Frequent failures
"Bang!"
The heavy mahogany tabletop was slapped with a dull thud, shaking the pen holder on the table so much that it jumped.
"Xiao Zhou! What's going on with you lately?!" Boss Huang Haifu's voice boomed like thunder in the small office, each word laced with uncontrollable anger. "It's only been a few days?! I've already had two customers complain directly to me!"
Zhou Jianxing shuddered violently, like a frightened rabbit. He subconsciously twisted his hands together tightly, his knuckles turning blue and white from the force. He lowered his head, staring at the tip of his shoe that was stained with oil. A sour heat surged uncontrollably into his eyes.
She has been working at Schindler for almost three years and has never received any complaints from customers, let alone been scolded in person by her boss in such a harsh tone.
"Tell me, are you still focused on your work?" Huang Haifu's chest heaved, clearly furious. He pointed at a report on the table, "The neutral and live wires are connected reversed! Zhou Jianxing! Tell me, is this something you, Zhou Jianxing, could do?! Huh?!"
He couldn't believe it. Zhou Jianxing was the female maintenance worker he'd hired as an exception. She was the company's most stable and meticulous technician, with a 100% customer satisfaction rating! She worked meticulously, her procedures rigorous to the point of being almost rigid.
Connecting the neutral and live wires incorrectly? This kind of fatal and low-level mistake, which no apprentice would ever make, even with their eyes closed, actually happened to her?!
Huang Haifu quickly looked at the four big words "Keep Calm" hanging behind Zhou Jianxing, and advised himself not to be angered to death by her.
"Boss, I..." Zhou Jianxing's throat tightened and his voice was as thin as a mosquito. Just as he was about to explain, he was interrupted by Huang Haifu's more severe questioning.
"This is not a technical problem! It's a fucking attitude problem! It's a problem of being out of your mind!" Huang Haifu couldn't help but swear in anger. He really couldn't understand.
"That's electricity! Zhou Jianxing! It's deadly electricity! Did you know that new imported coffee machine from that cafe started smoking and burning as soon as it was plugged in?! Luckily, no one was around at the time. If someone had accidentally touched it, even if it only numbed them, what would have been the consequences?! Have you ever thought about it?!"
Zhou Jianxing buried his head even lower, wishing he could poke two holes with his toes.
How could she not know? She knew the dangers of electricity better than anyone else. She'd always prided herself on her rigorous, almost obsessive-compulsive process in every situation—disconnect, test, operate, recheck—every step was ingrained in her bones.
But that day… that day, when she held the screwdriver and her fingertips touched the cold copper wire, her mind flashed uncontrollably back to Wen Lingyi's loving and smiling peach blossom eyes, her warm breath as she approached, and the words that made her lose her mind, "empty, lonely, and cold"… And during the inspection, she had overlooked the socket that was connected incorrectly…
Wen Lingyi hasn't contacted her for three days.
Her confused thoughts and huge panic, her heart completely disturbed by the thought "she is fishing for you", made her feel like she was floating in the clouds, with no solid ground under her feet.
Distracted and distracted, she had been working like a soulless body for the past two days. The result... was this irreparable, low-level mistake.
"I'm sorry, boss..." Zhou Jianxing bit her lower lip hard, tasting a hint of rust as she fought back the tears that threatened to burst. The overwhelming guilt weighed on her like a heavy rock, nearly suffocating her. "I will compensate the client for their losses. I'll accept any request they make... This time, it's me... I failed in my duty." Her voice was nasal and trembling.
She not only felt sorry for her clients and her boss's trust, but also for this job that she had poured all her love into.
She felt absolutely terrible about herself.
In front of Wen Lingyi, she acted coyly, unable to respond to the naked temptation, nor to completely cut off the throbbing feeling; at work, she even made mistakes that could endanger the lives of others because of her love brain.
Is she crazy? How did she become like this?
