After breakfast, Xue Rui went to handle matters as instructed by Ji Feng.
Ji Feng sat in the study, his expression cold and stern.
He suddenly recalled a remark Duan Aoxiang had made while mocking him that morning: "You were just drunk, it's not like you took Viagra and had to perform. Ultimately, it's your own lack of self-control!"
He slammed his fist on the desk.
If he lacked self-control, then no man in this world had any.
He stood up, grabbed his suit jacket, and headed straight for the private hospital he frequented.
Ji Feng looked at the freshly printed test report.
The results showed it wasn't just drunkenness after all.
For a moment, his emotions were complex.
He felt somewhat relieved because science had proven it wasn't his lack of self-control! There had indeed been a strong external factor undermining his restraint.
At the same time, he was furious. Duan Aoxiang actually dared to mess with him like this.
He swore to himself that he wouldn't let Duan Aoxiang get away with it.
He immediately drove back to the hotel and personally took care of two things.
First, he obtained authorization from the hotel owner and went to the security department's surveillance room, requesting to review the footage from the top floor the previous night.
After searching for a while, the person in charge informed him that the surveillance footage from the top floor was missing from 11 p.m. onward, seemingly deliberately erased.
Ji Feng thought for a moment and asked if anyone other than hotel staff had visited the surveillance room the previous night.
The person in charge checked with the staff on duty and reported back: "Indeed, an outsider came last night—Assistant A Ni from the top-floor VIP Mr. Duan. He said Mr. Duan had lost something important and wanted to check the footage to see if someone had taken it out."
Hearing this, Ji Feng understood that checking for a lost item was just an excuse and a lie. A Ni had come specifically to erase the recording.
He found it somewhat strange that Duan Aoxiang had suddenly developed such thorough thinking, even considering how to cover his tracks.
With this question in mind, he returned to the top floor and went back to Duan Aoxiang's suite.
Duan Aoxiang had already washed the blood off his face, with two cotton balls stuffed in his nostrils to stop the bleeding. He was squatting on the sofa, grimacing as he ate porridge.
Seeing Ji Feng return, he trembled, porridge and all, and immediately shrank back defensively: "Haven't you had enough? One beating wasn't sufficient, so you're back for more?"
Ji Feng glared at him coldly and asked, "Did you put something in my drink yesterday?"
Duan Aoxiang raised an eyebrow: "So you're determined to think the worst of me, huh? Then just assume I did it." Suddenly, his expression shifted to a mocking grin. "What, can't accept that you lack self-control and want to blame it on drugs?"
Ji Feng narrowed his eyes. It seemed Duan Aoxiang wasn't the one who had drugged him.
On second thought, it made sense—Duan Aoxiang simply didn't have the brains to plan things thoroughly. His schemes were always childish and full of holes.
But A Ni was different. He was half a troublemaker, incompetent at proper tasks but always clear-headed when it came to mischief.
Ji Feng realized he had now identified the true villain in this whole affair.
He suddenly asked Duan Aoxiang, "Where's A Ni?"
Duan Aoxiang blurted out, "Why are you looking for him? I fired him for messing up."
Without another word, Ji Feng turned and left.He returned to his suite and went straight into the study, then called his private lawyer: "Find a way to help me sort out the industries Duan Aoxiang has developed in Thailand over the past few years. Also, look into someone for me—A Ni, Duan Aoxiang's assistant. Investigate this person thoroughly, to the extent that he could face legal sanctions." Ji Feng ground his teeth as he gave the instructions.
He had said it before—he was someone who always repaid grievances. Those who crossed him would not get off easily.
What happened last night was too bizarre and sudden. In Xu Miyu's understanding of life, she simply couldn't imagine waking up one day in a man's bed after drinking. And it wasn't just a matter of sleeping innocently side by side—they had done everything imaginable.
Xu Miyu rushed into the shower in the executive level's changing room as soon as she returned.
Standing under the spray, cool water cascaded over her head.
She recalled how, just before she went downstairs, Ji Feng had stopped her and coldly said one sentence to her.
He said:
—Xu Miyu, I hope you'll use your brain from now on. Keep your mouth shut when you're working, and don't drink recklessly. Otherwise, you'll end up with consequences like today's again.
