Jiang Meng skimmed through Su Qingyue’s written self-criticism at lightning speed. With a cold laugh, she tore it up and slipped the shredded pieces into her own bag.
“Call Su Qingyue out here!” Zhang Guoqiang roared, startling Jiang Meng badly.
She froze for a moment, then saw an elderly couple walk into the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
Li Dongmei gritted her teeth. “Does your Hongqi Supply and Marketing Cooperative have a sales clerk named Su Qingyue?!”
Seeing that the visitors were clearly hostile and seemed to have a grudge against Su Qingyue, Jiang Meng’s eyes flicked.
She immediately softened her expression.
Patiently, Jiang Meng asked, “Uncle, Auntie, Su Qingyue hasn’t been with our cooperative for long, and her business skills aren’t very strong yet. Did she miscalculate your bill?”
Hearing that Su Qingyue was “not good at her job,” Zhang Guoqiang grew bolder. “I want to see your leader. That girl seduced my son and got him thrown into the police station!”
Jiang Meng’s eyes lit up instantly. “Uncle, Auntie, the director isn’t here right now. It’s the same if you tell me. Please, sit down and explain it slowly…”
Under Jiang Meng’s silver-tongued coaxing, Li Dongmei and her husband quickly grasped how to make a big scene out of it. Both of them praised Jiang Meng endlessly.
“A girl like you is worthy of our son! Pretty, kind-hearted, and from the city.”
Li Dongmei’s gaze flickered. “Girl, how much do you earn a month?”
How could Jiang Meng not understand their intentions? She smiled sweetly. “I’m a mid-level sales clerk—thirty-two yuan a month.”
Jiang Meng was the second child in her family. Her parents favored her elder brother and two younger brothers. Every time she got her wages, her family would squander all of it.
If she didn’t hand over her money, her parents would marry her off to a fifty-year-old widower in the courtyard.
She had cried and made a fuss, but nothing worked. Now she only had a little over ten yuan to her name.
Zhang Guoqiang’s son worked as a Level-Seven technician at a printing factory, earning nearly eighty yuan a month.
If she could marry a man like that, she would finally escape her misery.
Still, she couldn’t rely on the old couple’s one-sided account alone.
With a head full of schemes, Jiang Meng decided to wait until tomorrow, when things blew up. If Su Qingyue really had harmed their son, then when Director Zhang returned, she would fan the flames and get Su Qingyue kicked out of the cooperative.
That way, she’d eliminate a competitor, earn Zhang Jun’s parents’ gratitude, and maybe even gain a chance to marry once Zhang Jun got out.
If Su Qingyue hadn’t harmed anyone, she’d just watch the show.
Either way, stirring things up wouldn’t hurt Su Qingyue much.
……
As soon as Su Qingyue got off the bus, she saw her elder brother waiting by the roadside with Zhuangzhuang.
“Auntie, I came to pick you up!” Su Zhuangzhuang hugged Su Qingyue’s leg and held out a White Rabbit milk candy in his small hand.
All of Su Qingyue’s gloom vanished instantly. She pinched Zhuangzhuang’s cheek. “Auntie won’t eat it. Zhuangzhuang eat it and grow up quickly, then come pick Auntie up from work, okay?”
Su Zhuangzhuang swallowed. “Alright! If I eat it, I’ll grow up in a few days. Auntie, wait for me!”
Her brother asked about the progress of the case. After Su Qingyue explained, Su Qingwu sighed.
“Don’t be afraid. Big brother’s here. Once that brat gets out, he won’t have it easy!”
“Big brother, don’t do anything foolish! Let the police handle it.”
After dinner, Su Qingyue claimed she’d eaten too much and took Su Zhuangzhuang for a walk by the river, then circled Pei Huaiye’s thatched hut three times.
“Auntie, I can’t walk anymore!”
Su Qingyue smiled helplessly. Pei Huaiye’s hut was dark, the wooden door tightly shut—he hadn’t come back yet.
Su Zhuangzhuang puffed his cheeks, panting. “Auntie, I’m hungry again.”
“Alright, alright. Auntie will take my little glutton home. We’ll eat a piece of egg cake and go to sleep.”
Su Zhuangzhuang laughed foolishly, his carefree laughter drifting into the night sky.
