"Yes, that's right. Who would dare to be as arrogant as her? I thought she was quite kind this morning, but I didn't expect her to be such a cunning and deceitful person."
While Yu Jiu was away, everyone whispered and said all sorts of hurtful things behind her back.
"Alright, alright, stop talking and get back to work. I'll watch this counter."
The manager arrived, chased away the gossiping women, and went to stand at the counter where Yu Jiu was stationed. However, her expression was not good, and she had a sullen face.
She dared to skip work on her very first day. Does she intend to do this all the time? Just taking money without coming to work is unacceptable. Occasionally being late or leaving early is one thing.
The manager frowned, deep in thought. Unfortunately, Yu Jiu's job was assigned by her superiors, so scolding her or firing her was difficult. If Yu Jiu ignored their advice and continued to skip work, they couldn't do anything about it.
The manager was annoyed, and Yu Jiu at the hospital was also very busy. Lin Rong was somewhat dehydrated, not just from heatstroke, and needed an IV drip immediately upon arrival at the hospital. If they had arrived any later, it would have been quite dangerous.
Yu Jiu looked at Lin Rong, while Xu Zi ran up and down to pay the fees. After Lin Rong was settled, Lin Zheng rushed over.
"Little Rong, Little Rong, are you alright?"
He rushed over anxiously, grabbing Lin Rong's hand with a mixture of worry and fear. Lin Rong was currently fast asleep.
"It's okay, the doctor said I just need to rest for two days after the IV drip."
Yu Jiu offered Lin Zheng a few words of comfort.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Lin Zheng knew that Lin Rong had caused everyone a lot of trouble today. If the whole village hadn't mobilized, and Xu Zijiang hadn't even asked people from the neighboring production team to help look for her, Lin Rong might not have been found so quickly.
Although he was angry that the teenagers had taken his younger brother to play, he was fortunate that they hadn't been kidnapped by human traffickers.
After this ordeal, Lin Zheng became even more determined to send Lin Rong to school. So what if she's young? As long as she goes to school on time every day. He'll also find her two friends so she can go everywhere with him. At least this can't happen again; his heart can't take that kind of ordeal.
"Everything's taken care of, right?"
Just then, Xu Zijiang returned from paying the bill. Yu Jiu walked to the door and asked softly.
"Yes, it's all done. You've been busy all day. Are you hungry or tired? I'll go buy you something to eat right now."
Having settled Lin Rong's matter, Xu Zijiang remembered that his wife hadn't eaten yet, and he felt sorry for her, so he quickly went to buy her some food.
Xu Zijiang hasn't had lunch either.
Yu Jiu nodded, intending to go eat with Xu Zijiang first, and then pack some food for Lin Zheng and Lin Rong to bring back. Halfway through nodding, she suddenly remembered something, and her expression changed slightly.
"Oh no."
"What's wrong?"
"I forgot, I have to go to work today, it's already past 4 o'clock."
"Yes, you still have to go to work."
Xu Zijiang frowned, remembering the matter as well. It was mainly because today was Yu Jiu's first day at work, and neither of them really felt it; they easily forgot about it when they got busy.
It was already past 4 pm, and by the time we finished eating and getting ready, it would be almost time to get off work. Besides, Yu Jiu had walked a lot during lunch and had been running around for half a day, so it was hot, sunny, and tiring.
She was also sweating profusely and felt sticky all over from the heat, so it would be too difficult for her to go to work now.
Xu Zijiang said simply.
"I'll go with you to ask for leave. We won't go to class this afternoon. After lunch, we'll go back and rest well, and go to class tomorrow."
"Alright."
Yu Jiu also felt a bit tired; her calves were sore and her toes hurt. She had been busy looking for people all day and hadn't even noticed how tired she was. Now that she was relaxing, she felt numbness and pain from her waist down.
"Lin Zheng, you watch over your brother. I'll go with your sister-in-law to ask for leave, and then we'll go buy some food for you. The expenses have already been paid. You just need to stay with him."
"good."
Lin Zheng nodded weakly; he was so frightened that his whole body went limp.
After settling the two brothers in, Xu Zijiang and Yu Jiu headed to the department store. They went straight to the counter, where, as expected, the manager was standing in front of Yu Jiu's skincare counter.
Yu Jiu stepped forward somewhat embarrassed to explain.
"I'm sorry, manager, I'm late. When I went back at noon, my husband's cousin was missing. He's just a little kid, only four or five years old. We all thought he had been kidnapped by human traffickers."
The whole team searched for a long time, and I searched along with them, completely forgetting about work. I'm so sorry to have troubled you. My cousin needs someone to take care of him; he's in the hospital right now. Can I take the afternoon off? I can come to work tomorrow, is that okay?
Her attitude was very sincere.
"Alright, a little more time won't make a difference. You should go back now; the child is more important."
The manager saw Yu Jiu come over looking rather disheveled. Her hair was plastered to her scalp, her face was flushed from exhaustion, and she looked sticky all over. It was clear at a glance that she had indeed gone through a lot of hard work.
The manager wasn't a demanding person, and guessing that Yu Jiu wasn't lying, he readily agreed.
"Then you need to be on time tomorrow. You can't skip work like this anymore. If you have something to do, you need to tell me in advance, otherwise it will be difficult for me if others have complaints."
The manager earnestly advised that most of the staff at the department store counters were women, mostly older women, with very few young girls. They say three women make a drama, and with so many older women here, they'd rather gossip than sit around doing anything else.
So if Yu Jiu really does anything inappropriate, everyone will condemn her. It's for her own good to make her watch her behavior.
Yu Jiu knew this was a well-intentioned reminder from the manager, and she nodded apologetically once again.
"I understand, Manager. I'm sorry for the trouble. It was really my fault today; I was in such a rush that I forgot about work. I'll try my best not to do that again next time. I'll definitely ask for leave in advance if anything comes up. I'm so sorry."
"Okay, you should go back now."
Seeing how disheveled she was, the manager didn't have the heart to say anything more and urged her to go home and rest or take care of her cousin.
Having won over the manager, Yu Jiu and Xu Zi walked out calmly amidst the subtle glances from the counter staff. The two went to a state-run restaurant to get some food, which they then took to the hospital.
Yu Jiu wasn't actually very hungry right now, because she was so hungry that she didn't eat first. She left some food at the hospital for Lin Zheng and Lin Rong to eat, while Yu Jiu and Shui Zi went home first. After getting home, she took a shower and cleaned herself thoroughly before she started eating, which was enough for dinner.
"Raising children is really not easy; everyone has their own way of being mischievous."
As Yu Jiu ate, she sighed. She didn't think Lin Rong was naughty; she thought Liu Yongsuao and Chen Xiaoyi were just being whimsically naughty.
They even escorted prisoners, exiling them thousands of miles away. What were they thinking? If they went any further, neither of them would ever come back, let alone Lin Rong and Chen Xiaoyi. Lin Rong is still young and doesn't know the way, which is understandable, but Chen Xiaoyi is also terrible with directions and can't remember directions.
He's such a grown-up, yet he often runs around outside, and he can't even remember the roads outside the village, which is quite amusing.
"That's right. The girls are alright, they're obedient and easy to manage. But the boys in the team are all so arrogant, they're practically climbing on the roof if they're not disciplined for three days. I'm going to go check on their parents later to see if they've been punished. After making such a commotion, it would be a shame if these three didn't get a beating."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
