Chapter 2
Edward Quan ·
Everyone looked at me, then at each other, trying to decide how much was true.
Sensing the change in the room, Ye Huan slapped the table.
“Qiao Yiyi, stop making things up! That’s slander!”
Before I could answer, Ms Sun, another woman in the department, spoke.
“When you say it about someone else, it’s a joke. When someone says it about you, it’s slander?
“You tease people every day. I thought you could take it.
“One rule for you and another for everyone else? Don’t be such a hypocrite.”
I looked at her and felt a sudden kinship.
She had been a target too.
Not long before, Ye Huan had said to her, “Why are you always running to the bathroom lately? Can’t hold it after having a baby?”
It was the first time I had heard a joke that cruel.
A woman’s postpartum injury, turned into entertainment.
Disgust rose in me.
Ms Sun’s face darkened.
A few seconds later, she forced a thin laugh.
“It’s all right. I’m used to it.”
If even she was trying to endure it, would I only be making trouble by stepping in?
I had kept quiet.
Now I realized how long she must have been putting up with it.
All to preserve peace in the department.
After my little joke, Ye Huan barely spoke for the rest of the evening.
The dinner ended in stiff, heavy silence.
When we were leaving, she arranged shared rides and deliberately left me out.
Ms Sun patted my shoulder.
“Come with me.”
In the car, she glanced at me.
“Did you really see Ye Huan with Mr Zhang?”
I stuck out my tongue.
“No. I made it up. She started it.”
Ms Sun pressed her lips together.
Her expression was difficult to read.
“But I did hear them.
“I was in the bathroom last night. I heard both their voices. They must have thought nobody else was there, so…”
She paused.
“Then I heard you come in.
“Perhaps she thought you’d found out. That would explain why she was so quick to point at you.”
11
Then I remembered.
I had stayed at the office to update a game.
The file was enormous and the connection slow. It hadn’t finished until after eleven.
Before leaving, I went to the bathroom while looking at my phone.
Two people had hurried out, but I hadn’t paid attention to who they were.
So that was what had happened.
In my previous life, her joke had branded me a homewrecker.
I had been attacked and disabled.
She had walked away untouched.
My hands tightened into fists.
Seeing me struggle to contain my anger, Ms Sun spoke gently.
“You know she has someone behind her. Be careful what you say and do from now on. Don’t confront her.
“I used to answer back when she went too far. Since having a baby, I don’t have the same advantages at work. I don’t dare anymore.
“One less problem is one less problem. I’ll stay as long as I can.
“Try letting her words pass. It makes it easier.”
She sighed.
“I chose this path myself, after all.”
Those quiet words hurt.
Good people always seemed to turn the blade inward.
Blaming themselves. Wearing themselves down.
While the cruel ones kept advancing, claiming more room and grinding others underfoot.
Why?
Why should I give way to her?
I refused.
She needed to learn that actions had consequences.
That being vicious didn’t mean she could escape them forever.
That night, a new message appeared in the work chat.
Ye Huan had tagged me.
[Ye Huan: @Qiao Yiyi, have you finished the materials I told you to prepare on Friday?]
The team leader had assigned the work on Friday, due the following Tuesday.
She had dumped all of it on me.
Now it was Saturday.
Nearly midnight, and she was asking for a progress report.
She wasn’t doing it out of kindness.
I ignored her and switched the chat to Do Not Disturb.
Let’s see what she tried next.
13
On Monday morning, I opened the group to dozens of unread messages.
[Xiao Wang: Little Qiao’s probably asleep.]
[Ye Huan: Little Qiao? Then I must be Big Qiao.]
[Xiao Wang: What a coincidence.]
[Ye Huan: Forget it. She’s probably off enjoying a little romance with her Zhou Yu. I’m the only one thinking about work on the weekend.]
[Lao Liu: Sneaky laugh.]
[Ye Huan: Wonder what Zhou Yu would say if he knew his Little Qiao was cheating. Tsk, tsk.]
My temper flared.
Ye Huan hadn’t stopped.
She was still smearing me in front of the entire department.
Fine.
No more consideration for her.
I opened the chat and replied.
14
[Me: Who’s been pissing all over my phone? The stink’s coming through the screen.]
[Ye Huan: ???]
[Ye Huan: Who are you calling disgusting?]
I smiled as I typed.
[Me: Huanhuan, I’m only joking! Who said I meant you?]
Without waiting for an answer, I uploaded the completed materials list and tagged the team leader.
[Me: The list is ready. If everything looks right, I’ll print it.]
The group went silent.
At the office, Ye Huan was nowhere to be seen all morning.
While I was printing, Ms Sun sent a private message.
[Ms Sun: Didn’t I tell you not to confront her? Why couldn’t you let it go? You’re still on probation!]
I gave a cold little smile and replied.
[Me: Some people are filthy themselves and assume everyone else is too.]
[Me: If she’s going to squat over someone’s head and take a dump, she has to accept the risk of splashback. Why should she get all the fun?]
[Me: Don’t worry. Even if the team leader fires me for it, I’ll rub her own mess back in her face first.]