Chapter 117
That's fucking unreliable!
Factory Director Deng and his colleagues were so anxious that their mouths were covered in blisters within a few days. They tried to find people who had previously bought wholesale from them to sell the goods, but those people probably heard that Lin Lianhua had been imprisoned and fined, so they dared not take on the goods.
Factory Director Deng and the other leaders saw that the goods in the warehouse were piling up, the factory couldn't start production, and the workers were all waiting for their wages, like rats in a bellows.
Liang Ying waited for quite some time before bringing Lin Lu and the others to the garment factory. She immediately introduced herself to the Secretary, saying, "We are the owners of Youyou Clothing and we'd like to talk to your factory manager."
The Secretary's expression changed slightly. She quickly agreed, poured them all a glass of water, and then hurriedly turned and went into the office to inform them.
Lin Lu, holding her water glass, couldn't help but chuckle. She nudged Liang Ying's arm and said, "Sister-in-law, you're really something! Did you see that? That little girl's face turned pale with fright!"
A slight smile played on Liang Ying's lips. "We'll have to work together later. I think they might be anxious, but they're not necessarily easy to talk to."
Liang Ying knew the leaders of these state-owned factories very well.
These people often only think of themselves and don't care about the interests of the factory and workers at all. Whether they can achieve their goals this time is another matter.
"Miss Liang, please come in," the Secretary greeted her. Liang Ying and her companion got up and followed her inside.
Factory Director Deng, sitting in his chair, saw them enter and immediately asked, "Why are there two women? Don't you have any men in your company?"
This is how they start—by giving us a hard time.
Liang Ying didn't believe that the Secretary hadn't told him that the two of them were a man and a woman. She calmly sat down in the chair opposite her, and Lin Lu also sat down gracefully.
"Factory Director Deng, we're here today to discuss something with you. If you're unwilling to discuss it, that's fine too, but I guarantee that no one in your factory will dare to place an order for Body-Shaping Pants in the future!"
The smile on Factory Director Deng's face gradually disappeared, and the corners of his lips pressed into a flat line.
He glanced at his Secretary and waved his hand.
The Secretary quickly closed the door and left.
"Is Miss Liang threatening us?" Factory Director Deng retorted. "Your Youyou was the first to make Body-Shaping Pants, that doesn't mean other garment factories can't produce them, does it?"
"Of course you can produce them, but making counterfeit goods and selling inferior products to consumers seems a bit unethical." Liang Ying calmly crossed her arms on her knees, her left leg over her right. "You didn't handle this very well. By the way, did you know Lin Lianhua is in jail?"
Factory Director Deng's eyes darkened. He lit a cigarette and deliberately puffed out smoke. "Who is Lin Lianhua? We don't know her."
"Oh, it's alright if you don't know her, but I'm worried about a few people. I know Lin Lianhua; she's opportunistic and spineless, always resorting to underhanded methods like bribery." Liang Ying paused, giving Factory Director Deng a half-smile, and only after noticing Factory Director Deng pale face did she slowly continue, "She might not remember right now, but if someone does, and reminds her, do you think she might redeem herself? Their family was fined quite a bit this time."
The office was deathly quiet.
After a moment, Factory Director Deng suddenly stubbed out his cigarette and laughed, "Comrade Liang, you really like to joke. To be honest, I admire how well you've managed to make your business so successful. I, as the factory director, am out of touch with the times; this factory is about to shut down."
"Factory Director Deng, you're too modest. To tell you the truth, we've come with sincerity..."
Seeing that Factory Director Deng had become obedient, Liang Ying softened her attitude.
Knowing the adage "a slap followed by a sweet treat," she smiled and said, "We'd like to cooperate with you. You can help us with production, but the quality of the pants can't be the same as now. Let's have a powerful alliance and make money together. What do you think?"
After negotiating for more than two hours at the garment factory, and finally agreeing on a price, it was already dark when they left the factory. The Factory Director Deng, even offered to treat them to dinner, but Liang Ying declined, saying she had to go home to take care of her child.
Lin Lu didn't say a word from beginning to end.
