Chapter 168: Celebration

Chapter 168: Celebration

After leaving the Second State Cotton Mill, Duan Yuzhen seemed like a lifeless zombie, as if she had lost her spirit.

Factory Director Zheng confirmed her punishment, and not a single person stood up for her.

Her heart was twisted with hatred, and her chest was filled with resentment.

Wen Yan was utterly exhausted, but as her mother, she couldn't just ignore her.

"Yuzhen, divorce Yan Wenxuan, apologize to Jiang Yu. As long as you correct your ways, you can still be a good child."

Duan Yuzhen sneered coldly, even turning her hatred towards her mother.

"Are you really my mother? Even you are taking Jiang Yu's side, when I am your own daughter!"

Wen Yan's eyes filled with disappointment. "If I weren't your mother, I wouldn't even care about you today! You keep making mistakes, stubborn and unwilling to repent. What do you expect me to do with you?"

Old Master Duan had long since lost hope in this granddaughter and didn't expect her to admit her mistakes.

After some thought, he realized that arguing over right and wrong would only lead to endless disputes.

"Either return to the Yan family and never set foot in the Duan family again—I will publicly cut ties with you. Or divorce Yan Wenxuan, admit your mistakes honestly. The decision is yours."

"Grandpa!" Duan Yuzhen cried out desperately. "You're my family, why are you forcing me like this? I won't divorce, and I don't want to sever ties with you!"

Without her family's support, Yan Wenxuan would only treat her more harshly.

Old Master Duan, hands behind his back, glanced at her with drooping eyelids and then walked away.

Jiang Yu felt no pity for Duan Yuzhen, but she was curious about what choice she would make.

She didn't have to wait long to discover.

Duan Yuzhen didn't want to get a divorce, but returning to the Duan family meant facing too much gossip.

Perhaps because she had always been favored, she couldn't believe the Duan family would truly cut ties with her.

When she returned home, she angrily packed her belongings and left, even telling Wen Yan harshly that she would never come back.

Once she left, Wen Yan knew she was gone for good.

After all the chaos, Jiang Yu felt a bit irritated, but it didn't dampen her good mood.

Compared to the chaos in the Duan family, the south wing was brimming with joy.

He Feiyan and the two siblings were still in school and only found out the good news when they got home, jumping with excitement.

"This is such great news! From now on, our family will have two employees! Big brother, shouldn't we go to East Guest Coming for a good meal?"

He Feiyan blinked, looking eager.

The last time they went to East Guest Coming was during He Tingyue and Jiang Yu's wedding.

He Tingyue smiled and tapped her head lightly.

"Let's go to Dexianlou for roast duck!"

At this, Jiang Yu's eyes lit up.

"Wanna grab some roast duck?"

He Tingyue patted her head affectionately and said, "Such great news! We gotta tell Auntie and Ah Ye and bring them along too. The whole family's heading to Dexianlou for some roast duck."

"Awesome!" He Zhengdong and He Lilan cheered.

Jiang Yu imitated He Tingyue's action and also patted their heads.

"You guys get ready and head to Dexianlou with your sister. I'll go get Auntie."

He Tingyue followed her out, saying, "I'll go with you."

The couple was beaming, and anyone who saw them couldn't help but ask what was up.

Lin Hongxia rarely took the initiative to speak to Jiang Yu: "Jiang Yu, you look thrilled! Where are you off to?"

Jiang Yu never hid anything and said directly, "We're hitting Dexianlou for roast duck—the kids are craving it."

"Oh, celebrating something?" Mother Sun chuckled, though there was a hint of envy in her voice.

Zhao Qing worked at the Second State Cotton Mill too, but only as a temp. Her pay and benefits didn't stack up to the regular workers', and Jiang Yu's starting salary even topped the workshop girls'.

Plus, Mother Sun couldn't get her hands on Zhao Qing's paycheck—she was too slick to hand it over, and even Sun Zailiang couldn't sweet-talk her into it.

