“Has there been any movement from Lifeng Factory these past two days? How come I heard they still haven’t stopped production?”
In a lavishly decorated mahjong parlor, a young woman asked the middle-aged woman seated to her right, who was also playing mahjong, while shuffling her tiles.
Hearing the young woman’s question, a flicker of disdain passed through the middle-aged woman’s eyes. But her face wore a fawning smile. “I heard from my husband that Lifeng Factory stocked up a lot of fabric earlier. Even running three shifts, it’ll take them ten days to half a month to use it up. Qiao Jie, just wait and watch them go around begging people.”
Hearing this, Zhou Qiaoqiao finally showed a satisfied expression.
“Alright then. Thanks for your trouble. As long as this is handled well, I’ll definitely put in a good word for you and your husband with Brother Jian. I heard your factory’s big boss is planning to increase investment in the factory. When that happens, you two will definitely get your share of the benefits.”
Hearing this, the middle-aged woman’s smile finally became genuine.
You had to understand—although her husband was the director of Tianmei Textile Factory, the factory didn’t belong to them. Behind it was a Hong Kong big boss who had put up the capital. Her husband was just a high-level employee. His usual income was only his salary and a bit of profit sharing.
And this young woman named Zhou Qiaoqiao was the woman of Brother Jian, a big shot from Hong Kong’s He Cheng—one of who-knew-how-many mistresses. But this woman was the new favorite, and her pillow talk was powerful. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gotten Brother Jian to speak up and help her vent her anger.
The kind of fabric Lifeng Factory purchased was actually slow-moving stock at Tianmei Textile Factory. Earlier, her husband had been especially happy, saying Lifeng Factory had placed a big order and this year’s dividends would surely be large. She had been happy along with him at the time.
But this Lifeng Factory had actually offended that fox spirit Zhou Qiaoqiao. What could her husband do? Of course he had to obey and do as told! Otherwise, he’d get scolded by the big boss in no time.
Just let Lifeng Factory be the unlucky one.
Zhou Qiaoqiao saw the middle-aged woman’s fawning smile and curled her lip. She thought to herself that this was truly the bottom rung of society. Getting so happy over such a small thing.
But these bottom-rung people were sometimes really useful. See—in one move, they had choked off that Tian Tian’s business. Hmph, that was how Tian Tian had treated her back then. Now that she had returned like a queen, she was just waiting to see Tian Tian’s downfall.
Besides her, there was also that damned Tianfu Village. Everyone in that village was trash. Zhou Qiaoqiao wouldn’t let them off either.
—
On the other side, Tian Tian still didn’t know it was Zhou Qiaoqiao pulling the strings.
The day after discussing it with Zhou Haoting, she immediately went to meet with those textile factories. But the results weren’t great. The cheap fabrics weren’t suitable, and only one suitable fabric existed, but it was expensive. They said it was produced with imported equipment. New product, new technology, high cost. The other side was only willing to discuss supplying her because they were doing Zhou Haoting’s classmate a favor.
But Tian Tian didn’t make a decision on the spot. She only said she’d go back and discuss it with Zhou Haoting.
After leaving that factory, she walked to the nearby convenience store and bought a bottle of ice water to drink.
It was too hot. She’d been running around all day, and the results weren’t ideal.
After resting for a while, more people came into the convenience store.
“I heard the factory is sending you to this year’s textile industry trade fair. I’m so jealous!”
“Yeah, but there’s nothing to be jealous about. This year’s trade fair is being held in Shenzhen. Going is about the same as not going. Unlike last year in Hangzhou, where you could take a paid trip.”
“Haha, why are you telling such brutal truths…”
The words “textile industry trade fair” made Tian Tian’s eyes light up. If she remembered correctly, this was a trade fair that textile industry people from all over the country could attend. She had seen this kind of trade fair in the newspapers before. The people who came were all industry professionals—so didn’t that mean she could meet quite a few textile factory people there?
At this thought, Tian Tian couldn’t sit still.
She quickly went up to strike up a conversation. “Hello, you two gentlemen up ahead. Sorry to interrupt.”
The two men turned and saw a pretty girl calling them. Both were briefly stunned.
Seeing this, Tian Tian smiled and said, “I just heard you two mention the textile industry trade fair. Could I ask when it’s being held and where?”
“What do you want to know for?” one of the men asked.
Tian Tian said directly, “My family is preparing to open a garment factory. I heard this textile industry trade fair will have manufacturers displaying their products. I was thinking of going to take a look.”
