“Could… could you see if this works…”

I swallowed and continued: “Sis, I don’t need you to go to the workshop and say anything to everyone. I just need you to greet me when you go to the workshop to find Director Fang… Let everyone know I’m not your enemy… Such a simple thing… it shouldn’t cause you any…”

“No. Not negotiable.”

After saying this, she once again grabbed the sunflower seeds and made the sound that drove me to collapse.

*Crack.*

“Then… then could you please tell Director Fang not to dismiss me?” I asked again.

*Crack.*

“Shameless when given face.” The woman raised her eyes to look at me once more. “Haven’t I said everything I needed to say? I said I’m not sure whether you’re the mistress or not. If I help you and you go seduce Old Fang afterward, what would that make me? A stupid woman?”

I stood there for a long time without speaking.

So what was wrong with this world…

Director Fang and his wife were both cursing me as “shameless when given face.”

As for those people in the workshop… They didn’t give me face, but they also cursed me as shameless.

But who actually gave me face? And how was I shameless?

I just wanted to prove that I was wrongly accused.

If both Director Fang and his wife had this attitude… for a nobody like me without status or position, there really were no choices left.

At that time, I would have no income, and with my minor status, I wouldn’t be able to find work in the city, so…

I ultimately still turned my gaze to the one thousand yuan on the table.

The woman quickly noticed my movement, then sneered and said: “Let me make this clear—once you take this money, the matter is settled. If you dare come here again, I’ll give you a few more slaps. My family doesn’t lack money anyway, and you don’t lack beatings, right?”

Yes… Once I took this money, the matter would be settled.

Although the impact it caused me was far from being appeased… but if I didn’t seize this opportunity, I would have nothing.

Since all these things would ultimately happen, I could only try to gain something from this sudden upheaval, and the one thousand yuan before me was the best thing I could gain.

The moment I picked up the envelope, I felt extraordinarily mercenary.

What difference was there between this and a transaction for me?

Both Director Fang and his wife wanted to settle this matter with money. I could only see who offered the higher price, because I really needed money.

Walking out of Director Fang’s home, I straightened my back as I passed through the residential complex, turned to a place where no one could see me, squatted on the ground and cried silently and profusely.

I felt as if I had sold myself.

When the upheaval occurred, I sold the right to be beaten for five hundred yuan, and now, I had exchanged the qualification to be wronged for one thousand yuan.

From now on, it would be impossible for anyone to speak a word for me, and my own explanations would never be heard by anyone.

But I had exchanged all of this for money.

But it didn’t matter… None of this mattered.

From the very beginning, everything I did was to preserve Liang Wa’s life.

Eventually we would buy a big house in the city, go to a place where no one knew us, and let everything start over.

Since things had already reached this point, I didn’t mind if someone beat me up every day, and I didn’t mind if someone wronged me every day—that way I would obtain endless money.

Also on this day, four invisible walls seemed to appear around me, separating me from everyone else.

In the following days, I kept waiting for Director Fang to “make his move.”

But the joke heaven played on me seemed to always be incomprehensible—before Director Fang could make any move against me, he was transferred from his position.

That day I saw several people dressed in black clothes enter his office. Just a few minutes later, Director Fang slunk out following someone who looked like a high-ranking leader, and then never returned.

Some said he was transferred to another workshop due to misconduct issues, others said he left the city. That was also the last time I saw him.

But did my days of suffering end?

They did not.

A new leader soon came to the workshop, a young man in his thirties. He looked refined and cultured, spoke to everyone with a smile, but his eyes always seemed fierce.

Just three days later, he called me to his office.

I knew he must have also heard certain gossip and it was time to settle accounts with me.

I just didn’t know him well enough… Would he be a good leader?

Would he be like Director Fang, giving me money to leave?

Or would he carefully ask about the cause and effect… giving me a chance to explain?

“Zhang Li… juan? Right?” While organizing the documents on his desk, he spared me a glance. “Sit down, no need to stand.”

“Leader…” I said softly, “What’s the matter?”

He tapped a stack of documents on the desk to align them, then flipped through them and pulled one out.

Then he stared at the document and made a “tsk” sound with his mouth.

“Sit, sit.” He raised his head to speak to me again. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Seeing that I remained unmoved, he stood up, came behind me to close the office door, then dragged over a stool for me before returning to his office chair.

“Leader… why don’t you just say it directly? What is it about?” My heart was always uneasy, not knowing what I was about to face.

“It is indeed bad news.” He pushed the document forward. “You also know I just transferred here. There are many irregular things in the workshop that need to be rectified… Mm…”

I saw him shake his head, then sigh and say: “Forget it, I’ll say it directly. I looked at your information. At most you’re only seventeen years old this year, but your work performance is very outstanding. I originally wanted to make an exception for you, but recently a document came down from above… once again emphasizing the prohibition of employing underage workers, so I’m sorry.”

“Huh…?”

“I don’t know which batch of documents Old Fang followed when recruiting people, but since there are new regulations, I must implement them.” The new leader shook his head. “This matter doesn’t target any specific person. Several underage workers in the workshop will all be treated equally and dismissed one after another. There’s no way around it. I hope you understand.”

“Wait… wait a moment…”

For a moment I didn’t even know what words to say to make him keep me.

“Leader… I’ll be an adult next year… I…” I stammered, unable to speak properly. “As long as you don’t say anything…”

“That won’t do.” The new leader shook his head expressionlessly. “If I keep you, I’ll have to keep the other underage employees. After all, I can’t treat people differently. But once the higher-ups investigate, this matter will become my responsibility. I came here wanting to make the workshop better, not to take on a bomb. You can understand this, right? Sorry.”

“But… but I…” I paused. “I really need money… Could you not…”

“I understand…” The new leader nodded. “I completely understand. Your salary for this month will be paid as usual. I won’t confiscate any of your previous earnings. If you want to come back after you become an adult next year, we’ll welcome you. We’ll see about the new recruitment system then, okay?”

So… was he a good leader?

He had been here for three days and had indeed been rectifying irregular things in the workshop all along.

He increased the employees’ lunch break time, shortened working hours, increased the labor protection budget, and issued high-temperature subsidies.

All the irregularities were gradually being eliminated.

Including me.

He didn’t look at me through tinted glasses, and didn’t gossip about me like the others.

He just used a perfectly legitimate reason to dismiss me.