Jiang Yu nodded with a smile, "Kinda, but it's definitely something to be happy about."

Lin Donghua chided, "What do you mean 'kinda'? This is totally worth celebrating—go for it!"

As soon as Jiang Yu left, she heard Lin Hongxia's voice again.

"Jiang Ting, drop the mop and join your sister for the celebration."

She gave Jiang Ting a wink, hinting they might even snag some roast duck to take home.

Jiang Ting quickly wiped her hands and came out of the house.

She swallowed hard—it'd been ages since she'd had meat, and she was practically drooling.

However, Jiang Yu didn't buy into this, bluntly refusing, "We're just keeping it to immediate family—Jiang Ting's not coming."

Lin Hongxia smiled somewhat forcedly, "Jiang Ting's your sister—how's she not family?"

"Auntie Lin, once a daughter's married, she's like water under the bridge—how can she still be family? If she's family, then shouldn't I be part of your Fu family too? How come you've never invited me over for dinner since I married in?"

You can't just call her family when it's convenient—that's not how it works.

After what Jiang Ting had pulled, Jiang Yu had already written her off as a sister.

Without waiting for Lin Hongxia's response, Jiang Yu and He Tingyue hopped on their bikes and took off.

First stop was the street office to catch Ya Xiangling.

Ya Xiangling was thrilled and a bit shocked to hear Jiang Yu had landed a job at the Second State Cotton Mill.

"When did you take the exam? Why didn't you give me a heads-up?"

Jiang Yu smiled, "Just these past few days, I just passed the interview."

Ren Jie was blown away by Jiang Yu's skills—she'd made it into the Second State Cotton Mill all on her own.

She glanced at Zhuang Yihang and saw him looking disheartened and utterly dejected.

He had missed his chance earlier, and now regret was pointless.

Last time, Ren Jie had tried to arrange a match for him, introducing Zhang Xiyue, but it didn’t work out. It turned out that Zhang Xiyue was still involved with her ex at the crucial moment of marriage, which was considered improper.

Ren Jie felt deeply ashamed, not only for failing to arrange the match but also for receiving a lot of blame.

Looking at Jiang Yu now, not only was she married, but she had also risen from a village girl to an urbanite.

She had truly underestimated her back then.

"Jiang Yu, congratulations, you're really amazing," Ren Jie said sincerely.

In contrast, her niece, who had a higher starting point than Jiang Yu, hadn’t been as ambitious.

"Thank you, Ren Jie, I’ll go ahead with my great-aunt now."

"Alright, go ahead. With a granddaughter like you, Ms. Yao can look forward to a life of ease."

Ms. Yao smiled so much that her wrinkles became more pronounced. Regardless of anything else, just the fact that Jiang Yu cared for her was enough to make her happy.

Jiang Yu took Ms. Yao to De Xian Restaurant first, while He Tingyue went to pick up Jiang Ye.

Ms. Yao, being the most senior, sat at the head of the table, surrounded by the younger generation, who affectionately called her "Great-Aunt."

She felt she had never been happier in her life, smiling until her face hurt.

"When do you start your new position?"

Jiang Yu replied, "I start next Monday. These few days, I’ll be transferring my household registration here."

With Ms. Yao at the local government office, transferring the household registration wasn’t difficult, but getting it moved out of Nanhe Village was another matter.

Wang Meili and Jiang Yonghua would surely covet her job.

Ms. Yao said, "A while back, during National Day, our unit handed out a pack of cigarettes. Take it with you later and give it to He Youfu to smooth things over. If he gives you any trouble, come back to me, and I’ll stand by you."

He Youfu was at least a sensible person, more so than the village chief.

Jiang Yu couldn’t possibly accept it and quickly declined, "Great-Aunt, you should keep it. We can afford to buy our own."

Ms. Yao scolded, "I have no use for these cigarettes. Take them with you. It’s the perfect time to network as you start your new job."