The Fourth District of the target factory wasn’t in the same location as the Second District they visited last time. This Fourth District seemed slightly more populated than the Second District. Right at the entrance was a logistics company, with cardboard boxes scattered messily at the doorway, making it look like a recycling station.

This was Qing Ye’s first time formally discussing business cooperation with someone. She remembered how her father always carried himself with distinction when meeting business partners. Her father had told her that this way, people wouldn’t dare underestimate you at first glance.

Qing Ye remembered her father’s words and wanted to establish dominance from the start, but upon arrival, she finally understood Xing Wu’s mocking gaze. She had overthought things.

She hadn’t expected the food factory to be large, but at least it should be a proper factory with production lines. Instead, it was just a shabby courtyard, like a small workshop. As soon as they entered, a huge wolf dog lunged toward Qing Ye, barking aggressively. She was so frightened that she jumped behind Xing Wu, nearly hanging onto his neck.

Xing Wu frowned, walked over, and quickly pinned down the dog, swiftly gripping its muzzle. Animals’ instincts can keenly sense others’ aggressive nature, and when they realize they’re outmatched, most animals choose to submit. Like this wolf-dog, now whimpering weakly under Xing Wu’s control, no longer daring to bark.

Someone walked out from the courtyard and called out, “Gou Dan!”

“…” What a refined name.

The large black dog then dropped its fierce demeanor and started wagging its head, prompting Xing Wu to release it.

Qing Ye finally met the legendary person in charge – a middle-aged man about 1.6 meters tall, wearing a jacket reminiscent of the 1990s factory worker style in a shit-brown color, with his hair slicked back. Upon seeing Xing Wu, he said with surprise, “Oh my, Manager Xing, you’re here to see me?”

“???” Qing Ye looked back at Xing Wu – since when did he become a manager?

Xing Wu, hands in his pockets, casually replied, “I’m not here for you, just accompanying them.”

Qing Ye suspiciously watched them, wondering how there could be anyone in this shabby place who didn’t know Xing Wu. How did everyone seem to know him wherever they went?

The person in charge of this food factory – if you could call it that – had the surname Xie, the same slick-haired man. He looked Qing Ye up and down, perhaps thinking she appeared wealthy and ended up being quite enthusiastic towards her.

When Manager Xie heard that Qing Ye wanted to distribute sweet potato chips, he properly showed them around the food factory. There wasn’t much to see – just a 500-square-meter workshop with a few old machines, and that was it.

Then he showed Qing Ye their food products – all simply packaged snacks and dried vegetables thrown into dirty baskets, completely unappetizing.

But Manager Xie was very polite, inviting her to try whatever she liked. Qing Ye didn’t usually eat such rustic snacks. She could barely understand the taro strips, but dried mushrooms? What kind of weird snacks were these? No wonder they were going bankrupt.

However, Manager Xie kept praising his products, saying they were much better than those from large factories, with no additives, and raw materials sourced directly from his hometown, claiming the taste was unbeatable.

Since he insisted, Qing Ye felt obligated to try. She picked up one of the peculiar dried mushrooms – truly dried, rock-hard. She chewed it, and surprisingly, despite its odd appearance, it was crispy and quite fragrant. How bizarre.

Manager Xie eagerly offered her dried dates next. Qing Ye had eaten dried dates before, but she’d never seen such large ones. What were these?

But when she bit into one, it was crispy and full-bodied, clearly made from a perfect date.

After the tour, Manager Xie took them to drink tea in a shed next to the courtyard. Qing Ye got straight to the point: “I can take your products, but the packaging must change. With your current packaging, nobody outside your county would want it.”

Manager Xie stroked his slicked-back hair and poured tea for Qing Ye: “We’re selling inexpensive items. Changing the packaging would increase costs.”

Qing Ye stared at the teacup he’d placed before her after touching his hair, not daring to touch it. She frowned and said, “First, your current packaging has a short shelf life. Unsold stock becomes a loss. Moreover, appearance matters. Food goes into people’s bodies – who wants to buy something in dirty-looking packaging? This vicious cycle makes business difficult.

People in big cities have different consumer mindsets than here. Sometimes unique packaging can make ordinary products popular – that’s the visual effect.”

Well, seeing Manager Xie’s blank expression, Qing Ye realized discussing visual effects with him was pointless. Then Manager Xie asked, “How do you want to change the packaging?”

Qing Ye pointed at the sweet potato chips by the door: “Everything needs individual vacuum packaging.”

Manager Xie suddenly burst out laughing, as if hearing something ridiculous: “I can package them by the pound or two pounds, no problem, but individually vacuum-sealed? These aren’t gold bars. Young lady, you’re too naive.”

Qing Ye stared at him expressionlessly, saying without humor, “You consider your products worthless, how can you expect consumers to value them?”

Manager Xie replied directly: “I can’t do that packaging. I don’t have vacuum-sealing machines, and honestly, this place isn’t profitable now. I can’t spend money on new machines. How about this – if you’re interested in our products, you can buy our existing machines. I’ll give you a good price.”

Qing Ye lowered her eyes, thinking: “How much for all the machines?”

At this point, Manager Xie glanced at Xing Wu, who seemed uninterested in these matters. During their tour and discussion, he’d been sitting in a lounge chair in the courtyard.

