[106: Outnumbered]

Their whispered conversation reached the ears of Sun Ying, the head of the logistics warehouse management team.

She frowned, her face drooping as she grumbled, "What are they talking about? Badmouthing us again?"

Lin Qingyu cleared her throat and sarcastically replied, "How could I dare say anything about your logistics department? Whenever something doesn't please you, you just give all the good stuff to others! You never give our Propaganda Department anything good!"

Sun Ying, with a wry smile, retorted, "How could we dare? It's your Propaganda Department that's powerful! You're close to the factory leaders and serve as the public face of the factory. If you're unhappy and complain to the factory director, we in logistics will be in trouble!"

Lin Zhiqiu was registering the names of units receiving goods and heard the team leader and Lin Qingyu arguing in a strange manner. She asked quietly to Qu Shan, "What's going on? Sun Jie is arguing with someone!"

"Don't mind it." Qu Shan didn't bat an eyelid, sitting down comfortably with her legs crossed, cracking sunflower seeds. "Our warehouse and the Propaganda Department have always had conflicts! Sun Jie and Lin Qingyu had a falling out before, and Lin Qingyu even reported Sun Jie to the factory. As a result, Sun Jie was disciplined! We got dragged into trouble too! That's how the grudges were formed."

Lin Zhiqiu nodded, "I see now!"

"Yeah, so people from our logistics rarely deal with the Propaganda Department unless absolutely necessary!" Qu Shan said, "You've been here for a short time. As time goes on, you'll understand!"

"Okay." Lin Zhiqiu nodded.

While they were talking, Lin Qingyu and Sun Ying erupted into another argument over the distribution of New Year goods.

Qu Shan and others exchanged glances and immediately put aside their own tasks to support Sun Ying.

The logistics team members took turns criticizing Lin Qingyu.

"All the goods are the same. We can't bury our heads and pick them one by one. We can only mix them up! If you're not satisfied, go complain to the factory leaders!"

"You guys in the Propaganda Department seem addicted to bullying! Nothing we do is right, is it?"

"That's right! Let's go, let's settle this with the leaders!"

Lin Qingyu was outnumbered, and Jiang Kuo didn't want to escalate trouble over such a trivial matter. He grabbed the items and pulled Lin Qingyu away by the hand.

On the way back, Lin Qingyu was still full of resentment and returned to the office grumbling.

Seeing them back, Su Hanyan sensed something wasn't right and casually asked, "What happened? Did you get the New Year goods?"

"We got them!" Jiang Kuo replied, "There was a little argument. The logistics department didn't give our department very good stuff! Qingyu had a fight with them!"

"It's deliberate! That fat lady Sun Ying is really no good! Next time, don't let her get in my way, or I'll give her a piece of my mind!" Lin Qingyu was still hot under the collar, pounding the table as she vented.

"How bad are the goods?" Su Hanyan asked, getting up from her seat and walking over. She saw a few baskets on the ground and asked curiously, "How many sets of New Year goods are these? Why are the contents different?"

Only then did Jiang Kuo remember that they had been so caught up in arguing that they forgot to collect goods for the entire department.

"Oh, sorry about that! We forgot to bring back stuff for everyone. Do you want to go again?" Jiang Kuo apologized with some regret.

Su Hanyan glanced at their expressions and could tell they hadn't meant any harm. They had simply been too preoccupied with arguing.

She didn't hold it against them and said, "It's okay, I'll go myself."

[107: Questionable Quality]

Su Hanyan tidied up her desk and headed to the warehouse.

When she arrived, she found several warehouse staff huddled together, chatting and cracking sunflower seeds. On the table, there was a bowl of sour tricolor fruit candies.

Sun Ying, who had been badmouthing Lin Qingyu, stopped abruptly when she saw Su Hanyan entering. She quickly put on a smiling face and said, "Oh, isn't this Manager Su? Here to pick up your things?"

"Yes," Su Hanyan replied calmly. "Our department didn't receive everything. We're short by two sets."

"You finally came." Sun Ying seized the opportunity to sow discord in Su Hanyan's presence and said in a coaxing tone, "You know what, that Lin Qingyu in your department is really something! Which department doesn't get everything taken away in one go? But your department is different. She only cares about herself and never considers others!"

