Tong’s mother and Fu’s mother were so angry their faces turned red.

Tong’s mother shouted, “Which little harlot is talking nonsense… Ah, they’re hitting us too?”

As they were about to rage at each other, Sister-in-law Lu Da stepped in without hesitation.

She flipped over their vegetable baskets and slapped Tong’s mother, who had been the most outspoken.

Sister-in-law Lu Da shouted to the other people buying vegetables, “You all witnessed this! These old women were bad-mouthing my sister-in-law. She’s a military wife and has been praised by the police three times!”

The vendors, who were already annoyed with Tong’s and Fu’s mothers for their picky behavior and their tendency to try to cheat on payments, supported Sister-in-law Lu Da.

In the steel mill, some of the old women who were friendly with Qian’s mother also supported her.

“Which respectable family has a divorce just like that?”

Seeing her old colleagues supporting her, Qian’s mother grew more confident and coldly said, “We can’t afford a daughter-in-law like that. She acts like a princess and is never satisfied with how we treat her. She’s always looking for faults.”

“She’s now a level-three electrician and has become a team leader with a raise. The factory leaders value her and she looks down on our Qian family!”

She didn’t take her son’s infertility seriously; she was just angry that he still cared for Lin Xia.

Seeing how she was twisting the facts, Lin Shu decided to speak up.

“Oh, so you say my sister isn’t grateful for the job you gave her? Let me clarify things for everyone.”

“My sister did take over your job, but she’s not a daughter-in-law of the Qian family. She does all the household chores and cooking, and yet you take half or even a third of her salary to support your younger son?”

“You say my sister-in-law isn’t grateful? Even when you broke your leg, didn’t your husband get any help from anyone? It was my sister who cared for you, making sure you didn’t get any bedsores and didn’t soil yourself. Could your son care for you as well as she did?”

“When you were ill, you ran to my sister for help, and she took care of you. Even when she was sick, she had to keep working. Who’s really taking advantage here?”

“So your Qian family takes advantage and pretends to be virtuous, right?”

The crowd around them started murmuring.

“This mother-in-law is really something.”

“She’s not satisfied with such a good daughter-in-law?”

Qian’s mother was so furious that her face kept changing colors.

Her hand, raised in anger, trembled uncontrollably. “She’s been married for years and hasn’t given birth to a single child. I’ve…”

Lin Shu quickly interrupted her, continuing to clarify the situation.

Lin Shu shouted with intense energy, “Ha! You want to accuse my second sister of faking her surgery, and bribing the doctor to falsify the test results, right? Did you not care when Aunt Jiang exposed your son, Qian Lisheng, for faking his test results, or is it because your guilty son didn’t confess to you?”

Qian’s mother retorted, “You’re talking nonsense…”

Lin Shu cut her off, “I’m saying that your son, Qian Lisheng, cannot have children! Did you think naming him ‘Lisheng’ (meaning ‘immediately gives birth’) would make him fertile? What a joke—he can’t have children! He might be good at being deceitful, though. A man with such poor character, lying to the factory leaders and deceiving his wife and parents, what right does he have to work in a large factory? What right does he have to be my second sister’s husband?”

Lin Shu shouted loudly, “He’s not worthy!”

Qian’s mother was so angry she nearly fell backward, but fortunately, Tong’s mother caught her.

Qian’s mother, trembling with rage, stammered, “You… you’re falsely accusing people with your words… you…”

Lin Shu quickly pulled out the test results. “Here’s the evidence! This is proof of your son’s deceit!”

As Qian’s mother reached out to grab it, Lin Shu swiftly hid it in her pocket.

Most of the people around couldn’t read or understand the test results anyway, so Lin Shu wasn’t about to show them.

What if they grabbed it and tore it up?

Lin Shu smirked, “You better pray hard that you don’t break your leg again, because if you do, no one will take care of you like my second sister did.”

After saying that, she grabbed her sister-in-law and walked away confidently.

The onlookers burst into laughter.

“What a spirited woman!”

“She gave a great scolding!”

“We should learn from her!”

Qian’s mother was so furious that her eyes rolled back. “She… she’s cursing me to break my leg again…”

Tong’s mother and Fu’s mother joined in cursing after making sure Lin Shu and her sister-in-law were out of sight.

Qian’s mother, still enraged, wanted to go to the factory leaders to complain, but Lin Shu and her sister-in-law had already headed to the office.

When they arrived, the office director greeted them warmly, asking about Lu Shaotang and the child.

He had already heard about Lin Shu scolding Fu Xiumei so fiercely that she ended up with a limp.

Lin Shu exchanged a few pleasantries with him before getting straight to the point.

She wanted her second sister’s divorce to be finalized as soon as possible without any delays or mediation.

“If they can live together, there’s no need for mediation. Once their tempers cool down, they’ll remember the good things about each other, apologize, and continue their lives together. But if mediation is the only way for a couple to stay together, it means they no longer feel the good in each other.”

Living under the pressure of leaders and external forces is not really living; it’s like being in prison!

Lin Xia was very determined; she didn’t want to settle for less.

She needed to help her second sister finalize the divorce; otherwise, she wouldn’t feel at ease going back home.

The factory’s office director wanted to persuade her to reconsider, as it’s often said it’s better to keep a marriage intact than to destroy it.

When a couple has conflicts, it’s the responsibility of the women’s director, the street office, and the factory office director to mediate and help reconcile.

Soon, the women’s director, Fu Guihua, hurried over.

As soon as she entered, she began lecturing Lin Shu, urging her to convince Lin Xia and Qian Lisheng to reconcile instead of getting a divorce.

She said, “Divorce might seem easy now, but what if you regret it later? What if Qian Lisheng gets hurt and Lin Xia wants to reconcile in the future?”