Her mind went blank for a moment, and she retorted: Then what about you? Didn't you end up with the same consequences as me...
She saw Ji Feng's face instantly turn ashen.
Almost uncontrollably, he said to her: Then let's each use our own brains, keep our own mouths shut, and not drink other people's alcohol recklessly. Are you satisfied with that answer?
She felt as if his emotions were on the verge of collapsing. Strangely, he seemed even more distraught than she was.
She quickly fled in panic.
Standing under the shower spray, she replayed Ji Feng's words to her. No matter what, it was a reasonable statement. She stored it in her mind as a warning to herself.
She closed her eyes under the stream of water. She told herself not to recall any details of last night's out-of-control mistake.
She let the water forcefully wash over her, as if it could cleanse away the traces of last night, as if she could return to her former self—the version of herself who hadn't shared that one-night□□with Ji Feng.
But Ji Feng's self-loathing, icy gaze from that morning as he stood by the window refused to wash away. It lashed at her over and over again.
That look made her feel as if she had dirtied him.
Xu Miyu scrubbed her body vigorously. Under his gaze, she began to despise herself too.
After changing her clothes and hastily eating breakfast, Xu Miyu went to Zhang Cailu to collect her work assignments.
Zhang Cailu seemed to ask her something, but in her daze, Xu Miyu didn't quite catch it. When she refocused and asked Zhang Cailu to repeat, Zhang Cailu just smiled and said, "Nothing important. Go get to work." Then she turned to assign tasks to others.
Left with no choice, Xu Miyu took her work sheet and prepared to start her duties.
While cleaning one of the occupied rooms, the guest was out. Xu Miyu noticed the guest had brought their own health pot, with tea brewing inside.
Usually, items brought by guests themselves aren't touched by staff without permission or unless it's clear the guest still wants them. But to be safe, she radioed Zhang Cailu to ask if the guest's health tea needed refilling.
Zhang Cailu replied that she was very busy and told Xu Miyu to handle it herself.Xu Miyu thought for a moment. Since she hadn’t received explicit permission from the guest, she ultimately decided not to clean the health pot. After tidying up everything else, she locked the door and left.
While she was working on another room, Ke Wenxue suddenly came looking for her.
Ke Wenxue’s face was a mix of urgency and excitement. Xu Miyu was all too familiar with that kind of excitement—whenever there was gossip, good or bad, Ke Wenxue would get worked up.
She just hadn’t expected that this time, the gossip would involve her.
“Sister Xu, Sister Xu, what’s going on? When we were assigned tasks this morning, the supervisor specifically told you that a guest in the executive suite had made a special request: to clean the health pot he brought himself, then brew a fresh batch of health tea using the leaves left on the table. He said he’d be bringing an important guest over in the morning, and that person has a sensitive stomach and can only drink health tea. But how come you cleaned everything else and skipped the one thing he specifically asked for?”
Xu Miyu froze for a moment. After the shocking events of the previous night, she had been somewhat distracted that morning and hadn’t clearly heard what Zhang Cailu said. When she asked Zhang Cailu about it again, she was told it was nothing important.
And earlier, when she had asked Zhang Cailu over the walkie-talkie how to handle the tea in the guest’s health pot, Zhang Cailu had likely deliberately withheld the information.
Everyone had heard Zhang Cailu relay the guest’s request that morning, but only the two of them knew about Xu Miyu’s inquiry over the walkie-talkie. So, in everyone’s eyes, it was clear that she was the one at fault.
Xu Miyu understood—Zhang Cailu was clearly seizing the opportunity to set her up. Zhang Cailu had been waiting far too long for that final unsatisfactory service rating.
“The guest from that room just returned and found the health pot still filled with last night’s stale tea. He couldn’t serve his guest, which made the situation incredibly awkward. After his guest left, he called the housekeeping department and threw a huge fit, complaining about how terrible our service is.”
