Chapter 21 Come True

Chapter 21: Coming True

What Gu Yu was thinking, Xie Xinyi neither knew nor had the mental energy to ponder.

Lately, her mind had been completely consumed by Jiang Tiantian. Ever since the young woman received permission from Monitor Cui to fully dedicate herself to repairing the cooler, Xiao Jiang had been constantly consulting the instruction manual with her.

She was the first to arrive at the workshop in the morning, sticking close to Xie Xinyi as soon as she changed into her work clothes. At noon, she would heat up Xie Xinyi’s meal in advance, and in the afternoon, she thoughtfully offered an invigorating sachet. She seemed eager to pack twenty-four hours of work into an eight-hour day. If not for Xie Xinyi’s insistence, they might not even have been able to leave work on time each day.

For several days in a row, Xie Xinyi was so exhausted that she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and struggled to get up in the morning.

Wen Shuhua noticed this and felt bad for her. “You should’ve gone to the department store back then. Look at Juanzi next door—her life is much easier every day.”

True, she stayed clean, and the work wasn't heavy. She could head to work leisurely in the morning, and sometimes even leave early in the afternoon. It certainly seemed much better than working at the food factory. But that job wasn’t stable, nor was it something she excelled at.

She knew Auntie Wen meant well, but she couldn’t explain directly to her family. She simply said that the work in the Ice Pop Team wasn't actually that bad—it was just that the machine had broken down recently, and she needed to assist her colleague, which had increased her workload.

“You’re repairing machines too?” Wen Shuhua seemed to focus on a different point. Out of everything Xie Xinyi said, she only latched onto the words “repairing machines.” “Doesn’t your factory have maintenance technicians?”

Why would they let a young girl repair machines?

Grandma Gu also found it absurd and put down her chopsticks to ask for specifics. Xie Xinyi could only briefly explain the whole story.

After learning that Xie Xinyi was doing this to help her colleague solve the problem for good, everyone comforted her kindly, advising her not to take on too much pressure.

“Don’t worry, I value my life,” Xie Xinyi joked with Wen Shuhua and the others, and the group laughed and bantered again.

Throughout the meal, Gu Yu remained silent, focusing solely on eating. It wasn’t until he walked Xie Xinyi to the entrance of the compound that he asked indifferently, “Do you want to switch positions?”

Was he offering to pull strings for her?

Xie Xinyi was so startled she immediately waved her hands in refusal.

Not to mention that pulling connections was quite difficult nowadays—even if it were possible, she didn’t want to trouble the man.

Besides, she had finally been assigned to a comfortable position, and she got along well with everyone in her team. Switching positions suddenly would mean having to readjust, and it might not even be as relaxed as staying in the Ice Pop Team. Why bother?

She firmly declined the man’s kind offer and even suggested that he use that time to care more about his own sister instead.

She meant it, thinking of both siblings, but unexpectedly, after hearing her words, the man gave her a puzzled look. It was a long moment before he calmly replied with a simple “Okay.”

It was a little strange, but Xie Xinyi still smiled and bid him goodbye. What she didn’t know was that after she left, the man stood there for a long time, watching her back as she walked away...

When Xie Xinyi arrived at the team, Jiang Tiantian was already checking the cooler against the instruction manual.

Over the past few days, the two had largely gotten to know the cooler. Their next task was to follow the schematics in the manual to identify the problem.

The cooler was imported from abroad. Aside from Master Ma, who had worked on it before, no one in the entire factory understood how this behemoth operated.

Although Jiang Tiantian had repaired many machines and equipment with her father, as Wu Guifen said, the machinery at the fertilizer factory was quite different from the cooler.

She was aware of this, so while studying the schematics, she marked anything she didn’t understand. After going through everything to grasp the general framework, she would return with Xie Xinyi to study the foreign text next to the schematics.

This method was taught to her by Xie Xinyi, and admittedly, it was quite effective.

Doing this, she not only quickly grasped the overall operating principle of the cooler but also used the schematics to identify the corresponding parts on the cooler itself. Once she understood how the main components worked together, it shouldn’t take long to pinpoint the issue.

Jiang Tiantian felt confident and deeply grateful to Xie Xinyi for her unconditional help.

"Hey, Xinyi, come quick! I found that spot we couldn't find last night."

Seeing Xie Xinyi approaching, Jiang Tiantian waved excitedly.

The two stood in front of the cooling machine and carefully checked things against the blueprint once more. Only after confirming everything was correct did they move on to studying the next blueprint.

"I think this switch should be right here—otherwise, it can’t control the parts behind it."

Jiang Tiantian glanced at the diagram, then opened the maintenance hatch to check. Still a bit unsure, she turned to ask Xie Xinyi’s opinion, wanting her to verify whether the foreign writing next to the diagram matched.

Xie Xinyi had no option but to take the manual and pretend to study it seriously. She went back and forth between the machine and the diagram, frowning, pondering, thinking it over before finally pretended to guess: "It should be just as you said."

"Right? I knew I wasn’t wrong!"

Jiang Tiantian agreed excitedly, completely missing the way Xie Xinyi’s lips moved slightly as she unconsciously followed along with the manual.

Whether it was complete trust or simply never doubting all those lucky guesses that turned out right, Jiang Tiantian believed everything Xie Xinyi said—not only believed it, but confidently put it into practice.

Luckily, Jiang Tiantian had always been a bit of a free spirit, and after all this time, she still hadn’t realized that Xie Xinyi actually understood those foreign scripts.

One studied the diagrams earnestly, the other played clueless while deciphering foreign text. Just when no one had faith in this women's repair team, the two actually managed to identify the problem with the cooling machine.

