Completely out of nowhere, Old Mrs. Zhao suddenly remembered the day Wang Juan had come to their door claiming she was pregnant—and the look on her son’s face at the time.
Back then, her son’s expression had been terrible, almost green. He kept saying, “Impossible, impossible.”
And what had she said at the time?
Old Mrs. Zhao felt like the short distance was impossibly long—why was she still so far from her son? But her mind was racing unusually fast. She immediately recalled her own reaction back then.
She remembered saying something like: “Now that you’ve finally got a child, you have to keep it. It might even be a grandson. A grandson can’t be born without status. Hurry up and marry Wang Juan, so this child has a proper identity.”
Her son hadn’t wanted to, so she had joined forces with her husband and her in-laws to pressure him. And soon after, he’d agreed.
Wang Juan was a village girl, sure. But she had just turned eighteen—young, pretty, and vibrant. And on top of that, her older brother was the smooth-talking Wang Hao. A family like that, while not exactly impressive, was more than good enough for her twice-divorced son. Never mind the fact that the two had already slept together and she was now pregnant.
If they didn’t marry Wang Juan, she would go to the factory to file a complaint.
No matter how she calculated it, marrying Wang Juan was the best deal for their family.
But now—what was going on with the loudspeakers? Could she be mistaken?
She had to be mistaken. Otherwise, a village girl like Wang Juan wouldn’t dare have an affair.
But then, Old Mrs. Zhao’s hope was completely shattered.
—
There, standing in front of the switch, her son Qin Shengli flashed her a huge smile. It was a smile she had never seen on his face in her entire life.
Then, from all directions, Wang Juan’s voice came through the speakers—slightly distorted by the amplification.
“Brother Xiao, you promised to arrange a job for my brother. Why haven’t we heard anything yet? He’s in the workshop every day, terrified of getting burned by molten steel. My parents are really worried too.”
Wang Juan’s voice came in fragments, punctuated by heavy breathing. By now, even a fool would know exactly what the woman was up to.
And then, the “Brother Xiao” she had mentioned let out a lecherous chuckle. The laugh was so disgusting that everyone listening to the broadcast got goosebumps.
“Baby, just take good care of our son. Once this wedding is over, your big brother’s job will be all set…”
Then came more giggles and gasps…
From the first crackle of static to this brief exchange, the whole process felt like it took a long time. For certain people, every second dragged like an eternity. But for the ordinary onlookers, less than five minutes had passed.
—
Bai Lan was stunned. Her pupils were in shock. She didn’t have words to describe what she was feeling.
Oh my God! Holy heavens! Oh God!
Bai Lan felt like she was losing the ability to speak coherently.
She turned to look at her eldest sister. Bai Lian had already stood up and was staring at Qin Shengli, who was still standing by the control switch.
Not just Bai Lian—every single person in the workers’ canteen was staring in Qin Shengli’s direction.
Their gazes were full of sympathy. Especially when they looked at the top of Qin Shengli’s head, each person wore an expression of unbearable pity.
Then Old Mrs. Zhao let out a howl and lunged at the dumbstruck Wang family.
“Damn you! Damn all of you! It’s all your Wang family’s fault—raising such a shameless daughter!”
Remembering how she had forced her son to raise another man’s child, forced him to become a cuckold, forced him to become a turtle-headed fool—Old Mrs. Zhao felt like she could kill someone.
Everyone in the canteen watched as Old Mrs. Zhao and the Wang family started brawling. Relatives of the Qin family jumped in to help. Meanwhile, the disgusting sounds continued to blare from the loudspeakers.
It felt like a long time—or maybe just a moment. In any case, several people at the leaders’ table finally stood up and shouted directly at Qin Shengli, who was still guarding the main speaker switch: “Turn it off! Turn it off now!”
Qin Shengli acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He just stood there stupidly, not moving.
Everyone assumed he was in shock. No one blamed him. Someone started walking toward him to turn off the switch.
Others headed to the adjacent broadcast room, hoping to shut things off from there.
But it was already too late.
—
When people stepped out of the workers’ canteen, they saw that the area in front of the canteen entrance and the broadcast room was already packed with people.
The crowd was buzzing with excitement, eyes wide as they stared at the tightly shut door of the broadcast room. Many pointed and gestured at the door. Others covered their children’s ears, terrified that the filthy sounds would corrupt them.
Bai Lan walked out with the crowd. She was still in shock and hadn’t fully recovered.
“Lanlan…”
As soon as she stepped out of the canteen, she saw Xu Jianbei and his friend Cao Changsheng walking toward her.
“In there…”
Bai Lan pointed toward the now-out-of-sight broadcast room door, struggling to form coherent sentences as she looked at Xu Jianbei.
Xu Jianbei shook his head. “By the time we got here, this many people had already gathered. It’s really…”
He couldn’t even finish the sentence. The whole thing, from start to finish, was absolutely disgusting. He knew Bai Lan had come here today with her older sister, so he had specifically come by to chat with Cao Changsheng and hang around nearby, just in case Bai Lan or her sister ran into trouble and needed help.
He never imagined things would end up this vile.
——
While the two of them were still talking, Old Mrs. Zhao had already gone two rounds with the Wang family. Then she charged straight toward the broadcast room.
