Becoming a Scum A in an Old-School Melodramatic Novel - Chapter 42

Before going to bed, Shen Xian took her medicine again, and by the next morning, she had mostly recovered. After returning from her morning jog, she prepared breakfast early. When she saw Lin Qinghan getting up to wash up, Shen Xian greeted her with a smile, “Good morning, Qinghan.”

“Morning.” Lin Qinghan still looked a bit sleepy. She glanced at Shen Xian and reached out to feel her forehead. “Hmm, not hot anymore. Don’t sleep with the window open so wide next time, and don’t leave the fan on all night either.”

“Okay. Wasn’t I just in a bad mood before? It won’t happen again,” Shen Xian replied with a smile.

After breakfast, when they went out to drive, Shen Xian turned on the car’s exhaust system for a while before getting in the car with Lin Qinghan. Lin Qinghan looked at her and asked, “So, what are you going to do about that employee at your company?”

While keeping her eyes on the road, Shen Xian said, “Fired. She was still on probation anyway. Someone with questionable intentions shouldn’t stay at the company, or she might cause bigger trouble later.”

“True.” Lin Qinghan nodded in agreement.

When Shen Xian arrived at the company, most of the employees were already at their desks. What surprised her was that Yuan Zhenzhen was also sitting there as if nothing had happened.

Shen Xian stood at her office door and called out, “Yuan Zhenzhen, come to my office for a moment.”

Yuan Zhenzhen’s expression changed slightly when she heard Shen Xian, and she went into the office, intending to close the door, but Shen Xian stopped her. “No need to close the door. This won’t take long. Your probation ends here. This is your pay for the past few days. You don’t need to come in anymore.”

Yuan Zhenzhen’s eyes turned red as she anxiously tried to explain, “President Shen, what happened the day before yesterday was really an accident. I didn’t expect my susceptible period to come early.”

“You didn’t expect it? I think you planned it. You always left on time before, but that day you just happened to stay until 7 PM? Do you think I’d believe that? Don’t waste any more time. Take the money, sign the papers, and leave.” After finishing, Shen Xian ignored her. Seeing that Yuan Zhenzhen was still standing there, Shen Xian added, “I’m trying to give you some dignity. Don’t make me call security to escort you out.”

With a flushed face, Yuan Zhenzhen quickly went over, signed the form Shen Xian had prepared, took the money on the table, and left.

Song Min noticed Yuan Zhenzhen coming out of Shen Xian’s office looking upset and quickly asked, “Zhenzhen, what’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”

Yuan Zhenzhen glared at her and started packing her things. “Nothing. I’m quitting.”

“Why are you suddenly quitting?” Song Min asked, worried.

Yuan Zhenzhen looked up at her coldly. “No reason. I just don’t want to do this anymore, okay? Don’t get in my way.”

Song Min was stunned by this side of Yuan Zhenzhen. After recovering, she said, “I was just concerned about you. What kind of attitude is that?”

“Hah, concerned? More like waiting to laugh at me. Keep your fake concern to yourself.” Yuan Zhenzhen’s packing became increasingly aggressive.

Li Xing and Yan Qiang couldn’t watch any longer. They said to Song Min, “Just leave her alone. Let her pack by herself.” Only then did Song Min return to her desk, but even after sitting down, she still hadn’t fully processed what happened. Was this really the colleague she had lunch with every day?

Yuan Zhenzhen, full of indignation, made loud noises while packing. After about ten minutes, she walked out of the company with all her belongings.

Once Shen Xian finished her own work, she went to the employees’ office area and looked around at everyone busy at their desks. Then she said, “Everyone, pause your work for a moment. I have something to say. Yuan Zhenzhen has been dismissed due to certain reasons. I won’t go into details, to save her some dignity. Soon, our company will be expanding with more employees. I hope everyone can focus on their own work and not get caught up in things they shouldn’t be thinking about. That’s all, carry on.”

After Shen Xian left, Yan Qiang whispered to Li Xing, “So she was fired for doing something wrong. President Shen is such a nice person; Yuan Zhenzhen must’ve really messed up.”

“Yeah, the company’s expanding too, so things are only going to get better for us. But she really brought it on herself, especially with that attitude.”

In the afternoon, Zhao Jianye’s wound had mostly healed, and after getting his stitches removed, he could finally go home. Shen Xian rushed to the hospital, helped take Zhao Jianye home, and then went to pick up the little one and Lin Qinghan.

