Chapter 36: Double-Dealing
"Xiao Qing, I went to my dad’s factory today to see that guy. He’s a decent height, probably about five-foot-seven, and wears glasses. He has a very intellectual air about him..."
Seeing Jiang Moli standing like a guardian statue at the entrance to the family housing compound, then glancing at Zhou Xiaoqing, who was rambling on about her blind date, a cold, gloating smile flashed in Jiang Qing’s eyes.
With Jiang Moli’s unreasonable and aggressive nature, once she found out Zhou Xiaoqing was the one who reported her, she was bound to blame Zhou Xiaoqing for all the humiliation she had suffered today.
Zhou Xiaoqing had left early this morning, so she’d missed the spectacle of Jiang Moli arguing with the Educated Youth Office.
She had been overjoyed to hear the gossip about Jiang Moli from her coworkers at the factory.
"Jiang Moli, after being so humiliated this morning, you still have the nerve to show your face? If I were you, I’d be so ashamed I’d just go die!"
Seeing Zhou Xiaoqing recklessly provoke Jiang Moli, Jiang Qing almost burst out laughing.
She couldn’t wait for the two of them to start a brawl right there in the street, hopefully one that would land them in the police station.
She refused to believe that Lu Cheng would tolerate Jiang Moli’s antics time and time again.
"Zhou Xiaoqing, you’re quite the two-faced one, aren’t you? Putting on one act in public and another in private. You pretend to be best friends and sisters with Jiang Qing, but behind her back, you run to the Educated Youth Office to report on her family. Is that any way to treat a friend?"
Both Zhou Xiaoqing’s and Jiang Qing’s eyes twitched.
The former felt a pang of guilt, her secret report having been exposed in public by Jiang Moli.
The latter was shocked that Jiang Moli hadn’t just started a fight with Zhou Xiaoqing as she’d expected.
’Did Jiang Moli grow a brain?’
...
It was evening, and plenty of people were coming and going from the compound—some getting off work, others coming home from school.
Hearing Jiang Moli arguing with Zhou Xiaoqing, everyone stopped to watch the drama unfold.
"That’s bullshit! You’re the one trying to dodge the countryside assignment, what’s that got to do with me?" Zhou Xiaoqing denied in a panic.
Jiang Moli pointed at Jiang Qing. "Jiang Qing told me so herself. You two are so close, she’d have no reason to frame you, right?"
Then she looked at Jiang Qing. "Zhou Xiaoqing won’t admit it. If you have any proof, now’s the time to show it."
Zhou Xiaoqing’s head whipped around to stare at Jiang Qing.
Jiang Qing stared back at her.
Their gazes, locked on each other, were filled with guilt, panic, and defensiveness.
Zhou Xiaoqing knew full well she hadn’t been wrongly accused; she was indeed the one who had secretly reported the Jiang family.
But she absolutely could not admit it, or she would be drowned in the ensuing public condemnation.
Although Jiang Qing detested Zhou Xiaoqing, she didn’t want to have a complete falling-out with her.
After all, she had always cultivated an image as a hardworking, kind, and upstanding person. Siding with her stepsister to accuse her best friend clearly didn’t fit that image or persona.
"Moli, don’t make baseless accusations. I never told you that Zhou Xiaoqing was the informant."
As someone who had lived two lives, Jiang Qing quickly calmed down and launched her counterattack against Jiang Moli.
Zhou Xiaoqing chimed in, "Plenty of people can’t stand the sight of you. What makes you think I was the one who reported it? Jiang Moli, you’re truly vicious, trying to drive a wedge between me and Xiao Qing like this."
Hearing Zhou Xiaoqing’s words, everyone became convinced that Jiang Moli was just trying to sow discord.
It couldn’t be helped; Jiang Moli’s reputation was just that bad.
Stirring up trouble for no reason and driving wedges between people were exactly the kinds of things she was known for.
In an instant, the crowd of onlookers began casting looks of disgust at Jiang Moli.
"What kind of person has no friends of her own, so she tries to ruin other people’s friendships?"
"She was just taught a lesson this morning and still hasn’t learned. Now she’s back to her old tricks, stirring up trouble for no reason. I’d say she’s a lost cause!"
『Disdain Value +1+1+1...』
In this wave, Jiang Moli successfully earned 20 Disdain Value points.
In reality, the vast majority of the onlookers had already contributed Disdain Value to Jiang Moli before.
