Chapter 56: Has She Been Exposed?

Footsteps sounded outside the door. Su Qinghu and Sister Li exchanged a glance and, with tacit understanding, got back to their work.

The factory director walked in. Seeing Sister Li and Su Qinghu tidying up, he knocked on the door and said with a smile, “Reporter Li, Xiao Su, are you finished? Let me take you to the canteen for a meal.”

Sister Li politely declined with a smile, “No need, we have to hurry and write up the interview draft, so we won’t stay any longer.”

As she spoke, she glanced at Su Qinghu. “Xiao Su, are you ready?”

Su Qinghu nodded.

The factory director was clearly a bit surprised. “Ah? You’re not staying for a meal?”

“Our interview is finished,” Sister Li replied cheerfully. “Director, you’d better make sure to ask about the accounting certificate. I’m going to write about how much you value workers’ further education.”

The director was overjoyed. “Of course! Of course! My daughter’s at work, so I can only see her in the evening. Don’t worry, I’ll ask her tonight, and tomorrow morning—before the workers come in for the early shift—I’ll post it on the bulletin board!”

Getting featured in the newspaper was almost as good as bringing honor to his ancestors.

Sister Li nodded with a smile. “With your character, I have nothing to worry about.”

“Then, aside from the accounting certificate and the cultural learning stuff, should I also arrange some technical training?” The director, buoyed by Sister Li’s praise, suggested eagerly. “Like repair work or weaving?”

Hearing this, Su Qinghu couldn’t help but laugh.

Sister Li smiled and said, “Just post the cultural learning opportunities for the workers to see. The Women’s Federation handles skills training.”

“Alright, alright.”

The director agreed enthusiastically. He genuinely liked reporters like Sister Li and Su Qinghu, who didn’t stay for meals or ask for favors, and were going to write good things about them. He personally walked them all the way to the factory gate. If Sister Li hadn’t stopped him, he probably would’ve seen them off to the bus stop.

“Reporter Xiao Su!”

Su Qinghu and Sister Li had just walked about ten meters past the factory gate when they heard someone calling from behind. Su Qinghu turned to see the short-haired woman and the slightly older woman waving and running toward her.

In the sunlight, Su Qinghu could see the fine beads of sweat on their foreheads.

“Reporter Xiao Su,” the short-haired woman said with a shy smile, reaching out to hand her something. “I bought this with my own money. It’s for you.”

It was food from their factory.

The older woman didn’t hand her food from the factory. Instead, she offered six White Rabbit candies, her tone gentle and almost parental. “My daughter is six this year and loves White Rabbit candies. I don’t know why, but I feel like you’d like them too.”

Su Qinghu’s eyes crinkled into a bright, radiant smile. “Haha, I’m not a child anymore.”

Sister Li hadn’t said anything, but just as Su Qinghu was about to reach out, she spoke up. “Life is better for everyone these days, but these things are still hard to come by. You should take them home and let your families have a taste.”

“As for Xiao Su—” Sister Li patted Su Qinghu with a smile. “It’s her first day on the job. I have to set some rules.”

The two women froze, then looked a little embarrassed. Watching them, Su Qinghu suddenly felt like a heartless jerk.

But since Sister Li had said so, there must be some internal rule...

Thinking of something, she opened her bag and pulled out a few colorful paperclips, handing half to each of them with a smile. “I can’t accept your gifts, but I really admire how hardworking you are. Here are some colored paperclips for you. You can use them to mark your study materials.”

Their earlier embarrassment faded, replaced by delight as they accepted the paperclips. Looking at Su Qinghu, their eyes were full of surprise and joy.

Su Qinghu said, “Work hard! If you pass the exam, come find me and I’ll treat you to a meal.”

“Okay!”

Even after Su Qinghu and Sister Li had walked a long way, the two women were still standing there watching them.

While waiting for the bus, Sister Li chuckled, “You carry little trinkets with you?”

“Not really. I meant to leave those paperclips at the office, but I left in a hurry and forgot.” Su Qinghu hugged her camera. “I like to organize things by category and add little labels. Makes it easier to find stuff.”

It would be a long time before everyone had their own computer.

Since you couldn’t quickly search for what you needed, it was best to organize and label everything from the start. That would make work easier in the future.

“That’s good. You’re just starting out, so it’s easier to keep things organized.” Sister Li sighed. “For those of us who’ve been working a long time, it’s hard to tidy everything up.”

Su Qinghu laughed. “Sister Li, you have such a good memory! When the director asked you for something today, you found it right away without even thinking.”

It was like those dormitory aunties in college who could tell at a glance whether you belonged in that building or not.

What a magical skill!

The two of them chatted and complimented each other all the way back to the newspaper office.

After lunch with Sister Li, Su Qinghu sat at her assigned desk, flipping through the materials Sister Li had given her. When Sister Li finished her draft, she called Su Qinghu over to explain what to watch out for in writing, then handed her the draft. “Take a look and see if there’s anything that needs polishing or if there are any typos.”

Without a computer to annotate directly, Su Qinghu went back to her desk, pulled out a sheet of paper, and as she read, jotted down which paragraph and line had typos or needed editing.

She had good comprehension and enough background knowledge, so the work was easy. In about fifteen minutes, she finished her handwritten notes, then watched the clock for five more minutes before going to Sister Li’s desk.

Sister Li took the notes and compared them to her own draft, nodding as she read.

Su Qinghu thought she’d be done for the day, but then the other reporting teams came back and immediately assigned her to write up their stories.

Su Qinghu: ???

Seriously?

She didn’t even have a press card yet—she thought she’d just be helping out, but now they wanted her to write the actual articles?

She looked at Sister Li, who neither nodded nor shook her head—just tapped her pen on the paper.

The message was clear: accept the assignment.

Su Qinghu said, “This is my first time writing something like this, so my writing might be a bit rough. Please bear with me.”

“I believe in you!” said a man about Sister Li’s age, smiling. As he left, he added quietly, “Your teacher was my teacher too.”

Su Qinghu: !!!

Does everyone in this department know she’s Professor Sun’s student? Does that mean they all know she got in through connections too...?"