Chapter 46

"Got it."

Zhang Tao'er gave her younger sister a thumbs-up. "Look at you. You finally had a clever idea."

"Of course." Zhang Xing'er pushed her cart toward the door with a grin. "Liang Ying puts on such a show of working hard every day. I'd like to see what she can produce with my machines."

Those machines of hers were notorious headaches.

They were old and broke down constantly. The factory's maintenance crew had come to look at them countless times, but they had never managed to fix them.

Zhang Xing'er had always acted helpless about it, but secretly, she was delighted. Faulty machines gave her the perfect excuse to slack off.

Now that Liang Ying was taking them over, it was even better.

She figured those machines would defeat Liang Ying within days and force her to admit it. Then she would see what Liang Ying had to say for herself.

On her way home, Liang Ying spotted someone selling apples and bought two pounds. Her daughter was teething now, so she thought she would make her some apple purée.

She had just wheeled her bicycle into the back courtyard when Huang Xirong came out of the East Wing Room. "Liang Ying, how could you be so foolish?"

Liang Ying paused, parked her bicycle by the door, and smiled. "What do you mean, Auntie? I don't understand."

"Don't pretend with me. I've heard all about it."

Huang Xirong deliberately raised her voice. "Lianhua came home and said someone had tricked you. You traded your good machines for someone else's, and hers break down every few days. Nobody but you would've agreed to the swap. How could you be so foolish?"

Lin Lianhua lifted the curtain and stood in the doorway, wearing a smile that looked sympathetic but was really meant to mock. "Exactly, Liang Ying. I know the managers criticized you at the meeting today, but you can't rush things."

"Wife, your daughter's crying. Come inside."

Gu Jinshui called from inside the house.

He pushed open the window, holding their child in his arms.

Liang Ying understood. She answered him and, ignoring the smug mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, took the apples inside.

"Why bother talking to them?" Gu Jinshui took the apples from her and lowered his voice. "Those two have been poking their heads out the door ever since they got off work. Mom and I were wondering what they were waiting for. Turns out it was you."

"They really have nothing better to do. What's there to say about something so small?"

Liang Ying paid Lin Lianhua and the others no mind.

Rather than worry about their gossip, she wanted to know how her daughter had been today. She picked the child up and weighed her in her arms. "She's heavier again. She didn't eat too much today, did she?"

Ever since Lan Lin had started arriving every day with his tutor and nanny, the quality of Gu Yousi's meals had improved by leaps and bounds.

It wasn't that the Gu Family had neglected her. Since she began eating solid food, Gu Yousi had always had fine rice, steamed egg custard, and minced meat dishes.

Plenty of people in the Compound Courtyard had remarked on how carefully the Gu Family fed a little girl. Never mind the children—even the adults in the courtyard rarely ate as well as Gu Yousi did.

But the food at Lan Yeping's place was on another level.

Spring had just begun, and fish and shrimp were scarce in Beijing. Yet they somehow had plenty of both every day. They also had fruits from the south, such as loquats, guavas, and pineapples...

Lan Yeping was generous. He usually had the cook make two portions, one for his grandson and one for Gu Yousi.

Gu Yousi might not have overeaten if that had been all, but Lan Lin seemed to have adopted her as a little sister. On top of three meals a day, he loved bringing snacks to feed her.

"No. I fed her today and made sure she didn't eat too much."

Gu Jinshui sounded pleased with himself.

Lan Lin had even tried to take over. What a joke. Gu Jinshui was Gu Yousi's father.

"Good. Tonight I'll steam an apple and make our daughter some apple purée. How does that sound?"

Liang Ying asked with a smile.

Gu Yousi pressed her lips together and nodded solemnly.

Perhaps because she had been eating so well lately, her teeth were coming in quickly. Unfortunately, they were growing in an absurd way: two baby teeth right in the middle, making her look like a marmot.

At dinner, Huang Xirong and her daughter were still telling people how Liang Ying had been duped.

