Chapter 57: Collecting a Debt and Catching an Adulterous Affair Along the Way

A naked Song Jianshe and Su Hongyu, whose clothes were half-stripped, turned their heads at the exact same time. Neither of them expected anyone to barge in so abruptly, and both were completely stunned.

The crowd of people who burst in were equally stunned!

...

They certainly never expected that coming to collect a debt would lead to catching an adulterous affair along the way.

It was a case of better late than never, but this timing was simply too coincidental.

Noticing everyone's reaction, Lu Meiqin squeezed her way through the front, took one quick glance, and immediately turned back to cover Wen Ran's eyes.

She was terrified that Wen Ran's pure eyes would be polluted by such a filthy scene!

It was utterly humiliating and shameless!

Though Lu Meiqin was usually quite sharp-tongued and fierce, she had never uttered anything overly vicious, and her basic civility remained intact. Yet at this very moment, all decorum was tossed to the wind.

"Song Jianshe, you fatherless bastard! Just how starved for affection are you that you come all the way here to breastfeed!"

Panicking, Song Jianshe scrambled to put on his clothes, not even daring to raise his head. Su Hongyu frantically fastened her buttons, too terrified to utter a single word.

No matter how thick-skinned one was, it was impossible to endure the stares of so many men, women, and children of all ages.

Even though both of them were currently single, engaging in such behavior without being married was considered a severe moral offense in this era.

As long as it went undiscovered, anything passed, but once caught, they would face severe disciplinary action from the factory.

Someone shouted from the crowd, "Don't let them get dressed! Shame them to death!"

A quick-handed middle-aged woman immediately stepped forward to subdue them. In truth, even if they had managed to put on their clothes, being cornered in the room by so many people meant there was no escape.

Every single one of these women was a seasoned veteran, and the thing they despised most was anyone devoid of propriety, righteousness, and shame.

One of them even struck the first blow against Song Jianshe and Su Hongyu, prompting everyone else to join in the beating.

Hearing the miserable cries and pleas for mercy, Wen Ran peeked through the gaps in Lu Meiqin's distracted fingers. Song Jianshe was clinging desperately to his half-worn trousers, his face swollen into the shape of a pig's head.

Su Hongyu's hair was disheveled like a madwoman's, several buttons had been ripped from the front of her shirt, her chest was half-exposed, and her face was red and swollen.

With desperate defiance, she argued, "You're all misunderstanding! We were just doing cupping therapy a moment ago!"

"Where are the cups?"

"That's hilarious! Are you doing cupping with a stick?"

"Bitch, if I were you, I'd have found a rat hole to crawl into by now instead of spouting useless excuses!"

"I always said she wasn't honest, constantly finding excuses for cupping with this person and that person. Now everyone knows what kind of trash she really is!"

"Keep a tight leash on your own old men! And some of you women, stop letting your eyes wander where they shouldn't!"

"..."

No one present was a fool. Su Hongyu's clumsy attempt to brush it off with "cupping therapy" wasn't going to fool anyone!

Lu Meiqin could cover Wen Ran's eyes, but she couldn't block her ears.

Gritting her teeth, Lu Meiqin cursed, "Song Jianshe, you aren't even human! If you wanted to stray, you should have looked further away—haven't you ever heard the saying about whoring close to home and gambling far away? Borrowing all that money was bad enough, but you actually dared to curse Ran Ran? Why aren't you dead yet?!"

"Song Jianshe, you've disappointed us beyond measure. To think we trusted you so much—give us our money back right now!"

"Return the money! We aren't lending it anymore!"

"Give me back my grain coupons!"

"Give me back my meat coupons!"

"Pay up!"

"..."

The crowd could already foresee Song Jianshe's grim fate, realizing that if they didn't make him pay up now, they might never get another chance!

Because some quick-footed people had already run off to fetch the security department and the factory leaders. Zero tolerance was the absolute rule for such scandalous and depraved behavior.

Song Jianshe had never suffered such public humiliation in his entire life. Being caught red-handed in bed meant his life was essentially half-ruined. If Wen Ran, in a fit of rage, were to publicize the contents of his notebook, he would never be able to lift his head again.

He had still been hoping to scrape together enough money to call off the engagement with the Gao family, but now he couldn't even protect himself!

Did this mean he would be forced to let Wen Xin marry over there instead?

