Chapter 170: Understanding
Meanwhile, Ruan Hongfei was holed up in her dorm, growing more bitter with every thought.
’Why did Qin Wenhao get married?’
’I was clearly willing to marry him.’
’And I was even willing to accept those two adopted burdens of his.’
’So why didn’t he marry me? Why did he marry someone else instead?’
’And who was this woman who’d snatched him away from me?’
’No, I can’t just admit defeat like this.’
She had to find out who that woman was and what methods she’d used to marry Qin Wenhao.
Taking a deep breath, she thought of someone.
She found the bag of fruit candy she’d brought with her and took out about half.
Then she went to Zhu Xiaohong’s home.
She raised her hand and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Zhu Xiaohong called out as she came to open the door.
When she saw Ruan Hongfei standing at her door, she was a little surprised, but not entirely.
She instantly guessed why Ruan Hongfei had come to see her.
"Well, well, if it isn’t Comrade Ruan. What brings you to my home? Is there something you need?"
"Sister Zhu! Sorry to bother you. These are some fruit candies from my hometown. For you and the kids to have a little taste."
Ruan Hongfei handed over the half-bag of fruit candy.
This made Zhu Xiaohong’s face light up with a delighted smile.
She immediately took the half-bag of fruit candy.
"Oh, Hongfei, you’re being too kind! Please, come in and sit down."
’This was fruit candy, after all—the kind you couldn’t always get at the co-op.’
Ruan Hongfei felt a flicker of contempt for the woman’s petty greed.
But she didn’t let any of it show on her face.
She stepped inside.
She noticed the courtyard was a mess.
She decided to just follow Zhu Xiaohong straight into the main room.
"Hongfei, please sit. Let me get you a glass of water—"
Ruan Hongfei hadn’t come here for a drink of water. She immediately put up a hand to stop her. "Sister Zhu, please don’t trouble yourself. I’m not thirsty."
"I came because there’s something I wanted to ask you—"
Her expression was a mixture of sheepishness and unease.
Zhu Xiaohong understood perfectly and cut straight to the point. "You want to ask about Qin Wenhao’s wife, don’t you?"
Ruan Hongfei’s face darkened as she nodded. "—Yes."
Even now, she couldn’t stand hearing someone else called Qin Wenhao’s wife.
"Ah, she’s really something else, that woman. Let me tell you, she’s as beautiful as a siren. Both mother and daughter are incredibly resourceful. They got Qin Wenhao to bring them all to the base to live the good life—"
Zhu Xiaohong rambled on, telling her everything, including the matter of Fu Mingxue’s job.
She grew more and more indignant as she spoke. "I mean, what’s wrong with asking her to keep an eye out for a job opening for me? And she actually had Qin Wenhao come and intimidate me—"
With every word, Ruan Hongfei’s heart sank.
And the more she heard, the worse she felt.
From Zhu Xiaohong’s account, she gleaned a few key points about the woman.
First, the woman was beautiful.
Second, she was cunning and resourceful.
And third, she had somehow gotten Qin Wenhao to arrange a job for her right after arriving.
This was truly a formidable rival.
Unable to get any more information out of Zhu Xiaohong, she decided to leave—
Fu Mingxue sneezed.
She paid it no mind.
"Master Yang, could you take a look at this drawing? Is it possible to manufacture something like this?"
The Master Yang Fu Mingxue addressed was a Level 8 Machinist, a man at the pinnacle of his craft.
He took the drawing and studied it for a long moment before saying, "I’ll give it a try."
Seeing this, Fu Mingxue didn’t leave, but stayed to watch him work.
The part she had pointed out required precision grinding on a lathe, with tolerances down to a fraction of a millimeter.
This was why even an ordinary Level 8 Machinist wouldn’t do.
It had to be him.
He was, after all, the person Director Geng had recommended to her.
She was supposed to have gotten off work at nine that evening.
But because of this issue, Fu Mingxue had long since lost track of time.
She’d also completely forgotten that Qin Wenhao had said he would come to pick her up.