"She probably just forgot," Su Hanyan, aware of the conflict between them, didn't want to be used as a tool to fuel the fire and replied lightly.

"I doubt it! She's just ungrateful. When the factory distributes goods, we distribute them indiscriminately. How can all the good things go to one person? And all the bad things too! She just wants all the good stuff to herself! This causes us trouble... Look how much time is wasted? Otherwise, you wouldn't have come so late, right?" Sun Ying turned to Lin Zhiqu, "Qiu'er! Hurry up and get another set for Manager Su!"

Lin Zhiqu nodded and went into the back room to fetch another set of New Year goods, placing it in front of Su Hanyan. "Please sign here when you've taken it."

"We're still short one set," Su Hanyan pointed out. "One of our colleagues in the department is on maternity leave. Her share should be included too, right?"

"Yes, yes, you're right," Sun Ying almost forgot about this. She instructed Lin Zhiqu, "Go find another set to make up for it!"

Lin Zhiqu went back into the room and managed to scrape together another set from the leftovers, handing it directly to Su Hanyan.

Su Hanyan took the two sets of New Year goods and frowned as she examined them.

She hadn't seen what others received, but she had seen the ones Lin Qingyu and Jiang Kuo received. Those weren't great, but they weren't as bad as these.

The quality of these goods was seriously questionable, clearly leftovers. One set was barely passable, but the other set seemed hastily put together.

The apples were bruised and uneven, the pears were small and irregular in size, and even the peanuts and melon seeds were subpar.

"Are all our New Year goods like this?" Su Hanyan asked directly. "Lin Qingyu was upset because of this! And I think mine isn't even as good as hers!"

"Oh dear! We're really sorry. You came so late, and you know the rule, first come first served... Those who come last can only get the worst ones! Of course, even if they're bad, they're not that bad! Besides, your colleague in your department has been on maternity leave for a long time. Technically, she shouldn't receive any!"

"Whether she should receive it or not isn't for logistics to decide, right?" Su Hanyan pointed to the name on the roster. "Isn't there Zhang Jie's name here?"

"Yes! There is a name! Didn't we already give it to her?" Qu Shan chimed in.

[108: Seeking Justice]

"We've given it to her! But with such poor quality, how can I present it to Zhang Jie?" Su Hanyan said.

"They all come from the same batch! How bad can they be?" Qu Shan muttered.

"Really?" Su Hanyan raised an eyebrow. "Alright then! Since they're not that bad, why don't you trade with me?"

"Why should I trade with you?" Qu Shan rolled her eyes disdainfully. "You came late! That's the rule-latecomers get the worst!"

"Since when is it a rule that latecomers must get the worst? Who decided that?" Su Hanyan retorted.

"Well, you just won't get the good ones, that's for sure."

"Hmph." Su Hanyan smiled lightly and didn't argue further. "Fine, if that's the case, I'll leave. I'll take these things and go directly to the leader to resolve this."

Upon hearing that Su Hanyan intended to complain to the leader, Qu Shan immediately grew anxious. "Su Hanyan, what abilities does your propaganda department have? Always running to the leader for complaints! Is there anything else you know?"

"Yes, no other abilities," Su Hanyan smirked. "But since we have a closer relationship with the leaders, why waste time arguing with you here? It's better to let the leaders decide!"

"You people in the propaganda department are all the same!" Qu Shan couldn't hold back her anger.

"Enough!" Su Hanyan coldly interrupted. "Personal conflicts should remain personal. Don't escalate this to a departmental level. Frankly, it was you who bullied others first! I don't care how you treat Lin Qingyu, but I haven't done anything against your logistics department! If my interests are harmed because of this, I will definitely seek justice for myself!"

"That's right," Sun Ying, who had suffered disciplinary action before, felt both angry and helpless when she heard Su Hanyan was going to the leader for a complaint. She had to suppress her anger and said, "There's no need to find the leader. I'll get you a replacement."

After speaking, she signaled to Lin Zhiqu to go and fetch another set.

