Factory Director Xing's face turned red and pale, and he didn't know how to treat Qian Qing. This was the factory's last hope, but when he arrived, he saw workers making a fuss and demanding their wages.

Qian Qing and Zhou Hao understood after listening to a few sentences. It was nothing more than that the factory owed the workers wages for two months and sent all the workers home last week. They said that the machines could not be turned on without orders, so the workers had to go home and do nothing. I don't know who heard it, but the factory was going to close down soon. Recently, the workers have been chasing and intercepting several leaders everywhere, insisting on an explanation.

Director Xing said, "It's not a big deal. I'll go out and take care of it."

If they scare people away again now, their factory will be really finished.

It would have been fine if Director Xing hadn't gone out. Once he did, the workers who were surrounding him became even more excited. Some of them had bamboo sticks in their hands and were eager to come up and hit Director Xing with them.

Qian Qing listened to Director Xing's earnest advice outside.

"Don't worry, our factory will not close down. Director Wu and I are working on finding a way out for you, and we will definitely not owe you wages."

The workers below were very excited.

"Bullshit! Director Wu ran away a long time ago! I haven't seen him in this month!"

"You said you wanted to find a way out, but what way out? If this factory closes down, you leaders can still find another place to continue your job, but what should we do?"

"There are seven or eight people in my family, and they all depend on my salary to survive. Director Xing, have you paid the first two months' salary?"

"I have children in school, and I haven't received my salary for two months. I still haven't paid the textbook fees for my children."

…

Listening to these complaints, Qian Qing couldn't help but think of her own fear last year. In the dream she had last year, when Zhou Hao became the first batch of employees to be laid off, she went to her leader to cry in the same way.

When the tide of the times comes, the boat that cannot adapt is always the first to be overturned, but what is the fault of the people on the boat?

After waiting for a long time, Director Xing finally appeased the workers who were making trouble outside and postponed the payment of wages for half a month. He was exhausted.

Qian Qing thought for a moment, then pointed at the batch of fabrics that were said to be imported and asked Director Xing: "What is the purchase price of this batch of fabrics?"

Factory Director Xing replied without hesitation: "The imported ones are four yuan per meter."

The price was really not cheap, but Qian Qing thought it was still within her acceptable range. After all, the fabrics were purchased from state-owned factories as quotas, and the government provided subsidies. If an individual like her were to import them, the price would probably be half as much.

Qian Qing had a good impression of Director Xing, but before making a decision, she still asked clearly: "Director Xing, how much foreign exchange quota does our factory have every year?"

Director Xing flipped through the information in his hand and said, "The quota is about 50,000 yuan per year."

This share is not much for Qian Qing, but fortunately Qian Qing has made up her mind. As for the OEM factory, who said there can only be one?

She signed contracts with a few more companies for long-term cooperation, so that there would be a balance between them to avoid production not keeping up.

"Okay, let's sign the contract."

Director Xing seemed not to understand Qian Qing's words and was stunned for a moment.

"You mean...you're going to sign a contract with us?"

Qian Qing nodded and took out a contract that she had prepared in advance from her bag: "Among the clothes I brought this time, there are eight styles that just happen to need this batch of fabrics from your factory, but our contract is still signed on a one-year basis. During this one-year period, I will send an employee to be responsible for contacting you."

"The first batch is eight styles for autumn. We will decide on the styles twice every season. One is for advance approval, and the other is for the styles that may be added in the middle. We will give the requirements for fabrics in advance and adjust them according to the styles. We will also conduct random inspections on the clothes that come out. If the quality qualification rate is not high enough, we will deduct part of the payment. If the quality fails to meet the standards for multiple times, we will consider invalidating the contract."

"This contract consists of two parts. One part is the rules for long-term cooperation, and the other part is the first batch of orders for these eight styles of clothing."

"I'll place an order for 1,000 pieces of each of these eight styles, and we'll finish them within half a month. We'll set the prices for each style later. Director Xing, I've made it very clear. My request is that we come up with the styles, and you'll take care of all the production links. You must ensure that these styles cannot be leaked. You need to explain this clearly to the workers in your factory."

"As for payment, we do business-to-business payment. Half is paid first after the deposit is made, and the other half is paid after the goods are inspected and accepted."

