E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World-Chapter 67 - Looking Out for the Love-Struck Brain 2

“Fine, forget it…” Zhou Xueyin almost threw the coupon into the trash can right then and there.

“I’ll take it! I can just exchange it at the front desk in a bit. You know what…” Li Meng started blabbering about a whole lot of trivial stuff and shared tips on how to exchange Discount Coupons with the restaurant.

Zhou Xueyin was becoming ever more convinced of how hypocritical people could be.

On the one hand, he boasted about being an artist, superior to others. On the other hand, he was stingy to the core, skimping and scraping every penny he could.

Yao Shanshan would never be able to handle someone like him. If the two of them were really to start dating, she would certainly be calculated to death.

After the dinner, Li Meng asked the waiter to bring over a take-out box and planned to take home the leftovers. Zhou Xueyin snatched them first – it wouldn’t be right for Li Meng to take them since it wasn’t he who paid for the meal; it should be the host taking the leftovers home.

Although Li Meng was politely spoken, he couldn’t help internally mocking Zhou Xueyin for being stingy. Even running a company, she still wanted to take home leftovers, which seemed so petty to him.

In truth, it didn’t really matter who took the leftovers, but Zhou Xueyin just couldn’t stand Li Meng’s attitude of taking charge without asking for anyone’s opinion.

“I have an appointment with the professor this afternoon to go buy materials, so I won’t be able to join you all,” Li Meng casually explained. He hadn’t managed to take home the leftovers, and Zhou Xueyin never got the chance to ask for her phone number. It seemed his endeavor at attending the banquet today had been a failure, so he quickly found an excuse to slip away.

After Li Meng left, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Shanshan, I’m not trying to criticize you, but what a terrible person! An artist? What kind of artist doesn’t have any self-respect?” Kang Siyin couldn’t hold back and was the first to openly criticize.

“Shanbao, I agree with KK. Just look at how he dismissed the website interface you worked so hard on, saying it was worthless! And where are his solutions, then? Anybody can criticize, but it takes a real expert to come up with improvements!” Zhou Xueyin said, equally upset.

“Just a reminder, while I was waiting for you guys at the entrance, he took no less than five phone calls, all using various evasive tactics with different people…” Li Ranxu said casually, “and his phone leaked sound, all the callers were women… Just be cautious for yourself.”

“Shanshan, darling, we’re not against you finding a boyfriend, but this guy really won’t do,” Jixiang’s mother said earnestly. “Right when he arrived, he kept staring at me, and after you told him that Yinyin is the general manager of the company, he’s been eying her the entire time…”

“Yes, exactly! The way he looked at me, so gross, it still makes my skin crawl! It was like I was his prey or something,” Zhou Xueyin feigned a shiver, “So disgusting!”

“You’ve had enough…” Yao Shanshan had been silent all the way, listening to everyone constantly badmouthing Li Meng. The more she listened, the more uncomfortable she felt, “Isn’t it okay for me to give him the cold shoulder…”

Others might have peach blossom luck in relationships, but hers was rotten peach blossom luck.

It was He Tong before, and now it’s Li Meng.

If it was really like what Zhou Xueyin and the others said, then what exactly did she do to make him misunderstand and think there was something ambiguous?

No, that’s not right! It was clearly the other party who was the first to come on to her! It shouldn’t be her problem! She must find time to make things clear!

Seeing that Yao Shanshan had expressed her stance, the others felt it was not good to say more. As long as she understood for herself and wouldn’t make the same mistakes with love again, that was enough!

In the days following the dinner party, Li Meng was still attentive towards Yao Shanshan, but Yao Shanshan met him with a cold face, focusing all her energy on improving her painting skills.

On this day, luck was on her side, she arrived at the studio early, only to find that the weekly assignment she had spent a week completing had been vengefully splashed with ink.

Without having to think about it, it was likely done by Li Meng.

All these narrow-minded men are the same; if they can’t have something, they want to destroy it.

Seeing the scene before her, Yao Shanshan was surprisingly calm to the extent that even she found it unbelievable.

She went straight to the professor and said that her weekly assignment had been vandalized and she didn’t know if the professor had any other way to resolve it.

Fortunately, the professor had seen Yao Shanshan’s diligent painting and the quality of her assignments and knew that this incident wouldn’t affect her final evaluation.

Of course, while Li Meng’s own behavior was a big problem, he was still a very capable assistant in the classroom, and it was hard to nitpick faults with him on this matter.

Besides, Li Meng, eager to pursue postgraduate studies and known for his industriousness, was also someone the professor felt sorry for, so after a bit of criticism and education, the matter was let go.

Yao Shanshan grew wiser, painstakingly bringing her drawing board home every day. It was tiring, but with just over a month left until the end of the course, she just needed to hold out a little longer…

The time around New Year’s is known to be the off-season for the internet industry, with everyone looking forward to the holidays and lacking motivation to work. Thus, Zhou Xueyin gave her sisters an early holiday.

She told Kang Siyin to take her laptop just in case something urgent came up on the forum, so she could handle it from home.

As for business matters, Zhou Xueyin would take care of them herself for the time being. After all, her current clients were all in Beijing, making it more convenient to get around. Feeding three cats had become one of Zhou Xueyin’s tasks.

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Li Jixiang couldn’t resist Li Ranxu’s persistent requests and agreed to take him back to her hometown, not to visit parents, but as a trip.

After asking for time off from the studio, Yao Shanshan also prepared to go home. Before leaving, she borrowed some money from Zhou Xueyin, saying it was so her father wouldn’t look down on her “tools”; she promised to repay the amount in full after the holiday.

With the three of them gone, the house really felt empty…

Just then, Ya Rui called, “Yinyin, our company’s annual event is this weekend, and I’ve invited you as a guest. Remember to come!”

This call couldn’t have come at a worse time! With the three of them gone, she didn’t even know what to do about the gown. Surely she couldn’t wear the suit she donned for seeking investment, could she? That would be too unsophisticated…