"Hmph, forging a lady's seal is a capital offense!" Jiang Ling thought to herself.
Lightning Girl looked at Jiang Ling's cold smile, and a chill ran down her spine.
She was about to open her mouth to explain when Jiang Ling spoke first, "Lightning Girl, don't feel pressured, this has nothing to do with you! You're very meticulous and careful in your work, I believe in you!"
Despite Jiang Ling's words, Lightning Girl trembled slightly when she thought of Jiang Ling's previous smile.
Jiang Ling comforted Lightning Girl a few more times before leaving her shampoo factory.
Lightning Girl patted her chest and secretly vowed that she would be 120% more alert in the future and would never make such a mistake again.
A week passed in the blink of an eye, and there was no progress at all. Jiang Yaojie was extremely depressed every day, and he was too lazy to even step out of his house. He locked himself in his room every day except for meals and going to the outhouse.
Although Jiang Ling had talked with Jiang Yaojie a few times this week, she was always either unable to express herself clearly or seemed distracted.
Jiang Ling could only offer some words of comfort to Jiang Yaojie, telling him not to be too upset about it. Jiang Yaojie nodded reluctantly and said nothing more.
Early this morning, the rapid sound of horses' hooves came to a stop at the gate of Jiang Ling's house.
"Is Mr. Jiang here?" A strange male voice came through the door.
Jiang Ling greeted her and quickly walked to the door and opened it.
Standing outside the door were Mr. Zhang and an elderly man of about fifty years old. The man was dressed in brocade and wore a jade thumb ring. Just by looking at his attire, one could tell that the old man was definitely not wealthy.
"Mr. Zhang, is this your boss?" Jiang Ling asked, bowing to the two men.
Mr. Zhang, no longer displaying his previous arrogance, carefully served the old man.
The old man gave Mr. Zhang a meaningful look and then said, "You must be Jiang Yaojie's mother, Jiang Shi, right? My surname is Qin, and I'm from Qingzhou. You don't look very old, so just call me Old Qin, it won't hurt!"
Jiang Ling tactfully called out, then led the two into her courtyard.
"I heard from Qide that there was a problem with this batch of goods?" Old Qin asked bluntly as soon as he sat down.
Jiang Ling nodded and said without any hesitation, "Yes, I didn't encounter any problems with this batch of goods at home during transit, but I don't think I bear full responsibility for this matter!"
"You! Boss Jiang, what do you mean by that? Are you trying to shirk your responsibility?" Zhang Qide glared at Jiang Ling and scolded her.
"Qide! You have no right to speak here!" Zhang Qide's rudeness clearly displeased Old Qin, who glared at him with a dark expression.
Zhang Qide trembled, covered his mouth, and lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong.
"Mr. Jiang, I don't quite understand what you mean by 'not entirely responsible'?" Old Qin's sharp gaze fell on Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling remained unmoved, offering a faint smile as she explained, "Mr. Qin, this order was negotiated between you and my son. I won't inquire about the details, but there's one thing I'd like to know: since this is your first time working with us, why did you pay the full amount upfront? You know, in most of our business dealings, we only require a deposit, with the balance due upon receipt of the goods!"
After hearing Jiang Ling's words, Old Qin was stunned for a moment, but then quickly regained his composure. He glanced at Jiang Ling and said, "I, Old Qin, have always done business this way. I find deposits and final payments troublesome! Besides, the things I like are never wrong!"
At this point, Old Qin's eyes became even sharper.
Hearing this, Jiang Ling felt somewhat helpless. She glanced at Old Qin and frowned, saying, "But Old Qin, this will create hidden dangers, like what's happening now!"
After listening, Old Qin frowned deeply, revealing a displeased attitude. Clearly, in all his years in the business world, Old Qin had never encountered anyone who dared to question him.
"That just means you misjudged people, what does it have to do with us?" Old Qin said angrily.
Jiang Ling wasn't annoyed after hearing this. She took out the forged delivery note from before and said to Old Qin, "Old Qin, have you shown this delivery note to anyone else before? Or have you given it to anyone else for safekeeping? Or has it ever suddenly disappeared and then mysteriously reappeared a few days later?"
The three consecutive questions left Old Qin somewhat overwhelmed, and his brows furrowed even more deeply, almost forming a "川" (river) shape.
After a long silence, Zhang Qide suddenly whispered to Old Qin, "Old Qin, about that time before..."
Zhang Qide's voice was extremely low, and even though Jiang Ling strained her ears, she could only hear a few words.
But as Zhang Qide kept talking, Old Qin's expression became more and more serious. In the end, Old Qin's originally rosy face turned so dark that you could wring water out of it.
"Boss Jiang, have you seen those two people?" Old Qin's attitude had clearly changed as he spoke.
Jiang Ling nodded and replied, "When my son and I went to Ye City before, we were lucky enough to run into those two people. But I was afraid of alerting them, so I didn't make a fuss. The two people were one tall and one short, one fat and one thin, and one of the men had a black mole on his face!"
"It matches! Boss! It matches!" Zhang Qide, who was standing next to her, was very excited after hearing Jiang Ling's words.
"Can't you be a little more composed? You're a grown man!" Compared to Zhang Qide, Old Qin was much calmer, and he angrily rebuked Zhang Qide.
Upon hearing Old Qin's angry rebuke, Zhang Qide shrank back and stood to the side with his head down.
"Mr. Jiang, it was indeed my oversight before. I will investigate this matter thoroughly. As for compensation, you don't need tenfold compensation. How quickly can you deliver this batch of shampoo?"
The sudden change caught Jiang Ling off guard. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she quickly put on a nonchalant expression and said to Old Qin, "This batch of shampoo will take at least a month and a half to be ready. If you can't wait, Old Qin, I can refund all the money to you!"
Old Qin shook his head and refused, saying, "Then there's no need. Let's draft a new contract, and I'll come to pick up the goods in a month and a half!"
Jiang Ling was overjoyed upon hearing this, but she knew the importance of not showing her emotions. She tried her best to remain calm and nodded to Elder Qin, saying, "Elder Qin, please wait a moment. I will have my son draft the contract right away!"
After saying that, she walked happily toward Jiang Yaojie's room.
...
As soon as Jiang Ling entered, Jiang Yaojie sighed heavily, looked out the window with a worried expression, and asked, "Mother, what's wrong? Did Mr. Zhang come to ask for money?"
"No, it's all settled. We don't need to pay any compensation. They'll come to pick up the goods in a month and a half!" Jiang Ling explained patiently.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yaojie's eyes widened and his mouth gaped open. A short while later, his eyes rolled back and he fainted.
Jiang Ling was terrified when she saw this. She picked up Jiang Yaojie and ran outside.
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