Accidentally Marking The Vicious Female Lead After Transmigrating Into A Period Novel - Chapter 37

The three of them chatted for a good while until Chen Aihua was called away by a fellow worker. Once they were alone, Li Yan finally voiced the doubt lingering in her mind: “Why did it take so long inside?”

Logically, half an hour should have been enough for an inspection, there was no need to spend such a long time.

As she asked this, the smile on Lin Yishu’s face faded slightly.

“Considering my household registration (hukou) issue, it took a bit longer.”

When she left home, she had brought herself and plenty of luggage, but she couldn’t bring her household registration with her. That was the biggest hurdle.

Li Yan suddenly realized.

How could she have forgotten the most crucial thing, the hukou!

She had been so confident, guaranteeing success to the other woman all along the way. But in this era of extremely strict household registration, hiring someone first required the transfer of their registration and grain coupon relations.

She hurriedly asked, “Then what should we do? Is your registration easy to transfer over?”

The smile on Lin Yishu’s face grew even fainter, almost invisible, but she remained calm as she spoke: “It might be a bit troublesome for the time being. The factory’s stance is that I’ll work as a temporary worker for now, and as for the registration, it needs to be transferred within half a year.”

Li Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Half a year seemed manageable.

However, since she didn’t know the specifics of Lin Yishu’s family situation, she was still a bit worried. Seeing Lin Yishu’s composed manner, she asked, “Do you already have a plan?”

Lin Yishu shook her head. “Not yet.”

After a moment, she gave the other a deep look and added, “But there will be a way.”

To celebrate Lin Yishu successfully finding a job, Li Yan decided to order several good dishes for lunch.

Originally, she only wanted it to be the two of them, but Chen Aihua naturally wouldn’t hear of it. Moreover, Lin Yishu very warmly invited her to join, which made Li Yan’s already sour mood sink by another two degrees.

Consequently, even the roasted meat on the table didn’t seem as fragrant.

“Li Yan, eat! Why aren’t you eating?” Seeing that she barely moved her chopsticks, Chen Aihua asked with confusion while urging her on.

Li Yan looked up at her with a face full of resentment but said nothing.

The next second, however, after seeing an extra fatty piece of meat land in her bowl, she grinned like a fool.

She swiped the meat back into the other’s bowl, beaming. “It’s nothing, I’m not very hungry. You eat, you eat more, don’t mind me.”

Lin Yishu picked up her chopsticks and moved the oily, fatty meat back into Li Yan’s bowl again, her brow furrowing slightly. “I don’t like eating fatty meat.”

Li Yan paused, her expression becoming a bit awkward.

So, it wasn’t out of concern for her.

But she quickly adjusted her mindset, using her chopsticks to pick out the lean meat and placing it in the other’s bowl. “Then you eat the lean meat.”

Sitting across from them, Chen Aihua watched their practiced movements and felt that something wasn’t quite right, though she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.

After a moment, she brushed those messy thoughts aside and said happily to Lin Yishu, “Although we’re a slaughterhouse, our factory benefits are great! Not only is it easy to get meat, but the holiday perks are better than the neighboring factories. Plus, you’re a broadcaster, so you don’t have to work in the workshop, it’s much lighter. You really came to the right place!”

Lin Yishu smiled and nodded in agreement.

As she spoke, Chen Aihua seemed to remember something; she slapped her forehead and spoke excitedly. “Apart from everything else, just take this year, the factory’s benefits for everyone actually include movie tickets! Many people haven’t even stepped into a cinema a few times!”

Her gaze moved from the person opposite her to the one beside her. “By the way, Li Yan, have you watched your movie ticket yet? If not, let’s go together when we have Sunday off. It just so happens I have an extra ticket for Xian… Comrade Lin. Comrade Lin, why don’t we go together?”

By the end, she seemed a bit shy; this usually bold and generous person actually looked uncharacteristically bashful.

Seeing this, a sense of crisis surged in Li Yan’s heart, and she blurted out: “No need, we’ve already seen it.”

Chen Aihua looked at the two of them hesitantly, her eyes darting back and forth. “You guys…? You and who? Comrade Lin?”

Li Yan regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth. She steeled herself and made eye contact with the person beside her.

Lin Yishu gave her a sidelong glance. Under the plea in Li Yan’s eyes, she finally gave a slight nod and smiled faintly. “That’s right, we’ve already seen it. Sorry about that, Comrade Aihua.”

Chen Aihua was a bit disappointed, but she suddenly blushed upon hearing her name called.

Since childhood, she had always felt her name was a bit rustic. No matter who called it, it carried a “dirt-cheap” vibe. But now, though they were the same characters, coming from the other woman’s mouth, they sounded as beautiful as heavenly music.

Thus, Chen Aihua lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers, saying shyly, “It’s okay, it’s okay. We can go together when there’s another chance in the future.”

Watching her like this, alarm bells rang loudly in Li Yan’s heart.

Wait, why on earth is she blushing?!

A moment later, she looked at the person beside her, who was leisurely eating, with a face full of resentment.

