Chapter 14

“……”

She had barely shouted a few times when Pang Chuan came chasing out. One hand clamped tightly over her mouth to keep her from speaking, while he angrily growled:

“Su Yuwei, what the hell are you yelling for?”

In this day and age, getting accused of hooliganism could really get a person executed. He was the father of the child, after all. Was this crazy woman really trying to get him killed?

“Yo, isn’t this the guy called Pang Chuan, Xiao Xue’s boyfriend?”

While the two were struggling, a middle-aged woman in her early forties suddenly turned around. When she saw Pang Chuan and Su Yuwei pulling and tugging, her eyes lit up with the fire of gossip and she eagerly asked:

“Xiao Pang, who is this? What’s going on here?”

Just then, Su Yuwei bit down hard on his hand. As soon as she broke free, she spat on the ground in disgust, her face full of contempt. Pang Chuan’s temples throbbed with anger.

But with someone else present, he didn’t dare lash out. After all, everyone at the factory knew he was with Tao Xue. If word got out about him having an affair, he might get away with it, but Tao Xue would never live it down.

Thinking of this, he forced himself to calm down and forced a stiff smile as he said:

“It’s nothing, Auntie. Go about your business. This is my cousin from back home. I’m just taking her away now.”

He said this while dragging Su Yuwei backwards, lowering his voice to threaten her:

“Su Yuwei, if you keep making a scene and ruin Xiao Xue’s reputation, I won’t give you a single cent.”

Without waiting for her reaction, he pulled her back into the corner they had just come from.

“Let go!”

Su Yuwei yanked her hand free and coldly asked him:

“Three thousand yuan and a divorce—have you thought it over?”

Pang Chuan didn’t say anything. Just as she was about to blow up again, he finally spoke:

“Let’s talk about this later. Three thousand isn’t a small amount. I need to go home and think it over.”

With that, he turned and ran off, disappearing into the distance.

Su Yuwei was stunned.

That bastard! No shame at all. She was still standing here and he just ran off? Did he really think she wouldn’t dare to go inside and confront his mistress?

Or did he think she was afraid?

Damn it. That filthy man was truly infuriating!

Su Yuwei couldn’t hold it in anymore and turned straight toward the entrance of the food factory.

A young security guard at the gate stopped her and asked:

“Comrade, you don’t work here, do you?”

Su Yuwei nodded, suppressed her anger, and forced a smile:

“I’m looking for someone named Tao Xue who works here. Tell her that someone named Su Yuwei is looking for her. If she doesn’t come out in ten minutes, she’s going to be famous around here real soon.”

The guard hesitated, sensing trouble. He asked cautiously:

“What’s your business with her?”

Su Yuwei let out a cold laugh:

“I came to collect a debt. Trust me, she’ll come out.”

With no choice, the guard asked her to wait and sent another guard to take over his post. Then he went inside to find her.

—

On the production line…

The women were all working busily. Tao Xue, seeing no one paying attention, secretly rubbed her sore lower back before continuing to seal bags of cookies one by one.

Just then, the line supervisor walked over and stopped in front of her.

With a hint of annoyance, she said:

“Tao Xue, Xiao Liu said someone’s looking for you outside. Go check it out, but make it quick.”

Tao Xue froze for a moment, then nodded and left the line. Outside, she found the guard Xiao Liu and asked with a smile:

“Xiao Liu, someone’s looking for me?”

“Yeah,” Xiao Liu replied, “someone named Su Yuwei.”

Tao Xue’s steps faltered. Her hand instinctively went to her barely visible belly, and she hesitated.

“I’m kind of busy right now,” she said awkwardly. “Can you tell her I can’t come out?”

Xiao Liu didn’t mind, but reminded her:

“She said if you don’t show up in ten minutes, she’ll make sure you’re well known in this town.”

As soon as he finished, Tao Xue panicked and hurried outside, muttering irritably:

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Xiao Liu: “…”

His face darkened. With a cold snort, he followed behind her at a slower pace.

—

At the factory gate…

Su Yuwei leaned against a tree outside the entrance, bored. She checked the time on her wristwatch.

Right on time—exactly ten minutes later, she saw a woman rushing out of the factory.

It was Tao Xue, the same woman who had come with Pang Chuan earlier.

She was breathless and pale. Her eyes darted around until they landed on Su Yuwei, and she walked over cautiously.

