Chapter 34: Who Has Ill Intentions

Yang Xuemei snapped, “That’s right! Director Zhang had already promised my father that the position would be mine, but you, relying on your dad being the factory director, interfered. Who doesn’t know this?”

Zheng Qiaoling retorted, “What a joke! The sales department was recruiting, and the whole factory knew about it. Anyone could apply. Lanlan also applied and passed the exam. You couldn’t even fill out the exam paper, didn’t know how to do the accounts, and couldn’t even use an abacus! Who’s to blame? If they had hired you, that would’ve been a disaster—you couldn’t do anything, just a decoration!”

Yang Xuemei retorted, “Well, she graduated from high school, who can compare to her!”

Song Xilan responded slowly, her tone calm as usual, “You can’t compare to me, and you’re jealous because I work in the sales department, so you made up bad rumors about me to ruin my reputation. But how does that benefit you? Do you think that if my reputation is ruined, you can go work in the sales department? Don’t you realize that my dad is the factory director? If you offend the director’s daughter, will you have a good time? Who’s going to suffer in the end? The person who encouraged you to slander me—that’s the one with bad intentions!”

Yang Xuemei was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, “It was Wang Hongyan. She told me she saw it with her own eyes.”

Wang Hongyan knew that Yang Xuemei liked to gossip and resented Song Xilan for taking the job she wanted, so she deliberately spread those rumors about Song Xilan, knowing that Yang Xuemei would inevitably pass them along.

Zheng Qiaoling looked at Song Xilan in confusion, “When did you offend Wang Hongyan?”

Wang Hongyan was different from Yang Xuemei. Everyone knew that Yang Xuemei was petty and gossipy, but Wang Hongyan was widely regarded as a kind-hearted person. Whenever someone encountered difficulties, she was always the first to step forward and offer comfort and help.

It was hard to believe that she would deliberately speak ill of Song Xilan.

Song Xilan couldn’t figure it out either, “I don’t think I’ve done anything to offend her. I don’t really have much to do with her.”

Zheng Qiaoling said, “We need to go ask her and clear this up. Yang Xuemei just talked badly about you, and a lot of people in the restroom heard it. If we don’t sort it out now, who knows how this will spread. By the way, didn’t Wang Hongyan come to lunch today?”

Someone said, “It looks like she didn’t come. I saw her escorting A Qing from her team back to the dorm because A Qing wasn’t feeling well.”

Zheng Qiaoling grabbed Song Xilan’s hand, “Let’s go, we’ll look for her in the dorm!”

The factory had special dorms for single employees, and when they arrived, they ran into Wang Hongyan, who was holding a thermos and heading to the water station.

“Wang Hongyan!” Zheng Qiaoling confronted her, “Yang Xuemei said you told her you saw Song Xilan at the gynecology department, is that true?”

Wang Hongyan glanced at the few people following behind Yang Xuemei and realized she couldn’t brush this off today. She nodded, “Yes, I did see her. I was just worried that something might have happened to Xiao Song, so I mentioned it. What’s the problem?”

Song Xilan asked softly, “You said you saw me with your own eyes. Can you tell me exactly when and where you saw me?”

“Right after New Year’s Day, I think it was a Thursday morning, right outside the gynecology department’s doctor’s office.”

That was correct—it was the day Song Xilan went to visit her aunt at the hospital and ran into Jiang Jingru.

She smiled faintly and said, “Thank you for your concern. I wasn’t feeling well that day; I had a cold. My aunt works at the hospital, so I went to see her for some cold medicine. I even have the prescription from that day at home. If you don’t believe me, I can show it to you. But Wang Hongyan, the gynecology department’s office is on the second floor, and the entire floor is filled with gynecology offices and wards. Why were you even there? Were you there to see a doctor?”

Zheng Qiaoling snorted, “How ridiculous. Everyone knows that Lanlan’s aunt is a gynecologist. It’s perfectly normal for her to visit her aunt. But some people—who aren’t even married—go to the gynecology department. People who don’t know would think they’re the ones being improper!”

Song Xilan said gently, “Qiaoling, don’t say that. She might not have been there to see a doctor. She could have been accompanying someone else or visiting a relative. By the way, Hongyan, why don’t you tell me the name of your friend or relative? I can have my aunt check the records to see if that person was a patient there. If so, we’ll present the evidence. After all, we shouldn’t let people make baseless suspicions, right?”

Wang Hongyan stammered, “I, I…”

“Today, Yang Xuemei and the others talked about me going to the gynecology department. A lot of people heard it. In the future, I’m sure there will be rumors. I need to explain it, of course. And it’s easy for me to explain because I have evidence. But you don’t have any evidence. You’ll have a hard time explaining why you saw me there, won’t you?”

Zheng Qiaoling added, “Exactly. If you weren’t accompanying someone else or visiting someone, why would a young woman like you be in the gynecology department?”

The others, including Yang Xuemei, started to look at Wang Hongyan with strange expressions. After all, if she wasn’t there for any particular reason, why would she run into Song Xilan at the gynecology department?

Wang Hongyan panicked, “I’m not, I didn’t…”

Song Xilan suddenly grew serious: “What’s your relationship with Jiang Jingru? Why are you helping her?”

Wang Hongyan was shocked, “How do you know?”

Zheng Qiaoling was equally surprised, “How did this end up involving Jiang Jingru?”

Song Xilan patted Zheng Qiaoling’s hand, “I’ll explain later.” Jiang Jingru was her idol, and once she found out about this, she’d surely be very disappointed!

Then she turned back to Wang Hongyan, “Are you really willing to sacrifice your reputation for her?”

Wang Hongyan hesitated, “I, I’m from the same hometown as her. She gave me twenty yuan and asked me to spread the rumor that you were going to the gynecology department for an abortion.”

Song Xilan smiled, “So it’s her. Do you know why she was at the gynecology department when she saw me?”

Wang Hongyan shook her head in confusion, and Song Xilan continued, “It’s because she was pregnant out of wedlock. The one who really went to the hospital for an abortion is Jiang Jingru.”

Clang! Zheng Qiaoling’s lunch box dropped to the floor in shock as she covered her mouth in disbelief, “Oh my god, how could this be!”

Song Xilan said, “Wang Hongyan, I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Go to the dance troupe and spread the news about Jiang Jingru’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy. I want everyone to know what she’s done!”