Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Jiang Yiwei had originally been hired by Zhang Yi. If Jiang Yiwei had a shady personality, even if her sewing skills were top-notch, Zhang Yi would have had to reconsider. Since she was hired in the first place, that meant there was nothing wrong with her character.

Zhang Yi was also angry at Li Qingjun’s remarks—they implied she had bad judgment. Too bad Li Qingjun didn’t realize it at all.

Instead, he white-knighted Chen Songzhi: “Chen Songzhi clearly doesn’t seem like someone who would lie.”

Chen Songzhi was a bit of a looker—especially when she cried. Her puppy-dog eyes locked on Li Qingjun made him feel a pang of pity.

He absolutely refused to believe Chen Songzhi could lie to them.

In fact, he suspected Jiang Yiwei was the one lying.

Well, Jiang Yiwei could see now—Li Qingjun was just a simp.

“How long have you known her? She cries and says a few words, and you believe her? Do you even have any judgment? If Chen Songzhi says two sentences, you buy it—what a total moron.”

Mocked by Jiang Yiwei, Li Qingjun’s face twisted in anger. Who does this assembly-line worker think she is, talking big in front of him?

Li Qingjun was a propagandist in the propaganda department and prided himself on being a college graduate. He sneered at assembly-line grunts like Jiang Yiwei. Jiang Yiwei had seen the disdain in his eyes many times while working at the factory.

Hmph! Just a product of the Worker-Peasant-Soldier program—what right did he have to look down on them?

Once more grads flooded the workforce, *he’d* be the one feeling inferior.

“Sis Zhang, you don’t know what happened. When you went looking for Jiang Yiwei, someone was fawning over Chen Songzhi.”

A bespectacled girl not far from Jiang Yiwei said flatly.

Before Zhang Yi could respond, Li Qingjun pointed at the girl, face livid. “Li Xiaojuan, cut the crap! I never did that!”

Li Xiaojuan wasn’t intimidated in the least. She calmly sorted through the papers on her desk. “You know whether you did or not.”

Li Qingjun knew exactly what he had or hadn’t done.

Zhang Yi glanced at the two, her expression souring.

“Sis Zhang, let me explain why I cut ties with Chen Songzhi.”

Jiang Yiwei didn’t want office drama because of Chen Songzhi. She still needed to keep working at the factory, but Chen Songzhi didn’t—she was only here to start drama.

Chen Songzhi didn’t care about how the factory saw her anyway. She wasn’t even an employee.

“Yiwei, go ahead,” Zhang Yi replied. She didn’t want her office turning into a circus either.

“Boo-hoo—”

Afraid Jiang Yiwei might say something bad about her, Chen Songzhi covered her face and started wailing.

Li Qingjun rushed to comfort her.

Chen Songzhi played the victim, staring pitifully at Jiang Yiwei. “Yiwei, I get it—you can’t stand me. I’ll leave now, okay? Please don’t hate me anymore.”

She turned to walk out, but Jiang Yiwei cut her off.

Jiang Yiwei let out a dry laugh. “Leaving already? I haven’t even said anything yet.”

That scared she’ll spill the truth, huh?

Jiang Yiwei wasn’t about to let Chen Songzhi leave just yet—at least not until everyone knew the whole story and understood who was really to blame. Only then would she let her go. Otherwise, if Chen Songzhi left now and later Jiang Yiwei explained why they were no longer friends, who knew if people would believe her?

Besides, plenty of people in the office already took Chen Songzhi’s side.

Li Qingjun, for example, would believe anything Chen Songzhi said.

Inside the factory and beyond it, Jiang Yiwei had to keep her reputation clean.

The real problem here wasn’t her—it was Chen Songzhi.

As the troublemaker, Chen Songzhi wasn’t going anywhere.

Her eagerness to leave now was just an attempt to make her version stick. Once she was gone, Jiang Yiwei could say whatever she wanted, but whether people believed her was another matter entirely.

Even if the factory workers did believe Jiang Yiwei, Chen Songzhi had ways to make sure every word she said today would be taken as fact.

But damn if Jiang Yiwei didn’t block her way, refusing to let her go. Since when did Jiang Yiwei get so clever?

What now? Chen Songzhi's mind went blank, unable to think how to escape.

Suddenly, Jiang Yiwei yanked Chen Songzhi over to Zhang Yi and Ms. He.

"Before you go, listen to what I have to say."

Chen Songzhi tried to wiggle free from the tight grip on her wrist, but no matter how hard she pulled, she couldn’t break loose.

She had to think of another way.

"Yi Wei, whatever you say, I won’t mind. I’ll accept it all."

She made it sound like she’d accept any accusations—good or bad—just to make Jiang Yiwei look less credible.

Jiang Yiwei just smirked. "Whether you accept it or not doesn’t matter, because everything I say is the truth."

Chen Songzhi cried even harder. "What’s gotten into you, Yi Wei? This hurts so much. We used to be so close, so dear to each other."

