Chapter 34: Chapter 34

When An Ning was forcibly dragged over by Aunt Guihua, the entire mailroom scene had already descended into chaos.

Factory Director Chen stood stiffly to the side, awkwardly explaining something to a group of people dressed in gray-blue Zhongshan suits with stern, serious expressions - clearly officials of some rank.

Behind him, Deputy Factory Director Jiang bent even lower at the waist, and upon closer inspection, one could see suppressed anger simmering in his eyes.

An Ning suddenly remembered - hadn't someone in the department mentioned something recently about city officials coming for an inspection?

At this moment, even An Ning couldn't help but admire her cheap stepsister Lu Qing's audacity.

That's right - the one surrounded by the factory's young women and married ladies, with her brand new rose-red shirt now crumpled and hair disheveled, was none other than Lu Qing herself. And beside her, wearing blue work clothes and silver-rimmed glasses, looking every bit the refined gentleman but actually being a wolf in sheep's clothing, was undoubtedly the other male lead in today's farce - Jiang Hao, the childhood fiancé of the original body.

Just looking at their current state, it wasn't hard to imagine what had happened earlier.

Simply put, it was a case of a young couple unable to resist getting intimate in the mailroom, only to accidentally get caught red-handed by factory staff.

The incident itself was simple enough, but the identities of these two people made it anything but simple.

Even with Deputy Factory Director Jiang's authority looming over them, the crowd's tongues weren't exactly restrained.

"Aiyo, isn't that the Lu family's second daughter? That's not right - I remember it was the Lu family's eldest daughter who was engaged to the Jiang family's second son!"

"Ah this... isn't this the future brother-in-law with the younger sister-in-law!"

"This is just too shameless!"

The sons of cadres really know how to have fun.

In the crowd, a middle-aged woman in a blue checkered shirt couldn't help but mutter under her breath.

Even though someone quickly tugged at her sleeve, the words had already spread.

Loving excitement has always been in Chinese people's nature, especially today with city officials present - there were plenty in the factory who disliked the Jiang family.

People in the crowd kept adding fuel to the fire.

"Aiyo!" Another middle-aged woman slapped her thigh: "If I remember correctly, that Lu girl's birth mother Comrade Zhou Qingru died saving Jiang Hao's mother and the child in her womb, leaving that poor Lu girl behind."

"Exactly! The little girl was only three years old when her mother died, living all these years with a stepmother!"

"And that stepmother of hers, you know about her, right? She's from that Director Lu's family that caused all that commotion in the factory recently!"

"Such a shameless stepmother, and the daughter she brought is just as shameless. You can imagine how hard that Lu girl's life must have been all these years..."

"Who says otherwise! Before, everyone said that Jiang woman was so wonderful, but look - that girl used to always keep her head down when she saw people."

"Really pitiful. If only Comrade Zhou were still here..."

"Good people have it hard!"

With everyone chiming in one after another, they successfully made the visiting municipal committee leaders' faces darken.

You have to understand that during this time, leading cadres were particularly concerned about discipline and morality. With this incident involving both ingratitude and brother-in-law/younger sister-in-law relations, it was clear that Deputy Factory Director Jiang probably wouldn't be moving up in position for at least a few years.

More seriously, in these tense times, whether he could even keep his current position was another matter entirely.

It seemed this Deputy Factory Director Jiang had indeed offended quite a few people in his daily work.

At the back of the crowd, An Ning watched the drama with great relish, making Aunt Guihua - who had been preparing to comfort the young girl, worried she might do something rash - choke on her words.

This girl, how can she be so thick-skinned?

"You shameless thing, it must be you seducing my son, just like your mother who loves using dirty tricks. Let me tell you, Lu Qing, don't think you can enter our Jiang family using these methods."

"My son in the future is going to..." Now taking the stage was Jiang Hao's mother, Madam Tang.

Madam Tang was wearing the latest style of floral dress, with ear accessories that shone so brightly she hadn't had time to remove them, clearly having rushed over in a hurry.

"What nonsense are you talking!"

Seeing the situation spiraling further out of control, and feeling the piercing gazes of the leaders behind him, Deputy Factory Director Jiang could only brace himself and pull his wife - who had been trying to put on airs - behind him, signaling with his eyes for her to quickly remove the inappropriate accessories. Only then did he steady himself and turned to slap his son across the face!

The loud slap was audible even to An Ning from far away.

"You wretched thing, tell me, what exactly happened today? And that girl just now - tell me, when did you two meet?"

Truly a crafty old fox - with his opening words, he immediately distanced himself. Jiang Hao, true to being his father's son, immediately changed expression.

