Having been manipulated, Director Zhang was furious. His opinion of Gu Shaonan and his girlfriend plummeted completely.
Gu Shaonan’s expression hardened. “Director, this matter couldn’t have been reported by Qinghe. He’s not that kind of person.”
Chen Qinghe quickly chimed in, “Yes, Director! Please believe me!”
Director Zhang snorted. “It was you!”
He then turned to Luo Feifei. For one thing, he felt she was the victim here and should not be blamed. For another, she was someone he had brought into the workplace, so naturally he felt obligated to stand up for her.
“Comrade Luo, you did the right thing. You stopped the damage in time and recognized your mistake. That’s exactly how you should handle a man like that. If I didn’t have my own reputation to consider, I’d have gone over and kicked him myself!”
After speaking, Director Zhang patted Luo Feifei on the shoulder. “Keep up the good work. A toad with three legs is hard to find — but a man with two legs is everywhere!”
“Thank you, Director.”
Luo Feifei, her hair sticking up in a messy bird’s nest, was laughing and crying at the same time, looking rather comical.
Chen Qinghe, on the other hand, was filled with instant regret. Getting into the shoe factory was going to be far more difficult now, and he worried he might even drag Gu Shaonan down with him.
Before he could dwell on it further, Guo Weiqiang — his face already beaten until it looked like a swollen pig’s head — was still buzzing in his ears. The only word he caught clearly was reported. His whole body jolted. He pointed a finger at Chen Qinghe and roared, “So it was you who reported me! I’ve got my eye on you now!”
“You meddlesome old hag! What business is it of yours if two people book a room together?!” He lunged forward.
Chen Qinghe was terrified out of his wits. Luckily, Gu Shaonan reacted quickly and pulled him behind himself. “What do you think you’re doing? Your partner has a vicious streak! You’d better watch yourselves, and don’t let me catch you doing this again!”
At that moment, someone shouted, “That was his wife who kicked him! They’re getting divorced — going to file the papers tomorrow!”
Guo Weiqiang shot a glare at Chen Qinghe. “Great! Thanks to this woman, half the unit will know about this now. How do you expect her to show her face around here later?!”
Chen Qinghe found himself caught between two sides, with no one on his side. The ground beneath him felt slippery, and Guo Weiqiang still looked ready to throw another punch.
If Gu Shaonan hadn’t been standing there, Chen Qinghe would have ended up with a black-and-blue face for sure.
“Not worth staring — you’ll hurt your eyes,” Zhou Chiye said to Lin Sui, who was watching the scene unfold. He hadn’t expected to walk in and witness such a dramatic showdown. He shook his head at himself, thinking, What am I even getting involved in? Sighing, he added, “Come on, let’s go. Don’t linger here.”
Luo Feifei followed along with a bright smile.
“By the way, Director Zhou, what brought you up here anyway? Did you also come to catch someone in the act?”
Zhou Chiye looked at her with a deep, unfathomable gaze. “Hmph, you seem quite pleased with yourself, aren’t you? I just didn’t want to see a young girl go down the wrong path and get in too deep.”
“As a public servant and a representative of the people, I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.”
Lin Sui twitched the corner of her mouth. He makes it sound so noble.
“Alright then, and now what?”
“Now I still have a few words of criticism for you,” Zhou Chiye said sternly. “You should have told me earlier. Then I wouldn’t have had to make this trip in vain.”
Having spoken with such righteous gravity, he suddenly let a faint smile touch his lips and turned to leave.
Lin Sui stared after him. So now it’s my fault? He hadn’t even let her finish speaking earlier.
He turned back around, raised an eyebrow, and looked at her.
Lin Sui gave a dry laugh. “Heh, is there anything else the Director would like to instruct me on?”
Zhou Chiye let out a soft chuckle, then quickly put on a serious expression again. “Come downstairs later. I want to introduce you to some people. We have something important to discuss.”
Lin Sui had no idea what this “important matter” was. She just wanted to wrap up the mess in front of her first. “All right.”
Standing a short distance away, Gu Shaonan watched the way Lin Sui spoke and acted toward Zhou Chiye — every smile, every slight change in expression — and found the sight strangely piercing and uncomfortable.
Then he saw Lin Sui walking straight toward him, her eyes sharp and unyielding. The feeling grew even sharper.
Looking at the man she had lived alongside for decades in her past life, Lin Sui felt a cold weight settle in her chest. Her gaze turned frosty.
“Does Team Leader Gu’s girlfriend have nothing to say for herself? Everyone keeps saying it wasn’t me who reported the incident — so why are you still pointing fingers?”
