Shen NingXin soon forgot about the sticky note Qiu YiBai attached onto the hot water bag.
Recently, a foreign customer they had just signed a contract with was coming to visit the factory. Zhao Jie was busy with receiving them, and since she couldn’t deal with the work at hand in time, she handed most of them over to Shen NingXin.
She had to contact the freight forwarder, plan the shipping schedule with the logistics side, make various kinds of forms, sort out a large amount of complicated documents, watch over the shipment process at the factory . . .
With everything combined, Shen NingXin was so busy her head was about to explode. She didn’t even have the time to occasionally daydream.
After a whole day of working, her brain almost couldn’t function anymore.
She really needed to relax.
Shen NingXin sighed and opened the group the chat, sending a “?”.
Its meaning was basically “wanna hang out?”.
Before long, Meng Yao and the others all appeared, frantically sending “!!!!!!!”.
It seemed like they all were desperate to go out.
Seeing the long string of exclamation marks, Shen NingXin couldn’t help but laugh.
Everyone had been a bit busy lately, especially Jiang Yue, who was hung up on online dating and even went out of town. After meeting the other person, she discovered that they were younger than her by over a dozen years, not having even graduated from elementary school.
She couldn’t really question the other person. When she did, all she received in response was: the photos were fake, stories made up, and dating techniques learned from online.
But the heart that loved you was real.
Jiang Yue was so stunned she couldn’t help but laugh. She scolded the child for a long while, telling her to behave well and study hard. Afterward, she still felt angry, so she turned around, drove to the beachside, and stuffed herself with many pounds of lobster.
But she got unlucky, the place she went to probably wasn’t very clean.
When Jiang Yue was eating, she didn’t feel anything wrong, but after returning home, she became sick and had diarrhea for several days. All she did during those days was lie down.
She only just recovered.
Finally, she didn’t need to be a lazy bum anymore.
So the moment Shen NingXin sent the message, she emerged immediately.
She also sent the most exclamation marks in the group chat.
Evidently ready to leave anytime.
—
Half an hour later, the four met in a commercial street at the city center.
One of Meng Yao’s friends opened a new restaurant, and he invited them over to check it out a long time ago. Since they didn’t have time then, they kept dragging it on. Now, the chance finally came.
Seeing an acquaintance come over, that friend was extremely enthusiastic. He gave them free lamb wings, a fruit plate, and many bottles of beer.
Meng Yao immediately showed courtesy, saying that both she and Li Shan drove their cars here, and the remaining two friends couldn’t drink all this beer, so he should take them back.
“I already brought them here, so don’t worry and just drink. If needed, I’ll find you guys substitute drivers!” The friend laughed and patted Meng Yao, and before waiting for her to say anything, he raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Jiang Yue, then grinned and said, “Look at how happily she’s drinking.”
“Ah?” Meng Yao was taken aback when she heard those words, then quickly turned around and discovered that Jiang Yue had already drunk half a bottle of beer while the two were talking.
“. . . . . .”
This unbelievable thing.
Meng Yao couldn’t do anything about her, so she thanked her friend and kept the beer.
Afterward, she walked up and patted Jiang Yue’s head heavily. “Why are you drinking so quickly, are you crazy!”
Jiang Yue grunted from the force of her pats. “I’m hurting.”
“Didn’t you recover?” Meng Yao sighed after hearing her words. “Where else does it hurt?”
As soon as her voice fell, Jiang Yue pointed at her chest. “It hurts here!”
“My heart’s hurting, it’s broken into small pieces . . .” she murmured while pouring herself another drink, then said some lines, “Love breaks the heart, love makes people shed tears.”
“F*ck love, I’m a b*tch if I ever fall in love again!”
Everyone was dumbfounded listening to her.
Meng Yao’s heart was tired, and thinking that this person just recovered from a cold and shouldn’t drink too much, she wanted to stop her.
But before she could reach her hand out, she was blocked by Li Shan on the side.
“Let her drink a little,” Li Shan said, her eyes smiling and her tone teasing, “She’s sad right now.”
“Let’s eat.” Afraid that Jiang Yue was able to hear, she paused, then moved closer to Meng Yao, lowering her voice to say, “Let’s stop her in a bit.”
She was smiling the entire time she said all of this.
Her hands were also carrying the refreshing fragrance of hand soap, slowly dispersing into the air as the wind blew from the air conditioner, and it smelled surprisingly nice.
A few seconds passed, and after a while, Meng Yao relaxed.
“Let’s drink then,” she sighed, then pulled out a chair to sit and passed out chopsticks to Shen NingXin and the others.
