Chapter 127 Li Aiying

Several military wives who had gotten up early to buy groceries stopped and looked over here curiously.

Gu Qiuyue had a bad feeling in her heart, but she remained calm on the surface: "Auntie Chen, let's not talk about this here, let's go to the workshop office and talk slowly, okay?"

"No!" Aunt Chen's voice rose another eight octaves. "Let's say this right here, and let everyone judge for themselves. My Aiying works from dawn to dusk every day, yet the money she gets back at the end of the month is one-third less. Isn't this bullying?"

Gu Qiuyue caught a glimpse of a familiar figure flashing behind a big tree not far away from the corner of her eye - it was Li Aiying, who was leaning over to look over here. When she saw Gu Qiuyue noticed her, she immediately retracted her head.

"Auntie Chen," Gu Qiuyue said in a gentle but firm voice, "Workers in the workshop are paid on a piece-rate basis. The more you work, the more you earn, and the better the quality, the better the pay. We will never deduct money from anyone for no reason. If you don't trust me, I'll go get the work point record book right now and we'll check it on the spot."

Aunt Chen obviously didn't expect Gu Qiuyue to be so straightforward. She was stunned for a moment, then straightened her back again: "Check it! I'm not afraid of you!"

Gu Qiuyue turned around and walked quickly upstairs. After a while, she came down with a thick notebook. At this time, Zhang Xiumei also came over after hearing the sound, stood beside Gu Qiuyue, and looked at Aunt Chen vigilantly.

"This is Aiying's work point record for this month." Gu Qiuyue flipped open the notebook and pointed to each page for Aunt Chen to see. "Look, in the first half of the month, I was able to complete fifteen or sixteen pieces a day, with a pass rate of over 90%. But in the last ten days, I've only been able to complete about ten pieces a day, with a pass rate of less than 70%."

Aunt Chen was illiterate, so she grabbed a aunt who was watching the fun and asked her to help watch.

The aunt was a neighbor of the Chen family. She usually got along well with Aunt Chen and had her trust. She squinted her eyes and looked at it for a long time, then said to Aunt Chen, "That's what it says."

Aunt Zhao's face changed when she heard this: "This, this is impossible. Aiying goes out on time every day and comes home late. How could she have done less work?"

"Auntie Chen," Zhang Xiumei couldn't help but interrupt, "The records are all here. Qiuyue and I count them together every day. There's no mistake. Besides, everyone has noticed that Aiying is always distracted lately. She's been working a lot slower and making mistakes frequently."

Gu Qiuyue remembered the look of Li Aiying in a daze with her head down during the meeting yesterday. Her heart moved, and she thought of the fabric salesman who suddenly appeared, and a vague guess formed in her mind.

"You must have remembered it wrong!" Aunt Chen was still stubborn, but her tone was no longer as righteous. "My Aiying is the most honest and hardworking girl. You must be making things difficult for her."

At this moment, Gu Qiuyue saw Li Aiying still looking around from behind a tree in the distance, so she raised her voice, "Sister Xiumei, please ask Aiying to come over. It would be better if we could talk it over in person."

Zhang Xiumei went away and came back soon with the reluctant Li Aiying. Li Aiying lowered her head, twisted the corner of her clothes with her fingers, and did not dare to look at anyone.

"Aiying, tell me the truth," Aunt Chen pulled her daughter-in-law over. "Did they give you a hard time? Why are you doing so much less work?"

Li Aiying's voice was as soft as a mosquito: "Mom, no... It's just me... I've been a little distracted recently..."

"What distracted you? How come I don't know? I'm doing almost all the housework at home now, what could distract you?" Aunt Chen pressed. "Tell me clearly."

Li Aiying stammered and couldn't explain herself, with beads of sweat oozing from her forehead. Gu Qiuyue keenly noticed that her eyes kept glancing towards the gate of the compound, and she seemed very uneasy.

"Auntie Chen," Gu Qiuyue interrupted at the right time, "Since Aiying has been distracted recently, how about this: let's give Aiying a week to adjust. If her work efficiency recovers next week, her income will naturally increase. What do you think?"

Aunt Chen looked at her daughter-in-law's pale face, then at the increasing number of people watching the excitement, and finally nodded reluctantly: "Then it will be a week. If it's still like this next week, I will come back to ask for an explanation." After that, she pulled Li Aiying away quickly.

Gu Qiuyue looked at Li Aiying's back as she was almost dragged away by her mother-in-law. The doubts in her heart grew bigger and bigger. The morning sun was warm, but she felt a little cold on her back.

"Sister Xiumei," she turned her head and asked solemnly, "When Comrade Liu came to sell fabrics yesterday, was Li Aiying also in the workshop?"

Zhang Xiumei was stunned and slapped her thigh. "Oh! Now that you mention it, I remember. She was indeed there at the time. She even came over to look at the fabric samples several times and asked a lot of questions. What's wrong? You suspect her..."

Gu Qiuyue's eyes darkened: "I just think it's too coincidental. Let's go to the guard room and ask."

The two of them hurried to the guard room at the compound, and the young soldier on duty stood on the guard post like a little poplar.

"Xiao Wang, I have a question for you," Gu Qiuyue said with a smile, addressing the young soldier in charge of registration. "Was there a strange man wearing a printed shirt and pushing a bicycle who came in yesterday? It was Li Caifeng's sister-in-law who brought him in. She said he was her cousin."

Xiao Wang flipped open the visitor registration book, dipped his finger in his saliva, and looked through it carefully. "Yes, yes, it's registered. It's Liu... Liu what kind of Qiang? Oh, right, Liu Zhiqiang. The reason for the visit is 'visiting relatives', and the person to be visited is Li Caifeng. Li Caifeng herself came out to greet him."

"Then do you remember approximately when he left?" Gu Qiuyue asked.

"Hmm... around three or four in the afternoon, right? I didn't see Li Caifeng see me off when I left." Xiao Wang tried to recall, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, when they came in, they happened to run into Sister Aiying from your workshop coming back from town. The three of them seemed to be standing at the door and talking for a while. What's wrong, Teacher Gu? What's wrong with this person?"

"It's nothing serious, just asking. Thank you, Xiao Wang." Gu Qiuyue's uneasiness was slowly growing, but she smiled as if nothing had happened and walked out with Zhang Xiumei.

As soon as they left the guardhouse, Zhang Xiumei became anxious: "Qiuyue, does Li Aiying really know that person? Does she want to..."

"Don't make it public yet," Gu Qiuyue interrupted her, frowning slightly. "It's all speculation right now. Sister Xiumei, go back to the workshop and calm everyone down. Do what needs to be done. I'll go talk to Aiying."

Gu Qiuyue did not go directly to Li Aiying's house, but waited by the flower bed downstairs of her house.

Sure enough, not long after, Li Aiying came down with red eyes and lowered head, and it seemed that she wanted to go to the workshop.

"Aiying." Gu Qiuyue called her softly.

Li Aiying was startled, like a frightened rabbit, and looked up suddenly. Seeing that it was Gu Qiuyue, her eyes immediately dodged: "Gu, Teacher Gu... I, I was just about to go to work."

"Don't worry," Gu Qiuyue said gently, pulling her to sit down beside the flower bed. "Aiying, we are sisters from the same workshop. We've been through the most difficult times together. Are you facing any difficulties? Tell me, maybe I can help."