Chunju glanced at her master's almost leaping gait and joked, "Second Young Master Cheng... is your master's 'arch-nemesis'..."
She deliberately drew out the words "mortal enemy," which confused Su Lan even more. She asked again, "If he's a mortal enemy, then why did Master invite him to dinner?"
Shen Qing turned around and glared at Chunju: "Don't corrupt Sulan!"
Chunju smiled broadly.
Su Lan, however, was determined to answer this question. She looked up at Shen Qing and asked, "Master, why did you invite your mortal enemy to dinner?"
Shen Qing sighed and touched her hair.
This child is good at everything, and likes to ask about everything.
Perhaps it's because she likes to ask questions and delve into things that she's so intelligent.
Thinking of this, Shen Qing could only answer her: "Because there isn't necessarily only one kind of relationship between people. He and I used to be mortal enemies, but when I encounter difficulties and he can help me, we can also turn enemies into friends."
Su Lan nodded: "Su Lan understands. Master means that there are no eternal enemies."
"Only eternal interests matter," Shen Qingxin thought, but she didn't tell Su Lan this.
Upon arriving at the factory, Shen Qing instructed the female workers in the textile group to reorganize the area where the machines would be placed that afternoon, while he went to the accounting office to do the bookkeeping.
Before I knew it, it was already past midnight.
"Young Madam!" Chunju came in to announce, a knowing smile on her face, "The machine has arrived!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Qing closed the ledger and quickly got up to go out to greet them.
Several large wooden crates were piled up in the yard, and a few more were outside. Workers were carrying them in one by one.
Shen Qing went forward to inspect the exterior and confirmed that the outer box had not been opened.
One, two, three, four... no problem, except for the few still outside.
She lifted her skirt and walked out, only to bump into a chest, causing her to take a step back. The other person reached out and caught her waist in time, preventing her from taking any further steps back.
A familiar feeling washed over her, and her heart suddenly skipped a few beats. Shen Qing looked up.
Under the warm winter sun, the man wore a black cashmere top hat and a navy blue cashmere overcoat.
He was backlit, so Shen Qing couldn't see his expression.
Before she could finish speaking, Cheng Zhiwen suddenly tightened his grip on her lower back, placing his hands on her back and pressing her against him.
Shen Qing's face immediately pressed against his chest.
She hadn't expected him to be so bold, hugging her the moment they met, but she was still happy about his initiative and instinctively raised her arms, ready to hug him back.
"Watch out!" He grabbed her and dodged to the side.
Then, with a loud bang, something fell down.
Shen Qing turned his head and saw that a bag of tools had fallen off the wooden box.
Realizing that Cheng Zhiwen was only hugging her to avoid the bag of tools, Shen Qing felt a little embarrassed and quickly pushed him away.
"Didn't you say you'd arrive around 3 PM?" she asked, trying to make conversation. "Isn't it only 1 PM now?"
Cheng Zhiwen remained calm: "The sea conditions are good today; we're an hour ahead of schedule."
Shen Qing remained embarrassed: "That's good, that's good, may everything go smoothly and may the project start smoothly!"
She wanted to end the eerie atmosphere as soon as possible, so she went into the courtyard first.
All ten machines were moved into the workshop. The workers removed the wooden crates and impact-absorbing cotton, revealing a compact parts table.
Shen Qing was dumbfounded, and Cheng Zhiwen also looked solemn.
This is not a machine at all, but a collection of parts.
Shen Qing looked at Cheng Zhiwen: "It seems that this machine needs to be assembled by ourselves."
She found an instruction manual in the wooden box, opened it, and unsurprisingly, it was entirely in English.
She tried to translate the numerous mechanical technical terms inside and then guide the workers to assemble it, but they couldn't get it right no matter what they did.
Realizing that she might not have flipped through it properly, Shen Qing handed the instruction manual to Cheng Zhiwen: "Why don't you take a look?"
Cheng Zhiwen began translating, guiding the workers on assembly as she translated, and even tried to do it herself at one point.
He works in trade and has no problem with import/export terminology and daily communication, but he is helpless when it comes to mechanical terminology, and ultimately fails.
Shen Qing was extremely anxious.
She then realized the seriousness of the problem.
The instruction manual translation is one thing, but the on-site assembly is another.
Even if they translate the instructions accurately, the workers may not be able to install them correctly.
Shen Qing realized he had made a mistake; when he entrusted Cheng Zhiwen with importing the equipment, he forgot to remind him to import the complete machine.
She looked at Cheng Zhiwen with a worried expression: "What should we do?"
Cheng Zhiwen frowned and pondered for a long time before walking out of the workshop.
Shen Qing was anxious and followed him out. He saw that Shen Qing had said something to Old Xu outside the courtyard, and Old Xu immediately drove the carriage away.
"Where do you want Old Xu to go?"
"Go to Shanghai and bring me a technician over."
Shen Qing was pleasantly surprised: "Can the technician assemble this machine?"
Cheng Zhiwen nodded: "Sure, the technician is German and has experience assembling textile machines."
Shen Qing felt slightly relieved.
Looking at the pile of unusable parts inside, he figured that work couldn't start for the time being, so he decided to take Cheng Zhiwen for a walk around.
Passing by a side courtyard, Cheng Zhiwen heard the sound of reading aloud coming from inside and stopped in her tracks: "Is there a school here?"
Shen Qing then briefly explained the matter of recruiting female workers to him, and also complained about Qi Zhenheng.
“Your friend, the prefect, is really old-fashioned. He actually told me—” she mimicked Qi Zhenheng’s condescending tone, ““Since ancient times, women should never leave their homes…”
After finishing his studies, he continued to complain unhappily: "I didn't mean to come out and play for no reason, we need to hire people!"
Cheng Zhiwen didn't comment on this, only saying "Brother Zhenheng is a good person," before taking a few steps forward and stopping at the school gate.
Seeing the children studying diligently and learning knowledge, he rarely smiled. When he returned to the silk factory, he asked Shen Qing, "Why did you think of inviting a teacher to come here to teach the children?"
Shen Qing said earnestly, "Firstly, to solve the problem of women having no one to take care of their children while they are at work; secondly, I hope that children from poor families will have the opportunity to receive an education. Because the level of education of the people is directly related to the rise and fall of the country."
Cheng Zhiwen's pupils contracted, quite shocked.
He stared at Shen Qing in astonishment, never expecting her to say something like, "The level of education of the people is related to the rise and fall of the country."
Even though he knew in his heart that she came from an unknown background, he still couldn't help but test her.
"So, what do you think is the key to a nation's strength?"
Shen Qing didn't think much of it, assuming it was just following up on the previous topic, and said directly, "Technology, military, and economy are all indispensable."
After saying that, he asked Cheng Zhiwen, "What do you want to eat tonight? Shall we find a quiet place to chat for a while?"
“I’m fine with anything,” Cheng Zhiwen said solemnly. “It’s time to find a quiet place to talk.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com