Upon learning that she was Gu Gong’s fiancée, everyone found Jiang Shutang’s behavior even more contemptible.
“Hit her! A cheap woman like that deserves a beating. He already has a fiancée, and she still dares to seduce him. Her skin is truly thick!”
“Exactly! Our factory shouldn’t keep someone like her. Let her and her three bastards get the hell out of here.”
Ye Yiyi listened to the surrounding remarks, her expression growing even more smug as she prepared to lay hands on Jiang Shutang again.
A woman like this—how could she possibly compete with her, Ye Yiyi?
Just then, a steady male voice came from behind.
“What are you doing?”
Ye Yiyi paused mid-step and instinctively turned around, only to discover that the newcomer was none other than Gu Zhengnan.
At this moment, Gu Zhengnan’s brows were tightly furrowed, his piercing gaze fixed on her.
Ye Yiyi felt somewhat guilty, because the two of them hadn’t even formally met for the arranged match yet, so she couldn’t really claim to be Gu Zhengnan’s fiancée. Being caught red-handed by the man himself was somewhat embarrassing.
“Brother Gu, why are you here?”
Ye Yiyi took a deep breath, put on a sweet smile, and looked at Gu Zhengnan with an innocent expression.
Gu Zhengnan’s brows furrowed even deeper. He had clearly just seen this woman about to lay hands on Jiang Shutang.
“Who are you? Have we met? Just call me Comrade Gu.”
Ye Yiyi knew Gu Zhengnan, but Gu Zhengnan had long forgotten her. Although they were in the same unit, they weren’t in the same department. Gu Zhengnan usually only focused on his research—why would he pay attention to female comrades?
When Gu Zhengnan said this, Jiang Shutang felt immensely satisfied.
Right now, she was like a rat in the street—everyone wanted to kick her.
Wasn’t Ye Yiyi claiming to be Gu Zhengnan’s fiancée? Now, in front of so many people, she had been directly exposed by Gu Zhengnan himself. Embarrassment was guaranteed.
Sure enough, Ye Yiyi’s face instantly turned bright red. Seeing the contemptuous looks from those around her, she stammered, “Brother Gu, don’t you remember me? We’ve met before. I’m from the finance department at Yanjiuyuan. My family has already notified me—they said I’m supposed to meet you for an arranged match in a few days. You should know about this, right?”
To save face, Ye Yiyi quickly reminded him.
Only then did Gu Zhengnan understand what was going on. So this Ye Yiyi was the match his family wanted to introduce to him.
His mother had claimed this girl was reasonable and sensible, a good match—utter nonsense.
Before they had even gone through the arranged meeting, she was already calling herself his fiancée, using that identity to bully others, and even resorting to violence.
If he were to marry a female comrade like this, would there ever be any peace?
“I know about this matter, but arranged matches aren’t guaranteed to succeed, are they? Why are you calling yourself my fiancée out there? Also, since we’ve run into each other today, let me pass along a message: I’m not doing the arranged match. I already have someone else in mind for marriage. My apologies.”
At this point, Ye Yiyi was completely dumbfounded, utterly humiliated.
She looked at Gu Zhengnan with red-rimmed eyes, then shot Jiang Shutang a vicious glare before covering her face and running off.
Only then did Jiang Shutang turn her gaze to Gu Zhengnan. She had to admit—this scumbag had finally done something decent today.
Jiang Shutang lowered her head, planning to slip away from the side. Though she had been wronged, life had to go on. She still had three little ones to support, so she needed to work hard.
Just as she was about to sneak away, Gu Zhengnan called out to her.
“What time do you get off work? I have something to discuss with you.”
Jiang Shutang looked up, startled, at Gu Zhengnan.
“After twelve noon.”
Gu Zhengnan nodded. “I’ll wait for you at the gate then.”
With that, he ignored everyone’s stares and strode away.
Everyone looked at Jiang Shutang, then at Gu Zhengnan, their gossip instincts burning fiercely.
“What’s going on? Why did Comrade Gu come looking for her? Could what Jiang Shutang said before be true? Are those three kids really Comrade Gu’s?”
“How could that be? Comrade Gu has been abroad these past few years. How could he have kids abroad?”
“Then what are the two of them going to talk about?”
“…”
Listening to the whispered chatter around her, Jiang Shutang also felt puzzled. What did Gu Zhengnan want to talk to her about?
Could it be that he thought she was pestering him and wanted to warn her behind the scenes, or maybe give her some benefits to shut her up?
Unable to figure it out, she stopped thinking about it. After returning to the workshop, she buried herself in work.
By noon, her stomach was growling loudly. To save money that morning, she’d only had a bowl of rice porridge, and she’d been working hard all morning—there wasn’t a drop of oil in her belly.
She went back to settle the three children, then headed toward the gate.
Gu Zhengnan was indeed already waiting there. He was tall to begin with, and his posture was straight and upright. Standing there, he made quite a striking sight—many female workers passing by couldn’t help but sneak a few glances at him.
Seeing Jiang Shutang come out, Gu Zhengnan pressed his lips together before speaking. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Let’s go to Guoying Fandian—we can talk over a meal. Is that alright?”
The moment Jiang Shutang heard “Guoying Fandian,” her eyes lit up.
“Sure, sure! Can I get a takeaway box then?”
Gu Zhengnan was taken aback, clearly not expecting Jiang Shutang to ask that, but he still nodded.
“Sure.”
Jiang Shutang nodded. “I’ll pack some up for the kids—they haven’t had meat in days…”
Hearing this, Gu Zhengnan’s heart clenched, and thinking of the investigation results, he was filled with guilt.
Though he couldn’t be a hundred percent certain, there was a good chance that Jiang Shutang’s three children were indeed his.
For the past six years, Jiang Shutang had raised three sons all on her own, enduring who knows how much hardship.
He’d originally thought about bringing the three kids along, but considering the nature of their conversation, he kept his mouth shut.
The children were still young—these adult matters shouldn’t be exposed to them; it wouldn’t be good for their development.
Gu Zhengnan had come by bicycle, but to avoid drawing attention, he didn’t ride it—he pushed the bike and walked alongside Jiang Shutang.
Before they even reached the restaurant, Jiang Shutang’s stomach was growling louder and louder—even a deaf man could have heard it.
Jiang Shutang felt a bit embarrassed and couldn’t help but press her hand against her stomach.
Fortunately, Gu Zhengnan was perceptive enough not to call it out.
Once they arrived at the restaurant, Gu Zhengnan let Jiang Shutang order. Remembering how this scumbag had made her suffer all these years, she didn’t hold back at all and directly ordered a few expensive dishes.
She was so hungry she could eat a whole ox right now—whatever image she projected didn’t matter; nothing was more important than eating meat.
Might as well take him for all he’s worth—if this scumbag refused to acknowledge her and the kids, she had no other recourse anyway.
In this day and age, there was no way to do a paternity test, so she’d just have to swallow this bitter pill.
While waiting for the food, Gu Zhengnan finally spoke up.
“Comrade Jiang, first of all, I want to apologize to you—I shouldn’t have spoken to you so harshly before.”
Jiang Shutang was drinking water at that moment, too hungry to bear it—even water helped fill the void a little.
Hearing Gu Zhengnan say this, her heart jolted. Could it be that his conscience had kicked in, and he wanted to acknowledge the children?