Chapter 9: Cage
Wang Qingwei saw Zhang Hang's wife, kneeling at the front, holding the urn, her lower lip tightly bitten, looking uncomfortably ill. The elderly man and woman knelt beside her, calling Zhang Hang's name heartbreakingly. Zhang Hang was young, but his parents' faces were filled with age and fatigue. The sudden death of a child is a hardship for anyone to bear.
A pregnant woman couldn't handle such an ordeal. Wang Qingwei saw that she looked pale and was afraid that something might happen again, so he wanted to pull her up quickly. But before Wang Qingwei could reach out his hand, the group of strong young men behind him surrounded him.
How could a rabbit trapped in a trap be let go so easily? Wang Qingwei begged and pleaded, but his family refused to go to the upstairs conference room to discuss the matter. Their demand was now: immediate compensation of three million yuan from the company.
He Xiaolan was worried about Wang Qingwei, so she squeezed into the crowd and pushed forward. When she looked up, she saw Qian Helin also pushing forward.
"Why are you here if you're not going to the store? Did Xiaoxiao fire you?"
"I'm going to have lunch with Lao Wang. Why haven't you gone to work yet? Yang Fan fired you."
Qian Helin and He Xiaolan were like loaches, darting around in the crowd, not forgetting to tease each other.
"Oh my son, why did you leave our whole family like this?" The old lady's voice was loud. The building was spacious and the echo effect was comparable to that of an opera house.
But this was also He Xiaolan's guess. She had never been to the opera house because the ticket price was too expensive. It would be better to have two meals to cultivate bifidobacteria than to have a feast for the ears to cultivate artistic cells.
Wang Qingwei saw He Xiaolan and Qian Helin standing nearby, and signaled them to leave quickly. He Xiaolan certainly refused. When she sent a message to Ge Lin asking her to ask for leave for her, the shallow wound on her right index finger had not yet healed completely.
"I felt uncomfortable when I went out in the morning. I was thinking about it all the way, and when I left the house, the express box scratched my hand."
"At the time, I advised Lao Wang not to give money on his own. He is too soft-hearted and gave the family 20,000 yuan in consolation money. Who knows what will happen next."
"Twenty thousand yuan? When did that happen? When did he have twenty thousand yuan in his hand?" He Xiaolan stared at Qian Helin intently. Qian Helin then realized that he had said the wrong thing, but even if he had eight hundred mouths, he couldn't explain it clearly now. Qian Helin directly confessed everything on behalf of Wang Qingwei.
Now that he has confessed, He Xiaolan won't have to be interrogated again, and he won't have to complain to Song Xiaoxiao and get scolded.
Wang Qingwei was almost out of words to persuade him, and only then did his immediate superior, Tao Lin, come over slowly with the legal department.
"Come back in the next life. I don't know who owns this company. Why are you taking your time?" He Xiaolan rolled her eyes at Tao Lin, glanced at the time and prepared to leave.
"I have to hurry to the company. Please keep an eye on it for me for a while. Call me if you have anything. To repay your kindness, I will go to Xiaoxiao and say a few good words for you." He Xiaolan grasped Qian Helin's lifeline and knew that he was worried about Hua Hudie's plan to divorce him.
"Come on, what ivory can you spit out of your mouth? I'll be thankful if you don't spread rumors about me. I will protect my old king myself, so please leave now."
When the old lady saw Tao Lin coming, her legs and feet suddenly became nimble and she rushed to Tao Lin in one step. Although her height could not threaten him, her momentum could.
"You must be the boss, everyone come and see, it's him, he's the one who killed my son."
"Zhang Hang's mother, we all understand how you feel, but you can't say that. Zhang Hang fell ill and died while on vacation. It has nothing to do with the company."
"Don't you think your company has no responsibility for his illness? He works seven days a week. Sometimes, when he finally gets a break, a phone call forces him to work overtime. And yet, you tell him every day that if he doesn't work hard, he'll be laid off."
Zhang Hang’s wife’s voice was tearful, not loud, but it touched the heart of every spectator.
Who in this building isn't like this? Led by society, money, and family.
If you want to make a living in Beijing, you have to be lucky or sell your life. If you sell well, you will be rich and prosperous, but if you sell poorly, you will die.