"Some heartbreak," Jiang Yiwei scoffed. "You still had time to come here and stir up trouble. Real convincing."

Backed into a corner, Chen Songzhi burst into fake sobs.

"Yi Wei, you’ve got a reputation to think about," Ms. He reminded her.

This wasn’t just about arguing with Chen Songzhi—it was about making sure everyone understood what really happened, to avoid misunderstandings that might hurt Jiang Yiwei’s standing at the factory.

"Ms. He, I know."

Jiang Yiwei knew exactly what was up.

Then she began explaining, step by step, why she had cut ties with Chen Songzhi.

As everyone listened, their faces went from disbelief to outright shock. Li Qingjun, especially, found it impossible to believe that that delicate little flower, Chen Songzhi, could have conned Jiang Yiwei out of her money.

Jiang Yiwei scanned the room and continued, "If she really cared about me, why would she cheat me?"

"She knew I barely had any money to begin with, and my family kept a tight leash on what little I did have. When I finally managed to save something, shouldn’t a good friend or sister encourage me to hold onto it? Instead, she conned me out of every penny."

"Does that sound like a real friend to you? How would you feel if your so-called friends swindled you?"

They’d only get it if they walked in her shoes. That’s why she had to cut Chen Songzhi off completely.

"How vile." Li Xiaojuan glared at Chen Songzhi with disgust.

Scamming her own close friend—how could she do such a thing? No wonder Yi Wei cut Chen Songzhi off. If it were her, she’d have done the same.

"Comrade Jiang Yiwei, you caught on too late. You should’ve woken up sooner."

Li Xiaojuan fumed.

One by one, others started backing Yi Wei up.

"Yes! I realized it way too late—that’s why she could so easily scam me."

It really *was* way too late.

But it didn’t matter—what’s owed will be paid.

"Yi Wei, how could you lie like that? I never scammed you."

Chen Songzhi flat-out denied it, claiming *Yi Wei* was the liar.

She’d scammed her, of course—but without proof, all she had to do was keep denying it. Even if Yi Wei insisted otherwise, she'd just deny it all the same.

Even if Yi Wei outsmarted her, there was no way to prove anything.

Chen Songzhi smirked inside, putting on a heartbroken act.

"Don’t worry—I’ve got your back."

When Li Qingjun first heard Yi Wei accuse Chen Songzhi of scamming money, he couldn’t fathom Chen Songzhi doing that. He refused to believe she was capable of something so low.

When Chen Songzhi denied it and said Yi Wei was lying, Li Qingjun knew he hadn’t misjudged her.

Yi Wei was the sneaky one, trying to frame Chen Songzhi.

"I’m lying?" Yi Wei snorted, amused by the absurdity.

"You still won’t admit it even now? You won’t stop until you ruin my reputation. You make me sick."

Unless she ruined her reputation completely, Chen Songzhi wouldn’t give up.

"I didn’t do anything. It *kills* me that you’d rather lie than reconcile with me."

Chen Songzhi kept up her poor-little-me routine.

"Comrade Chen Songzhi, Yi Wei’s not worth your tears. You’ll find someone better in the future."

Li Qingjun fully believed Chen Songzhi. To him, Yi Wei was pure trash—not worthy of Chen Songzhi’s decency.

Because someone like Yi Wei didn’t deserve it.

"Yi Wei, you need to explain this clearly to us. Otherwise, you could get fired."

If the factory bosses found out and believed Yi Wei had lied about being scammed, they’d can her for sure. Zhang Yi hoped Yi Wei could handle this properly—otherwise, she might lose her job.

"Relax, Zhang-jie. I’ll clear my name."

Yi Wei’s confident demeanor somehow put Zhang Yi at ease. She believed Yi Wei could resolve this—and that she was definitely not the kind of person Chen Songzhi made her out to be.

"Chen Songzhi, do you remember Sister Hong at the village co-op?"

As soon as Jiang Yiwei said this, Zhang Yi and Ms. He noticed Chen Songzhi's face instantly turn pale, the guilt in her eyes unmistakable.

"Yiwei, who is this Sister Hong?" Ms. He asked at just the right moment.

Jiang Yiwei gave a light chuckle.

"Every time I had money, Chen Songzhi would pressure me into going with her to the co-op to pick things out. Naturally, she’d choose what she wanted and I’d end up paying for it. But since we went so often, Sister Hong got to know us and would always be the one to help us."

Sister Hong was a sales clerk at the village co-op. Every time Chen Songzhi found out Jiang Yiwei had money, she insisted they go shopping there. Even when Jiang Yiwei didn’t want to pay, Chen Songzhi would guilt-trip her into handing over the cash.

Sometimes, Sister Hong would notice and, while Chen Songzhi was browsing, quietly pull Jiang Yiwei aside, urging her not to let Chen Songzhi manipulate her. Unfortunately, Jiang Yiwei cared too much about Chen Songzhi—she was too afraid of losing her. And so, even if reluctantly, she always ended up paying in the end.