Lin Zhiqu went to exchange it once more and came out saying to Su Hanyan, "Hanyan, this should be about right now! Let's not stir up more trouble."

She called her so affectionately that Qu Shan suddenly remembered.

"You two are friends, aren't you?"

Lin Zhiqu smiled gently and confirmed, "Yes. Hanyan is actually quite nice. Maybe she was influenced by someone this time."

"No," Su Hanyan clarified. "I wasn't influenced by anyone. I have no grievances against your logistics department. I'm simply dealing with this matter based on its merits."

"Now that you have the goods, please leave quickly," Lin Zhiqu hurriedly urged her to leave. After all, if things escalated, it wouldn't be good for anyone.

On one side was her future sister-in-law, and on the other was a colleague she would have to deal with daily. She needed to balance both sides, so it was best if there were no issues at all.

Su Hanyan glanced at the New Year goods she received; they weren't much better in appearance.

At least they were better than the previous set, and with the holiday approaching, she didn't want to cause any more trouble.

Thus, she signed and took the goods, heading out of the logistics department.

As soon as Su Hanyan left, the women there started gossiping.

"Do the people from the propaganda department think they're something special?"

"Special? When they were receiving the goods, didn't they take whatever we gave them?"

"They think they're so powerful! They think they can scare us into giving them the good stuff? Dream on! The more they act like this, the less we should give them!"

"Let's just finish this and be done with it. There's still some left for us to distribute..."

[109: Broad Perspective]

Lin Zhiqu listened to their back-and-forth banter, but her mind was elsewhere.

She was waiting for Zhou Ningkai.

Earlier, when the Technical Department was distributing New Year goods, she deliberately left out one portion. This ensured that Zhou Ningkai, the youngest member of the department, wouldn't take the portion meant for the senior engineers but would come personally to collect his own.

She was waiting for him.

Zhou Ningkai arrived at the logistics warehouse amidst light snowfall, feeling a bit troubled. Unexpectedly, he ran into Su Hanyan once again.

His heart leaped with joy, and he hurried over. "Miss Su, did you just finish collecting your New Year goods too?"

"Yeah." Su Hanyan greeted him with a light smile. "Hurry up, though. If you're late, there won't be anything good left."

"It's okay." Zhou Ningkai nervously rubbed his hands. "Could you wait for me?"

"Why?"

"Just wait for me, okay? Since we're going the same way, let's walk together! You wouldn't refuse me on this, would you, Miss Su? I hope I haven't annoyed you to that extent."

"Alright, go ahead," Su Hanyan reluctantly agreed. She didn't particularly appreciate his actions, but it didn't seem like he had done anything deceitful this time.

Zhou Ningkai was overjoyed and strode towards the warehouse.

Meanwhile, Lin Zhiqu was anxiously waiting. Suddenly, the door pushed open, and she looked up to see Zhou Ningkai's tall figure, accompanied by cold winds and snowflakes.

"Zhou Gong!" Her eyes brightened, a slight smile gracing her face, her eyes as clear as autumn water. "Why are you here?"

"The department was distributing New Year goods, and they happened to be short one portion! So, I came to pick it up!" Zhou Ningkai replied.

"Is that so? That was my oversight. I'm sorry about that. Let me get it for you now." Lin Zhiqu smiled and turned to retrieve the goods from inside.

The women in the logistics department gathered around Zhou Ningkai, teasing him playfully and jokingly.

Qu Shan, emboldened, joked with Zhou Ningkai, "Zhou Gong, you're the factory's acknowledged prince charming. On behalf of everyone, may I ask if you have a special someone?"

Zhou Ningkai, a university graduate, really couldn't take seriously these women who spent their days gossiping about relationships.

However, he couldn't show his disdain too openly, so he simply smiled faintly without answering.

Seeing his expression, everyone realized they had gone too far and fell silent awkwardly.

Lin Zhiqu brought out the bag of New Year goods and handed it to Zhou Ningkai personally. "With the holiday approaching, do you have any plans for these few days?"

In a rush to accompany Su Hanyan back, Zhou Ningkai didn't have much time to chat with Lin Zhiqu. "No plans! I have to go now, we'll talk later!"

