook me for someone?"
"That can't be! How can I forget Sister Mei Mei ah! I wouldn't dare!"
"I really think you got the wrong person, sorry."
Xiu Mei stood up in an attempt to move seats. She looked around the cafe to see if there were other vacant spots but unfortunately, all of the tables are already occupied. She sighed in disappointment as she glanced at the girl in front of her again.
The guilt was killing her but she doesn't really dare to provoke Mrs.Ying. She already felt guilty when Ying Yue died and she felt guiltier when she learned that she was really the target all along and Ying Yue was kidnapped and died just because she was with her.
So now, even if she knows Wan Wan, she didn't dare reconnect with her. Plus the fact that Lu Chen and her brother currently have suspicions on the Ying family.
She saw Wan Wan pause for a second before her expression turned dejected after hearing her reply. She bowed her head as she pondered for a short moment before speaking.
"Then I'll introduce myself to Sister Mei Mei again!" Her expression quickly changed from being dejected to looking very determined. She raised her head with a resolute expression on her face then turned to look at her.
She held out her hand in front of her as she introduced herself.
"Sister Mei Mei, I'm Ying Wan Wan." The naive girl said.
Xiu Mei glanced at the hand being offered to her and she hesitated.
"Ms.Xiu, I already got our or—Oops, sorry. Did I interrupt your conversation?" Her assistant appeared behind Wan Wan. Xiu Mei immediately grabbed this opportunity to make her escape.
"No, it's fine." She stood up from her seat. "I'll be going first, Ms.Ying."
Then she walked out of the cafe with her assistant. She didn't even turn back to see Wan Wan's crestfallen expression when she ignored her. Till the end, she kept being polite to her.
The guilt was eating her but she's been feeling guilty for almost ten years, it doesn't make any difference to feel guiltier now.
"Ms.Xiu, are you sure is that fine?" Her assistant asked as she glanced back at the door of the cafe.
"It's fine. She probably mistook me for someone else." Xiu Mei lied. She quickly shifted the topic by talking about other things while they walked back to their office.
A few days later, the peaceful days of Lu Corporation were disturbed once again.
"So you're telling me, there was a glitch in the system?" Xiu Mei took a deep breath when she said that.
"Y-Yes, Ms.Xiu." The software executive stammered in reply as he stood with his head bowed down across her.
Two other people stood before Xiu Mei—one from the marketing team and one from the digital team. The three of them stood nervously inside the small conference room.
Xiu Mei read the contents of the paper again. A second later, she closed the file shut while massaging her temples.
She grew silent for a few seconds before opening her mouth.
"Surely, you all already worked out a contingency plan for this one?"
"..."
Instead of responding, the three employees just continued bowing their heads in apology. Seeing this, Xiu Mei finally exploded and scolded them.
"Did you not do a test-run before launching the promotion?!"
"W-we did Ms.Xiu! But we don't know what happened because when we checked it again the next day, some of the algorithms and codes were changed."
"Changed it or did you just miss it?"
"..."
Xiu Mei felt her headache worsening. Goodness, is she talking to highschoolers ah? Aren't they professionals? Why the hell did they not prepare a backup plan in case something wrong happens?
She stared at the folder again and sighed.
Two hours after she arrived in the office, her assistant received a call from the marketing department. Her assistant briefly discussed what the issue was so Xiu Mei immediately pushed off her other work and came down to the Marketing Department.
Normally, anyone would've celebrated seeing a large number of sales on their website. But Xiu Mei was extremely dismayed when she saw that seven figures worth of sales flashing on the screen.
It was about the limited-edition line that they launched for the Mango Collection. Since it is a limited-edition product, simply put, the production amount was limited. They already set the amount to 200 for each limited-edition products, and with 5 different products in total, their target total sales would've only reached, at most, six figures.
So now, seeing this seven-figure amount which is limited to the sales of their 5 limited-edition products, Xiu Mei had to suppress the frustration that was rising within her. So the brief she received from them is that there was a glitch in the system causing the amount limit they set on their website to change. Then a surge of orders suddenly flooded their website.
"Quickly investigate if the issue on our side or someone hacked our system. Submit the report to me this afternoon. For the production problem, send the cost to my email again and the current stats for the orders on each product. Give me the updated total expenses. Halt all promotions for the limited-edition products for now. I'll have to discuss this with the president first before I give you the final decision."
She immediately listed out the things she needed to do in her mind. She might need to coordinate this with the accounting team and operations later on. After giving out her orders, the three people quickly exited the room.
In the afternoon, she finally received the files that she needed to look over before she reports it to Lu Chen.
She first looked at the investigation report submitted by the IT and Software Team about the incident. She paused for a second after reading the report.
"A virus?"
She thought it was just a small issue and the main problem that they'll have is about the production. But it seems that she was wrong ah.
She quickly dialed the connecting number to the department for further information.
"After further investigation, we found out that there was a virus that was planted in our system. We're still tracing the origin of the virus and how it got through our security walls but what we're sure of is that this is done deliberately and it must've been done by an expert."
Xiu Mei agreed with their report. Their system couldn't be easily bypassed by anyone if someone suddenly wants to do it. It would still take a while for them to infiltrate their system but on their end, the IT and software department will be immediately alerted by the hack.
They already had similar cases in the past wherein someone attempted to infiltrate their system. Most of them failed to do so and some were successful but were quickly shut down.
And now, somebody is trying to get inside their system again.
"Anything about the virus?"
"We were able to remove it in the system. Some of the data saved in the database were stolen but they were only able to steal 3% of the information there."
Xiu Mei almost cursed again.
She should really prepare herself when reporting to Lu Chen later ah. Once he discovers this, he'll surely go berserk. The news that their data was stolen by someone is a big failure for all companies. Data are very crucial because not only it can be a company secret but there is other sensitive information recorded in the database.
Xiu Mei worried about her fate later on.
"Have you found out which data were stolen?"
"We're still taking a look at it."
"Then once you found that out, quickly submit it to me. I need constant updates on the progress for this one."
"Understood."
She quickly printed out all the files and placed some sticky notes on them. She knocked on Lu Chen's door and entered the room. Placing the folders on his table, she quickly briefed him about the current status of the issue.
She saw Lu Chen's face grew dim as he read through the report. After closing the last folder she submitted, he went silent as if he was thinking about something.