……
That afternoon, Pei Huaiye watched Su Qingyue get on the bus before returning to the base with Yuan Guang. Passing by the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, he saw Zhang Jun’s parents walking inside.
“Yuan Guang, turn around!”
Pei Huaiye said coldly, “Zhang Jun’s parents might go make trouble at the cooperative tomorrow. Inform the station in advance.”
Yuan Guang saw Jiang Meng smiling as she escorted Zhang Jun’s parents out of the cooperative, his expression darkening.
“It’s practically a done deal. How are they planning to stir things up?!”
“Since Su Qingyue refused to settle, they probably want to get her fired!”
Pei Huaiye pondered for a moment. “The station needs to issue me a commendation for acting bravely.”
Yuan Guang froze, then immediately understood. “I’ll get it done. Tomorrow morning I’ll keep an eye on the cooperative.”
The two rushed to the police station to explain the situation.
……
Early the next morning, Su Qingyue got up more than half an hour earlier than usual. She took a detour past Pei Huaiye’s place—the thatched hut was still locked.
Did he dislike her that much? Not even coming home?
Her chest felt tight. She bit her lip, holding back tears, and caught the bus to work.
She had barely sat down— when Zhang Jun’s parents arrived at the Hongqi Supply and Marketing Cooperative with a group of relatives, making a scene.
“Su Qingyue seduced my son and framed him into the police station! And the state still dares to employ someone like that?!”
“That’s right—where’s the justice?!”
“Your cooperative must fire Su Qingyue! As long as this shameless woman is here, we’ll all go shop at the Victory Cooperative instead!”
Li Dongmei and Zhang Guoqiang brought over a dozen people, shouting noisily.
Customers waiting in line stopped, craning their necks and widening their eyes to watch the spectacle.
Su Qingyue was so angry her face turned red, her attempts to explain drowned out by curses.
Director Zhang Dongfeng had just returned from a business trip and ran straight into this chaos. His face turned iron-gray.
At a signal from Jiang Meng, Zhang Guoqiang and his wife immediately surrounded the director. “Director, you dare employ a bad woman like Su Qingyue? That really chills the hearts of ordinary people!”
“Enough!”
Liu Qiang arrived with a group of police officers, dispersing the crowd and shouting sternly at Zhang Guoqiang, “What are you making a fuss about?! Your son persecuted a woman, and you still have the nerve to make trouble here?!”
Liu Qiang publicly explained Zhang Jun’s crimes. Su Qingyue was innocent. The lifesaving hero was Pei Huaiye, with Yuan Guang as a witness.
Pei Huaiye unfolded his commendation certificate. “If the cooperative casually fires an innocent employee just because of rumors— that’s what truly chills people’s hearts!”
Li Dongmei refused to accept it and screamed uncontrollably, the officers barely holding her back.
“My son just hugged Su Qingyue once—why should he be locked up?! She’s fine and still working. Why wouldn’t she agree to settle? Su Qingyue is vicious! She wants my son ruined! She’s a poisonous woman!”
Pei Huaiye’s eyes were blazing red, as if he could set Li Dongmei on fire.
Yuan Guang glanced at his superior and shouted angrily, “Your son deserves it! If he hadn’t done such disgusting things, would he have been arrested? With parents like you, it’s no wonder you raised someone abnormal!”
Liu Qiang adjusted his peaked cap, grabbed a loudspeaker, and roared, “I’ll say it one last time! Comrade Su Qingyue is innocent. She did nothing wrong! Zhang Jun committed hooliganism and was arrested—he deserved it! He should be detained and receive criticism and education! Now Zhang Jun’s parents have gathered relatives to cause trouble. Take them all away!”
The police escorted everyone off in a rush. Zhang Guoqiang still tried to shout curses.
Furious, Liu Qiang pulled out his baton. “Go on, shout! Obstructing police work and disrupting commune order—take him back and educate him for a few days!”
After the police left, the cooperative returned to normal.
Director Zhang was just about to talk to Su Qingyue when she softly interrupted him. “Director, may I take one day off?”
Her gaze anxiously followed Pei Huaiye’s retreating figure, her eyes slowly reddening.
*You’ll never believe why I moved to… Manila*