Qing Ye didn’t understand why Manager Xie kept looking at Xing Wu, so she turned to look too. The previously fierce wolf-dog was now docilely lying beside him as he lazily petted it with half-closed eyes, his long legs stretched out casually.

Then Manager Xie lowered his voice and showed Qing Ye five fingers: “This amount and all machines are yours, plus I’ll provide raw material sources.”

Qing Ye thought about it – she had no use for the machines, nowhere to put them, and no workers. It wasn’t practical. So she just exchanged contact information with Manager Xie and prepared to leave.

After leaving, Qing Ye muttered, “Fifty thousand for all the machines isn’t expensive. If I had people and space, I’d do it myself.”

Xing Wu gave her a sidelong glance, with a meaningful smile. Qing Ye sensed something wasn’t right and immediately turned to glare at him: “Why did Manager Xie call you Manager Xing?”

Xing Wu said nonchalantly, “Because I’ve repaired most of the machines in his factory. Know how much they’re worth?”

Qing Ye blinked, and seeing her looking like an easy mark, Xing Wu’s lips curved slightly: “These old second-hand machines wouldn’t sell for more than twenty thousand as a package.”

Qing Ye froze – so earlier when she asked Manager Xie the price, he looked at Xing Wu because he felt guilty. What a crafty old man!

She’d dressed up especially only to be taken for a fool. If she’d known, she would have borrowed clothes from Li Lanfang to look like a local. Damn!

Qing Ye hugged her coat tightly, pouting. The wind had grown stronger, and the sky had darkened ominously. They were about to hurry back when Xing Wu suddenly received a call from Quan Ya, saying Shu Han had been summoned by Manager Jiang, and they feared for her safety. They wanted Xing Wu to come check on the situation.

After hanging up, Xing Wu planned to go straight to the county town. Qing Ye said worriedly, “I’ll come with you.”

Le Zhi Xing was a questionable place, and Xing Wu didn’t want Qing Ye there, so he told her, “It’s not a good place.”

Qing Ye remained silent, just looking at him. Since it concerned Shu Han, he didn’t want Qing Ye to worry too much, so he didn’t insist on her staying behind.

Du Qiyan returned to Xuan Island first, while Xing Wu took a car to pick up Quan Ya. When Quan Ya got in and saw Qing Ye there, he stared at her for a moment but said nothing.

Xing Wu asked him what happened. He explained that in the afternoon, some friends went to Le Zhi Xing looking for Shu Han, and coincidentally Manager Jiang’s people came to invite her. She refused to go, which led to a conflict. Manager Jiang’s men beat up Shu Han’s two brothers, and later Shu Han’s friend frantically called Quan Ya, saying Shu Han had been forcibly taken to Manager Jiang.

Xing Wu frowned, his face dark. Qing Ye asked, “Is this Manager Jiang very powerful?”

Quan Ya, sitting in the front passenger seat, replied, “All the notable entertainment venues in the county town belong to him. Le Zhi Xing, where we’re heading, is backed by Manager Jiang.”

Qing Ye realized they were in trouble and turned to ask Xing Wu, “Are you familiar with Manager Jiang?”

“Met him years ago at a shooting competition he organized. It’s been over ten years. We have some connection, but aren’t close.”

Qing Ye suddenly remembered what Yellow Hair had mentioned before about a big boss in the county town who had organized a CS competition, where Xing Wu, just a kid then, had gone to challenge them. That boss must be this Manager Jiang.

When they parked outside Le Zhi Xing, it was completely dark. As soon as Qing Ye got out, her hair was blown wild by the wind. Xing Wu turned back and offered his hand, and she quickly grabbed his arm, feeling like the wind might blow her away.

Before entering, Xing Wu instructed her: “Stay close to me, don’t wander off.”

Qing Ye looked up at the large “Le Zhi Xing Club” sign, with a KTV logo behind it. Once inside, she discovered it was huge, decorated in a nouveau riche gold style – probably considered high-end for this county town.

A suited manager came to greet them, and Xing Wu directly asked him to inform Manager Jiang that he was Xing Wu.

His straight-ahead gaze was cold and sharp, looking quite intimidating. The manager didn’t dare delay and contacted Manager Jiang’s people. Soon he received a call inviting Xing Wu over.

So Qing Ye followed behind Xing Wu and Quan Ya, occasionally looking around. They passed through a long corridor lined with KTV rooms. At first, Qing Ye thought this was just for singing, but later she realized how naive that was. After the KTV rooms, they took an elevator up to a dance floor.

It was like a club, with performers in the middle, booth seating around the perimeter, and a DJ. Since people probably finished their nightlife activities early in this area, places like this started operating in the afternoon.

Qing Ye had been to KTV in Beijing with classmates before – those rich kids would often rent luxury rooms for wild parties with food and drinks. But she’d never been to a place like this that wasn’t quite a proper KTV or a proper club.

Along the way, several scantily-clad young women flirtatiously teased Xing Wu and Quan Ya. Xing Wu looked back at Qing Ye, who had her hands in her coat pockets and a calm expression. Seeing him turn around, she asked, “Those girls are…?”

“Exactly what you think.”

Seeing Qing Ye’s tense expression, he slowed down to walk beside her and asked, “First time here?”

“You think my dad would bring me along when he visited prostitutes?”

“…”

She looked up at Xing Wu: “What about you? Come here often?”

Xing Wu looked down at her playfully: “Don’t be silly, I’m still a student.”

“…” Student my foot.