When they got back, she said, "Sister-in-law, why do we really have to let them help us with the birth? Isn't that just giving them an easy way out?"
Sitting in the taxi, the neon-lit street scenes flashed by outside. She took out two chocolates from her bag and shared one with Lin Lu. "Liang Ying Lin Lu, we're doing business here. The most important thing in business is to make money peacefully. We can make Lin Lianhua pay the price, but what can we do with this kind of factory and these bosses who have secure jobs? Besides, they might have connections. Rather than offending them to death, it's better to turn enemies into friends."
Ultimately, it's about giving others a way out, and giving yourself a way out.
If Lin Lianhua hadn't shamelessly used Youyou's trademark directly, Liang Ying wouldn't have paid any attention to her at all if she had simply asked someone to produce Body-Shaping Pants.
She clearly remembered what her father had taught her: the most important thing in doing business is that everyone has enough to eat.
Lin Lu listened thoughtfully, deeply realizing that she was far behind her sister-in-law in many ways.
She's been in business for several years now. She's kind to her own people, but she's not so polite to outsiders, especially her competitors.
Looking back now, I realize I've offended quite a few people over the years; it was really unnecessary.
Think of Lin Lianhua; she really offended people badly, so everyone applauded her imprisonment this time.
By the time the Song Family paid the fine and she was released from the detention center, it was already mid-February.
Lin Lianhua hadn't even had a chance to shower and wash away the bad luck when she got home, when she heard devastating news. The water glass in her hand shattered on the floor with a crash. "What?! The factory fired me?! No, why did they fire me?!"
Lin Lianhua blushed with excitement.
Huang Xirong sneered, knitting a sweater in her hands, and said sarcastically, "Why should they keep you? You've already evaded taxes and gone to jail, it's against the law. Besides, your colleagues all said you weren't careful in your work, and the new manager of the factory kicked you out without saying a word."
"Those bitches are clearly taking revenge on me on purpose!"
Lin Lianhua immediately realized that Sister Sun and the others had complained. She was furious and turned to leave, but Song Jianshe grabbed her. "Where are you going? Haven't we embarrassed our family enough? Go take a pomelo leaf bath to get rid of the bad luck!"
"That's right, don't bring your bad luck into our house and drag us down with you!" Huang Xirong sneered. "You're really something, you've ruined our family."
Lin Lianhua was filled with shame and anger, feeling both embarrassed and furious.
"How have I dragged you down? I was only doing this for my family. Losing my factory job is no big deal; it only pays a few dozen yuan. I can make a lot of money selling Body-Shaping Pants!"
Lin Lianhua was full of confidence.
She believed that if she got a certificate and remembered to pay the taxes later, she could make a lot of money like Liang Ying.
But when she arrived at the garment factory, she was turned away before she could even enter.
Lin Lianhua looked at the gatekeeper in disbelief and said, "You didn't recognize me? I'm here to order goods from your factory manager!"
The security guard slammed the door shut and said, "I know you. Our factory manager specifically instructed us not to let you in. Because of you, our factory has lost several thousand yuan. You still dare to come here? If you don't leave, I'm going to unleash the dogs."
Behind the iron gate, a shiny black dog was barking wildly at Lin Lianhua.
Lin Lianhua shuddered in fright, gritted her teeth, stared at the closed door, and turned to leave.
You don't know what's good for you? Fine, if your factory won't take this order, will others not?
Lin Lianhua ran around all day, but wherever she went, people would refuse her as soon as they heard her name.
Finally, someone kindly reminded her, "Stop making trouble. Old Deng has already declared that anyone who does business with you is not his friend!"
"Factory Director Deng?!"
Lin Lianhua stared at the man in disbelief. "How... how did I offend him?!"
"I don't know about that, anyway, no one will take your order right now," the man said, shaking his head.
Lin Lianhua's face turned pale.
If factories in Beijing don't take her orders, it's like taking away her livelihood.
Finding factories in other places is extremely difficult. First, people don't know her, so how could they dare to accept orders? Second, people are considered inferior when they are away from home; if she gets ripped off, she'll be an outsider and have nowhere to seek justice.
Lin Lianhua finally realized that she was probably being retaliated against by Liang Ying!