Afterward, she stood up again, picked up the kettle, and poured a glass of water for everyone except Jiang Yue.
She glanced at Li Shan, then raised the glass and said, “Let’s replace the beer with water.”
“And cheers . . . to our friendship.”
—
The meal lasted almost two hours.
Shen NingXin actually didn’t like drinking very much. Aside from some special occasions, she barely touched alcohol. After the entire meal, just like Li Shan and Meng Yao, she wasn’t drunk at all.
Looking at Jiang Yue, on the otherhand, she was drunk to the point that she’s begun smiling in a daze.
After paying the bill, the group helped Jiang Yue out the door, swaying along with her as they walked.
And listened to her talk nonsense the entire way.
Shen NingXin was the closest to her, so she suffered the most.
She was about to grow callouses in her ears, if that were possible.
After a while, she finally arrived home.
With the smell of food still on her body, Shen NingXin quickly took off her clothes and threw them in the washing machine, then walked into the bathroom and took a refreshing shower.
After blow drying her hair, she opened the group chat to tell them that she’s gotten home safely.
But just as she pressed the voice record button, she suddenly sneezed without warning.
Guessing that it might’ve been because she was exposed to the air a little too long when showering, Shen NingXin didn’t think much of it. When she adjusted to press the record button again, another sneeze followed.
This time it was a loud “Ah Choo”!!!
She was stunned.
She stood in place and regained her composure, a bad guess popping into her mind.
Did she get infected by Jiang Yue?
No way . . .
—
The next day, Shen NingXin had no energy the entire morning.
Her body felt heavy, her nose stuffed, and she was almost unable to lift her eyelids.
There was no doubt she had a cold.
Shen NingXin shook her head and sighed several times while she was out to get samples.
When she got up in the morning, she had already realized that she was indeed sick. She wanted to take a sick leave and rest, but then she remembered all the work Zhao Jie left for her.
So many tasks and each so complicated. If she didn’t do them, it’s not like someone else would.
And if she didn’t finish them, there would be serious consequences.
So . . . she had no choice but to come.
When she realized this, Shen NingXin wanted to cry, and she rolled around the bed few times before finally going to the company.
And just as she imagined, she rushed around and toiled for the whole morning. It wasn’t until noon almost arrived did she finally come to a rest.
There were still more than ten minutes before break started. She was both sleepy and exhausted right now and wanted to endure until break started to get a good nap.
But she didn’t make it. Her body was too unwell, and after struggling for a few minutes, Shen NingXin fell asleep in the end.
Truthfully, under normal circumstances, nothing would’ve happen.
However, she happened to be really unlucky. Right after she fell asleep, Qiu YiBai immediately returned from a business trip.
When she raised her eyes, she caught someone lazing around.
Qiu YiBai stopped the movement of her steps, her expression quickly turning cold.
She paused and coughed meaningfully, as if trying to wake Shen NingXin up.
After finding this method to be unsuccessful, she then stretched her hand out, crossing her index and middle fingers and knocking on the table.
They were light taps but seemed like a devil’s whispers.
Shen NingXin was stunned awake by the sound and subconsciously raised her head, coincidentally meeting Qiu YiBai’s gaze.
Half of her sleepiness was scared away, and a few words suddenly appeared in her mind—
It’s over, I’m going to be yelled at.
As expected, she was called into the office a few minutes later.
By this time, work had already started. After everyone clocked out, they went in two’s and three’s to eat in the cafeteria, the atmosphere harmonious.
Except for her, standing here like a child, bearing the pressure coming from Qiu YiBai’s direction.
The crybaby was really fierce right now.
The moment she entered the office, Qiu YiBai had frowned, her expression cold and indifferent as she questioned her word by word, “What’s the matter, Shen NingXin? Aren’t you usually very active, why did you start lazing around?”
“There were only less than 20 minutes left before break started. Were you so sleepy that you couldn’t even wait for that long?”
So on and so forth, her tone very cold.
Way too fierce.
Shen NingXin knew that she was in the wrong, so she didn’t say anything the entire time and simply listened silently.
She had never been so compliant.
So compliant that Qiu YiBai was a little shocked and suddenly couldn’t say what she wanted to say.
The atmosphere was silent for a while, and finally Shen NingXin heard her seem to sigh slowly.
After that, her tone became much gentler than before, and she told her seriously, “I’m just discussing the matter honestly. I’m not trying to target you.”
“It’s just as an employee who receives the company’s salary and enjoys the benefits provided by the company, it’s necessary to follow the rules and regulations, whether it’s at KeRui or at other companies.”
