The final inspection result showed that the hotel's shower system had malfunctioned. When Ji Rui entered, he casually measured the temperature of the hot water with the hotel's thermometer, which was close to 60 degrees Celsius.
Le Tong was quickly sent to a nearby hospital, and of course, the hotel manager accompanied her as well. Throughout the journey, the hotel manager kept apologizing, but Ji Rui's tense face never relaxed.
Fortunately, Le Tong was only scalded by the water briefly; no blisters appeared yet, but her shoulders down to her entire back were red, like a steamed shrimp.
"The burn isn't serious. A shot of anti-inflammatory medicine, some pills, and applying some ointment, it should be fine in a few days."
The doctor, who was accustomed to life-and-death matters in the hospital, gave his conclusion lightly after examining Le Tong.
Ji Rui stared at the doctor with a tense face and asked, "No need for hospitalization?"
The doctor glanced at him indifferently, seemingly a bit dissatisfied, "Are you her husband? How can you be so careless? The water heater at home is broken, and you, as a man, didn't fix it. It's nothing if you get burned, thick-skinned, but she suffers if burned, and she'll have to sleep on her stomach for several days."
Luckily, Le Tong, lying on the hospital bed, didn't hear this, or she might have felt mortified.
Ji Rui slightly frowned, "I'm her boss!"
His intention was to clarify their relationship, but it ended up adding a bit of ambiguity to their relationship.
The doctor glared at him, intending to say more, but the manager hurriedly interjected, fearing she would offend Ji Rui.
"Doctor, you misunderstood. This young lady was scalded in our hotel's bathroom, having nothing to do with this gentleman."
The doctor gave Ji Rui another scrutinizing glance and instructed the nurse who returned with the medicine.
"Administer the IV to her first, then apply the ointment. Once the IV is finished, she can leave."
After speaking, the doctor yawned and left everyone behind to sleep in a small resting room nearby.
Ji Rui's face looked unpleasant, clearly unhappy with the doctor's attitude.
The manager observed this and quickly went forward to mediate.
"Mr. Ji, please don't mind! It isn't easy for the doctor, unable to sleep well at this late hour, so naturally, their mood isn't great..."
As the manager spoke, a few muffled grunts came from behind the curtain of the hospital bed, probably because the nurse was applying the ointment, causing pain for Le Tong.
Ji Rui's expression turned somber, "My secretary got injured, and I'm not happy about it. Can I have someone beat her up?!"
Ji Rui indeed felt displeased, but it wasn't because Le Tong got injured; it was because he was mistakenly identified as Le Tong's husband by that doctor.
Since earlier, he's been thinking about what a mess this was!
This Le Tong, first drunk, now scalded—how does she keep landing in trouble in front of him, time after time?! Is it really a coincidence, or is it intentional?
The manager was terrified, clutching his arm pleadingly.
"Mr. Ji, please don't act impulsively! This is our fault, and I will properly compensate both Mr. Ji and Miss Le. Mr. Ji, you're generous; please let it go this time. Besides, it's not worth causing such trouble over something minor."
The manager naturally knew what kind of person Ji Rui was. Not to mention that doctor, even he himself would lose his job with just one word from Ji Rui, and possibly much more.
Ji Rui ignored him, took out his phone and walked outside.
The manager didn't dare chase him, but approached the curtain to desperately apologize and plead with Le Tong.
"Miss Le, we're really sorry. It was our hotel's negligence that caused you to suffer. The necessary compensation won't be lacking at all. Miss Le, could you help persuade Mr. Ji? I have elderly and young at home; if I lose this job, my entire family will be left in trouble."
The nurse had finished applying the ointment and carefully helped Le Tong put on her clothes. Le Tong, who had been lying on the hospital bed for a while, felt a bit tired. Thus, she sat up and spoke through the curtain to the person outside.
"Manager Cao, indeed this was your oversight, but fortunately, no major mistake was made. I'll handle it according to normal procedures and won't deliberately give you a hard time. As for our president, he won't concern himself with such small matters, rest assured."
From the injury to now, Le Tong felt that this incident was primarily between her and the hotel, and it essentially had nothing to do with Ji Rui.
Therefore, she believed Manager Cao's worry was unnecessary.
"But..."
Manager Cao wanted to say, earlier your president's expression was terrifying, looking as if he wanted to eat me alive to appease his anger.
"Manager Cao, don't worry. Our president is very busy and won't have time to deal with such trivial matters."
Le Tong was now worried about whether she'd be able to accompany Ji Rui to a meeting tomorrow due to her injury. She wondered how Ji Rui would think of her then or if there would be any difficulties he'd create again.
Aye!
Le Tong sighed quietly to herself, thinking that she has recently been very unlucky, facing one mishap after another.
Manager Cao still felt uneasy but found it hard to further request her help.
Le Tong had spoken as much as she could; either as she stated, Ji Rui didn't have the spare time to stand up for a mere secretary or she just wasn't willing to help him.
Until the IV was finished, Ji Rui did not return to the emergency room. Manager Cao held the medical record and medication, anxiously accompanying Le Tong out of the emergency room. At the end of the corridor, a tall figure stood by the window, back to the emergency room. Upon hearing the noise, the figure turned around, paused slightly, and then walked over with large strides.
As Ji Rui approached, the cold, oppressive aura instantly pressed towards Le Tong.
Le Tong, fully aware, understood this incident had eaten into Ji Rui's precious sleep time. Seeing his somewhat weary face, she softly apologized.
"President, I'm sorry!"
Ji Rui glanced at her coldly, "Enough of your nonsense! Let's go!"
Le Tong was initially stunned, then her heart sank. Instinctively, she felt that at the moment, Ji Rui was like the same Ji Rui who told her to 'Forget it!' that morning; perhaps even worse than that morning.
That evening, she drank herself into oblivion, indeed, remembering nothing. By being drunk, she could shamelessly tell herself—perhaps try convincing herself—that the events of that night were merely a dream and never actually happened!
Furthermore, because she remembered nothing at all, she could act like nothing had happened in front of Ji Rui these days.
But just now, she was sober!
Such an unexpected incident, yet in Ji Rui's eyes, it was an entirely deliberate farce.
And she could no longer attribute her actions to the unbelievable excuse of not remembering!