"Or perhaps, seeing how fair and tender you are, she finds you appealing and wants to deliberately create opportunities to be alone with you?"
"I think that's quite possible. Otherwise, why haven't any of us women been bullied by her? Little Jiang arrives and is already so pitiful."
"Oh, Little Jiang, you poor thing. Remember what big sister is telling you, absolutely do not drink alcohol, and don't go to places like that alone with her. In case she wants to… take advantage of you…"
After the others had a good chat with him, pulling him aside to whisper, Jiang Jingyu walked over to Lu Jiaying.
Lu Jiaying wasn't stupid. Although she couldn't hear their conversation, she could see their expressions.
"What are you whispering about with them?"
"Nothing much, just saying the food at lunch wasn't particularly tasty today."
"I hope that's all it is." Lu Jiaying gave him a meaningful glance.
She strode ahead decisively, and Jiang Jingyu followed behind.
There were no conversations along the way. When they reached the parking lot, Lu Jiaying tossed the car keys directly to him and then settled into the passenger seat while making a phone call.
Jiang Jingyu thought to himself: Don't they know how old I am? My own parents don't dare let me drive, and you're letting me? What if something happens, are you going to take responsibility?
He didn't get into the car. Instead, he knocked on the passenger door. Lu Jiaying rolled down the window, her eyes asking him what was wrong.
"I just got my driver's license, and my parents don't let me drive."
Lu Jiaying suddenly understood.
Seeing his tall and strong build, she had treated him like an adult, but he was still quite young.
She couldn't help but chuckle softly, got out of the car, hung up her call, and went to drive herself.
After driving for a while, Lu Jiaying shook her head.
"Does this mean I'll have to drive you around every time we go out? If others see it, they'll start gossiping again, thinking I really intend to keep you."
"I'd appreciate it if you'd talk less with those gossipy women. Don't end up saying too much and not knowing how to cover your own lies."
She was that perceptive? Knew they were gossiping about her?
Jiang Jingyu watched her expertly handle the steering wheel.
"How did you know they were talking about you behind your back?"
It felt like he had asked a stupid question.
Lu Jiaying didn't explain, merely stating calmly, "I'm not an idiot."
"Then do you know they have nicknames for you behind your back?"
"That's the unavoidable fate of every leader in every department. Don't think you're on good terms with them now; if you become their superior later, people will still give you nicknames."
"Really? Even leaders who are very approachable and mingle with them get nicknamed?"
"Of course. Just like you guys would nickname your homeroom teacher."
"If you say so, does my dad have a nickname too?"
Trying to trick her into revealing information? Lu Jiaying didn't fall for it.
"I wouldn't know. I don't interact with your father much."
Jiang Jingyu had to give up.
"Speaking of which, Ms. Lu, do you know what they call you behind your back?"
Lu Jiaying pondered for two seconds and said, "Miejue Shitai? Li Mochou? Or maybe Mei Chaofeng."
Jiang Jingyu almost burst out laughing. "How are you so self-aware? You knew they'd give you villainous nicknames?"
"That's all they could think of."
Lu Jiaying saw him trying to suppress his laughter with amusement and shot him a sidelong glance.
"So, which one is it?"
"Hahahaha," Jiang Jingyu couldn't help but laugh.
"I won't tell you, lest you go settle scores with them and then say I was the informant."
Actually, after leaving that workroom, Jiang Jingyu felt that Lu Jiaying was quite lively and easy to talk to, especially since their age difference wasn't that significant.
They chatted about random things all the way until they reached their destination.
It turned out Lu Jiaying was there to follow up on the sample production of a batch of foreign trade orders, and she was also bringing Jiang Jingyu to tour the factory.
Upon arriving at the workshop, they were received by the workshop manager. Lu Jiaying compared the product with the blueprints and quickly discovered something was amiss.
The observation window did not match the dimensions on the blueprints.
"The position of this observation window doesn't conform to the blueprint design. How could such a significant flaw occur?"
The workshop supervisor explained to her nonchalantly.
"The observation window is designed for decoration, it doesn't affect the product's performance. Why bother with it? Look at the other parts. I guarantee all other positions are correct."
But Lu Jiaying was already angry and didn't want to look at anything else.
"It seems you were aware of this issue. If you knew, why didn't you tell me earlier? And you produced it anyway, waiting for me to discover it myself?"
Seeing her serious expression and harsh words, the workshop supervisor retorted impatiently.
"There are ten samples in total. Changing molds and materials back and forth, and involving over ten processes, do you know how troublesome that is?"
"You people in the office just open your mouths and talk, saying things without experiencing the hardship. I schedule so many orders every day, the machines are fully occupied. Just these ten alone are affecting my…"
"Don't tell me that," Lu Jiaying interrupted him unceremoniously halfway through his sentence.
"These are irrelevant to me. You need to overcome your own difficulties. What I need from you is results. If the results don't meet my requirements, no matter how arduous the process, it's useless."
"I'm sorry, Director Li, but I need a clear explanation from you. What exactly is going on?"
Director Li took her to a set of mold racks in the center of the workshop and explained to her in exasperation.
"You're pressing for time, and the mold for this new product was just designed. Many parts still need to be run in. Once ten are made, it's finished. Believe it or not, the mold might have to be dismantled before it's even properly run in."
"Even if I requested the procurement department to buy enough material for 60 pieces and produce 60, with the first 50 being scrapped, there would still be dimensional deviations with a mold that hasn't been run in. You still wouldn't be satisfied. I might as well use the old mold!"
"I've looked at the CT4 product. Apart from the observation window position being slightly different, everything else is identical. Just show that to the client first. Since they can't tell anything from the pictures, just be skilled when taking the photos."
"Once the client actually places an order, I'll make as many as you want!"
What he said seemed to have some twisted logic, but Lu Jiaying wouldn't listen to a word.
This was a serious issue of professional ethics.
He actually wanted her to substitute it with another product and deceive the client. For a workshop supervisor to say something like this, what about the others?
Could other products be trusted?
The entire workshop, or rather, the entire group, would eventually be ruined by this kind of thinking.
"Director Li, stop talking so much nonsense. I'm only going to tell you two things now."
"One: Immediately change the mold and produce the product I want. Two: Call your Vice President Ma over and have him repeat what you just said to him."
"I'd like to see if the production department's reaction to problems is consistent across the board, and how different it is from our marketing department."
Although the difference between the two products was subtle, Director Li knew that his previous statement was just an excuse for his laziness.
If he could fool them, he would; if not, he'd redo it. m..oΓg
Lu Jiaying had always been tough. He shouldn't have provoked her.