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

In the end, the factory manager couldn't persuade Grandma Xia and the others, and could only let them leave first, out of sight, out of mind.

After the two left, Director Yuan stood by the door, looked at what she had just written in her notebook, and seeing that no one was outside, she said, "Factory Director, weren't you afraid that you would be laughed at by the leaders of the other factories when the exchange meeting is held?"

The factory manager nodded, his eyes closed, no longer wanting to speak. He could already imagine what those old fogies would say, and it was truly annoying.

Director Yuan: "When the local industrial bureau and planning commission hold meetings to issue tasks, they may also bring up this matter. If the leaders of the other factories try to sabotage us, we may have a very bad impression on them."

The factory director sighed heavily. "There's nothing we can do about it. Just like Comrade Xia and the others said, they're not wrong. Our factory just brought the problem to light, while other factories might have the same problem but they suppressed it for the sake of their reputation. I don't know what their factory leaders are thinking, but our factory, including myself, has done a good job in terms of our conscience towards the workers."

Director Yuan: "I have a suggestion, and I'd like to discuss it with you first."

Factory manager: "You look so troubled, you must be trying to make things difficult for me too, right? Tell me, after these few things, there shouldn't be anything that can make me angry anymore."

Director Yuan: "Next time we hold a meeting that's not very formal, like an exchange meeting, let's bring the two of them along and let their words give the leaders of the other factories a wake-up call."

The factory manager nearly fell off his chair, almost thinking he was hallucinating. Before he could even clear the heads of the others, this suggestion had already given him a wake-up call. "Who do you think we should take along?"

Director Yuan still had that look on his face, as if he were about to become a monk. "I said, bring Comrade Xia Yue'e and Comrade Jiang Wenhua along."

Factory manager: "Are you crazy? Bringing both of them along? Don't you think our factory has already made enough of a fool of itself?"

Director Yuan: "It's not certain who will make a fool of themselves then. With their mouths, they can talk the dead back to life. Just look at what they said just now, can you refute them?"

After a moment of silence, the factory manager shook his head firmly.

Director Yuan: "When Comrade Fang Yingdi's parents came to the factory to cause trouble before, did you have a way to refute what they said from their perspective?"

The factory manager fell silent again; he seemed genuinely unable to refute it.

Director Yuan: "Going back further, you saw Comrade Xia's behavior when he reported the case, right?"

The factory manager nodded: "He is indeed very capable, he almost ruined your future."

Director Yuan: "Going back even further, do you remember when Comrade Jiang had a conflict with his coworkers in the same group and it escalated to this point?"

The factory manager's face turned green. That guy's mind was completely different from that of a normal person. What was even more infuriating was that even though everyone knew what he was saying was fallacious, his logic was self-consistent, making it impossible to persuade him with normal thinking. In the end, he would lead them astray.

Director Yuan said with great confidence, "I think if we bring the two of them over, no one will be able to say a bad word about our factory at next month's exchange meeting."

The factory manager shamefully became tempted.

But then he realized that wouldn't work. "The people going to the exchange meeting are all factory leaders. How can the two of them go?"

Director Yuan turned a page in her notebook. "Our factory's women's director left because her husband was transferred, and there's no one to fill her place for the time being. I think..."

Before she could finish speaking, the factory director rejected her, saying, "Who do you think is suitable for the position of Women's Director? Comrade Xiao Jiang is a man, so it's not appropriate, is it? Comrade Xia is already this age, and I remember she's almost fifty. She'll retire in a year or two. How can she be in charge? The Women's Director is also a manager. If we extend her retirement time, I'm afraid she'll tear us apart."

The factory manager couldn't shake the feeling that it was inappropriate. He believed that Old Lady Xia's recent behavior suggested she was someone who wanted to retire early and enjoy her retirement, and probably had no interest in climbing the corporate ladder. Besides, if she really became a leader, would their factory ever have any peace and quiet?

Their textile factory already has quite a few female employees. When she has nothing to do, she'll start checking up on them one by one. If she finds anything wrong, she'll go to their door and start a fight. Several factories in the vicinity will suffer.

That's inappropriate, very inappropriate.

Director Yuan stared at the table in front of the factory director, her mind racing with thoughts. But no matter how much she thought, if Comrade Xia didn't cooperate, all her efforts would be in vain.

Seeing that the factory director had refused, but not explicitly, and that the main issue still lay with Comrade Xia, Director Yuan decided to try again to help her. "Factory director, please listen to a few points I have to make."

First, even though Comrade Xia is this age, her thinking is more advanced than many of ours. She may still have this desire, and you can't stop her from wanting to improve just because of her age. That would be too unfair to her and to all the hardworking veteran comrades in our factory.

Second, if you feel that she has not made any significant contributions and cannot win the approval of other comrades to take this position, I think we can hold an election at the quarterly workers' meeting, release the news in advance so that other comrades with similar ideas can compete and see who has the highest voice among the workers.

Thirdly, if Comrade Xia retires, she'll be a retired veteran of our textile factory. The factory's labor union will visit her during holidays, and everyone will know she came from our factory. Do you really think she'll settle down after retirement? Won't she cause trouble because she has too much free time?

Factory manager: ...He's not sure.

"But other leaders might not agree to this, and I can't make the decision on my own. This is an important job change," the factory manager said, quite distressed.

Director Yuan: "It's alright. I'm just mentioning it to you first. It's just a suggestion. We're having a meeting this afternoon, so maybe we can bring it up. If not, there's nothing we can do. But I'm doing this for the sake of our factory. I think you've done much better than other factory directors. At least you treat women like human beings."

Factory manager: "Your praise sounds rather sarcastic."

Director Yuan: "Don't you think some of their leaders are really disgusting to look at? Their hearts are just too ugly."

Factory manager: "Who are you talking about?"

Director Yuan: "My wife is a prime example."

Factory manager: ...They're doomed. This might be the third divorced woman in their area.

“Old Yuan, you should talk to your family more. Don’t condemn everyone. Your wife might still be saved,” the factory manager said earnestly. “I think she can still understand what I’m saying. I’ve talked to her before and I think she’s a good person.”

Director Yuan: "That's because you're the factory manager. When you see how he treats his subordinates, you'll know what disgusting is."

Factory manager: "No one is perfect."

Director Yuan: "Life is short."