Hearing this, the man didn’t think much of it. Because since the reforms, this trade fair attracted quite a few people every year to look at fabrics.
And seeing that Tian Tian spoke well and was good-looking, he figured making a good connection was worthwhile. So he said, “It’s next Monday, at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center. If you don’t have an invitation, you’ll probably have to find a scalper outside the venue.”
Tian Tian didn’t mind that. She immediately expressed her thanks.
The man waved his hand, saying it was nothing. Then they left. Before they’d gone far, Tian Tian could hear them talking about how proactive she was.
Tian Tian thought to herself—if she wasn’t proactive, would that work? She hoped this trade fair would bring good results. It was already Tuesday, less than a week until next Monday. And Lifeng Factory had ten days until the fabric ran out. There wasn’t much time left to fight for.
—
Time quickly arrived at Monday.
For this day, Tian Tian had been gathering information about the trade fair these past few days. Through Zhou Haoting’s classmate, she’d gotten an invitation in advance.
Early Monday morning, Tian Tian got up at six. Although the trade fair started at nine, she wanted to scout the location ahead of time. The bus ride alone took nearly two hours. So time was a bit tight.
She hadn’t planned on eating breakfast. But Zhou Haoting brought it over anyway.
“Didn’t I say you didn’t need to come out of your way? You have contracts to negotiate today too. You should get more rest.”
Zhou Haoting handed her the lunchbox. Inside was freshly bought char siu rice noodles.
“I need to eat breakfast myself anyway. Buying an extra portion is no trouble. Let’s eat together, then I’ll drive you to the bus stop.”
At this point, Zhou Haoting felt a bit guilty. Mainly because he couldn’t go with Tian Tian to the trade fair today. He had a deal to negotiate. If it went well, his factory wouldn’t have to worry for the second half of the year.
“Are you sure you don’t want Hui to go with you?” Zhou Haoting tried to persuade her.
Tian Tian shook her head firmly. “He needs to go with you to negotiate the deal. And we can’t pull anyone from the clothing shop either.”
Although the fabric supply had been choked off, sales were completely fine. The shop was busy every day—they really couldn’t spare anyone.
“Alright then! Be careful when you get there. If things go smoothly on my end, I should be able to drive over in the afternoon to pick you up.”
Tian Tian said, “Alright. You just take care of your own business first. I’m not in a hurry here.”
She had already recouped her investment long ago. Everything she was doing now was pure profit. Meanwhile, Zhou Haoting’s home appliance factory had invested so much and was still operating at a loss. He had already given her a lot of help. Tian Tian wasn’t a greedy person. Of course she hoped everything would go smoothly for Zhou Haoting.
“Okay. Anyway, if I haven’t come by four in the afternoon, don’t wait for me. It’s still inconvenient without phone contact. On the first of this month, Yangcheng launched the digital paging system. I wonder when Shenzhen will get it.”
The digital paging system was the call center. Pagers were useless without a call center. Hearing this, Tian Tian really wanted to say they’d have to wait until October. In October, Shenzhen would launch its call center. Then pagers could be used for contact. For now, people still relied on landlines to reach each other when out. As for cell phones, those were too expensive, and there wasn’t even a domestic signal yet.
“Alright. If you get there, just wait for me at the entrance. If you can’t make it, it’s fine too. Transportation is convenient anyway.”
The two chatted a bit and finished breakfast. Zhou Haoting drove Tian Tian to the bus stop. After watching her get on, he turned the car around and headed back to the village to pick up Hui before going out to negotiate business.
All in all, he was also extremely busy.
And things went smoothly on Tian Tian’s end.
Few people took the bus early in the morning, so the ride went smoothly all the way to the Convention and Exhibition Center, without running into any bizarre situations.
After getting off, because she had an invitation, she didn’t need to find a scalper. She followed the signs and went straight in.
The trade fair hadn’t started yet, but the exhibition hall downstairs already had quite a few manufacturers displaying various fabric samples. Tian Tian figured since she was already here, she might as well start from the entrance and go booth by booth. Many manufacturers were generous and directly provided fabric sample booklets. The samples were about an inch square. Very small samples, but enough.
After browsing for over two hours in one go, she had covered most of the booths in the hall. Hard work paid off—finally, Tian Tian found a suitable manufacturer.
The factory was from Yangcheng. They were very patient with Tian Tian’s inquiries. The quote was also within her estimated range—a bit more expensive than Tianmei Textile Factory, but acceptable.
“If I pay the deposit now, when can you deliver?”
