“Mom, this cup was touched by Fan Eryong. I’m guessing there must be drugs in it!”
That’s exactly how it was written in the original novel. There was an aphrodisiac in it, which was why they were discovered having sex in the office. Tong Jiahui had no way to defend herself and could only quickly marry Fan Eryong to calm the scandal.
“How can people be this evil!” Tong Jiahui’s face turned very ugly.
After her husband sacrificed his life, it wasn’t as if no one had tried to pursue her. But after she rejected them, they eventually gave up. Only this Fan Eryong kept acting as if he didn’t understand human language, always sticking around her.
Tong Jiahui was 38 years old, college-educated, and very attractive. There were still men in the factory—single or widowed and around her age—who wanted to marry her.
Not only was she beautiful, but she also had a good job. On top of that, her husband had left her a pension of 3,000 yuan after his death, which was enough to tempt many people.
There were even rumors that her ancestors were Manchu nobility, and that her great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather had been high-ranking officials. So maybe she still had some family wealth left.
Because of this, even though she was a widow raising seven underage daughters, there were still people who wanted to marry her.
Tong Yuqian: This is just the beginning—the worst of their schemes hasn’t even started yet.
“Mom, it’s not just that Fan Eryong wants to marry you or take advantage of our family. Fan Dayong is the real wolf in human skin. The Fan family wants to swallow our family whole. We have to be careful from now on!”
“I’ll get you some hot water. Wash the blood off your neck. Is the injury serious? Should we go to the hospital and get it bandaged?”
“It’s fine. I got hit on the back of the head and bled a little, but it’s nothing. I know who did it. I’ll put a sack over his head in a few days!”
After they cleaned up, Tong Yuqian quickly drew a portrait of a great leader with chalk and wrote the words “Serve the People,” keeping the board simple.
On another bulletin board, Tong Jiahui had almost finished her work. She added some floral decorations, and the job was successfully completed.
【Why hasn’t the “catching adulterers” group shown up yet? Their efficiency is really poor!】
Just as she was thinking this, footsteps came from downstairs.
Leading the group was Han Ailian, the wife of the director of the propaganda department. She also worked in the factory, in the workshop.
This woman was extremely jealous of Tong Jiahui’s beauty and elegance. She always felt that because her husband worked in the same department as Tong Jiahui, something inappropriate might happen between them.
Tong Jiahui’s husband, Tong Linsheng, was the head of the security department. A former military officer, handsome and capable. Even though Tong Jiahui had seven daughters and no sons, he still doted on her deeply. This made Han Ailian even more jealous.
Now that Tong Linsheng had died in service, Han Ailian thought a widow with seven “money-losing daughters” must be struggling. She needed to keep a close eye on her husband so he wouldn’t be seduced by this pretty widow.
Tong Yuqian: Are you mentally ill? Your husband has a flat face and tiny eyes—so ugly it’s hard to look at. My mom would only like him if she put her eyes on her belly button.
But Han Ailian didn’t see it that way. In the eyes of a lover, her husband was handsome, educated, and a department head—everyone else should be jealous.
So when she heard rumors that her husband Lao Hu and Tong Jiahui were working overtime together, she couldn’t sit still. She even brought a few women she was close to—women who were also jealous of Tong Jiahui—to “catch them in the act.”
She wanted to rush in the moment she saw her husband and that woman in the same office, slap her, smear her reputation, and get her transferred out of the department.
The group stormed in, only to find the mother and daughter had just finished the bulletin board and were packing up to go home.
“Tong Jiahui, have you been here all along?”
“Oh, Sister Han! Yes, my daughter and I have been here the whole time. Were you looking for me? What’s wrong?”
Seeing Han Ailian’s changing expression, and recalling what Fan Eryong had just done, Tong Jiahui realized she had been used as a pawn.
It was a layered scheme: first they injured the daughter so she couldn’t appear; then Fan Eryong drugged her; and when the drug should have taken effect, they stirred people up to catch her in the act.
Was she, a nearly forty-year-old widow, really worth this much effort?
“Oh, I heard my husband Lao Hu came to work overtime, so I came to call him home to carry coal. He’s not here?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see him. Around noon we were doing the bulletin board here, maybe we just didn’t notice. Maybe he’s in his office?”
Lao Hu’s office was on the other side of the stairs. If he went straight there, they wouldn’t have seen him.
Han Ailian took a few women to his office, but the door was locked. Through the window, they saw no one inside.
Still unwilling to give up, she checked the men’s and women’s bathrooms, but found no one. Finally, they left.
As they went downstairs, Tong Yuqian glared at them fiercely.
These women were well-known gossipers in the factory, always spreading rumors about others.
It was freezing cold, yet they still didn’t stay home—they just loved stirring up trouble and gossiping. They couldn’t stand seeing others live well.
“Han sister, who told you that Lao Hu and Tong Jiahui were working together?” one woman asked.
“The Fan family girl said it! She said she was going to visit the Tong family’s eldest daughter, and that her mother and the leader were working overtime drawing posters. She even wanted to come take a look later. Isn’t her leader my husband Lao Hu?”
“Fan girl? She’s no good either. I’ve seen a bunch of boys around her in the residential compound like flies around rotten meat. Don’t believe her!”
“That little brat talked nonsense and almost made me embarrass myself! I’ll deal with her later!” Han Ailian realized she had been played.
“I advise you not to provoke her. Her father is a group leader in the factory’s disciplinary committee now—very powerful. We can’t afford to mess with them,” another older woman warned.
“She’s not easy to deal with, but you think Tong family’s eldest is easy either? In the compound, which kid hasn’t been beaten by her? She’s tougher than any boy!”
“My son was beaten black and blue, and her father even came to demand an apology! Was my son wrong? Their family is basically extinct—seven daughters, all useless girls! And they still call them the ‘Seven Fairies.’ Pah!”
Tong Yuqian stood on the open corridor, watching them leave. Her hearing was sharp, and she caught every insult toward her family.
Good. I’ll remember all of you.
The mother and daughter went into a small room and dragged Fan Eryong out. By then he had woken up and was whimpering, begging to be released.
“Fan Eryong, I’ve figured out almost everything you were planning today. You drugged my mom’s cup, didn’t you? Let me guess what kind of drug it was…”