“That small workshop is just ahead, not much farther.”
Early the next morning, Tian Tian set off with Qian Lizhen to the small workshop she had mentioned. Huizi had to go with Zhou Haoting to run errands, so it was just the two of them. This put Qian Lizhen completely at ease. As she introduced the workshop, her tone was light and cheerful.
Tian Tian, meanwhile, looked around and found everything sounding more and more familiar.
They were now in the village next to her own Tianfu Village. This place was called Zhaoyang Village. In her past life, over half the people in Zhaoyang Village had worked in the garment industry. She hadn’t considered this place before because she felt its scale hadn’t yet taken off, and what she needed was a relatively standardized factory.
But now that she had actually come, she realized she had been somewhat presumptuous.
“The people in this village either sew clothes or sew plush toys. Some are really skilled—they’ve even taken foreign orders, making clothes specifically for dolls.”
Qian Lizhen, unaware of what Tian Tian was thinking, just kept introducing everything she knew.
“We’re here.”
Tian Tian snapped back to the present and looked at the small garment workshop before her. It was a simple two-story red brick building. The ground floor had its main door wide open, revealing twenty electric sewing machines. The machines looked old—likely bought secondhand. But even secondhand, that was impressive. After all, most people in the country were still using non-electric sewing machines.
Workers had already started their shifts at this hour. Seeing the two women arrive, they assumed they were looking for jobs. Someone called out, “We’re not hiring right now.”
Tian Tian waved her hand and was about to say something when a young man descended the stairs from the second floor. His eyes lit up when he saw Qian Lizhen, and he hurried over. “Lizhen, what brings you here?”
Qian Lizhen replied, “Feng Ge, I brought a friend to discuss some business with you.”
Then she turned to Tian Tian. “Tian Tian, this is Ye Lifeng, the owner of this small factory.”
Tian Tian had thought the place sounded familiar. But hearing the name Ye Lifeng awakened a dusty memory.
In her past life, she had read about Ye Lifeng’s case in a legal newspaper.
Yes, in a few years, Ye Lifeng would commit a murder. He would kill a human trafficker who specialized in abducting pretty girls and selling them to Hong Kong. His motive? That trafficker had sold the woman Ye Lifeng loved.
The case caused a sensation because the trafficker had sold many girls, most of whom met tragic fates.
Ye Lifeng had been in Hong Kong on business when he spotted the trafficker at a nightclub. Through some special channels, he learned that the woman he loved had been sold by that trafficker to the very same nightclub. Rather than submit, she had jumped from the nightclub building to her death.
After discovering the truth, Ye Lifeng tried to pursue legal avenues. When he encountered obstacles, he eventually took matters into his own hands.
A case involving Hong Kong, organized crime, nightclubs, and the trafficking of pretty girls—it had gripped the entire city.
Tian Tian recalled that the newspapers at the time had never specifically mentioned the woman’s surname.
But looking at the way Ye Lifeng’s eyes sparkled when he looked at Qian Lizhen, Tian Tian had a guess.
That woman was most likely Qian Lizhen herself. That meant that in the next couple of years, Qian Lizhen might be trafficked at any moment.
Who would traffick her?
No wonder she had never heard of or seen Qian Lizhen in her past life.
“Tian Tian, Tian Tian…” Qian Lizhen noticed Tian Tian looking at her with a complicated expression. Assuming Tian Tian had picked up on Ye Lifeng’s feelings for her, she felt a little embarrassed. But she continued, “Feng Ge said he can give you a tour of the factory. If you’re interested, you can talk with him.”
Tian Tian snapped back to reality and smiled. “Sure. Sorry for the trouble, Factory Manager Ye.”
Ye Lifeng quickly waved his hands. “No, I should be thanking you for considering my business.”
There was another sentence Ye Lifeng didn’t say out loud: Thank you, Tian Tian, for needing to work with a garment factory. Otherwise, Qian Lizhen—who had been avoiding him—might never have appeared in front of him again.
Yes, he had confessed his feelings to Qian Lizhen a month ago. He was rejected, of course. After that, she kept avoiding him.