He was still entirely unaware that a disaster had struck the Gao family, nor did he know that Wen Ran had already effortlessly secured the signed agreement. His mind was an absolute chaos of jumbled thoughts.

After a brief moment of desperate calculation, he stammered, "I will return everyone's money! Please, just give me some time!"

"You have to pay us right now! How are we supposed to know if you'll even still be in Beicheng tomorrow?!"

"You're just swindling us out of our money; don't even think about fooling us again!"

"You're paying us back today, no matter what you say!"

"You still want us to give you time? Give you time so you can run away, right?!"

"You won't be running anywhere. Wait until the factory leaders get here—they'll make sure you pay for this dearly!"

"..."

The crowd was overcome with intense emotion, giving Song Jianshe zero breathing room.

At that moment, the factory leadership arrived.

Fu Kaiyu and his father were among them as well, which made it even more impossible for Song Jianshe to raise his head.

Since it was already after work hours, everyone happened to have free time.

Everyone wanted to catch the spectacle, making the already narrow hallway feel even more cramped.

For the sake of the bigger picture, Director Wei ordered the security department to take the two of them away first.

Su Hongyu trembled as she asked, "Director, could you at least let me put on some clothes first?"

"Now you remember you want some dignity? What were you doing earlier? Don't let her wear anything!" Before Director Wei could speak, a righteous middle-aged woman piped up.

Song Jianshe had wanted to speak up too, but upon hearing the woman's fierce tone, he hastily yanked his trousers up, terrified they might drop down.

Desperate to marry Wen Xin, Fu Kaiyu bit the bullet and said, "Director, you should probably let them put on proper clothes. Parading them all the way to the security department like this is rather unseemly."

"It's good to let everyone see the consequences of loose morals so it serves as a deterrent. Once they know what shame feels like, they'll learn to control their animal urges." This came from the wife of another man who had previously harbored improper thoughts about Su Hongyu, spoken partly as a warning to her own husband.

There was more than one such man in the crowd, and a few individuals guiltily looked away.

The vast majority of the women, however, strongly supported this approach.

Fu Kaiyu wanted to put in another good word for Song Jianshe, but Department Head Fu stepped hard on his foot, signaling him to keep his mouth shut.

You had to stay as far away from someone like this as possible; wasting breath trying to defend him was just a waste of emotion.

Wen Ran watched quietly from the sidelines without saying a word.

This sort of scene, thoroughly unsuitable for children, was not something an unmarried young maiden like her should comment on.

If she wanted to ruin Song Jianshe, she didn't need to rush it right this second.

Anyway, she had already secured the agreement now, meaning she no longer had to worry about whatever the Gao family might try to pull.

Yielding to public sentiment, Director Wei ordered that the pair be taken to the security department in their unclad, disheveled state.

The crowd of onlookers continued to swell. Remembering that she had an old, spoiled rotten egg at home that she'd been reluctant to eat until it went bad, Lu Meiqin had Wen Ran fetch it, then hurled it with pinpoint accuracy right at Song Jianshe's head.

Others quickly began to follow suit.

The habit of thrift and frugality was well-maintained in virtually every household, so the ammunition people chose consisted mostly of bruised, discarded vegetable leaves, and some even resorted to throwing small pebbles.

The walk that normally took ten minutes stretched out to nearly an hour.

By the time Song Jianshe and Su Hongyu finally reached the security department, they smelled so putrid they were almost unbearable to be near.

With no other choice, the security guards used two buckets of water to rinse them down before finally pinching their noses to begin the questioning.

Irrelevant onlookers were blocked outside. Even though it was well past mealtime, nobody was in any hurry to eat; they remained gathered outside in heated discussions, continuously reporting the situation to the factory director.

Director Wei deliberately waited outside to pacify the crowd, having someone prepare paper and pen to record the names of every creditor and the exact amounts owed before finally telling everyone to head home.

With the factory director's personal guarantee, the crowd gradually dispersed.

Only Lu Meiqin and Wen Ran remained.

Clearing his throat, Director Wei said, "It's getting late. You two should head back as well. Once we deliberate and reach a disciplinary verdict, we'll announce it promptly."

Before Lu Meiqin could speak up, Wen Ran said, "Director, given that he's involved in a scandal like this, he certainly won't be able to go through with canceling the engagement. Letting the Gao family's engagement drag on for even one more day makes me uneasy. I'd like him to hand the money over to me so I can go cancel it myself."