Lian Qizhen felt a tightness in her chest. She walked over and lost her previous assertiveness. "Okay, can I apologize to you?"

Zhu Weidong looked back at her, "It's not me you should apologize to."

"Do you have to be so ruthless? I really don't mean it."

Zhu Weidong looked at her quietly, his cold eyes piercing straight into Lian Qizhen's heart like a probe.

Lian Qizhen pursed her lips and said, "If I go and admit my mistake to Director Yuan, will you stay?"

Still unable to get an answer from Zhu Weidong, Lian Qizhen gritted her teeth and said, "Okay, I'll go and admit my mistake to Director Yuan right now."

After saying this, Lian Qizhen left.

When Director Yuan saw Lian Qizhen coming back so soon, his face turned pale. He knew that there was no result. But after hearing what Lian Qizhen said, he was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth.

Lian Qizhen was talking about the two days when Zhu Weidong was away. She deliberately got things wrong and caused the project to be suspended.

Lian Qizhen's selfish desire was to recruit Zhu Weidong back, and in the end it did happen. Zhu Weidong did not stay there with his wife for too long.

But she didn't expect that Zhu Weidong could see through her selfishness and even wanted to leave directly.

The reason Lian Qizhen and Director Yuan gave certainly would not be for Zhu Weidong's return.

She said, "When I discussed this line with Zhu Weidong, I wanted to follow my own ideas. I didn't believe what problems would arise when Zhu Weidong told me my ideas. After he left, I wanted to prove myself, but I didn't expect such a big mistake to happen."

Yuan Sheng finally came back to his senses, slowly closed his mouth, and silently looked at Lian Qizhen for a long time before saying, "Engineer Lian, this matter is very serious. You know that it took more than a thousand meters to build the road, and there were losses in labor and materials. If it was not intentional, we would certainly not pursue responsibility. However, since this loss was caused by your personal reasons, it depends on how the higher-ups handle it. I will report this matter to them."

Lian Qizhen guessed this would happen, and she said, "Director Yuan, I'm sorry."

"What about Engineer Zhu?"

"Zhu Weidong won't leave."

"That's good." Director Yuan watched Lian Qizhen leave, turned around and sat back at his desk with a smile, muttering, "Zhu Weidong is young and promising. He won't shield someone because of personal feelings. He is a rare talent."

Thinking back, what Xiao Gao said was right. If Xiao Gao hadn't reminded him, he would have discovered this same thing if he had found Lian Qizhen again.

Yuan Sheng quickly reported Lian Qizhen's case to his superiors. After a meeting to study the matter, the higher-ups only gave her a warning, fined her her annual bonus, and asked her to publicly reflect on her actions, considering her contributions to the country.

During the weekly meeting at the camp, Lian Qizhen stood up to review her actions, and word of what she had done spread throughout the camp.

She said that she did it to prove herself, but one thing in a certain period of time will always arouse everyone's suspicion.

Women in particular are very sensitive and guess that Lian Qizhen did this just to get Zhu Weidong back because he didn't want to see Zhu Weidong accompany his wife.

Once this rumor spread, everyone began to dislike Lian Qizhen's character. She could have found anyone else to marry, but she had to mess around with someone else's husband.

Lian Qizhen happened to go to the accounting office that day and heard a few male accountants saying these things. Lian Qizhen was so angry that she rushed in, pointed at the accountants and cursed them, and even slapped them.

The men were caught talking about the woman behind her back, and they felt ashamed to do so, so they just endured it.

But how could such a thing be kept secret? After the news reached Yuan Sheng, several accountants were punished and the rumor was suppressed.

Gu Baoshan came in from outside and saw that Chi Fangping's cushion was wet. He asked politely, "Did the water spill again?"

Gu Baoshan didn't take it seriously, but in the next few days, he found that Chi Fangping had something wet every day, and he felt that something was wrong.

One day he kept a close eye on the accounting office and caught someone pouring water on Chi Fangping's cushion.

"Why did you do that?"

Han Zhonghe has a square face, dark skin, a small mustache under his nose, and is less than 40 years old. He is usually very good-natured and smiles at everyone.

But who would have thought that such an honest person would do such a thing behind the scenes.

Han Zhonghe sneered, "What does it have to do with you? Just do your job well."

"I will take care of it if I see it." Gu Baoshan also remembered that he was one of the accountants beaten by Lian Qizhen a few days ago.

Han Zhonghe sneered, "You still want to be a hero? That also depends on whether the person you are protecting is a good person. Why would the three of us say that? Lian Engineer, wasn't it Chi Fangping who told us to do that? In the end, we were stupid and were used as a gun by her."

"Impossible, why would Accountant Chi do this?" Gu Baoshan was stunned.

"Who knows? Maybe she's jealous of Engineer Lian. If you want to know, ask Chi Fangping." Han Zhonghe snorted, "We make her stuff wet every day. Do you think she dares to show it off? She must be feeling guilty."

Gu Baoshan stopped talking. Thinking back over the past few days, Chi Fangping did say that she did it accidentally.

Han Zhonghe poured the water on the cushion, put down the teacup, turned around and walked out, giving Gu Baoping some advice.

"You came late, so you may not know that Chi Fangping and Zhu Weidong were in a relationship. Everyone in the Railway Administration knows about it."

Gu Baoshan's eyes gradually widened. There was such a thing in it, which meant that Accountant Chi was jealous of Engineer Lian, so he spread rumors behind his back and used others as a gun, and the result was like this now.

The sense of justice in Gu Baoshan's heart collapsed again.

Just as Han Zhonghe said, he thought he was righteous and stood up for injustice, but he only saw the surface and did not see the essence behind things at all.

Looking at the wet cushion, he hesitated for a long time, walked over to pick it up, and put it on the radiator. However, before he let go of the cushion, Chi Fangping walked in.

Gu Baoshan awkwardly withdrew his hand, "Accountant Chi."

Chi Fangping's eyes fell on the radiator, and then said, "I know it wasn't you who did it."

Gu Baoshan: "Accountant Chi, you know who did it, why don't you ask them?"

"Only children would do such childish tricks. The other party has no moral character. If I find him, it will only lower my status. It's not like I don't have a seat." Chi Fangping brought another cushion with her and smiled, "Don't you have anything else to ask? For example, why do they do this?"

Gu Baoshan shook his head, "No."

Chi Fangping smiled and said, "It's good that you don't have that much curiosity. You have just started working and will encounter many things in the future. Judging from your current appearance, you will definitely be right in the future."

"Thank you for the compliment, Accountant Chi. I have to work harder." Gu Baoshan also joked.

Neither of them mentioned the cushion again.

(End of this chapter)