Once the quote was confirmed, Tian Tian began negotiating the delivery time with them.
“Once the deposit arrives, we can deliver to your factory within a week.”
Hearing “a week,” Tian Tian nodded in agreement. “That works. But when we sign the contract, this time frame needs to be written in. If delivery is delayed, you compensate our factory for the loss.”
Hearing the word “compensate,” the other party’s expression hesitated for a moment. Then he said, “Let me go consult our leadership about this first.”
Tian Tian nodded. It wasn’t strange for something like this to need approval. The person was clearly just a salesperson.
Just then, a commotion came from the staircase on the left side of the exhibition hall. The salesperson looked up and smiled. “No need to call for them. Our leader is coming down now.”
Tian Tian checked her watch and figured the trade fair must be ending. She waited patiently for the other party’s leader to come over.
About five more minutes passed, and the voices drew closer. One of them sounded vaguely familiar.
Tian Tian looked up, and her expression instantly fell.
And the person across from her had clearly seen Tian Tian too. He gave her a superior smile. “Oh! Isn’t this Boss Tian? What brings you to the exhibition? Found any suitable fabric? If you ask me, either you pay more and we at Tianmei can continue supplying you, or you give up that idea and stop producing any sportswear.”
These words stunned the salesperson who had just been smiling warmly.
“Director Lai, you sure have some nerve. What I produce is none of your business. If you love sticking your nose into other people’s affairs so much, why not manage that bald head of yours? Make it actually grow some hair, so it’s not all shiny and bald, exposing that sunken forehead of yours. Makes you look like you’re mentally deficient.”
Normally, Tian Tian didn’t resort to personal attacks. But this Director Lai from Tianmei Textile Factory didn’t deserve Tian Tian’s courtesy.
This kind of person who goes back on his word—she’d never work with him again anyway. No need to give him any face.
“Also, Old Lai, instead of yapping here, you’d better hurry up and pay us the penalty for breach of contract. Otherwise, I’ll definitely hire a lawyer and sue your factory to the end. I heard your factory’s big boss is from Hong Kong, right? Conveniently, I also know quite a few Hong Kong people. I’ll tip off the paparazzi and let all of Hong Kong know your big boss has such a shameless factory.”
Director Lai had already been furious from Tian Tian’s personal attacks. Now hearing Tian Tian say she’d tip off the paparazzi, he flew into a rage.
But he knew he couldn’t out-argue Tian Tian, and he was the one in the wrong. So he turned to the person beside him and said:
“Old He, we’ve been classmates for decades! Let me be honest with you—this woman surnamed Tian has offended the boss of Hong Kong’s He Cheng. For your own safety, it’s better not to do business with her. Anyway, the factory isn’t yours. No matter how much you sell, you only get that little commission. If you offend He Cheng, you won’t even know how your family dies.”
Old He was the sales department director of the factory Tian Tian wanted to work with.
At first, seeing Tian Tian speak so harshly to his old classmate, he’d formed a bad impression of her. But when he heard his old classmate mention He Cheng, he immediately knew what to do.
It was the same old saying—he was just an employee. He couldn’t offend the underworld for the boss’s business. He had elderly parents above and young children below. It wasn’t worth it!
“Heh heh, um… Boss Tian, right? Sorry, but we can’t reach a cooperation on this.”
The other party’s tone was still quite polite. Tian Tian didn’t make things hard for him. Anyway, she had already gotten the factory’s contact information. This sales director wasn’t willing to cooperate. Then she’d go directly to the factory. The factory owner wouldn’t refuse an order delivered to his door.
Old Lai clearly saw through Tian Tian’s plan. He immediately said, “You surnamed Tian, let me tell you. Don’t think going behind my back to Old He’s boss will do any good. I’m reporting this to Miss Zhou tonight when I get back. By then, your sportswear will still have to stop production.”
Looking at Old Lai making threats, Tian Tian narrowed her eyes. She wondered who this so-called Miss Zhou really was. From what Old Lai said, the one stirring up trouble was this Miss Zhou.
Among the people she knew, plenty had the surname Zhou. But few actually hated her. Narrowing it down further, one person flashed through Tian Tian’s mind.
But was that possible?
Their argument had already drawn quite a bit of attention. Just as Old Lai was making his threats, a voice rang out:
“Oh? What Miss Zhou is so impressive? Boss Tian, how about we cooperate instead? I’m not afraid of any Miss Zhou.”
A familiar voice sounded. Tian Tian looked at the speaker in shock, and for a moment didn’t know what to say.
Leave a Reply