Chapter 41: Making Things Difficult
At this time, the two laughing and joking people didn’t know that Luo Shuangshuang’s words would really come true.
After sending her home, Su Ning locked the gate, washed up, returned to her room, took a walk in Peach Blossom Spring as usual, finished what needed to be done, and went to bed early to rest.
……
The next day.
As soon as the sky brightened, wearing a wide-collar plaid shirt with khaki straight-leg long pants and stepping into flat leather shoes, Su Ning flung her braided hair behind her and pinned a flat rhinestone hairpin.
Taking her canvas small bag to the kitchen, she took out a portion of shrimp dumplings from the space for breakfast.
Paired with the spicy sauce made by Auntie Li, more than ten dumplings were completely wiped out by her in no time.
Finally, after watering the flowers and plants and fruit trees in the courtyard, she put the bag into the bike basket and pushed the bike out the gate.
This women’s bicycle that Tingzi had ridden back at the time had just been bought not long ago; with the space existing, she naturally smuggled it over.
Riding the bike, she arrived at the textile factory in just twenty minutes. Accompanied by the red songs playing from the big loudspeaker, Su Ning parked her bike and entered the factory gate together with the workers arriving one after another.
……
Led by the personnel director, Su Ning smoothly arrived at the Purchasing Department director’s office.
The Purchasing Department director appeared to be a capable and serious woman with short hair.
There were also four cadres, three men and one woman; the oldest-looking one was no more than in his twenties, all quite young with a vibrant and energetic spirit.
Liang Shengnan clapped her hands and briefly introduced them and gave a welcoming speech, then casually pointed out an empty spot for her office desk and instructed everyone to hurry and complete this week’s tasks before rushing off.
“Cadre Su, welcome welcome!”
“Thank you.”
The one who broke the silence was Fu Jiaming, whom she had just met briefly yesterday.
Following this friendly remark, the other several men also joined in one after another with hee hee ha ha laughter.
Looking at the hands of varying skin tones reaching out to greet her, Su Ning took a deep breath, returned a unified smile, and slightly bowed in thanks.
For a moment, an inexplicable awkward atmosphere spread in the large office.
“Snort~”
With Tang Tian’s snorting laugh, Fu Jiaming and the other four men simultaneously withdrew their hands.
Tang Tian, with her delicate features and small home jade beauty look, was originally the only flower in their office.
Not to mention how much convenience she enjoyed, but indeed because of this, she was intentionally or unintentionally taken care of by everyone.
Now that a new female colleague had arrived who was not only tall and strikingly beautiful, it was no wonder she wasn’t happy.
“Welcome, Cadre Su.”
Standing up, Tang Tian slowly walked to the middle of the group and extended her hand to her, half-jokingly and half-playfully asking, “I’m not one of those stinky men, surely Cadre Su won’t dislike me too?”
Such obviously provocative words, even in a joking tone, were not hard to detect as full of malice.
Just as Fu Jiaming and the others exchanged glances, not knowing how to smooth things over.
“Sorry, I’m just not used to contact with strangers.”
The smile on Su Ning’s face didn’t fade; on the contrary, it became even sweeter, and she seriously added, “Your hand is short and round, and aside from a little black dirt in the nail crevices, it’s quite clean.”
“Pfft~”
Apologetically signaling, Hu Yong, whose dark complexion had been silently mocked by Tang Tian behind his back as short and stocky—short, dark, and ugly—heard it loud and clear but couldn’t argue with a female comrade, finally couldn’t hold back and turned away, shoulders shaking as he returned to his seat.
What wonderfully apt words—damn, that felt so satisfying!
Hearing her words, Tang Tian’s face immediately darkened, and her extended hand clenched tightly into a fist.
“Cough~ Everyone.”
Clearing his throat with a smile, Fu Jiaming clapped the task list in his hand and skillfully changed the topic, “Everyone look at the tasks and pick as usual.”
This “as usual” was based on the completion of the previous task; it was a preferential treatment for the winner that everyone in the Purchasing Department had always tacitly acknowledged and followed.
Because Su Ning was new and a female comrade, the care that Tang Tian had received back then naturally applied to her as well.
But before Fu Jiaming could finish speaking, the task list in his hand was swiftly snatched by Tang Tian beside him.
“Qin bro, you completed the last task the fastest and best; you don’t mind if I help allocate and pick this time, right?”
As the nice guy who had always harbored some thoughts of dating Tang Tian.