"Compensation? Humph! Of course you have to!" Huang Haifu snorted coldly, his anger still lingering. "That coffee machine is worth a few months' salary at most. Money is nothing! What's the key? Safety! Trust! Zhou Jianxing, the reputation you've built over the years hasn't been easy! How many clients have specifically requested you to go? And you're going to ruin it like this?"
He looked at the employee in front of him with a look of disappointment, the one who had always made him worry-free and even proud. He had hired her despite the pressure because he valued her skills and rare meticulousness and calmness, which were completely different from those young men who worked impulsively.
But these past two days, whenever Huang Haifu saw her at the company, she looked lost, her eyes wandering and her reactions slow. He had originally thought that something might be wrong at home, but now it seemed that she was simply absent-minded!
"Think about it carefully!" Huang Haifu's voice dropped, filled with deep disappointment. "Calm down! Do your job! Our job is hard, dirty, and tiring, but it's also rewarding. Are your current actions worthy of your customers' trust in you? Are they worthy of your own conscience? Who are you being honest to by acting like this?!"
"I'm sorry... Boss, I'm really sorry..." Zhou Jianxing didn't dare to look directly at Huang Haifu, his shoulders trembling slightly, and he didn't dare to answer the sharp questions about "conscience" and "trust".
She could only apologize over and over again, her voice choked: "I promise... I promise I won't do it again... I..." She couldn't continue, bowed deeply to her boss, and then staggered out of the office as if escaping from a place of execution.
The door closed behind him, blocking out his boss's heavy gaze. Zhou Jianxing didn't return to his workstation. Almost on instinct, he plunged into the women's restroom at the end of the corridor and locked the door of a cubicle.
The small space is isolated from the outside world.
All the emotions that she had just suppressed in the office suddenly flooded over her like a flood. She leaned her back against the cold partition, slid weakly to the ground, covered her mouth tightly with both hands, and sobbed uncontrollably.
Tears burst out like a dam breaking, slid down her cheeks in a hot stream. She cried so hard that her whole body was shaking, her shoulders trembling, as if she would not be able to breathe again at any moment.
So sad.
In fact, what made her sad was not the scolding from her boss, nor the possible compensation for the coffee machine. She was sad about how she could be so unethical.
Maintenance is obviously her favorite job, so why is she so irresponsible towards her career?
What made her sad was that she seemed to have really fallen in love with Wen Lingyi, so much so that her mind was filled with that person.
Because of his hopeless infatuation with a married woman, he betrayed his most beloved job and his most cherished professional ethics.
Although she escaped from Wen Lingyi's gentle trap, she only escaped in person, but her heart was still with her.
She told "Sealed Heart Locked Love" that she wanted a future with relationships and didn't want her life to become complicated and full of uncertainty. But now, her life seemed to be a mess, too complicated for her to understand, too chaotic for her to face.
“Bang!”
A crisp slap echoed in the small cubicle.
Finally unable to bear it any longer, Zhou Jianxing used all his strength to slap himself hard! His cheek instantly felt a burning pain.
"Zhou Jianxing! You're a lovesick person! You're such a troublemaker!" She cursed herself silently over and over again in her heart, "Why do you do this job? Are you worthy of it? You're a person who harms others and yourself!" She cried even harder while cursing herself.
It wasn't known how long it took for Zhou Jianxing to calm herself down. She felt as if all the strength in her body had been drained. She held onto the partition, struggled to stand up, and walked out of the cubicle.
The mirror reflected a horrible face, with eyes swollen like walnuts and tear marks on the cheeks. What was even more striking was the clear, red and swollen palm mark with fingerprints on the right cheek.
She rinsed her cheeks with ice-cold tap water over and over again, trying to suppress the burning pain and deeper shame. The cold water stimulated her skin and also slightly cleared her confused mind.
Running away won't solve any problems. She has to face the trouble she has caused.
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Jianxing straightened her back and walked out of the bathroom. Now she had to return to her workstation, contact the client, and discuss compensation—the thought of it made her want to dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it immediately.
Making such a low-level mistake was more painful to her than killing her.
