Chapter 8

Jiang Ling spoke very humbly, “Thank you for the compliment, Deputy Section Chief Wei. I don’t have that kind of ability at all. Back in school, the teachers always said I was dull and wooden, not as bold as those classmates who went out to make revolution. I knew even then, I’m just an ordinary person.”

Don’t bring up such nonsense. If you counted back several decades, Jiang Ling had still been in school at the time—she hadn’t gone out to stir up anything.

The smile on Wei Ming’s face stiffened. He really liked pinning labels on people. Whether it was an opponent or a relative, the first step in controlling them was to have something to hold over their head.

He had always been successful with this tactic of labeling others, never once failing—until now.

In his mind, Jiang Ling was just a pretty face, a decorative vase. He didn’t think she had gotten smarter; he simply assumed she had stumbled into a lucky strike.

After being embarrassed several times in a row, he had lost face.

Although he was just the deputy section chief of the Accounting Section, he had always considered himself the rightful successor to the position of section chief.

The workers and clerks whose status and rank were lower than his constantly flattered him, to the point that he had nearly forgotten what it felt like to be “offended.”

Lu Jianjun had a sharp eye for reading the room and stepped in to help Wei Ming suppress Jiang Ling. “Xiao Jiang, the most important thing for a young person is to be modest and cautious. You’re still young, so you don’t know this, but when Deputy Section Chief Wei was your age, he was famous across Beicheng as a fortune-telling prodigy. A brilliant young talent. Our Daily Chemicals Factory was lucky to snatch him up from all the other units.”

Wei Ming was the factory director’s brother-in-law, and that relationship alone was enough to give Lu Jianjun ample reason to suck up to him.

It had to be said, despite Lu Jianjun being close to retirement age, his flattery skills were still as sharp as ever.

No wonder the treacherous officials and corrupt eunuchs in ancient times were all men. Men truly had more talent when it came to flattery.

“Let Deputy Section Chief Wei guide you more. It’ll only benefit you, not harm you. You should be grateful that Deputy Section Chief Wei is willing to teach you, instead of clinging to old ways and resisting with such defiance.”

Wei Ming, in his youth, wasn’t as remarkable as Lu Jianjun made him out to be. He was just an ordinary man with some ability, who had taken a shortcut by marrying the factory director’s divorced sister.

After becoming a minor leader, he often heard people exaggerating his strengths. Over time, he truly came to believe those praises were accurate, and he grew quite pleased with himself.

Wei Ming laughed heartily. “One can’t be blamed for not knowing. These kids always think that being younger gives them an edge over us old-timers. But in reality, they’ve still got a long way to go!”

Jiang Ling realized that she wouldn’t be able to leave the Accounting Section office before lunch, so she simply placed her enamel cup on the desk.

She was willing to learn professional knowledge, but she had no intention of letting Wei Ming take advantage of her under the guise of teaching.

Once or twice could be a coincidence, but if it kept happening, it was clearly intentional.

The corners of Jiang Ling’s lips lifted slightly. “Even though I’m a newcomer, I’ve been in the Accounting Section for more than two years. During this time, I’ve diligently studied accounting principles and carefully applied what I’ve learned to my work. I believe I’ve absorbed all the knowledge passed on to me by my predecessors and leaders. Or is it that Deputy Section Chief Wei still has some exclusive, secret techniques he hasn’t passed down to me?”

Jiang Ling’s tone was humble, yet laced with a strong undertone of hostility.

Wei Ming, both flustered and furious, threw the ledger onto the desk. “I don’t believe you finished all the bookkeeping in just one morning. You must have just scribbled it down carelessly.”

Jiang Ling was always meticulous in her work, and given that she was in a completely unfamiliar environment, she didn’t know the other clerks in the department. She couldn’t chat with anyone, and there was no yarn at hand to distract her.

When Lu Jianjun assigned her a task, she could only bury herself in it.

Her commitment to her work had, unexpectedly, become her mistake.

“If it’s true or not, you’ll know once you check,” Jiang Ling said calmly.

She pushed the coupons and ledger toward him.

Wei Ming naturally didn’t believe that Jiang Ling had carefully recorded the accounts. These coupons, Lu Jianjun would need at least three days to complete the entries.

Jiang Ling had only used half a day, how could that be possible?

As a leader, it seemed a bit beneath Wei Ming’s dignity to personally check a subordinate’s work.

Lu Jianjun, ever perceptive, quickly stepped in. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”

He was already prepared to expose Jiang Ling.

There was an abacus sitting at the corner of the desk, and Jiang Ling hadn’t used it even once during the entire morning.

Lu Jianjun had seen Jiang Ling scribbling away with pen and paper earlier and had assumed she was just dragging her feet and slacking off.

He often did things this way. As long as he never finished the tasks assigned by the leadership, he could keep working on them indefinitely.

On the other hand, if he consistently completed everything quickly and efficiently, the leaders wouldn’t appreciate him for his competence. Instead, they would just assign all the work to him because of his outstanding ability.

So he created an illusion of being constantly busy, while in reality, there was no progress in his actual work.

