Before Chu Ningwu could even go look for the front desk manager, he had already come looking for her.
The manager of the front desk, holding a thick envelope, directly shoved it into Chu Ningwu’s hands without a word.
He had never had a good impression of this overly beautiful receptionist. She often tried to subtly extract information about guests, but she was too striking in appearance and had never made any real mistakes at work over the past half year, so he could not fire her for that reason alone.
It was only until that night when Assistant Lin from Huo Zhi Chuan’s side personally came to check the surveillance footage that he realized what this quiet little receptionist had actually done.
When he saw the footage of her, dressed in a cleaning uniform, casually walking into the presidential suite, his legs went weak as if he was about to kneel on the spot.
Kneeling might have been fine too, just as an apology to Huo Xiansheng.
But Assistant Lin only gave him a meaningful glance and told him to keep a closer watch in the future and not let employees exploit loopholes again.
That tone did not sound like Chu Ningwu was going to be punished at all.
And remembering how Huo Xiansheng had personally carried her in and out twice that night, he became even more uncertain about how to handle the situation.
In the end, he simply avoided it and pretended he did not know anything.
Fortunately, Manager Li finally passed on instructions. So he came to settle Chu Ningwu’s wages.
Chu Ningwu recognized him as her immediate superior and opened the envelope blankly.
Inside were neatly stacked pink banknotes.
Her eyes filled with confusion as she instinctively counted them.
Exactly twenty thousand.
“Manager, what is this money? Year end bonus?”
“This is your salary for today’s session, including commission. From now on, just stick to being a front desk staff. No more sales work. A young girl like you should not always be chasing shortcuts or thinking too highly of yourself…”
Chu Ningwu frowned tightly, clearly confused and slightly angry.
Her ears turned faint pink.
“Why? Why can’t I continue being a liquor sales rep? What did I do wrong today?”
The manager waved his hand.
“You did nothing wrong. We did.”
Huo Xiansheng had already spoken. If she did nothing wrong, then naturally it must be them who were wrong. First, they let someone impersonating cleaning staff slip in, and then they accidentally pulled her into that private room.
All mistakes, all on them.
Chu Ningwu was not satisfied and pressed on.
“I even made sales. Mia-jie said I did well. I did not even cause any trouble…”
“Still saying you did nothing wrong? Huo Xiansheng personally named you and told you not to sell alcohol anymore. Do you still not understand?”
Chu Ningwu froze.
“…You mean Huo Zhi Chuan told me not to sell alcohol anymore?”
The manager panicked at the name.
“Ancestor, that name is not something you can casually say. Stop asking. We are just following orders.”
Chu Ningwu tightened her grip on the money and said nothing.
She did not understand.
How could someone be so bad, so two faced?
Inside the private room he ordered three bottles of Hennessy Richard just to get her number, yet the moment he left, he cut off her income.
Was everything he did inside just an act for the younger crowd?
Was she just a prop for his performance?
Chu Ningwu did not go back to find Huo Zhi Chuan.
She walked alone on the road back to Yun City District Three.
Facing the evening chill, she kept rubbing the envelope containing twenty thousand yuan, forcing herself to calm down.
It was fine. This was already unexpected income.
Why was she being so greedy?
She had seen how other salespeople worked in that private room.
Even without Huo Zhi Chuan interfering, this job probably would not have lasted long anyway.
And maybe, after kissing him in front of so many people, he felt disgusted.
No wonder he had seemed irritated afterward. Maybe he was already annoyed to death.
At least she had not suffered a loss, right?
Her head lowered more and more until she looked like a wandering ghost at the entrance of her neighborhood.
She stepped on fallen leaves absentmindedly, unsure whether she should go in.
In the morning she had said she would return to Yun Bang Shui Wan by herself at night.
Suddenly, a strong force grabbed her shoulder.
Chu Ningwu was yanked around and faced a middle aged woman with a ferocious and yellowed face.
Chu Mother immediately started shouting.
“Chu Ningwu, you little girl, you actually told security to stop me from entering! You’ve got guts now! You don’t even recognize your own mother anymore!”
Chu Ningwu was pulled so hard she stumbled.
A sharp pain shot through her ankle.
She might have twisted it.
She had no time to check.
“I never told security to stop you. You are not a resident here. Of course they had to stop you. That is their job…”
“Don’t think reading a few useless books gives you the right to lecture me! Stop talking nonsense! Listen to me. Your grandmother fell off a ladder yesterday. Her tailbone is fractured and she needs to be hospitalized at the county hospital. Bring thirty thousand yuan for medical expenses immediately!”
Chu Ningwu’s pupils shrank.
For elderly people, a fall like that was no small matter.
In the original story, her grandmother was only briefly mentioned. Chu Ningwu did not know much, but instinctively she felt worry and panic.
From the original host’s memories, she had grown up in a rural town under Jing City jurisdiction, raised by her grandmother.
Chu Father and Chu Mother worked in the city, one driving ride hailing services and one working in service. They had promised to buy a house near a school district once she started primary school and bring her to the city.
But until middle school, she was still studying in the rural town.
Even a few weeks before the high school entrance exam, when she called Chu Mother asking for money to buy study materials, she had not even finished speaking when Chu Mother excitedly said she was pregnant, twins no less, and the temple fortune teller had said they would be two big healthy boys.
Chu Ningwu’s fist hardened.
“Where is the medical report? Why didn’t Grandma tell me? If I am giving money, I will give it directly to Grandma. I am not giving it to you!”
“Heh, an old woman who cannot even use a phone. What is there to tell you? I am her daughter in law. Of course she tells me. What, now you do not even care about your own grandmother? I really gave birth to such a cold hearted thing!”
“You go back! I will not give you money! I will go see Grandma myself in the village!”
“What are you hiding behind your back? Been hiding it the whole time! Is it something that man bought you? Give it here!”
Chu Mother grabbed Chu Ningwu’s arm.
Realizing danger, Chu Ningwu turned and ran.
Pain shot through her ankle again, but she ignored it and sprinted toward the neighborhood entrance, cold sweat already soaking her forehead.