When Lu Ling had come to open the door earlier, he had turned on the warehouse lights.
The warm orange glow illuminated Bai Xiaotong’s face, fair as jade, her skin crystalline and translucent, her eyes lively and cunning.
She asked softly, “Are they all gone?”
“Mm.”
Lu Ling glanced at her furtive appearance and said disdainfully, “Come out.”
Bai Xiaotong patted her chest in relief and tiptoed out.
Lu Ling went back into the side room, took a gray scarf, and draped it around his neck. While changing his shoes, he said to her, “I’ll go out and check. Five minutes later, you leave.”
Those people had come prepared. Since they hadn’t achieved their goal, Lu Ling was afraid they might linger or lie in wait outside, unwilling to give up.
The matter hadn’t even been settled yet, but he was about to leave.
Bai Xiaotong glanced at the bright sky outside the window and knew she couldn’t stay here any longer. She nodded and said, “Alright.”
Seeing her somewhat sullen and frightened little expression, Lu Ling frowned and said, “Just do as I say.”
Bai Xiaotong nodded, turned off the lights, hid behind the door, and silently counted the time.
Lu Ling soon went out, stopping in the long corridor outside the warehouse, where he lit a cigarette.
The man in the military coat was tall and handsome, and even the way he smoked was pleasing to the eye. Although everyone openly expressed disdain, secretly many female workers were captivated by Lu Ling’s handsome face.
Not far away, hidden behind a flower bed, Cao Xiaoli sighed inwardly. If only Lu Ling weren’t of such a background.
But just as this thought crossed her mind, she saw Lu Ling flick the cigarette butt in his hand, sending it flying straight toward her, landing precisely on Cao Xiaoli’s head.
“Ah!!”
Cao Xiaoli jumped up in shock, bowing her head and frantically patting, quickly knocking the cigarette butt off her head.
But even so, Cao Xiaoli could smell a burnt odor—her hair had suffered!
Cao Xiaoli’s eyes reddened with anger as she glared furiously at Lu Ling.
Lu Ling’s expression wasn’t pleasant either. He looked sternly at her and another female worker. “This is a restricted warehouse area. What are you two doing hiding here? Come with me to the security office. The missing fabric from last time might have been stolen by you workshop workers.”
Lu Ling directly pinned the blame on her.
Hearing this, the two no longer dared to be angry. They denied the accusation, begged for mercy, and quickly ran off.
Lu Ling chased after them, unwilling to let them go.
The three of them left the warehouse area one after another.
At the corner of the corridor, Bai Xiaotong quietly emerged. Making sure no one was around, she hurriedly ran off.
The factory warehouse was next to the back gate, and it only took two minutes to reach it after turning the corner.
Bai Xiaotong wanted to take the back gate—it was the fastest route. But halfway there, she reconsidered and turned toward the front gate instead.
She had seen Cao Xiaoli and the others hiding behind the flower bed earlier. No doubt it was Hu Xiulan’s arrangement, meant to ambush her quietly.
Cao Xiaoli had been driven away by Lu Ling, but what about Hu Xiulan?
If she wanted to mess with her, she wouldn’t just send her lackeys to do the job. She might be hiding near the back gate, waiting for Bai Xiaotong to walk right into the trap.
Thinking this, the front gate seemed safer.
It was now six in the morning, and most people in the factory dormitory area hadn’t gotten up yet.
Bai Xiaotong didn’t run into anyone along the way, except for a young man in the guardhouse at the gate who stared at her wide-eyed as she left.
Bai Xiaotong didn’t offer any explanation, just kept her head down and ran out.
Once she left the factory area and reached the residential compound behind it, certain the crisis had passed, she let out a slight sigh of relief and gradually slowed to a stop.
Bai Xiaotong stood resting for a while beside the breakfast restaurant. After some thought, she didn’t rush home but instead went to the factory residential compound, Building Six, to find her best friend Zhang Wenwen.
Zhang Wenwen had just gotten up and was holding a washbasin while queuing to fetch water. Seeing Bai Xiaotong arrive, she quickly put down her things and pulled her under a tree to talk.