"Way to go, Xiao Jiang! You fixed the cooling machine! Does this mean we have to start calling you our lady mechanic from now on?"

Ms. Liu stepped closer to the now-operational cooling machine, praising Jiang Tiantian while testing the temperature with her hand. "Hmm, seems like it’s fixed—the temperature’s dropping fast."

She pulled out her frostbitten, slightly reddened hand and gestured for Big Chen to come take a look.

Big Chen was the most familiar with the equipment in our workshop—he was the first to notice when the cooling machine had issues.

After Ms. Liu spoke, everyone turned their attention to Big Chen. He came over with a cup of hot water, placed it near the edge of the cooling machine, and let it sit for a moment. After confirming the heat was affected by the cold air, he put the cup inside the machine, checked the wall clock, waited about twenty minutes, then carefully examined the water.

There was a clear cold airflow, and it cooled rapidly—consistent with the cooling machine’s function.

Big Chen nodded firmly, his gaze full of approval as he looked at Jiang Tiantian.

Ms. Liu led the cheers, Monitor Cui excitedly circled the cooling machine several times, and even members of the neighboring Yuanxiao Team came over to see what the fuss was about.

"Who would’ve thought Xiao Jiang had such skills at such a young age?"

"Looks can be deceiving. From now on, we're relying on Master Xiao Jiang for all our workshop equipment."

"Exactly! Now that we have our own female mechanic, we won't have to beg favors from others anymore."

The praises kept coming, and Jiang Tiantian, blushing, kept modestly waving her hands.

"No, no, it’s not like that—everyone is exaggerating!"

Standing at the center of the crowd, she seemed flustered by the attention. She tried several times to clarify the truth, but her words were drowned out by the enthusiasm around her. Helpless, she could only acknowledge the compliments while patiently waiting for the commotion to die down. When things finally quieted, she pulled Xie Xinyi, who was standing beside her, forward and stated seriously:

"Actually, Xinyi contributed more than I did in fixing the cooling machine. If she hadn’t helped me decipher those foreign words, I might not have been able to repair it."

Jiang Tiantian admitted generously, without any attempt to take credit.

The crowd admired her honesty, but were even more shocked by what she revealed.

Xie Xinyi? Wasn’t she the new girl in the Ice Pop Team?

Didn't Wu Guifen say she was just a pretty face? How come that vase even knows foreign languages?

And she even repaired the cooling machine together with Jiang Tiantian? You should know even Master Ma would be stumped by that cooling machine.

Everyone looked at the girl standing beside Jiang Tiantian, they could hardly believe their eyes.

Not only is she good-looking, but she also knows foreign languages. Even Big Chen, who never easily praises anyone, was singing her praises. No wonder Wu Guifen was so jealous.

Though everyone felt ashamed of Wu Guifen’s behavior of drugging someone, some still thought Jiang Tiantian was full of it.

People were saying all sorts of things, but Xie Xinyi didn’t care at all.

She never intended to change anyone’s opinion by doing this. She only wanted to help Xiao Jiang and quickly solve the Ice Pop Team’s problem, regardless of what others thought.

Moreover, after this incident, her colleagues in the Ice Pop Team clearly treated her better. The work environment she wanted had already improved significantly, so the rest didn’t matter much.

Xie Xinyi felt relieved and was in good spirits. When she returned home, she excitedly bragged about her success with Grandma Gu and the others. Even Wang Ma couldn’t help but praise her for a long time.

“The first time I saw Xinyi, I knew she was a cut above other kids. Not only is she pretty, but she’s also clever.”

Wang Ma brought the chicken soup that Wen Shuhua had specifically asked her to prepare for Xie Xinyi. After praising the young girl, she added, “Gu Yu is really lucky.”

Wen Shuhua also patted herself on the back. “Well, look who picked his wife for him.”

Her boasting made everyone at the table laugh. Just as Xie Xinyi was about to jump in, there was a sudden urgent knock at the door. “Gu Yu, is Gu Yu home?”

The voice sounded like Zhang Xin.

He was looking for Gu Yu, but Gu Yu hadn’t returned yet. Wen Shuhua responded, and Wang Ma hurried to open the door. But before she reached the door, Zhang Xin outside said, “Hurry and open the door! Gu Ying had an accident.”

Gu Ying had an accident?!

This startled Wen Shuhua so much that she shot up from her chair. Without even putting down her chopsticks, she slid into her slippers and rushed out.

Xie Xinyi supported Grandma Gu as they followed closely behind. As soon as they reached the door, they heard Zhang Xin speaking incoherently: “...I...I’m not entirely sure about the details. A friend from the hospital just called me and said Gu Ying is injured. They told me to...to hurry to the hospital.”

Zhang Xin looked worried, trembling uncontrollably as he spoke. After explaining the situation, he asked where Gu Yu was. Only then did Wen Shuhua snap out of her daze. “He...he hasn’t come back yet.”

Her heart was pounding at the news of her daughter’s injury. After answering, she didn’t even have time to grab her coat and immediately pulled Zhang Xin to leave. “Let’s go to the hospital, let’s go. I’ll go with you.”

After taking two steps, she seemed to remember something, quickly turned back to her room to get some money, and was about to leave when she noticed Xie Xinyi catching up with her coat.

“Mom, put on your coat first. I’ll go with you.”

Xie Xinyi helped Wen Shuhua into her coat, her expression grim.

Just then, she finally grasped what had been nagging at the back of her mind.

In the original story, shortly after Gu Yu got married, he was involved in a fight that caused someone severe injury. He was arrested according to the law.