She won't clear her name; she'll throw away all the scum.

Upon hearing this, the workers who had been watching and making sarcastic remarks immediately shut up, their bared teeth disappearing into silence.

Grandma Xia raised an eyebrow. "Why did you stop talking? You were doing a good job just now, weren't you?"

No one dared to meet Old Lady Xia's gaze, afraid of being targeted by her. They didn't want to miss the spectacle and end up becoming the spectacle themselves; that would be a huge loss.

The crowd quickly dispersed, but Old Lady Xia couldn't swallow her anger and shouted, "Liang Li from Workshop 5, I'll bring the police to find you then. I hope you'll have already figured out what to tell them by then."

Liang Li was in a bad mood. He was just joining in the fun, but who knew this old lady would be so ruthless and wouldn't let him go? He's a good person, just a little gossipy; surely it shouldn't warrant the police arresting him?

He dared not leave, and turned back to Old Lady Xia's side. "Comrade Xia, just pretend what I just said was nonsense, okay? Just ignore me. I don't know anything."

Seeing that there was more to come, the other workers, though not surrounding them, stopped moving and began to listen intently.

As Grandma Xia tidied up the lunchbox to take it to wash, she said, "Fine, then tell me who told you this?"

Liang Li: "Too many people have said it, I really don't know."

Grandma Xia: "It's alright. Just tell me whoever said it, and I'll ask them one by one. If that doesn't work, I'll ask the security department to help me ask."

Liang Li dared not speak. If he revealed everyone's names, he would not be able to stay in the factory. He would offend too many people, and who would dare to trust him in the future?

Grandma Xia left the cafeteria, washed her lunchbox, and returned to her dormitory.

Qiao Yi was originally in the next dormitory. When she saw Grandma Xia return, the other students in that dormitory pushed her over. They looked her up and down, then looked up again as if to say something but stopped, and then looked down again, repeating the cycle.

Grandma Xia sighed, "Just ask whatever you want to ask. What's with all this hesitation?"

Qiao Yi mustered her courage, "Comrade Xia, they...they said you..."

Old Mrs. Xia grew impatient and added the rest of the sentence for her, "So you're saying I'm having an affair with Director Yuan, right?"

The girls gasped in shock. The person involved had just said it so openly, without any embarrassment whatsoever.

Qiao Yi: "What exactly happened? You're definitely not that kind of person."

Grandma Xia: "Since Director Yuan couldn't stand the rumors and ran away, and the factory manager is off work now, I'll go to the police station later. I will protect my innocence myself."

These seemingly nonsensical words somehow stirred up the girls' passion. "That's right! I don't know which scoundrel spread these rumors, but why should we innocent girls be allowed to gossip about us? We should teach them a lesson."

"Yes, last time they... they even made fun of my body. I was so angry that I couldn't sleep for several nights."

"They just made up stories about us without any basis in reality, it's infuriating."

"They deserve to be taught a lesson. We'll go with you."

Grandma Xia was truly baffled. She had thought they were there to make fun of her, like asking if she was still innocent at her age, or if she was having an affair with another woman. But somehow, they ended up getting indignant with her.

"Yes, they're really inhuman. We'll report them to the police later," Old Mrs. Xia had no choice but to agree.

Grandma Xia had planned to put down her lunchbox, rest for a while, and then go to the police station. She wasn't just joking; she really meant to go.

Both rumors today are related to her. One is that she bullied someone, and the other is this outrageous affair. I don't know what the person behind this is planning, but they are targeting an old woman like her. Did she get in someone's way or get in someone's way?

No matter what, she was determined to find out who was behind this; she, Old Lady Xia, was not someone to be trifled with.

She herself wasn't in a hurry, but the girls who had just sided with her were anxious. They kept urging her, and even dragged her out when Old Lady Xia got up, claiming that if it got any later, everyone else would be asleep, making it difficult for the police to handle the case.

Grandma Xia arrived at the police station in a daze. It was a familiar scene, and several familiar faces saw her coming, which made her heart skip a beat.

Oh no, something bad has happened again?

The factory manager was called out of his home late at night and braved the cold wind to come to the factory. At that time, the factory's auditorium was full of people, and the police were questioning them one by one.

It's no wonder that the police are considered the protectors of the people; their responsible attitude is truly reassuring. As she thought this to herself, Grandma Xia huddled up, looking like a small bundle immersed in sadness and grief, occasionally sobbing.

Two police officers were questioning the people who were spreading rumors one by one. One of the female officers seemed a little worried, afraid that Old Lady Xia might faint from crying.

The police officers were furious when they heard what these people were saying. How could they make something out of nothing sound so convincing? When they asked them to provide evidence, they all said they had just heard it from others.

Upon witnessing this scene, the factory manager felt a wave of dizziness, as if he could see himself looking down upon other factory managers in the future. When exactly did this happen? Why hadn't anyone told him? He knew absolutely nothing.

On his way to the factory, he ran into Director Yuan, the factory office director, who was also on her way. He questioned her the whole way, but she didn't say a word, which made him so angry that he wanted to transfer her to another position.

Such a big thing has happened, and she, a factory office director, didn't even know about it? Is that reasonable?

Director Yuan was in a bitter position. It wasn't that she didn't know; she knew all too well, which was why she didn't know how to say it. After all, she was one of the people involved in the rumor.

But how could she possibly say that the rumor was about her own love-hate relationship with Old Lady Xia?

She couldn't help but feel resentful towards Old Lady Xia. It wasn't a respectable matter to begin with, so why make such a fuss? She had thought Old Lady Xia was just joking about reporting it to the police, but she hadn't expected her to actually dare. Director Yuan felt a pang of pain in his heart; this old comrade was even more of a troublemaker than the young people who had just joined the factory.

What should we do? She's been the director of the factory office for so many years, is she really going to stumble on this?

The auditorium was noisy. Director Yuan had just walked in with the factory manager when he heard a worker cursing at him in front of the police. It was nothing more than his previous theory that flies don't land on eggs without cracks. The factory manager also heard it and looked over. Director Yuan's face turned as red as a monkey's bottom.