As I was walking along, lamenting my misfortune, something even worse happened. I received a call from my manager at work. He said the company was cutting staff due to recent economic downturns, and naturally, I was laid off.
At first, I wondered if layoffs didn't require a company meeting or deliberation.
Later, I found out that the company belonged to the Chen family...
What else could I say? I could only consider myself unlucky. Who told me I had no money or influence!
I became unemployed and was saddled with a huge debt. Oh God, Wang Yuzhu, who did I ever offend to be treated this way?
As I thought about it, I felt like I was on the verge of a breakdown. I couldn't bear to wander outside any longer, so I went home.
I slept after I got home.
The next day at noon, Yiyi called and asked me to go out for a meal. I told her I had been fired.
There was another burst of questions from the other end of the phone: "How did you get fired? What did you do wrong?"
"Nothing."
Yiyi was silent for a moment, then told me: "I just remembered, the company you worked for seems to be a Chen family company..."
"Why am I so unlucky?"
"It's okay, it's not the only place to work. I'll come find you after I finish work this afternoon."
I hummed in agreement and hung up.
I even started to suspect that the debt collectors who came this morning were arranged by Chen Jiayi. What exactly did she want?
When I first divorced Xie Zheng, she came to question me about why, acting as if she and Xie Zheng were truly deeply in love. Now that I'm with Shen Yanming, she's causing trouble for me again.
After Chen Jiayi hung up, Shen Yanming called. He said he had already resolved the matter for me.
I was astonished, speaking into the phone: "So quickly? How did you solve it?"
Shen Yanming didn't tell me how he solved it. He refused to say, so I didn't press further.
After hanging up, I walked down an alley. I usually took this route home from work because cutting through the alley led directly to my neighborhood. However, not many people used this alley, and it was filled with garbage, a foul odor permeating the entire space. I suppose I'm a bit lazy; I'd rather walk through this smelly alley than take a long detour.
I walked on, holding my nose, when suddenly I heard shouting and cursing. I looked ahead and saw two men bullying a girl near a pile of garbage. The girl was curled up by the garbage, and the two men were kicking and cursing at her.
Disgraceful! Two men picking on a young girl.
I walked over and stopped the two men: "Stop."
The two men turned to look at me, revealing lewd smiles. One of them, with dyed red hair, approached me: "Oh, who are you to interfere when grandpa is beating someone?"
They seemed like uncultured thugs calling themselves 'grandpa.' I couldn't help but snicker.
The two looked at me, puzzled. The red-haired man asked again: "What are you laughing at? Mind your own business, or we'll beat you too."
"Go ahead and hit me if you dare. I've already called the police."
"You..." The red-haired man said, raising his fist to strike, but he was only a few centimeters away from hitting me when another man behind him pulled him back.
The red-haired man became angry and glared at the man beside him: "Why are you pulling me?"
The other man whispered, "Brother, let's go. If the police really come, we won't be able to leave."
The red-haired man lowered his head, thought for a moment, then looked at me and said to the girl by the garbage, "You're lucky today." With that, they hurried away.
The girl looked up at me and said a word of thanks. I walked over and helped her up.
"How did you get into trouble with these thugs?"
The girl suddenly started to sob: "These two were my classmates. One time, they were beating a classmate, and I reported them to the teacher. As a result, they were expelled. They said they would beat me every time they saw me from then on."
"Such ill-bred children."
I looked at the girl, her clothes all dirty. I said to her, "You've gotten yourself all dirty. My home is nearby. Come to my place to wash up, or your parents will scold you when you get home."
The girl hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Actually, having visitors at home occasionally is nice. It's better than being alone. Now that I've lost my job, and I'm also pregnant, if Shen Yanming... Thinking this, I thought of him.
"Sister, where do you live?"
"Almost there."
After leaving the alley, we crossed a pedestrian path, and it was another five minutes' walk.
When we arrived home, the girl looked at the clean floor tiles and asked me, "Sister, do you want me to take off my shoes?"
"No, no, just come in."
The girl said softly, looking down, "I'll dirty it..."
"It's fine, I usually wear shoes indoors."
After I said that, the girl walked into the house, and I led her to the bathroom.
"Take off your jacket, and I'll put it in the washing machine. It will dry quickly."
The girl took off her jacket. She was wearing a short-sleeved shirt inside, revealing her arms. I saw there were marks on her arm, like from being hit with thin sticks. Perhaps her arm brushed against those injuries when she was taking off her shirt, causing her to wince, but she didn't say anything.