She was silent for a moment, and perhaps realizing that she spoke a little too much, she had an uncomfortable expression on her face.
After some hesitation, she lightened her voice and quickly concluded, “It’s better to be scolded by me than by . . . some other people later.”
She was trying to reason with her.
Shen NingXin soon reacted and raised her eyes in surprise as she looked at Qiu YiBai. After a moment, she lowered her head again and responded, “I understand.”
The nasally sound in her voice was very obvious.
Qiu YiBai was taken aback when she heard her words. Thinking that she had cried, panic grew in her eyes, and she hurriedly stretched out her hand, grabbed a few tissues, and handed them to her tentatively. “Hurry and wipe up.”
“You’re already so old, why are you crying over such a small matter.”
Are you introducing yourself?
As soon as her voice fell, Shen NingXin’s mood suddenly improved somehow.
She accepted the tissue papers and shook her head, raising her head to explain, “I didn’t cry, I just have a small cold.”
“A cold?” Qiu YiBai thought for a while and finally nodded. “It seems like you do have one.”
“Then why didn’t you ask for a leave?”
“There was too much work at hand,” Shen NingXin replied honestly, “And I was afraid I couldn’t finish them, so I came anyway.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Qiu YiBai inadvertently pursed her lips. This person clearly told her a while ago to take care of her body, but now she suddenly plays a hero here. This was a little too much . . .
But what was even worse was that she just yelled at Shen NingXin without finding out the truth first.
Realizing this, Qiu YiBai fell silent, and after standing there in place for a moment, she finally stretched out her hand.
Shen NingXin didn’t understand. “Is there something wrong?”
“Let me see what you haven’t finished,” Qiu YiBai said, “I just returned from a trip and happen to be free right now.”
“You should go rest in the lounge for now. If something ever comes up again, tell me. I’m not some inhumane boss,” she said with some hint of dissatisfaction. Qiu YiBai quickly walked back to her desk, opened the drawer, and took out a box of cold medicine before placing it on the table.
“Drink it and go to sleep,” she then said.
Shen NingXin was a little moved.
She took a deep breath and was about to thank her when she suddenly heard that person continue to speak, “The resting room costs money ah, a hundred an hour.”
Shen NingXin: “. . . . . .”
Everything she wanted to say was now stuck in her throat.
Were you this black-hearted?!
Shen NingXin soon forgot about the sticky note Qiu YiBai attached onto the hot water bag.
Recently, a foreign customer they had just signed a contract with was coming to visit the factory. Zhao Jie was busy with receiving them, and since she couldn’t deal with the work at hand in time, she handed most of them over to Shen NingXin.
She had to contact the freight forwarder, plan the shipping schedule with the logistics side, make various kinds of forms, sort out a large amount of complicated documents, watch over the shipment process at the factory . . .
With everything combined, Shen NingXin was so busy her head was about to explode. She didn’t even have the time to occasionally daydream.
After a whole day of working, her brain almost couldn’t function anymore.
She really needed to relax.
Shen NingXin sighed and opened the group the chat, sending a “?”.
Its meaning was basically “wanna hang out?”.
Before long, Meng Yao and the others all appeared, frantically sending “!!!!!!!”.
It seemed like they all were desperate to go out.
Seeing the long string of exclamation marks, Shen NingXin couldn’t help but laugh.
Everyone had been a bit busy lately, especially Jiang Yue, who was hung up on online dating and even went out of town. After meeting the other person, she discovered that they were younger than her by over a dozen years, not having even graduated from elementary school.
She couldn’t really question the other person. When she did, all she received in response was: the photos were fake, stories made up, and dating techniques learned from online.
But the heart that loved you was real.
Jiang Yue was so stunned she couldn’t help but laugh. She scolded the child for a long while, telling her to behave well and study hard. Afterward, she still felt angry, so she turned around, drove to the beachside, and stuffed herself with many pounds of lobster.
But she got unlucky, the place she went to probably wasn’t very clean.
When Jiang Yue was eating, she didn’t feel anything wrong, but after returning home, she became sick and had diarrhea for several days. All she did during those days was lie down.
She only just recovered.
Finally, she didn’t need to be a lazy bum anymore.
So the moment Shen NingXin sent the message, she emerged immediately.
She also sent the most exclamation marks in the group chat.
Evidently ready to leave anytime.
—
Half an hour later, the four met in a commercial street at the city center.
One of Meng Yao’s friends opened a new restaurant, and he invited them over to check it out a long time ago. Since they didn’t have time then, they kept dragging it on. Now, the chance finally came.