Meeting her eyes that kept flashing at him, he couldn’t help but grip the hem of his clothes, blushing as he mumbled back, “No, I don’t mind, I don’t mind.”
Tang Tian satisfactorily withdrew her gaze and gave Su Ning a provocative look that she thought was very subtle.
After quickly flipping through the task list, she indeed distributed them to everyone according to her own ideas.
“Here, Cadre Su, this is yours; do a good job, I have high hopes for you oh~”
Smilingly handing her the last task list in her hand, Tang Tian smugly smiled and returned to her desk with her own.
“Quite interesting, isn’t it? You helping Qin bro and conveniently picking for yourself is one thing, but picking for us too—how did something even Director Liang hasn’t done end up on your plate?”
“Hu Yong, don’t keep talking to me in that sarcastic and passive-aggressive way; if you have an opinion on my task picks, just say it outright!”
“Heh, I really do!”
“You! Even big brother Qin hasn’t said anything!”
“I don’t care about him, and you don’t control me.”
Fu Jiaming saw Hu Yong’s temper rising and quickly pressed his shoulder, “Stop arguing, or you’ll draw Director Liang here and no one will come out looking good.”
“Hmph!”
Tang Tian let out a forceful cold hum, if not for Fu Jiaming…
Turning her head, she grabbed her own list and stormed out first in a huff.
“Hey, Tian Tian, wait for me!”
Qin Jianjun quickly packed his things, gave an apologetic smile to the others, and hurriedly followed out of the office.
“What kind of mess is this!”
Slamming his list on the table, Hu Yong’s whole face turned black-red with anger.
“Alright alright, you big man really going to argue with a girl?”
After these short few minutes, Su Ning had a rough gauge in her heart of the comrades she would be working with in the future.
Someone like Tang Tian, who was countless levels below Qian Huiru in fake sweet girl acting, really wasn’t worth her attention.
Instead, that Qin Jianjun who followed her out and seemed like a nice guy made her…
“Cadre Su? Su Ning?”
“Hm? Does Cadre Fu have something?”
“You really don’t recognize me?”
Fu Jiaming couldn’t help but touch his face; though not as shockingly handsome as his good bro Yan Bei, it shouldn’t be to the point of being forgettable at a glance, right?
Dragging the chair behind him forward and leaning closer to her desk, seeing the continued confusion in her eyes, he couldn’t help but remind her, “Ning Bao Gai!”
This was Xi You’s exclusive nickname; Su Ning furrowed her brows and suddenly recalled the shared table at the state-run restaurant yesterday noon.
Only… was one of those two the Fu Jiaming in front of her?
She never memorized the faces of strangers, so she really couldn’t remember.
“Don’t tell me you don’t even remember that male comrade who was with me yesterday?”
“Should I?”
“No no no, hahahaha! No impression is good, no impression is great, hahahahaha!”
Suddenly laughing like a madman and unable to stop, Fu Jiaming wished he could rush to him right now, grab his collar and roar: Yan Qi ah Yan Qi, didn’t expect you’d have a day of being treated the same as me!
Ever since the day they met in split-pants, because of Yan Qi’s face, he had been like automatically turning invisible.
From eighty- or ninety-year-old grannies to babies waiting to be fed, whenever Yan Qi appeared, he ceased to exist in their eyes.
Don’t look at that kid Yan Qi being cold and aloof since young; deep down he was super narcissistic.
Rare, so rare—finally, there was someone who completely ignored his existence, and a female comrade with equally outstanding looks at that!
So worth being happy about!
“I’m set on being your friend! Let’s get to know each other again as friends.”
Fu Jiaming stood up and formally extended his hand, “Fu Jiaming, from Shanghai City, twenty-two years old, no partner…”
“Stop!”
The more she heard, the wronger it sounded; Su Ning quickly leaned back: What’s wrong with this guy?
“Oh, right, you said you’re not used to contact with strangers, so I’ll wait, and after we’re familiar, we’ll do this handshake symbolizing sincere friendship!”
“Su Ning, trust me, I’m definitely the most trustworthy friend.”
At the exciting part, he even pounded his chest with his fist bang bang bang; Su Ning pinched her brow hard.
The polite, distant yet courteous smile at the corner of her mouth was almost unsustainable.
“Right, what’s your task?”
“Purchasing Mid-Autumn Festival welfare for factory workers: one hundred thousand jin of grain, ten thousand jin of fruit.”
“What?!”
Thanks everyone for the votes, thank you, love you all~ Pear is entering the second round of climbing the list; all the big and small cuties with votes, please smash them down lots, bow in thanks~
