Plunder-Chapter 146 Stirring Trouble

She led Zhou Jin’an to the small apartment she rented.

He entered timidly, his feet standing uneasily in the entryway.

"Yayun, do you have clean slippers?"

Qiao En glanced back at him and said curtly, "No. Go wash your feet in the bathroom, clean the slippers, and don’t come out until they’re dry."

"But my slippers are already broken."

Zhou Jin’an said, taking off one slipper and holding it up for Qiao En to see.

The slipper was missing part of the heel, and the front was nearly detached.

Qiao En’s eyes darkened slightly, "Go wash your feet first, I’ll go to the supermarket to buy you shoes."

"Okay then."

Zhou Jin’an smiled brilliantly and tiptoed to the bathroom while Qiao En picked up his slippers to check the size.

"Before I come back, you are not to roam around anywhere, and you certainly can’t go out, got it?"

"Got it, Yayun. I promise to stay in the bathroom, won’t go anywhere else."

Qiao En rushed out and headed for the supermarket as quickly as possible.

Zhou Jin’an was very particular about what he wore and used; he never wore the ordinary slippers from the supermarket.

But now, Qiao En didn’t have the luxury to care about that – she quickly picked a pair of dark blue shoes and left.

Right after she paid, He Peng called.

"Little Xu, today is a workday, and it’s already half-past nine. Why haven’t you come to work yet?"

Qiao En was at a loss for words, hurriedly explained, "I have an emergency here, will be there soon."

"Hurry up, the head of the janitorial department is looking for me. Fang is sick today, and if you don’t come in, there will be no one to clean."

Just after He Peng ended the call, the head of the janitorial department called.

"Xu Yayun, where are you? No one has cleaned the entire executive floor yet, and complaints have already reached me. No matter how urgent your situation is, come to the office immediately and clean."

"Alright, I’ll be there shortly." Qiao En quickly responded.

In her urgency, she had forgotten that Zhou Jin’an was still at her house.

The pair of slippers, she had left at the cashier’s counter.

Qiao En took a taxi straight to Nanchen Group, almost running upstairs.

Upon her arrival, several women from the secretariat frowned and scolded her, "Little Xu, look at the state of this place! When Fang was here, she would have cleaned it up by seven every morning. You’re new here, you ought to learn more. We are so busy at work; how can we function without a clean and tidy environment?"

"I’m sorry, I’ll remember that."

Without further comment, Qiao En quickly grabbed a cloth and started wiping the countertops in the pantry, which were covered in coffee stains, tea stains, milk stains, and scattered packaging.

After cleaning up the pantry, she hurried to the bathroom.

She was overwhelmingly busy, but the people making messes did not stop.

Throughout the morning, Qiao En was as busy as a spinning top, with all the work falling on her with Fang not around.

By the time she finished, it was already noon.

Qiao En put the cleaning tools away in the janitor’s closet and was just about to catch her breath when He Peng approached her.

He waved at her from a distance, "Little Xu, come here a minute."

Qiao En wiped her hands and walked over quickly.

At the corridor entrance, He Peng, with furrowed brows and an embarrassed expression, rubbed his hands, "Little Xu, I was looking for you because there’s something I need to discuss."

Qiao En sensed trouble but responded calmly and softly, "Director He, please speak directly."

"It’s like this, the head of the janitorial department spoke to me, and considering your situation, he wants to transfer you to clean the lobby. Today’s incident wasn’t really severe, but since you are new here..."

"Little Xu, could you bear with this arrangement for a while? As soon as there’s an opportunity later, I’ll definitely try to rearrange things for you."

Qiao En took a deep breath.

Being late today was indeed her fault; she had nothing to say about the company’s decision to punish her.

"Director He, should I go there right now?"

Qiao En looked at He Peng calmly.

"First go have lunch, and then you can head over after eating."

The Nanchen Group had a cafeteria where Qiao En quickly nibbled on a few bites before heading back.