With that, he grabbed his portion of the New Year goods and hurriedly left.

"Look at that, he's got such high standards, he looks down on us!"

"Of course! He's a university graduate, he has the right to be proud!"

"Can you believe how much university graduates earn? We get thirty a month, but the Technical Department gets sixty or seventy! Senior engineers get over a hundred!"

"I wish I had the luck to marry a university graduate."

Thinking about Zhou Ningkai, Lin Zhiqu compared him to Su Jingrui in her mind. The two couldn't be more different, and she found herself favoring Zhou Ningkai.

Zhou Ningkai came out with his New Year goods. Seeing Su Hanyan still waiting for him, he felt a wave of pleasure and quickly caught up to her.

"Got everything?" Su Hanyan casually asked, "Why did you collect them so late? I bet the goods are pretty bad, right?"

[110: Turning the Tables]

"Poor quality!" Zhou Ningkai hadn't even had a chance to carefully inspect his New Year goods before Su Hanyan's remark. He quickly opened the bag to take a look. "Not poor at all? How can you call these good New Year goods poor?"

"Hmm?" Su Hanyan was slightly taken aback and leaned in. "Let me see."

Upon inspection, she was infuriated.

Zhou Ningkai's New Year goods were several times better than hers! If categorized, what Zhou Ningkai had was of S-tier quality, super excellent. Hers barely made it to a B-tier!

Was the logistics department really so discriminatory?

Seeing her unpleasant expression, Zhou Ningkai asked, "Your items aren't good?"

"See for yourself." Su Hanyan spread out her two portions of New Year goods for him to see.

Zhou Ningkai was genuinely surprised. "This bad! Isn't your sister-in-law in logistics? How could they give you such poor stuff? This is what she gave me, and it looks pretty good!"

Su Hanyan suddenly understood.

Lin Zhiqu, oh Lin Zhiqu! I really didn't misunderstand you!

Such a subtle scheme...

"I see!" Su Hanyan said to Zhou Ningkai, "I'm going to logistics. Would you accompany me? I need to ask why, as employees of equal status, my portions are so inferior!"

"You don't have to go. Take mine!" Zhou Ningkai insisted, "During festivals, my parents and my mom's workplace give us plenty. I don't need this!"

"No! I insist on going to sort this out!" Su Hanyan declared.

"In that case, I'll go with you!" Zhou Ningkai was eager to support Su Hanyan, willing to stand by her side.

The two turned back and returned to the logistics warehouse.

This time, Su Hanyan didn't bother knocking. She pushed the door open with a bang. As soon as she stepped in, everyone in the logistics warehouse was startled.

As luck would have it, they were just finishing packing their New Year goods and waiting to go home as soon as the phone rang.

No one expected Su Hanyan, who had already left, to turn back and catch them off guard.

After a brief moment of astonishment, Sun Ying hurriedly began tidying up the items on the table.

"Don't bother hiding. I've seen it all!" Su Hanyan threw the two bags of poor-quality New Year goods in front of them. "Come on, explain this! Why such a stark difference?"

Taking advantage of the situation, Zhou Ningkai handed over his New Year goods as well. "Why is mine so much better than Miss Su's?"

The entire warehouse was dumbfounded. Faced with this stark contrast, no one knew what to say.

Sun Ying, as the team leader, had to save face even though she felt embarrassed. "It's just a coincidence, really."

Su Hanyan smirked coolly. "Oh, really? Alright, even if it's a coincidence, I'd like to know how we're going to resolve this. Who's going to address my issue? Or should we go to the leaders in the publicity department?"

"No, no, no!" Sun Ying didn't want another reprimand. "Let's handle this ourselves, it's just a minor issue!"

With that, she lowered her voice and began to shift the blame to her subordinates. "Who packed the New Year goods? At least make them somewhat comparable. This is outrageous, making it seem like we're targeting the publicity department!"

She shouted loudly, and no one else said a word.

Everyone knew exactly what was going on. Obviously, this was what team leader Sun Ying had implicitly agreed to!

No one spoke up, indicating that no one wanted to take the blame. Sun Ying's face turned ugly, and at this moment, Lin Zhiqu stepped forward voluntarily.