E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World

After coming out of the bathroom, Li Jiani saw Zhou Xueyin, who was slumped in a chair and crying towards the sky, as well as Kang Siyin, who was quietly wiping tears from beneath her glasses while furiously typing on the keyboard. The air was filled with a suffocating oppression.

Although Li Jiani didn't know what had happened, she clearly knew that now wasn't a good time to ask about the situation.

Turning around, she went directly to the attic.

"Shanbao? Go take a shower first," Li Jiani said softly, knocking on the attic door.

"Hmm..." Yao Shanshan opened the door, and Little Walnut suddenly jumped onto Li Jiani. His fur was damp, as if he had rubbed against Yao Shanshan's tears.

"Are you...feeling better?" Seeing Shanshan was no longer sobbing, Li Jiani felt slightly relieved.

"I sent that bastard a breakup text, then deleted his number too..." Although she had stopped sobbing, Yao Shanshan's voice still choked up a bit when she spoke.

"That's right! Our Shanbao is the best! That kind of scum isn't worth lingering over!" Li Jiani hugged Yao Shanshan, patting her head encouragingly.

"Then I'll go take a shower... Yinyin and KK..." Yao Shanshan glanced towards the work area and saw the devastated Zhou Xueyin and Kang Siyin, who was turning her grief into productivity.

"Shh... I don't know what's going on, let them be busy for a while," Li Jiani said as she brought Yao Shanshan's towel and pushed her into the bathroom.

Just as Yao Shanshan entered the bathroom to prepare for her shower, her phone began to vibrate wildly.

Li Jiani climbed up to the attic, took a look at the phone, and knew it must be that bastard He Tong calling.

So she promptly pressed the power button, and the world became wonderfully silent.

Meanwhile, in a one-bedroom rental across town,

Mi Lu was straddling He Tong, closely connected together.

But He Tong, with his mind elsewhere, held his phone, fretting over the breakup text from Yao Shanshan: "It's over, my Empress is throwing a tantrum and wants to break up…"

"Just break up then, can you be serious for a moment?" Mi Lu snatched He Tong's phone and threw it aside.

"You don't understand..." He Tong sat up, changing his position, "Shanshan and I were each other's firsts in everything, how could we just break up so easily?"

"Firsts? I didn't expect you to be so conservative. Since you're so conservative, what are you doing with me right now?" Mi Lu said provocatively.

"I'll let you know now what it means to keep the red flag flying at home while the colored flags flutter outside," He Tong said as he pressed down on Mi Lu, as if to punish her.

After their activity, the two sat on the sofa, with Mi Lu leaning on He Tong, playing Snake on her phone: "Tell me, what did you see in that flat-chested girl?"

"She's beautiful, kind-hearted, gives a sense of security, can grace a hall and also work the kitchen, she's the perfect candidate for a wife!" He Tong said boastfully, "She's far better than those other roommates in her dorm!"

He Tong listed the qualities of Yao Shanshan's roommates to Mi Lu: "Zhou Xueyin is always noisy, and she has a fiery temper. Li Jiani, well... her personality is pretty good, especially her figure, simply amazing! But she's not someone I can handle. Kang Siyin has a dead fish face, looks at everyone the same way, I've never seen her smile..."

"So, Yao Shanshan fits your taste the best, huh?" Mi Lu said with a hint of sarcasm.

"It's almost like that, if I ever marry a wife, my first choice would definitely be Yao Shanshan!" He Tong said, still smug.

"You really are blatantly trashy," Mi Lu laughed as she stood up, looking down at He Tong.

"We're both equal, just fulfilling each other's needs," He Tong said, playing with his PSP and not even looking up at Mi Lu.

"Haha, I think you've forgotten that your best choice for a wife is about to break up with you now…" Mi Lu tossed the phone with the contract on it from the bed.

"Holy shit, I totally forgot..." He Tong then remembered the text message.

But no matter how many text messages he sent or how many calls he made, Yao Shanshan's phone was turned off, and he couldn't get through.

However, He Tong just thought unconcernedly that maybe her phone was just out of battery.

If all else failed, he could apologize the next day, hoping that might still be in time, he just so wishfully thought.

After showering, Yao Shanshan came out of the bathroom feeling much fresher.

To hell with He Tong, Mi Lu, and Caiqi!

The moment she sent the breakup text, she even felt a sense of relief, no longer having to worry about when He Tong would betray her or whether he would get jealous when she looked at other handsome guys.

"Yinyin, I want to see today's photos..." Yao Shanshan said, wiping her hair and walking toward the work area, completely unaware of the low pressure in the room.

"It's in the bag, get it yourself…" Zhou Xueyin said weakly, sniffing.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you crying so sadly? It's just my breakup, no need to feel sad for me…" Yao Shanshan innocently thought Zhou Xueyin felt sorry for her.

"Shanbao, do you think... I shouldn't have taken you guys to start a business?" Zhou Xueyin suddenly grabbed Yao Shanshan's arm, crying again.

"Not at all, I think starting a business with you is quite fun... Why would you think that?" Yao Shanshan was somewhat baffled.

"Because of my impulsiveness, the whole team lost 5000 yuan, and everyone's hard work for a week on the forum turned to nothing. Why was I so deluded to think that Ying Haiwei was the same Ying Haiwei as before? If I had just listened to KK earlier and gotten a refund, things would have been better. Now, everything is gone… boo hoo hoo…" Zhou Xueyin said, blaming herself.

"My impulsive personality really isn't suitable for entrepreneurship. This time it was the virtual host money that got scammed, what about next time? Who knows what else someone might scam from us... How could I be so careless... Should I really have not started a business right after graduation?" The usually confident her began to doubt herself.

"The forum data isn't lost; our hard work for the week is still intact! Can you not rush into self-doubt?" Kang Siyin wiped her tears, speaking firmly, "You know, it's because of your impulsive personality that we could start a business! You don't need to be hesitant like me, missing good opportunities..."

"But you see now, my impulsive purchase of the fake Ying Haiwei's host led to a loss of 5000 yuan! 5000 yuan! That's a month's salary for three of you! Aren't you upset?" Zhou Xueyin was still hung up on the 5000 yuan.

"Upset! How could I not be? But is being upset useful? Can being upset bring the money back? With the time you spend being upset, we could have already started anew!" Kang Siyin said intensely to Zhou Xueyin.

To say she wasn't upset about being scammed of 5000 yuan would be a lie, but what bothered her more was Zhou Xueyin's self-abandoning attitude now.

Even though she had minimized the loss to the forum, Zhou Xueyin still ignored this and her thoughts remained fixated on being scammed.

"No... I can't just accept being scammed out of 5000 yuan!" Zhou Xueyin let go of Yao Shanshan and suddenly sat back at the computer.