With a thud, he knelt on the ground, his originally handsome face full of bewilderment:

"Dad, I don't know either. As soon as Lu Qing came in, she wanted... wanted to take her clothes off, and kept throwing herself at me."

"Lu Qing has been coming to our house almost daily for months. I've avoided her several times. If you don't believe me, ask the people around - they all saw it with their own eyes."

The implication was that this whole incident was Lu Qing playing the victim after being the perpetrator, having set it up herself.

And truth be told, compared to Lu Qing's obviously crumpled clothes, Jiang Hao's attire was indeed much cleaner and neater.

The crowd looked at each other in confusion.

"In this day and age, could there really be young girls forcing themselves on men?"

Lu Qing suddenly looked up, directly meeting An Ning's meaningful gaze.

Those hook-like eyes seemed to say:

See, he had this planned from the very beginning. You pride yourself on your beauty, thinking you're so clever, but in reality, you're just a disposable pawn.

Lu Qing's hands at her sides clenched tightly, her slender fingertips almost digging until they bled.

If you don't fight now, you'll have to go to the countryside!

Lu An Ning's triumphant voice seemed to echo in her ears. At this moment, Lu Qing hesitated no longer. Taking the Jiang mother and son completely by surprise, she rushed forward in one swift step to stand before Jiang Hao. On his untouched right cheek, she added another resounding slap.

As if unable to believe that Lu Qing - who had always been submissive and almost fawning toward them - would dare to hit him, the mother and son were still processing what happened when Lu Qing beside them had already burst into tears:

"Hao-ge, you lied to me! They were right - you really were deceiving me all along. You were dating me, never refusing my advances, just so you could use me and use my mother to break off your engagement with my sister. So you could cleanly and clearly marry some cadre's daughter, isn't that right!"

"Tell me, isn't that right, isn't it!"

Not giving anyone a chance to speak, tightly clutching the sleeve of the person before her, Lu Qing cried as if her heart was breaking.

An Ning thought to herself that this cheap stepsister of hers was finally being smart for once.

With a mother like Jiang Yuhua, Lu Qing was naturally quite attractive, her features carrying a hint of sensuality. Now, crying as if pear blossoms were washed by rain, pulling at Jiang Hao with that stubborn expression, she instantly aroused everyone's sympathy.

Actually, if you thought about it carefully, it did make some sense. Otherwise, with so many people around, why would he specifically target his own younger sister-in-law?

But still, this Jiang family was really too shameless!

Not only were they ungrateful bullies taking advantage of a motherless girl, but they were also quite cunning and scheming!

The crowd's gazes involuntarily turned toward them, and the Jiang mother and son's expressions instantly changed:

"Don't listen to this wretched girl's nonsense! Since Comrade Zhou's unfortunate passing, I've always treated that Lu girl as my own daughter all these years - there's no way I would mistreat her."

"It's clearly you - you're the one who can't stand to see your own sister doing well, deliberately causing trouble!"

"Yes, An Ning and I have been childhood sweethearts since we were little. An Ning lost her mother so young - our family has nothing but heartache for her, how could we possibly have such thoughts?"

Jiang Hao also quickly caught on, putting on a deeply affectionate appearance.

An Ning couldn't help but raise an eyebrow:

"That's hard to say. I think this older sister's tears look quite genuine."

The mother and son turned around, but what met their eyes was an unfamiliar face.

Today, An Ning was wearing a beige knitted shirt paired with pure black trousers, her jet-black hair casually tied back, with the newly purchased Plum Blossom brand watch on her wrist.

While this outfit wasn't particularly special, on An Ning at this moment, it stood out remarkably.

The mother and son hadn't seen her in many days and didn't recognize her at all.

Madam Tang's temper had never been good to begin with, and years of privileged living had added a touch of arrogant harshness. She immediately snapped impatiently:

"Whose little girl are you? You don't even know how to speak properly!"

Meanwhile, Jiang Hao, upon seeing the newcomer, had a flash of admiration in his eyes, and his tone softened considerably:

"This female comrade, you might be new here and have misunderstood something!"

"Hmm... misunderstood? I don't think so!"

"Just whose girl are you? Didn't your mother teach you? You shouldn't speak carelessly about things you don't understand!"

Facing their suddenly changed expressions and Aunt Guihua's strange look from nearby, An Ning suddenly smiled sweetly:

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm precisely the Lu An Ning that Auntie said she wishes she could treat as her own daughter, and the so-called childhood sweetheart of this comrade here!"

As her words fell, the crowd instantly erupted in roaring laughter.

At the same time, sensing that a certain gaze had been fixed on this spot all along, An Ning couldn't help but look back, directly meeting a pair of eyes that held a faint trace of amusement.