Chapter 31

Xia Qingning arrived at the factory quickly in Wu Xiaodong’s car. Wu Xiaodong went to park the car, and Xia Qingning went to the workshop first.

Her hairstyle today was truly unique and stylish. As soon as she entered the workshop, she attracted a group of female workers, who surrounded her and showered her with compliments.

“Qingning, your hair is so beautifully braided, how did you weave the ribbon in?”

“It’s not a ribbon, it’s called a headband. I saw a lot of Hong Kong stars wearing this hairstyle in posters.”

“I think Qingning looks like a star, no, if she wears beautiful clothes, she’ll be even prettier than a star.”

“Yes, yes, in our textile factory, if you’re talking about beauty, Qingning is second to none.”

Hearing the last sentence, Liu Xiaohong, who had been sitting quietly to the side, rolled her beautiful, fox-like eyes in disdain, clearly dissatisfied with the statement.

“Xiaohong, don’t listen to them, you’re much more feminine than her, you’re the number one.” Her best friend, Qian Xiaofang, noticed her unhappiness and quickly comforted her.

“Who cares.” Liu Xiaohong turned her body away, proudly turning her head and refusing to look at Xia Qingning and the others.

Soon it was time to start work, and everyone returned to their respective positions. Xia Qingning also sat down at the sewing machine and began her day’s work.

Factories in this era rarely required overtime, and everyone was off work by 5:30 pm. When Xia Qingning reached the factory gate, Wu Xiaodong was already waiting there with his bicycle. She greeted him and got on his bike.

On their way home, they saw a woman in yellow clothes riding a brand new bicycle in the distance. Wu Xiaodong asked uncertainly:

“Qingning, do you think that’s He Shanshan in front?”

The yellow clothes were quite eye-catching in the crowd, and Xia Qingning looked up and saw that it was indeed He Shanshan. She was riding a brand new bicycle, her back straight, looking very proud of herself.

“The bicycle she’s riding seems to be the one that Jingzhe bought for you yesterday.” Wu Xiaodong looked closely and said to Xia Qingning:

“Did you let her ride your bike?”

“No.” Xia Qingning denied, feeling a little confused herself.

“She actually stole your new bike, and you haven’t even ridden it once, that’s so unethical!” Wu Xiaodong said and sped up, directly chasing after her.

He Shanshan was riding her bike and chatting with a woman of similar age beside her. The woman looked at the bike He Shanshan was riding with envy:

“Shanshan, your bike looks really nice, can I borrow it sometime? I’ve never ridden a Phoenix brand before, it must be very expensive.”

“It’s not that expensive, just one hundred and fifty or sixty yuan.” He Shanshan pretended to be casual and flicked her hair, looking very wealthy.

“One hundred and fifty or sixty yuan isn’t expensive?” The woman was surprised, then continued:

“Look at you, you eat well, dress well, and now you can ride such a good bike, it’s really enviable.”

He Shanshan listened to the woman’s praise, her face full of pride. Just then, a bike suddenly stopped in front of her, blocking her path.

He Shanshan was startled and immediately slammed on her brakes, stopping the bike. She was about to scold the person, but when she looked up, she saw Wu Xiaodong and Xia Qingning standing in front of her, and she swallowed the words she was about to say.

The woman beside her wasn’t going to let it go, and immediately jumped out to defend her, scolding:

“Kid, are you blind? If you can’t ride, don’t come out, this is a brand new Phoenix bike, if you crash it, can you afford to pay for it?”

Hearing her speak so harshly and unreasonably, Xia Qingning got off the bike and said with a stern face:

“You should ask her if she can afford to pay if she crashes it.”

At this time, Wu Xiaodong had also parked his bike and walked angrily to He Shanshan, saying:

“He Shanshan, you stole Qingning’s new bike and came out to show off, are you shameless?”

Looking at He Shanshan, then at Xia Qingning, the woman finally understood what was going on and asked:

“Shanshan, the bike isn’t yours?”

Her bragging was exposed on the spot, He Shanshan’s face couldn’t hold it anymore, and she replied angrily:

“What’s it to you?” Then she turned to Wu Xiaodong and argued:

“What do you mean stole? It was just sitting in the yard at home, no one was riding it, what’s wrong with me riding it?”

This robber logic made even Xia Qingning speechless, she retorted:

“There are so many things in the store, they’re just sitting there, no one is buying them, why don’t you just take them all?”

He Shanshan looked at Xia Qingning with disdain, snorted from her nose, suddenly pushed the bike towards Xia Qingning, and said mockingly:

“Here, the bike is yours, can you ride it?”

“Whether I can ride or not, the bike is mine. You rode it without my permission, that’s stealing.” Xia Qingning looked at He Shanshan and retorted without backing down.

At this time, many people had gathered around to watch the commotion, pointing fingers at He Shanshan.

He Shanshan knew she was in the wrong, and was too embarrassed to argue further. She glared at Xia Qingning, got on her bike, and pedaled away, still arguing in a low voice:

“She can’t ride anyway, what’s wrong with me riding it!”

Xia Qingning frowned, watching her ride away, with only one thought in her mind:

How shameless can one person be!

“Qingning, come on.” Wu Xiaodong said to Xia Qingning, then drove his bike to catch up with her. They were about to catch up, but when they entered the courtyard, they were suddenly stopped by the old man at the phone booth.

“Qingning, don’t go, don’t go, your family sent you something again.” The old man said enthusiastically to Xia Qingning.

Wu Xiaodong was forced to stop.

The old man went into the booth and brought out a large bamboo basket. The basket was filled with bright yellow loquats, large and bright, looking particularly fresh.

The old man happily placed the loquats in front of them and said:

“Your brother brought them, these loquats look so good.”

“Where is he?” Xia Qingning asked quickly.

“He left after dropping off the things. I told him to wait for you to come back. He said he was busy at home and had to go back.” The old man replied.

Xia Qingning frowned slightly, it wasn’t really that he was busy at home, this brother just didn’t want to make things difficult for the original owner.

In fact, when the original owner was taken to the city, her family would still come to visit from time to time. Later, Wang Mingfang moved in, and she subtly hinted to the original owner to have her family visit less often.

The original owner was indecisive and didn’t dare to resist, so her family stopped coming to the city. Whenever they sent something over, they would leave it at the phone booth.

Just as Xia Qingning was about to leave with the basket, Zhao Cuilan, who had just finished work, happened to pass by. She looked at the basket of loquats, then at Xia Qingning standing there, and said with a condescending smile:

“Oh, your crippled brother from the countryside sent loquats again.”