"My sister-in-law just talked to me about it. You don't seem to have any objections, but we need to discuss the details of the cooperation. Even close brothers should keep clear accounts. Let's talk about everything we can think of to avoid future troubles." Qin Xiaoyu didn't care. Anyway, they were going to acquire a factory, and it would be better if the factory had a foundation. Knowing the factory well was much better than negotiating it himself.

The cooperation matters still need to be discussed with Man Aihong. All she wants is for Zhu Xu to say it in person and nod his head, so that it can be considered that he has given up on the project himself.

Poor woman.

Upon getting to know the specifics, Qin Xiaoyu discovered that Man Aihong was no ordinary woman; she was incredibly shrewd. Compared to her, Zhu Xu was far weaker. It could be said that Zhu Xu had only survived being swallowed up by society because of Man Aihong's protection.

First, she gave Qin Xiaoyu an IOU, turning the prepaid hospital fees into a debt.

Then, the responsibilities and obligations of both parties were clarified. Qin Xiaoyu became the seller, providing samples of the styles and fabrics, while Man Aihong was only responsible for production. In this way, the store in Guangzhou could be closed.

Zhu Xu then realized that this was not a collaboration at all; it was clearly a way to sideline him, and his original creative dream was completely destroyed. But he couldn't disobey Man Aihong. Seeing his beloved wife pale-faced and forcing herself to talk business, he felt both ashamed and sad, so weak that he wanted to find a place to cry. He had no ability to argue back.

"What are we going to do with all this stock?" Zhu Xu glanced at the large and small bags in the room.

"That's all we can do, there's no other way." Man Aihong said it too quickly and too easily, her relieved expression betraying her true feelings.

Zhu Xu paused for a moment, then got up and walked out the door.

At the doorway, his hands trembled as he lit a cigarette, took a drag, and large tears streamed down his face. Man Aihong's words had deeply wounded him. It turned out that in Man Aihong's eyes, his fashion designs were worthless, merely a pile of clearance items, something she would be happy to get rid of.

In fact, Man Aihong had long seen that he wasn't cut out for fashion design; he was just blinded by love.

Now that we've reached a life-or-death situation, we have no choice but to face it.

Qin Xiaoyu mentally compared Zhu Xu and Wang Lingling; both were failures among fashion designers, the ones who were eliminated. However, the two were fundamentally different; they had gone to two extremes.

Wang Lingling is too conservative; her mind is frozen, she has no innovation whatsoever, and she clings to the past.

Zhu Xu, on the other hand, was overconfident, mistaking vulgar extravagance for fashion. It wasn't that he was unappreciated; he simply lacked talent. The small village that raised him instilled in him an aesthetic deficiency that he could never overcome later.

As Qin Xiaoyu came out of Man Aihong's place, she saw Gao Daxiong getting out of the car and greeted him.

"Boss Qin's abilities are terrifying. I've been working on this business for so long and still couldn't win it over, but you won it over so easily. I want to treat Boss Qin to dinner and ask him to teach me a few tricks," Gao Daxiong said sarcastically.

"Mr. Gao is joking. It just happened to be a good match, and the timing was right." Qin Xiaoyu didn't want to waste any more words with him.

The next morning, Zhu Xu's shop became lively, with loudspeakers blaring even louder than Huo Jinghong's: Big sale, clearance sale!

This kind of gimmick is common on the fashion street, and nobody takes it seriously. But when Zhu Xu sees each of his cherished designs being rummaged through like trash by others, his heart bleeds.

The only thing that kept him from collapsing was his love for Man Aihong. When he thought about how she had been pampered since childhood, how she, who couldn't even cook, would go with him to the village to light a fire in a house with a stove, he felt that he could never repay this kindness in his lifetime.

Qin Xiaoyu initially thought Zhu Xu's clearance sale would only last a few days, but when truckloads of goods were being delivered from the warehouse, she realized what kind of mess this was. Who had the linen offended? Foolish humans, why would they turn perfectly good fabric into such ugly clothes before selling them?

Luckily, his rent still had six months left, otherwise the two of them wouldn't have a place to live.

Zhu Xu's shop isn't in the same building as Qin Xiaoyu's, and it's not his sister's property. The house belongs to a thin, elderly local man. When renting other people's shops, he usually combines the two floors, which is expensive. But with Zhu Xu, he only rents out the first floor, leaving the second floor as a residence, saving him a lot of money. He's just waiting for the shop to close down so he can renovate and rent out the space again.

Zhu Xu was unwilling to leave like this, and still clung to a sliver of hope, taking it one day at a time.

They had agreed to go back together to hand over the work, but Zhu Xu couldn't leave, and Qin Xiaoyu was worried about leaving Man Aihong here alone. She was also in a hurry to go back and deal with Wang Lingling.

Even more anxious than her was Man Aihong, who was afraid Zhu Xu would change his mind and just wanted to finalize things quickly. She simply handed the factory keys to Qin Xiaoyu and let her check the situation herself.

"What's your hurry?" Zhu Xu objected immediately.

“I’m not in a hurry. Do you think Wang Qiang will let us off the hook?” Man Aihong said coldly, and Zhu Xu chickened out again.

Ye Qiu was not optimistic about Qin Xiaoyu's collaboration with Zhu Xu.

"This Zhu Xu is a bit off-track-minded. Be careful and make sure the accounts are detailed."

“That’s not a problem. Our cooperation is based on processing materials supplied by him. He only earns the labor cost.”

"That's good, but speaking of which, you still offended someone." Ye Qiu pulled Qin Xiaoyu to the window and gestured towards the opposite side, where Gao Daxiong's shop was located.

"He's been trying to collaborate with Zhu Xu, hasn't he?"

"He set his sights on Zhu Xu's factory and wanted to take it over, but Zhu Xu was so stubborn and insisted on creating original designs, so he wouldn't agree. Huh? How did you convince him?"

"Is there any need to persuade him now? He'll probably back down on his own." Qin Xiaoyu felt a pang of sympathy for Man Aihong.

It was originally agreed that once things were settled here, Qin Xiaoyu would immediately return to the Northeast to reorganize things. But now her itinerary is about to take a detour; she'll first go to Zhu Xu's hometown factory to take a look.

Zhu Xu wanted to go with her, but Qin Xiaoyu was worried about Man Aihong, so she kept him behind.

"So I really am your secretary now," A Lei said irritably, glancing at Qin Xiaoyu, who was walking easily beside him.

"Don't want to do anything? I'll find someone else."

"I want to do it." A Lei gave Qin Xiaoyu a knowing look from above his sunglasses, and Qin Xiaoyu pinched him hard.

It seems that everyone prefers to place their ancestral home in a big city, because it's prettier and gives them a stronger sense of belonging.

This Beijing native, Zhu Xu, lived quite far from Beijing. Even though Beijing kept expanding, it never managed to bring his poor village into the city.

Strictly speaking, this village isn't poor; it's at least a bit richer than the villages Qin Xiaoyu and Lu Di visited.

Zhu Xu was relieved and handed over the entire set of keys to Qin Xiaoyu, so she went straight in and entered the empty, now-closed workshop.

There were also half-damaged linen skirts on the assembly line, indicating that the production stoppage was rushed and must have been sudden.

"Who are you? A debt collector?"