In her previous life, she hadn’t worked long at the factory and had never witnessed the process of starching the yarn.

As she was lost in thought, she heard the sound of boisterous laughter coming from up ahead.

“Liu Ming, I heard you’re getting close with that girl from the coarse yarn department. How’s it going? What stage are you at?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. We’ve only held hands. Nothing more.”

“Pfft! You really have the nerve to say that? None of us believe you for a second. You’ve never been able to keep it in your pants. Stop pretending to be all proper. Come on, spill it—how many girls have you fooled around with?”

“Haha… come on, share your secrets with us. How do you reel them in?”

“No problem, just buy me dinner after work…”

Listening to their shameless conversation, Dai Qing clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms just to keep herself from storming over and scratching Liu Ming’s face.

She had always wondered how someone could change so drastically. But now she realized he had always been rotten to the core.

In her past life, she had been naïve, ignorant, and alone, which made her an easy target for Liu Ming’s sweet lies. But hearing this now, all she felt was disgust and hatred.

Just then, Liu Ming glanced back at her, flashing a slight smile… In her previous life, Liu Ming had seemed like the sun in her life, making her feel warm and safe. But now, that same smile made her skin crawl, her entire body tense, and her stomach churn with nausea.

“Hey, is that another target you’ve got your eye on? Haha…”

“Stop joking, you’ll scare the poor girl…”

Watching them walk away, still laughing and joking, Dai Qing’s fists tightened, her eyes reddening with anger. She hadn’t expected to run into him on her very first day.

This time, she vowed to return every ounce of humiliation she had suffered in her past life.

By the time she reached the door of the pre-spinning office, she had finally calmed herself. She pushed open the iron door, and inside, some people were holding large tea mugs, while others had notepads in hand. They all turned to look at her.

“Young lady, who are you looking for?”

The speaker was a middle-aged woman, the workshop accountant, Cui Ying. Everyone addressed her as Accountant Cui.

“Hello, I’m a new worker. Section Chief Zhao told me to report to Foreman Guo.”

She handed over her stamped assignment slip. Cui Ying took the slip and her paperwork, carefully verifying it before nodding.

“The foreman’s not here right now. I’ll register you instead.”

With that, she grabbed a thick ledger from the shelf and entered Dai Qing’s name. This information would later be used for calculating wages and handling social security and medical benefits.

“Come on, I’ll take you to meet the master.”

Accountant Cui grabbed a sanitary cap and two face masks from the storage room and handed them to her. “Use these for now. Every quarter, you’ll get new ones, along with soap and other supplies.”

Dai Qing already knew this—these were all part of the labor protection equipment provided by the factory.

Seeing how quiet she was, Accountant Cui took the opportunity to explain the basic layout of the workshop.

The pre-spinning workshop was a large one, divided into three areas: the cleaning section, the south workshop, and the north workshop.

Because the cleaning machines were massive and posed a high safety risk, they were placed in a separate section.

Besides that, there were other major tasks such as carding, drawing, and roving. Carding was considered the most dangerous, second only to the cleaning machines, and the workers often referred to the two processes as the “big slot machines” and the “little tigers.”

Any breach of safety protocols could easily result in the loss of a limb.

In addition to these critical jobs, there were maintenance workers and cleaners.

The air was thick with floating cotton fibers, visible to the naked eye. Every worker wore sanitary caps and face masks.

“Team Leader Wang, here’s a new apprentice for Master Wei. She’ll be under her guidance.”