She was angry, but reality didn't allow her to act as she pleased.
She also has a whole host of urgent matters waiting for her at her own factory!
The patterns for the new spring collection have just been finalized, and several batches of fabrics in different colors and textures have been delivered to the warehouse. The next step is the intensive pattern making and sampling process to see which fabric works best and which details need to be fine-tuned.
Each and every one of these matters cannot afford to be delayed.
Especially for Master Ma, who is in charge of the technology, his mother back home suddenly fell ill. After finishing the most important steps here, he had to quickly ask for leave to go back and take care of her.
The timing was extremely precise.
Zhou Qiqi had no choice but to suppress her anxiety and hurriedly ate a few bites of the breakfast her mother-in-law had left in the pot.
She hopped on her old Phoenix bicycle and plunged back into the factory.
She used to think that as long as she worked hard and put her heart into it, she could always balance her career and family well. Aren't there examples of successful women from her past life?
But when it came to actually doing it herself, she truly understood how difficult it was.
On one hand, there's the responsibility of feeding hundreds of people in the factory; on the other hand, there are the complicated and unresolved issues at home. Neither side can be neglected.
She forced herself to concentrate on the pattern-making work, but her mind was always tied to home, and she would drift off from time to time.
She thought she had concealed it well, but little did she know that her slightly absent-minded emotions were all seen by the experienced Master Ma standing to the side.
At lunchtime in the factory canteen, Master Ma deliberately sat down opposite her with his rice bowl and asked with concern:
"Qiqi, you seem a bit distracted today. Is something wrong at home? If you're having trouble, talk to your master about it. Don't try to bear it all alone."
Zhou Qiqi quickly shook her head in denial:
"No, it's nothing serious! Don't worry about me, Master Ma."
She genuinely felt that compared to Master Ma's mother's illness, her own family's communication problems were too embarrassing to mention.
Master Ma waved his hand, his tone resolute:
"Don't try to hide it from me. No matter how busy you are, you always go to the state-run restaurant for lunch to improve your meals. But today you're willing to stay in the canteen and eat something. You must have something on your mind and want to make the most of your time so you can go home early! What's there to be embarrassed about with your Master Ma?"
Zhou Qiqi, embarrassed that her secret had been exposed, smiled shyly and briefly told Master Ma about it.
Seeing this, Master Ma immediately offered a solution:
"Hey! If you're really in a hurry to go home, then head back this afternoon! Leave the pattern making and testing to me and my apprentices! We'll make sure it's done perfectly, and you can check it out when you come back tomorrow!"
"That won't do!"
Zhou Qiqi immediately refused.
“You’ve already worked so hard, and there are sick people waiting for you at home. How can I possibly put all the burden on you?”
Master Ma sighed, his tone carrying the感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex feeling of mixed emotions or reflections) of someone who had been through it all:
"Qiqi, you're still young. There are some truths you should heed from your master. When it comes to family, every meeting is one less time you can spend together. I didn't understand that when I was young. I always thought there was plenty of time. But now that I'm older and have my own family, I realize that it's not so easy to spend more time with your loved ones."
She couldn't go back to take care of her sick mother right away; with work and family responsibilities, it was really difficult for her to travel far from home.
But the Shen family clearly didn't have these obstacles, yet the family had to separate over this misunderstanding, which she found truly a pity.
Zhou Qiqi was grateful, but she still didn't want to put such a heavy burden on Master Ma's shoulders; she had already worked hard enough lately.
The two were arguing when factory manager Zhang Guoqiang came over and acted as a peacemaker. He finally decided that Zhou Qiqi could go home after working until 5 p.m., so that she wouldn't miss too much work and could still make it to dinner at home.
Zhou Qiqi couldn't refuse, so she had no choice but to agree.
She didn't rest at noon, quickly finished her meal, and went back into the workshop.
In the afternoon, she worked even harder, not even bothering to drink water, just trying to get as much work done as possible.
After finally getting through to 5 a.m., she finished all the crucial steps, said goodbye to Master Ma and Factory Director Zhang, and hurriedly pushed out her bicycle, got on, and headed home.
At this time of day, she would still be busy at the factory. When she finished get off work around 8 p.m., Shen Huaichuan would always be waiting for her at the factory gate in his car without fail.
Today I rode my bicycle home alone, facing the biting cold wind of the evening.
Seeing the few pedestrians on the road and the desolate fields, I felt a little uncomfortable and even a bit lonely.
What made her even more uneasy was that not long after leaving the factory, she felt as if there was someone behind her, also riding a bicycle, following her at a distance.
She sped up, and the others followed suit.
She turned a corner, and the person behind her followed suit.
Zhou Qiqi became suspicious and wanted to find an opportunity to stop or turn onto a side road to see who it was.
But during a fleeting glance back, she noticed that the person following her was a woman, and the red coat she was wearing looked quite familiar, somewhat like the "Ink and Wash Splendor" series from her factory.
"I guess she's a wife from a military dependents' area, or maybe a female factory worker on her way home from get off work, just passing by."
With this thought in mind, Zhou Qiqi relaxed her vigilance slightly.
After riding for a while, she saw the person behind her turn into a village by the roadside, and she finally felt relieved. She thought she was probably just too tired, which was why she was being a little paranoid.
After all, she hasn't offended anyone recently, and she hasn't had any conflicts with criminal gangs or anything like that, so no one should do anything to her.
She took a deep breath of the cold air, steadied herself, and continued pedaling hard, wanting only to get home as quickly as possible.
However, just as she reached a fork in the road ahead, with bare groves of trees on both sides, suddenly—
A dusty, gray minivan suddenly sped out of the nearby woods.
With a sudden stop, it swerved sideways and came to a complete stop in the middle of the road, blocking her path completely!
Zhou Qiqi was startled. Before she could react, the side door of the van was suddenly pulled open.
Three or four fierce-looking, burly men jumped out and charged straight at her without saying a word!
"What are you doing?! Help..."
Before Zhou Qiqi could even finish her exclamation, a large hand covered her mouth tightly, and a tremendous force yanked her and the car to the ground!
Immediately afterwards, she felt herself being roughly lifted up, her vision went black, and she was forcibly shoved into a van!
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