Chapter 420

Chapter 420

The sound of the slap left everyone speechless.

No one had expected Bai Xiuxiu to actually strike out.

"You dare hit me?" Zhou Jiaojiao asked in disbelief.

"What if I do? You spread rumors about me in public; hitting you is the least I could do. I should report you to the police, don't you think?" Bai Xiuxiu couldn't understand where Zhou Jiaojiao's courage came from, as if she thought Bai Xiuxiu would be afraid of her just because she showed up.

Did Zhou Jiaojiao really believe that Bai Xiuxiu had to play by her rules to dispel the rumors?

Why couldn't she just tell the truth directly?

However, this slap wasn't out of anger but rather a test.

To see if Zhou Jiaojiao's bizarre luck still held in the provincial capital.

Zhou Jiaojiao, holding her face, glared with venomous eyes and turned to look at the others.

Seeing Zhou Jiaojiao turn, they all averted their gazes, none willing to speak up for her.

Bai Xiuxiu's boldness had intimidated them, and they no longer dared to doubt her.

After all, if what Bai Xiuxiu said wasn't true, how could she be so confident?

When Zhou Jiaojiao had spread these rumors to them, it was always in private whispers. She never dared to confront Bai Xiuxiu directly. Compared to the confident Bai Xiuxiu now, who would they believe?

Bai Xiuxiu, seeing Zhou Jiaojiao's stance as if ready to fight, said, "What are you looking at me for? Since you've called me 'Big Sister,' I naturally have to teach you how to behave."

From now on, while we're working here, let's pretend we don't know each other.

If you say one more word about me, I'll reveal more of your dirty secrets.

By the way, you wouldn't want people from your hometown to come and see you, would you?

Bai Xiuxiu's words dripped with sarcasm.

Zhou Jiaojiao’s face went deathly pale as she glared daggers at Bai Xiuxiu.

That bitch! If she dares to hit me, she’ll pay for it!

Bai Xiuxiu took her seat at the workstation.

Wang Qiong, standing next to her, was already dumbfounded. She thought Xiaobai had some clever plan in mind when they were on their way here.

She hadn’t expected it to be a direct showdown.

Plus, what Xiaobai revealed was genuinely shocking to her.

Even though she’s younger than me, her experiences are way more intense!

If it’s true, Zhou Jiaojiao’s in-laws are seriously twisted. And for someone so young, she sure has the nerve to hurt others.

She couldn’t understand how Zhou Jiaojiao even got a job at the street office.

But… is Zhou Jiaojiao’s brain even functioning right?

With all that dirt on Xiaobai’s side, how does she have the nerve to cause a scene in front of her?

If it were her, she'd definitely act more humble.

Wang Qiong was puzzled and deeply shocked.

She even let her confusion show on her face, like she was staring at a complete moron.

Bai Xiuxiu couldn't help laughing at the look on Wang Qiong's face.

Probably Wang Qiong thought Zhou Jiaojiao was too stupid.

How could she badmouth someone when there was so much dirt on her?

Zhou Jiaojiao's stupidity was always on full display—like her luck had devoured her common sense.

Or maybe, because her luck was so good, she didn't need to use her brain at all.

There were a lot of things she never bothered to think about.

Whatever she wanted to do, she would always succeed.

Even now, Zhou Jiaojiao probably thought the same thing.

However, this also indicated one thing... Zhou Jiaojiao's luck didn't seem to be as good after she left her hometown.

Actually, her luck had already started going downhill once she got to the county.

It was completely different from her previous life.

Bai Xiuxiu thought that luck, for Zhou Jiaojiao, seemed to accumulate. The more successful Zhou Jiaojiao was, the better her luck became.

This time around, Zhou Jiaojiao not only failed to steal Bai Xiuxiu's bracelet but also couldn’t manage to hurt her.

Once she got to the county, she kept running into obstacles, burning through her luck.

Now that she was in the provincial capital, her luck seemed to have even fewer chances to kick in.

It wouldn't be long before she started having some bad luck of her own.

Thinking of this, Bai Xiuxiu felt even better.

Afterward, Zhou Jiaojiao kept her head down, not daring to look at the way others were looking at her.

Back home, she was always the one calling the shots. Even at work, she was rich, and Director Du Juan used to value her, while her colleagues wouldn't say anything about her.

This was the first time she’d ever felt so embarrassed.

It was all Bai Xiuxiu's fault!

Zhou Jiaojiao's face was so red it could drip blood as she busily did work she wasn’t very good at.

She didn’t even dare glance at Little Chen sitting next to her.

She always felt that Little Chen's gaze was unfriendly now.

Bai Xiuxiu, however, didn't care about Zhou Jiaojiao's situation; she was busy.

It wasn't until the afternoon, when Director Gao came by, that the atmosphere in the room was still strange.

Everyone was unsettlingly quiet.

Director Gao felt puzzled, but she wasn’t the type to micromanage every little thing. She simply smiled and urged everyone to get back to work.

Noticing that Zhou Jiaojiao in the back had become unusually quiet, she also expressed some concern: “Xiao Zhou, are you getting used to the work here?”

“Yes,” Zhou Jiaojiao’s voice trembled, as if she had been deeply wronged.

This made Director Gao even more puzzled. What’s going on?

“Since you can manage, then work hard. Although you’re temporarily reassigned here, I won’t go easy on you just because you’re not familiar with the work here.

We’re already very busy around the year-end, and to be honest, your abilities don’t really meet my standards for hiring.

It’s only because we’re swamped that we’re making do with you.

So don’t cause any trouble, okay?”

Director Gao’s expression was serious. Thinking about the little commotion Zhou Jiaojiao caused in the morning, she felt a bit uncomfortable.

She had brought her in to help ease the workload for everyone.

Not to stir up trouble.

If there was something urgent to discuss, it should have been handled privately.

There was no need to make a big deal out of it in the office and involve so many people.

Zhou Jiaojiao’s already poor mood instantly worsened.

Her face darkened. Damn it, she had misjudged this time.

In the past, no matter what she wanted to do, she always succeeded. This time… why did it feel off?

Even this director seemed to be fed up with her.

Had these people all been won over by Bai Xiuxiu?

It seemed the plan needed to change. Badmouthing Bai Xiuxiu wasn’t going to cut it. She’d have to think of something else.

Feeling frustrated, Zhou Jiaojiao started brainstorming new strategies.

Seeing that Zhou Jiaojiao wasn’t saying anything and just kept her head down, Director Gao assumed she had taken the advice to heart and didn’t press further.

In the afternoon, when Bai Xiuxiu and Wang Qiong were out for fieldwork, Zhou Jiaojiao, seeing that Bai Xiuxiu wasn’t around, wanted to badmouth her a little.

She turned to Xiao Chen: “Chen-ge, actually I…”

“No, no, just call me Xiao Chen like everyone else. If there’s something you don’t understand, just ask directly. But please, don’t say anything bad about Xiao Bai. I really don’t want to hear it.”

Xiao Chen was still feeling awkward from the morning and definitely didn’t want to hear any more of Zhou Jiaojiao’s nonsense.

Zhou Jiaojiao’s expression froze.

She could barely hold back a smile.

She was extremely embarrassed: “L-Little Chen, there are just some things I’m not clear about.”

Wang Qiong and Bai Xiuxiu had just left the street office, and as soon as they stepped out, Wang Qiong couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore.

She laughed so hard she doubled over: “Oh my God, I can’t take it. My stomach hurts.”

“Is it really that funny?” Bai Xiuxiu looked puzzled.