Ye Lifeng had thought he would have to love her from afar for the rest of his life. He never imagined he’d get another chance to speak with her today.
Even if she was just introducing a friend to tour his factory.
That was already more than enough to make Ye Lifeng overjoyed.
So Ye Lifeng decided that no matter what order Tian Tian placed, he would keep his profit margin as low as possible.
Tian Tian had no idea about this unexpected stroke of luck. After walking through the factory with Ye Lifeng, she decided to place a trial order.
For her first order, she planned to produce a batch of batwing-sleeve short-sleeved shirts.
Batwing sleeves were this year’s trend. In another month, it would be warm enough here to wear short sleeves. By then, this batch of goods would be perfectly timed.
Of course, she couldn’t just say she wanted to place an order. She had to probe for the lowest price. But to Tian Tian’s surprise, there was no room for bargaining at all—not because Ye Lifeng was stubborn, but because his quoted price made Tian Tian feel too embarrassed to haggle.
“Wait, Factory Manager Ye. With this price, your profit margin is almost nothing!”
She wanted to do long-term business with Ye Lifeng. His workmanship was excellent, the workshop was well-managed, and besides, a man willing to avenge his beloved in the future had integrity.
So Tian Tian didn’t want his profit margin to be too low. That would easily turn this into a one-time deal. In business, both sides need to earn a fair profit. You can’t try to take all the money for yourself—that’s a sure way to burn bridges.
Ye Lifeng hadn’t expected someone to refuse a low quote. He chuckled and shook his head. “Miss Tian, you’re a decent person. You’re right—at this price, our factory’s profit is very low. But it’s not like we don’t make anything. Small profits, high volume. If you place large orders, our profit naturally goes up.”
He didn’t want to say that he was doing this to thank Tian Tian for bringing Qian Lizhen here. Saying that would only burden Qian Lizhen. This was a one-sided crush, so he had to keep it hidden even more.
Tian Tian felt something was a bit off, but business was business. Since the supplier himself was fine with low profits, she had said her piece as a matter of principle. When he insisted, she gladly accepted.
“Alright, then I won’t stand on ceremony, Factory Manager Ye. Thank you for giving up so much profit. So, I’ve decided to double the quantity for this batch. I’ll pay a 30% deposit. If that works for you, let’s finalize the design.”
When Ye Lifeng heard the quantity would double, he was overjoyed. Many garment workshops had opened in his village. His was newly established and didn’t have as many orders as the others. Although this order had thin profit margins, the volume was large. If everything went well, he could earn over two thousand from this single order.
However, when he saw the batwing-sleeve short-sleeved shirt Tian Tian had drawn, he couldn’t help but advise, “The sleeves on this shirt are very wide at the top. It’s hard to say how the market will react. Miss Tian, why don’t you start with a smaller quantity for your first order? Test the waters first?”
Tian Tian heard his advice and mentally gave him even more points for integrity.
“No need. We’ll go with this quantity. I don’t have many demands—just maintain quality and quantity. Also, this design cannot be leaked.”
Batwing sleeves weren’t technically complicated. She wanted to be the first to market. She couldn’t stop copycats later, but by then, she’d already be moving on to her next planned designs.
Thinking this, Tian Tian said meaningfully, “Factory Manager Ye, I’ll be upfront with you. If this order goes well, the next one will keep you busy for months.”
Ye Lifeng was even more thrilled upon hearing that. Although Tian Tian was young, he wasn’t the type to judge someone by appearance. Just the confidence in Tian Tian’s voice wasn’t something an ordinary girl possessed.
The two continued discussing the design and had a sample garment made that same day. Then they signed the contract and paid the deposit. Within a single day, Tian Tian had handled everything.
“Perfect timing, Miss Tian. How about we go have dinner together to celebrate? Lizhen, you should come too. I want to thank you for introducing such a big client like Miss Tian.”
Tian Tian wanted to refuse, since Zhou Haoting would probably come looking for her to have dinner together. But seeing the plea in Ye Lifeng’s eyes and the conflict in Qian Lizhen’s, she thought for a moment and decided to give things a push. The main reason was that Qian Lizhen’s fate in her past life had been too tragic.