Since she hadn’t seen Shen Xian all day yesterday, Shen Tian came running out of the kindergarten asking for a hug as soon as she saw her. Seeing how adorable her little one looked, Shen Xian immediately picked her up.

“Mommy, Tian Tian was a good girl yesterday and stayed with grandma and grandpa~” Shen Tian cuddled up to Shen Xian’s shoulder, acting cute.

“Good girl. My Tian Tian is the best. Let’s go pick up Mom.” Shen Xian pinched her daughter’s cheek and buckled her into the child seat.

Ever since she bought the car, Shen Xian almost always picked up Lin Qinghan. Over time, Lin Qinghan’s coworkers got used to seeing her.

Han Rui teased Lin Qinghan when she saw Shen Xian, “Oh? Shen Xian’s here again?”

Lin Qinghan nudged Han Rui lightly and smiled, “Don’t talk nonsense. There’s nothing between us now.”

Seeing Lin Qinghan smile, Han Rui held back a laugh. “If there’s nothing between you and she’s already this good to you, I can’t imagine what it’d be like if there were something. We wouldn’t even be able to look at it!”

“You always come up with this stuff. I’m heading out now.” Lin Qinghan waved to Han Rui.

“Go on, don’t keep your Shen Xian waiting.” Han Rui said with a grin.

As Shen Xian walked up and saw that Lin Qinghan seemed to be in a good mood, she asked, “What’s going on? What are you smiling about?”

“Nothing. Let’s go. Tian Tian’s still waiting.” Lin Qinghan said as she walked toward the car.

Once in the car, Lin Qinghan glanced at Shen Xian and asked, “Did you fire that employee?”

Shen Xian nodded and said, “Yeah, I’ve already given her the wages for these past few days. I didn’t tell anyone else the specific reason. If it were me before…” Shen Xian cut herself off mid-sentence.

Lin Qinghan waited a few seconds, and when nothing followed, she asked curiously, “Before what?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. If it were me before, I wouldn’t have even paid her the previous wages.” Shen Xian quickly changed her words and casually made something up. What she really wanted to say was that in her previous life, anyone who dared to pull a stunt like that would’ve been blacklisted by her, to the point that no one dared to even think about crossing her again.

Lin Qinghan nodded and said, “Forget it. At least nothing happened. If you gave her the wages, then so be it.”

“Mm-hmm.” Shen Xian breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Lin Qinghan hadn’t noticed anything off.

After returning home, while Lin Qinghan was helping their daughter change clothes, the little one saw the cow-print pajamas in the closet. Hugging Lin Qinghan’s arm, she acted cute and said, “Mom, Tian Tian wants to wear that one. Can you wear it with me too?”

Lin Qinghan glanced in the direction Shen Tian pointed and saw that it was the cow-print pajamas Shen Xian had bought last time. Back then, she and Shen Xian weren’t really talking much yet.

Lin Qinghan rubbed the little girl’s tiny pigtails, her lips curving slightly. “Alright, does Tian Tian want your Mommy to wear it too?”

“Yes! Tian Tian wants both Mom and Mommy to be with me~” Shen Tian said in her soft baby voice.

“Okay then. Mom will help Tian Tian put on the cow pajamas. Can you go ask Mommy to wear hers too?” Lin Qinghan pinched her daughter’s soft cheek as she spoke. She definitely wasn’t going to wear something like that alone — it would be way too awkward. Plus, when she saw Shen Xian wearing them last time, she had to admit it was kind of cute.

“Okay! Mommy has to wear it with Tian Tian too!” Shen Tian nodded and wrinkled her tiny nose at Lin Qinghan.

After helping Shen Tian change into the cow-print pajamas, the moment the little one touched the floor, she toddled off on her short legs to find Shen Xian. While running, she shouted, “Mommy, wear the same pajamas as Tian Tian~”

Shen Xian was in the middle of changing when the little one came running over with her sweet baby voice and immediately hugged Shen Xian’s leg. “Mommy, look at Tian Tian. Mommy has to wear cow pajamas too.”

Looking down at her daughter clinging to her leg — complete with a little hat and bobbing cow horns brushing against her — how could Shen Xian say no?

She patted the little girl’s round face and smiled. “Alright, whatever Tian Tian says goes. Mommy will change right now.”

As she spoke, Shen Xian pulled her own cow pajamas out from the closet. Once she had changed into them, Shen Tian nodded with satisfaction. She really looked like a little president.

Shen Xian chuckled and asked, “Is little President Shen satisfied now?”

