Lin Mian returned home and had insomnia all night. She couldn't come up with a good solution until dawn. The next day at work, she didn't dare to come out first. She waited behind the door's peephole for a long time until the man opposite walked away before timidly stepping out. Just as she arrived at the office, she received a message from Qin Li. He was going on a business trip today and wouldn't be in Beicheng for the next few days, so he couldn't take her along. He asked her to follow up on the project with her colleagues.
Lin Mian was busy at the hospital all day. The colleague she was following, Linda, was an engineer with five years of construction experience. She was the most influential designer in the entire design department apart from Qin Li and also had the worst temper. Linda always looked down on Lin Mian and this time, she deliberately ordered her around.
"Lin Mian, take this box of measuring instruments up. I'll need it later," Linda commanded.
The measuring instruments were stored in a heavy metal box at their feet, with various models making it extremely heavy, usually carried by workers themselves.
"Sure," Lin Mian agreed and watched as Linda walked away. She struggled to lift the box, but it was too heavy, so she resorted to dragging it instead. When she reached the elevator, she saw Linda press the door close button and waved provocatively through the gap.
"Oh, I almost forgot. President Qin asked me to teach you well. So, you can take the stairs with the box. It'll be a good exercise for you. The greater the hardship, the greater the achievement, right?"
Before Lin Mian could respond, the elevator doors had already closed. She stood there feeling a little dazed.
As slow as Lin Mian was, she could tell that Linda didn't like her and even found her annoying. But hatred was just hatred, and she wasn't living for the approval of others. Compared to the torment she endured in her childhood, these petty tactics were nothing worth mentioning.
However, Lin Mian wasn't foolish. She had her ways. Climbing the stairs to the tenth floor while carrying such a large box would certainly exhaust her. Lin Mian dragged the metal box to the freight elevator level, pressed the button for the ninth floor, and when she arrived, she dragged the box to the corridor and sat on the stairs, idling away.
The corridor of this freight elevator was a hidden passage that Lin Mian had discovered on the first day when surveying the terrain, and now she used it as a shortcut. When it was time, Lin Mian got up, laboriously carried the instruments up one floor. The box was too heavy, so she divided the contents and carried them up twice. As she panted her way up the stairs, she saw Linda looking pleased with herself.
"You're so slow. It seems like your stamina isn't up to par. You need to work harder, otherwise, how can you qualify for this job in the future?" Linda taunted.
Lin Mian nodded obediently, her expression extremely compliant. "Linda, you're right. Seeing your high achievements now, you must have endured a lot of hardships and tribulations just like me in the past."
Linda's expression froze for a moment before she arrogantly turned her head. "Of course, I've had my share of struggles. What you're going through now is nothing."
Lin Mian smiled along, keeping her mouth shut. The morning passed quickly, despite Linda's deliberate efforts to make things difficult for her, from surveying to rigging, and even moving cement. Lin Mian had no complaints and handled everything with ease.
The workers nearby stared in amazement, speaking in their local dialect, "Miss, you are so strong and quick at work, it's rare to see someone like you."
Lin Mian smiled but didn't say anything, tossing the rusted metal piece aside. What was this? When she was young in the countryside, she had built walls under the scorching sun in summer, fetched water from icy rivers in winter, and had been so tired at times that she couldn't even have a proper meal and had to drink water to curb her hunger pangs. What was this compared to those days?
Lunchtime arrived, and the workers put down their tools to eat. Linda finally let her be and left with her delicate makeup still intact. Linda was very particular about her food and didn't like the hospital cafeteria's food.
Alone in the cafeteria, Lin Mian packed a few steamed buns and returned to the corridor by the freight elevator. She sat on the steps and voraciously ate. She avoided the cafeteria mainly because she was afraid of running into the lunatic, Shi Lin, after the previous night's encounter had completely shattered her impression of him. Superficially calm and refined, in reality, he was a lunatic who could go crazy anytime, anywhere. She now tried to avoid him whenever she could, preferring not to see him.
As she was lost in thought, a voice came from outside the corridor. "Dr. Shi, are you smoking in the corridor again?" Lin Mian stopped in her tracks while munching on her steamed bun. Oh no, was he coming here?