Chen Qinghe snapped angrily, “I don’t have any proof anyway, so I don’t care if you believe me or not! I just can’t understand how some people can be so narrow-minded!”
“What did you say?!”
Chen Qinghe was so furious he nearly exploded, but deep down he felt guilty. He put on an air of wanting nothing more to do with the conversation.
“Hmph! Don’t try to drag us into this mess. You brought all this upon yourselves!” Lin Sui said plainly.
At that moment, the disappointment shining in her eyes felt almost tangible, and it struck Gu Shaonan right in the chest like a physical blow.
A sudden thought flashed through his mind: Could it be… she also came back from the past?
He suppressed the question rising in his heart. Chen Qinghe tugged at his sleeve, and with a restless, unsettled feeling, Gu Shaonan turned to leave.
Once outside, he pulled his arm free from Chen Qinghe’s grip and fetched his bicycle. “Get on. I’ll take you home, then head back myself.”
Earlier, when they had planned to go see a movie, he had been looking forward to it. But then Chen Qinghe suddenly complained of a stomachache and said he couldn’t go. He had made a quick phone call, said something about “it’s done,” and soon after, Director Zhang had appeared on the scene.
There was no way such a coincidence could happen. He understood exactly what had taken place — he just didn’t understand why Chen Qinghe would do it. Was it really just because someone else had taken his younger brother’s job position?
Gu Shaonan couldn’t put his feelings into words; he just wanted to go home and sleep it off.
Seeing his expression, Chen Qinghe’s heart sank. In a hurry, he said, “Fine — I admit it was me who reported them. But I don’t think I did anything wrong! As a young man who follows the rules and ideals, I even won the ‘Outstanding Youth’ award back in school. When I see people behaving immorally, isn’t it my duty to report it? Did I really do something wrong?”
His eyes grew moist, and he put on an aggrieved look.
“Why does everyone assume I did it just because of my brother? My intentions were really that simple — nothing as complicated as you all make it out to be! How was I supposed to know that Lin Sui and Luo Feifei had set a trap for that man? I just let my guard down and walked right into it.”
“That woman Lin Sui is full of schemes — you have to be careful around her.”
But Chen Qinghe didn’t dare say too much more against Lin Sui, fearing it would only make Gu Shaonan suspect him even more.
Seeing him so desperate to explain, with tears welling up, Gu Shaonan’s heart softened.
“All right, all right. I’m not blaming you.”
He told himself: Qinghe is still young, like a blank sheet of paper. His thoughts aren’t that complicated. I shouldn’t suspect him of plotting behind my back.
Still, there was the problem of Director Zhang. He would need to find a good way to explain things, otherwise it would damage his own reputation.
Meanwhile, Lin Sui stood outside the restaurant, comforting Luo Feifei. “It’s going to be okay. We have to look forward. Out with the bad, in with the good.”
Though Luo Feifei felt some satisfaction from seeing Guo Weiqiang exposed, she was still heartbroken — after all, she had given her whole heart to him.
“Don’t worry about me. Go take care of your own business. I’ll head back to my place first.”
Lin Sui could not possibly leave her alone like that, especially not tonight. She told her to wait inside the restaurant while she took care of other matters.
Back in the private dining room, Zhou Chiye introduced her to several people. Lin Sui didn’t stop to ask who they were — in her mind, having more connections was never a bad thing.
When she learned they were all experienced figures from the bamboo and timber industry, she treated them with full respect, greeting each one, exchanging contact information, and promising to visit them properly at a later time.
After stepping out of the private room, Zhou Chiye said, “Never mind. Seeing how upset your friend is, you’ll probably need to stay with her tonight. We can hold off on the serious talk for now — I just wanted you to meet these masters.”
“Director Zhou, why are you introducing me to all these people anyway?”
Zhou Chiye lifted his eyelids slightly. “What do you think?”
“How would I know? You haven’t told me anything yet.”
Zhou Chiye paused. “Do you remember what happened the night you got drunk?”
The air around them fell instantly silent.
Luo Feifei, who had been waiting nearby, suddenly perked up. Something must have happened that night when she was drunk!
Lin Sui thought for a moment. “Right… so all those bold, passionate words I said that night were just the ramblings of someone who’d had too much to drink?”
Zhou Chiye felt a faint twinge of pain in his chest. His eyes narrowed slightly. “So… you don’t remember any of it at all? All this time, I’ve been running around following through on every promise you made while drunk.”