Wang Qiqi and Fatty had just finished their conversation, preparing to handle the documents Fatty had handed over to her, when JOHN placed an internal call to Wang Qiqi, asking her to come to his office.

Wang Qiqi looked up to see that Sam was already at his station. After smoothing her clothes, she walked into JOHN's office. Just as she was about to knock to ask permission to enter, the words came out: "Sam's last day is this Friday."

Friday is the last day? Wang Qiqi was stunned. To be honest, she had assumed the man would stick around until after Christmas, since that would allow him to snag some paid holiday leave, wouldn't it? But this implied they were rushing the project on their end. "Alright, then what about the year-end bonus?" It was still a while until the end of the year; how would that be calculated?

"Give him the standard eighty percent." JOHN had also been considering how to handle that bonus just now. Originally, he had intended to give no bonus at all, but on second thought, he decided to leave a thread open—after all, they had already set someone up for a slight mishap.

Wang Qiqi murmured an acknowledgment. Fine, give it to him. Even if Sam discovered later that they had set him up, he would probably just count it as bad luck, since the departure had been amicable, with no hard feelings left between either party.

Wang Qiqi had been quite worried that Fatty would be dissatisfied upon hearing they were giving Sam such a year-end bonus, but unexpectedly, though he showed a flicker of displeasure, he agreed without objection, which struck Wang Qiqi as odd. "You haven't snapped out of your 'muscle man' dream yet, have you?"

Muscle man? Han Tao listened to Wang Qiqi’s words, genuinely confused by what his wife was referring to. "What is it?" Was Fatty planning to become a bodybuilder? Han Tao sized Fatty up, mentally calculating that Fatty was embarking on another impossible quest.

"Nothing," Fatty interjected quickly, deeply regretting how casually he had let those words slip to Qiqi. He could already foresee how Han Tao would mock him once he heard about his aspirations. Honestly, after thinking it over, Fatty admitted the request was incredibly ambitious.

Wang Qiqi truthfully recounted what Fatty had told her that afternoon. "I don't think Fatty needs to go that far. Weiwei probably just wants you to lose the fat. A little bit of ab definition would be nice, certainly, but transforming into a Mr. Olympia contestant? Forget it." Wang Qiqi had intended to have a good laugh at Fatty’s expense, but seeing his face flush crimson, she ultimately abandoned the idea; Fatty wasn't someone easy to mock.

"Just work on getting some abs," Han Tao stated reasonably. "Besides, she specializes in training; what are we? We're IT guys. Don't set the bar too high. Actually, Fatty, if you just dropped another twenty kilograms, you'd look quite good." Fatty was just a bit overweight; otherwise, everything else about him was fine. "From now on, Qiqi will join you for workouts during lunch, and I’ll join you in the evenings. Mornings, though, are out."

Hearing that someone would keep him company during his workouts lifted Fatty’s spirits immediately. "Great! Thanks, Tao, thanks, Qiqi." Fatty's main concern had been a lack of willpower, but now, with company, his confidence soared. "I need to work hard, so next year when we vacation by the beach, I can capture the attention of plenty of beautiful women." The mere thought of his body, sculpted like a bodybuilder's, drawing scorching gazes from women on the sand instantly put him in a fantastic mood.

Wang Qiqi was genuinely surprised that Fatty’s motivation for weight loss was so shallow, and she suddenly felt that accompanying him to the gym might not be the best idea. "Be careful your Weiwei doesn't run off. Besides, what's the use of a great physique if your wallet isn't bulging? You’re one of the top hundred global homeowners; beauties will be lining up to be spoiled by you." People were inherently pragmatic; beauties loved money. With money, how could beautiful women be scarce? Didn't they see handsome Leo, ten years older, looking just as ordinary with a huge gut strolling on vacation, yet surrounded by plenty of beautiful women? Wasn't that purely because of Leo's immense fame and wealth? Otherwise, how could he attract so many women?

"Crass, utterly crass," Fatty commented without restraint. "But it's also the truth."

Wang Qiqi was about to roll her eyes, thinking, Is what I said crass? I’m speaking facts. But Fatty’s next words pleased her greatly. "Let's eat, let's eat. After a good meal, I need to connect with Weiwei and the others to finalize the travel plans."

Planning was still needed? Fatty almost rolled his eyes again. For a few days off, those women were constantly discussing this and that. Fatty wondered why they were so excited over a mere island that lacked any major shopping centers. Thankfully, they hadn't roped the men into the planning, or Fatty suspected he would have been in tears.

Wang Qiqi saw Fatty’s eye-roll and inwardly scoffed. Did Fatty really think they were just discussing where to go on a massive shopping spree? Did he think she was that tasteless? Did he believe that when women got together, the only topics were shopping and fashion? That was utterly unfair. Although she had made some private arrangements for the vacation, she certainly wouldn't announce them directly.

