The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 864 - 863: You Reap What You Sow

"I don’t mind, it’s quite nice. With the New Year coming, I was just thinking of buying a pair of earrings to go with my newly purchased down jacket. This pair is just perfect."

Zhang Wen Ling said with a smile as she tried to lighten the mood, but it only made the other female classmates envious.

"Wow, Wen Ling, your company must be doing pretty well this year. You can even afford to buy a down jacket. Your year-end bonus must be quite generous, right?"

Zhang Wen Ling replied with a modest smile, "It’s alright, just around a thousand or so."

Hearing this, everyone at the table grew even more envious.

"Goodness, that’s three months’ salary!"

Zhang Wen Ling humbly said, "Mine is actually one of the smaller ones, compared to those in the marketing department. The highest someone got there was four or five thousand!"

"My God, Wen Ling, your company’s compensation is too good. I should just come work at your company too. Our little company is so stingy, the year-end bonus is just a 50-dollar red envelope, plus a barrel of oil and a bag of rice."

"You guys at least got something. Our penny-pinching boss doesn’t give out a dime, and the salary comes dragging its feet too. I still haven’t received last month’s salary. Who am I to even complain to?"

Everyone heatedly voiced their complaints back and forth.

Mai Qiu felt like an outsider, unable to join in the conversation. Among those present, she was the only one unemployed.

After sitting idly for a while, she made an excuse to go to the restroom and left the table.

As soon as she left, the atmosphere at the table changed, and the few of them exchanged meaningful looks.

"What’s up with her? It’s been so long, and she still hasn’t found a job?"

"She’s too picky and not skilled enough. She used to be a general manager’s assistant making several hundred a month—she wouldn’t consider our ordinary jobs."

"That might not be true. Last month she applied for an administrative officer position at Wen Ling’s company but did not get hired."

"Why didn’t your company hire Mai Qiu, Wen Ling? With her qualifications and skills, she should have easily handled an administrative role, right?"

Zhang Wen Ling said meaningfully, "Her not finding a job isn’t due to lack of abilities."

Hearing the implied meaning in Zhang Wen Ling’s words, everyone’s curiosity was instantly ignited.

"Why is that?"

"I heard she was fired by her former boss, but I don’t know what she did to offend them. Could it be related to that?"

They all hung on eagerly as Zhang Wen Ling slowly continued,

"She’d better forget about finding a job in Fengcheng in this lifetime."

"Bang!"

The door to the private room was suddenly kicked open.

Mai Qiu stood at the doorway, her face filled with anger as she glared at everyone at the table.

"Zhang Wen Ling, was that necessary? Just because the gift I gave was light, you curse me behind my back like this, and you guys..."

Mai Qiu pointed at the others at the table one by one, "Have you forgotten the difficulty you faced when looking for jobs yourselves? Half of you got your jobs because I helped you out! Yet you all look down on me. If you’re so capable, quit your jobs and try finding new ones yourselves!"

Hearing Mai Qiu bringing up past grievances made everyone’s faces turn sour.

"It was Wen Ling who said it, why are you lashing out at us?"

"We’re just concerned about you, I even notified you first when my company was hiring. It’s not my fault you didn’t pass the interview."

That was indeed true.

Mai Qiu had interviewed at each of her old classmates’ companies, unfortunately, she was not hired.

What gnawed at her most was Zhang Wen Ling’s remark, "Forget about finding a job in this lifetime."

For someone who had been unemployed for three months and rejected countless times by job positions, the damage and insult were of SSS level.

She glared at Zhang Wen Ling resentfully, "What did I do to you that you can’t stand to see me do well, wishing I’ll never find a job for the rest of my life?!"

Zhang Wen Ling looked at her and said, "I didn’t curse you. You have good capabilities and a great resume, yet you can’t even pass an interview for a common office clerk—haven’t you ever wondered why?"

Mai Qiu initially wanted to say it was her bad luck, but a woman’s intuition made her suspect something else.

"Clarify your words."

Zhang Wen Ling said, "I don’t know if you’re pretending to be dumb or if you really are foolish, but you should be clear about what you’ve done behind the scenes."

"What have I done?"

Though she spoke defiantly, her tone betrayed a hint of guilt.

Seeing her still denying, Zhang Wen Ling mocked, "Although I don’t know the real reason your previous employer fired you, they at least gave you half a year’s severance pay, which was very generous of them. But what did you do? You turned around and reported your old employer. What boss would dare to hire an employee like you?"

As Zhang Wen Ling’s words ended, everyone at the table turned to look at Mai Qiu, their eyes full of disbelief and disdain.

Mai Qiu’s face flushed crimson, and she displayed the embarrassment and panic of someone caught doing something wrong.

"You—you’re talking nonsense. I’ve never done such a thing!" fгeewebnovёl.com

Zhang Wen Ling scoffed, "Did you think that what you did wouldn’t be discovered? Whether you wrote a letter or made a phone call, there are always traces to follow. Do you think a big factory wouldn’t have the means and capability to find out?"

Mai Qiu was extremely nervous.

Indeed, she had reported both the food factory and Du Juan’s factory.

To create confusion, she used two different methods.

For the food factory’s tax evasion, she made a phone call, and for reporting Du Juan’s factory for substandard environmental building materials, she wrote a letter, including a purchase list of those materials.

Since she had handled these matters personally when she was Du Juan’s assistant, she knew the details well.

Her reporting of Du Juan’s factory was driven by resentment for being betrayed.

And reporting the food factory was to pin the blame on Du Juan.

Her original plan was for Du Juan’s factory to fail to start at best, and if it did start successfully, she intended to secretly "inform" Shen Mingzhu, relying on Mingzhu’s capacity to strike back at Du Juan.

But she had never expected that Zhang Wen Ling would know about her reports against the food factory and Du Juan.

Not just Zhang Wen Ling, but now several old classmates in the private room knew as well.

And those job positions that rejected her—it’s no wonder the interviewers looked at her with disgust.

She had thought the interviewers were just being haughty, but she never considered...

"Your deeds have spread throughout the HR circles, and it’s almost impossible for any proper organization to hire you."

Zhang Wen Ling’s words made Mai Qiu’s vision darken, as despair engulfed her like a tidal wave.

She didn’t even know how she had left the restaurant.

When she came back to her senses, she had already returned to her rental unit.

It was the cold season, and without heating, the Tube Building was as cold as a cellar.

This place, marked for demolition, had few residents left—the only advantage being cheap rent.

Usually warming herself by burning coal, she had covered the stove before leaving to save money.

Shivering, she lifted the lid of the stove and added coal with tongs. Accidentally, a piece of coal fell to the floor.

The shattered coal, like her life, destroyed by her own hands.

In that moment, regret and frustration made her wail bitterly.