“It was a misunderstanding, all of it was a misunderstanding. Leader, I was just talking nonsense,” Liu Guihua hurriedly stepped forward and said.
“The evidence is already laid out. Arguing is useless. Our factory has always placed great importance on the moral character of its employees. You only saw Lan Sisi dining with someone else, without any substantial evidence, yet you fabricated such an absurd rumor. That says a lot about your character.”
“Please give me another chance, Director Zhang. I know I was wrong.” Lan Hehua rushed in front of Director Zhang, panic amplifying endlessly in her heart. She relied entirely on this job to have a different standing within her family, to show off in front of them, and to secure a golden husband like Director Xu. If she lost this job, she would have nothing left!
“It’s useless to repent to me. The one you truly harmed is Comrade Lan Sisi.” Director Zhang avoided her and spoke sternly.
Only then did the Lan family notice Lan Sisi standing beside Director Zhang.
Thinking of the certificate of severed relations she had only just obtained, Liu Guihua’s expression turned ugly.
“Sisi, I’m your cousin. Please talk to Director Zhang for me. I know I was wrong. Ask him not to fire me!”
“Sisi,” Fang Shi approached with a stiff smile on her face, “we’re family, no need to treat each other as outsiders. Please help your cousin.”
“But we’re no longer family. Didn’t you know that yesterday Grandma Liu made a scene to sever ties with us?” Lan Sisi deliberately asked.
Fang Shi’s face turned unpleasant. Of course she knew. Yesterday, when they left, she had been hiding in her room watching secretly, even mocking Liu Guihua and Yu Shi for being used as shields. She had never expected that those very laughs would turn into slaps across her own face today. They had all underestimated that “broom star.”
“What severing ties?” Lan Tianzhu, who had been listening from the side, looked confused, his hand holding the pipe trembling slightly.
“What else could it be? As soon as my mother and grandmother heard that Lan Sisi’s reputation was bad, they rushed to the Village chief to issue a certificate severing ties with the second branch,” Lan Meili said as she walked out of the room. Seeing Liu Guihua and her own mother mess things up, she felt a sense of satisfaction.
“You troublemaker! Look at what you’ve done! Must you stir up the entire Lan family until no one has peace before you’re satisfied?!” Lan Tianzhu threw his pipe heavily to the ground and pointed at Liu Guihua as he shouted angrily.
Liu Guihua had never seen Lan Tianzhu so furious and was momentarily stunned.
“This… how can this be my fault?”
“How is it not your fault! In our Lan family, for generations, there has never been a case of severing ties! How am I supposed to face our ancestors when I die? No matter what, the second branch are still your own flesh and blood. How can you be so intolerant of them!” Lan Tianzhu said, heartbroken.
“And why not?! That second son was a disaster star from the moment he was born! A fortune-teller personally told me he would bring harm to his brothers, his parents, and bring disaster to our family! I regret it, why didn’t I drown him in the chamber pot when he was born! I softened my heart for a moment, and it led to our family never having a peaceful day! And now he even gave birth to another jinx to disgust me!” Liu Guihua slapped her thigh as she sat on the ground, angrily listing Lan Aimin’s “crimes,” as if he were not her own son but an enemy.
“You, an elder who has lived most of your life, how can you be so muddle-headed! Those are feudal superstitions, they cannot be trusted! Just because of a few words from others, you wanted your own child dead? That’s terrifying!” Director Zhang could not stand it any longer.
“Grandma Liu thinks my father is a disaster and wishes him dead, yet at the same time enjoys his filial support, taking more than half of our family’s grain and money every year. What a good calculation,” Lan Sisi said mockingly. She felt sorrow for her honest and filial father. No matter how filial he had been, his own mother still hated him and wished he had never been born.
If he were still alive and heard such words, he would have been deeply hurt.
“Isn’t it only right for him to support me?” Liu Guihua still spoke as if she were completely justified.
The people around them all shook their heads.
Lan Tianzhu’s face flushed red. He pointed at her but could not say a word for a long time.
“Grandma, stop making trouble! Right now we’re talking about my job!” Lan Hehua said anxiously. Nothing else mattered at this moment.
“The decision has already been issued. There is no point in saying more. Please have the Village chief supervise her completion of an apology letter to Comrade Lan Sisi. We will take our leave first.” After speaking, Director Zhang turned and left, ignoring Lan Hehua’s cries behind him.
Lan Sisi and the Village chief also left the Lan family’s old residence.
“Dad! What’s wrong with you!” A startled cry came from behind them. Lan Tianzhu had fainted.
Three days later, the Village chief organized a village meeting. At the meeting, Lan Hehua made a self-criticism regarding her actions of smearing Lan Sisi.
Lan Sisi and Lan Sinian sat in the front row. Not a single person from the Lan family’s old residence attended. After receiving Lan Hehua’s unwilling apology, Lan Sisi generously forgave her. The stark contrast between the two earned Lan Sisi a wave of goodwill.
