Chapter 16 – The Aftermath

After tidying up, Su Yue grabbed her thermos and slung her satchel over her shoulder before heading out.

She didn’t plan to go to the third cafeteria, but instead chose the first one, which was closer to the dormitory. She bought a bowl of porridge, a boiled egg, and a small dish of pickled vegetables, then found an empty seat to sit and eat.

By the time she finished breakfast and checked the time, it was already 7:45. She filled her thermos with hot water and headed toward the archives room. Along the way, her lips curled into a faint smile as she listened to the factory workers fervently gossiping about the incident at Deputy Director Qin’s house.

Soon, she arrived at the archives room, just in time to see Li Shufang unlocking the door. Su Yue quickly walked up and greeted her warmly, “Good morning, Sister Li!”

Li Shufang turned around with a smile. “Good morning, Xiao Su!”

The two exchanged a smile and entered the room together.

As she set down her bag, Su Yue said, “Sister Li, I already fetched the hot water this morning.” With that, she went to the washbasin, soaked a rag, and began wiping down the desks and cabinets.

Li Shufang praised her, “Xiao Su, you’re really diligent.” Then she picked up a broom and started sweeping the floor.

Just as they were cleaning, Wang Qiuyah entered the room. “Good morning, Supervisor Li!”

Li Shufang looked up and greeted her, “Good morning, Comrade Xiao Wang.”

Wang Qiuyah walked over to Su Yue and whispered mysteriously, “Su Yue, something happened at Deputy Director Qin’s house last night.”

Su Yue smiled as if amused. “I’ve been hearing about it all the way here. What exactly happened though? It seems like the whole factory’s talking about it.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Wang Qiuyah said with pride. “My aunt lives right next door to Deputy Director Qin. Around five this morning, they suddenly started screaming and shouting…”

She lowered her voice: “They were saying there were ghosts.”

Su Yue raised an eyebrow. “The Qin family’s being pretty bold, huh? Spouting feudal superstition like that—they’re not afraid of the Revolutionary Committee dragging them away?”

Wang Qiuyah quickly explained, “You don’t know the full story. Even if the Revolutionary Committee came, they’d think something fishy was going on. The entire house was cleaned out overnight—everything, even their beds were gone. Only the things in the bathroom were untouched.”

Just then, Wu Yuxia suddenly chimed in, “Heavens, don’t tell me this was some kind of organized crime?”

Startled, Wang Qiuyah clutched her chest. “Sister Wu, you scared me to death! You were so quiet, I didn’t even notice you.”

Wu Yuxia chuckled awkwardly. “Go on, Xiao Wang, I want to hear more.”

Wang Qiuyah composed herself and continued, “Even the police came to investigate. But there were no tire tracks, no footprints—nothing. All that stuff, and it vanished without a trace.”

Wu Yuxia muttered, “With that kind of commotion, how could there be no clues? Could it really be like they said…?”

She couldn’t help but shudder.

Wang Qiuyah scoffed, “Ghosts? I don’t believe in that nonsense. Someone clearly has it out for Deputy Director Qin. But it’s strange—so strange that even the police are stumped. If they can’t figure it out, how are we supposed to?”

Wu Yuxia asked, “The Qin family must’ve been terrified, right?”

Wang Qiuyah suddenly remembered something funny and burst out laughing before continuing, “Their so-called ‘niece’—she’s really just the housemaid—came in this morning and heard the ruckus. She opened the door, and some neighbors followed her inside, worried something had happened. I went in too. And guess what? Qin Mingyue had peed her pants from fear!”

“She kept crying to go home. And she even asked to borrow a pair of pants from me. But I’m taller and thinner than her—just wait until you see her later, it’s hilarious!”

Just then, the door to the archives was knocked on. The three women looked up to see Director Wang standing at the entrance.

“Qiuyah, there’s something you need to take care of over in logistics. Go handle it now.” After speaking, he nodded at Li Shufang and walked off.

Wang Qiuyah shrugged at Su Yue and Wu Yuxia, then quickly left.

“I’ll go get a new basin of water,” Su Yue said, heading off to the water room.

The archives job was easy. Su Yue registered two batches of documents that morning, and before she knew it, half the day had passed.

At noon, Su Yue and Wang Qiuyah went to the first cafeteria to eat. After getting their food, they returned to the dormitory.

Wang Qiuyah grinned. “Qin Mingyue took the day off. But Deputy Director Qin showed up—still in his pajamas! I guess he’s too fat to borrow anyone else’s clothes.”

She took a bite of food and continued, “But he didn’t stay long—just came and left in a hurry.”

Su Yue thought of the safe. Maybe the key was at the factory office, and that’s why Deputy Director Qin dragged himself in even in that state.

That afternoon, Zhang Cuihua got off work after the morning shift. As she carried her lunch back, she worried about whether Xiao Su had eaten at the third cafeteria. If not, maybe she and her son hadn’t made up yet.

The thought that this engagement might fall through gnawed at her heart like a cat scratching.

Just as she reached the alley entrance, she was stopped by Aunt Liu.

“Cuihua, we’ve been neighbors for years, right? We should be considerate. But your family—can’t they stop causing a ruckus before bed, then start up again in the middle of the night? I’ve got three working adults and two kids in school. Even my youngest grandson was scared out of his wits last night!” Aunt Liu said with a frown.

Zhang Cuihua apologized profusely. “I’m truly sorry, Aunt Liu. I’ll go home and have a serious talk with the kids. I’ll make sure they behave.”

Next to her, Ge Dani cut in, “Aunt Zhang, your future daughter-in-law is really something. First time visiting and she already had your son take her to a state-run restaurant? And just because your grandson got curious and wanted to peek at what he was drinking—your son came home and kicked open his brother’s door, splashed water in their room, and wrecked the place!”

She scoffed, “I’m just saying, you really play favorites with your youngest son.”

Hearing this, Zhang Cuihua burned with fury. She hadn’t expected Liu Lanxiang to twist the story so much and slander her son.

“That’s not how it happened!” said Liu Baoqiang, Aunt Liu’s eldest grandson, who happened to be heading to school and overheard the conversation. He immediately stepped up and loudly defended, “Sister-in-law Su is amazing—she’s a high school graduate and even passed the test to become an official worker at our steel factory!”

He swallowed hard, clearly thinking of the braised pork she brought. “Yesterday was her first visit and she even brought a dish of braised pork. But Brother Xiangbei’s sister-in-law wanted to buy a temp job position, so she deliberately caused trouble. She didn’t want their family to spend money on Brother Xiangbei’s wedding.”

“When Brother Xiangbei brought Sister-in-law Su into the main room, they saw his sister-in-law drinking the soda Zhang Granny had bought for her. So he had to make her a cup of malted milk. But then his sister-in-law told her son to go snatch it! That led to a big argument between her and Zhang Granny, and that’s why Brother Xiangbei took Sister-in-law Su out for dinner.”

Liu Baoqiang spilled everything in one breath.

Aunt Liu saw Zhang Cuihua’s face turning red, then white, and quickly glared at her grandson. “What are you doing, still not off to school?”

“Yes, Grandma!” Liu Baoqiang called out, then dashed off toward school.

Hmph! Even if he’d be late, he couldn’t just stand by and watch Brother Xiangbei be wrongly accused.

That morning, he had seen Brother Xiangbei’s red-rimmed eyes on the way to school. After much coaxing, Brother Xiangbei had finally told him what had happened.