E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World
Chapter 168: Episode 168: A Reluctant Vacation

Chapter 168: Episode 168: A Reluctant Vacation

Zhou Xueyin sprinted toward the elevator, but they were all stopped at the first floor—to wait was out of the question!

She pulled open the stairwell door, ready to take the stairs up to the ninth floor.

Due to her urgency and her high heels, as she descended to the twelfth floor, Zhou Xueyin’s foot slipped, almost sending her tumbling down the stairs.

Fortunately, she managed to grab hold of the handrail on the wall in time. Yet her foot was twisted so violently that she couldn’t even muster the strength to stand up.

"Hello? Xiaojing... I’m in the stairwell on the twelfth floor. You go to the front desk first, check if the courier has come to pick up the package. If not, find that idiotic courier and get the package back. If it’s been taken, hurry and have the front desk call the courier back, we need to retrieve that stupid delivery!" Zhou Xueyin, having no choice after her fall, called Wei Jingzhu to help her out.

"What’s wrong with you? You sound really weak," Wei Jingzhu noted Zhou Xueyin’s intermittent speech and her sharp intakes of breath, sensing that she wasn’t in a good state.

"Never mind me for now, just go to the front desk and look for the courier... that’s more urgent! Hurry, thanks!" Zhou Xueyin urged Wei Jingzhu.

She tried to change her position to sit on the stairs and rest, but every movement sent drilling pain from her right ankle, pain so intense it caused her whole body to break into cold sweats, pain that cramped her stomach...

"Huff... huff..." Zhou Xueyin took deep breaths, trying to acclimate to the pain.

Shortly after, her phone rang; it was Wei Jingzhu: "Hello? Yinyin, I’ve got the courier package back, don’t worry. Where are you now?"

"I’m in the stairwell on the right side of the twelfth floor... Thanks a lot," Zhou Xueyin said weakly, her ankle was throbbing painfully...

A few minutes later, Wei Jingzhu found Zhou Xueyin sitting in the stairwell, quivering uncontrollably.

"Yinyin, what happened to you? Don’t sit on the floor, it’s so cold!" He walked over, intending to help her up.

"Don’t move... it hurts..." Zhou Xueyin’s feet had no strength whatsoever; any movement caused such intense stomach cramps that she felt nauseated.

"Come on, I’ll carry you..." Wei Jingzhu squatted in front of Zhou Xueyin, his back to her, positioned so that Zhou Xueyin could easily lean onto him.

"I’m bothering you..." Zhou Xueyin exerted pressure on her left foot and leaned on Wei Jingzhu’s back.

The warmth from his body seeped through the clothes, bringing instant warmth to her own, which was chilled to the core from the cold sweat.

"You know, I was just a step away, the courier was about to leave! If I was one minute late, he would have gone downstairs!" Wei Jingzhu said casually while actually feeling extremely nervous.

This was the first time he had been in such close contact with a girl since a heartbreak in college, not counting the time Zhou Xueyin had thrown herself into his arms...

"That moronic a**hole! Without asking, he just took the initiative to open the products from Barbour I left in the conference room! They were all borrowed! If they’re damaged or lost, I have to compensate! How can this person be so uneducated? It’s maddening!" Zhou Xueyin lay on Wei Jingzhu’s back, furiously cursing. "I’ve never seen someone like him before! Not even asking! How can he be so careless!"

"He’s always like that, what’s the company’s is his, and what’s his is still his. He’s gotten used to being careless," Wei Jingzhu said helplessly.

"Absolutely unbelievable! Absolutely... Ow! Hurts, hurts, hurts..." In her agitation, Zhou Xueyin accidentally moved her ankle again, and it was still excruciating.

"I’ll take you back to the 20th floor in a bit. Let me take a look at your ankle..." Wei Jingzhu said, worried.

"Fortunately... Sisi and I got the photo studio sorted out. Otherwise, just think how much more delayed things would be!" Even at this time, Zhou Xueyin was still concerned about work, not giving a second thought to the actual state of her foot.

The two took the elevator up to the 20th floor, where Wei Jingzhu still carried Zhou Xueyin on his back and placed her at her workstation.

"Yinyin! What happened to you? How could you... ah?" Li Jiniang, ever the gossip, scurried over.

"It’s nothing, have... has Old Cicada put all the things back?" Zhou Xueyin asked, concerned.

"Relax, relax, a few of us teamed up, stripped the stuff down, and put it all back in the boxes! Don’t worry!" Li Jiniang patted Zhou Xueyin’s shoulder, trying to reassure her.

While the two discussed work, Wei Jingzhu took off Zhou Xueyin’s shoes on his own initiative: "Yinyin, no matter what you say, you’re going to the hospital with me today! Look at your ankle, it’s swollen like a bun, and it’s the color of purple dough!"

Zhou Xueyin looked down at her ankle and, sure enough, it was twice as thick as before, not to mention a purplish-red color that was eerily unsettling.

It was just a careless twist, so how had it become so swollen?

Last time at the wine reception, her ankle was twisted too, but it didn’t seem as bad as this... Could it be because of the old injury?

Zhou Xueyin didn’t dare to make a rash judgment, after all, every movement of her ankle was excruciatingly painful, so painful she felt nauseous...

"Heavens above, Xiaozhou, your ankle, is it poisoned or what?" Zhang Yongzhong, acting as if it was none of his business, strolled out of the office and was genuinely startled when he saw Zhou Xueyin’s foot.

"Correct! Poisoned! Your poison! If it weren’t for chasing after that delivery, would I have sprained my ankle? I almost rolled down the stairs!" Zhou Xueyin shouted at Zhang Yongzhong in a venting manner, "You’re of such an age, don’t you know that the company’s property is public, not your private asset? Is it something you can just take away whenever you feel like it?"

"Oi, I admit I was wrong. Had you told me sooner that these were borrowed for photography, I wouldn’t have touched them!" Zhang Yongzhong seemed to have forgotten about the warning A4 paper he had seen.

"I put a warning on the box! If you didn’t see it yourself, you better go to the hospital to get your eyes checked!" Zhou Xueyin retorted, her annoyance clear in her voice.

Zhang Yongzhong looked around the workstations, hoping to lock eyes with someone who might help him make excuses.

However, everyone was well aware of Zhou Xueyin’s temperament—any attempt at appeasement while she was still angry would only fan the flames, so everyone simply pretended they heard and saw nothing, keeping their heads down and focusing on their tasks.

"I’ve already said it’s my fault, am I blind enough for you now?" Seeing that no one from 51buy was going to help him, Zhang Yongzhong gave a disdainful glance and turned back to his office, "What a miser..."

"Miser? Hey, this old..." Hearing Zhang Yongzhong describe her that way, Zhou Xueyin was even more eager to curse him out, but she held back, remembering that she was in the office and her foot was still in severe pain, "Guess there’s no chance for today’s Japanese class..."

"Jixiang, find a few people to move those 15 boxes to the photo studio on the 10th floor, and then lock the door! Give the key to Sisi!" Zhou Xueyin, noticing that it was almost time to finish work, quickly started delegating tasks.

To prevent Zhang Yongzhong from targeting those luxury goods again, it was better to lock them up as soon as possible.

"All set, leave this to me! Xiaojing, you hurry and take Yinyin to check her foot! Don’t delay any more!" Li Jiniang grabbed Zhou Xueyin’s coat, urging them to rush to the hospital.