E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World
Chapter 188: Episode 188: Flying Back to Beijing in the Middle of the Night 1

Chapter 188: Episode 188: Flying Back to Beijing in the Middle of the Night 1

Li Jiniang had already fallen into a deep sleep, and Zhou Xueyin called Kang Siyin and Yao Shanshan out to the corridor, telling them to go home and rest while she watched over Li Jiniang.

"Can you manage on your own? Why don’t we all stay?" Kang Siyin worried, as she also feared that if Li Jiniang didn’t recover, Zhou Xueyin might collapse as well.

"I’m fine, you two go back. Don’t worry, I’m okay. We still have to go to work tomorrow..." Zhou Xueyin patted Kang Siyin’s shoulder, reassuring her that she could handle everything.

"Yinyin, Yinyin, are you sure you’re alright? Look at those dark circles, even foundation can’t cover them... Maybe you should go home and rest, and KK and I can keep watch here..." Yao Shanshan was also very concerned about Zhou Xueyin’s health.

"You two go back and get a good rest. Come and take over for me early tomorrow morning, okay? Don’t worry, I’ll find time to sneak in a nap!" Zhou Xueyin was pushing the two towards the door, "Go on, you two better head back and rest as soon as possible!"

"Okay... then make sure you get some rest!" Yao Shanshan and Kang Siyin left reluctantly, looking back three times with every step they took away from the inpatient department.

"Phew..." Zhou Xueyin took a deep breath, and tears welled up involuntarily.

She always felt that after merging into the group, the pressure increased massively.

Never mind the issue of achieving sales targets, she no longer even had the same drive as she did when she started her own business.

Not only did she have to meet her own company’s goals, but she also had to coordinate with other companies for all sorts of miscellaneous tasks. Many tasks that clearly shouldn’t have been 51buy’s responsibility were forced upon them.

Take the CJ event in August, for example. Mentioning it made Zhou Xueyin angry. They were just an ordinary fashion BBS, yet they were strong-armed by Zhang Yongzhong into going to Shanghai, ostensibly to support the headquarters.

And the reality? It was all so he could ingratiate himself with Liu Ruidong, volunteering to take on the task of hiring models. In the end? It was all about saving money by keeping it in-house.

It caused Ji Xiaoxi, Wang Simo, and Sun Miao to grumble incessantly. If they had just acted as show girls, that would have been one thing, but Zhang Yongzhong even dragged them to meet clients at the Shanghai branch.

In the hotel, a drunken Zhang Yongzhong banged on Ji Xiaoxi’s door, frightening her so much that she didn’t dare to stay alone afterward. Even though it was later clarified that he had the wrong floor, it was still scary.

After returning to Beijing, Ji Xiaoxi wanted to quit, but she was reluctant to leave everyone. Besides, she hadn’t found a better job, so she reluctantly continued to stay at the company.

Probably if something like that happened again, if Zhang Yongzhong knocked on their doors in the middle of the night, half of the female employees at the company would leave.

But getting rid of Zhang Yongzhong was not an easy task. Even though he was disgusting, lowly, and fond of verbally harassing others, and his character was questionable, when it came to matters of principle, he was very self-disciplined.

Even though he didn’t cooperate with Zhou Xueyin’s work, he could always find a way to make up for it.

As for causing any loss to the company? Not really; on the contrary, he could use his unique methods to secure some collaborations that Zhou Xueyin and the others disdained to discuss.

Moreover, he was the deputy general manager sent by the headquarters; even if they were unhappy, they had to maintain surface level cordiality. If they truly had a fallout, it would bring no benefit to 51buy...

Zhou Xueyin began to worry about the future of the website once more...

"Ring ring ring..." She didn’t know what time it was, but Zhou Xueyin’s phone rang.

As she hadn’t been able to put it on silent mode due to the previous events, the ringing in the quiet ward seemed particularly disruptive.

"Darn it, who could it be in the middle of the night..." Zhou Xueyin quickly rummaged through her bag and pulled out her phone, which displayed the name Li Ranxu (Beijing).

"Hello? Old Li? Why are you calling me with a number from Beijing?" Zhou Xueyin stepped out of the ward and quietly asked.

"Yinyin! Which hospital is Jixiang at? Tell me quickly!" Li Ranxu’s voice was extremely anxious, and the background noise was very loud as well; it seemed that the noise from the airport announcement could also be heard.

"Haidian Hospital... You’re not..." Zhou Xueyin hadn’t finished asking when the call was cut off.

The last phrase she heard before the call was disconnected was: "Master, go to Haidian Hospital!"

"So thirsty..." At that moment, Zhou Xueyin heard Li Jiniang’s weak murmuring.

She hurried back into the ward, poured a glass of boiled water for Li Jiniang and brought it over: "Jixiang, do you feel any better?"

Li Jiniang took the glass and drank it in one gulp before she noticed an IV bag hanging from her hand: "Huh?"

She looked around: "Uh... How did I end up in the hospital?"

"Whew... It’s good you’re awake..." Zhou Xueyin hugged her excitedly and began to cry, "You scared me to death, wah wah wah..."

"Yinyin, you can cry later, first tell me, how did I end up in the hospital?" Li Jiniang was still utterly confused; she vaguely remembered that she was having dinner with Niu Chongtian, but somehow she opened her eyes and found herself in the hospital.

Zhou Xueyin calmed down her emotions, sat by Li Jiniang’s bedside, and recounted what she knew.

"Oh my, I really have to thank Boss Niu. If it weren’t for him, I’d probably have lost my life to those idiots..." After listening, Li Jiniang indeed felt a chill of fear.

Zhang Yongzhong was really too irresponsible. His colleague had drunk herself into a stupor, and he acted like nothing was wrong, letting the client bring her to the hospital—it was just unbelievable.

"Tomorrow at work, I’m going to file a complaint with Liu Ruidong! I’ve got to have a serious talk about that fool! It’s so irresponsible! If there hadn’t been someone decisive around, they really could have left you in the restaurant without a care, can you believe that!" Zhou Xueyin said angrily.

"We must talk about it! But now that I’m awake, I should be able to go home, right? The hospital bed is so hard..." Li Jiniang said with an awkward smile.

"The doctor said we need to observe you overnight, and only if there’s nothing wrong in the morning can you be discharged... But now that you’re awake, there shouldn’t be any big issues. Should I call a doctor to come and have a look?" Zhou Xueyin stood up from the bedside and was about to go out to find a doctor when her phone rang again.

Indeed, it was another call from Li Ranxu.

"Hello? Old Li? Jixiang is awake! What? We’re in inpatient department 2nd floor, room 203... It’s past visiting hours now, you probably can’t get in, right? I’ll come to pick you up..." From Li Ranxu’s tone, it was clear that he wouldn’t rest until he saw Li Jiniang today.

Zhou Xueyin had a good talk with the person at the entrance to the inpatient department, even slipping them some money, before she successfully led Li Ranxu in.

Li Ranxu rushed into the ward and hugged Li Jiniang tightly: "As long as you’re okay... I was so worried on the plane!"

Li Jiniang was completely baffled as to what was going on; her boyfriend was supposed to be studying in South Korea, so how had he suddenly appeared before her?

"You? How did you get back? Am I dreaming?" She lifted her hand to pinch her face, but the motion pulled on the needle, "Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

"Huh? Sorry, sorry, did I hurt you?" Li Ranxu quickly stepped back from Li Jiniang and stood to the side, guiltily holding her hand, "All back to blood, I’ll go call a nurse to redo it..."

"No need... Just stay with me for a while..." Li Jiniang grabbed Li Ranxu’s hand as he was about to leave, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at him.