She cleared up her things in the workroom and prepared to move to the lobby downstairs.

Chen Yin came out of the pantry with coffee in hand, her gaze sharply on Qiao En, "Congratulations."

This congratulation was full of sourness.

Qiao En responded indifferently, "The same to you."

Having removed her thorn in the side, Chen Yin indeed had cause for joy.

Chen Yin, with her elegant stride, withdrew her gaze from Qiao En’s face.

She was like a proud peacock, sadly blinded by jealousy.

Times had changed, everything was different now.

Now, Chen Yin was the chief secretary in the president’s office, while Qiao En, she had fallen to a cleaning lady, merely trampled upon.

The person in charge of the lobby cleaning was a middle-aged woman.

She was big and tall, and her temper seemed rather poor.

When Qiao En went to report, she immediately received a rough welcome.

"Xu Yayun, right? Director He has mentioned you to me. However, since you’re working under me, you must follow my rules here. The lobby is the face of the company. Any issues, and it’s the company’s reputation at stake. So, let me make things clear beforehand, no late arrivals or early leaves. If you need a day off, notify me a day in advance. Furthermore, no slacking off on the job, and don’t go over my head with your complaints. Got it?"

"I heard you," Qiao En responded with her usual indifferent demeanor.

"Heard me? Now get to work."

Qiao En, carrying a cleaning bucket and grabbing a mop, went off to start her work.

The lobby of Nanchen Group was especially large, the floor laid with cream-colored tiles, with ten cleaners on stand-by round the clock, the hardest working department in the entire company.

Qiao En was busy from noon until dusk. She had no time to drink water, let alone check her phone.

At 7:30 p.m., it was time to clock out.

When Qiao En went to the break room to change her clothes, she discovered that there were dozens of missed calls on her phone.

"Assistant Cheng, I’m sorry, I didn’t get your calls."

Qiao En hurriedly called Cheng Lu back.

He was driving, and it was somewhat noisy on his end. "Miss Xu, I had an emergency and had gone to Lin City, I won’t be back tonight. I need you to take care of Director Zhou."

Qiao En was about to refuse, but suddenly, a thought struck her.

Zhou Jin’an was in her house.

She had actually forgotten about this.

"Okay, I got it."

Without even changing, Qiao En dashed back to the Chengnan Apartment.

By the time she arrived home, the place was already flooded.

The bathroom door was closed, with water gushing out from beneath it.

Wading through the water, she yanked open the bathroom door.

Zhou Jin’an was still there.

He was curled in the bathtub, his head resting on the edge, eyes closed, fast asleep with a long trail of drool.

"Zhou Jin’an—"

Qiao En’s fury erupted in an instant, and she hurriedly turned off the faucet.

The sleeper woke with her loud shout.

"Yayun, you’re finally back? I’ve been waiting so long for you. You didn’t come back, and I was so sleepy I fell asleep in the tub. Yayun, did you buy my slippers? I’m really hungry now, I want to eat steak."

He rubbed his sleepy eyes, looking at her pitifully like a child waiting to be fed.

Relying on his mere eight-year-old intelligence, he had created a mountain of issues for her, yet still had demands.

A fire raged inside Qiao En, leaping up and down.

"Don’t you know how to turn off the faucet? Do you know how tired I am today? What exactly are you trying to pull?"

She roared furiously.

Zhou Jin’an immediately stood up barefoot from the bathtub, "I remember I clearly turned off the faucet."

Qiao En didn’t want to say a word anymore. Already too exhausted to stand straight, she fetched a bucket and cloth, and slowly began to dry the floor.

"Yayun sister, I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. Let me do it, you rest awhile. Is that okay?"

He hung his head, looking up at Qiao En with hopeful eyes.

She ignored him, leaving him only her broad yet indifferent back.

Suddenly, Zhou Jin’an stepped out of the bathtub barefoot, his body dripping with water, and from behind, he scooped up Qiao En in his arms and strode towards the bedroom.