Chapter 306

Wednesday afternoon, the sky was overcast, leaden clouds low and pressing, as if water could be wrung out at any moment. The rumble of machines in the Steel Rolling Mill continued as usual, but in the relatively quiet corridor of the Administrative Building, a different kind of undercurrent was surging.

Qin Huairu's heart pounded as if she held a rabbit; she deliberately changed into a blue cloth smock that, though old, had been starched and washed clean, and she had even secretly ironed it once with a hot-water-filled enamel jar; her hair was carefully combed smooth, not a strand out of place.

She stood outside the dark-painted door of Li Huaide's deputy factory director's office, her palms slick with cold sweat, raising her hand several times only to let it fall again.

This was a no‑return road. A voice screamed in her mind.

But besides this road, how else could she go? A more desperate voice immediately retorted.

Finally, the desire to change her situation overwhelmed the fear of unknown consequences. She drew a deep breath, as if sucking all her courage into her lungs, then curled her fingers and lightly knocked on the door.

"Please come in." Li Huaide's voice, slightly hoarse and tinged with bureaucratic tone, came from inside.

Qin Huairu pushed the door open and pulled it shut behind her. The office smelled faintly of smoke and ink. Li Huaide sat behind a large desk; seeing her enter, a flash of unsurprised insight flickered in his eyes, then was covered by a benevolent leadership mask.

"Is that Comrade Qin Huairu? What's the matter?" He set down his documents, leaned back in his chair, and leisurely sized up the woman standing before the desk, who appeared somewhat flustered.

Li... Qin Huairu's voice trembled as she spoke, she lowered her head and forced out sobs: "I... I really have no way... at home, we're about to run out of food... my mother-in-law is unwell, the three children need food and clothing, Bang Geng is still growing... my wages in the Workshop are simply... simply not enough..."

She spoke of life's hardships, incoherent yet perfectly sketching the plight of a helpless widow. She did not state her request directly, but every word seemed to lay the groundwork for the impending transaction.

Li Huaide listened silently, his fingers tapping intermittently on the desk, his gaze sweeping like a searchlight over her slightly rising and falling chest from excitement and the fair wrist peeking from her cuff. He knew the prey had walked into the trap on its own.

"Comrade Qin Huairu, your difficulties are known to the organization." He rose, walked around the desk to her side, a mixture of tobacco and hair oil approaching, "but the factory has its rules; struggling households aren't just you..."

His hand, seemingly unintentionally, rested on Qin Huairu's slightly trembling shoulder.

Qin Huairu's body stiffened; she instinctively wanted to dodge, but her feet felt rooted. She closed her eyes, letting the calloused palm glide over her shoulder, then slowly move downward…

Besides," Li Huaide lowered his voice, laced with temptation, "there are always more ways than difficulties. You're a smart person; you should know... how to choose what's most beneficial to yourself."

The office curtains had been drawn halfway at some point. Occasionally footsteps passed in the outer corridor, yet no one disturbed this deliberately cultivated "quiet." The cold desk, the female worker's body exuding cheap soap and sweat, intertwined with power and desire, completing a sordid, silent transaction.

When Qin Huairu emerged from that office, her clothing slightly disheveled and her face pallid, she felt as if she had been fished out of water, utterly drained.

Shame felt like a cold snake coiling around her heart. Yet at the same time, a twisted, relieved sensation faintly rose— the price had been paid; the reward should come soon, right?

Sure enough, within two days a transfer order came down from the factory personnel section to the workshop. Qin Huairu, transferred from the arduous frontline workshop to the easygoing logistics department, was put in charge of registering the distribution of office supplies.

Not only was her work environment worlds apart, her rank was exceptionally promoted by one grade, and her salary and benefits rose accordingly.

This news hit like a bombshell, exploding simultaneously in the fitter's workshop and the Siheyuan.

When Yi Zhonghai heard the news, he was polishing a part at the lathe; his hand trembled, almost causing a mistake. His face instantly darkened.

Qin Huairu went to logistics? And got promoted? How could this be?! Li Huaide! He almost instantly figured it out. A strong sense of losing control seized him.

With Qin Huairu in the workshop under his watch, he could, relying on his status as master and the influence of being a "moral model," more or less control the Jia family, making them unable to do without his "help" and his "upholding justice."