The crowd that had gathered at the broadcast room door quickly parted to make way for her.
The treatment was no different from what a major celebrity would get. But that kind of spotlight—probably no one there envied her.
“Open the door! Open the damn door right now!”
Old Mrs. Zhao hurled herself against the broadcast room door like a human cannonball.
Back in those days, broadcast rooms weren’t like the ones that came later, fitted with proper soundproofing. By the time the crowd had gathered outside and started whispering, the two people messing around inside had already sensed something was wrong. But because they didn’t understand how the broadcasting equipment worked, they had no idea that their illicit affair had already been transmitted through every loudspeaker in the entire steel factory.
When Old Mrs. Zhao started pounding on the door, the two were frantically scrambling to get dressed.
The noise made them flinch in terror.
“What do we do, Brother Xiao? That old hag is here.”
Director Xiao was also sweating bullets. He slicked back the few strands of hair damp with sweat on his scalp, feeling genuinely scared.
Usually, he was a very cautious man. If he weren’t cautious, he would have fallen from grace long ago. But today, for some reason, a couple of drinks had gotten his blood pumping. And knowing that Wang Juan was about to be settled down with Qin Shengli had made him cocky.
Come to think of it, Qin Shengli was actually one of the more efficient workers under him. Who would have thought that this usually sharp young man would end up getting played by Wang Hao?
But Xiao didn’t care about that. The one losing out was Qin Shengli, not him. Just thinking about how Qin Shengli would end up raising his son for him—even though something seemed off about the situation right now—Director Xiao couldn’t help but show a smug smile.
But that smile froze instantly on his face.
Because the door that had been repeatedly pounded but wouldn’t budge suddenly swung open.
The person who opened it was none other than Comrade Zhao Meixiang, head of the publicity department.
Her face was ashen. She shot a fierce glare at the disheveled pair, then turned to look at her husband, Factory Director Song.
“Old Song, the door’s open. Go inside and sort this out.”
Factory Director Song’s face was equally livid. He never imagined that a perfectly fine day would be ruined like this by Old Xiao. Thinking about the broadcast that had just been transmitted across the entire steel plant, his face turned green.
And Qin Shengli, the one truly wearing the green hat, had also arrived at the broadcast room door, surrounded by the crowd.
Instantly, a two-meter radius cleared around Qin Shengli, with him at the center.
Everyone stared at him, their eyes full of sympathy. Meanwhile, the two inside the broadcast room didn’t dare take a single step out.
Factory Director Song cleared his throat twice. He was about to call for the security team to disperse the onlookers. But before he could, Old Mrs. Zhao, who had been lurking at the edge, dashed inside like an arrow. Soon, Wang Juan’s shrieks echoed from the room, along with a string of profanities from Old Mrs. Zhao that would have been censored on air.
The next moment, everyone saw Old Mrs. Zhao dragging Wang Juan out by her hair.
Only then did Qin Shengli finally speak. “Mom, are you trying to injure her so badly that we’ll have to pay compensation?”
Old Mrs. Zhao froze as if struck by lightning. Trembling, she said, “Son, son. Mom is avenging you!”
Qin Shengli’s tone was cold. “No need for revenge. It takes two to tango. Mom…”
Of course, Old Mrs. Zhao knew the other adulterer also needed to be punished. But that adulterer was her son’s boss’s boss. She was afraid that if she offended him, the whole family would have a hard time moving around the factory in the future.
Seeing this, Qin Shengli let out a nervous, chilling laugh. The sound was so eerie that everyone watching shuddered simultaneously.
Factory Director Song, who had been about to close the door and handle the matter quietly inside the broadcast room, also froze. He didn’t dare suggest closing the door for a private discussion anymore.
He cleared his throat loudly and shouted, “Security team, come over. Arrest these two for engaging in illicit relations and take them in for questioning…”
At his command, the security team rushed in like tigers let out of a cage. Within less than two minutes, they had dragged out the overweight Director Xiao.
Seeing this, Qin Shengli even clapped his hands a couple of times. His expression was that of a complete bystander.
Everyone watching was baffled by Qin Shengli’s behavior. Many suspected that the green hat had gone to his head and driven him mad.
But no matter what people thought, in the end, the adulterous pair were marched straight to the security department. And as the victim, Qin Shengli naturally had to go along to help resolve the matter.
Before leaving, Qin Shengli flashed Bai Lian a manic smile. The smile appeared and disappeared in an instant, replaced by an expression of relief.
Not many people noticed this small detail. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the detained adulterous couple.
But Bai Lan and Xu Jianbei both saw it. The two of them were certain that what had happened today was, from start to finish, a trap set by Qin Shengli.
This trap had ensnared everyone. Even the person who had suffered the most was Qin Shengli himself.
Oh, no—maybe Old Mrs. Zhao felt she had suffered even more.
Because as Qin Shengli walked away, the only thing left on the scene was Old Mrs. Zhao’s wailing. Her cries were shrill and utterly horrifying.
Bai Lan shook her head as she listened. She couldn’t help but think: if Old Mrs. Zhao hadn’t kept stirring up trouble with all her little schemes, maybe a lot of things would have turned out differently.
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