Chapter Ten: The Discovery of Clues

  The next day, after breakfast, Yan Qingcheng locked the doors and windows and accompanied Cong Ye to the street to help him find a job. They went one by one to the intermediary agencies where Cong Ye had registered before, but the answers they got were still that there was no suitable unit recruiting. Cong Ye's suspicion grew heavier, it was also said yesterday, as a result, Wang Liang came and told him to recruit security guards, but when he asked himself, there was none.

  "Sister-in-law, something seems to be wrong."

  "What's wrong?"

  "Yesterday was the same, I came to ask and there were no units recruiting, but when others asked, they had some. I followed someone to that clothing company, and the person in charge agreed at the time, saying it was okay to report for duty the next day, but in the afternoon, they called to refuse."

  After leaving the brokerage firm, Cong Ye told Yan Qingcheng about what happened yesterday afternoon in detail. Yan Qingcheng listened carefully and looked into the distance thoughtfully for a moment before saying:

  "Let's find another agency you haven't been to."

  The two of them found another intermediary company, where the staff asked enthusiastically:

  "Are you two looking for a job? We have a lot of company recruitment information here, I don't know what kind of job you need?"

  Seeing Cong Ye wanting to speak, Yan Qingcheng hastily stopped him with a gesture and said to the staff:

  "Are there any units recruiting security guards?"

  "There are many."

  While speaking, he put some units' recruitment information on the table and introduced them to the two one by one. Cong Ye saw the name of the clothing company she went to yesterday also on it.

  "Choose a household, say a word, just fill out this form, pay 100 yuan registration fee and go for an interview immediately."

  "We're here to sign up on behalf of someone else, is that okay?"

  "Of course, but we're not in charge of the interview anyway."

  Yan Qingcheng held the form and looked at it for a while, then picked up a pen and wrote Cong Ye's name on it. As she was writing, she glanced at the expression of the staff member, who was also looking at Yan Qingcheng filling out the form. When he saw the two characters "Cong Ye", he muttered to himself:

  "Thorny leaves?"

  As soon as Yan Qingcheng filled in the "identity" column and wrote down the four words "demobilized military personnel", the staff immediately took away the form and apologized to Yan Qingcheng, saying:

  "Maybe you two should go take a look at another agency."

  "Why?"

  Before Bu Yichen made a statement, Cong Ye couldn't help but ask a question.

  The staff member looked at the two of them and then glanced outside the door before speaking very cautiously:

  "To be honest with you both, we've received a notice here that doesn't allow us to receive 'Cong Ye'. I'm looking at the two of you as job seekers and don't want you to waste your 100 yuan registration fee. If it were another agency, they would definitely take your registration fee but wouldn't dare tell you what's going on."

  "What's the notice? Who issued it?"

  "Sorry, it's what the manager told me to say, I'm not clear on the specifics either."

  "Thank you."

  Jian Congye still wanted to ask more questions, but Yan Qingcheng thanked the staff and pulled Congye out.

  "It's definitely the developer who is playing tricks, no need to ask, asking further won't yield any results."

  "This is outrageous."

  Congye had suspected it yesterday, but hadn't confirmed it before, and still didn't quite believe it. How could a big real estate developer like them possibly be against me? I was just looking for a job, what business did they have with me?

  "I guess the developer knew that I was watching Hai Cheng being helpless and alone, if they could just drive you away, I wouldn't be able to bother them anymore."

  "Sister, what is the developer's identity after all? Why would even a small intermediary company listen to them?"

  "No wonder everyone says the developer has a deep background, it seems they really have a big backing. Congye, can the intermediary company listen to them? Can so many employers also listen to them? No matter how powerful they are, it's unlikely that they can notify every employer, right? Let's just go directly to the unit and take a look."

  "Sister-in-law, judging from what that clothing company did yesterday, I'm afraid they really have all been notified."

  For a moment, the two of you looked at me, I looked at you, and both felt that the developer was making a big deal out of nothing, just wanting to drive Cong Ye away. Why go to such great lengths? Why not just find Yan Qingcheng and have a good talk with her again?

  "Are we still looking?"

  "Sister-in-law, shall I go to the outskirts of the city again to take a look?"

  Yan Qingcheng also understood Cong Ye's thoughts. The developer had blocked him from finding a job in the city, so wouldn't it be even more impossible to find one in the countryside?

  "Alright, let's try going to the outskirts of town."

  When the two arrived at the bus station, wanting to take a bus to the town below to take another look, out of habit as a scout, Cong Ye unintentionally saw that there seemed to be a white sedan following them all along. Sure enough, when the two boarded the bus and headed towards the outskirts of the city, the white sedan followed closely behind the bus. After Cong Ye and Yan Qingcheng got off the bus, the sedan stopped under the shade of a tree by the side of the road.

