I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

"Do you know why Liu Yuanyuan's spot was suddenly canceled?" A girl asked in a low voice, her eyes sparkling with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

"Why?" His companion immediately moved closer.

"I'm telling you, but you absolutely mustn't tell anyone." She glanced around warily. "I just secretly asked Team Leader Song, and she said... this matter is related to the shoe Manqi lost!"

"Huh? Really?" The first girl's eyes widened suddenly, her mouth slightly agape. "You mean... Liu Yuanyuan stole that shoe and hid it?"

"Team Leader Song didn't say it explicitly, but it's pretty much what he meant. Think about it, if it weren't for this, how could something that was just decided yesterday be withdrawn today? It just doesn't make sense."

"Yes, yes, absolutely right!" The girl nodded repeatedly, her face full of regret. "You can never truly know a person's heart. They were inseparable at school; who would have thought they'd stab each other in the back?"

"Hey, you're still too naive." Another girl shrugged, adopting a wise, experienced attitude. "My parents taught me before I started working that school and society are different. In school, there's not much conflict of interest; everyone's on good terms. But once you enter society, some people's worst traits are forced out."

"Really?" The listener's eyes sparkled. "Your parents are absolutely right!"

"Of course." She raised her chin slightly, a hint of secret pride in her voice. "My parents are in the leadership of the factory, how could they be wrong in their judgment of people?"

A few girls huddled in a corner of the propaganda team's dance practice room, whispering among themselves during breaks from stretching. Their chattering voices, like a flock of sparrows, echoed through the empty practice room.

Just then—

With a creak, the door was pushed open.

All sounds seemed to be cut off with a single stroke, and several people simultaneously shut their mouths.

Liu Yuanyuan came in.

Her expression appeared calm, her steps unhurried, but her tightly clenched fists betrayed the turmoil within her. She didn't even dare to look up, feeling that every gaze upon her was like a poisoned needle. She had just cried in Song Yun's office, her eyes still red. But Song Yun's reply was icy: someone had bypassed the head of the political work group and gone directly to Director Li to complain, saying that she had stolen the lead role through underhanded means.

Under her repeated questioning, Song Yun finally admitted that the person who went to see Director Li was Li Chao.

Liu Yuanyuan instantly understood. It must have been Wang Manqi who whispered something, and Li Chao, wanting to stand up for his sweetheart, went and tattled on her.

But she clearly didn't do anything! She was inexplicably splashed with dirty water on her back, and Director Li even suspended her lead role on the grounds that "the matter will be decided later".

Standing at the door of the training room, she had overheard most of the whispers. Although everyone fell silent as soon as she entered, she knew they were still gossiping. She wanted to explain, but the words stuck in her throat. Who would believe her at a time like this?

She could only force herself to move aside and absentmindedly begin performing the basic exercises. Leg presses, toe points, turns... each movement was performed mechanically, without any soul.

"Tch, what are you pretending for?" A girl suddenly spoke from the corner. Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear. "Some people look harmless, but their hearts are filthy."

She didn't name names, but who in the room didn't know who she was talking about?

"Hey, hey, stop talking..." The girl next to her quickly tugged at her sleeve.

"Why won't you speak up?" The girl swung her arm, her voice rising even higher. "Sneaking around, your hands are dirty! You'd do something like this just to get a lead role—stealing other people's things! You're fucking shameless!"

The girl had a very outgoing and carefree appearance, with a look of righteous indignation on her face. She stood with her hands on her hips and her chin held high.

Liu Yuanyuan stopped moving. She bit her lip hard, her eyes reddening even more, desperately suppressing the surging grievances in her heart, her voice trembling: "I know you're talking about me. But let me tell you, I didn't take Manqi's shoes, it has nothing to do with me."

"Oh! You dare to do it but not admit it?" the girl sneered. "If it weren't for you, how come your lead role was gone just like that? Isn't it obvious? The factory must have fired you to avoid making a big deal out of it. Nobody's a fool!"

Liu Yuanyuan stared blankly at her, her lips moving a few times, but she couldn't utter a single word. The two remained locked in this standoff, the air in the training room seemingly frozen.

Just then, the door was pushed open again.

Wang Manqi walked in.

She glanced at the tense atmosphere in the room, took a few steps between the two, and said in a low but firm voice, "I believe that Yuanyuan did not hide my shoes, and you should stop making wild guesses."

"Why do we need you to be such a peacemaker?" the girl immediately turned her anger towards her. "We're fighting against this kind of behavior right now! And you're playing the peacemaker?"

"I believe in Yuanyuan." Wang Manqi ignored her and only repeated this sentence.

Seeing this, several classmates quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, we're all classmates, and we'll be working in the same factory in the future, so let's not make things too ugly."

The atmosphere gradually eased.

Wang Manqi walked to Liu Yuanyuan's side. Liu Yuanyuan acted as if she hadn't seen her, continuing to do her training exercises, one after another, her face tense.

"Yuanyuan, please don't take it to heart," Wang Manqi said in a low voice. "I know it wasn't you; they're all talking nonsense."

Liu Yuanyuan paused, then squeezed out three words through gritted teeth: "Thank you."

She then bent down again and continued stretching her legs on the barre, without glancing at Wang Manqi once more.

Wang Manqi stood quietly in place. She was unaware that Li Chao had gone to see Li Jing'an, but she secretly pondered: Liu Yuanyuan's removal from the lead role must mean the factory had discovered something amiss. Originally, she only had a faint suspicion of Liu Yuanyuan, but after today's incident, that suspicion suddenly surged to eighty percent. The remaining twenty percent was due to her thinking that since the factory hadn't officially announced it yet, what if she was truly innocent?

So she came to persuade her, just for that 20% chance.

Liu Yuanyuan caught a glimpse of Wang Manqi out of the corner of her eye, bit her lip, and her eyes reddened again. What she was thinking was: What are you pretending to be, playing the good person for? You sent Li Chao to report to Director Li, and now you're here pretending to comfort me.