“How did it go? Did last night’s plan work out?”
Zhang Wenwen and Bai Xiaotong had been in the same class from preschool all the way through high school. Both being extreme female supporting characters, their personalities matched well, and they had become close friends.
After graduating from high school, Bai Xiaotong took over her mother’s position and started working at the textile factory. Zhang Wenwen’s family had connections and managed to get her a job as a nurse at the workers’ hospital.
The drug Bai Xiaotong used last night was obtained for her by Zhang Wenwen.
Zhang Wenwen definitely knew about Bai Xiaotong’s scheme against Chen Xiangjun. Concerned about her friend’s lifelong happiness, she supported it and was now eagerly waiting for Bai Xiaotong to bring her good news.
Bai Xiaotong sighed, “It didn’t work out.”
Zhang Wenwen was puzzled, “What do you mean?”
Bai Xiaotong shook her head, “Nothing. Anyway, from now on, I have nothing to do with Chen Xiangjun. Whether he dates Hu Xiulan or even gets married, it’s none of my business. We’ll go our separate ways and live our own lives.”
Zhang Wenwen frowned deeply, “Xiaotong, what’s wrong with you? Did last night’s plan fail? Were you rejected? Didn’t you have the drug? Didn’t you use it?”
No one understood better than Zhang Wenwen how much Bai Xiaotong liked Chen Xiangjun.
The three of them used to have a very good relationship. Bai Xiaotong was beautiful, and during high school, Chen Xiangjun liked her too. But back then, they were young, and those feelings were kept hidden, unspoken.
Zhang Wenwen always thought the two would get together before long. Who would have thought Bai Xiaotong’s cousin Hu Xiulan would suddenly come from the countryside to seek refuge, forcefully inserting herself between them?
No one knew what tricks that country girl used, but she somehow managed to make Chen Xiangjun gradually drift away from Xiaotong and start dating her instead!
In Zhang Wenwen’s eyes, Hu Xiulan was a hypocritical, scheming woman. The Bai family, out of kindness toward their relative, let her stay in their home, which gave her the chance to get a job at the textile factory.
Who would have thought Hu Xiulan not only showed no gratitude but also stole Chen Xiangjun, who had grown up with Bai Xiaotong?
Was that something a decent person would do?
She was nothing but an ungrateful wretch.
Zhang Wenwen was full of questions, growing more anxious by the minute.
What could Bai Xiaotong say? Tell her she had been outsmarted, slept with the wrong person, and ended up entangled with Lu Ling?
Forget it. The fewer people who knew about this, the better.
Even though she trusted Zhang Wenwen not to gossip, she was afraid her friend might shake her resolve to marry Lu Ling and have his child.
Bai Xiaotong said, “Don’t bring up last night’s matter again. I was foolish and stupid before, stubbornly fixated on one man. I won’t be like that anymore.
Wenwen, I didn’t go home last night. If anyone asks, stick to what we agreed on before—say I stayed overnight at your place. Don’t slip up.”
Zhang Wenwen had been covering for her all along regarding last night’s events.
Zhang Wenwen assumed Bai Xiaotong’s plan had failed, which was why she looked so utterly defeated.
But if nothing had happened, why hadn’t she returned to the residential compound?
Zhang Wenwen couldn’t figure it out and kept pressing for answers.
But Bai Xiaotong refused to say a word.
Finally, after being pestered relentlessly, she said, “Wait a bit. Once things are settled, I’ll tell you.”
Bai Xiaotong was in no mood to discuss such matters at the moment. Whether Lu Ling would give her a proper status was still uncertain, and she was seething with frustration inside.
As for the child in her womb, the mere thought of it made her heart tighten, and her hands would tremble uncontrollably.
She couldn’t take any medication!
Deep down, a voice seemed to tell her that she had to give birth to this child.
She felt that the heavens had allowed her to awaken and see her future and the truth of this world at a price.
This child was that price—a responsibility she could not abandon.