Jiang Jingyu knew that the reason he and Lu Jiaying had lost control yesterday was because of the wine she gave him. Although he knew she had ill intentions, without concrete evidence, it was difficult to confront her on the spot.
If he were to fall out with her, it would be an implicit admission that something had indeed happened between him and Lu Jiaying, and they couldn't afford the public backlash.
Moreover, he hadn't figured out what to do next. He wanted to see Lu Jiaying's reaction, so he cast a cold glance at Xu Lei and returned to his room.
Xu Lei knew what had happened to Lu Jiaying last night and was eager to see her current state, so she impatiently rang the doorbell.
Lu Jiaying's body ached all over. She propped herself up to sit, intending to get out of bed. The moment she moved, a certain area throbbed, causing her to gasp.
Fragments of last night – Jiang Jingyu's deep breaths by her ear, the comfortable feeling of nestling in his chest – suddenly resurfaced.
Embarrassed and awkward, she felt agitated. She closed her eyes and shook her head in annoyance.
At that moment, the doorbell rang outside, one after another, incessantly.
Lu Jiaying knew her current state was not suitable for receiving visitors. No matter who it was, she wouldn't open the door, so she pretended not to hear.
After a while, enduring the pain, she found her phone. After much hesitation, she dialed Jiang Jingyu's number.
Jiang Jingyu was sitting on the sofa, staring blankly at his phone. The moment he saw her call, he answered immediately.
"Hello."
"You go back with them and change my flight. I'm not feeling well, so I'm taking two days off."
Jiang Jingyu was startled and quickly stood up.
He had just experienced this for the first time, it was rough and forceful, and he felt unsatisfied. Yesterday had indeed been too much.
Could Lu Jiaying be injured?
"What's wrong? Do you need to go to the hospital?"
Lu Jiaying would rather die than go to the hospital for something like this.
"It has nothing to do with you, don't overthink it. Do as I say. If they ask, say I have a stomachache. Don't call me unless it's important."
After speaking, Lu Jiaying turned off her phone and lay back down, pulling the covers over her.
Jiang Jingyu soon came out of his room with his phone. Seeing Xu Lei still ringing the doorbell outside her door, he said irritably,
"Ms. Lu is not feeling well with a stomachache, can you please not disturb her so early? You know where the restaurant is, can't you go eat by yourself?"
Heh, people with connections were indeed different. Look at how concerned he was, daring to speak to her like that!
Xu Lei raised an eyebrow and was about to scold him when Jiang Jingyu disdainfully walked past her.
He went straight out of the hotel, took a taxi, found a pharmacy, and after explaining the general situation to the doctor, he was prescribed some anti-inflammatory and topical medication.
Then he was advised.
To avoid strenuous activity recently, not to wear tight clothing, not to wear high heels, and to get enough rest.
Thinking of how Lu Jiaying had been wearing professional attire and high heels every day during her stay, he took another taxi to the mall.
He bought her a set of casual wear and sneakers, and returned with bags full of items.
Fortunately, Xu Lei had already left. He called Lu Jiaying to ask her to open the door, but her phone was turned off.
He rang the doorbell to have her open the door, but after several rings, there was no response.
Although she was a few years older than him, she was still a woman, and she was shy. Jiang Jingyu could understand that she didn't know how to face him for a while.
Just then, a cleaning lady pushing a small cart passed by. Jiang Jingyu handed her the items and gave her some instructions before turning to go downstairs.
Vice President Li, Vice President Wang, and Xu Lei had finished breakfast and were waiting downstairs. As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, they saw him and waved.
"Xiao Jiang, over here. Why are you alone? Where's Ms. Lu?"
"She changed her flight. She's not feeling well and took two days off. We're leaving first."
Everyone exchanged knowing glances and asked as if they didn't know.
"What's wrong? Is she that unwell? Is it okay to leave her alone? Does she need to go to the hospital?"
Jiang Jingyu swept his cold gaze over the three of them. "It's all waiting anyway, I'm heading to the airport."
With that, he gave them a disdainful back view and strode away.
Watching his retreating figure, the crowd sneered.
"Gigolo. Thinks he's hot stuff just because he hooked up with Lu Jiaying? Dares to give us attitude, let's see how long you can stay arrogant!"
"Exactly. If President Hu finds out about your little escapade, he'll skin you alive. You have no idea how high the sky is!"
"Hey, no. Lu Jiaying isn't leaving with us, and we haven't checked out yet. Her phone is still in her room, what do we do?"
Xu Lei had a solution.
"I'm still here. I'll stay with her, and you guys go ahead. We'll find a chance to get into her room eventually."
The three men left first. Lu Jiaying slept until the afternoon before waking up.
The discomfort had eased a bit, and her stomach was growling with hunger. She couldn't wear yesterday's clothes again. She found a clean set to change into, washed up, opened her room door, and prepared to go to the pharmacy to buy emergency medication.
As she reached the stairwell, a cleaning lady pushing a small cart called out to her.
"Miss Lu, going out?"
Having lived there for a few days and interacting with the aunties daily, they all knew each other.
Lu Jiaying smiled faintly at her. "Yes."
"Your assistant gave me two packages before she left this morning to give to you. She said they were medicine and clothes. Don't leave yet, I'll get them for you."
The auntie went to the workroom at the end of each floor and brought the items to her.
Lu Jiaying took them and saw that one bag contained clothes, another contained shoes, and a third contained medicine.
There was also a note inside, detailing the time and dosage for taking the medication.
That's good. Since he had already bought everything, she didn't need to go out anymore, and she didn't want to see anyone right now.
She wondered how Jiang Jingyu had described it to them, to have bought everything she needed.
After taking the medicine, Lu Jiaying endured the embarrassment and applied the ointment. Then, she turned on her phone to call Hu Jiasheng to ask for leave.
In her many years of employment, apart from regular holidays, she had never taken leave.
She hadn't even taken her paid annual leave. This was her first time taking personal leave.
Upon hearing that she was unwell, Hu Jiasheng told her to rest well and not to rush back.
After hanging up, she opened WeChat. Xu Lei had sent her several messages, all expressing concern for her health. She also said that she was staying at the same hotel these few days and would call her to go out shopping once she felt better.
Hypocritical.
Lu Jiaying thought to herself: For such a minor work matter, she actually resorted to such tricks behind my back. I have completely made an enemy of you.
Xu Lei, don't think you can bully me just because I'm being polite. When we return to Nancheng, if I don't make you fully understand who Lu Jiaying is, then I'm a pig.
Lu Jiaying didn't leave her room for two days. She slept when she was tired and ordered food when she was hungry, taking the opportunity to get some much-needed rest.
During her rest, she calmed her mind and thought a lot.
It wasn't a big deal.
Women her age were either unmarried but had dated several boyfriends, or were married and had children.
It was almost unheard of for someone like her to be single her entire life until 26.