Shen Qing's initial reason for choosing to make artificial silk was that the Gao family's real silk was expensive and could not be sold, so she wanted to make cheap imitation silk material to satisfy the local people's aesthetic requirements and also accommodate their wallets.
The climate in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong is mild and humid, making rayon the most suitable fabric for spring, summer, and autumn.
But in most parts of Europe, autumn and winter are dry and cold, and synthetic fibers will inevitably generate static electricity when worn. So why would Europeans wear synthetic silk?
This wave of rayon from Europe is specifically designed to be dumped in China!
How could a product made for quick money be developed with care? It must have been stolen! Stole her idea!
"Has the factory ever lost any raw materials?" Cheng Zhiwen suddenly asked.
Shen Qing snapped out of her daze, immediately lifted her skirt, climbed the wooden ladder, and ran into the accounting room.
She retrieved and reviewed all the detailed records of raw materials since the factory opened.
His fingers flew across the abacus, while his eyes were fixed on the numbers in the ledger.
He quickly calculated the amount of raw materials that should have remained on the day she was arrested, wrote it down on a piece of paper, and then ran to the yard to count the raw material barrels.
Twenty barrels are missing!
Cheng Zhiwen calmly analyzed, "The raw materials weren't lost recently. When I was about to return to China from Europe a month ago, the samples of rayon there had already been produced. Considering the month-long sea freight time, the raw materials must have been shipped to Europe at least a month after your factory started production."
Shen Qing murmured absentmindedly, "There's a traitor in the factory..."
Cheng Zhiwen nodded, his expression solemn.
"Master!"
A clear, childlike voice came from outside.
Shen Qing turned to look at the courtyard gate and saw Su Lan and Er Hong standing there.
When she saw Su-lan again after a few days, she was very happy. She ran over with the paper recording the amount of raw materials in stock and hugged Su-lan in her arms.
Su Lan hugged her tightly: "Master... I missed you so much..."
"Master misses Sulan too!"
Shen Qing habitually rubbed his chin against the top of Su Lan's hair, only to feel something hard.
She let go of Su Lan and saw that her hair was completely tangled.
A pang of heartache shot through him. He raised his hand to stroke her, then knelt down to look Su Lan in the eye and asked, "How have you been these past few days at your mother's?"
Su Lan pouted, feeling wronged, and dared not utter a sound.
Shen Qing knew that she was not having a good time at home, but she didn't know what to say to Er Hong. She protected Su Lan to her side and looked at Er Hong.
"The factory won't be able to start operating in the short term, Erhong, you should go back first. I'll definitely call you back to work when the factory is ready to start operating."
Erhong nodded and extended her hand to Sulan: "Sulan, come back with your mother."
Su Lan clung tightly to Shen Qing's clothes, hiding in his arms.
Shen Qing knew that Su Lan wanted to stay by his side, but he thought that at this time, not only did he have to deal with Gao Yuanqi, but the traitor in the factory had not yet been caught. There might be another round of chaos, so it would be inconvenient to bring Su Lan along.
She crouched down again, looking Su Lan in the eye.
He pinched Su Lan's round cheek and said, "Su Lan, you go home with your mother first. I'll come pick you up after I've dealt with things here, okay?"
Su Lan nodded obediently, "Yes, Master, Su Lan understands." After saying that, she walked to Er Hong's side.
Shen Qing stood up, watching the two figures, one big and one small, leave with reluctance.
Su Lan kept turning back to look at her.
"You like kids that much?" Cheng Zhiwen appeared behind her without her noticing. "You could have one yourself."
Shen Qing found his words inexplicable: "Why bring up something you shouldn't say? I'm a widow, who am I supposed to have children with?"
Cheng Zhiwen, with his hands behind his back, watched Su Lan's departing figure and smiled, "The laws of the Qing Dynasty do not stipulate that widows are not allowed to have children."
Shen Qing raised an eyebrow, turned around to look at him, a sly glint in her eyes: "That's true."
She paced back and forth, pondering, "If it were just for having a child, I would definitely look for a healthy, handsome, and well-educated young man, for the sake of eugenics. But based on my observations these past few days, women in this era, whether rich or poor, are vulnerable to being bullied if they don't have a man by their side or if the man isn't strong enough. A young man might not be able to protect me."
Therefore, she needs two men:
The younger woman who gave birth was protected by someone powerful and influential.
Cheng Zhiwen understood, and her pupils contracted.
Of the two men she mentioned, one of them actually fits all the criteria perfectly—Qi Zhenheng.
He was young and handsome, knowledgeable, and held considerable power in his family.
Qi Zhenheng can not only protect her, but also the entire Gao family...
Cheng Zhiwen concealed the displeasure in his eyes, walked to her side with his hands behind his back, and said, "In Europe, it is normal for a woman to have more than one man, but in the Qing Dynasty, it will bring disaster to her. The national conditions are different, and the results are different. I hope you will be careful with your words and actions."
Shen Qing chuckled: "I was just kidding! You think I would really go looking for two men?"
Looking down at the factory, she sighed, "I'm struggling to survive, let alone find a man to have a baby with. I'll just focus on staying alive first!"
After saying that, he walked into the factory with his hands behind his back.
She went upstairs to the second floor, sat in the accounting office, and pondered how those twenty barrels of raw materials had ended up there.
According to Cheng Zhiwen's deduction, the raw materials were lost at least two months ago.
Since the factory opened, she has required Erhong, who is the team leader, to strictly guard the raw materials. Every day before leaving work, she must take stock and check the quantity of raw materials to ensure that no raw materials are lost.
Because of the great responsibility of looking after the raw materials, she entrusted Erhong, whom she trusted, with the task.
Unexpectedly, the raw materials were indeed lost! And they were lost so quietly that no one noticed!
Could it be Er Hong?
As the team leader responsible for inventory and quantity verification, she is indeed the most suspicious.
But without evidence, Shen Qing couldn't bear to suspect his apprentice's mother.
If it's not Erhong, then who is it?
Shen Qing slammed her fist on the table and stomped her feet in anger.
“If you stomp on this floor again, it will collapse.” Cheng Zhiwen came into the room and sat down in the armchair. “I just went to ask the villagers nearby—two months ago, someone saw your apprentice’s mother and a man carrying wooden buckets out of here in the middle of the night several times.”
Shen Qing didn't say anything.
She already had the answer in her heart; Cheng Zhiwen simply confirmed it for her.
Feeling a bit irritated, she slammed the ledger shut in her hand, stood up, and paced back and forth in the accounting room, angrily saying, "I would have preferred any other worker to do this! Anyone would have been fine! Why her?!"
How is she supposed to face Su Lan after this?
The mother and daughter were a duo: one stole her raw materials, indirectly ruining her business; the other, disregarding the danger, traveled dozens of miles to the prefectural government office to plead for her help.
If Su Lan wasn't her apprentice and hadn't saved her, she would have reported it to the authorities and had Er Hong arrested!
But because of Su Lan, she really didn't know what to do with Er Hong.
The anger of betrayal surged in Shen Qing's chest, but his mind was also clear—Er Hong was Su Lan's mother, and he had to deal with her properly, otherwise he would hurt Su Lan's feelings.
Shen Qing felt increasingly distressed as she thought about it. She sat back down in her chair, held her head in her hands, and frantically pulled at her hair.
Cheng Zhiwen played with her abacus, looked at her for a while, then suddenly stood up and grabbed her wrist.
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