Qian Qing's conversation was clear and organized, which made Director Xing understand completely that the other party was not joking with him, but had really decided to sign a contract with them based on this inspection!

He thought this would be a very troublesome matter, so he booked a table at the hotel in advance. When he applied for the money from the accountant, he was almost glared at by the accountant.

"...Thank you! Thank you so much! Comrade Qian, you really helped us a lot!"

Director Xing choked up as he spoke. If it weren't for Qian Qing's order, it's hard to say whether their factory could survive this year. Although the workers were impulsive, think carefully. If there was no other way, who would be willing to act so impulsively? Their Mudan Garment Factory has been in operation for more than ten years. Although it's not big, the workers have worked here for more than ten years. If you destroy their jobs now, they won't be able to find other jobs.

Qian Qing interrupted Director Xing's emotion and said business was business. Although she sympathized with the factory workers, she would not have placed an order so straightforwardly if the factory workers did not happen to have the fabric she needed.

However, some ugly words still need to be said in advance.

"Director Xing, apart from these, there is one thing I hope you can do... Your director's last name is Wu, right?"

Director Xing nodded.

Qian Qing said bluntly: "I signed this contract with you. I hope you can still make the subsequent contacts. I also hope you can unify the opinions of your factory. I will give this contract to you. You'd better hold a meeting to discuss things clearly. The clauses in it are binding on both of us. I want to find a stable and long-term supplier, and I don't want to change it in the middle because of various troubles. Do you understand this?"

Qian Qing has seen many cases where the people below get things done and the leaders above come to reap the benefits. There are so many leaders in Mudan Garment Factory, but now only Director Xing is left, and the other leaders are nowhere to be seen. It is easy to imagine what the internal environment is like. But Qian Qing does not intend to give up the cooperation with Mudan Garment Factory because of this. It is normal for people to have selfish desires. Is she going to give up her business just because of this selfish desire?

However, she did not have the time in the United States to get to know the temperaments of all the leaders of a foundry one by one. Since she had a good impression of Director Xing, she would target him for future contacts.

Qian Qing didn't care about Director Wu or other leaders. She just wanted them to deliver the products on time, complete the production tasks with guaranteed quality and quantity, and not cause her any more trouble.

Director Xing was silent for a while, but he could understand Qian Qing's point. Even though he had worked in state-owned factories for so many years, he had to admit that state-owned factories had many problems. Sometimes, interpersonal relationships could make people lose all their energy to focus on production.

Although their factory has less than 100 people, there are undercurrents among the leaders. Take this batch of fabrics for example. When they were delivered, everyone said they were good, but after they were delivered, there were problems, and no leader was willing to pay for it. Wu Factory has been around for many years, and people just muddle through day by day, and rarely come to the factory.

Qian Qing said this upfront, clearly telling him that no matter how serious the internal strife in their factory was, it should not affect her production. If it did, the other party would most likely change partners.

Qian Qing handed the contract to the other party, and after negotiation, the two sides decided on the factory prices of the eight styles of clothing, mostly between 10 and 15 yuan. Qian Qing did not set a hard price. Even though she already knew the other party's purchase price of fabrics, and the other party happened to be in a hurry to get the payment back, Qian Qing could easily lower the price to less than 10 yuan.

But doing so will not benefit Qingyue in the long run.

If you want to be a long-term supplier, shouldn’t you leave some profit space for others?

Qian Qing felt relieved after the first contract was signed. Director Xing even invited them to dinner at the hotel, saying that a seat had already been reserved.

Qian Qing was a little confused: "Isn't your factory already unable to pay wages? Why are you so generous?"

Speaking of this, Director Xing was a little helpless and complained to Qian Qing: "It's like this when negotiating business in the provincial capital now. No business can be negotiated without having a meal. Most of the time, they take people out to eat, and then go to the karaoke bar. After spending hundreds of dollars, they may not be able to get the order."

Qian Qing was a little confused: "Are state-owned factories facing such difficulties now?"

Director Xing: "Not really, but our clothing industry has been hit the hardest. In the past, no one cared about the styles, and we could sell clothes with cloth coupons. Now, many clothes are imported from abroad, and some styles change every few days. We would like to learn from them, but the machines can't keep up with the aesthetics, and the factories are delayed. In our factory, a college student came and insisted that the fabric we used was not good. Since the country has provided foreign exchange subsidies, it would be a pity not to use it. Later, we contacted foreign suppliers and imported this batch of fabrics. In the end, we couldn't use them at all. Alas, several factories in the provincial capital have closed down this year."

