Chapter 499 Who’s Harder to Deal With

• The guy who fell in the water covered his head and got pummeled by the crowd. He couldn’t even fight back, didn’t even know who was hitting him. So many people blocked him, ordering him to apologize or he couldn’t leave. Helpless, he muttered an apology and bolted. The crowd comforted the rescuer a few words. Seeing it was fine, someone returned the ladder, someone put back the life ring, and people slowly dispersed. The rescuer peeled off his T-shirt, wrung the water out, grabbed his jacket and shrugged it on, ready to go. Rhea Wood didn’t leave. Only then did she notice the rescuer’s face had deep lines—he was clearly not young. She stepped forward and offered him a hot drink. “Sir, have something warm.” The hot drink was bought earlier by Shawn Lawson. Shawn was holding Gogo and hadn’t planned on saving anyone, and didn’t want to squeeze into the crowd. He just went across the street and bought two hot drinks—if Rhea Wood jumped in, one was for her; if she didn’t, he’d give it to someone else. Shawn knew Rhea could swim, so he stayed calm. The rescuer saw the hot tea and broke into a smile. “Don’t call me ‘sir.’ I’m seventy. Call me Grandpa.” “Oh—Grandpa, you’re already that old. Why did you still jump in to save him?” “Saving people has nothing to do with age. If you can, and you run into it, of course you try.” “But this time you ran into an ungrateful jerk. So… will you still save people next time?” Grandpa lifted the cup and smiled. “Of course. What if the next one who falls in is a good young person like you?” Rhea said goodbye to Grandpa and left. One cup of hot tea seemed to thaw a heart chilled by the river. Only then did Shawn walk over. “Let’s go. Where to next?” “No need. We can head back.” “You know what you’re going to write?” “Yeah.” She’d write about whether you should save someone. Seeing Rhea had it figured out, Shawn didn’t pry. He didn’t really care about her job much anyway. Once they got home, Shawn just said, “I’ll watch Gogo these two days. You can focus on work.” Rhea said seriously, “Thank you. Really.” Shawn scooped up Gogo with a smug tilt of his chin. “Don’t thank me. This isn’t about you. Our Gogo’s just too cute.” These days, Yuan Yingjie hadn’t assigned Rhea anything else. Rhea sorted her notes at home, then headed to the paper during work hours and started writing. She’d made a rough plan last night and planned to finish it today. She was mid-sentence when two people walked into the newsroom. “Well, well. This dump hired again?” Rhea looked up. They were familiar—the two who’d stormed out after fighting with the editor last time. Former employees. Her face didn’t change. “Can I help you?” The one in front didn’t answer, just kept going. “Hey, rookie, are you dumb? So many good places and you pick this dead-end joint. You think Yuan Yingjie will hook you up just because you’re from the same hometown? Dream on. He just wants a cheap errand runner. You’ll fetch coffee for a year and never touch a real story.” After working with Yuan Yingjie for a while, Rhea had a decent read on him. He was strict and serious, with the same baseline for himself and everyone around him. When he thought Rhea was slacking or cutting corners, he’d fired her on the spot even when he was short-staffed. Rhea said, suddenly crisp, “If you have business, say it. If not, I’m busy. Editor Yuan gave me a small section in the paper. I need to get the piece done.” The tall one stared, stunned. “Say what? You’ve barely been here. How could Yuan Yingjie put you in charge of a section? No way. Absolutely not.” It clearly rattled them. They didn’t want to believe it. Rhea just said, “Maybe because I work hard enough.” “I don’t buy it.” “Me either. Did you slip him gifts? Or pull some trick? You’re pretty. You didn’t—” Rhea shot to her feet, voice flat and cold. “Say one more word slandering me and I’ll sue you for defamation. The newsroom has cameras. Everything you say is recorded.” “Ooh, sue us? Scared of who? We’re thinking of suing Yuan for unpaid wages.” “Yeah. If we don’t teach you a lesson, you’ll think we’re easy. We came for our wages. Half a month’s worth. We want it now.” They stepped in, left and right, reaching for Rhea’s arms. In their heads, a delicate girl like her facing two men could only bow and apologize. “Sue” was just bluff. Even if she did sue, a little shoving wasn’t exactly a felony, right? Just as their hands were about to grab her, Rhea moved. She stepped back. Not retreating—just setting up her move. She grabbed a thick sample binder from the desk and brought it down like a brick on one guy’s head. Then she caught the other’s wrist, flipped him cleanly over her shoulder. Two yelps. One clutched his head. The other hit the floor hard. Rhea bent slightly, looked down at the one on the ground, and her mouth tipped in a cool curve. “Without a lesson, you really think I’m easy to push around? You don’t work, then assume everyone’s lazy like you? And you tried to put hands on me first. I’m just defending myself.” The one still standing braced to shove her, but Rhea turned and pinned him with an icy stare. For some reason, he froze. Rhea let out a short, dry laugh. “You want to make trouble? You’re not qualified. If you want wages, go find the editor. I’ll repeat it once: don’t interrupt my work.” The two were rattled. Who’d have thought this pretty, petite girl could be this fierce? Rhea sat back down and added, “Also, if I remember right, you didn’t file for resignation fifteen days in advance per your contract, and blew off the handover. Under Article 85 of the labor contract law, leaving against company rules means the employer can withhold wages.” “You… you’re making that up. You’re an intern. What would you know about law?” “Not much. I just memorized a few things in my downtime.” The two were dazed. Who the hell memorizes labor law for fun? Rhea was done talking. “Anything else? If not, leave. I need to work.”