Chapter 14 First Signs of Good Fortune 07 Thank you for your compliment on my appearance...
On the day of signing the contract, I got up very early again. When I arrived at the soap factory, Zhou Qichen was already waiting at the gate.
"Have you found someone to take over the job?" she asked impatiently on her way to the factory manager's office.
"There are still a few people negotiating prices, seeing who can offer the highest price, or if you're in a hurry, the price can be lowered a bit."
Lin Tingyue wasn't in a hurry, but she didn't know if she would have to continue working before transferring out.
"You should be able to attend, but you can ask for leave if you don't want to come."
“You’ve only been here a short time and you’re already taking leave. You’re really good at giving advice.”
The two chatted and laughed as they entered the factory manager's office, and soon came out chatting and laughing again. The factory manager even personally led Lin Tingyue to the technicians' office. When it was lunchtime, Lin Tingyue left the factory gate and pushed her bicycle with Zhou Qichen.
Some people saw this but didn't say anything. As soon as they got off work at noon, they rushed home without eating in the cafeteria, and rode their bicycles home.
The Tan family had already prepared lunch, and everyone was a little surprised when Liu Meng returned home.
"Why did you come back at noon, sister-in-law?" Tan Jing was unhappy to see her sister-in-law, but she had no choice but to go to the kitchen and get a bowl, chopsticks and steamed buns for one person.
Liu Meng scoffed, "If I don't come back, your wedding will be called off."
"What do you mean? What happened to Zhou Qichen?" Upon hearing about her childhood betrothed, Tan Jing couldn't care less about anything else.
"I heard from people in our workshop the day before yesterday that the factory director's nephew brought a very pretty girl to the director's office. I didn't see her that day, but I finally saw her today. The two of them were chatting and laughing. Have you ever seen Zhou Qichen smile at anyone before?" Liu Meng also noticed that the two of them were acting strangely. No matter what their relationship was, she had to hurry back and tell her silly sister-in-law. Otherwise, if the two of them got married, she would have to squeeze into this house with this whole family. It was already a bit inconvenient for the three of them to squeeze into one room.
"Xiao Chen knows a lot of people, could he have introduced some buyers to his uncle?" Mr. Tan wondered.
“Even if they are buyers, they are both unmarried. What if they hit it off…” Liu Meng glanced at her sister-in-law, who was standing there in a daze, “Although they are in-laws, I have to say that the girl and Zhou Qichen are a perfect match.”
Upon hearing this, Tan Jing could no longer sit still; she was going to the Zhou family right now to get to the bottom of things!
"Jing'er! Come back!" Seeing that she couldn't get anyone to come back, Tan's mother reached out and patted her daughter-in-law. "Go and bring her back quickly! We can talk about it after we finish eating."
"Oh dear, missing a meal won't kill you, Mom, you should worry about yourself."
Tan Jing ran fast, heading straight to the Zhou family's house where she smashed things and yelled.
It was Zhou's mother who opened the door, looking at her with confusion and asking, "Xiaojing, what's going on here...?"
"Auntie, where is Zhou Qichen? I have something important to ask him."
Seeing that she looked extremely anxious, Zhou's mother told her directly, "He's not home. He said he was going to have lunch at the state-run restaurant when he left this morning. Why don't you go and look for him now?"
"Okay, thank you, Auntie."
Tan Jing jogged all the way to the state-run restaurant. When she got there, she saw Zhou Qichen with his back to her, and a young woman sitting opposite him. She was indeed very beautiful.
She didn't know if Zhou Qichen was laughing, but the woman was laughing, and the happier she was laughing, the angrier she became.
She didn't get splashed.
To be precise, the other party dodged it, and most of the water was splashed onto the fabric on her chest.
Zhou Qichen didn't even acknowledge her, and quickly took out a handkerchief and handed it to Lin Tingyue, "Hurry up and wipe yourself."
"Zhou Qichen, you've gotten together with her, haven't you?"
"Who told you that?" Zhou Qichen turned around and looked at Tan Jing, his eyes chillingly cold. "Let's talk outside."
