The old man made a scene in the lobby, with people occasionally peeking in to see what was happening. He completely ignored the attempts of Ying Jingsheng and others to calm him down. Even several guests stood by watching.
Five minutes later, the siren of an ambulance approached from afar.
When the old lady was placed on the stretcher, her breathing had stabilized somewhat, but she was still not fully conscious.
The old gentleman followed onto the ambulance. He had wanted to drag Tao Xinrou along, but the medical staff stopped him.
Before leaving, he gave Tao Xinrou a vicious glare. "You just wait!"
The doors closed, and the ambulance sped away.
Back in the lounge, the remaining guests all wanted to leave. After pacifying the other guests, Tao Xinrou, Zhao Sili, and Ying Jingsheng stood where they were, along with a table of barely touched desserts, as if witnessing what had just happened.
"Xinrou, don't worry. It's not your fault. The old lady didn't mention her peanut allergy. Otherwise, we definitely wouldn't have served this dessert today." Zhao Sili comforted her.
But Tao Xinrou seemed to not hear her. She lowered her head, replaying everything in her mind, her fingers icy cold.
Peanut allergy.
The old lady ate the peanut crisps she had helped her get.
No allergy record in the information.
But now, who would believe that?
Not long after, Ying Jingsheng's phone rang. He answered with a tight frown, his expression grave, indicating the caller was someone important.
After hanging up, he said, "Headquarters somehow heard about this and is sending someone to investigate."
"What? How did headquarters find out so quickly?"
Zhao Sili was shocked. Tao Xinrou felt as if her blood had frozen.
A bad premonition spread through her.
"I'll go deal with this. Zhao Sili, handle things here." With that, Ying Jingsheng turned to leave. He took a step, then seemed to think of something. He turned back and looked at Tao Xinrou. "Don't be afraid. I'll handle this."
Despite his words, Tao Xinrou couldn't help but worry.
She sat in the lobby, gripping the hem of her clothes tightly.
The vast lounge, which had been lively just moments ago, was now eerily silent.
The scenes from earlier were still vivid in her mind, but everything had taken a sharp turn for the worse.
Tao Xinrou didn't know what the outcome of this incident would be, but if headquarters got involved, she would most likely be punished.
After waiting an hour, news came from the hospital: the old lady was out of danger but needed to stay for observation for a few days.
At the same time, a colleague rushed over. "Tao Xinrou, President Ying wants you in the meeting room."
Sure enough, her premonition was coming true.
*
When Tao Xinrou was called into the meeting room, several people were already seated: the head of the HR department, Wei Hao, and someone she didn't recognize—a dignified-looking man in a suit and tie. Tao Xinrou guessed he was a senior executive sent from headquarters, along with Ying Jingsheng, who sat with a grim expression.
As soon as she walked in, Wei Hao spoke directly. "Tao Xinrou, please explain what happened today."
The situation was simple. Tao Xinrou recounted the entire process from beginning to end, including the fact that the old lady had not filled in any allergy history on the hotel's collection form.
Wei Hao frowned as he flipped through the documents. "I've seen the client information. It's true there's no allergy history. But the problem is that the guests don't see it that way. They think we provided poor service by not proactively asking."
"After the incident, I asked the old gentleman if there was any record..."
"That was after the fact." The headquarters executive interrupted. "Why didn't you ask beforehand?"
Tao Xinrou was silent for a second, considering whether to mention that she too had been posing as a guest. But Ying Jingsheng spoke up first. "Minister Gao, at the time, Tao Xinrou and I were also pretending to be guests. It wasn't convenient for us to act as hotel staff. I already explained this earlier."
"Oh? Then who was acting as the hotel staff for the reception?"
The man called Minister Gao squinted, seemingly casually looking at Ying Jingsheng, clearly trying to shift the blame.
"The reception was handled by a colleague from the PR department. According to the internal test process, she was responsible for guiding guests and collecting feedback. As for proactively asking, according to the hotel's standard procedures, we make special notes and reminders for guests who have reported allergies in advance. For those who haven't, the staff does not have the authority to forcibly ask about the guest's health information, as it involves privacy and boundaries."
Minister Gao narrowed his eyes, as if he didn't take Ying Jingsheng seriously. "So you mean this has nothing to do with that reception colleague, and nothing to do with you two?"
"I mean the problem is not with any individual, but with a flaw in the process. The guest didn't provide the information, the system didn't have a mandatory reminder, and the staff didn't have the authority to follow up. If any of these three links fails, today's result would happen. What we need to do now is to fill these gaps, not find someone to take the blame."
The meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.
The HR head and Wei Hao exchanged glances but said nothing.
Minister Gao stared at Ying Jingsheng for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "President Ying, I think you've lived abroad for so long and just returned to China. You may not yet know that the work standard for a hotel is customer first! We must always treat our guests as our closest family. Would you be so indifferent to your closest family? Is asking 'Are you allergic to anything' really that difficult?"
Silence filled the room again. No one spoke.
Even Ying Jingsheng was carefully considering his next words.
Minister Gao snorted coldly and continued, "Let me put it simply for you. The reason I rushed over here is that this couple is not only VIP clients of the hotel but also among the earliest shareholders of Yunlu Group."
Everyone present widened their eyes.