At this point, Ke Wenxue’s tone shifted, as if she were about to deliver some terrible news. She spoke gravely to Xu Miyu: “Sister Xu, you’re in trouble! Not only did Zhang Cailu not defend you today, but to smooth things over, she even told the guest: to help him calm down, he could give the room attendant an unsatisfactory service rating. The hotel takes these ratings very seriously, and depending on the score, the hotel will impose corresponding penalties on the attendant. She assured him he needn’t worry.”
Xu Miyu frowned at the news. Zhang Cailu was already this impatient.
“So, guided by Zhang Cailu, the guest gave you an unsatisfactory rating on the evaluation form. Sister Xu, this is your third unsatisfactory rating, isn’t it? Then you…”
Then, aren’t you going to be fired?
Xu Miyu mentally finished the sentence that Ke Wenxue hadn’t dared to say outright.
She thought, as expected, Zhang Cailu didn’t want to drag this out any longer. When Xu Miyu was too distracted to hear clearly that morning, Zhang Cailu must have already decided to seize this opportunity.
For a moment, Xu Miyu wasn’t sure how to react emotionally. The events of the previous night had been too overwhelming and abnormal, raising her threshold for emotional responses to other matters.
She thanked Ke Wenxue and turned back to continue her cleaning duties.
Ke Wenxue asked her, “Sister Xu, aren’t you going to try to do something about it? Explain yourself, plead with the supervisor or the guest, and try to get that rating changed?”Xu Miyu paused her work and let out a self-mocking laugh.
She turned to Ke Wenxue and said, "Believe me, going to plead with the supervisor—explaining, begging—is useless."
Someone was deliberately trying to drive her away. If she went to beg Zhang Cailu now, the outcome wouldn’t change. She would still have to leave, only to witness another performance of Zhang Cailu’s feigned helplessness and hypocrisy.
She turned back and buried herself in her tasks.
Whether she stayed or left after noon today, she might as well do her current job well first.
Ke Wenxue stood behind Xu Miyu for a moment. The gossip she had kindly brought over failed to stir any follow-up, so she ran off, feeling somewhat disappointed.
By noon, Xu Miyu didn’t go to the cafeteria to eat.
She had no appetite.
After changing into her regular clothes, she went straight to a pharmacy outside to buy and take emergency contraception pills.
After taking the pills, she bought a loaf of bread, then sat on a bench outside the convenience store and hastily finished it. Checking her phone, she saw there was still some time before her afternoon shift. She didn’t want to go back, didn’t want to talk to anyone, and didn’t want to hear people tell her she was about to be fired and should hurry to find a solution.
Her mind was in chaos, unable to make sense of anything. Her only hope had been on the top floor, and before last night, she might have tried again to get the person up there to honor their previous promise. But after last night, she had completely extinguished that option.
If she went to Ji Feng now to revisit the matter of dismissing the supervisor, wouldn’t he think she was using last night’s incident as leverage? She couldn’t bear the thought of being seen as someone who would trade her body for favors.
While lost in these thoughts, Xu Miyu’s phone suddenly rang. Answering it, she was surprised to find it was Xue Rui, Ji Feng’s assistant, on the line.
Xue Rui asked to meet her at the hotel lobby’s café, saying he had something important to discuss.
Xu Miyu immediately got up and hurried back to the hotel. Entering the lobby and turning toward the café, she spotted Xue Rui.
She sat down opposite him with some unease, unsure why he had sought her out.
Xue Rui didn’t beat around the bush. He directly handed her a card and briefly summarized the key points: "This is from Mr. Ji. There’s 200,000 yuan inside. The password is written on the back. As for why he’s giving this to you, I don’t know, so there’s no use asking me."
After saying this, Xue Rui stood up and left.
Xu Miyu was stunned.
So, when Ji Feng said this morning that he would give her a compensation she’d be satisfied with, he meant 200,000 yuan?
In an instant, she felt blood rushing to her head.
What did he take her for?!
When she came to her senses and wanted to return the card to Xue Rui, he was already gone.
Xu Miyu thought of rushing to the top floor to return the card to Ji Feng, but when she reached the elevator area, she realized that without an access card, she couldn’t go up at all.
Clutching the bank card tightly, she anxiously prayed in her heart for the VIP elevator to open.
Just then, her phone in her pocket began vibrating wildly.
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