“Sisi, before this we didn’t understand the truth and misunderstood you. I’m sorry.”
“Everyone was talking about it in such detail, I thought it was true.”
Many people gathered around to apologize to Lan Sisi. Some were sincere, some were not. Some had even heard that she had a good relationship with leaders from the food factory and came to curry favor. She smiled on the surface and said it was nothing, but inwardly she did not care. Borrowing a line from a classic drama from her previous life, if apologies were useful, what would the police be for?
If she had truly been driven to despair by those rumors, what could their apologies possibly restore?
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to help at all this time,” Lin Ruihai said. He had also heard many of the rumors and had tried to stop them, but he only had two hands and could not cover everyone’s mouths.
“It’s nothing,” Lan Sisi said indifferently.
Lin Ruihai tightened his grip on the evidence he had gathered after running around these past days, silently annoyed at himself for being a step too late.
…
Lan Hehua held a slip of paper as she entered a guesthouse in town.
“Comrade, what are you here for?” the receptionist called out to her.
“I… I’m here to find someone. Li Ming, he’s staying in room 202. I’m here to deliver documents,” Lan Hehua said nervously.
The receptionist gave her a meaningful look before nodding and letting her in.
Knock, knock, knock.
Lan Hehua raised her hand and knocked on the door of room 202.
The door opened. Li Ming, also known as Director Li, stood inside with only a towel wrapped around his waist.
“Why did you choose to meet here? You said you had a way to help me return to the factory? You have no idea how hateful that Lan Sisi is. I don’t know how she got in touch with Director Zhang, but I lost my job because of her. You must help me vent my anger and deal with her properly,” Lan Hehua said coquettishly after entering.
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it for you. But let’s not talk about that now. Come here and let me hold you. It’s been days since I saw you, don’t you miss me?” From a modern perspective, this man would have seemed overly greasy.
But Lan Hehua only blushed as she let herself be pulled into his arms.
Looking at the young woman in front of him, full of youthful charm, Li Ming felt his desire surge. He lifted her chin and kissed her.
“…Director Li, no, we’re not married yet.” Lan Hehua stopped his wandering hands.
“Hehua, as long as you give yourself to me, tomorrow I’ll arrange a new job for you at the factory, a permanent position, even better than before. Fifty yuan a month,” Li Ming said, panting heavily as he held her hand and made his promise.
Lan Hehua was tempted. “But… my mother said this isn’t right. People will look down on me.”
“They won’t. After some time, I’ll register our marriage. Then you’ll be the director’s wife. Who would dare look down on you?” Li Ming coaxed.
“Then… be gentle…” Lan Hehua half resisted, half yielded, before being eagerly pushed down by Li Ming.
The next morning, when Lan Hehua woke up, her entire body ached as if it had been run over. Beside her, Li Ming lay sleeping soundly.
Thinking of the previous night, she smiled sweetly, already imagining her future life as a director’s wife.
After lying there for a while, she got up. She had just finished putting on her underclothes and pants when there was a knock on the door, startling her.
Before she could finish dressing and go open it, the door was suddenly forced open. Several people rushed in. The next second, she felt her hair being grabbed, sharp pain shooting from her scalp.
“You shameless vixen! I finally caught you today!” a sharp female voice rang in her ear.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Li Ming, naked on the bed, being dragged down in a miserable state.
“How did you get here?!” Li Ming shouted in panic.
“Why can’t I come? If I didn’t come, how would I catch you two adulterers! Li Ming, how could you do this to me?! Don’t forget how you got your position as director!” the woman screamed hysterically.
“I was wrong, wife! This woman seduced me! She wanted me to find her a job!” Li Ming immediately threw Lan Hehua under the bus. He had no choice. His wife’s father worked in the government, and he still relied on that power to maintain his position at the factory. Besides, he had already gotten what he wanted from this woman, there was no need to continue pretending.
Lan Hehua stared at him in terror. If she still did not understand now, she would truly be a fool. This man clearly had a wife. She had been deceived. But it was too late for regret. She had been immersed in the vanity of money and status he gave her, ignoring the obvious flaws.
No, in truth, she had noticed them, but she had chosen not to think about it. Whether he had a wife or not, what did it matter, as long as he spent money on her and made her look impressive in front of others.
Now she regretted it, but unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret.
By the time Lan Sisi learned about this, the matter had already spread throughout the village. Li Ming’s wife was a formidable woman. That day, she personally escorted the disheveled Lan Hehua back and used a loudspeaker to broadcast everything Lan Hehua had done throughout the village, repeating it for an entire day.
Lan Hehua suffered even more gossip than Lan Sisi had. She shut herself inside her room all day, refusing to come out no matter how Fang Shi tried to persuade her.