Cleaning up the house

The next morning, the scandal of Han Shaoheng hiring someone to set a fire and then being robbed by his fellow criminals flew onto the front pages of all the newspapers in Shanghai as if it had wings.

Shenbao devoted an entire page to the story, featuring powerful photos of the warehouse scene, to vividly depict the entire incident. In the report, Murong Bai skillfully portrayed Ah Xiu as a resilient and resourceful entrepreneur fighting back against evil.

For a time, the reputation of "Zhixiufang" reached an unprecedented peak, while "Han's Textile" completely became a rat crossing the street that everyone wanted to beat.

The bank's loan collection calls, the supplier's payment summons, the workers' wage protests... like an avalanche, they completely buried the already shaky Han's Textile.

Three days later, the court officially announced that Han's Textile entered bankruptcy liquidation procedures due to insolvency.

Just when everyone was waiting to see who would take over this mess, an unexpected news came -

Master Axiu of "Zhixiufang" purchased all of Han's Textile's fixed assets from the bank at a very low price, including the factory, all the machines inside and the backlog of fabrics.

This news shocked the entire business community in Shanghai.

"That Master Ah Xiu, is he crazy? He gave up his job as a designer to take over such a mess?"

"I heard that the machines in the factory are second-hand goods that are about to be scrapped, and the fabrics are so shoddy that no one would want them even if they were given away for free!"

"She's young after all, and her victory has gone to her head. Just wait and see, within half a year, all the money she earned will be lost!"

The outside world's discussions and doubts did not affect Ling Xiuqing at all.

She acted decisively and on the day she completed the acquisition, she personally led her team to move into the factory that she was once very familiar with but was now in ruins.

The factory was a mess. Machines were covered in thick dust, cobwebs filled the corners, and the air was filled with a foul odor of oil and mildew. In the warehouse, thousands of pieces of low-quality fabric were piled high.

Following behind her were several old craftsmen and masters from the former Ling family embroidery shop who had been ruthlessly dismissed by Han Shaoheng and whom she had specially invited back through the relationship with Manager Wang.

The leader was a white-haired old man named Lin Bo. He was the chief dyeing and weaving master of the Ling family embroidery shop. He had worked for the Ling family for more than 40 years and had practically watched Ling Xiuqing grow up.

At this moment, Uncle Lin looked at the dilapidated scene in front of him, and then looked at the "Master A Xiu" in front of him, whose appearance had changed but whose eyes were vaguely familiar. His turbid old eyes were full of pain and emotion.

"Uncle Lin," Ling Xiuqing said, looking at the rusty machines, her voice cold, "What do you think we should do with all this scrap metal?"

Uncle Lin sighed and shook his head. "Miss Ah Xiu, forgive my frankness. These machines are all discarded gadgets by foreigners. The cloth they weave is too hard even for rags. Keeping them is just a waste of space."

"Okay." Ling Xiuqing nodded and made a quick decision. She said to the assistant behind her, "Contact the scrap collection station and dispose of all these machines as scrap metal. I don't want to see anything belonging to 'Han's Textile' in the factory within a day."

This decision shocked everyone present. Even if the machine was broken, it was a fixed asset they had paid for. Selling it off like scrap metal? That was a huge waste!

But Ling Xiuqing's eyes left no room for doubt.

What she wanted was not only to acquire the factory, but also to completely erase all traces of Han Shaoheng. She wanted to conduct a thorough "house cleanup."

Then, she took Lin Bo and others into the warehouse full of low-quality fabrics.

Looking at these dark-colored and rough-textured fabrics, several old masters shook their heads.

"What a sin! Such good cotton yarn has been ruined like this!"

"You can't even dye this kind of cloth. It will fall apart if you do!"

Ling Xiuqing disagreed. She casually picked up a piece of khaki cotton cloth, twisted it between her fingers, and held it up to the light.

After a moment, she smiled.

"Who says they're useless?" She looked at Uncle Lin, her eyes gleaming with wisdom. "Uncle Lin, do you remember that our Ling family has a unique craft called 'Hundred Herb Dyeing'?"

Uncle Lin was shocked and looked at her in disbelief: "Baicaorye? Miss... Miss Xiu, how... how do you know this?!"

"Herb Dyeing" is a secret dyeing and weaving method unique to the Ling Family Embroidery Shop, never passed down to others. Using natural plants and herbs, it creates not only naturally soft colors but also a unique fragrance. It even has insect repellent and calming properties. However, this technique requires extremely high fiber quality and has been lost for many years.

Ling Xiuqing said slowly, "Although these fabrics are rough, their advantage is that they haven't been contaminated by any chemical dyes, retaining the original fiber structure of cotton and linen. They're perfect for use as the base for our 'Herb Dye'."

She looked at the piles of cloth in the warehouse and continued confidently, "We won't sell these cloths."

"Then...what is it used for?" a young worker couldn't help but ask.

A confident smile appeared on Ling Xiuqing's lips:

"I'm going to use them to make school uniforms for all the schools in Shanghai."