"What, you know it's shameful now? Why didn't you think about saving face when you did something wrong?" She suddenly raised her voice, as if to embolden herself, and then looked at Lin Tingyue and cursed, "You vixen, are all the men in the world dead? Why do you have to seduce a man with a fiancée?"
Lin Tingyue had never been called a mistress in all her years of life, and she found it somewhat novel. "Thank you for your compliment on my appearance, but I suggest you keep your voice down. This isn't your home; other people need to eat."
Seeing that she was still so self-righteous, Tan Jing actually reached out to hit her, but Zhou Qichen grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, causing her to lose her balance and sit down.
Lin Tingyue couldn't help but laugh, and even gestured with her chin towards the cold dishes on the table, "Sitting down, let's eat something."
Tan Jing was furious and started punching and kicking Zhou Qichen, who was holding her wrist.
Factory Director Wu saw this as soon as he arrived and hurriedly shouted to stop.
"What's going on here? What's all this commotion about?"
"Director Wu, you've come at the perfect time! Zhou Qichen has been secretly dating this vixen behind my back!"
Factory Director Wu looked at the person Tan Jing was pointing at, then at his nephew whose face was ashen. "What nonsense are you spouting? This is a technician that Xiao Chen found. He just signed a contract with our factory. We're having lunch together. Am I here to date someone too?"
After Director Wu's explanation, Tan Jing felt like she had been doused with cold water, but she still stubbornly insisted, "I don't believe it. Who knows if you're protecting your own nephew?"
"Believe it or not." Director Wu had never liked Tan Jing; she never thought things through. He looked at Zhou Qichen and said, "Hurry up and make her leave. Don't delay our work discussion later."
Seeing that Director Wu was really angry, Tan Jing belatedly realized that she had really misunderstood, and looked at Zhou Qichen with a pleading expression.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Apologize."
Reminded by Zhou Qichen, Tan Jing lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry."
Because of her past life's work, Lin Tingyue wouldn't really argue with ordinary people over something like this, especially since it was just a little water spilled. It's summer now, and it will dry in a while after dinner with the sun and wind.
She stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Since we're already here at midday, let's have something to eat together. We can talk on the way after we eat."
The more Director Wu looked at the girl, the better he thought she was. It was a pity that his nephew's arranged marriage was made by his elders, and it would be awkward for both families to break off the engagement.
So the meal was somewhat silent. After everyone had finished eating and drinking and most of the other guests had left, Zhou Qichen put down his chopsticks and said, "Tan Jing, since you're here today, let's talk now."
"Then I'll excuse myself for a moment," Lin Tingyue said, getting up to leave.
"No, it's related to you too."
Lin Tingyue: No... what does this have to do with me!
"The woman you think I'm dating is actually someone who wants to transfer her technician job at the soap factory. I've been helping her find someone willing to buy the job these past few days. I was originally going to ask you about it today, since your family is pressuring you to marry me because of housing issues, right?"
In fact, Zhou Qichen and his fiancée had no feelings for each other. Tan Jing even had a crush on someone during her school days, but he didn't like her. Now her family felt that she was taking up a room, and since she didn't have a formal job, she couldn't live in the staff dormitory. So she had no choice but to get married as soon as possible.
Tan Jing asked, "You mean you want me to buy this job?"
“That’s what I was thinking before, but now I want to help you buy this job. I’ll pay the lion’s share, and you don’t have to pay me back. Consider it compensation for breaking off the engagement.”
The other three people present were shocked, especially Lin Tingyue, who felt as if she had been caught up in some melodramatic plot that she shouldn't have been involved in.
Tan Jing panicked immediately after hearing this, "You want to break off our engagement just because of what happened today?"
“Not entirely. The main reason is that our childhood betrothal was arranged by our elders. Now we’re all in the process of destroying the Four Olds and advocating for freedom of marriage. You should find someone you love to marry, instead of settling for a lifetime with me.” Zhou Qichen said, frowning as he pulled out a cigarette. He didn’t light it, just put it in his mouth and chewed on it. “The regular employees at the soap factory are entitled to housing. I advise you to think it over. There are plenty of people who would buy this job. Don’t end up not only losing the job but also the person you’re looking for.”
