Chapter 332: Qin Huairu, still pretending?

Liu Lan faithfully carried out Shazhu's order.

She fully exhibited her loudspeaker trait.

She relied on Deputy Factory Director Li standing behind her.

She stubbornly turned herself into a street-smart Yagangchang rascal.

In an extremely short time, the news that Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi had reconciled at the Yagangchang gate spread far and wide through her, known to all.

Countless people were shocked.

Actually, they just didn't believe it.

As you know.

The Siheyuan neighbors this morning had already gotten ahead of Liu Lan, turning the fact of Qin Huairu's big fight with Jia Zhangshi into a joke and spreading it.

The news of the two widows' big fight had not yet been digested.

The fact that the two widows had reconciled followed closely behind.

It's a bit puzzling.

Is the Jia family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law just playing a trick on people?

First they struck each other head-on, Qin Huairu gained a reputation for being unfilial, Jia Zhangshi put on the badge of a wicked mother-in-law, then they tearfully embraced, each apologizing.

What the hell is this!

Some coworkers who loved to watch a spectacle took the chance of the mid-shift break to detour to the restroom.

Going to the restroom wasn't the main goal.

Seeing Qin Huairu was their real target.

They wanted to ask Qin Huairu what kind of trick it was to fight at night and make up in the day.

To ask her face to face.

Some even had their wives summon Qin Huairu from the women's restroom.

"Qin Huairu, the loudspeaker says you were at the Yagangchang gate, crying while hugging your former mother-in-law Jia Zhangshi, admitting you were wrong and unfilial—is this true? We have residents from your compound in our workshop; he told me that last night you and your mother-in-law Jia Zhangshi had a falling out: first she hit you, then you hit her."

"It's not that Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi were fighting; they were pulling each other's clothes off."

"Pulling clothes? Who pulled whose clothes?"

"Qin Huairu pulled Jia Zhangshi's clothes."

"It was Jia Zhangshi who pulled Qin Huairu's clothes."

"They both pulled each other's clothes in public—how did they reconcile then?"

Looking at faces full of curiosity.

Qin Huairu truly didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Thanks to them.

It seemed she didn't need to clean the restroom, indirectly achieving her goal of slacking off, but their questions, each word like a sword, each sentence like a blade, left Qin Huairu battered all over.

Especially the question about pulling clothes was like rubbing salt in Qin Huairu's wound—nothing could make her feel better.

Ask what it feels like.

Why reconcile.

This question.

It's really hard to answer.

I can't just blurt out the truth, openly telling these neighbors that Jia Zhangshi threatened Qin Huairu with Dong Xu's death; if Qin Huairu remained obstinate and kept opposing Jia Zhangshi, Jia Zhangshi would seek help from the police station, and then Qin Huairu would have to follow in Yi Zhonghai's footsteps and go work underground.

Better to live shamefully than die nobly.

To stay alive.

Qin Huairu can do anything.

Including putting herself back into the Jia family's fire pit.

She casually made up an excuse, using as beautiful words as possible, to smooth over this uproar that shook the Yagangchang.

"After thinking it over all night, although I've remarried and am very happy, no matter what Jia Zhangshi says, she is still my former mother-in-law; even if she's wrong, I must accept it, because I am the junior."

Just for show.

Naturally, one should say what sounds nice.

Whether they believe it or not is secondary.

The important thing is to gild one's own face as much as possible.

To set up a persona.

I'm a rotten street.

But I am filial to my mother-in-law.

"Dong Xu is dead; as his wife, even if I remarry I must still help him fulfill his filial duty, letting Jia Zhangshi enjoy her old age in peace; her quarrel with me is also for this reason—she doesn't want to die alone."

Qin Huairu's words.

The coworkers didn't believe her.

Her reputation at the Yagangchang was utterly rotten; at noon yesterday, during the meal line, she deliberately cut in front of Guo Da Piezi.

Liu Lan saw it and gave her a good scolding.

Just treat it as a joke.

Amidst laughter, the coworkers seeking the truth each went their separate ways.

The scene that had been in chaos just moments before.

In an instant became boundlessly silent.

Only the messy footprints on the ground silently reminded Qin Huairu that what had just happened was not a dream of empty talk, but a real fact.

He turned his head and looked at the sun in the sky.

He again directed his gaze toward the bodies of the departing coworkers.

An envious gaze shot from Qin Huairu's eyes, landing on the bodies of the hurriedly departing coworkers.

Suddenly.

They wanted to cry.

They lamented the injustice of fate and also shed tears for their current plight.

If Qin Huairu had been a bit more ambitious, focused a bit more on work, and put in a little effort back then, Qin Huairu also wouldn't have ended up being driven out of the workshop.

Other workers.

All the major workshops were vying to have them.

Qin Huairu.

All the major workshops were vying to not have them.

Otherwise Qin Huairu wouldn't have ended up cleaning toilets, consorting with feces for a mere three months; many who entered together with Qin Huairu and were punished have already left their beloved, foul-smelling posts, returning to their original workshops, while only Qin Huairu continues to struggle on the toilet-cleaning post.

A perfectly good Yagangchang pretty widow stubbornly became a toilet beauty.

The Yagangchang coworkers despised them.

In the evening, upon returning home, An Jiahe disliked it, saying sleeping was like holding a feces bucket.

Originally, one could still console oneself with the excuse of leaving the Jia family.

It probably wouldn't take long.

This comforting reason would also scatter with the wind.

In their mind.

They couldn't help but recall some things from back then.

Yi Zhonghai found Qin Huairu and told Qin Huairu that Jia Dongxu seemed to have discovered their affair, probing them with words these past few days.

Yi Zhonghai sought Qin Huairu to form an offensive-defensive alliance; Jia Dongxu asked how to answer, lest any clue be revealed.

In the process of aligning their stories, Qin Huairu inadvertently mentioned the tale of Pan Jinlian poisoning Wu Dalang.

It was just Qin Huairu's offhand remark.

She also didn't ponder whether Yi Zhonghai had killed Jia Dongxu.

Unexpectedly, upon learning of Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu's affair, Jia Dongxu did not immediately report it to the authorities; instead, harboring petty intentions, he seized the opportunity to blackmail Yi Zhonghai.

First time.

It succeeded.

During the second extortion.

Yi Zhonghai, deeply feeling that Jia Dongxu would not easily relent, thought of Qin Huairu's tale of Wu Dalang being poisoned by Pan Jinlian, conceived the idea of killing Jia Dongxu under the guise of an accident, and put it into practice.

Afterward.

Qin Huairu immediately suspected Yi Zhonghai; she went to him and asked him directly.

Yi Zhonghai did not deny it, admitting that he had dealt with Jia Dongxu.

Upon learning the truth, Qin Huairu, considering various concerns, believed things were exactly as Yi Zhonghai said—unknown to gods and ghosts—and thus did not tell the Jia family or the authorities.

These past few months of Liu Jianguo moving into the siheyuan.

Qin Huairu learned a bit of relevant legal knowledge, such as conspiracy and failure to report a crime.

This is also why Qin Huairu willingly lets the Jia family manipulate her.