Earlier, Qian Lizhen had been hung up on Zhou Qiaoqiao’s boyfriend, Jiang Fubin. Connecting that with her past life’s ending, Tian Tian suspected the trafficker might be Jiang Fubin.
She had seen yesterday that Qian Lizhen had already let go of her obsession with Jiang Fubin. And Ye Lifeng was a decent man. Maybe a meal together might spark some chemistry.
“Alright, but I’m afraid we’ll be emptying Factory Manager Ye’s wallet,” Tian Tian joked.
Ye Lifeng waved his hand happily. “Not at all. It’s just one meal—eat as much as you like.”
Then he glanced at Qian Lizhen and said, “Lizhen, let’s go to that seafood restaurant you like.”
Qian Lizhen wanted to say no. That seafood restaurant was too expensive. Money wasn’t easy to earn—there was no need to waste it. But since Ye Lifeng was treating Tian Tian and she was just tagging along, she held her tongue. She decided she’d just eat very little once they got there.
Ye Lifeng, meanwhile, was planning to order plenty of Qian Lizhen’s favorite dishes.
If Tian Tian knew about their completely opposite intentions, she would probably clap and say how well they understood each other. But right now, she wasn’t paying attention to them. Instead, she wanted to borrow Ye Lifeng’s phone to call Zhou Haoting and tell him not to wait for her back at the village.
But before she could make the call, Zhou Haoting showed up right at the factory gate.
“How did you know I was here?”
Tian Tian looked at Zhou Haoting, who was standing at the door with a smile, and asked in pleasant surprise.
Zhou Haoting nodded to Ye Lifeng and Qian Lizhen in greeting, then walked over and took the small bag Tian Tian was carrying. “This is what they call—two hearts beating as one.”
Tian Tian laughed. “Keep blowing your own horn. You clearly know Factory Manager Ye.”
Yesterday, when Qian Lizhen mentioned introducing a factory, Zhou Haoting’s expression had changed slightly.
Zhou Haoting tapped her on the head. “As expected of the clever Tian Tian. Yes, Ye Lifeng and I have met a few times.”
The two villages weren’t far apart, so they naturally knew each other, though not well. Ye Lifeng had been living elsewhere with his parents and had only returned last year.
As for why Zhou Haoting hadn’t recommended Ye Lifeng’s workshop before—it was because Tian Tian wanted a factory that had some scale and could maintain confidentiality. Ye Lifeng’s workshop had only opened at the end of last year, so he hadn’t mentioned it.
Ye Lifeng watched their playful back-and-forth with envy. But politely, he shook hands with Zhou Haoting and greeted him. The two chatted briefly about business before parting to get on their motorcycles and head to the seafood restaurant.
Of course, Tian Tian rode with Zhou Haoting, while Qian Lizhen rode with Ye Lifeng.
At dinnertime, the seafood restaurant was packed.
But both Zhou Haoting and Ye Lifeng knew the restaurant owner, so they managed to get a small private room.
When ordering, Zhou Haoting picked all of Tian Tian’s favorite dishes. Though they had only known each other a few days, he was attentive enough to have learned her tastes.
Ye Lifeng, meanwhile, ordered all of Qian Lizhen’s favorites.
Qian Lizhen wasn’t stupid. She immediately tried to stop him. “Feng Ge, tonight’s dinner is for Tian Tian.”
Seeing this, Tian Tian quickly said, “Tonight doesn’t count—Zhou Haoting is here. The bill can’t be covered by Factory Manager Ye alone. Zhou Haoting will pay half with him. Factory Manager Ye, no problem with that, right?”
As she spoke, Tian Tian made a knowing face at Ye Lifeng.
Ye Lifeng had managed to open his own garment workshop and would go on to be so successful—he wasn’t foolish. He immediately caught Tian Tian’s meaning and enthusiastically nodded.
“Right, right, right. Tonight, Mr. Zhou and I are treating together. You two girls just focus on eating.”
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