Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

But this trip would turn out to be a disaster.

Xiaonian’s wife saw Qingmu enter the workshop. A moment later, for some unknown reason, Jinling went in as well. An idea struck her. She scanned her surroundings; the workshop courtyard, lit by a few torches, was now empty. Only a few women were still in the latrine. She quickly ran over, latched the main workshop gate from the outside, and then hurried out of the courtyard, greeting the gatekeeper, Uncle Lin, as if nothing were wrong.

A little while later, the other four women came out of the latrine and left for home. Unexpectedly, the only person left in the workshop was Jinling—and, of course, Qingmu. He had come to do an inspection and was in the adjacent supervision office, looking over the day’s production records.

When Jinling grabbed her things, she discovered she couldn’t get out. Puzzled, she pulled and pushed on the door with all her might, but it wouldn’t budge. If she had just called out for help then, none of this would have happened. But she found it strange and just assumed the door was stuck. ’It can’t be locked right now,’ she thought. ’The night watch has to make their rounds, and Qingmu is here for an inspection.’

Because of this delay, the last few women left. The vast workshop fell silent, with only a few oil lamps flickering unsteadily. The winter night’s chill seemed to seep deep into her bones. Fear crept into her heart, and she cried out, trying to get the attention of the gatekeeper, Uncle Lin, or the people over at the warehouse—that place was staffed day and night.

In the end, she didn’t get Uncle Lin or the warehouse staff. Instead, Qingmu emerged from the adjacent supervision office. "Jinling," he asked, surprised, "why haven’t you gone home yet? What are you—"

He saw that Jinling couldn’t open the door. After she explained the situation, he was just as confused. He examined the door closely and confirmed it had been latched from the outside. He found it incredibly strange, but without time to dwell on it, he raised his voice and shouted for Uncle Lin.

After several shouts with no response, he worried that Uncle Lin’s old age had made his hearing poor, or that he was too far away to hear properly—the young men on night duty often made a racket, laughing and shouting. So, he tried shouting for Li Changliang and Huang Xiaodun, who were on watch at the warehouse.

His voice was certainly loud enough, but when it rains, it pours. As it happened, Huang Xiaodun and Li Changliang had been drinking earlier that evening. Feeling tipsy, they had grabbed some melon seeds and were hiding in the warehouse’s watch room, happily snacking away and trading jokes. Though Qingmu shouted himself hoarse, the two of them paid him no mind.

Still, it was a quiet night, and Qingmu’s angry shouts could have shattered the heavens. You would have to be dead not to hear them.

By the time Uncle Lin, Li Changliang, and the others hurried over to open the main workshop gate, Qingmu stormed out, his eyes blazing with fire. "Is this how you keep watch?" he demanded, his voice booming. "I was shouting my head off and you didn’t hear a thing! What if someone came to steal something? What if a fire broke out? I bet you wouldn’t notice until the thieves were gone or everything had burned to the ground! Who latched this door?"

Thoroughly berated, Li Changliang was deeply embarrassed. He shook his head and said, "We were watching things by the warehouse. We weren’t paying attention over here."

Uncle Lin added, "I saw you come in. Why would I latch the door for no reason?"

Just then, Jinling came out as well. "Uncle Lin," she asked, "have Sister-in-law Qiang and the others already left?"

Seeing Jinling, Li Changliang and the others exchanged strange glances. Uncle Lin said, "They left. Left a good while ago. Why haven’t you gone home yet?"

Jinling said, "I came in to get something, and when I turned back, the door was shut for some reason. Qingmu came over and started shouting for you all. He was shouting for a long time before you finally came."

Only then did the men understand what had happened—and yet, they didn’t understand at all. Who would have latched the main gate? Locking a young man and a young girl in the workshop together late at night... wasn’t this a blatant attempt to ruin them?

Qingmu was just about to ask Uncle Lin to escort Jinling home when he saw Li Mingtang and his son, Li Gongniu, rushing over. Seeing Jinling standing around talking with the men instead of heading home, Li Mingtang flew into a rage. "Jinling, what are you doing here?" he berated her. "Why aren’t you home yet? You’re making your mother sick with worry! Everyone else got home long ago."

As it turned out, the Li Family lived near the foot of the mountain. When the first group of women got off work, Jinling’s mother had asked them why her daughter hadn’t returned. Guizhi had said she was right behind them. Later, Xiaonian’s wife said the same thing. But when the last four women came out, they claimed Jinling had already gone home ahead of them. This was when Jinling’s mother started to panic, which was why Li Mingtang and Li Gongniu had come looking for her.

Feeling incredibly wronged, Jinling had no choice but to explain what happened all over again.

When Li Mingtang heard that his granddaughter had been locked in the workshop with Qingmu for some time, a strange expression crossed his face, a mix of anger and amusement. He turned to Qingmu and said with a sneer, "Qingmu, you’re doing a fine job managing this workshop, locking yourself in with a young girl. What’s next? Locking yourself in a room with one of the wives?"

Qingmu’s chest heaved with anger. He took a deep breath, forcing his fury down, and said in a cold voice, "Please watch your words, sir. Jinling is your granddaughter. I will handle what happened at the workshop and give everyone a proper explanation."

He turned to Li Changliang and Huang Xiaodun. "Be more alert at night. If you’re this inattentive again, thieves could clean the place out and you wouldn’t even know it. Tomorrow—"

Li Mingtang cut him off. "Give everyone an explanation? I think you owe our Old Li Family an explanation!"

Hearing her grandfather’s words, Jinling was mortified and indignant. As a girl in her teens, how could her mind jump to such conclusions? ’I thought everything would be fine once I got out,’ she lamented internally. ’And it should be! We weren’t locked in for very long, and the moment Qingmu showed up, he was shouting for help. We didn’t do anything! Why is Grandpa demanding an explanation?’

The mortified young girl cried out, "Grandpa, what are you talking about? Qingmu and I didn’t do anything!"

Li Mingtang shot her a fierce glare. "What do you know? Isn’t this embarrassing enough? Do you really think anyone will listen to you?"

Qingmu’s face was impassive. "The whole thing is suspicious, but Jinling knows exactly what happened, and these men can all bear witness. If you insist on making an issue out of this, sir, then we can have the village chief settle the matter tomorrow."

Seeing his firm stance, Li Mingtang turned on his heel in a huff, still shouting, "Of course I’m going to have Gengtian set this right! Otherwise, people will think they can walk all over our Old Li Family." After a few steps, he turned back and saw his son Li Gongniu and his granddaughter still standing there, stunned. He barked, "Are you coming or not? You worthless things, can’t even make a peep."

Li Gongniu and Jinling hurriedly followed after him.

Left behind, Uncle Lin, Li Changliang, and Huang Xiaodun saw Qingmu’s stern face and felt deeply guilty. ’If only we’d heard him earlier and opened the door, maybe none of this would have happened. Besides, Qingmu is right. If we couldn’t even hear him shouting like that, what if someone had come to steal things? Or to set a fire and cause trouble?’ The thought sent a chill down their spines.