Chapter 435

Chapter 435

Zhou Jiaojiao wanted to snap back, but when she opened her mouth, she couldn't think of what to say.

Seeing her speechless, Bai Xiuxiu shot her a mocking glance: "So, you were behind me, you tripped, and nearly took me down with you. How was I supposed to catch you?

Or did you expect me to just stand there, waiting to be your cushion when you fell?"

After Bai Xiuxiu finished speaking, the others' expressions towards Zhou Jiaojiao instantly shifted.

"That's not what I meant..." Zhou Jiaojiao protested, feeling more wronged than her words could convey.

Why didn't it work? Back in the village, she could always pull this off whenever she wanted to trick someone.

And she had never failed at it before.

Why doesn't anything work here?

Zhou Jiaojiao felt lost and scared. She had always been so lucky since she was a child. What would she do if she ever lost that good fortune?

"Then what do you mean?" Bai Xiuxiu shot back.

"I... I just fell and hurt myself, I was just babbling." Zhou Jiaojiao, with a dark face, admitted her mistake.

Up front, Director Gao's eyebrows were nearly knotted.

Why had she agreed to let this Zhou Jiaojiao come here as a temporary worker?

"Alright, if you're not hurt, get back to work. We don't put up with nonsense here; you need to change your attitude.

And when Bai Xiuxiu gets up, you follow suit.

What were you planning to do?"

Director Gao pressed her, because if she hadn't wanted to get up, she wouldn't have just fallen out of nowhere.

Zhou Jiaojiao was embarrassed; she just wanted to make Bai Xiuxiu look bad!

What could she possibly have been up to?

Bai Xiuxiu glanced at her and went back to delivering the files: "Director, these are the ones I've processed, please take a look."

Behind her, Zhou Jiaojiao gritted her teeth, thought for a moment, and could only whisper: "Director, I was heading to the restroom."

"Then why aren't you going? Do you need to make an announcement?" Director Gao thought Zhou Jiaojiao really had some issues, causing trouble just two days in.

With the year-end approaching, there's no time for her to stir up trouble.

By now, Director Gao had already made up her mind about Zhou Jiaojiao.

No, regardless of whether Zhou Jiaojiao can adapt later, there are definitely issues between her and Bai Xiuxiu.

And it looks like she's the one stirring up more trouble.

She doesn't want discord in the office, and she dislikes people who cause trouble for no reason. Director Gao plans to let her go after this busy month!

She can go wherever she pleases.

In the afternoon, Bai Xiuxiu went out on her usual rounds with Wang Qiong.

The entire afternoon, Zhou Jiaojiao tried to gossip about Bai Xiuxiu, but she didn’t get a single opportunity.

Because she was buried under a mountain of work.

How could it be this hectic?

When she was in the county, there wasn’t so much to do!

Moreover, she had no idea how to handle any of this; she didn’t do much work in the county either, since she was allowed to curry favor with Director Du Juan.

The director didn’t make things difficult for her, but now in the provincial capital, she was completely out of her depth and struggling to keep up.

Zhou Jiaojiao felt like she was on the verge of passing out. Little Chen, noticing her distress, asked, "Xiao Zhou, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? If you’re not feeling well, you should let the director know and head home early."

"Ah? No..." Zhou Jiaojiao quickly denied.

"If you’re fine, then why aren’t you working? Do you know what time it is? Bai Xiuxiu and the others are about to return from their field assignment, and I haven’t seen you do any work.

This isn’t working; I’m falling behind because I’m helping you.

I’m also waiting to go on a field trip."

Little Chen was getting anxious—was she really that clueless?

Zhou Jiaojiao, feeling unjustly treated, burst into tears: "I didn’t mean to, Little Chen, I..."

Her tears were so pitiful that Little Chen couldn’t bring himself to say more, so he just told her to work hard and then went back to his own tasks.

When Bai Xiuxiu and Wang Qiong returned from their field assignment, they arrived just in time for the end of the workday.

Zhou Jiaojiao saw Bai Xiuxiu coming in and glared at her as if she were an enemy.

Bai Xiuxiu wasn’t surprised by her attitude—after all, they were sworn enemies! In her past life, Zhou Jiaojiao had wronged her, and in this life, she had tried but failed, so there was nothing good to say between them.

"Don’t get too full of yourself. You think just because you’re ahead for now, you’ll always be ahead?"

Zhou Jiaojiao said resentfully and walked out.

Wang Qiong was taken aback: "Is she sick?"

"She’s got issues," Bai Xiuxiu replied matter-of-factly. As they walked out the door, they noticed Wang Qinghe standing next to someone else.

When they had come in, Wang Qingqi hadn’t been there yet.

In the time it took to set something down, Wang Qingqi had already arrived.

Zhou Jiaojiao shot a triumphant glance at Bai Xiuxiu, who had just come out. What’s the big deal if she has a man picking her up? Bai Xiuxiu had one, and so did she.

Bai Xiuxiu walked over to her husband. Wang Qinghe didn’t even glance at Wang Qingqi and his wife, and as his wife approached, he packed up the lunch box.

"Let’s go home," Wang Qinghe said gently.

"Okay," Bai Xiuxiu replied, getting on the bicycle, and they headed home.

On the spot, Zhou Jiaojiao, who had been happy for only a few seconds, turned cold again.

She looked disdainfully at Wang Qingqi, who had come on foot: "You don’t even have a bicycle. What’s the difference between picking me up or not? It’s just humiliating."

Wang Qingqi was dumbfounded: "Wife, didn’t you insist that I come to pick you up?"

"Enough, I don’t want to hear it," Zhou Jiaojiao said coldly, pushing him to leave with her.

Once they were alone, she impatiently asked, "How did things go with Second Brother?"

At this, Wang Qingqi perked up: "Honey, Second Brother already figured out how to lure Wang Qinghe away. It’s going down tomorrow! Tonight we’ll nail down the details, and after tomorrow, we’re home free!"

Wang Qingqi spoke with excitement.

He couldn’t even imagine how much their family would gain once Wang Qinghe was out of the picture.

Zhou Jiaojiao gave him a suspicious look: "Then why aren’t you with Second Brother hiring people or tracking down He Youde? What are you doing here?"

"You told me to come get you," Wang Qingqi said, looking confused. How could she forget so fast?

Wasn’t it her who snarked about him not being thoughtful enough?

Zhou Jiaojiao felt exasperated. How did someone like Wang Qingqi even get ahead? Was it just dumb luck?

She just didn’t get it!

"Fine, let’s hurry home. You go with Second Brother to track down He Youde," Zhou Jiaojiao said, not wanting to continue the conversation.

"Second Brother’s already on it. By the time we get back, He Youde will probably be waiting at our place," Wang Qingqi replied. He thought that, sure, Second Brother was a schemer, but he got things done.

Zhou Jiaojiao relaxed a bit, and the two sped home.

When they walked in, sure enough, He Youde was there. But his face looked like he’d taken a beating, which stopped them in their tracks.