After breakfast, Xue Rui followed Jifeng’s instructions and went busy.
Jifeng sat in the study, his expression stern.
He suddenly remembered a remark from Duan Aoxiang this morning: “You were just drunk, not like you can’t function without Wei Ge. In the end, it’s your lack of self-control!”
His fist pounded the table.
If he lacked self-control, then there was no man in this world with self-control.
He stood up, grabbed his suit jacket, and headed out, heading straight for his usual private hospital.
Jifeng looked at the test report that had just come out.
The results showed that he wasn’t just drunk.
His mood became complex.
He felt somewhat relieved because science proved that it wasn’t his lack of self-control! There was indeed a strong external force that disrupted his self-control.
At the same time, he was furious. Duan Aoxiang dared to play such a trick on him.
He swore in his heart that he couldn’t let Duan Aoxiang get away with it.
He immediately drove back to the hotel and personally did two things.
First, he obtained authorization from the hotel owner and then went to the security department’s control room, requesting to view the surveillance footage from the top floor last night.
The head of the monitoring room told him that there was no surveillance footage from eleven o’clock onwards, and it seemed to have been deliberately erased.
Jifeng thought for a moment and asked if there were any people other than staff who came to the monitoring room last night.
The head went to ask the on-duty staff and came back with the reply: indeed, an outsider came last night, Mr. Duan’s assistant, who said Mr. Duan lost something important and wanted to see if anyone took it out.
Jifeng, upon hearing this, understood that checking the missing item was just an excuse and a lie; it was Ah Ni who deliberately erased the footage.
He found it strange when Duan Aoxiang had grown such a thoughtful brain. He thought about how to cover things up so well.
With this question in mind, he returned to the top floor and went to Duan Aoxiang’s suite.
Duan Aoxiang had cleaned the blood off his face, with two cotton pads stuffed in his nostrils, squatting on the sofa, grimacing while sipping porridge.
Seeing Jifeng coming back, he lifted the porridge along with himself, all in a tremble, immediately on guard, and shrinking backward. “Are you not done yet? Not satisfied with hitting me once, want to hit me again?”
Jifeng stared at him coldly and asked, “Did you spike my drink last night?”
Duan Aoxiang raised an eyebrow. “Well, however dirty you want to think of me, go ahead. Just assume I did.”
Then he changed his expression and laughed. “What’s wrong? Can’t accept the fact that your self-control isn’t strong enough and want to blame it on the drugs?”
Jifeng squinted. It seemed that Duan Aoxiang didn’t add anything to his drink.
Come to think of it, Duan Aoxiang never had the brain to plan things comprehensively; his thoughts were always childish and full of loopholes.
But Ah Ni was different; he was half a smart guy, not good at proper things but always clear-headed in the bad ones.
Jifeng thought he had figured out who the worst person in the whole incident was.
He suddenly asked Duan Aoxiang, “Where’s Ah Ni?”
Duan Aoxiang blurted out, “What do you want with him? He messed up, so I kicked him out.”
Jifeng didn’t say anything more, turned around, and walked away.
He returned to his suite, walked straight into the study, and called his private lawyer. “Find a way to sort out Duan Aoxiang’s business developments in Thailand over the past few years. Also, check a person for me, Duan Aoxiang’s assistant Ah Ni. Investigate him thoroughly, to the extent that can bring legal consequences.” Jifeng instructed with gritted teeth.
He had said before, he was a person who sought revenge; he would not let those who harmed him go easily.
The events of last night were too bizarre and sudden. In Xumiyu’s life understanding, she couldn’t imagine waking up in a man’s bed after drinking. And she and this man weren’t just sleeping, but had done everything possible.
Xumiyu returned to the executive floor and rushed into the shower room in the changing room.
She stood under the shower, and the lukewarm water washed down from the top of her head.
She recalled what Jifeng had said to her just before going downstairs, a cold remark.
He said:
—Xumiyu, hope you grow a longer brain, shut your mouth when you’re working, don’t drink casually, or else you’ll end up like today.
At that time, her mind went blank, and she asked him back, “What about you? Didn’t you have the same consequence as me?”
She saw Jifeng’s face turn pale.
He almost seemed to be losing control as he told her, “Let’s each grow our own brains, take care of our own mouths, and not casually drink someone else’s wine. Are you satisfied with this answer?”
She felt like he was about to collapse emotionally. It was strange; he seemed more broken than she was.
She hurriedly fled.
Standing under the water column, she replayed the sentence Jifeng said to her. No matter what, it was a very reasonable statement. She stored that sentence in her mind to remind herself.
She stood under the flowing water, closing her eyes. She told herself not to recall any details of the unrestrained affair from last night.
She vigorously scrubbed her body, as if this could wash away the traces of last night, as if she could return to her old self before the one-night affair with Jifeng.
But the disdainful and cold eyes that Jifeng cast at her in the morning seemed unerasable; they whipped at her again and again.
Those eyes made her feel as if she had dirtied him.
Xumiyu rubbed herself vigorously. In those eyes, she also began to despise herself.
After changing clothes and hastily having breakfast, Xumiyu went to Zhang Cailu to collect the work order.
Zhang Cailu seemed to ask her something; she didn’t quite hear it and, after returning to her senses, asked Zhang Cailu again. Zhang Cailu smiled and said, “It’s nothing important, go ahead and work.” Then she went to brief others about the work.