  Cong Ye didn't tell Yan Qing Cheng, and the two walked shoulder to shoulder towards the gate of a factory. They had already discovered that at the entrance of the factory, there was a sign with four words "Recruitment Notice" written on it. However, they didn't carefully read the content on the sign, but instead directly entered the guard room. Cong Ye simply asked the duty guard uncle what kind of factory it was, without mentioning anything about looking for work. Yan Qing Cheng looked at Cong Ye in confusion, and Cong Ye glanced back at the sedan that was still parked by the road, pulled Yan Qing Cheng along, and walked towards a distance. After turning a corner, Cong Ye stopped, quickly retreated several steps, hid his figure, and quietly observed the white sedan. He saw a young man get out of the car, swaying as he walked towards the factory gate where Cong Ye and Yan Qing Cheng had just been. At the same time, the white sedan suddenly started up and chased after them in their direction.

  "Sister-in-law, we're being followed."

  The two words "stalker" sounded somewhat jarring to Yan Qingcheng's ears.

  "What's going on?"

  "Look at that white sedan coming over. It seems to have been following us all along. Just now, someone even got out of it and went into the factory I asked about earlier."

  At this time, the white sedan had already driven to the side of the two and did not stop, but continued to move forward. Cong Ye pulled Yan Qingcheng back to the factory they had asked about earlier, just to confirm his own speculation in his heart. As they walked to the entrance of the factory, they happened to pass by a young man who had gotten out of the sedan. The other party only glanced at the two and continued walking in the direction where the white sedan had disappeared.

  Cong Ye and Yan Qingcheng came to the factory gate again, asking the guard:

  "Uncle, we're here looking for work."

  "Oh, take a closer look at the recruitment notice. If you find something suitable for yourself, go directly to the personnel department on the first floor of the office building for an interview."

  Cong Ye and his friend carefully read through the recruitment notice again, seeing that there was a "recruitment of workshop miscellaneous workers" item on it, and then said to the person outside the door:

  "I'll apply for the janitor position in the garage, let's go in, uncle."

  "Go ahead, just find Director Liu and you'll be fine."

  "Thank you, uncle."

  The two arrived at the first floor of the office building and saw that the door to the personnel department was open, so Cong Ye stretched out his hand and knocked lightly twice.

  "Please come in."

  "Excuse me, which one is Director Liu?"

  There were four people sitting inside, Cong Ye asked.

  "Am I right? You're here for an interview?"

  "Yes, Director Liu, I'd like to apply for a janitor position in the workshop."

  "Are you Cong Ye, for demobilized soldiers?"

  "How did you know?"

  "I'm very sorry, if you are Cong Ye, we can't use you, please go back."

  "Was it the person who just came in who told you?"

  "This is none of your business, go away and look at another house."

  Cong Ye and Yan Qingcheng walked out and saw the white sedan that had disappeared earlier, now parked again on the roadside outside the factory gate.

  By now, both of them understood. It wasn't that the developer had informed all of Guan Hai's workplaces and intermediary companies, but rather they kept sending people to follow Cong Ye, and wherever Cong Ye went, someone would immediately come in the name of the developer to ask the workplace to refuse to hire Cong Ye.

  "Sister-in-law, let's go back."

  "Alright."

  Since no one dared to know the mysterious developer, it was useless to continue searching. The two came to where they got off earlier and waited for the bus. From a distance, they saw that white sedan still parked there. After the two boarded the bus, the sedan followed behind the bus, heading towards the city.

  "Sister-in-law, is it worth spending so much money on this?"

  Cong Ye returned to Ri Shao Xiang's residence and asked in confusion.

  "Isn't there another hidden reason? Logically speaking, I've never said I wanted to be a nail house holder, why must you cheat me like this?"

  "Could it be that sister-in-law has offended someone?"

  Yan Qingcheng thought for a moment and said:

  "It shouldn't be, I graduated and was assigned to Guanhai Hospital, after being introduced by someone, I got to know Zhi Xiaokang and we got married within two years. To take care of my mom, I only worked at the hospital for three years before quitting and opening this small clinic. Whether it's working in the hospital or running the clinic, I've never had any conflicts with anyone, so how could I have offended someone?"

  Cong Ye believed that the words of his sister-in-law were truly like a spring breeze, with a warm smile on her face at all times. Even when facing the middle-aged man who had come to cause trouble twice before, Yan Qingcheng didn't give him a cold shoulder at first. How could someone like this possibly offend anyone? Could it be himself? That's even more impossible, he had only been there for a few days! Before that, he wouldn't have even known how to deal with such situations, having gone straight into the army after graduating from high school. As for the fight that night, it was after all something that happened after they had been bullied twice before.