Sam’s departure surprised many, as the company's prospects were quite good; even relocating the office was a common enough occurrence—which of them hadn't moved across states following their parents as a child? But everyone had their own aspirations. After wishing Sam a smoother path ahead, they returned to their work. The IT circle was small enough that they might easily cross paths again soon. Especially after Sam left, a few others had also tendered their resignations—a number that slightly exceeded JOHN's and Han Tao's expectations.

Han Tao’s expression had been rather strained recently. "I didn't expect so many people to leave. Fortunately, none of the ones leaving were the highly capable ones." Although Han Tao sounded relaxed, his expression betrayed his true thoughts.

Fatty grunted. "Now we have new partners coming in, and we have to re-establish workflow. It's tedious." Even though they had only worked together for about half a year, they had built excellent synergy. Suddenly having to start over from scratch, Fatty could only pray the newcomers had good temperaments and solid skills so they could mesh quickly.

Wang Qiqi looked at their troubled faces and didn't quite know how to comfort them. "The company is growing, so new people will always come in. There’s no permanent banquet in life; perhaps you'll all meet again someday." However, JOHN was having a particularly rough time. He had planned a proper rest, but with all these resignations, his anticipated vacation would likely be ruined. Relocating the office, recruiting new staff, and planning negotiations with investors after the New Year—"Stop worrying, you two. Think about JOHN. I imagine he’s more troubled than both of you." The best way to soothe Han Tao and Fatty was to point out someone worse off than them.

JOHN? Hearing Wang Qiqi mention that name, the weariness visibly lifted from Han Tao's and Fatty’s faces. "Compared to him, we’re doing fine," Han Tao remarked uncharitably. "Besides, they are new employees; there’s no reason we should be the ones to accommodate them." With that thought, Han Tao felt a bit better, though he knew gaining the respect of capable new hires wouldn't be easy.

"Exactly," Fatty chimed in. "No matter what, we're dealing with colleagues. JOHN is dealing with old foxes." Fatty couldn't help but smile recalling how conflicted Qiqi had looked during their initial negotiations. And that was only the first round! The deeper negotiations would be even more frustrating and require far more effort.

Fatty suddenly remembered that besides JOHN being stressed, someone sitting right beside them, diligently eating, would also be troubled. "But Qiqi would also be quite conflicted then."

"Me?" Wang Qiqi found it very strange that the topic had shifted to her. "Why would I be conflicted?"

"Aren't you participating in the negotiations?" Fatty looked at the utterly confused Wang Qiqi, finding it odd. If someone was involved in the early stages, they wouldn't suddenly opt out of the final stages, especially since JOHN now recognized Wang Qiqi’s capabilities—he wouldn't pass up such a useful asset.

Wang Qiqi shook her head. "I agreed with JOHN early on that I would only handle the preliminary preparations and the initial rounds of negotiation. Once the key negotiation points were selected, I could step back and rest." Wang Qiqi thought to herself that those initial negotiations alone had nearly driven her to collapse dealing with those crafty dealers. If she had to get involved in the deep negotiations, well, her stake in the company wasn't enough, even if she was a shareholder—she couldn't possibly betray people like that; it wasn't her sole proprietorship, nor did she hold the majority stake.

Poor Qiqi truly didn't know the reality of the situation. It seemed Han Tao hadn't told her everything. Realizing this, Fatty felt genuine sympathy for Wang Qiqi, who remained unaware of how her husband had sold her out.

Wang Qiqi noticed Fatty’s strange expression and grew curious. "Fatty, what do you know?" At that moment, Wang Qiqi remembered someone who used to complain often about how painful negotiating with the old foxes was—but recently, he hadn't complained for a long time. Had Han Tao agreed to some humiliating contract with JOHN?

Fatty shook his head rapidly. "Buddha says it cannot be spoken." Just kidding! If he said anything, he’d implicate himself! Why should he volunteer to deliver Han Tao's bad news?

"I promised JOHN that you would help with the negotiations." Han Tao had intended to wait until after the holiday, finding a day when Wang Qiqi was in a good mood to broach the subject, but Fatty had inadvertently exposed it prematurely. Even though it was unintentional, Han Tao vowed that after setting up his brother like this so often, he would eventually have to retaliate.

What? Help with negotiations? Wang Qiqi wasn't foolish enough to think Han Tao only wanted her for the first round; he likely expected her involvement throughout. Consequently, Wang Qiqi’s mood soured considerably. She pretended not to have heard what Fatty and Han Tao had said, gesturing for them to eat, though her expression was decidedly frosty towards Han Tao. She absolutely had to make the man understand clearly that his wife was not his appendage and couldn't make decisions on her behalf.