I don’t know how much time had passed when Director Fang called me into his office once again. This time his expression was completely different from the last time—I could sense that he too was exhausted.

The gossip hadn’t killed me, an ordinary employee, but it was about to kill him, a workshop leader.

Just like before, he pulled an envelope from his drawer again.

“Tiantian…” Director Fang forced out a hint of a smile as he spoke to me. “I won’t say anything superfluous. You also know… this matter has blown up quite big. Now, you continuing to stay here isn’t doing either of us any good. Inside this envelope is one month’s salary. Go ahead and pack up in a bit, then go home and rest.”

“Rest…?” I was stunned. “What… I haven’t even done anything… why should I go home and rest…”

“How should I put it…” Seeing that I didn’t reach out my hand, Director Fang could only gently place the envelope on the desk, then picked up his teacup and blew on the floating tea leaves before saying, “Sometimes it doesn’t matter whether you did it or not… What’s important is how big of an ‘impact’ this matter has caused. You understand, right?”

I understand? Why should I have to understand?

“I… how long do I need to rest?” I asked again.

“Well…” He pursed his lips and sipped the scalding tea, making a loud slurping sound, then said while smacking his lips, “The factory needs to see the work arrangements for the next quarter… In any case, don’t worry, go home and clear your mind.”

He’s lying… He’ll never let me come back.

The boys and girls who were dismissed from the factory before all heard this same line.

“Director Fang, you know I haven’t done anything…” I lowered my head, my voice very soft as I said, “This is your misconduct problem. Under no circumstances should I be punished…”

“Tiantian, I just told you, whether you did it or not isn’t important.” Director Fang said, “Now everyone thinks you did it, so you did it. What use is it for you to prove your innocence?”

So as I’ve always said, Director Fang really was good leadership material.

The last time I stood in his office, what he said was completely opposite to what he’s saying now.

Both the straight talk and the reverse talk came from his mouth, as if I had always been standing on his opposing side, and he was earnestly trying to persuade me to reform and turn over a new leaf.

But what exactly had I done?

“I’m not leaving.” I said. “I haven’t done anything wrong. If I leave now… it would be equivalent to admitting I did it.”

I raised my eyes to look at Director Fang. Although he appeared expressionless, I clearly felt the corner of his eye twitch.

He pushed up his glasses, then set the teacup down on the desk with moderate force, raised his head to look at me: “A young girl of sixteen or seventeen, are you really planning to have people gossip about you for the rest of your life here?”

“I have no choice.” I answered. “I need money. How they talk about me has nothing to do with me at all. I just need to receive the money I should receive every month… I can ignore everything else.”

When he heard the word “money,” I clearly saw Director Fang’s expression change. He quickly showed a smile, slowly sat down in his office chair, and said softly: “I see… The young lady is quite straightforward.”

He took a deep breath, as if the matter had already been resolved, then smiled and said: “As long as you have a request, that’s easy to handle. I’m not an unreasonable person. How much money do you think would make you satisfied enough to go home?”

Hearing him ask this, I took a step forward and said: “I need one hundred thousand.”

The words “one hundred thousand” seemed to be the most outrageous words Director Fang had heard in recent years, causing his expression to gradually change from relaxed to serious, and before long it became fierce.

“Tiantian… you’re being shameless when given face.” Director Fang said. “Your monthly salary is only four hundred yuan, and you’re asking me for one hundred thousand? Do you think you’re worth that much money?”

“No, I’m not asking you for it.” I shook my head. “Rather, I must find a way to get one hundred thousand. I don’t have any marketable skills, so I can only try hard to stay here.”

“You…” Director Fang’s expression looked as if he’d been extorted, but he also knew I wasn’t doing that, so he changed his approach and asked: “So you’re determined not to leave…?”

“Not leaving. You let me stay here. You be your big leader, and I’ll endure my cold ridicule and hot sarcasm.” I said. “I won’t be any hindrance to you, right?”

“What a ‘won’t be any hindrance.'” Director Fang sneered. “This matter has only reached me so far… If it spreads further up, that won’t be good. At that point I might have to use some methods to make you leave. That’s also fine, right?”

I knew that a middle-aged leader wanting to deal with a teenage girl like me would definitely be as easy as turning his hand over. He had plenty of scheming and methods. But did I have a choice?

Moreover, whether this matter would spread upward didn’t depend on me at all.

There really was a girl who had an improper relationship with Director Fang in the workshop, but that person wasn’t me!

As long as that girl was still there, Director Fang had made a mistake. This matter had nothing to do with whether I was dismissed or not.

That day I walked out of Director Fang’s workshop in a daze, feeling as if I had fought a battle with someone, my heart filled with indescribable exhaustion.

I didn’t know what I should do, I just continued day after day assembling copper bells on the assembly line.

But my mind was ultimately in disarray. Soon I installed a bell clapper backwards. To avoid affecting the pass rate, I could only use the fastest speed to remove the clapper, then reassemble it.

When I disassembled this small bell clapper, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.

There’s a saying: whoever tied the bell must untie it.

Whoever installed the backwards clapper needs to be the one to fix it.

This matter wasn’t caused by me, so I couldn’t resolve it either.

The problem lay with that fat woman—that is, Director Fang’s wife.

She was the origin of everything, and the chief culprit who destroyed my life.

So much time had passed, she naturally knew I was wronged. If I could find her and use every possible means to get her to come to the workshop and say a few words of explanation… it would be more useful than me saying ten thousand sentences myself.

I wasn’t sure whether she would agree to this request… To persuade such a vicious person would not be an easy task for me.

But I had no better solution. When I explained this matter myself, the effect was always minimal.

I needed to convince his wife before Director Fang made his move to drive me away.

After work I left the workshop early, used a scarf to cover my chin, then hailed a tricycle. I spent fifty cents to have the driver follow Director Fang’s car all the way to their residential complex.

Director Fang lived in a complex that was almost at the county town. Fortunately, he lived on the first floor, so I easily obtained his address.

The next day at work, I took advantage of the lunch break to come to his home again, knocked on the door with an anxious heart.