Chapter 644: Why Did You Leave the Newspaper?

Chapter 644: Why Did You Leave the Newspaper?

Today, Tan Lizhu was coming to report for duty, so Jiang Yu made sure someone cleaned her desk and chair.

Hearing the name "Tan Lizhu," Yu Xiaolu was taken aback for a moment.

"Chief Jiang, are you referring to Comrade Tan Lizhu from *The Party Newspaper*?"

Jiang Yu nodded. "If I recall correctly, she did work there before."

Yu Xiaolu hesitated, initially surprised but gradually coming to terms with it.

It wasn’t exactly surprising that Tan Lizhu would leave.

Before long, Tan Lizhu arrived.

On her first day, she was in high spirits and even brought homemade treats for everyone.

The moment she saw Yu Xiaolu, her face lit up with a smile.

"Comrade Yu Xiaolu, I told you we’d cross paths again."

Yu Xiaolu’s expression was conflicted. "But I didn’t expect *this* to be what you meant by meeting again."

She knew how much Tan Lizhu loved her job at the newspaper. To leave after so much effort was like tearing out a part of herself.

Tan Lizhu chuckled. "Consider it a chance to start over."

Cai Xiaole asked curiously, "Do you two know each other?"

Wu Jinshun, however, piped up, "I remember Comrade Xiaolu also worked at *The Party Newspaper* before."

Yu Xiaolu nodded. "Yes."

Though she hadn’t gotten a permanent position and hadn’t worked there long.

When she left, she was decisive and had no regrets.

But Tan Lizhu was different.

"Lizhu, come to my office. I’ll go over the work handover process with you," Jiang Yu said.

Now that Tan Lizhu had arrived, it wouldn’t be long before she took over her position.

"Alright."

Tan Lizhu beamed and followed Jiang Yu into the office.

She glanced around the compact but neat office. They say the devil’s in the details, and Jiang Yu was exactly as she had imagined.

"Comrade Jiang Yu, we meet again!"

Tan Lizhu could barely contain her excitement—she had already seen Jiang Yu as her role model.

Jiang Yu said with a smile, "You said before you’d come to see me, but I never saw you."

Tan Lizhu said with a sigh, "The paper kept me swamped, and home life wasn’t exactly calm either."

Jiang Yu leaned back in her chair, twirling a pen between her fingers.

"Why did you leave the newspaper office?"

From talking with Tan Lizhu, she could vaguely glimpse Tan's passion for writing.

Someone like her would surely value her job at the newspaper.

Tan Lizhu lowered her eyes and said, "When I joined *The Party Newspaper*, I wanted to give a voice to the people. But to be honest, even though we're the ones writing, we can't speak freely. Every article I write has to go through multiple rounds of edits. You might not believe it, but out of ten articles I write, at least seven get rejected."

When a piece of news touches the interests of certain parties, it's doomed from the start—it'll never see print.

"Xiaolu... she's good, very capable, but at the newspaper, if you don't have connections, forget about getting hired full-time."

Even if Tan Lizhu didn’t want to admit it, the reason she had lasted this long without trouble at the newspaper all these years was because she had connections.

Sometimes she wondered what her situation would be like if she didn’t have a grandfather who was a commander.

Jiang Yu held out her hand toward her. "On behalf of the Second State Cotton Mill, I welcome you."

Tan Lizhu gave a warm smile and shook her hand.

"I'm very happy to work alongside Comrade Jiang Yu."

Jiang Yu handed her a form to fill out.

While she was filling it in, Jiang Yu made small talk with her.

"I’ve always been curious—what's the story with you and He Dongqi?"

Tan Lizhu wasn’t surprised by the question, as she had only later learned why Jiang Yu and Wei Xiuru never got along.

It was all because she hadn’t looked into the He family’s affairs beforehand.

"My family kept hounding me to find someone, and I was annoyed at the time. He Dongqi happened to be chasing after me, but we weren’t actually in a relationship—it was just to get our families off our backs."

Only the two of them knew about this arrangement, but He Dongqi seemed to have started believing his own act.

"Recently, he’s been talking marriage, saying his mother is pressuring him. I’ve refused several times and am now considering ending it."

But He Dongqi wasn’t having it, completely forgetting their original agreement.

Jiang Yu didn't offer an opinion on their situation.

If she had to express an opinion, she certainly wouldn’t have much respect for He Dongqi.

"Jiang Yu, when is *The Spark* premiering?"

Jiang Yu replied, "Next month."

She was also looking forward to it—this was the first TV series she had written and her first time acting in one.

Tan Lizhu said excitedly, "I’ll definitely get my whole family to watch and make sure they watch every episode."

After wrapping up for the day in the afternoon, Jiang Yu went to Lin Chenghui’s home.

"Cao Yan?"

"Yes, the name slipped out accidentally from Zhao Dayi’s wife. It shouldn’t be wrong."

Lin Chenghui pondered for a moment, his gaze turning sharp.

"Got it! Sis-in-law, you're a lifesaver this time. I need to head back to the station first. Can you watch Niu Niu for a while? Yun Shan will be back soon."

Jiang Yu took the chubby toddler from his arms and readily agreed.

"Go ahead, I'll keep an eye on things here."

Lin Chenghui had barely left when Lai Zhijie returned—not Wang Yunshan.

Lai Zhijie saw Jiang Yu and thought he had entered the wrong house.

"You're not mistaken. Yun Shan is out. Do you need something?"

Lai Zhijie was wary of Jiang Yu and hesitated to speak.

"Then I'll wait here."

Jiang Yu ignored him and focused on playing with Niu Niu.

Lai Zhijie fidgeted uncomfortably until Wang Yunshan finally returned.

"Sis, you're back."

Wang Yunshan: "...What are you doing here? You and Wang Pandi are divorced. Don’t call me 'sis' anymore—it’s inappropriate."

Lai Zhijie looked ashamed, gripping the hem of his shirt tightly.

"I know I messed up. This time, I just wanted to ask you, sis, to help persuade Pandi to come back."

Wang Yunshan scoffed. "If she comes back, what about Mao Huihui? You don’t expect two wives to serve you at once, do you? You've really got it all figured out, huh?"

Lai Zhijie hurriedly explained, "I’ve already broken it off with Mao Huihui—completely! I’ve quit hitting women too. I'll be good to her now."

Wang Yunshan didn’t believe him. Lai Zhijie had always been like this—two-faced.

"If Mao Huihui is gone, what about the child? You didn’t send the child away too, did you?"

Lai Zhijie's face twisted in anger as he snapped, "Mao Huihui gave birth to a daughter, not a son! She lied to me!"

Wang Yunshan: "..."

What was there to say?

Though she didn’t like Wang Pandi, she couldn’t stand by and watch her sister throw herself back into that hell.

"Give it up. Pandi won’t remarry you, and I won’t help persuade her either."

Only someone out of their mind would remarry a man like Lai Zhijie.

"Sis, it’s better to destroy ten temples than to break up a marriage. How can you wish for Pandi and me to split?"

Wang Yunshan sneered. "I’m not wishing for your marriage to fail—I’m wishing for her to break free from someone like you. Get out. You make me sick."

Lai Zhijie finally showed his true colors, losing patience with pretending to be humble.

"What’s wrong with me? She should count herself lucky I’m willing to marry her! Look at your family’s genes—either infertile or only popping out girls, not one son. Who else would want her besides me?"