He Chunlian ignored them, but she was concerned about Liang Ying. "Is the problem with those machines serious? If they keep breaking down, perhaps Jinshui could find someone to take a look."

"It's all right, Mom. I'll see what I can do first. If I really can't manage, I'll ask Jinshui for help."

Liang Ying reassured her.

Gu Yinxing ate her egg and said, "Sister-in-law, we all believe in you. You can do it!"

"I'll certainly try! If I get this sorted out, I'll treat the whole family to dinner out!"

Liang Ying grinned.

The whole family brightened and began discussing where to eat. Gu Yinxing had recently taken a liking to a Western restaurant and thought its cakes and ice cream were delicious. Gu Jinshui had a straightforward appetite: plenty of meat and generous portions, somewhere like Dong Lai Shun. As for He Chunlian, she thought anywhere would be fine.

Lin Lianhua was feeding Da Bao in her room when she heard the laughter next door.

She couldn't understand it, and it left a sour feeling in her chest. "The Gu Family really is strange. How can they laugh after something like this?"

When someone had extorted her, Huang Xirong had scolded her for days and given her the cold shoulder for a whole month.

"I'd say the whole family's mad. Idiots, every one of them. That's how they can laugh."

Song Jianshe sneered. "And that Liang Ying—a perfectly capable woman working outside the home while Gu Jinshui loafs around unemployed and looks after the baby. What a joke. No wonder she only had a daughter."

Song Chaohua came in after washing the dishes outside. Hearing that, her expression shifted, but she quickly lowered her head.

A daughter, a daughter.

What was wrong with having a daughter? Wasn't a daughter a person too?

"Liang Ying, I'm handing these machines over to you today."

Zhang Xing'er arrived early the next morning wearing a smile, looking as pleased as could be.

Liang Ying walked over and nodded. "And I'm handing mine over to you. There's nothing wrong with them, Sister Xing'er, so you'll have to work hard today."

"Of course."

Zhang Xing'er sounded unconcerned.

All she had to do was watch the machines and change the yarn spindles. How hard could that be?

The other workers in the workshop said nothing, though they watched the two of them. Soon, however, the new spindles arrived, and everyone got busy.

As soon as Liang Ying took over the machines, she changed their spindles swiftly and neatly.

She kept her eyes on the machines to see whether anything went wrong. To her surprise, the next cloth they produced was defective too.

The warp and weft threads were misaligned. Cloth like that couldn't leave the warehouse; it had to be set aside for later disposal as defective stock. The factory produced plenty of defective cloth each year, and the losses added up.

"Hey, everyone, come look! Even our team leader's produced defective cloth. You can't blame it on me slacking off this time."

As soon as Zhang Xing'er saw Liang Ying examining the flawed bolts, she called out at the top of her lungs.

The others gathered around. Sure enough, the cloth was defective again.

"Team leader, should we ask a mechanic to come fix the machines?" Chen Xiuhong asked with a frown.

"Wait. Let me change the spindles and see if it still happens."

Liang Ying added, "The mechanics have seen this problem before. If they could have fixed it, they would have done so already."

"Listen to you. Aren't you saying the mechanics are paid to do nothing?"

Zhang Xing'er spoke with obvious glee.

Liang Ying looked up at her sternly. "Zhang Xing'er, I won't stop you talking nonsense in the workshop, but I won't stand for it if you spread that around. Of course the maintenance mechanics know their trade. But we're the ones working with these machines all day. Wouldn't it be better if we could spot what's wrong ourselves? It would save them a trip, too."

"The team leader's right. If you don't understand, Zhang Xing'er, keep quiet."

Chen Xiuhong immediately scolded her. "You're a grandmother, yet you still speak without thinking."

The others looked at Zhang Xing'er disapprovingly as well.

What she had said was bound to offend people. What good would it do them if she antagonized the maintenance crew?

After Liang Ying and the others dressed her down, Zhang Xing'er lost face. She worked with an expression as black as soot.