But once Qin Huairu went to logistics, leaving the workshop environment, the people and things she encountered would be different; would she still rely on him as before?

The Jia family's game was about to slip from his grasp! He instinctively wanted to find Qin Huairu, using the lines "stable job" and "down-to-earth" to persuade her to give up, but the transfer order had already been issued, the deed done; his words, for the first time, sounded feeble and powerless.

In the Siheyuan, it was even more like a pot boiling over.

Have you heard? The Jia family's daughter-in-law was transferred to logistics! And her wages went up!

Logistics? That's a great place! Sheltered from wind and rain! She's a widow—what gives her the right?

What right? Huh, no need to ask—look at her seductive air; she definitely went through Li's back door!

Tsk tsk, truly one cannot judge by appearance! For a little benefit, they'd even lose face.

From now on we must keep our men away from her; she's unclean!

Rumors spread like sewage, instantly permeating the whole courtyard. Some envied, some were jealous, but more was a contemptuous speculation.

Although there was no concrete evidence, everyone tacitly linked Qin Huairu's promotion with Li Huaide's reputation.

The strongest reaction came naturally from Jia Zhangshi.

At first, hearing that her daughter-in-law had been moved to an easy post and her wages raised, Jia Zhangshi's harsh face flashed a hint of pleasure—after all, the household income had increased.

But soon after, hearing the unabashed gossip in the courtyard, that flicker of pleasure was instantly replaced by great panic and anger.

She grabbed Qin Huairu, who had just returned from work, dragged her inside, shut the door, lowered her voice and snarled: "You shameless wretch who violates womanly duty! Tell me—did you do something shameful outside? Did you go see that Li factory director?"

Qin Huairu's face turned deathly pale; she wanted to explain, but Jia Zhangshi's rapid-fire scolding cut her off:

"I tell you, Qin Huairu! You want to dump our Jia family and remarry? No way! If you dare do anything wrong to Dongxu, I… I won't let you off even as a ghost!"

"Our family may be poor, but we have backbone! You cannot ruin the Jia family's reputation!"

At the end of her tirade, Jia Zhangshi's tone shifted to pleading and control: "Huairu, Mom knows you're not easy, but… you must think of the children! You can't leave! As long as you don't remarry and stay in this household, you… however you behave outside… Mom… Mom can turn a blind eye…" This amounted to tacit approval, even indulgence, as long as Qin Huairu could bring money home.

She suddenly seemed to recall something and urgently urged: "Right! Hurry! Go to the Yi Yuan and get an IUD! You mustn't get pregnant with a bastard child—otherwise the Jia family would lose all face, completely ruined!"

Qin Huairu listened to her mother-in-law's shameless remarks—demanding both substance and (false) face—seeing her face twisted by fear of losing the long‑term meal ticket, a chill spread from her heart to her limbs. She had no strength left to argue, merely nodding numbly.

In this household, even her last shred of dignity and choice were stripped clean. She had exchanged her body for a brief respite, but in her mother-in-law's eyes it was merely another pawn to keep her serving the Jia family as a beast of burden.

In the Xi Kua Yuan, Li Ping'an also heard the outside commotion and talk. He was holding Xiao Nuanqing, teaching Li Yaozong to read characters. Regarding the uproar in the Central Courtyard's Jia family, he didn't even raise an eyebrow.

The path was chosen by oneself, so the consequences must be borne by oneself. He felt neither sympathy nor contempt for Qin Huairu—just pure indifference.

The Jia family is the Jia family, he is he; as long as they don't provoke him or disturb the courtyard's basic peace, whether they live or die, are pure or impure, is none of Li Ping'an's business.

Rather than waste idle energy judging others, it's better to think about how to let his daughter sleep more soundly at night and how to let his son hold the horse stance longer tomorrow. He played with the babbling daughter in his arms, his gaze calm and still.

Qin Huairu's transfer was like a stone thrown into a dead pond, stirring up ripples layer upon layer.

Yi Zhonghai's schemes came to naught, the neighbors' gossip, Jia Zhangshi's fear and control—all played out in this little Siheyuan.

And Qin Huairu herself, on this "path of survival" bought with her body and reputation, bore an even heavier shackle, staggering toward an uncertain tomorrow.