Chapter 376: Chapter 377 Qiao Dongchun and Lu Daya

Lu Daya blushed and nodded.

Qiao Dongchun’s whole being radiated with joy, “Mmm, Daya, this feels a bit unreal. Pinch me.”

He had liked Lu Daya ever since his time in the county, drawn to her tenacity, her clear sense of love and hate, her kind heart, and especially her earnest approach to work.

It was she who had inspired Qiao Dongchun to think about attending college and come here.

Lu Daya glared at him irritably and pinched his arm hard.

Qiao Dongchun grimaced in pain, “Ouch, stop pinching, it’s killing me.”

Lu Daya couldn’t help but laugh at his silly look.

Xu Ying wasn’t idle either, she returned to school and began submitting articles to various newspapers.

And she had the nerve to go to Mr. Sun, “Mr. Sun, I have a favor to ask!”

“What is it?” Mr. Sun sounded somewhat exhausted.

Xu Ying sensed something amiss right away and asked with concern, “Boss, what happened at the factory?”

When Secretary Yang heard Xu Ying’s voice, his face, full of worries, suddenly relaxed, but as soon as he heard Mr. Sun’s words, his expression drooped again.

“It’s nothing, I’m about to retire, and the thought of my future life brings me joy.

But you, girl, finally remembered to call me. Spit it out, what do you want?” Mr. Sun said gruffly.

Seeing there was no real issue, Xu Ying immediately resumed her teasing tone, “It’s nothing serious, just looking to ask our factory for a favor, to print some leaflets and slip them into our products’ packaging.”

Mr. Sun was utterly perplexed, “What for? What’s this about?”

Xu Ying went ahead and explained the college entrance exam impersonation issue. Hearing this, Mr. Sun’s face wrinkled in anger, “That’s outrageous!

How dare they do such a thing, they are parasites on society.”

Xu Ying was nodding repeatedly on the other end of the phone. Parasites, exactly.

So she voiced her small request, “I’m worried some newspapers might be afraid to report this, so I thought of using our food factory’s brand to spread the word.”

Nowadays, food from the factory was hot property nationwide. Writing these issues as small advertisements and slipping them into the packaging…

Everyone eating would definitely see the news.

It was bound to cause a sensation, given that the power of the masses is the greatest.

Mr. Sun nodded and agreed to the proposal.

After hanging up, Secretary Zhang was full of worry, “Boss, the new chief is way too troublesome. Why not mention this to Minister Xu?

If Minister Xu knew about it, with her resourcefulness, she’d definitely sort out the new guy.”

Mr. Sun glared at Secretary Zhang, annoyed, “Xiao Xu is busy studying right now, with no time to deal with the new chief’s tricks.

Tell Xiao Xu about this? Should he skip class to deal with it or come back here? Imagine how many classes he’d miss taking leave.”

Secretary Zhang nodded at Mr. Sun’s remarks but felt troubled at the thought of the new chief.

The new chief, under the guise of considering the nation’s interests, had canceled everyone’s sales commission to cut costs, claiming these practices undermined socialism. Not only that, he even had everyone work overtime voluntarily, saying it was for the construction, for the revolution, and that everyone should enthusiastically contribute.

Enthusiastically my foot. People worked their butts off during overtime for what? To earn money and support their families.

Now, after all that hard work and overtime with no extra pay, they were left fuming with pent-up anger.

Nowadays, many people in the factory no longer want to work.

Secretary Zhang began to have headaches when he thought about becoming that person’s secretary after Mr. Sun’s departure.

Mr. Sun was also worried that if things kept going this way, the factory might just fall apart.

He didn’t know what the higher-ups were thinking.

It was because he couldn’t figure it out that he didn’t want Xiao Xu to come back. He was about to retire, and the newcomer was not a pushover. If Xiao Xu offended him, working under him in the future, there would be no good outcome.

So, Xiao Xu must not get involved in this matter.

Xu Ying turned her head and made another call to the textile mill. As soon as Mr. Niu answered the phone, he started teasing Xu Ying, “The college student deigns to make a phone call, what are you busy with every day?”

“Busy with classes,” Xu Ying said with a smile, then quickly went through the things she wanted to do.

Mr. Niu, looking shocked after hearing her plan, agreed to Xu Ying’s request without any hesitation.

Just before hanging up, Mr. Niu hinted both explicitly and implicitly that Xu Ying should visit the factory when she had the chance.

After hanging up, Xu Ying felt puzzled and turned to Huo Chen saying, “I suspect something has happened at the food factory?”

“What’s happened?” Huo Chen asked as he hugged her.

Xu Ying analyzed the situation, “When I called Mr. Sun earlier, I felt something was off in his tone. Just now, from how Mr. Niu was speaking, he clearly wants me to visit the factory. Something must have happened for sure!”

“If it’s something big, it probably doesn’t concern you, otherwise your factory manager would have told you.

Since he isn’t telling, he must have his reasons, so don’t worry about it unnecessarily,” Huo Chen said with his eyes closed.

Xu Ying still felt something was off and wanted to say more, but then she heard the breathing sounds of a man asleep next to her.

She turned her head to look at Huo Chen’s weary face, her heart aching for him.

This man had been so busy lately, leaving early and returning late, covered in dust. Anyone who didn’t know better might think he was collecting scrap.

Now Xu Ying felt sleepy too. Unable to make sense of it all, she closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

Time flew by, and the day of the foreign language contest arrived swiftly.

Liu Suqin, as a foreign language teacher and also a judge, turned green with envy when she saw Xu Ying’s name on the list of competitors.

“How could she be on the list of participants?” Li Suqin was so worried that beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead. There were only three promotion slots available this time. She had calculated carefully: one for Zhang Wu, her niece would definitely get one with the answers she provided.

The remaining one, to be earned on merit, would surely be Xu Ying’s since her foreign language skills were even better than those of a teacher. She would definitely get that slot.

It was even possible that Zhang Wu would be squeezed out. Although the guy knew foreign language, he wasn’t exceptionally good. In this era, although not many were fluent in foreign languages, that didn’t mean there were none.

If Zhang Wu got squeezed out, all her prepared schemes would go down the drain.

Qu Huimin had long been prepared; her cousin had already leaked the content of the competition to her–it was to compose a short essay in English on the spot. She had already found the perfect piece to memorize.

She must turn the tables today and make Zhang Wu regard her with respect.

The mere thought of Sun Youdi, that bitch, made Qu Huimin grind her teeth in hatred.

She should have registered Sun Youdi in the first place, let her embarrass herself in front of Zhang Wu and see how she would still lure him in.

“Dear teachers, students, good afternoon, and welcome to our school’s foreign language competition…”

With the competition host’s announcement, the foreign language contest began.

Soon, the dozens of competitors took the stage, and as Liu Suqin announced the test content, everyone began to think nervously.

Qu Huimin was smug and without hesitation, was the first one to rush to answer.