After leaving Zhu Xu, Man Aihong was like a different person. She became dignified and elegant. Although she was not a lady from a prominent family, she was still a girl from a modest family. She was completely different from the country bumpkin she used to be.

This was probably something she did to put Zhu Xu's mind at ease. For some reason, her love was so humble that even Qin Xiaoyu couldn't understand it.

Man Aihong's transformation caught Mrs. Fang's attention. After chatting for a while, she found Man Aihong's conversation to be very insightful. After dinner, she took Man Aihong to the living room and they started talking.

Taking the opportunity, Qin Xiaoyu gave Qin Xiaoye a wink and led her upstairs.

"Xiao Ye, look at this." Qin Xiaoyu handed her an old newspaper.

"This is better than any advertisement." Qin Xiaoye was very smart and understood immediately, so she nodded.

"The problem is that it's difficult to get approval for the venue. I heard that the power is in your Aunt Zhu's hands." Qin Xiaoyu got straight to the point, just letting Qin Xiaoye know what she was thinking before proceeding with the next step of the plan.

“I don’t really have much to say about Aunt Zhu; she’s the one who comes to me. I just answer whatever she asks.” Qin Xiaoye lowered her head, blushing. Qin Xiaoyu understood immediately; don’t expect her to put in a good word for you.

"Then I'll just follow the official procedures, don't worry," Qin Xiaoyu reassured her, afraid she might have some concerns.

"There are some things I'd like you to keep secret for me," Qin Xiaoye said hesitantly.

"What is it?"

"Aunt Zhu asked me about my family, and I just said we were an ordinary family and there was nothing special about us."

"We're just an ordinary family." Qin Xiaoyu said this, but she still felt a little uneasy. But then she thought about it and realized that Qin Xiaoye's words made sense.

Even if someone's family background is bad, as long as they haven't stolen or robbed, what makes them any different from others? When it comes to character, you can't really judge someone if you don't interact with them.

"Also, I didn't say what our real relationship is, I only said we're distant relatives," Qin Xiaoye said hesitantly.

"Sure, you came here under an assumed name anyway." Qin Xiaoyu didn't care that Qin Xiaoye was trying to distance herself from her.

I just feel uncomfortable somewhere, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Seeing that Zhu Yuzhen needed to make an appointment, Qin Xiaoyu didn't ask A Lei to make any special arrangements. Since it was official business anyway, everything had to be done according to procedure, so they made an appointment for three days later.

Qin Xiaoyu had done a lot of preparation over the past three days. So there were quite a lot of documents on her desk, which surprised Zhu Yuzhen.

"Please take a look first. I know this isn't something that can be done in a day. I'll wait for your reply." Qin Xiaoyu said confidently and without any reluctance.

"Okay, I'll think about it and see." Zhu Yuzhen felt it wouldn't be right to refuse on the spot after hearing her say that.

But judging from his tone, he wasn't optimistic.

Zhu Yuzhen's initial surprise wasn't because she saw Qin Xiaoyu, but because Qin Xiaoyu dared to hold a fashion show at the Friendship Hall—truly, ignorance is bliss.

The atmosphere was somewhat somber during dinner.

"Should I think of something first?" A Lei asked, looking at Qin Xiaoyu who was silently drinking her soup.

"She's probably not going to fall for that."

“We’ve come all this way, what if we can’t get it done? We can try to think of a solution first.” Mrs. Fang agreed with A Lei’s idea.

"I'm afraid things might backfire. This person is all about principles and the big picture. If I actually ask for help, I'm afraid they'll refuse even faster," Qin Xiaoyu said with difficulty.

“I like principled people the most. I’ll go with you tomorrow.” Man Aihong was quite confident.

The next day, Qin Xiaoyu received a call from her secretary and rushed over. Man Aihong insisted that she could only bring her along.

As expected, she was rejected.

"I've reviewed your factory's qualifications. You're still far from being qualified to hold a fashion show at the Friendship Hall in Shanghai," Zhu Yuzhen said bluntly.

"I knew you would say that," Qin Xiaoyu said with a smile.

"But you still came." Zhu Yuzhen smiled too. It's good to have a worthy opponent. She knew that Qin Xiaoyu was willing to come because she wanted to persuade her.

"Our factory's current situation is somewhat embarrassing. You remember the last time we had to clear out the department store counters, right? After that, our factory underwent reforms, and we made great strides in technology. However, we didn't have a suitable platform to showcase our achievements. Now, national policies support reforms, and we've taken big steps, but we can't find our way forward. So we need some policy support..."

“Shouldn’t you be contacting your local government?” Zhu Yuzhen said with a smile, politely interrupting her.

This left Qin Xiaoyu speechless.

The air in the office seemed to have frozen; it was a done deal, with no room for negotiation.

"Director Qin, we won't beg her! Let's go!" Man Aihong suddenly stepped forward, snatched the file folder from Zhu Yuzhen's hand, and pulled Qin Xiaoyu out.

Qin Xiaoyu was unwilling to give up and quickly grabbed her.

"Sister Hong, don't get agitated, let's talk some more, don't rush off!"

She regretted bringing Man Aihong along; being tactless at this time could lead to trouble, and angering Zhu Yuzhen would do no good for anyone.

"What's there to talk about? You've come to the wrong person! You say she's principled, upright, prioritizes the big picture, and has vision! What has she actually done? Officials just talk a good game, it's all just bureaucratic talk, and you actually believe it! Let's go!" Man Aihong's words were barbed and scathing, leaving no room for mercy.

The retort left Qin Xiaoyu speechless, wishing she could go up and shut her up.

"What do you mean by that? Business is business. I'm handling things impartially, don't make personal attacks." Although Zhu Yuzhen was well-mannered, she still changed her expression when someone pointed at her so directly, and she slammed her hand on the table and stood up.

The secretary, noticing something amiss in the noise, quickly came in.

"In your eyes, we're just a clothing factory in the north, trying to sell a few more outfits and doing some public relations. With that kind of thinking, Director Qin really overestimates you. What we want to build is a brand, a brand of our own! Isn't it shameful that our great nation can't even produce its own fashion brand?" After Man Aihong's words, Zhu Yuzhen's face changed drastically, and she was already losing face.

"Sister Hong, stop talking." Qin Xiaoyu already understood what Man Aihong meant, but she was just pretending to stop her.

"You can leave now, it's time!" the secretary began to shoo them away.

“Go to the department stores and see, domestic brands are almost being squeezed out by foreign goods! What else is there to say? Let’s go, let Chinese people keep buying foreign goods, that’s what they want to see! With officials leading the way in worshipping foreign things, there’s no way for national brands to survive!” Man Aihong said bitterly, probably because she had been working on original fashion for so long and had been frustrated, and today she vented all her anger.

"Wait a minute, let me see the documents again." Zhu Yuzhen held out her hand.

Qin Xiaoyu hesitated for a moment, then snatched the file folder from Man Aihong and handed it over.

"Your main factory has a total of 32 design technicians?" Zhu Yuzhen was already in the zone, starting the review (finding fault) process.