Over time, the leadership came to believe that his workload was heavy and that he needed someone to share the burden.

That was also why, despite the Daily Chemicals Factory not being a large operation, it had two accounting clerks. Jiang Ling had been brought into the factory precisely to address the issue of the supposedly “too heavy” workload. Work that Lu Jianjun alone couldn’t complete on time.

Jiang Ling hadn’t had a chance to double-check her entries yet, but she had confidence in her own work.

The time needed for checking was much less than for recording.

Jiang Ling glanced at the time, seeing that lunch was approaching, and urged, “It’s almost time for lunch. Please speed it up a little so we don’t delay everyone’s meal.”

The other clerks in the Accounting Section had all resumed their “work,” pretending to be busy and not paying attention to the scene, but in truth, their ears were practically perked up.

After finishing the check, Lu Jianjun wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead and said, “Consider yourself lucky, you actually guessed it right.”

Jiang Ling let out a breathless laugh. He really was like a duck with a stiff beak, refusing to admit she had done it with real skill.

The result took Wei Ming by surprise. Just moments ago, he had confidently insisted that Jiang Ling was slacking off. Now that Lu Jianjun’s inspection had turned up no mistakes, he tried to cover it up by saying she was just lucky, but anyone with eyes could tell—it wasn’t luck.

Wei Ming couldn’t help but feel a bit resentful toward Lu Jianjun. It was all his fault for working too slowly in the past.

Clearly he was the one who stirred up trouble, yet he spoke in a tone as if he were the peacemaker. “Alright, alright. Whether you guessed the numbers right or not, as long as the final result is correct, that’s what matters. It’s lunchtime now, go eat. Comrades, don’t let a small matter like this delay your meal.”

And just like that, with one light and dismissive sentence, the grievance Jiang Ling suffered was brushed aside.

But in Jiang Ling’s mind, eating was more important. She couldn’t be bothered to argue with Wei Ming any further.

The Daily Chemicals Factory wasn’t large in scale, but its performance was solid. The soap and laundry paste it produced were sold all over the country.

Because of its good performance, there was always a bit of meaty aroma in every meal served at the factory canteen.

Jiang Ling had never been fond of eating meat. She preferred vegetables and fruits.

Perhaps this body was lacking in oil and fat, she even dreamed of eating meat. The canteen only offered a limited amount of meat dishes, served on a first-come, first-served basis.

Compared to meat, Wei Ming was utterly insignificant.

Jiang Ling arrived at the canteen early and managed to get some meat. She ate her meal with a mix of bliss and agony.

Afterward, she rested her head on the table for a short nap. With nothing to do that afternoon, she pulled a book out from the drawer beneath her desk. The story was a bit dull, but it helped pass the time.

It was a handwritten manuscript that had circulated in earlier years—once banned, but now, due to the changing environment, it could even be published and distributed.

She was reading when Lu Jianjun suddenly slammed a thick stack of coupons onto her desk.

“These are last year’s accounts. Go through them and check for any errors.”

Jiang Ling’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Didn’t we already check last year’s accounts at the end of the year? Why are we checking them again?”

Lu Jianjun was bald on top. When he went outside, he wore a wool hat to keep his scalp from freezing. He hadn’t taken it off during his lunchtime nap.

In the dry winter air, static electricity was common. As soon as he removed the hat, the few remaining strands of hair on his head trembled and stood upright under the charge.

“When I tell you to do something, just do it. Why so many questions? The Accounting Section is a good department. Plenty of the factory’s family members are eager to get in. If you can’t handle the work, you might as well step aside and let someone more capable take your place.”

Jiang Ling understood now, he had seen that she was idle and was deliberately finding something to occupy her with.

“I’d like to ask, I’m a formal worker at the factory. I’ve made no mistakes in my work. If you want to fire me, may I ask in what capacity you intend to do so?”

What Jiang Ling implied was this: we’re all ordinary workers here, so stop acting high and mighty. “Step aside and let someone more capable take your place”? Who do you think you are?

Even the factory director couldn’t dismiss a worker without proper cause—so what gave you the authority?

Ever since the fiasco that morning, the radio Wei Ming had brought from home hadn’t been turned on once.

Their office was far more exciting than any news broadcast on the radio.

No one knew what had gotten into Jiang Ling, but she had suddenly become incredibly formidable.

First, she landed a punch on Lu Jianjun, who was nearing retirement and relied on seniority to push others around. Then, she kicked down Wei Ming, the deputy section chief and the factory director’s relative.

Lu Jianjun couldn’t win against Jiang Ling in a war of words, so he began thinking about going to the higher-ups for support.

“Section Chief Tang, you really have to do something about Xiao Jiang. She’s completely out of line. I’m still her senior, yet she shows me no respect at all.”

Wei Ming, as someone with connections, was always busy—if he wasn’t dining with factory leaders, he was attending meetings with officials from other factories. He rarely spent much time in the Accounting Section.

That afternoon, as expected, he wasn’t around. Before lunch, while Wei Ming had been boasting, Jiang Ling had overheard a bit—he seemed to be having a meal with the factory director and some government officials.

