Li Hongying stepped into the kitchen just in time to hear Zhou Xiaoqing questioning Jiang Qing. She quickly interjected, “Xiaoqing, I think your mother was looking for you.”

Hearing this, Zhou Xiaoqing returned to the east room.  

Li Hongying walked over to Jiang Qing and comforted her in a low voice, “Though Zhang Jiaming’s family isn’t as well-off as Xiao Lu’s, your Uncle Jiang said he’d prepare a dowry and arrange a banquet for you, so you can marry into the Zhang family with dignity.”  

“I don’t need it.”  

Li Hongying, usually timid, was provoked by Jiang Qing’s defiance and snapped back with rare anger, “Your Uncle Jiang has been generous enough not to hold your affair with Jiaming against you. He’s even willing to provide a dowry—don’t be ungrateful!”  

Jiang Qing couldn’t hold back her fury. “What did I even do wrong? He and Jiang Moli are cut from the same cloth. If he really favored Zhang Jiaming, he would’ve married Jiang Moli off to him long ago—why would it be my turn? I’m the one willing to marry Zhang Jiaming, saving him from a fallout with the Zhang family. He should be thanking me!”  

Li Hongying thought her daughter was just twisting logic, but she was slow with words and didn’t know how to argue back.  

Just then, Zhou Xiaoqing re-entered the kitchen, and the mother-daughter pair fell silent, each busying themselves with their tasks.  

Not long after, Jiang Peng’s voice rang out from the yard:  

“Dad! Sis! I’m back!”  

Jiang Peng strode into the courtyard and gulped down water from a teacup.  

Jiang Dahai glared at his son, annoyed. “You finally decided to come back? I thought you’d dropped dead somewhere—gone the whole damn day!”  

Jiang Moli also looked at him. “Why are you back so early?”  

Jiang Peng slammed the cup down, glancing between his father and sister, his expression a mix of grievance and frustration.  

“Do you want me back or not?”  

Jiang Moli replied, “You left—who is watching the toilet door?”  

Jiang Dahai frowned, puzzled. “What are you two talking about?”  

Jiang Peng plopped onto a stool, panting as he answered Jiang Moli, “I was just about to tell you—they kicked me out. And they told me to pass on a message: your work attitude is unacceptable, so they’re taking back the job. You’re fired.”  

Jiang Dahai was completely lost. “What job? Moli, since when did you have a job? I didn’t know about this!”  

Jiang Moli wasn’t particularly upset about losing the job—she hadn’t wanted to clean toilets in the first place—but she still had to make a scene.  

“Bullshit! How is my attitude unacceptable? Bring them here—let them say it to my face!”  

Jiang Peng sighed. “That’s what they said.”  

“I’m not letting this go. I’m going to confront them!”  

She made a move to storm out, but Jiang Dahai grabbed her by the collar.  

“Enough! Calm down. What the hell is going on?”  

With all the commotion, Li Hongying and Jiang Qing from the kitchen, as well as Zhou Weiguang’s family from the east room, all came out to see what was happening.  

Jiang Moli loudly explained how she had asked someone to help her secure a job as a toilet attendant, only to be fired on the very first day.  

After finishing her story, she still looked indignant. “How dare they say my attitude was bad? What part of my attitude was bad?”  

Jiang Peng said, “They said you abandoned your post on the first day.”  

“I had something to take care of! I told you to cover for me, didn’t I?”  

Jiang Peng guiltily stayed silent.  

Not long after Jiang Moli and Lu Cheng left, he had gotten drowsy and gone to nap on a nearby flower bed—only to be caught red-handed by the neighborhood office supervisor.  

Once he understood the whole story, Jiang Dahai stared at his two children, unsure whether to be angry or not.  

On one hand, he was upset his daughter had lost her job—but on the other, cleaning toilets wasn’t exactly a respectable job anyway.  

His daughter was young and beautiful, well-educated—she shouldn’t be doing something like that.  

…

Wang Lianhua immediately spread the news of Jiang Moli losing her job.  