Zhou Qichen's words meant he would never marry her, no matter how much she made a fuss, she was in the wrong. If she refused, she would get nothing. Even if the Zhou family compensated them a few hundred yuan, they had no connections, and even if they had money, they might not be able to buy a formal job.
Tan Jing was the type to back down gracefully, and unlike her earlier outburst, she looked at him hesitantly and asked, "How much does this job cost? I need to go back and discuss it with my family..."
“I’ll talk to you at your house later. This isn’t the place to talk.” Zhou Qichen’s disgusted expression was barely concealed, so he stood up and said, “We have to go back to the factory. We’ll be leaving now.”
Lin Tingyue followed closely behind, afraid of getting splashed with water again if she was late.
Zhou Qichen lit a cigarette at the door and let Lin Tingyue and Factory Director Wu walk ahead, while he lagged behind.
There was definitely no mood to talk about anything today, but the act had to be convincing, so the three of them walked together toward the soap factory, only parting ways with Factory Director Wu after passing two blocks.
I'm sorry about what happened today.
"I'm really sorry, how do you plan to make it up to me?"
Although he knew Lin Tingyue was joking, Zhou Qichen did want to compensate her. "I'll negotiate this job down to 1,000 yuan. No matter what the final price is, I'll give you 1,000 yuan."
Lin Tingyue immediately waved her hand, "Don't force yourself, just give me whatever it is."
Since she needed to be present for the job transfer, Lin Tingyue left Zhou Qichen the team office's phone number, telling him to contact her directly by phone once the deal was finalized.
A thousand dollars is no small sum at this time, so Lin Tingyue went back and waited patiently.
But some people weren't so patient and kept hoping she would go back to the county's black market to sell things.
A few days later, Lin Tingyue finally took action. Xu Xingyi saw her riding past him on a bicycle with a large cloth bag and immediately went to school to ask for leave.
They rushed to the black market in the county town, but couldn't even catch a glimpse of Lin Tingyue.
The reason was that Zhou Qichen had arranged to meet her at the bank entrance. He felt it was unsafe to leave a lot of money outside, so it was best to deposit it there.
Lin Tingyue looked through the bag of money he had brought and asked with some delight, "Is it really a thousand? How much did you pay back?"
"Not much, four to six."
Zhou Qichen had initially said he wanted the lion's share, and she didn't know how they negotiated it, but six hundred was no small amount, so she gave him an extra five large bills.
"No need. Just think of me if you need to make money in the future." Zhou Qichen only accepted fifty yuan. In fact, Lin Tingyue's appearance gave him the opportunity to break off his engagement with Tan Jing. Although he lost money, at least he was free.
"You'll have to wait two more years to make big money."
Zhou Qichen stared at her beautiful face, realizing he wasn't joking, and nodded, "Okay, I'll wait."
Lin Tingyue said goodbye to him, picked up the heavy cloth bag, and left.
"Do you need me to take you?" Zhou Qichen also rode his bicycle out today, just in case Lin Tingyue didn't want to deposit the money in the bank, so he could accompany her back.
"No need. If you're worried, I'll call your workplace when I get back." Lin Tingyue only found out later that Zhou Qichen also worked at the soap factory, but he worked in the warehouse. They already had enough staff there, and since he was a relative of the factory manager, no one dared to say anything when he took leave.
Zhou Qichen didn't say anything more, waved his hand, and rode away on his bike.
Lin Tingyue tied the cloth bag to the back seat and then headed in the opposite direction.
She rode slowly the whole way, as if she was deliberately waiting for something, and even circled the bustling city twice before leaving the county town.
As soon as she rode her bike onto the sparsely populated dirt road, Lin Tingyue got off, pretending that the chain had fallen off. She slightly turned her head to look back at the road she had come from, and could see two people running in her direction in the distance.
The two men were dressed in homespun clothes, their bodies so dirty it looked like they hadn't washed in days. The shifty-eyed man kept scanning the back seat of her, while the other, who looked honest, kept his eyes warily fixed on her.
"Hey little sister, need any help?"
A note from the author:
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