Sisi settled the factory’s atmosphere by eliminating Zhong Cuiyu, the "chicken", and then took the opportunity to introduce a set of factory management regulations. There were no excessive demands, just three points: no tardiness or early departure, no doing non-work-related activities during working hours, and no embezzlement of factory assets.
That night, Tian Manmu knew about this and felt somewhat uncomfortable, thinking Sisi was overstepping her bounds. He Xuewen had asked him to manage the factory, but Sisi intervened directly without even discussing it with him.
Tian Manmu sulked at home and didn’t eat much. Jin Wanming glanced at him disdainfully and cleared the dishes in front of him.
"Hey, I haven’t finished eating yet. Why are you clearing it up so quickly?" Tian Manmu complained.
"You need an hour to eat a meal? Don’t I have to wash the dishes? If you want to eat, you wash the dishes later." Jin Wanming returned the dishes to their place.
"What kind of attitude is this?" Tian Manmu got even less of an appetite from his wife’s attitude, and simply pushed the rice bowl away, deciding not to eat.
"What attitude? How exactly do you want me to serve you? Feed you the food into your mouth? Pah, acting like a beggar but expecting Emperor’s fortune." Jin Wanming remarked sarcastically.
"What do you mean by that?" Tian Manmu was taken aback that his wife would suddenly lash out.
"What do I mean? I mean exactly that, one should know their place. You, Tian Manmu, are but a farmer, my family respected you enough to let you help out, yet you didn’t manage the factory on behalf of my family, instead, you started acting like a boss, not knowing your worth."
Jin Wanming was always sharp-tongued, and now being angry, she left Tian Manmu with no chance to retort, scolding him relentlessly.
After she paused, Tian Manmu finally responded, "When have I not managed the factory well for your family? Haven’t you seen me going there daily?"
"Going there daily only to let that woman Zhong Cuiyu mess around in the factory. With Zhong Cuiyu’s audacity, an outsider would think you are the subordinate and she is the boss."
Jin Wanming’s words made Tian Manmu feel uneasy, "What... what nonsense are you spouting?"
"Nonsense? Tian Manmu, do you still have feelings for Zhong Cuiyu? She used to mess around in the factory and you didn’t care. Now that Ah Nan has punished her, you complain about Ah Nan being too controlling. Spit it out, Tian Manmu, are you still thinking about Zhong Cuiyu? If you admit it, I’ll step aside right now and let her take over this house."
Jin Wanming grew increasingly agitated and began shouting uncontrollably, making it awkward for Sisi who was standing at the door, unsure whether to enter or leave.
Sisi had come specifically to talk to Tian Manmu about today’s incident, but unexpectedly overheard this explosive news — Tian Manmu and Zhong Cuiyu having an affair?
Life truly is full of unexpected twists!
Jin Wanming, upon seeing Sisi, felt a bit embarrassed and smilingly invited Sisi into the house. Tian Manmu felt even more disgraced, knowing Ah Nan must have heard his wife’s outburst, and felt extremely humiliated.
Sisi pretended not to have heard those remarks, recounted today’s events, and then said to Tian Manmu, "Second Uncle, I punished Zhong Cuiyu today without discussing with you, please don’t be upset with me."
Tian Manmu hadn’t had the chance to speak when Jin Wanming interjected, "What’s there to discuss? Ah Nan, I think you did a great job. That Zhong Cuiyu, that vixen... er, that kind of person needs to be dealt with harshly. She’s so light, she only weighs a feather, and doesn’t even look at herself in the mirror to see what she truly is?"
Sisi chuckled awkwardly. Second Aunt really hated Zhong Cuiyu a lot. It seemed there must be something between Second Uncle and Zhong Cuiyu. Could it be that Second Uncle really cheated?
Sisi dared not think further and stared at Tian Manmu with wide, shocked eyes. Already agitated by his wife’s scolding, Tian Manmu snapped at Sisi when he saw her looking at him that way, "What are you staring at?"
"Why are you scolding Ah Nan? Isn’t it just a fine of 30 money that you’re upset about? What? You feel sorry for her?" Jin Wanming retorted.
"You’re being unreasonable! Why would you say such things in front of the children? What does that make you look like?" Tian Manmu burst out, his face a mask of embarrassment.
Jin Wanming glanced at him disdainfully, ignored him, and took Sisi to chat on the other side.
"Ah Nan, don’t mind your Second Uncle. Having some money made him forget himself. This factory belongs to your dad. You don’t need to consult anyone else to handle a few people here."
Jin Wanming deliberately spoke very loudly, and Tian Manmu, hearing every word, left with an unhappy grunt.
Sisi found this amusing and asked Jin Wanming in a low voice, "Second Aunt, should I fire that Zhong Cuiyu?"
"There’s no need, your Second Uncle doesn’t have the guts to do that!" Jin Wanming felt deeply touched by Sisi’s words, though she also wished for Zhong Cuiyu to leave the brewery, she still had to consider Bo Qiang’s reputation.
Upon returning, Sisi asked Tian Manjin, and only then learned about the love-hate relationship between Zhong Cuiyu and Tian Manmu.
It turned out that Zhong Cuiyu and Tian Manmu were childhood sweethearts, and both had feelings for each other. But Li Yuedi didn’t like Zhong Cuiyu much, feeling that she looked somewhat mean.
Thus, Li Yuedi asked someone to introduce Jin Wanming, who was the beauty of the village in her youth, and Tian Manmu was naturally pleased with her. Added to that were the arrangements by their parents, so they quickly got married.
As for Zhong Cuiyu, Tian Bajin felt slightly guilty towards Bo Qiang, so he arranged for her to marry into the well-off Jins’ family, and her life was quite decent.
After decades of peace, who knew that Zhong Cuiyu would stir up trouble once she started working at the brewery. Several times, Cuiyu mentioned their young days’ friendship, causing Tian Manmu to be embarrassed to discipline her. That’s why Zhong Cuiyu became increasingly arrogant at the factory, and even once spoke in front of others about her close relationship with Tian Manmu in their youth.
Upon hearing this, Jin Wanming was furious, growing more and more convinced that Tian Manmu still had feelings for Zhong Cuiyu. Otherwise, why would he let her behave so dominantly in the factory?
The furious Jin Wanming really wanted to storm into the factory and beat the old vixen Cuiyu severely, but reason told her she couldn’t do that. Just as she was pondering over ways to punish Zhong Cuiyu, Sisi came up with an idea.
When Jin Wanming learned that Sisi had publicly denounced Zhong Cuiyu, she couldn’t describe how relieved she felt, thinking how considerate her daughter-in-law was!
But upon returning and seeing her husband sighing, she felt another surge of anger, which led to the earlier scene at dinner.
After learning about all this, Sisi felt that Second Uncle handled the situation very poorly. Although there was surely nothing between him and Zhong Cuiyu, the ambiguity was clear. How would outsiders see this? No wonder Second Aunt got angry!