Living in the same courtyard, Wang Lianhua had always despised Jiang Moli’s lazy and entitled attitude.  

She had originally felt guilty for even suggesting a match between Jiang Moli and her nephew, thinking she was doing her younger brother a disservice.  

Who would’ve thought that Jiang Moli would actually have the nerve to pick and choose, looking down on her nephew?  

When she found out that Jiang Qing had snatched Jiang Moli’s childhood sweetheart, she was overjoyed—more thrilled than if it were New Year’s—believing Jiang Moli had gotten what she deserved.  

But then, Jiang Moli somehow caught the eye of her ex-fiancé’s superior!  

What kind of twisted fate was this?!  

A lazy, good-for-nothing like Jiang Moli should never get married in her life!  

“It’s hilarious—she barely even held onto the job before losing it.”  

“What kind of sin did Old Jiang commit in his past life to end up with such a troublemaker of a daughter?”  

Meanwhile, Zhou Xiaoqing was also gossiping with a group of young women in the residential area, mocking Jiang Moli for losing her job.  

“Do you think that Lu guy would call off the engagement if he knew what she’s really like?”  

“She’s already been dumped once—if she gets jilted again, she’ll never marry in her life!”  

“Serves her right!”  

[Disdain Points +1+1+1…] 

As the news of her job loss spread throughout the factory’s residential area, Jiang Moli became the butt of countless jokes—while her Disdain Value skyrocketed.  

The Most Hated System was numb at this point.  

For its host, completing missions was as easy as drinking water.  

……  

Though Jiang Qing was already used to Jiang Moli messing up job opportunities.  

After Jiang Moli graduated high school, Jiang Dahai had gone to great lengths to find her work, but without exception, she ruined every single chance.  

Still, Jiang Qing felt a small sense of comfort and balance.  

No matter how much better Jiang Moli seemed to be doing now, she would eventually self-destruct.  

……  

During dinner, Jiang Qing brought up registering her marriage with Jiang Dahai.  

“Jiaming has already submitted the marriage application. Once it’s approved, we’ll register. As for the banquet, we won’t make a big fuss—just a meal with close relatives from both sides.”  

Jiang Dahai knew his stepdaughter’s stubborn pride. “Since you and Jiaming have already made up your minds, we’ll do as you wish. What do you want for your dowry?”  

For a brief moment, Jiang Qing wavered—but then she shook her head.  

“No need. Jiaming and I are perfectly capable—we’ll earn our own living.”  

As someone who had been through it all, Li Hongying knew full well how unwise it was for her daughter to be stubborn at this moment. She grew anxious but didn’t even get a chance to speak before—  

Clap clap clap.

Jiang Moli’s slow, sarcastic applause made the whole family turn to look at her.  

“Bravo! Such integrity! Everyone heard that, right? Uncle Weiguang, Aunt Lianhua, you’re witnesses too—Jiang Qing herself refused a dowry. It’s not my dad mistreating his stepdaughter. You’ve got to back him up on this.”  

Being called out, Zhou Weiguang had no choice but to step out of his room with his rice bowl.  

“Old Jiang, congratulations! Both your daughters are engaged—double happiness!”  

“Your Xiaoqing is pretty and outstanding—she’ll surely find you a great son-in-law too.”  

“Appreciate the kind words.”  

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhou Weiguang retreated back inside.  

Jiang Dahai didn’t bring up the dowry again.  

He had his pride too—if she didn’t want it, fine. He’d save the money.  

Instead, he asked Jiang Moli when she and Lu Cheng planned to register.  

“We’re registering on the 16th.”  

Hearing “the 16th,” Jiang Dahai paused.  

Today was the 16th—but the proposal had only been made this morning. There was no way they’d already secretly registered in the afternoon.  

“…Next month’s 16th?”  

“This month.”  

Jiang Dahai was exasperated. “Stop messing around—when is it really?”  

Next door in the east room, Zhou Weiguang’s family all pricked up their ears.  

Especially Wang Lianhua and Zhou Xiaoqing—the thought of Jiang Moli marrying an officer was agonizing to them.