Lin Shu couldn’t help but laugh.

A man like Qian Lisheng would only make her second sister happier by leaving.

Regret? Not at all!

If Qian Lisheng gets hurt, that’s a good thing—he should stay far away and not bother her second sister.

Lin Shu felt that Fu Guihua was so persistent and persuasive that her second sister might be worn down by the constant mediation and end up settling for a less-than-ideal situation just to avoid ongoing conflict.

Fu Guihua reminded Lin Shu of the cases she had read about online in her previous life.

Some mediators go out of their way to protect worthless men, trying to convince women who were abused or abandoned to reconcile with their unworthy partners for the sake of family harmony.

There were even cases where officials would lie about technical issues, like saying a printer was broken, to prevent divorces.

Lin Shu thought this was ridiculous—using other people’s pain to boost your own achievements.

Angered by Fu Guihua’s attitude, Lin Shu no longer cared about being polite.

Fu Guihua continued in a serious tone, “Comrade Lin Shu, please persuade Master Lin Xia. Every marriage has conflicts, but if they argue and then divorce, it’s too chaotic and has a bad influence. You…”

Lin Shu responded, “Director, if not divorcing after arguing means what? Should they only divorce after fighting physically?”

Fu Guihua said, “Even if they fight, they shouldn’t divorce. Hitting people is wrong, and leaders should criticize anyone who does it and make them change.”

Lin Shu asked, “So, what circumstances do you think justify divorce?”

Fu Guihua answered firmly, “No situation justifies divorce. Marriage isn’t a game. Couples…”

Lin Shu’s tone grew cold and unfeeling, “If you insist on mediating, then from now on, if my second sister and Qian Lisheng argue, we’ll come to blame you, and if they fight, we’ll come to hit you. How about that?”

Fu Guihua was so infuriated that her face turned pale. “How can you speak like this? This is my job!”

Lin Shu replied, “If you force two people who dislike each other to stay together, of course they’ll end up fighting. Divorce is shameful? Who does it embarrass? Does it affect your performance? Your job is to mediate and make unhappy couples stay together to show your value?”

“There are so many lonely elderly people needing care, women suffering from domestic violence needing help, and abused girls needing rescue. That’s the responsibility of a women’s director! Why aren’t you focusing on those? Why are you solely targeting women who want a divorce? Does stopping a couple from divorcing make you a saint or a goddess? If you’re so sympathetic to these men, why don’t you marry them?”

“Lin Shu! Watch your words!” Fu Guihua’s face turned a dark shade of anger.

Lin Shu immediately smiled and said, “Director, please don’t be upset. I’m just mimicking how my second sister’s ex-mother-in-law and the men talk to her. See, even this mild imitation bothers you. Imagine how my second sister feels when they’re constantly belittling her?”

“Besides, my sister and Qian Lisheng aren’t ordinary people. One is an electrician and the other a fitter—both important roles. If they stay together and constantly argue, how can they focus on their jobs and production? If they bring their emotions to work, they might make mistakes or cause safety issues.”

Fu Guihua was speechless, stunned by Lin Shu’s sharp words.

The factory office director, who initially wanted to help mediate, fell silent after hearing Lin Shu’s reasonable arguments.

Seeing Fu Guihua’s face turn a little better, Lin Shu began presenting evidence. “Leaders, Qian Lisheng has character issues. Not only is he unworthy to be my sister’s husband, but he also doesn’t deserve to be the team leader at the steel mill.”

Sister-in-law Lu Da, who had been restraining herself, almost clapped for Lin Shu in support.

“Faking things is bad enough, but causing trouble at work is a huge problem,” Lin Shu said. “Even if Qian Lisheng can’t have children, that’s minor compared to the trouble he’s causing at his job.”

The factory office director was shocked. “What Old Lady Jiang said… is it really true?”

He had initially thought Old Lady Jiang was just talking nonsense.

Fu Guihua was also stunned.

She hadn’t realized Qian Lisheng had such a scheming side.

He seemed so honest and simple normally, but now it’s clear he’s deceitful.

If he’s already acting like this when things go wrong, it’s a serious issue with his character!

The evidence was overwhelming.

If Lin Shu’s second sister wanted a divorce, any attempt to mediate would only make Lin Shu seem like she’s pushing her sister into a difficult situation.

If something went wrong, it would be blamed on her.

The factory office director immediately approved the divorce and issued the divorce certificate for Lin Xia and Qian Lisheng.

In the factory, which was like a small society, the office also had some functions similar to those of the civil affairs bureau, handling marriages and divorces.

Lin Shu breathed a sigh of relief when she received the divorce certificate for her sister.

She had another request.

She hoped the director could warn Qian Lisheng to stop bothering her second sister and stop spreading lies.

If she found evidence of Qian’s family spreading rumors about her second sister, she would make Qian Lisheng’s deceit public in the newspaper!

Let more people laugh at him!

Fu Guihua was taken aback by Lin Shu’s intensity.

This young woman… was fierce!

She quickly smiled and said, “Comrade Lin Shu, you shouldn’t think I’m putting in so much effort just for show. It’s my duty. Since Qian Lisheng has a character issue, it’s better to get the divorce. It’s for the best! Comrade Lin Shu has a strong will!”

The factory office director couldn’t help but smile at her adaptability. He was also impressed by Lin Shu’s sharp tongue.

No wonder she was chosen to be featured in the factory’s magazine.

Comrade Lu Shaotang is lucky!

Lin Shu and her sister-in-law returned to Old Lady Jiang’s house.

Old Lady Jiang had already prepared dinner, and Lin Xia had come home from work, ready to find them.

Lin Shu handed her the divorce certificate.

Lin Xia was delighted. “So fast?”