“What do you want?” she asked, not daring to get too close. She was pregnant and worried Su Yuwei might go crazy and hurt her.

Su Yuwei saw right through her fears.

But she was overthinking it. After all, that child was evidence of their affair—why would she destroy it?

Wearing a mocking smile, Su Yuwei looked at her stomach and casually asked:

“How far along are you?”

Caught off guard, Tao Xue hesitated for a moment before replying, with a hint of pride as she touched her belly:

“About three months.”

Su Yuwei recalled the plot. The timing checked out. According to the story, Tao Xue had been “set up” by her sister-in-law and ended up sleeping with Pang Chuan, who was visiting his dead comrade’s family. That’s how it all started.

What a joke. That woman…

Su Yuwei remembered the dark-skinned young woman she’d seen at Tao Xue’s home. She’d looked like someone who’d rather see her sister-in-law widowed forever, not someone who’d scheme to get her in bed with another man.

Looking back, the original novel had obviously whitewashed and romanticized their filthy actions through the lens of the male and female leads.

Su Yuwei shifted her gaze from Tao Xue’s belly and met her eyes, asking directly:

“Since the baby’s this far along, how do you plan to compensate me for what happened between you and Pang Chuan?”

Tao Xue was stunned. Su Yuwei sneered and continued:

“You’ve been sleeping together this long. Don’t tell me you’ve never thought about it?”

Tao Xue’s expression turned angry. She frowned and snapped:

“Don’t talk so nasty. What happened between me and Chuan-ge was an accident. It’s not as dirty as you make it sound.”

She thought back to that unexpected night. Though a bit sweet, she’d planned to back off once she found out he had a wife.

But then, half a month ago, she’d discovered she was pregnant and panicked. She’d sought him out again, hoping he’d come up with a solution—maybe even support her getting an abortion.

To her surprise, he actually liked her and said he’d take responsibility.

He was so good to her… she couldn’t say no.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she saw Su Yuwei’s cold eyes, then heard her threatening voice:

“I don’t care how you hooked up. What matters is, I want compensation. Three thousand yuan from you two. If I don’t get it, I’ll go straight to the neighborhood committee and report you. I’ll tell them you had an affair with a married man, got pregnant, and even…”

Su Yuwei paused, then glanced at her belly with a cold laugh:

“You don’t even have a marriage certificate, yet you got yourself knocked up. I could report you for indecency. Hooliganism, you know…”

She deliberately raised her voice on the last word, eyeing Tao Xue with a faint smile.

Tao Xue’s face went ghostly pale.

She wasn’t stupid. She understood the threat. Even though the crackdown on “hooliganism” had eased a bit, it was still serious. If they slapped that label on her, she’d be ruined.

But… three thousand yuan…

Her lips trembled, and she stammered:

“Why don’t you just go rob someone? Where are we supposed to steal three thousand from?”

“Not my problem.”

Su Yuwei shrugged.

“You should’ve thought of that before. If you can’t pay, then go enjoy prison with your dear Chuan-ge.”

She gave Tao Xue a meaningful look. Seeing how pale and terrified she looked, Su Yuwei couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.

She knew Tao Xue had the money.

According to the novel, when Tao Xue’s husband died, she received 2,180 yuan in compensation, which she didn’t tell her in-laws about. She secretly stashed it away.

As for Pang Chuan, he got a monthly allowance of 78 yuan and only sent 20 back home. The rest he kept for himself—getting 1,000 yuan out of him shouldn’t be a problem.

If they didn’t have it, they could borrow it. And if they couldn’t borrow it, they could go to jail.

Everyone has to pay the price for their actions.

And she had no intention of letting them off easy.

After saying what she came to say, Su Yuwei turned and left, not wanting to see Tao Xue’s deathly pale face a moment longer.

She’d barely walked a few steps when Tao Xue suddenly called out seriously:

“I heard from Chuan-ge that you two have a child. Aren’t you afraid that if you keep pushing like this, he’ll hate both you and your daughter?”

Su Yuwei turned, her voice full of disdain:

“You’re giving that man way too much credit. And who the hell does he think he is? Whether the child acknowledges him or not is still up in the air.”

With that, she walked away from the factory gate without a backward glance.

—

Outside the guesthouse…

A man was anxiously pacing back and forth, occasionally turning in circles.

Finally…

Just as he was about to go look for her, he saw a familiar figure in the distance.