Seeing an acquaintance come over, that friend was extremely enthusiastic. He gave them free lamb wings, a fruit plate, and many bottles of beer.
Meng Yao immediately showed courtesy, saying that both she and Li Shan drove their cars here, and the remaining two friends couldn’t drink all this beer, so he should take them back.
“I already brought them here, so don’t worry and just drink. If needed, I’ll find you guys substitute drivers!” The friend laughed and patted Meng Yao, and before waiting for her to say anything, he raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Jiang Yue, then grinned and said, “Look at how happily she’s drinking.”
“Ah?” Meng Yao was taken aback when she heard those words, then quickly turned around and discovered that Jiang Yue had already drunk half a bottle of beer while the two were talking.
“. . . . . .”
This unbelievable thing.
Meng Yao couldn’t do anything about her, so she thanked her friend and kept the beer.
Afterward, she walked up and patted Jiang Yue’s head heavily. “Why are you drinking so quickly, are you crazy!”
Jiang Yue grunted from the force of her pats. “I’m hurting.”
“Didn’t you recover?” Meng Yao sighed after hearing her words. “Where else does it hurt?”
As soon as her voice fell, Jiang Yue pointed at her chest. “It hurts here!”
“My heart’s hurting, it’s broken into small pieces . . .” she murmured while pouring herself another drink, then said some lines, “Love breaks the heart, love makes people shed tears.”
“F*ck love, I’m a b*tch if I ever fall in love again!”
Everyone was dumbfounded listening to her.
Meng Yao’s heart was tired, and thinking that this person just recovered from a cold and shouldn’t drink too much, she wanted to stop her.
But before she could reach her hand out, she was blocked by Li Shan on the side.
“Let her drink a little,” Li Shan said, her eyes smiling and her tone teasing, “She’s sad right now.”
“Let’s eat.” Afraid that Jiang Yue was able to hear, she paused, then moved closer to Meng Yao, lowering her voice to say, “Let’s stop her in a bit.”
She was smiling the entire time she said all of this.
Her hands were also carrying the refreshing fragrance of hand soap, slowly dispersing into the air as the wind blew from the air conditioner, and it smelled surprisingly nice.
A few seconds passed, and after a while, Meng Yao relaxed.
“Let’s drink then,” she sighed, then pulled out a chair to sit and passed out chopsticks to Shen NingXin and the others.
Afterward, she stood up again, picked up the kettle, and poured a glass of water for everyone except Jiang Yue.
She glanced at Li Shan, then raised the glass and said, “Let’s replace the beer with water.”
“And cheers . . . to our friendship.”
—
The meal lasted almost two hours.
Shen NingXin actually didn’t like drinking very much. Aside from some special occasions, she barely touched alcohol. After the entire meal, just like Li Shan and Meng Yao, she wasn’t drunk at all.
Looking at Jiang Yue, on the otherhand, she was drunk to the point that she’s begun smiling in a daze.
After paying the bill, the group helped Jiang Yue out the door, swaying along with her as they walked.
And listened to her talk nonsense the entire way.
Shen NingXin was the closest to her, so she suffered the most.
She was about to grow callouses in her ears, if that were possible.
After a while, she finally arrived home.
With the smell of food still on her body, Shen NingXin quickly took off her clothes and threw them in the washing machine, then walked into the bathroom and took a refreshing shower.
After blow drying her hair, she opened the group chat to tell them that she’s gotten home safely.
But just as she pressed the voice record button, she suddenly sneezed without warning.
Guessing that it might’ve been because she was exposed to the air a little too long when showering, Shen NingXin didn’t think much of it. When she adjusted to press the record button again, another sneeze followed.
This time it was a loud “Ah Choo”!!!
She was stunned.
She stood in place and regained her composure, a bad guess popping into her mind.
Did she get infected by Jiang Yue?
No way . . .
—
The next day, Shen NingXin had no energy the entire morning.
Her body felt heavy, her nose stuffed, and she was almost unable to lift her eyelids.
There was no doubt she had a cold.
Shen NingXin shook her head and sighed several times while she was out to get samples.
When she got up in the morning, she had already realized that she was indeed sick. She wanted to take a sick leave and rest, but then she remembered all the work Zhao Jie left for her.
So many tasks and each so complicated. If she didn’t do them, it’s not like someone else would.
And if she didn’t finish them, there would be serious consequences.
So . . . she had no choice but to come.
When she realized this, Shen NingXin wanted to cry, and she rolled around the bed few times before finally going to the company.
And just as she imagined, she rushed around and toiled for the whole morning. It wasn’t until noon almost arrived did she finally come to a rest.