"If you have any demands, talk to your lawyers. Making a fuss here is not good for anyone."
Tao Lin's words are really annoying. Once a person becomes a boss, he will be tainted with the ruthless and uncompassionate temperament of a capitalist.
"I've lost my son, and you still want to live well?"
Zhang Hang's father's slap nearly landed on Tao Lin's face, but Wang Qingwei missed him just in time. Wang Qingwei intervened and stood in front of Tao Lin. With a "slap", everyone woke up.
He Xiaolan threw down the bag in her hand and rushed directly in front of the old man and the old woman. Qian Helin was quick-eyed but slow-handed, and failed to grab He Xiaolan. He could only follow behind her and pick up her bag. He followed her in a low voice and advised her not to be impulsive.
Only she can fight her own man, no one else can get involved. This is He Xiaolan's creed. A qualified tigress must protect her own territory, so He Xiaolan never thought that tigress was a derogatory term. On the contrary, she felt that she could be a beast and was very proud of it.
He Xiaolan rushed to Zhang Hang's parents and pushed them away. The old man and the old woman lost their balance and fell to the ground.
"Don't act like you can't stand up. You're in your fifties and haven't reached retirement age yet, so there's no need to act like a senior. Talk about your grievances and demands, but hitting someone is wrong."
"You pushed me and I broke my bones. You have to pay me."
"Are you made of a glass bottle? You broke when I touched you. I'm telling you, let's call the police now and check the surveillance to see who started it."
Seeing that He Xiaolan was not someone to be trifled with, the old lady started to spit foul words at him: "Are you someone hired by their company to stir up trouble? What are you thinking of to make trouble here? I'm afraid you haven't learned to be a decent person since you were born."
He Xiaolan didn't want to pay attention to her, but she could understand her. After ten months of pregnancy, she had to send her child off. The child she had worked so hard to raise was gone. Even if the child was gone, she still had grandchildren. Even if there was only a glimmer of hope, even if it meant throwing a tantrum, she had to fight for the last bit of benefit.
"You are the ones making trouble here, you are crying, making a fuss and hitting people here. I tell you, if you are not satisfied, go find the police and go to court. There is no point in making trouble here. Don't make something that you are originally right about become unreasonable."
But no one here listened to He Xiaolan's advice. With their dopamine high, no one was rational.
The old lady glanced at Zhang Hang's wife. She stood up reluctantly and pretended to be dizzy and wanted to lean on Yang Shanshan.
"You've both given birth to children, and you look quite healthy. Don't try to imitate your parents-in-law. We've seen that before. If we don't quarrel today, Lao Wang and I will be able to help you and your mother if you have any problems in the future."
"Sister, I don't really want to cause trouble. Everyone has to have dignity. But I don't have a job, and I'm pregnant. What should I do in the future..."
He Xiaolan sat in the car, feeling unhappy no matter how she thought about what Zhang Hang's wife said. A woman who gets married but loses her job is like a bird with its wings cut off. She wants to fly but can't get out of the cage of her family.
She never knew what Zhang Hang's wife's name was, but she had heard that the girl also graduated from a prestigious university and took a gamble with her luck. Who would have thought that the opponent left the game early before it was over, but the chips placed on the table could not be recovered.
When He Xiaolan was pregnant, He Lianhua had advised her to resign. Fortunately, Wang Qingwei, feeling the immense pressure of the mortgage, personally refused his beloved mother's request, which finally silenced He Lianhua. Thinking back, the man still considered his own perspective, his own face, and his own interests.
For the sake of face, one's wife can be a full-time housewife, so that he can appear capable of supporting the family. For the sake of profit, one's wife can be a working woman, so that he can appear generous and the family can have more financial comfort. Who has really thought about the woman in the family and what she really wants to do.
People always ask successful women how they balance their career and family, but men never need to answer such questions because family is just their tie clip, some inadvertent embellishment of taste.
Bad luck will continue. As soon as He Xiaolan entered the company, Yang Fan called her to the office with a gloomy face. Yang Fan threw his phone in front of He Xiaolan and let her be alone. But when He Xiaolan saw the first line of the explosive post on Xiaohongshu, her heart skipped a beat.
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