Shen Qing thought that Cheng Zhiwen was most likely drunk.
She raised her hand and patted his cheek: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
She tried to pull her hand back, but he pressed it down, pressing it against his cheek.
His skin was at a normal temperature, unlike hers which was burning hot, indicating that he was not drunk.
So what was the purpose of his words?
Shen Qing sobered up, pushed him away forcefully, and sat back in her seat.
She frowned as she looked at him, sensing that he was definitely up to no good.
"I highly doubt your motives for saying all this," she couldn't help but say. "If you wanted to keep me in your backyard, why did you insist on breaking off the engagement in the first place? If you hadn't broken off the engagement, wouldn't I be in your backyard now?"
Cheng Zhiwen laughed loudly.
Shen Qing realized he had been tricked, cursed "You're crazy!" and got up to leave.
Behind her, Cheng Zhiwen got up, dressed, and followed her out of the room.
The two were walking back to the Gao family home.
A light snow began to fall. Shen Qing turned up the fur collar of his cloak, shrank his neck, and tried to hide deeper into the collar.
Seeing Cheng Zhiwen following beside her, she said in a huff, "I'll go back by myself, don't bother seeing me off!"
Cheng Zhiwen's lips were still upturned, seemingly still enjoying the fun of teasing her.
"So the reason you don't want me to keep you in my backyard is because I broke off the engagement?"
Shen Qing rolled her eyes at him and said, "It's not entirely because of that."
"What is that?"
“I am now the head of the Gao family, with my own business and ambitions. Why should I be kept as a pet in your backyard?”
Cheng Zhiwen nodded and asked, "What are your aspirations?"
"Liberate women!"
Cheng Zhiwen laughed loudly, but said nothing.
Shen Qing didn't know what he was up to, but she also knew he wouldn't harm her, so she didn't worry about it and instead said, "Get some rest early tonight, we'll be busy tomorrow."
She was referring to the fact that ten more looms needed to be assembled tomorrow.
Thinking about this, she became anxious: "Let me be clear from the start, if the machine can't be installed or used, I might have to hold onto your payment for the goods."
She only had 50,000 taels of start-up capital. If she spent 30,000 taels to buy a bunch of waste, she would only have 20,000 taels left, and she wouldn't be able to make rayon.
Therefore, this money definitely needs to be held in suspense for now.
"It's alright, there's no rush for payment." Cheng Zhiwen regained her usual business-like indifference. "Let's wait for the technician to take a look tomorrow. There shouldn't be any problems."
This comfort did not alleviate Shen Qing's anxiety. She did not sleep well all night and got up before dawn.
After getting dressed, without even having breakfast, I hurried to the kesi workshop, lit the lamp, sat on the ground, and tried to assemble the parts again according to the instructions.
The sky turned a pale white, and dawn broke.
Shen Qing failed again.
She was a little dejected, sitting on the ground staring blankly at the pile of iron parts.
Female workers came in one after another, and when they saw her sitting on the ground, they rushed over and asked with concern, "Boss Shen, why are you sitting on the ground?"
Everyone rushed over, offering their concern and helping her up.
Her hands were ice cold to the touch. Some of the female workers boiled water and made hot tea for her, while others rubbed her hands to warm them up.
A female worker peeled an egg she had brought for lunch and placed it in front of her: "Boss Shen, you haven't had breakfast yet, have you? Have an egg first. This egg was laid by my old hen, it's very nutritious!"
Shen Qing declined, laughing, "You're still breastfeeding. If you give me the egg, you won't get enough nutrition today."
"It's okay! Eating a little less eggs won't hurt!"
"Yes, Mr. Shen, please eat quickly! Don't go hungry! We sisters are counting on you and the factory!"
Shen Qing was suddenly filled with emotion, and her eyes welled up with tears.
As if infused with immense energy and confidence, she stood up and declared loudly, "Don't worry, everyone! For no other reason than for you and the children, we must make sure our factory is run well!"
"Young Madam!" Chunju and Sulan rushed in from outside, saying urgently, "Foreigners! Foreigners are here!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Qing knew that the technician had arrived, so she quickly pushed through the crowd, lifted her skirt, and ran out.
In the courtyard, a blond, blue-eyed young man stepped down from the carriage, accompanied by Cheng Zhiwen.
The two communicated in English, and Cheng Zhiwen invited the person in.
Shen Qing quickly went up to him and greeted him in English: "Good morning, welcome to Jiangzhou. I am the person in charge of this factory, my name is Shen Qing."
Perhaps because she was dressed as a Qing Dynasty woman but spoke fluent English, the other party was a little surprised.
Shen Qing generously invited him into the workshop.
She stepped forward, grabbed the instruction manual, stood next to the other person, pointed out her doubts to the manual, and then demonstrated how to operate the device.
The technician was very patient. After watching her perform the operation once, he studied the instruction manual again and then assembled it himself.
He explained Shen Qing's operational error to her and corrected some translation mistakes of mechanical terms in the instruction manual.
The two of them communicated in English as if no one else was around.
Chunju and the other female workers were dumbfounded.
Only Cheng Zhiwen remained calm, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.
He was certain she wasn't Shen Qing, but he really didn't know who she was.
...
Five days later, all ten looms were finally assembled.
Shen Qing didn't sleep well for five days and five nights, fearing that even after the machine was installed, it still wouldn't work.
It was truly a series of twists and turns, with each obstacle proving difficult to overcome.
It wasn't until she personally stepped on the machine's switch and saw the entire machine start moving that she believed it was all real.
She excitedly turned around and hugged Cheng Zhiwen, crying and laughing at the same time: "It's okay! It's okay!"
The gold hairpin in her hair hit Cheng Zhiwen's chin, drawing blood instantly.
Cheng Zhiwen raised her hand and touched her, a little helplessly, and patted her back: "Alright, alright."
Although he didn't say much, he was smiling.
Shen Qing released him and called over the female workers to bring over all the fiber threads to test.
All ten looms produced dense and soft artificial silk, even better than what Shen Qing had woven by hand before.
After three days and three nights of testing, Shen Qing confirmed the monthly output.
As she had estimated, one machine could weave eleven bolts of rayon per day, which would amount to three thousand three hundred bolts per month.
She immediately placed orders for this year's raw materials with soybean farmers and lime merchants, and also calculated the amount of soda and caustic soda that Cheng Zhiwen needed to import for her.
Everything is ready; we're just waiting to choose an auspicious day to open the factory.
"Young mistress, something terrible has happened!" Chunju rushed in, shouting urgently, "Something's wrong!"
Shen Qing looked up: "What's wrong?"
"That foreigner, that foreigner has been arrested by the soldiers!"
"What?" Shen Qing was shocked and got up immediately, running into the yard.
The technician who was standing here with Cheng Zhiwen and Lao Xu just a moment ago has now disappeared without a trace, and Cheng Zhiwen is also gone.
Shen Qing stepped forward and asked Lao Xu, "Lao Xu, where are Boss Cheng and that German?"
Old Xu also looked anxious, slapping his palm with the back of his hand: "They've been arrested by the soldiers! Boss Cheng went with them too!"
Shen Qing immediately thought of that corrupt official in the county government and got into the carriage: "Old Xu, take me to the county government!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com