She had just returned to her workstation and sat down, before she had time to catch her breath, when a figure stopped by her workstation. It was Engineer Xu.
Zhou Jianxing's heart tightened. Ever since that awkward confession, she'd felt uncomfortable every time she saw Mr. Xu, and subconsciously wanted to hide. This time, she quickly lowered her head and pretended to rummage through a drawer.
However, the marks on her face were too obvious.
"Mr. Zhou?" Mr. Xu's voice sounded in surprise, "You...what's wrong with your face?" He took a step closer, frowned, his eyes fixed on the clear palm print, his tone suddenly became angry, "Huang Baopi hit you?! Damn it! I'm going to find him!" He said and was about to turn around.
"No, no! Engineer Xu!" Zhou Jianxing was startled. He quickly raised his head and frantically covered his right cheek with his hand, explaining hurriedly, "It wasn't the boss! There was a mosquito on my face just now, and when I was swatting it, I accidentally... I used too much force and slapped myself."
This excuse was so lame that she didn't even believe it.
After hearing Zhou Jianxing's explanation, Xu Gong finally breathed a sigh of relief, but looking at Zhou Jianxing's unnatural expression, he thought about it and decided that it would be better to talk things out, so he pulled a chair and sat down next to Zhou Jianxing.
"Mr. Zhou," Mr. Xu's tone softened with a hint of helplessness, "Don't take that incident last time to heart. I don't feel embarrassed, so why should you be embarrassed? It's not a big deal! We are still good colleagues and good friends, right?" He tried to resolve the situation with a relaxed tone.
Zhou Jianxing lowered his head and said nothing.
Seeing her like this, Xu Gong casually reached out and patted her shoulder heavily—with words of comfort and encouragement: "Hey! Don't look so gloomy! Who hasn't been scolded by the boss? You didn't see the last time he scolded me. It was so bloody, he almost cursed my entire family! I'm still alive and kicking, aren't I?"
"That boss is just like that. He has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. He'll scold me and that's it! It's inevitable to make mistakes at work. Just learn from your mistakes and be more careful next time!"
It's true, this kind of comfort was quite effective. Zhou Jianxing felt as if the huge rock pressing on her chest had really been moved a little. She raised her head and looked into Mr. Xu's sincere eyes. She forced a smile that was uglier than crying and whispered, "Well... Thank you, Mr. Xu."
"What are you thanking me for? If I can't handle something at work in the future, I will have to ask you for help, Mr. Zhou!" Mr. Xu smiled heartily, patted her shoulder, then stood up and left.
Zhou Jianxing was the only one left at the workstation again. She started to act emo again, sitting in her chair, her fingers unconsciously sliding across the screen of her mobile phone.
She opened the WeChat chat for some unknown reason. Since the last time she came back from fixing the water pipe, Wen Lingyi had never paid any attention to her.
Opening the blue-eyed app, the "Sealed Heart Locked Love" profile picture was also gray. Her last message, a solitary one, read, "I want...a relationship with a future." That message, too, fell on deaf ears, with no further response.
She didn't get a response when she talked about it, perhaps because her ideas were so ridiculous that she didn't even want a response.
"There is a future relationship..."
Zhou Jianxing twitched the corners of her mouth bitterly. To someone as mature and sophisticated as Mrs. Wen, her thoughts must have seemed childish, ridiculous, and...unrefined, right?
If Mrs. Wen knew about her inner struggle and pain at this moment, and the mistakes she made at work because of her, she would probably only hate and despise her even more, right?
Forget it…I can’t think about it anymore.
Zhou Jianxing shook his head vigorously, as if trying to get rid of those chaotic thoughts. The most urgent task now was to solve the mess in front of him.
She took a deep breath, as if to exhaust all her courage, picked up her cell phone, and found the phone number of the person in charge of the cafe.
His fingertips trembled slightly as they hovered over the dial button. The thought of personally admitting his own stupid mistake made Zhou Jianxing feel the slap in the face begin to sting again, even more than before.
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