Damn it, I really should just hide her at home!

Work had just resumed after the New Year, and the factory wasn’t too busy. Night shifts were temporarily cancelled, so Li Yan could go home every evening for the past two days.

As soon as she clocked off, she ran toward the broadcasting room.

Lin Yishu had reported to the broadcasting room in the afternoon, and Li Yan didn’t know if she could adapt.

Some people in the workshop noticed her movements. Combined with the rumors heard during the day, people were whispering privately.

“That little Li usually looks so quiet, who knew she was sharper than anyone? We didn’t even know the news, yet she already managed to plug someone in and for a coveted spot like a broadcaster, too. Tsk tsk, no wonder she looked so happy coming out of Qi Dakua’s office yesterday. Turns out she knew the result since then.”

“That can’t be right. I saw that girl go into the leadership office first today. I heard she was in there for a long time before coming out. Besides, that girl’s Mandarin is indeed standard, and her voice is lovely. She’s definitely qualified to be a broadcaster.”

“I heard that even though she was placed there, she’s only a temporary worker. A temporary worker, well..”

The person speaking dragged out the tone, leaving the second half of the sentence unsaid, but anyone could hear the implication in the trailing words.

If she was a temporary worker, she could be replaced at any time, couldn’t she?

Several people looked at each other, understanding the unspoken meaning in each other’s eyes.

Li Yan didn’t know that people were already plotting to replace her friend. At this moment, she had just reached the door of the broadcasting room.

Standing at the entrance, she saw through the glass door frame that Lin Yishu was greeting her colleagues one by one and packing her things to go home. Only then did her heart fully settle.

Only now did she have the room to lean against the wall, trying to recover her breath and calm her racing heart.

The broadcasting room door opened, and people began to walk out. They gave her a strange look as they passed.

Li Yan looked down, watching pair after pair of unfamiliar shoes appear in her field of vision and leave, until a familiar set of toes stopped in front of her.

She looked up and smiled at the other.

Lin Yishu had spent a busy and fulfilling afternoon.

Throughout the afternoon, she had to meet new colleagues, answer their various curious questions, and find time to familiarize herself with her work environment. She had been almost frantically busy.

Despite this, she felt this afternoon was shorter than any other time.

In the blink of an eye, it was time to get off work.

Everyone put down their work, and after a quick greeting, they vanished in an instant.

The bustling broadcasting room suddenly became empty.

Even though it was only her first day, Lin Yishu was surprisingly unaccustomed to this sudden emptiness.

She quietly organized all her belongings once more. When there was truly nothing left to tidy, she stood up to head out and lock the door.

But she froze upon seeing the person at the doorway.

Even though it was the dead of winter, the person at the door was drenched in sweat.

Right now, she was tugging at her collar, trying to cool down.

A smile suddenly spread across Lin Yishu’s lips. She took several light steps toward the door.

“Li Yan, why were you running? I’m not going anywhere. You could have just walked over slowly.”

As she spoke, she pulled a handkerchief from her bag and carefully wiped the sweat from the other’s forehead.

Li Yan let her do it, grinning like a lovable fool. “I was afraid you’d be waiting anxiously.”

Lin Yishu felt a wave of sweetness in her heart, followed by a wave of annoyance.

This person always says such ambiguous and misleading things that trigger strange fantasies!

Thinking this, she naturally remembered the incident at lunch today.

Lin Yishu suddenly stopped her movements and took a step closer, her voice echoing softly. “Shouldn’t you give me an explanation for what happened at noon? What was that about the movie tickets? Who did you go see them with? Why did you use me as a shield?”

Li Yan’s scalp felt numb and her head felt like it would explode.

What was coming had finally arrived.

Those two movie tickets were still hidden in the deepest part of her pocket. Li Yan’s fingers pinched them; feeling the corners of the tickets made her feel slightly more at ease. She explained: “I can explain about the movie tickets…”

Lin Yishu cut her off: “Then explain now.”

She wanted to hear what kind of excuse she could come up with.

Li Yan licked her lips and gave a somewhat fawning smile. “If I said that I originally intended to ask you to go see the movie together, would you believe me?”

Lin Yishu gazed at her without speaking, seemingly trying to discern the truth of her words.

“So, you haven’t actually gone to see it yet, right?” she asked.

Li Yan nodded.

The unhappiness in Lin Yishu’s heart dissipated a bit.

Fortunately, she hadn’t gone with someone else otherwise, she would have been truly angry.

“Then why didn’t you ever tell me?” she asked again.

Li Yan explained in a fluster: “On New Year’s Eve, didn’t I… didn’t I do that to you? I was too embarrassed to say anything. Then on New Year’s Day, I originally planned to tell you! But then didn’t we run into Youth Yang at the hospital? I didn’t say it then, and after that, there were even fewer opportunities, so it got delayed until now.”

Lin Yishu gave a soft huff, grudgingly accepting her explanation.

Then, she looked at her with clear eyes and asked: “Then, are you willing to go see a movie with me now, Comrade Li Yan?”