Chapter 1368: Zhang Liyuan (8)

"You... you think this would work...?"

I swallowed hard and continued, "Jie, I don't need you to say anything to everyone in the workshop. I just need you to say hello to me when you go to the workshop to find Fang Zhuren... so that everyone knows I'm not your enemy... something so simple... it shouldn't cause you any..."

"No, no discussion."

After saying that, she grabbed the sunflower seeds again, making that sound that drove me crazy.

"Crack."

"Then... can you at least tell Fang Zhuren not to fire me?" I asked again.

"Crack."

"You're asking for it." The woman looked up at me again. "Have I not said everything? I said I'm not sure if you're the Er Niang. If I help you, what if you go and seduce Lao Fang later? Then what would I be? A fool?"

I stood there speechless for a long time.

So, what's wrong with this world...

Both Fang Zhuren and his wife are calling me "giving face but not wanting it."

As for the people in the workshop... they didn't give me face, but they still say I'm shameless.

But who gave me face? And how did I not want it?

I just want to prove that I'm innocent.

If both Fang Zhuren and his wife have this attitude... for someone like me with no status, I really have no choices.

Fang Zhuren will soon force me out using some method I can't predict.

Then, I'll have no income, and with my minor status, I can't find work in the city, so...

I finally looked at the one thousand yuan on the table.

The woman quickly noticed my action, sneered, and said, "I made it clear, if you take this money, the matter is settled. If you dare come here again, I'll give you a few more slaps. Anyway, we have money at home, and you don't mind getting beaten, right?"

Yes... if I take this money, the matter is settled.

Although the impact on me can't be calmed down... but if I don't seize this opportunity, I'll have nothing.

Since all this is going to happen anyway, I can only try to get something out of this sudden change, and the one thousand yuan in front of me is the best thing I can get.

When I picked up the envelope, I felt extraordinarily mercenary.

What's the difference for me from a transaction?

Both Fang Zhuren and his wife want to settle this with money, and I can only see who offers more, because I really need the money.

I walked out of Fang Zhuren's home, straightened my back as I passed through the neighborhood, turned to a place where no one could see me, squatted down, and cried silently.

I feel like I sold myself.

When the incident happened, I sold the right to be beaten for five hundred yuan, and now, I'm exchanging one thousand yuan for the qualification to be wronged.

From now on, no one will ever speak for me, and my own explanations will never be heard.

But I exchanged all that for money.

But it's okay... none of it matters.

From the beginning, everything I did was to save Liang Wa's life.

Later, we'll go to the city, buy a big house, go to a place where no one knows us, and start over.

Since things have come to this point, I don't mind getting beaten every day, or being wronged every day, as long as I get endless money.

Also on that day, it was as if four invisible walls appeared around me, separating me from everyone else.

In the following days, I was always waiting for Fang Zhuren to "make a move."

But the joke that heaven played on me seemed always unpredictable; before Fang Zhuren could do anything to me, he was transferred from his position.

That day, I saw several people in black clothes enter his office, and just a few minutes later, Fang Zhuren slunk out following a big leader-like person and never returned.

Some said he was transferred to another workshop due to style issues, others said he left the city. That was the last time I saw him.

But did my days of suffering end?

No.

Soon, a new leader came to the workshop, a young man in his thirties. He looked gentle and scholarly, always smiling when talking to people, but his eyes were always fierce.

Just three days later, he called me to his office.

I knew he must have heard some rumors and it was time to settle accounts with me.

I just didn't know him well... Would he be a good leader?

Would he be like Fang Zhuren and give me money to leave?

Or would he carefully ask about the causes and effects... and give me a chance to explain?

"Zhang Li... Juan? Right?" He was tidying up the files on his desk and glanced at me. "Sit down, no need to stand."

"Leader..." I said softly, "Is there something wrong?"

He straightened a stack of files on the desk, then flipped through them and pulled one out.

Then he stared at the file and made a "tsk" sound.

"Sit, sit." He looked up at me again. "There's something I need to tell you."

Seeing I didn't move, he stood up, came behind me to close the office door, then dragged a chair over for me, and went back to his office chair.

"Leader... why don't you just say it? What is it about?" I was always anxious, not knowing what I was facing.

"It's indeed bad news." He pushed the file forward. "You know I just got transferred here, and there are many irregularities in the workshop that need to be rectified... um..."

He shook his head, then sighed, and said, "Forget it, I'll be straightforward. I looked at your records; you're only seventeen years old this year, but your work performance is very outstanding. I originally wanted to let it slide, but recently, orders came from above... emphasizing again the prohibition of employing minors, so I'm sorry."

"Huh...?"

"I don't know which set of regulations Lao Fang used to hire people before, but since there's a new one, I have to implement it." The new leader shook his head. "This isn't targeted at anyone; several minor workers in the workshop will be dismissed equally. There's no way around it; I hope you understand."

"Wait... wait a minute..."

For a moment, I didn't know what to say to make him keep me.

"Leader... I'll be eighteen next year... I... " I stammered, "As long as you don't say anything..."

"That's not possible." The new leader shook his head expressionlessly. "If I keep you, I have to keep the other minors, since I can't treat them differently. But if it gets investigated from above, it's on my head. I came here to improve the workshop, not to take the fall for something. You understand, right? Sorry about that."

"But... but I... " I paused, "I really need the money... can you not..."

"I understand..." The new leader nodded. "I completely understand. Your salary for this month will be paid in full, and I won't deduct any of your previous earnings. If you want to come back after you turn eighteen, we'll welcome you. We'll see about the new hiring policies then, okay?"

So... is he a good leader?

In the three days he was here, he really was rectifying the irregularities in the workshop.

He increased the lunch break time, shortened the working hours, increased the labor insurance budget, and issued high-temperature subsidies.

All the irregularities were gradually being eliminated.

Including me.

He didn't look at me with colored glasses, and he didn't gossip about me like the others.

He just fired me for a perfectly legitimate reason.