Lin Miaomiao had just entered the factory when she ran into Yu Meijing. She paused and asked, “I fainted—why didn’t you come?”
Yu Meijing looked guilty. “I wanted to, but the director’s face was so dark at the time, I was terrified…”
“But when he came back, he told the manager you were fine and needed a couple days of rest. I planned to visit you, but my mom’s been pushing me to go on blind dates these past few days…”
Lin Miaomiao grabbed her by the neck. “I fainted, and you still had the mood for blind dates?”
“Hey, it’s just that my mom said he was six feet tall and had muscles or something! So I went, but honestly, I can’t believe it—the guy wasn’t even as tall as me!”
Yu Meijing wore an expression of betrayed fury.
Lin Miaomiao shook her head, looking at her as if she were hopeless.
The two chatted as they walked into the factory. As they went, Lin Miaomiao suddenly sensed something off.
The people around seemed to be watching them… no, more specifically, watching her.
She felt puzzled, not yet grasping what was happening, when Yu Meijing pulled her toward the office. Before they even entered, they overheard colleagues talking.
“Lin Miaomiao is so lucky—she actually got carried to the hospital by the director. If I’d known the director cared so much about female comrades, I’d have fainted too.”
“She must have been faking it. Why faint at that exact moment?”
“I always thought she was a bit scheming. No education, no connections, yet suddenly she gets transferred up. I heard it’s just because her handwriting is nice—is that really such a big deal?”
“I think so too. Don’t you think she looks kind of… seductive? The way she looks at men is like a fox spirit.”
“Before, I even heard her and Yu Meijing discussing whether male employees were… well-endowed or not. So shameless!”
“Oh my god, aren’t they both unmarried? How disgusting!”
“She couldn’t be eyeing Director Lu, could she? I heard Director Lu’s been married for ages. How shameless!”
“There’s always someone wanting to be the other woman. Her previous workstation was next to a mistress—probably she’s no better…”
“Exactly, exactly.”
“…”
Everyone huddled together, gossiping viciously.
Lin Miaomiao hadn’t expected that fainting would lead to such a huge misunderstanding.
Now she finally understood the strange looks people had given her on her way in.
And these people in the office—when she first arrived, everyone had been friendly.
Who would have thought they’d talk behind her back so maliciously?
“Wang Xiulan, Chen Hongmei, have your mouths been eating shit? They all stink so badly!” Yu Meijing sprang up beside her, rushing over to grab the two women’s hair.
The two were startled, first feeling guilty, but by the time they reacted, Yu Meijing had already yanked out large handfuls of their hair.
Lin Miaomiao had fought with her before and knew how fierce she could be, so she wasn’t worried.
“Yu Meijing, we weren’t talking about you! Why are you hitting us?”
“Ahhhh—let go, my hair!”
“Teaching you to spew filth! Since your mouths are so dirty, I’ll wash them for you!”
With that, she slapped each of them across the face.
The two wailed in pain.
“Yu Meijing, you’ve gone too far! Don’t think just because your family has money you can bully people! Let go of Xiulan and them!”
Another woman, close to the other two, rushed over to help. Lin Miaomiao stuck out her foot—”Ah!”
Another pig-slaughter-like scream echoed, and the entire office descended into chaos.
Finally, all five of them were called into the manager’s office.
Apart from Lin Miaomiao, the other four looked utterly disheveled, their hair pulled into messy nests, faces swollen.
One had been thrown to the ground and hit her nose, her nostrils stuffed with paper.
Yu Meijing had fought two at once. Though her hair hadn’t been pulled, her face had been scratched.
But it wasn’t serious.
She stood there like a victorious rooster, chin held high with pride.
The manager took several deep breaths, her finger trembling as she pointed at them, unable to speak for a long moment. “You… you… you… what on earth were you doing? Fighting, at your age! Aren’t you ashamed?”
She slammed the desk hard. “Explain to me exactly what happened!”
Wang Xiulan, aggrieved, covered her swollen cheek and complained, “Manager, we didn’t offend Yu Meijing. She just came out of nowhere and started pulling our hair!”
Her already sparse hair!
“That’s right, we didn’t provoke her at all. She’s completely unreasonable!”
“Manager, you have to stand up for us!”
“You, Wang Xiulan, still refuse to admit it, playing the victim!” Yu Meijing jumped up, ready to fight again.
Lin Miaomiao desperately held her back.
Yu Meijing was half a head shorter, her legs kicking wildly in the air, nearly hitting Wang Xiulan’s face and scaring her into dodging away.
“Yu Meijing, that’s enough!” the manager roared angrily.
“If you keep fighting, I’ll call your parents!”
Yu Meijing immediately fell silent.
The manager’s gaze swept over their faces. After another round of deep breaths, she finally looked at the relatively calm Lin Miaomiao. “Lin Miaomiao, you tell me, what exactly happened?”
If she hadn’t asked, it might have been fine. But as soon as she did, Lin Miaomiao’s eyes instantly reddened, tears welling up on cue.
“Hey… why are you crying? Just speak properly, I’m not blaming you…” The manager was completely bewildered. Why was she crying all of a sudden?
Not to mention, Lin Miaomiao was exceptionally beautiful. Though dressed casually, her face alone made her a stunning beauty wherever she stood. Even a slight frown gave her a pitiable charm, let alone now, when she looked utterly frail.
A few days ago, when she fainted, the factory director had specifically mentioned that this girl was in poor health—anemic, malnourished, and still working despite having a fever. Hearing that had filled the manager with shame.
As the manager, she had been completely unaware of her subordinate’s poor health and had even made her attend a meeting under the scorching sun. If something had happened, how could she have faced the girl’s family?
Now, after two days of rest, why did she look even worse? The manager felt a surge of panic, fearing she might actually die in the factory.
“Xiao Lin, if you’re still not feeling well, go back and rest for a few more days. It’s fine… your health is what matters.”
Lin Miaomiao wiped her tears and gave a faint, deliberately brave smile. “Manager, I’m fine. It’s just that I’ve been studying a bit too much lately and haven’t fully recovered.”
The manager was famously diligent and loved reading and studying. In these times, young people tended to be restless, thinking they could stop learning once they left school. Hearing that someone in the factory was still so dedicated filled her with both relief and emotion.
The manager spoke to her gently, “Don’t push yourself too hard. This position also has a thirty-day probation period. There’s no need to worry about falling behind.”
Lin Miaomiao nearly couldn’t hold back her expression as she listened to the manager’s loud voice deliberately softening to speak to her. Nevertheless, she put on an even more aggrieved look, lowered her head without saying a word, and let tears fall one by one, sniffling her nose, appearing utterly pitiful.
The manager immediately grew anxious, forgetting all about gentleness. “Xiao Lin, don’t cry. You must tell me what’s wrong. How could you be so wronged? Damn it! Who on earth bullied you?”
She remembered that Lin Miaomiao and Yu Meijing had a very good relationship. Usually, people might argue with Yu Meijing, but none had ever made her so angry as to resort to violence.
Could it be that someone spoke ill of Lin Miaomiao?
“Manager, you really are such a good person. You don’t know, these past two days even though I was resting, I was still worried about falling behind everyone and holding you back, so I kept studying accounting knowledge at home. Finally, when I returned to the factory, I never expected to hear everyone cursing me, saying I got in through your connections by the back door, and even accusing me of fainting to seduce Director Lu, calling me a decent woman trying to be a mistress… sob, I’m so wronged…”
Lin Miaomiao tearfully held the manager’s hand, crying as if the sky had fallen.
Yet she had laid out the matter clearly.
“Smack!” The manager slammed the table heavily. “This is absolutely outrageous!”