These 20 points came mostly from the elementary and middle school students heading home from school.
Children’s social circles were different from adults’; normally, even if they heard gossip about Jiang Moli, they wouldn’t pay it much mind.
But now, having witnessed her unreasonable troublemaking firsthand, they all began contributing their own Disdain Value.
Only when the Disdain Value stopped rising did Jiang Moli feign indignation and point at Jiang Qing.
"You were the one who told me it was Zhou Xiaoqing who reported our family, and now you’re denying it! Good thing I have proof, otherwise I really would have been framed by the two of you today!"
"Jiang Moli, if you have proof, then show it!"
"Yeah, if you have proof, then hurry up and show it. Stop just running your mouth."
The onlookers jeered in agreement.
Zhou Xiaoqing was skeptical. "Jiang Moli, who do you think you’re fooling with this act?"
Jiang Moli pulled several crumpled sheets of letter paper from her pocket and began passing them to the onlookers. "Come on, come on, everyone take a look! These are the rough drafts of the letter Zhou Xiaoqing wrote to report our family..."
Hearing this, the color instantly drained from Zhou Xiaoqing’s face.
Jiang Qing’s eye twitched.
She had hidden those letters by pasting them to the wall under a layer of newspaper. She never thought Jiang Moli would actually find them.
"It really is a report letter..."
Someone held one of the sheets up to Zhou Xiaoqing. "Zhou Xiaoqing, is this your writing?"
Staring at the handwriting and content on the paper, Zhou Xiaoqing felt a chill as if she’d been plunged into an ice cellar. "Impossible, I clearly..."
The last three words, "tore them up," were forced back down her throat by what little reason she had left.
But her panicked expression still made everyone suspicious.
Jiang Moli struck while the iron was hot. "I found these drafts by Jiang Qing’s bedside!"
Zhou Xiaoqing whipped her head around to look at Jiang Qing.
"What drafts? I’ve never seen them."
Jiang Qing feigned ignorance, but inwardly, she knew exactly what was going on.
She had indeed hidden the letters herself. They were supposed to be her trump card; if Jiang Moli couldn’t deal with Zhou Xiaoqing, she would have stepped in.
Although things had gone completely differently than she’d planned, being able to expose Zhou Xiaoqing’s despicable behavior in public meant her goal was at least half-achieved.
"Zhou Xiaoqing, you never would have dreamed it, would you? Jiang Qing knew all along about the shady things you were doing in secret. She even kept this leverage over you hidden away. Any guesses what she was planning to do with it?"
"I didn’t even know those letters existed! Jiang Moli, don’t you dare try to pin your own mess on me."
Of course, Jiang Qing wasn’t going to admit it.
Admitting she had the drafts would be tantamount to admitting she was a malicious schemer.
Her reputation and popularity were far better than Jiang Moli’s, so almost no one doubted her words. And so, Jiang Moli once again gained another 8 Disdain Value points.
This was because a steady stream of new onlookers was joining the crowd to watch the show.
And they, in turn, continuously contributed Disdain Value to Jiang Moli.
Jiang Moli had guessed Jiang Qing wouldn’t admit it, and she truly didn’t have any proof that Jiang Qing was the one who had hidden the drafts.
She was destined to take the blame for supposedly framing her stepsister.
Fortunately, she wasn’t taking this loss for nothing.
The more people believed she was framing Jiang Qing, the more Disdain Value she earned.
Looked at from another angle, Jiang Qing wasn’t hurting her—she was helping her.
She had already decided: the day her mission was complete, she would definitely have a silk banner made for Jiang Qing, proclaiming her a "Good Samaritan."
...
After the meeting ended, Lu Deyao was heading back to his office, tea mug in hand, when several colleagues caught up with him.
"Lu, congratulations! I hear you’ll be welcoming a daughter-in-law soon."
"You’re too kind. Come to the wedding banquet in a few days."
His colleagues smiled and agreed.
"I hear your new daughter-in-law can be a bit of a handful," one of them said. "If you ask me, you’re just too low-key. Otherwise, people would have to take your status into account and make an exception for her, wouldn’t they?"
’Sending educated youth down to the countryside to aid in rural construction is a national development strategy set by the Party and the state. Anyone who seeks special treatment or tries to interfere is breaking the law and violating discipline!’
The person who said this was, in essence, setting a trap for Lu Deyao.