There were still more than ten minutes before break started. She was both sleepy and exhausted right now and wanted to endure until break started to get a good nap.
But she didn’t make it. Her body was too unwell, and after struggling for a few minutes, Shen NingXin fell asleep in the end.
Truthfully, under normal circumstances, nothing would’ve happen.
However, she happened to be really unlucky. Right after she fell asleep, Qiu YiBai immediately returned from a business trip.
When she raised her eyes, she caught someone lazing around.
Qiu YiBai stopped the movement of her steps, her expression quickly turning cold.
She paused and coughed meaningfully, as if trying to wake Shen NingXin up.
After finding this method to be unsuccessful, she then stretched her hand out, crossing her index and middle fingers and knocking on the table.
They were light taps but seemed like a devil’s whispers.
Shen NingXin was stunned awake by the sound and subconsciously raised her head, coincidentally meeting Qiu YiBai’s gaze.
Half of her sleepiness was scared away, and a few words suddenly appeared in her mind—
It’s over, I’m going to be yelled at.
As expected, she was called into the office a few minutes later.
By this time, work had already started. After everyone clocked out, they went in two’s and three’s to eat in the cafeteria, the atmosphere harmonious.
Except for her, standing here like a child, bearing the pressure coming from Qiu YiBai’s direction.
The crybaby was really fierce right now.
The moment she entered the office, Qiu YiBai had frowned, her expression cold and indifferent as she questioned her word by word, “What’s the matter, Shen NingXin? Aren’t you usually very active, why did you start lazing around?”
“There were only less than 20 minutes left before break started. Were you so sleepy that you couldn’t even wait for that long?”
So on and so forth, her tone very cold.
Way too fierce.
Shen NingXin knew that she was in the wrong, so she didn’t say anything the entire time and simply listened silently.
She had never been so compliant.
So compliant that Qiu YiBai was a little shocked and suddenly couldn’t say what she wanted to say.
The atmosphere was silent for a while, and finally Shen NingXin heard her seem to sigh slowly.
After that, her tone became much gentler than before, and she told her seriously, “I’m just discussing the matter honestly. I’m not trying to target you.”
“It’s just as an employee who receives the company’s salary and enjoys the benefits provided by the company, it’s necessary to follow the rules and regulations, whether it’s at KeRui or at other companies.”
She was silent for a moment, and perhaps realizing that she spoke a little too much, she had an uncomfortable expression on her face.
After some hesitation, she lightened her voice and quickly concluded, “It’s better to be scolded by me than by . . . some other people later.”
She was trying to reason with her.
Shen NingXin soon reacted and raised her eyes in surprise as she looked at Qiu YiBai. After a moment, she lowered her head again and responded, “I understand.”
The nasally sound in her voice was very obvious.
Qiu YiBai was taken aback when she heard her words. Thinking that she had cried, panic grew in her eyes, and she hurriedly stretched out her hand, grabbed a few tissues, and handed them to her tentatively. “Hurry and wipe up.”
“You’re already so old, why are you crying over such a small matter.”
Are you introducing yourself?
As soon as her voice fell, Shen NingXin’s mood suddenly improved somehow.
She accepted the tissue papers and shook her head, raising her head to explain, “I didn’t cry, I just have a small cold.”
“A cold?” Qiu YiBai thought for a while and finally nodded. “It seems like you do have one.”
“Then why didn’t you ask for a leave?”
“There was too much work at hand,” Shen NingXin replied honestly, “And I was afraid I couldn’t finish them, so I came anyway.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Qiu YiBai inadvertently pursed her lips. This person clearly told her a while ago to take care of her body, but now she suddenly plays a hero here. This was a little too much . . .
But what was even worse was that she just yelled at Shen NingXin without finding out the truth first.
Realizing this, Qiu YiBai fell silent, and after standing there in place for a moment, she finally stretched out her hand.
Shen NingXin didn’t understand. “Is there something wrong?”
“Let me see what you haven’t finished,” Qiu YiBai said, “I just returned from a trip and happen to be free right now.”
“You should go rest in the lounge for now. If something ever comes up again, tell me. I’m not some inhumane boss,” she said with some hint of dissatisfaction. Qiu YiBai quickly walked back to her desk, opened the drawer, and took out a box of cold medicine before placing it on the table.
“Drink it and go to sleep,” she then said.
Shen NingXin was a little moved.
She took a deep breath and was about to thank her when she suddenly heard that person continue to speak, “The resting room costs money ah, a hundred an hour.”
Shen NingXin: “. . . . . .”
Everything she wanted to say was now stuck in her throat.
Were you this black-hearted?!
