A suspension typically has only two possible outcomes: the first is that after a period of quiet shelving, you return to your original post; the second is a punitive reassignment to a different department.

Su Man didn’t know which one was waiting for her.

Her parents would use their connections and standing to smooth her path and create a comfortable environment for her, but they would not shield her from accountability, so this time Su Man still had to accept her punishment.

A perfectly good job, and she’d gone and thrown it away like this.

She packed up her things simply, and went home feeling dejected and vexed.

……

By early evening, she was at home getting dressed up, preparing for a long-overdue date.

Standing before the mirror arranging her hair, she couldn’t help thinking: it turns out she really doesn’t enjoy being a traffic officer. Although being suspended made her feel low and a little indignant, she didn’t feel any particular sense of loss — if anything, she felt a faint, quiet sense of relief.

And the whole thing hadn’t put a dent in her good mood about the upcoming date at all.

Su Man reflected on herself: Was she really being a little too… love-brained?

The doorbell rang downstairs.

Su Man assumed it was her mother forgetting to bring her key. She picked up the hem of her skirt and skipped lightly down the stairs, opened the door — and found Li Li standing there, which made her pause for a moment.

Li Li also paused, then looked her over from head to toe, the mockery impossible to contain. “You’ve been suspended and you still have the mood to dress yourself up like a gaudy butterfly?”

Su Man: “…”

She was wearing understated, refined clothing today — where exactly did he see a “gaudy butterfly”?!

“Forget it, whatever.” Li Li turned down the corner of his mouth and walked straight inside, dropping onto the living room sofa with casual ease. “Let’s talk,” he said.

“Talk about what?” Su Man followed him over curiously. “I’m going out in a bit.”

“Going out?” Li Li looked her over again, his expression souring. “You’re not going to go see that man again, are you?!”

Su Man knew he had a poor impression of Lu Yuwen. She sat down in the seat beside him and said earnestly, “We made plans to have dinner together. You’ve actually misunderstood him — he’s a genuinely good person, and I hope you’ll stop being prejudiced against him going forward…”

Li Li had come specifically today to have it out with her about Lu Yuwen. He hadn’t expected Su Man to turn it around and start lecturing him first!

“How long have you even known him, and you’re already calling him a good person?” Li Li stared at Su Man in disbelief. “Can you not be so naive? Do you have to wait until the day he swindles you out of everything you have before you’re willing to believe what I say?”

Su Man frowned. “He hasn’t swindled me.”

Li Li: “He hasn’t? Your father helped him get his business license. Your mother has been getting involved in his shop’s renovation. He’s benefited from your whole network of connections, and now it looks like the daughter herself is about to be handed over! And you don’t call that being swindled?! He’s just a pretty-faced freeloader living off other people’s generosity!”

Su Man truly could not stand hearing him speak badly about Lu Yuwen. She drew several deep breaths to push down her anger, then explained to Li Li in a measured and patient tone, “It’s not like that — you’ve misunderstood. My parents treat him well because he helped my father once before…”

“Give it a rest!” Li Li cut her off in irritation, pointing at her. “You’ve already been brainwashed by that fox spirit! You’ve lost all capacity for independent thought — no matter what I say, you refuse to hear it! Su Man, I’m warning you to wake up, or when the time comes, you won’t even have a place to cry!”

“Enough!” Su Man’s temper finally broke. She glared at Li Li. “Are you ever going to stop? Lu Yuwen has never said a bad word about you — in fact, he makes excuses for you. And you can’t manage a single good word? You’ve gone too far!”

Li Li laughed from sheer rage. “He never says anything bad about me? He is the cunning one! The way things got to where they are between us is entirely because he stirred the pot! Are you blind?!”

Su Man was about to explode. She drew a long, deep breath and shot to her feet.

She grabbed her bag and said, “Lu Yuwen is right — you’ve never been whipped into shape by society, and that’s why you’re so childishly ridiculous!”

She turned and walked away, throwing a cold parting shot over her shoulder: “Remember to close the door when you leave!”

Li Li stormed after her and bellowed, “He said all that about me — and you’re still claiming he never spoke badly of me! Su Man! — You’re a complete double-standard hypocrite!!!”

—