Lu Hongmei immediately panicked.
“That’s impossible! Xia Wan, how could you possibly fix a machine? It must be that the machine wasn’t broken in the first place!”
Xia Wan raised an eyebrow. “If the machine wasn’t broken, then why would the factory spend so much money hiring an expert?”
“Well…”
Lu Hongmei looked flustered and turned to Su Lijuan for help.
Su Lijuan glanced at the factory director and noticed the disgust in his eyes. She quickly smiled and said, “Xia Wan, Hongmei was just joking with you. Don’t take it so seriously.”
The director snorted coldly. “She didn’t look like she was joking when she was making those sarcastic remarks just now! Since Xia Wan openly said she’d take responsibility if she broke the machine, then Lu Hongmei should also keep her word. A bet is a bet. You have one month to practice washing your hair upside down. If you can’t do it by then, get out of this factory!”
Hearing this, Lu Hongmei instantly grew anxious.
“Director, I was just speaking without thinking. Is it really necessary to be so harsh with a small employee like me?”
The director narrowed his eyes. “Harsh? You know how important this machine is to our factory. Xia Wan and everyone else were worried about the factory’s work and thinking of solutions. No matter how risky it was, they were trying to fix the problem.”
“And you as an employee of this textile factory not only didn’t help, but stood there making sarcastic comments?”
“And don’t think no one noticed that little trick you pulled earlier! Making you accept the bet is already going easy on you. If I really pursued the matter, you’d be out of here today!”
Lu Hongmei staggered back two steps. Her face turned deathly pale, and her body trembled slightly.
She hadn’t expected the director to have noticed her switching the gear.
But if he had seen it, why didn’t he say anything earlier?
Could it be… that he was also testing Xia Wan’s ability?
“Do you understand?”
The director barked sharply, snapping her back to reality.
Lu Hongmei replied carefully, “I—I understand.”
The director gave her a look of disgust, snorted, and then turned to Xia Wan.
When his gaze fell on Xia Wan, it softened again.
The strict director instantly became the kindly neighbor-like uncle.
“Comrade Xiao Xia, you fixed our machine. I’ll arrange for the repair fee to be paid to you under outsourced labor expenses.”
“Thank you, Director.”
Just then, someone ran over. “Director, the expert has arrived.”
At that moment, the invited expert was led inside.
A foreign expert, dusty from travel, looked at the orderly workshop and asked in English, puzzled, “Where is the broken machine?”
No one around understood him, and everyone instinctively turned to look at Xia Wan.
Su Lijuan lightly nudged Lu Hongmei, who immediately understood her meaning.
But Lu Hongmei only shot Su Lijuan a fierce glare and didn’t mock Xia Wan again.
She might be impulsive, but she wasn’t stupid.
She had just been caught doing something shady by the director this wasn’t the time to draw attention to herself.
Besides, she didn’t believe Xia Wan could really communicate smoothly with a foreigner.
She herself had studied English for a few days and knew how hard spoken English was.
Seeing that Lu Hongmei stayed silent, Su Lijuan could only brace herself and step in.
“Xia Wan, the expert seems to be saying something. Hurry and talk to him! Don’t you know English? What did he say?”
Xia Wan ignored Su Lijuan, turned to the director, and translated, “The expert is asking where the broken machine is.”
The director hurried forward, nervously shook hands with the expert, then looked anxiously at Xia Wan. “Quickly tell him the machine has already been fixed. Be polite about it.”
Xia Wan immediately began speaking to the expert in fluent English.
“Hello, sir. I’m very sorry to have made you come all this way. We’ve already repaired the machine ourselves.”
Hearing her flawless, accent-free English, the expert froze for a moment.
“Your English is excellent. Did you grow up abroad?”
Xia Wan shook her head at once. “No, I’ve never been abroad. I grew up here.”
With exaggerated expressions and tone typical of foreigners, the expert exclaimed, “Wow, that’s really rare. Even the translators they hire don’t speak as well as you. Talking to you feels like I’m back in my own country. But what do you mean when you say it’s been repaired?”
Xia Wan immediately explained the cause of the malfunction and the repair process.
The expert listened in disbelief. “You fixed it?”
“Yes.”
The expert stepped forward, listened to the machine, and inspected it carefully. Then he nodded in satisfaction. “There’s indeed no fault. You’ve also maintained the machine very well.”
Xia Wan quickly replied, “Yes. The employees here take very good care of the machine. We hope we can continue to work together even better in the future. I’m truly sorry you had to make this trip for nothing the machine was just repaired.”
“That’s alright. Since I’m here today, I’ll conduct a routine inspection. I hope you’ll cooperate.”
Xia Wan immediately translated this for the director.
The director said solemnly, “Of course we’ll cooperate.”
Xia Wan, the director, and the technician accompanied the expert as he briefly inspected the machines.
The entire workshop fell silent.
Everyone stared in astonishment as Xia Wan communicated effortlessly with the expert in fluent English.
Su Lijuan and Lu Hongmei, in particular, looked like their eyes were about to pop out.
Lu Hongmei said in shock, “I didn’t expect her to actually know English. The expert didn’t look angry at all it seems she wasn’t making things up.”
“How would I know? I never studied this stuff,” Su Lijuan replied.
A sudden irritation welled up in Su Lijuan’s heart.
Lu Hongmei looked at Su Lijuan’s jealous expression with amusement. “Well, that makes sense. You didn’t even finish elementary school you barely know Chinese, let alone a foreign language.”
Hearing the mockery, Su Lijuan paused. She knew Lu Hongmei was upset about being pushed forward earlier, so she quickly forced a smile. “Well, with my lack of education, of course I can’t compare to you. That’s why I always have to ask you about things.”
Seeing Su Lijuan lower herself, Lu Hongmei lifted her chin smugly.
But a trace of contempt flashed through Su Lijuan’s eyes.
She would soon be working in the office anyway. So what if Lu Hongmei had finished high school?
Wasn’t she still just a workshop worker?
After the director and others escorted the expert out, the director returned shortly after and said happily to everyone, “The expert said our machines are being used and maintained very well, and our technical standards are solid. He’ll report this to the organization and commend us. This is everyone’s achievement!”
The workshop erupted in cheers.
The technician was especially pleased.
The expert’s praise for good maintenance that was his credit!
He couldn’t help but say, “We also owe today to Xia Wan. She handled this simple repair. Otherwise, if the expert had come and seen such a minor issue, his evaluation might’ve been very different.”
Xia Wan replied modestly, “It was thanks to the director’s and everyone’s trust that I could do anything at all. And because everyone takes such good care of the machines, the problem wasn’t serious I just happened to be able to fix it.”
The director chuckled. “Comrade Xiao Xia, you’re too modest. The credit is yours, no doubt about it. And your translation was excellent too. Is that what you’re planning to do in the future?”