Qian Qing understood that the management style of the state-owned factory was outdated, and few workers were motivated. Reforms at this time would never succeed. The imported fabrics had no designs, and they could only watch them pile up in the warehouse and rot.

"Let's skip the meal. We have some private matters to attend to."

Qian Qing looked at Zhou Hao. She and Zhou Hao had already agreed last night that they would go look for Lao Ding tonight.

Factory Director Xing saw that the other party was not pretending, so he agreed. After agreeing on a time to formally sign the contract and finalize the details, Qian Qing left the Mudan Garment Factory with Zhou Hao.

The two of them took a tricycle to the Provincial University. Lao Ding's store was right in front of the main entrance of the Provincial University.

When they arrived at the main gate of the Provincial University, Qian Qing and Zhou Hao were both stunned. Lao Ding's store had doubled in size, but the door was closed. They could hear music coming from inside and flickering lights.

Qian Qing was a little unsure when she first saw this, thinking that Lao Ding had moved to a new place. Zhou Hao went to knock on the door, but found that it was only half-closed. He pushed it and it opened.

At this moment, Lao Ding was sitting at the door with his legs crossed, holding a handful of bills in his hand, looking like a miser collecting tickets. When he saw someone coming in, he just made an excuse.

"We are late. There are too many people here right now. Please wait for half an hour before anyone else comes in."

Zhou Hao narrowed his eyes and slammed his head on Lao Ding's. Lao Ding then followed the flashing red light and saw his brother Hao and his wife standing at the door together.

"Hey, Brother Hao! Why didn't you tell me you were coming so I could pick you up!"

Lao Ding jumped up from his chair, his face full of surprise.

Zhou Hao looked at the chaotic dance in the room in silence. The sound of disco completely drowned out the human voices.

"You... come out and speak!"

Lao Ding stuffed the bill into his trousers and shouted to a young boy with a crew cut next to him, "Watch the stall for me. My brother Hao is here. I want to go out for dinner with him."

The young boy made an OK gesture, and then Lao Ding followed Zhou Hao and Qian Qing out the door.

Before Zhou Hao could say anything, Lao Ding gave him instructions before he could leave the house.

"This is not a good place like the provincial university. There are many young people who like to dance nearby, so I built a disco."

Needless to say, this guy must have made a lot of money. Zhou Hao saw it clearly just now. There was an alarm clock next to Lao Ding, and it was obvious that he was keeping track of the time.

"...When you do this, no one usually checks on you?"

This kind of entertainment venue can be considered an emerging industry. Lao Ding has a sharp eye, but Zhou Hao is worried that he will fail.

Lao Ding chuckled and said, "How can that be possible? This is a legitimate business, and it's registered!"

Of course, Lao Ding also mixed with some local bosses in private and gave them some benefits, otherwise his dance hall would not have been able to run so smoothly.

Zhou Hao took a deep look at Lao Ding and said, "Don't get involved in those messy things."

Lao Ding immediately raised his right hand: "I swear! Brother Hao, how can I be such a tactless person? What I am doing now is called the entertainment industry. Usually, the people who come here are college students, and some teachers come too. Don't worry."

How could the miscellaneous things he sold be as comfortable as this dance hall? He only needed to open it for a few hours in the evening, charging one dollar per hour. As long as he had a place and lights and made sure no one made trouble, he could make nearly a hundred dollars in one night.

After explaining his own affairs, Old Ding curiously asked Zhou Hao what Qian Qing was doing in the provincial capital. When he heard that Qian Qing had already opened a company and came here to find a foundry, Old Ding was full of admiration.

"My sister-in-law is such a strong woman. How long has it been? She has opened up the company in less than a year. She is really amazing!"

Old Ding insisted on treating Zhou Hao, and Zhou Hao didn't argue, so he took him to a restaurant. After ordering a few dishes, Old Ding took a few sips and his tongue became swollen.

When a man gets drunk, he loves to reminisce about the past. Old Ding talked to Zhou Hao about the past.

"Brother Hao, tell me... you had such good grades that year, why did you go back to Beishan Town? Your wife sold you out, but you still insisted on going back to see her. In the end, you couldn't even go to school..."