Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

With Jia Dongxu gone, the compensation payment is still going through the approval process at the factory.

But life can't go on.

The replacement positions were approved quickly, and Qin Huairu took off her mourning clothes the next day, put on faded blue work clothes, and entered the second workshop of the steel rolling mill.

In the past, she would occasionally come to the factory to deliver meals to Jia Dongxu, and she always liked to act weak and vulnerable in front of a group of grown men.

Those young men and middle-aged men, seeing that she was pretty, often helped Jia Dongxu with dirty and tiring work in the workshop.

Qin Huairu thought to herself that now that she had become a pitiful "widow," this tactic should be even more effective.

If she just squeezed out a few tears, wouldn't a bunch of men be vying to help her with the work in this workshop?

At 10 a.m., the machines in the workshop were roaring.

Qin Huairu stood in front of a drilling machine, holding a greasy part in her hand, pretending to be helpless and about to cry from fear of the machine.

Tears welled in her eyes as she looked around for her "prey".

"Oh, Brother Guo..."

She set her sights on Guo Da Piezi, who usually liked to chat with her, sitting at the next workstation.

Qin Huairu sniffed, her voice soft and sweet, "This machine is so scary! My wrists are too weak. Could you drill a few holes for me?"

If this had happened two weeks ago...

Guo Da Piezi had already happily put down what he was doing and came over to fawn over him.

Available today.

When Guo Da Piezi heard her voice, it was as if he had stepped on a mouse's tail.

He suddenly took two steps back, gripping the wrench tightly in his hand.

"Qin Huairu, don't call me! I wouldn't dare help you!"

Guo Da Piezi avoided him like the plague, his voice so loud that it couldn't be drowned out by the roar of the surrounding machine tools.

"Your family's hamsters even dared to steal military supplies. That old fox Yi Zhonghai was brought down because of your family."

"I, Guo Da Piezi, am a true member of the working class, I'd be terrified of being tainted by your family's evil influence!"

Upon hearing this, several male workers who had been observing the situation immediately echoed his sentiments.

"Exactly! Your son is a thief, your mother-in-law is a convict who assaulted a police officer, your whole family is a bunch of scoundrels!"

"You want us to do the work? Dream on! We're building machines for the country; we won't tolerate you slacking off here!"

Those who used to covet her or feel pity for her.

At this moment, it all turned into undisguised contempt, vigilance, and even disgust.

Qin Huairu's delicate expression froze instantly.

The rosy blush faded, leaving her deathly pale.

She never imagined that her proud "widow's bonus" would be used in this steel rolling mill after the storm in the compound.

It's completely stopped working!

"How...how could you say that..."

Qin Huairu bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes this time, trembling with grievance.

"During working hours, instead of doing any work, you're just here lamenting!"

A stern, cold shout came from behind.

The director of the second workshop, a stern-faced retired veteran, strode over.

"Bang!"

He ruthlessly disposed of a stack of burrs-covered, completely unusable iron parts.

It slammed hard onto Qin Huairu's workbench.

"Qin Huairu! Look what you've done this morning!"

The workshop director pointed at the pile of scrap iron, his eyes wide with anger.

"Twenty parts, and you've ruined eighteen of them by drilling! Are you building the country or causing destruction?!"

Qin Huairu was startled and quickly wiped away her tears, stammering as she explained:

"Director, I... I'm new here and not familiar with things yet. Dongxu, he used to..."

"Stop bringing up Jia Dongxu!"

The workshop director snorted coldly, showing her no respect whatsoever.

"In the past, because Dongxu was a long-time employee, everyone took good care of your family."

"But what about now?"

The director's voice echoed in the workshop, carrying an unquestionable authority.

"Your eldest son was caught stealing military supplies, and the whole factory has been notified! Do you think this factory is still your Jia family's backyard?!"

"Let me tell you, Qin Huairu, this is a factory! It's about technology and output, not your pathetic tricks!"

"From today onwards, your piecework quota is the same as everyone else's. One less piece, and your pay will be deducted! If you produce this much defective work again, you're fired immediately. This factory doesn't keep idlers!"

The workshop director's words were like ice water poured over Qin Huairu in the dead of winter.

It extinguished her last shred of hope.

Privileges have been completely stripped away.

Under the strict factory discipline and the scrutiny of public opinion throughout the factory, this green tea flower had its chance to sprout nipped in the bud.

The lunch break bell rang.

Workers, carrying lunchboxes, flocked to the canteen in groups.

Qin Huairu's whole body ached, and her fingers were cut in several places by iron filings, causing her excruciating pain.

She dragged her tired body to the canteen where Sha Zhu used to work.

Because Sha Zhu was fired from the canteen, Ma Hua is now in charge of cooking.

But the rules in the cafeteria have changed. The lines for food are now orderly, and no one dares to cut in line or ask the chef to "flip the wok" like before.

Qin Huairu was at the end of the line.

When it was her turn, she handed over the lunchbox, two cents, and two ounces of grain coupons.

"Give me half a portion of cabbage and a cornbread."

Qin Huairu said in a humble voice.

The woman serving the food looked up at her, her gaze as if she were a piece of garbage.

The woman casually stirred the vegetable bowl with the iron spoon in her hand.

He scooped up a spoonful of the broth and cabbage stalks and poured it into Qin Huairu's lunchbox with a "plop".

Then throw in a cold, hard, dark cornbread.

"Next!"

The older woman didn't even bother to talk to her.

If Sha Zhu were here before, there would have been at least a few pieces of meat in this lunchbox, and the cornbread would have been warm.

Qin Huairu carried her lunchbox and sat down at an empty table in the corner of the cafeteria.

I had just sat down.

The female workers who were originally sitting at the next table quickly moved to a table further away, as if avoiding a plague.

As they walked, they openly discussed the matter without any attempt to conceal their conversation.

"What bad luck to eat with a thief who has a son like that."

"That's right, I heard she went to the factory manager's office yesterday and made a scene, demanding that he give her her pension ahead of schedule, but she was kicked out by the security department!"

"That kind of woman is a complete ingrate; anyone who gets involved with her is doomed!"

lonely.

A profound sense of loneliness and humiliation enveloped Qin Huairu.

She looked at the bland cabbage stalks in the lunchbox, then took a bite of the hard, rock-hard black cornbread.

My dry throat felt tight in waves.

Two lines of humiliating tears finally couldn't be held back and silently slid down her cheeks, dripping into the slightly sour vegetable soup.

She finally understood.

Without Yi Zhonghai's protection and Sha Zhu's boundless assistance,

I offended that five-and-a-half-year-old baby who was treated like a god even by the military region.

Qin Huairu, in this city of Beijing, in this Red Star Steel Rolling Mill, has become a rat that everyone wants to beat.

The Jia family's world has not only collapsed, but even their foundation has been completely dug up!

At this time.

Inside the heavily guarded secret laboratory at the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

The fire in the stove was burning brightly.

Zhang Huaimin didn't eat at the canteen, so Chen Bing specially went to a well-established restaurant outside to get him a steaming hot roast duck.

But he doesn't have much interest in eating now.

He was wearing a specially made anti-static work uniform.

That delicate white hand was gently pressing on a piece of alloy steel plate that had just come out of a small electric furnace and was still radiating amazing residual heat.

This steel plate is different from the thin material used in previous bulletproof vests.

It has a deep, dark gold color, and its surface is covered with extremely fine, honeycomb-like microscopic hexagonal textures.

Zhang Huaimin's eyes gleamed with an almost fanatical technological brilliance.

In his mind, he slowly brought up the special icon in the system panel that represented the highest technological achievement at the current stage.