Chapter 66: The Trouble Caused by Beauty

Seeing the forlorn expression on Shen Tingting’s face, Jiang Fan asked with concern, “What’s going on? Did you offend that woman somehow, and now she’s making things difficult for you on purpose? If you want, I can go and put her in her place.”

When Jiang Fan mentioned Manager Liu, he was reminded of Gou Biao’s business, and since the two were birds of a feather, he refrained from calling her by her title, referring to her simply as ‘that woman.’

Hearing his concern, Shen Tingting relaxed a little and replied, “I offended the boss, so Manager Liu is taking the opportunity to suppress me.”

Through Shen Tingting’s account, Jiang Fan finally understood.

On her first day at the factory, Shen Tingting’s youthful beauty caught the attention of Chen Anlong, who schemed tirelessly to pluck this flower of the workplace. Not only did he want to promote her, inexperienced as she was, to deputy supervisor, but he also tried to entice her with money.

Shen Tingting realized she wasn’t yet familiar with the work and couldn’t handle the supervisor position. Seeing through Chen Anlong’s ulterior motives, she refused both the position and the temptation, willingly settling for a role as a personnel clerk.

When Shen Tingting wouldn’t give in, Chen Anlong devised a plan to kill two birds with one stone: he pretended to take her to branch factories to familiarize herself with the business. After making rounds at two branches, they ended up at Hejiahuan, where he hoped the allure of luxury would seduce her, and he intended to get her drunk at a banquet to fulfill his desires.

Fortunately, Hao Meng and Wang Fang joined forces to foil Chen Anlong’s scheme. After returning safely to the factory, Chen Anlong again tried to take her out, but Shen Tingting flatly refused, preferring to resign rather than comply.

Within his own factory, as the boss, Chen Anlong had to maintain appearances. Unable to act, yet unwilling to let her slip away, he resorted to the tactic of feigned indifference. Whenever he encountered Shen Tingting in the office area, he would find fault and berate her, hoping to pressure her into submission.

Chen Anlong had once planned to promote Shen Tingting to supervisor, so Manager Liu saw her as a potential career threat, but refrained from acting due to Chen Anlong’s interest in her.

Recently, seeing that Chen Anlong frequently caused her trouble, Manager Liu assumed she had fallen out of favor and began to harass her at every opportunity, seeking ways to suppress her.

With pressure from the boss, oppression from her superior, and financial struggles at home, Shen Tingting—who had already switched factories twice—felt that all places were much the same, each with its share of predatory managers. To support her family, she had no choice but to endure.

Zhu Bing shared Manager Liu’s views and began to set his sights on her as well.

As she poured out her troubles, Shen Tingting realized Jiang Fan might not know Hao Meng’s profession and referred to Hao Meng and Wang Fang as ‘the two sisters,’ a wisdom she’d gained from her wandering.

After listening to her complaints, Jiang Fan gritted his teeth and said, “Those bastards! When will you be back in the office?”

Shen Tingting pointed to the dormitory buildings. “There are so many—thousands of rooms, and Manager Liu wants me to inspect every single one. It’ll take days; I hardly have time to get back to the office!”

Jiang Fan cursed angrily, “To hell with it! Who cares about inspecting her damned nest? Come on, I’m going to ask that old woman what she’s really after.”

Remembering that Manager Liu, in her thirties, was Gou Biao’s mistress, Jiang Fan, furious, gave her a new nickname, even though she was only in her twenties.

“Let it go. It’s just a bit of hard work. Out of sight, out of mind. Maybe it’s better to stay clear of her,” Shen Tingting said, wanting to avoid causing trouble for her family’s sake.

Jiang Fan grabbed her wrist. “Let it go? If you keep enduring this, those bastards will walk all over you!”

His righteous indignation touched Shen Tingting. Though his hand was separated from hers by her sleeve, she was momentarily stunned before regaining her composure.

On the way to the personnel department, Jiang Fan let go of her hand, and Shen Tingting, feeling conflicted, couldn’t bear to remind him.

Jiang Fan barged into the office, fierce as ever, and saw the supervisors reading magazines, Manager Liu knitting, and four clerks chatting idly.

He pointed at Manager Liu and demanded angrily, “Old woman, tell me—why are all these people sitting around chatting, but Shen Tingting has to inspect the dorms alone?”

Seeing Jiang Fan holding Shen Tingting’s hand, Manager Liu was shocked, wondering how these two had teamed up.

Feeling guilty, she was uneasy at Jiang Fan’s presence. But hearing him call her ‘old woman’ in front of everyone, Manager Liu felt deeply insulted and couldn’t help retorting, “Deputy Manager Jiang, you’re part of management here too—can’t you speak a bit more civilly?”

Jiang Fan, unconcerned by office politics, replied bluntly, “You crawl into your husband’s elder’s bed and dare lecture me about civility?”

Normally, Jiang Fan avoided arguing with women, but he couldn’t overlook Manager Liu’s vile behavior and treated her as an enemy rather than a woman.

Manager Liu’s affair with Gou Biao was no secret in the factory, but people kept quiet because Gou Biao was Chen Anlong’s right-hand man. No one dared mention it in front of either party.

For the first time, exposed so publicly, Manager Liu broke down, laying her head on the desk and sobbing.

“Cry all you want. If you dare do it, you’d better not fear what people say. Shen Tingting’s issue isn’t over—I’ll be back to deal with you tomorrow.”

Although he despised Manager Liu, seeing a woman crying before him, Jiang Fan felt a pang of guilt for his harsh words. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to apologize to someone like her, so he found himself an excuse to leave.

Turning to Shen Tingting, he said, “Why should you be the only one working? There’s no need for you to inspect the dorms. I’d like to see who dares trouble you.”

Afraid that his impulsive actions might involve Shen Tingting, Jiang Fan was ostensibly defending her, but his real intention was to warn Manager Liu, who was still crying.

At this point, Shen Tingting didn’t want to linger and followed Jiang Fan out of the office.

Seeing it was nearly five o’clock, Jiang Fan recalled that he had no work for the next few days and had planned to pick Wang Wenyu up from Humen every evening to show his diligence. But with Shen Tingting trailing behind, he felt embarrassed to leave early.

The two sat by the flower bed outside the cafeteria. Shen Tingting said, “Thank you.”

Jiang Fan scratched his head. “I might’ve stirred up trouble for you—how could I possibly accept your thanks!”

Shen Tingting stood and looked toward the office building. “I’ve always been cautious, but even here, trouble finds me. Worst case, I’ll just look for another factory.”

“It’s not that serious. I just acted recklessly today. Your colleagues might ostracize you to please the old woman.”

Hearing Jiang Fan’s worry, Shen Tingting shook her head. “No, that won’t happen. Despite her genteel appearance, she’s offended plenty of people. Besides, she and Gou Biao profit from their collusion and need colleagues to cover for them, so no one fears her. That’s why they dare chat openly in front of her.”

Jiang Fan asked curiously, “They profit from their collusion? What do you mean?”

“Manager Liu has always guarded against me. I didn’t know about these things at first—it was my colleagues who told me. Privately, I get along well with them.”

As a child from a poor family, Shen Tingting was young but sensible, adept at handling people. After several months at the factory, she not only made friends but had become close with two colleagues in the personnel department. This was one reason she endured humiliation and chose to stay at Dafei.