She said apologetically, "I came to find you while I was on break. I didn't go home, so I didn't know—"
Lu Kai quickly interrupted her, smiling at Gu Zhiyuan: "Comrade Gu, I heard you went back to the countryside the day before yesterday and brought your girlfriend to the county. What's your girlfriend's name again?"
Xu Zhenzhu quickly said, "Call her Siya."
"Pearl was wrong to say that today. We'll invite you and Siya to dinner tonight to apologize and let them clear up the misunderstanding. After all, we're family. Even if we break blood, we're still connected. A little misunderstanding won't really cause us to break off our ties and disown our family."
"Besides, after Pearl and I get married, we'll be seeing each other all the time. How can we really not have any contact? I'll go to the state-run restaurant to make a reservation after work. You go pick up Siya and take her there. Whatever grievances, grievances, or misunderstandings you have, let's clear them all up today—"
Upon hearing this, Gu Zhiyuan looked up and said only one sentence: "My girlfriend's name is Xu Ningyan, not Xu Siya! She has severed ties with your Xu family and has no relation to you for a long time!"
Xu Zhenzhu got angry when she heard this, and flung her hand away: "Brother Lu, look at you, you meant well, but you've been taken for a fool's food—"
The rest of her words were swallowed back under Lu Kai's gaze.
Lu Kai, however, seemed to have made up his mind and said with a smile, "Comrade Gu, your girlfriend is young. She broke off her engagement with her family in a fit of anger. Maybe she regrets it now? After all, she's just a young girl. Even if she marries you, she won't have any relatives besides you. That doesn't make sense, does it?"
"Why don't you go home and ask Comrade Xu Ningyan for his opinion?"
Those nearby listened, the younger ones remained silent, but the older ones were quite in agreement: "Gu, I think Lu is right! Your girlfriend is young and immature, and sometimes she doesn't think things through. Where does this girl get such a temper, severing ties with her family over such a small thing?"
"In this life, without family, isn't it like having no roots? Now that it seems their family is willing to let this go, I think you should advise your partner that it's best for the family to be harmonious! When you have children in the future, you'll need your wife's family to take care of them, won't you?"
Gu Zhiyuan sneered inwardly. Didn't he know this little girl's temperament? Still trying to be friendly with the Xu family? She'd be lucky if she hadn't blown up the Xu family!
He didn't want to say anything more to these people, nor did he want others to think that Xu Ningyan was ungrateful and heartless.
They also didn't want Lu Kai to stand on some so-called moral high ground, so that everyone would still think the Xu family was a good family.
He sneered, "Comrade Lu, you don't know why my partner is cutting ties with her family, but your partner knows very well! Go ask around in the Tuanjie Brigade and you'll find out!"
"Don't think you can get away with playing innocent and just glossing over what your Xu family did with a few words!"
After speaking, he stood up and glanced around the office: "Also, this is an office, a place for everyone to work, not a place to settle personal grudges and gossip! Unauthorized personnel, please leave. Every drawing in here is of great importance. If there is a leak, who will be held responsible?"
Upon hearing this, the few people who had been watching the commotion from the next office immediately left, fearing they might be accused of leaking project secrets.
Lu Kai's expression changed drastically. He dragged Xu Zhenzhu out of the office and came back in a while later.
He publicly apologized: "What happened today was my oversight! But I can guarantee that my partner's family background is that of three generations of poor farmers, and there is absolutely no problem with her!"
Gu Zhiyuan spoke slowly and deliberately: "Regardless of whether your partner has any issues, allowing her to freely enter and leave our design department office is your problem! I will report this matter to Director Lin and the factory leaders, and we must plug this management loophole! We will absolutely not allow such a thing to happen again! Otherwise, if project data and drawings are leaked, we cannot bear the responsibility!"
His words not only convinced everyone in the office, but also left them with a lingering sense of unease.
They did neglect confidentiality before, especially for this project. If anything goes wrong, their design department will be in trouble!
Lu Kai's face turned pale and then red, but he quickly composed himself and said sincerely, "It's my fault! I apologize! I will never make this mistake again!"
The young designers all lowered their heads and remained silent, and no one said a word in Lu Kai's defense, after all, the matter was of great importance.
The older designer, out of respect for Factory Director Lu, stepped in to smooth things over: "Young Gu, I think Young Lu has truly realized his mistake! It's a great thing to admit one's mistakes and correct them! We should give our own comrade a chance, shouldn't we?"
Gu Zhiyuan nodded, letting the matter drop.
For a moment, no one in the office spoke; the only sound was the scratching of pens across the drawings.
The atmosphere was silent.
Lu Kai felt the silence was deafening! An unprecedented sense of humiliation and anger welled up inside him.
He used all his self-control to sit at his desk, his fingers turning white as he gripped the pen, silently repeating to himself, "Endure it for now, wait for the future..."
Xu Ningyan was unaware of everything that had happened on Gu Zhiyuan's side.
Just before she was about to leave work, Lin Hong insisted on taking her to the machinery factory, saying that she had bought two new dresses and wanted Xu Ningyan to take a look and make a decision.
I'm looking forward to wearing it on my next blind date during my break.
Xu Ningyan only then learned that during this period, Lin's mother had asked someone to introduce Lin Hong to a potential partner, and they arranged to meet during her next day off.
The Lin family took it very seriously and asked someone to bring back two skirts from the provincial capital.
Lin Hong couldn't make up her mind, so she asked Xu Ningyan to take a look.
Xu Ningyan happened to have nothing to do, and upon hearing that it concerned Lin Hong's lifelong happiness, he naturally felt obligated to help.
The department store staff leave work a little earlier, and the design department staff at the machinery factory leave half an hour later than others because Gu Zhiyuan gives them special treatment.
Xu Ningyan thought that after she finished helping Lin Hong with her research, she could hitch a ride home with Gu Zhiyuan on his bicycle.
When they arrived at Lin Hong's house, Lin Hong took out two dresses from the wardrobe, one blue floral and one pink plaid.
This was the first time Xu Ningyan had seen a dress from this era.
The blue floral print skirt has a round neck, while the pink plaid skirt has a pointed neck. Both are A-line skirts, reaching mid-calf in length, and both have a belt at the waist.
The fabric is made of Dacron, which is light and thin. When the wind blows, the skirt flutters in the wind, making the girl's figure appear even more graceful.
Xu Ningyan looked on with envy. The weather was so hot that wearing long sleeves and pants every day was really unbearable.
When she gets back, she'll have to rummage through her online space to see if she can find two retro dresses similar to the one in the dress. Of course, they have to be made of pure cotton; polyester dresses look nice, but they're not breathable and would be too hot to wear in the summer.
However, girls at this time did not like cotton fabric and preferred to wear polyester, since polyester has bright colors that do not fade.
Xu Ningyan helped Lin Hong choose the clothes she would wear on the blind date, said a few more words, glanced at his watch, realized it was getting late, and quickly said goodbye and left.
She walked downstairs to the design department and saw that Gu Zhiyuan's bicycle was still parked in the bike shed, so she knew that he hadn't left yet.
So I just waited in the bike shed.
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