After Song Ze left, Li Wenwen smiled and nudged Liu Dinglan's arm, then looked at Xia Qingqing and said, "Lanlan, is this the Comrade Xia Qingqing you often mention to me?"
Liu Dinglan realized she hadn't introduced the two yet, and quickly nodded: "That's right, this is Xia Qingqing."
"Qingqing, this is my friend from the textile factory, her name is Li Wenwen."
Xia Qingqing greeted Li Wenwen with a faint smile. She didn't really like this girl. She had seen the way the girl looked at Song Ze just now, but because the girl was Liu Dinglan's friend, she didn't say anything directly out of consideration for Liu Dinglan.
"Qingqing, do you mind me calling you that? You're Lanlan's friend, so you're my friend too. It just so happens that Comrade Song also works at the textile factory. You can come to the factory to visit us sometime," Li Wenwen said with a smile, her voice revealing a hint of barely perceptible pride.
Of the four of them, three were textile factory workers, and Xia Qingqing was the only one unemployed. She felt that Xia Qingqing must be feeling very bad right now.
Xia Qingqing didn't even glance at her, taking ignoring her to the extreme. The more you pay attention to this kind of person, the more energetic she becomes.
Liu Dinglan vaguely felt that Li Wenwen's words were somewhat unpleasant to hear, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong with them.
Xia Qingqing looked at Liu Dinglan's slightly furrowed brows and teased with a smile, "Oh, Lanlan, you two are eating well, four dishes for two people."
At that time, the portions at state-run restaurants were very generous. Two girls definitely couldn't finish four dishes, especially since it consisted of three meat dishes and one vegetable dish. Most people wouldn't be willing to eat like that, but considering Liu Dinglan's family's circumstances, it was completely understandable.
Upon hearing this, Liu Dinglan glanced at Li Wenwen subconsciously and said helplessly, "Oh dear, I accidentally ordered too much. If you don't mind, why don't you and your partner eat some too?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Wenwen's expression turned sour. She had been thinking of packing up the leftovers to take home so that her family would have dinner that night. If two more people ate together, there wouldn't be any leftovers.
"No need, Song Ze has already ordered the food." Xia Qingqing had noticed Li Wenwen's expression and felt a little speechless, but considering that Li Wenwen might have paid for the food, she could understand her displeasure.
After all, no one is rich these days, and freeloading meals can be annoying.
As soon as she finished speaking, Song Ze returned and sat down next to Xia Qingqing. He said softly, "Qingqing, I ordered braised pork, boiled fish, and stir-fried vegetables. Is there anything else you'd like to eat?"
"That's enough, that's enough. I'm not even that hungry. We can't finish ordering too much." She was still full after eating so many snacks. She came to the state-run restaurant mainly to have dinner with Song Ze.
Watching the interaction between the two, a flash of jealousy crossed Li Wenwen's eyes. She said to Song Ze with envy, "Comrade Song, you're so good to Qingqing. She's so lucky to have such a good partner like you."
Song Ze found these words offensive and retorted, "Qingqing is my girlfriend, it's only right that I treat her well. I'm lucky to have such a wonderful girlfriend like her."
Li Wenwen was speechless for a moment, and looked at Song Ze with some grievance: "I just think it's very lucky that Qingqing, a country girl, can find such a good partner as you. I didn't mean anything by it."
At this moment, she felt somewhat dissatisfied with Song Ze. Wasn't he just attracted to Xia Qingqing because she was pretty? All men are like this, only caring about looks. Wasn't she better than this country girl?
"I don't care what you think, I care what I think. We're not familiar with this comrade, you're meddling too much," Song Ze stared at Li Wenwen with unfriendly eyes, while wondering what was wrong with these women today. One after another, they kept bringing up Qingqing's unemployment, which made Song Ze very unhappy.
He decided to try to persuade Qingqing to come work in the county later, so that they could see each other every day.
Li Wenwen wanted to say something more, but Liu Dinglan tugged at her clothes.
Liu Dinglan looked at Xia Qingqing apologetically: "Qingqing, we've almost finished eating, so we'll head back to the factory now. I'll come visit you again next time."
Today wasn't a day off. Song Ze only had time to go out with Xia Qingqing because it was his turn to be off from the security department, but Liu Dinglan and the others still had to work.
“Okay, I’ll come to the factory to see you and Song Ze next time I have time,” Xia Qingqing said with a slight smile, without mentioning Li Wenwen at all.
When Li Wenwen heard Liu Dinglan say she was leaving, she didn't care about anything else and hurriedly took out a lunchbox from her bag to pack up all the dishes on the table, afraid that if she was too slow, Liu Dinglan would leave them for Xia Qingqing and the others.
Seeing Li Wenwen's hurried and flustered appearance, Liu Dinglan found it hard to describe. How come she had never realized that Li Wenwen was this kind of person before?
......
Even after leaving the state-run restaurant, Liu Dinglan's expression remained grim. She had clearly witnessed Li Wenwen's actions against Xia Qingqing.
She had clearly told Li Wenwen that Xia Qingqing was her savior, yet Li Wenwen was targeting Xia Qingqing right in front of her, which was clearly a slap in her face.
"Lanlan, don't walk so fast, wait for me."
Li Wenwen jogged after Liu Dinglan, carefully protecting the lunchbox with both hands, afraid that the soup inside would spill. The broth from the braised pork was also delicious with steamed buns, and she couldn't bear to waste it, so she packed it all up.
Liu Dinglan ignored Li Wenwen's shouts and stopped after walking a distance. She coldly questioned, "Li Wenwen, why did you target Qingqing just now?"
Li Wenwen was startled by her cold attitude. Li Wenwen was usually very easy to get along with, had a good temper, and came from a wealthy family. She could easily coax her into buying her food and drinks with just a few kind words.
This was the first time she had ever seen Liu Dinglan get angry at her, and she was quite at a loss for what to do.
But Li Wenwen quickly calmed down and spoke up, "Lanlan, you really misunderstood me. How could I possibly target Qingqing? She's your friend, so she's my friend too."
"I'm not blind. You know perfectly well that Song Ze is her boyfriend, yet you still stare at him and mock Qingqing for not having a job. Isn't that targeting her?" Liu Dinglan said angrily, her face turning red.
Although she also wanted to bring Qingqing and her older brother together, the premise was that she didn't know Qingqing had a boyfriend. Li Wenwen's coveting of someone else's boyfriend was shameless.
Li Wenwen's eyes reddened with grievance: "I didn't. Is that how you see me? Lanlan, you've disappointed me so much. I thought we were good friends, but you actually look down on me like this."
Liu Dinglan was furious at her attempt to shift the blame, and she was too lazy to argue with her. She had been blind and misjudged people before.
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