Li Maocai had already appeared, but their relationship wasn't as described in the book. According to Sister Li, he was just there to trick Qi Zhijun? What a fantastical thing. Oh well, I can't figure out their relationship no matter how hard I try. I shouldn't worry about their mess and should focus on organizing the materials I have.
Life passed peacefully like this. Wei Shuqing kept an eye on Qi Zhifang but didn't find anything wrong for the time being. Qi Zhifang, on the other hand, was having a harder time. She basically brought her own meals from home and spent the whole day in the archives room, rarely leaving her home. Why?
The day after the commotion over the locust blossoms, she was still impeccably dressed, and the fragrance wafted from her every step. However, the workers still stood in twos and threes not far from her, pointing and whispering.
Qi Zhifang still held her head high with arrogance, thinking to herself, "A bunch of ignorant people." There were too many gossiping people, and she couldn't argue with them. So she could only hurry back to the archives.
When Qi Zhifang finally got to line up at the cafeteria at noon, a woman standing in front of her suddenly turned around and looked at her. Like a virus, the woman quickly moved forward to get as far away from her as possible. Qi Zhifang's face turned pale, and she was so angry that she couldn't speak. She heard the woman in front of her and the people in line further ahead say, "Damn it, what bad luck!" Many people in front of her turned around and looked at Qi Zhifang, and she almost burst into tears of grievance.
The people who came after her kept a meter's distance from her, whispering among themselves. Vulgar words like "slut!" "female hooligan!" "shameless!" reached Qi Zhifang's ears.
"What are you all doing? Is it meaningful for so many people to target one woman?" A man in a silver-gray cadre uniform with gold-rimmed glasses came over with a lunchbox, frowning as he said, "You're not going to line up properly, are you? Then you're not hungry!" He then stood behind Qi Zhifang with his lunchbox.
With a cold face and an unapproachable demeanor, the whispers from the others subsided. When it was Qi Zhifang's turn to get her food, she ordered radish and tofu with half a spoonful of vegetable soup, containing three or five radish strips and half a block of chopped tofu. The radish was poured into Qi Zhifang's lunchbox. Qi Zhifang moved her mouth, and another spoonful of cabbage root was thrown in, with her shouting, "Next! Hurry up and move, don't block the people behind you."
I grabbed two cornbread buns, fought back my tears, and left. Just as I stepped out of the canteen, I heard, "Comrade Qi!"
That voice belonged to the man who had helped her in the cafeteria. She turned around and saw him carrying a lunchbox over. He silently poured his own food into Qi Zhifang's lunchbox and said, "You can have this! The people in the cafeteria are just like that, don't take it to heart. If you really can't manage, you can bring your own food for a while!"
Qi Zhifang wiped away her tears and said, "Thank you!"
The man nodded and left. Before Qi Zhifang could think much about what was happening, several female workers came over and said disdainfully, "So you've taken a fancy to Section Chief Liang again? Too bad! You're too late. Section Chief Liang and Sister Yuemei are talking! Besides, even without Sister Yuemei, you're not good enough for her. Don't you know who you are?"
Qi Zhifang felt dizzy with anger, and saw four women in work clothes looking at her with contempt and shared hatred.
Then a young woman with short hair spoke first, "Never mind, hurry up and get your food!"
"Sister Yuemei, you need to be careful. That slut is really something else. She even angered the boss's wife so much that she came to our workplace to cause trouble. Even the best fish can't satisfy a cat that's always looking for something else, let alone a slut like that who can be smelled from 30 miles away with the wind and 100 miles away with it." One of them spoke without any mercy. The short-haired woman tugged at her, turned around and glanced at Qi Zhifang as if she were something dirty, then quickly looked away and pulled her sisters into the cafeteria.
Qi Zhifang ran into the office and finished her meal while crying. That's how people are; they always remember those who are kind to them when they are most helpless, and that man had also entered Qi Zhifang's heart.
After Lin Huaihua caused a scene, people have been pointing and whispering about her every time she goes out. Even at the cafeteria, the staff are hostile, either giving her soup or scraps of vegetables. She doesn't dare cause trouble anymore, so she's started bringing her own lunch to avoid contact with people. Now, forget about getting revenge on Wei Shuqing; just being able to go to and from get off work peacefully is a luxury. Naturally, she has no energy to cause any trouble.
When Zhao Dahu and his wife got home from work that day, they found Wei's mother there. They rushed to greet her. Wei Shuqing and her mother hadn't seen each other for over a year. Zhao Dahu let the two of them talk in the house and then went to the kitchen to cook.
Wei Shuqing took out sesame candy and gave it to her mother, saying, "Mother, what brings you here? Who brought you?"
Mother Wei said, "Old Mrs. Qiao's daughter married into your front yard, so I came with her. It's been over a year and there's still no sign of pregnancy. You know, the Zhao family only has one son, Da Hu. How can they not have some concerns if your belly hasn't shrunk?"
Just as Zhao's mother was about to lead the child inside, she heard Wei's mother's words and her heart clenched. Oh no! She hadn't expected Wei's mother to come and pressure her to have the baby. She quickly took the child back and didn't hear what Wei Shuqing was saying.
Wei Shuqing said with a worried look, "Sigh, I'm worried too. I'm afraid that I hurt my body when I had my miscarriage last time. No matter what Da Hu and my parents-in-law say, they treat Aiguo like their own son. The atmosphere is so good that I almost forgot about it."
Wei's mother poked Wei Shuqing's head and said, "You've forgotten? How could you forget something like that? Which family doesn't marry a wife to have children and carry on the family line? Only after having children can you stand tall for the rest of your life. Otherwise, you can't stand tall at all. You're lucky you met a good family. They don't pressure you, but you can't be in a hurry! You have to think about the Zhao family too! Even if Aiguo changed his surname to Zhao, he's still not Dahu's biological son, not a member of the Zhao family! Can outsiders not gossip? Life isn't something you can do behind closed doors. You need to think about it!"
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