“Mm-hmm, satisfied.” Shen Tian grabbed Shen Xian’s hand and started pulling her toward the living room.

Shen Xian laughed and played along, though a child that small couldn’t actually move her. When they arrived in the living room, Shen Xian saw that Lin Qinghan was wearing the exact same pajamas as she was. She suddenly remembered that Lin Qinghan had once called her childish.

“Qinghan, you actually look really good in that,” Shen Xian said with a half-smile.

Lin Qinghan shot her a glare and replied, “Tian Tian insisted I wear it. Otherwise, who would wear this childish stuff with you two?”

Shen Xian picked up Tian Tian in one arm and reached out to pull Lin Qinghan with the other. “Qinghan, let’s take a picture of the three of us in these. What do you think?”

“No way. You two take it yourselves. I’m not getting in the photo with you.” As she spoke, she tried to dodge to the side.

But Shen Xian kept pulling her, and while doing so, stuffed Tian Tian into her arms. Taking advantage of the moment Lin Qinghan was holding the child, Shen Xian quickly switched her phone to selfie mode and raised her left hand to tap the shutter several times. With a few clicks, she captured the playful scene of the three of them on her phone.

Shen Xian glanced at the photos and teased Lin Qinghan, “So cute. Perfect for my phone wallpaper.”

“Shen Xian! Delete that right now. Aren’t you too old to still be this childish?” Lin Qinghan said as she put the child down and went to grab Shen Xian’s phone.

Shen Xian was a few centimeters taller, and despite Lin Qinghan reaching for a while, she still couldn’t snatch it. Meanwhile, their daughter couldn’t sit still watching them play and ran over to hug Shen Xian’s leg.

“Mommy! Tian Tian wants to play too! Take me with you!”

Shen Xian scooped up her daughter to use as a shield, and in the end, Lin Qinghan wasn’t able to delete the photos from her phone.

Later that night, Shen Xian picked one of the photos they took earlier. In it, Lin Qinghan was holding Tian Tian and smiling at her, while she herself was smiling at the camera. Shen Xian thought it looked pretty good, so she went ahead and set it as her phone lock screen.

On Saturday, while Lin Qinghan was eating with Han Rui in the cafeteria, they heard that the hospital was organizing a mountain hike for everyone on Sunday. This was a yearly event meant to bring everyone together and strengthen relationships. Family members were welcome, and many would bring their partners and children.

“Qinghan, are you going tomorrow?” Han Rui asked.

Before, Lin Qinghan always went alone with her child and never participated in these activities — one of the reasons many people secretly called her aloof.

Lin Qinghan thought for a moment. It had been a long time since she took part in any group events. Tian Tian could stay with her mom, but as for Shen Xian, she wasn’t sure if Shen Xian had time to join her.

“I don’t know yet. If I go, I’ll ask Shen Xian to come with me. Otherwise, it’d be awkward if I run into Dr. Lu.” Lin Qinghan had already told Han Rui about what happened between her and Lu Jianbai, so Han Rui didn’t have a good opinion of him either.

“Yeah, definitely bring your Shen Xian along. That way Dr. Lu won’t even have a chance to butt in.” Han Rui said with a suppressed laugh.

“I already said there’s nothing going on between me and her. Don’t make things up,” Lin Qinghan said with a helpless smile.

“Only you know whether it’s made up or not.”

Meanwhile, in the hospital’s logistics director’s office, Lu Jianbai was talking with Director Feng.

“Director Feng, my family can sponsor the bottled water and food for tomorrow’s outing. We recently launched a new brand, and this could be a good way to get feedback on how it tastes. We can run it through the books if needed, but I’ll refund the money afterward. This way, you won’t have to spend anything.”

“That’s really too generous of you,” Director Feng said, adjusting his glasses. “Wouldn’t that be taking advantage of you?”

“I’ve been working here for years. If you see me as a friend, then let’s just settle it like this. It doesn’t cost me anything, and if everyone thinks it tastes good, it’s basically free advertising for our brand.” Lu Jianbai reasoned.

Director Feng, who had a reputation for pocketing extra cash as the logistics head, saw no reason to refuse when the offer came knocking on his door.

“Alright, Jianbai, you’re really something. If you ever need help, just let me know,” Director Feng said, now fully on board.

“Absolutely, absolutely,” Lu Jianbai said, exchanging a few more pleasantries before finally leaving the office. But once he stepped out, his expression darkened, completely different from the pleasant face he had shown moments earlier.