When she saw Liang Ying produce another defective bolt, she let out a scornful laugh.

"Team leader, another bad one? Don't blame me for it. I even made a point of oiling the machines before I left last night."

"What did you say?"

Liang Ying had been studying the cloth in her hands. At those words, a thought flashed through her mind, and she jerked her head up to look at Zhang Xing'er.

Zhang Xing'er shrank inwardly but kept up a brave front. "I didn't say anything. I had nothing to do with the machines breaking down."

"I didn't say you did. Did you say you oiled them last night?"

Liang Ying asked.

"I did. Master Lin, the one who worked here before, said that if these machines kept breaking down, they needed more oil."

Oil?

Could the oil be the problem?

Liang Ying hurriedly gathered the bolts together, then went to the warehouse for the defective cloth from the past few days.

By noon, everyone else was ready to eat.

Chen Xiuhong called out, "Team leader, shall we go to lunch together?"

"No, you go ahead. I still have something to do." Liang Ying was at a crucial point and had no interest in eating. She waved for the others to go without her.

"Then we'll bring you back a meal," Chen Xiuhong said.

"All right, all right." Liang Ying clearly wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were fixed on the cloth.

Zhang Xing'er curled her lip and went to lunch with the others.

Chen Xiuhong felt indebted to Liang Ying after receiving her help. She had also come to see how hard Liang Ying worked and felt guilty about speaking badly of her before. So she paid for a meat dish, a vegetable dish, and a small serving of rice, packed them in a lunchbox, and took them back to the workshop.

Zhang Xing'er spotted her and sneered. "Well, Xiuhong, you won a prize yesterday, and today you're already currying favor. But I'd say you've picked the wrong time. Our team leader might not stay team leader much longer. If she keeps turning out defective cloth, I'd like to see how she explains it to the managers."

They had all come back together, and voices carried down the corridor. Zhang Xing'er's voice, in particular, was loud enough for anyone to hear.

Chen Xiuhong flushed and snapped, "Just because you have a dirty mind doesn't mean everyone else does. Bringing a coworker lunch is currying favor? What do you call all the times we fetch meals for one another in this workshop?"

Zhang Xing'er was annoyed at being answered back. Then something seemed to occur to her, and she gave a cold laugh. "Hmph. We'll see. I'd like to see whether Liang Ying can fix those machines!"

The Fifty-Third Day of Being Overheard

Zhang Xing'er finished speaking and pulled open the workshop door. Liang Ying and several maintenance mechanics were standing beside the machines that so often went wrong.

Zhang Xing'er froze, embarrassment flashing across her face.

But she had thick skin and acted as though she had said nothing.

"Master Wu, Master Cheng, what are you both doing here?"

Chen Xiuhong greeted them in surprise.

Both mechanics were wiping down the machines with cloths. Master Wu raised a sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Your team leader asked us to come help. Team Leader Liang, I think we've wiped off all the oil. We can give them a try now."

"All right."

Liang Ying nodded and waited until the two mechanics had stood up before starting the machines.

She had already changed the spindles. Once the machines restarted, they quickly began to turn.

Chen Xiuhong brought over the lunchbox. "Team leader, I brought you lunch. Hurry and eat before you get hungry. I'll keep an eye on the machines for you."

"Thank you, Sister Xiuhong."

Liang Ying took the lunchbox in surprise and thanked her warmly.

Chen Xiuhong was pleased, though she waved it off as if it were nothing. "It's no trouble. We help each other out in this workshop all the time. Go eat."

"I'll wait. We've just worked on these machines, and I want to see if my guess was right." Liang Ying kept her eyes on them.

She had spent the whole morning on those machines and was drenched in sweat. If she left now and something went wrong, all that work would be wasted.

"Oh, aren't you hardworking? There aren't any managers here now, so who are you putting on a show for?"

Zhang Xing'er stood beside the machines Liang Ying had previously operated...