Xumiyu could only take the work order and get ready to start working.
While cleaning one of the rooms where the guest wasn’t present, Xu Miyu noticed that the guest had brought his own health pot. Seeing the pot boiling tea, she hesitated. Generally, staff wouldn’t touch items guests brought without permission or certainty that the guest didn’t want them. But to be safe, she asked Zhang Cailu over the intercom if the guest’s health tea needed replacement.
Zhang Cailu replied that she was busy and told Xu Miyu to handle it herself.
After some thought, considering that the guest hadn’t given explicit permission, Xu Miyu decided not to touch the health pot. After finishing the other tasks, she locked the door and left.
While cleaning another room, Ke Wenxue suddenly ran to find her.
Ke Wenxue’s face showed urgency and excitement. Xu Miyu was already familiar with that kind of excitement; whenever there was gossip, good or bad, Ke Wenxue would get excited.
She just didn’t expect that this time the gossip would involve her.
“Sister Xu, Sister Xu, what’s going on with you? When you received the work order this morning, the team leader specifically told you that there’s a guest in the executive room who has given clear instructions. Clean his room, especially his health pot. Clear out the used tea, brew fresh health tea, and leave the tea leaves on the table. He’ll bring an important guest in the morning, and that person has a sensitive stomach, so they can only drink health tea. But why did you clean everywhere else and neglect the thing that the guest specifically instructed?”
Xu Miyu was stunned. Last night’s sudden turn of events and her groggy state in the morning made her miss what Zhang Cailu said. When she asked Zhang Cailu again, she was told it wasn’t a big deal.
Now, recalling her inquiry about the guest’s health pot over the intercom, Zhang Cailu likely deliberately didn’t tell her.
In the morning, when Zhang Cailu briefed everyone about this, everyone heard it. However, when Xu Miyu asked Zhang Cailu about it on the intercom, only the two of them knew. So, in everyone else’s eyes, she appeared to be the one neglecting her duties.
Xu Miyu understood. Clearly, Zhang Cailu was taking advantage of this opportunity to deliberately set her up. Since the last dissatisfaction review, Zhang Cailu had been waiting for this chance.
“The guest in that room just came back and found that the health pot still had last night’s used tea. He couldn’t entertain the important guest he brought because of this, causing embarrassment. After the guest left, he called the room service department and complained about our poor service.”
Ke Wenxue paused, her tone changing, sounding a bit solemn as if she was about to deliver bad news. She told Xu Miyu, “Sister Xu, you’re in trouble! Not only did Zhang Cailu not cover for you today, but she also took the initiative to talk to the guest. As long as it could calm him down, he agreed to give the housekeeping staff who cleaned his room an unsatisfactory service rating. The hotel takes this rating seriously. Based on the rating, the hotel will impose corresponding penalties on the staff. So, brace yourself.”
Xu Miyu frowned. Zhang Cailu couldn’t wait any longer. When Xu Miyu’s spirit was muddled in the morning, Zhang Cailu likely decided to seize this chance.
“What about you? You have three unsatisfactory service ratings now, right? So, what about you…”
So, are you going to be sent home?
In her mind, Xu Miyu completed Ke Wenxue’s unsaid words.
She thought that Zhang Cailu didn’t want to drag this on anymore. When she didn’t hear clearly in the morning, Zhang Cailu likely already made up her mind to use this opportunity.
Xu Miyu didn’t know how to respond emotionally for a while. The events from last night were too significant and abnormal, raising the threshold for her emotional responses to other things.
She thanked Ke Wenxue and continued with her cleaning.
Ke Wenxue asked her, “Sister Xu, aren’t you going to explain or negotiate, try to change a couple of bad reviews? Please go talk to the team leader and the guest, try to change a couple of bad reviews.”
Xu Miyu stopped her hands and chuckled self-mockingly.
Turning to Ke Wenxue, she said, “Trust me, going to the team leader, explaining, pleading—none of that will work.”
Because someone deliberately wanted to force her out. If she went to plead with Zhang Cailu now, the result wouldn’t change. She would still have to leave, only with the added experience of witnessing Zhang Cailu’s forced display of fake concern and hypocrisy.
She turned back to her work.
After today’s noon, whether she stayed or left, at least finish the work in front of her first.
Ke Wenxue stood behind Xu Miyu for a moment. The gossip she brought didn’t lead to anything more, and feeling a bit disappointed, she left.
At noon, Xu Miyu didn’t go to the canteen for lunch.
She had no appetite.
After changing into regular clothes, she went directly to the pharmacy outside to buy emergency contraception.
After taking the medicine, she bought a piece of bread and sat on a bench outside the convenience store, hastily finishing it. Glancing at her phone, there was still some time before she had to go back to work in the afternoon. She didn’t want to return, didn’t want to talk or communicate with anyone, didn’t want to hear people telling her that she was about to be fired and needed to figure something out.
Her mind was in chaos, unable to make sense of things. Originally, her solution was on the top floor, and before last night, she might have been able to go up again and renegotiate with the top floor regarding the previous conditions. However, after last night, she completely extinguished that solution.
If she went to talk to Ji Feng again about removing the team leader, Ji Feng would probably think she was negotiating with him using her body. She couldn’t accept being seen as a woman who used her body to negotiate conditions.
Just as she was thinking about this, her phone in her pocket suddenly vibrated frantically.
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