Lu Jianjun was Wei Ming’s loyal lapdog. Ever since Wei Ming joined the Accounting Section, he had eyes for no one else. In his world, there was only Wei Ming.

He had long stopped seeing Section Chief Tang and Deputy Section Chief Li Chunqiao as people worth acknowledging. If not for the fact that Wei Ming wasn’t around today and he urgently needed someone to back him up, he might not have even remembered that Section Chief Tang existed.

“If she dares to disrespect me today, what’s to stop her from treating you the same tomorrow?”

As a leader, even though Section Chief Tang no longer held real authority in the Accounting Section, he still feared the hypothetical situation Lu Jianjun had suggested.

What’s more, Lu Jianjun was a senior figure in the department, with longer tenure in the factory than Tang himself.

Even though he knew Lu Jianjun was the one stirring up trouble, Section Chief Tang still said, “Jiang Ling, our Accounting Section deals with money, and there’s no room for even the slightest mistake. Double-checking is a good thing—it’s for the sake of caution. You’re young, don’t be afraid of hard work. Go over it once more.”

Just yesterday, Section Chief Tang had signed off on the form helping Jiang Ling apply for a dormitory. Since she now owed him a favor, Jiang Ling could only smile and agree.

After falling out with both Wei Ming and Lu Jianjun, Jiang Ling had developed a bit of a “to hell with it” attitude.

Since it was just review work, there was no need to rush through it.

In the entire afternoon, Jiang Ling only managed to check a single invoice.

After work, she had dinner in the canteen.

The canteen served meals for every mealtime, but more workers tended to eat there at noon. To save money, most of them chose to eat breakfast and dinner at home.

There were fewer workers eating dinner in the canteen, and for the sake of convenience, the staff would usually just reheat whatever was left over from lunch and sell it again.

There wasn’t a trace of meat, and the food had to be reheated and reprocessed—the taste could only be described as awful.

After dinner, Jiang Ling returned alone to the dormitory where she had stayed the night before.

The female workers in the dorm had been chattering away noisily, but the moment she walked in, the room fell into a deathly silence.

Their conversation hadn’t been particularly private—just the usual chatter—but the sudden arrival of an outsider made things feel a bit awkward.

Jiang Ling figured they might end up as roommates in the future, so it was best to build a good relationship.

She shared some candies with them, and with snacks to break the ice, the girls’ resistance toward her eased significantly.

They exchanged gossip about their respective departments, chatting and laughing until lights-out.

The Daily Chemicals Factory had many female workers, and the girls living in the dorms were in similar situations: their homes were too small, and their families were unwilling to let the boys move out. Since girls were expected to marry and move into their husbands’ homes eventually, it made sense to let them stay in the worker dormitory for a couple of years. After getting married, they wouldn’t need to live there anymore.

When the girls in the dorm asked Jiang Ling why she was staying there, they found that her circumstances were much like theirs. That bit of shared experience brought them closer.

Jiang Ling got along well with the girls in the dorm on her first night. Once they learned that she had already submitted a housing application to the Logistics Section, they expressed their hopes that she would become an official roommate in the future.

The dorm wasn’t fully occupied—there were fewer than eight residents—so relatives and friends of workers from the Daily Chemicals Factory would often come to stay temporarily. Strangers constantly coming and going made things extremely inconvenient for the girls.

It was supposed to be a dormitory, but it felt more like a guesthouse.

They all sincerely hoped the dorm could be filled up with eight permanent residents as soon as possible. After a brief time with Jiang Ling, they found her pleasant enough—so they thought, she would do just fine.

However, Jiang Ling hadn’t yet received approval for her housing application. While working during the day, she asked casually, “Section Chief Tang, how long does it usually take for my dormitory application to go through?”

For once, Section Chief Tang had come to work without a hangover. He slurped a mouthful of tea from his enamel mug and said, “Fastest would be three days, and at the latest, no more than a week.”

He added with a note of complaint, “The Logistics Section is full of people with connections. Their efficiency is terrible. If you’re in a hurry, you’ll have to go over and give them a little push.”

Jiang Ling thought for a moment and replied, “Alright, I’ll find time to check in with them.”

Wei Ming had been reading the newspaper, but upon hearing their conversation, he put it down and asked, “If I remember right, Xiao Jiang is from a factory family. What made you want to move into the dormitory?”

Jiang Ling cursed him inwardly for being so nosy—he was curious about everything. She put on a busy front and said, “My younger brother just got married, and the house is too cramped now. Besides, I’m at the age where people usually get married, so I figured I’d just stay in the dorm for the time being.”

For now, Jiang Ling didn’t intend to let her coworkers know that she was already married. Even though it might make Wei Ming rein in those disgraceful thoughts of his, if everyone found out that she and Song Guanshu had already registered their marriage, she’d be expected to move in and live with him.

But Song Guanshu was sharper than a sieve. Just a normal conversation and he had already picked up on her fear of him. If they actually lived together, who knew what might happen.