Su Meilan listened, increasingly satisfied, nodding repeatedly in agreement. “Yes, yes, first meet in person—that’s the way!”
At this moment, she seemed completely impressed with Zhou Hongxia, as if the unpleasantness at lunch had never happened. “Hongxia, this matter with Lijuan is in your hands as the eldest sister-in-law. If it works out, you’ll be the great contributor to our family!”
Yang Daqiang also nodded along. Though he didn’t speak, it was obvious his mood had eased considerably, and he too thought this was an excellent choice.
Yang Lixin wore a proud, gratified expression, softly telling Zhou Hongxia, “Hongxia, you’ve really put in a lot of effort. If you can help Lijuan, that would be wonderful.”
Zhou Hongxia, observing everyone’s reactions at the table, felt very pleased with herself. See? As long as she disguised it slightly, the Wu family would be a good match.
As for what happened afterward—discovering Wu Xiangdong’s illness—that was none of her concern. Surely, they would hide it well. Besides, for the Yang family, marrying into the Wu family was already considered reaching above their station; why demand more?
“Don’t worry, Dad, Mom, and Lixin. I’ll pay attention to this,” Zhou Hongxia said with a gentle smile. “After all, I’m Lijuan’s sister-in-law, so of course I hope for the best for her.”
Whether Yang Lijuan was good or not didn’t matter—what mattered was that she would benefit.
After finishing lunch at the Yang household, Yang Lihua didn’t linger long and hurried back to the Hongxing Textile Factory, unaware that Zhou Hongxia had already set her sights on Yang Lijuan’s marriage.
In the afternoon, Zhao Panlai noticed Yang Lihua arriving promptly at the Third Workshop and instinctively curled her lips.
Then, as if recalling something, she glared fiercely at Yang Lihua. She was right: Yang Lihua was a scheming person. How could a simple, innocent girl like Zhu Yuanyuan have done something like this? Surely, Yang Lihua was behind it.
Hmph! She would expose Yang Lihua’s true face sooner or later, letting everyone see what a cunning little schemer she really was.
Yang Lihua paid no attention to Zhao Panlai’s grim expression—she had grown used to it over the past month. If someone ever smiled at her, that would be the real shock.
Back in the dormitory, she instinctively glanced at Zhu Yuanyuan’s usual spot, only to find that all of Zhu Yuanyuan’s belongings were gone. The bed had been tidied neatly, as if it had never been used at all.
Seeing Li Hongying and Zhao Xiaofen in the dorm, Yang Lihua casually asked, “Where’s Zhu Yuanyuan? Did she go home again today? I really envy her—she can go back home whenever she wants.”
Li Hongying, brushing her hair in front of the small mirror, immediately turned around, her face brimming with excitement, satisfaction, and a “serves her right” expression. In a lowered voice, she said:
“You didn’t know this morning? Zhu Yuanyuan got into big trouble—she got fired!”
“Fired?” Yang Lihua’s heart skipped a beat, her face showing a well-measured surprise.
She had anticipated that Shi Chuncao wouldn’t let things go easily and would probably come to the dorm to deal with Zhu Yuanyuan. She only expected a scolding at most—not actual termination—after all, Zhu Yuanyuan’s father, Zhu Youfu, was the direct supervisor in the cafeteria.
As long as Zhu Yuanyuan acknowledged her mistake sincerely, she shouldn’t have been fired. They would surely give Zhu Youfu some face.
But who could have imagined…
“Exactly!” Li Hongying leaned in, animatedly recounting the morning’s big news. “This morning, since you were on leave, the cafeteria was busy preparing lunch and couldn’t find Zhu Yuanyuan anywhere.
Aunt Xu searched all around the cafeteria and the restrooms, asking at every corner, but Zhu Yuanyuan was nowhere to be found.
Chef Shi was worried something might have happened to her, so he stopped prepping food and, together with Aunt Liu, went to the dorm to check if she was sick.
And… guess what happened next?” Li Hongying, her tone tinged with excitement, prompted Yang Lihua to guess.
“What happened?” Of course, she expected to find Zhu Yuanyuan comfortably lying in the dorm—what else could it be?
“Turns out, Zhu Yuanyuan was in the dorm, lying around eating snacks and reading comic books, looking perfectly fine. She was clearly just slacking off and got caught red-handed by the chef.
Normally, if the chef caught you, you’d just admit your mistake, say a few good words, and it would be fine. But…,” Li Hongying turned to Yang Lihua with a sly look.
“You guessed it—Zhu Yuanyuan got fired. She obviously didn’t admit her mistake on the spot, nor did she say anything conciliatory,” Yang Lihua said confidently. Despite her cute appearance, Zhu Yuanyuan was prideful and wouldn’t apologize easily.
“Exactly! You got it right. You should’ve seen the scene—Zhu Yuanyuan, confronted by Chef Shi, argued back, claiming he didn’t care about the workers and even pulled out her father’s position as the logistics supervisor to intimidate him.
Who could tolerate that? Zhu Yuanyuan was clearly at fault, yet she threatened Chef Shi—he was furious!”
Zhao Xiaofen couldn’t help joining in, putting down her book and adding: “I heard it caused quite a commotion. Originally, not many knew, but Aunt Xu had been searching everywhere around the cafeteria, so many less busy workers joined in.
Then they came to the dorm, and apparently, the dorm was packed—three layers deep inside and outside, full of people.”
“Yes, yes! Many heard Zhu Yuanyuan claim her father was the logistics supervisor and that Chef Shi couldn’t punish her. But Chef Shi stood firm. He and Aunt Liu personally took Zhu Yuanyuan to the factory union,” Li Hongying excitedly shared.
Li Hongying continued: “Many people followed to the union, curious to see what they would do. Even Chairman Ma got involved personally.
I heard Chef Shi and several cafeteria workers witnessed everything. The evidence was clear—Zhu Yuanyuan repeatedly left her post, shirked work, and when caught, behaved badly, using her father’s position to intimidate. Chairman Ma’s expression immediately darkened!”
Zhao Xiaofen shook her head, pouting. “The worst part is, the union had already received some anonymous complaints from female workers about Zhu Yuanyuan’s work attitude. But it hadn’t escalated. This time, old issues and new ones were counted together.”
“And then what happened?” Yang Lihua asked, her face puzzled, quickly calculating the implications. With the union involved, the matter was different.
It was no longer just a cafeteria discipline issue—it had escalated to affect the workers’ image and labor discipline.