She returned home dejectedly. Huang Xirong was there coaxing Da Bao to eat. When she saw her come back, he didn't even call her to eat. He rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "Some people are really lucky. They're never home all day, but they still know to come home for dinner!"
Even though Lin Lianhua was furious, she didn't dare to retaliate.
She's completely broke now. All her previous money went to fines, and she lost her job at the factory. Now her whole family depends on Song Jianshe to earn money.
No matter how sarcastic Huang Xirong was, she could only swallow it.
A few days later, Liang Ying saw Lin Lianhua being ordered around by Huang Xirong, carrying groceries on the street. Upon seeing Liang Ying, Lin Lianhua quickly lowered her head, clearly not wanting to see her.
Liang Ying remained calm and didn't say anything to kick someone when they were down.
Gu Yinxing took her hand and said, "Sister-in-law, let's not eat at home tomorrow night. Let's have Yan Ren treat us to hot pot after we get off work."
"Eating hot pot again? Don't you get tired of it? You've had it five times this month already. Be careful not to get a sore throat."
Liang Ying said with a smile.
Gu Yinxing blinked. "I don't know why, but lately I've been craving meat, especially mutton with a little chive sauce. I even dreamt about it last night, and my mouth was watering."
Liang Ying pursed her lips. "Alright, then go ahead. Just don't dream about eating lamb and eating Yan Ren tonight."
"That won't work," Gu Yinxing chuckled. "Yan Ren's meat is Yan Ren; you can't bite it."
The two parties reached an agreement and set a time.
Gu Yinxing didn't know why, but she really craved this dish. Even at work, she would think about ordering several plates of cucumber strips and extra frozen tofu for dinner.
She loved eating the tofu, which was soaked in broth and tasted even better than meat.
The cabbage is also good. Oh, and I'll have to get a plate of sesame seed cakes later. The freshly baked sesame seed cakes are so crispy. After you eat one, you have to catch all the sesame seeds with your hands, otherwise you'll still find sesame seeds on your clothes after washing them a few days later.
"Hey, what are you thinking about? You're so engrossed, you're practically drooling."
Chen Deng Deng nudged Gu Yinxing.
Gu Yinxing snapped out of her daze and quickly wiped her mouth. "It's nothing. I was just spacing out since there are no patients around. Why did you come over?"
"Don't mention it, I came here to avoid trouble."
Chen Deng Deng glanced outside and whispered, "Zhao Donglai to our hospital to question us. He even grabbed me just now, but luckily I reacted quickly and slipped out under the pretense of needing to pee."
"What... what's he doing at our hospital?"
Gu Yinxing asked in surprise, "Wasn't Song Mei suspended from her job?"
Chen said, "That's right, it's about her suspension. I heard that her in-laws were trying to persuade her to apologize to the leaders and come back to work, but I guess they heard something and nothing happened." She added gossipingly, "Zhao Dong just came over and asked about this, asking if Dr. Sun and Song Mei were having an affair?"
Ah?
Gu Yinxing was taken aback.
She immediately understood. "No wonder you ran away. You were right to run. We shouldn't get involved in this!"
As the saying goes, even a dog won't pay attention to a couple who are fighting, let alone in a situation that's quite complicated.
"I'm not stupid. It's best to stay far away from things like this."
Chen Deng Deng grabbed a handful of melon seeds and shared them with Gu Yinxing. "However, Song Mei isn't very good at handling people. She's afraid people will say things they shouldn't. Actually, it's hard to say whether Song Mei and Doctor Sun actually had anything going on. If those people are sensible, they shouldn't meddle in other people's business."
That makes sense, but Chen Deng Deng was right. Song Mei, as a senior nurse in the hospital, often bullied the younger nurses, ordering them around and frequently insulting them for being clumsy. But she treated other male doctors completely differently.
When things are fine, everything is fine, but when something goes wrong, everyone naturally kicks you when you're down.
As soon as Zhao Donglai, a few nurses inadvertently let slip that Song Mei and Doctor Sun did indeed often flirt in the hospital, and that Song Mei even got meals for Doctor Sun, but...