Chapter 66 The Sixty-Sixth Day of Not Running Away The Sixty-Sixth Day of Not Running Away...

Chapter 66 The Sixty-Sixth Day of Not Running Away The Sixty-Sixth Day of Not Running Away...

"Does that girl really have the money to buy it?" Secretary Wei Xian squatted on the ground next to the factory, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Looking at him, no one would guess that he was the secretary of a textile factory.

Factory Director Zhang said, "People can't lie to us. I've been there. Although their garment factory isn't big, it has all the proper licenses and permits."

“If we sell it to her, we won’t earn any foreign exchange.” Wei Xian rubbed his hands. In March, it was still quite cold in the middle of the night, especially outside the factory. The north wind was howling, like tiny knives scraping people’s faces red.

Factory Director Zhang glanced at Wei Xian sideways, his hands tucked into his sleeves, and without saying a word, stood up and walked towards Liu Yan.

Wei Xian panicked and hurriedly chased after him, grabbing Director Zhang's shoulder, "Old Zhang, where are you going?"

Factory Director Zhang said, “I finally found someone who wants our goods, and you complain that we can’t earn foreign exchange. If you’re so capable, go to Beijing and find your own way. Do you think there are many rich people in Beijing? Dozens of people in our factory are all relying on the sale of this fabric to pay their wages. It’s been three months already. If we don’t pay our wages soon, the workers will starve to death.”

Factory Director Zhang was so agitated that his face turned red, his neck bulged, and the veins on his forehead stood out.

Seeing his loud voice, the girl on the phone inside looked over, afraid that the duck that was about to be eaten would fly away. She quickly grabbed his arm and forcibly pulled him aside. "Old Zhang, look at you, what did I tell you? I didn't say we wouldn't do this business. Yes, we owe the workers money, but we had no choice. Who knew that foreigner would cheat us? I was thinking that if we don't earn foreign exchange, we can't explain it to the leaders. Maybe we should ask for more money."

Factory Director Zhang stared at Wei Xian, "How could you be such a person?"

Wei Xian said, "What's wrong with me? I'm doing this for myself, but isn't it also for everyone? If we make more money, the workers can earn more too."

Wei Xian shook the cigarette in his hand, the ash falling to the ground. "Tell me, isn't that the truth?"

"Sister." Liu Yan was making a phone call in the textile factory office. Her two cousins ​​were waiting outside. One of them, named Le Quan, knocked on the door and came over.

Liu Yan spoke a few words to Wen Chan on the other end of the phone, hung up, and looked at Le Quan, "What's wrong?"

Le Quanchong, standing in the shadows of the corridor outside, raised his chin and said to Director Zhang, "I just overheard that Party Secretary telling Old Zhang that he wants to ask us for more money. You should keep that in mind."

Liu Yan's eyes flickered, and she nodded to Le Quan, "Okay, I understand."

Upon seeing Liu Yan come out, Wei Xian and Factory Manager Zhang immediately walked over. Wei Xian had a big smile on his face. "Ms. Liu, did you finish the call?"

Liu Yan laughed and said, "We've finished fighting, we're planning to go back to sleep now."

Wei Xian was taken aback. "Sleep? Aren't you in a hurry to..."

"Yes, I was in a hurry to let my family know. Director Zhang, let's discuss our business this afternoon. We're all exhausted after staying up all night and we're not in the mood to talk business."

Liu Yan looked at Director Zhang and said.

Factory Director Zhang paused for a moment, then nodded subconsciously, "Of course, of course, I'll take you back to the guesthouse."

"No need, no need." Liu Yan waved her hand. "You're exhausted too. Now that you're home, go back and get some rest. We can talk about it later."

Her words caught Wei Xian and Factory Director Zhang completely off guard.

The two originally thought that Liu Yan was in a hurry to do business and that they should be able to start talking as soon as they came out.

Wei Xian had some ulterior motives. He knew that this group of people had come back by train, and after a long journey without proper rest, they were at their most exhausted and their minds were more numb than usual.

If we could take advantage of this moment, capitalize on Liu Yan's eagerness to buy fabric, and set a high price, it would be a great service to the factory.

Unexpectedly, Liu Yan made a phone call and then turned around and went back to the guesthouse.

Wei Xian quickly winked at Director Zhang, signaling him to stop the man.

Factory Director Zhang was an honest man. Although he wanted to make more money, he didn't want to cheat people like this, so he lowered his head and pretended not to see it.

Seeing this, Liu Yan smiled and said, "You two don't need to see us off. Don't be so polite. We know the way back to the guesthouse."

She smiled and left with her two younger cousins.

Wei Xian was furious and stomped his foot, saying, "Old Zhang, why didn't you say anything just now?"

Factory Director Zhang wasn't without temper either. He yawned and said, "Secretary, it's already past four o'clock. You've gotten up to sleep, but I haven't slept a wink all night. I need to go home and sleep too."

It's not so bad if I don't say I'm sleepy, but as soon as I do, my eyelids start to droop.

On the way back, Lequan and Leyou gave Liu Yan a thumbs up: "Sister, you're really quick-witted."

Liu Yan chuckled, "Stop joking around. Go back and get some sleep. We're not in a rush right now. Let's talk business with them after we've had a good night's rest."

Liu Yan and the others slept until 3 p.m.

As soon as Liu Yan got up, she went over to call a few of her cousins ​​to go out for dinner. Although this small county town can't compare to Beijing, there's a state-run restaurant next to the guesthouse. She took a look at it last night when she came over; it's quite a large place, so she guesses it's doing good business.

As the group went downstairs chatting and laughing, they ran into Director Zhang and Wei Xian, who were sitting on chairs at the entrance of the guesthouse like two guardian deities.

When everyone's eyes met, they were all stunned for a moment.

Wei Xian sprang up as if he had a spring in his butt, walked over with a big smile, and warmly shook hands with Liu Yan, "Boss Liu, you're up. Are you hungry? I've asked the restaurant next door to prepare a table of delicious food just waiting for you to get up."

When Wei Xian met him last night, he was dressed no differently from an ordinary person, wearing a thin cotton-padded jacket and trousers. But today, he was dressed very conspicuously, in a Zhongshan suit with a pen clipped to his pocket, exuding an official air.

Liu Yan smiled and said, "Secretary Wei, you're being too polite. We can't let you spend so much money."

"Of course, of course. Come on, let's try some of our local specialties," Wei Xian invited.

It's definitely true that it's a specialty dish.

Fuliji roast chicken, stinky mandarin fish, honey-glazed sweet potatoes, and freshly baked crispy sesame cakes were served, along with two bottles of Jiannanchun liquor.

Upon seeing the wine, Liu Yan immediately said, "I'm sorry, I don't drink. It's best if none of us drink today."

Wei Xian was somewhat surprised, "How can we discuss business without drinking?"

Liu Yan laughed and said, "We're not having a meal, how did it become a business discussion? Let's eat, everyone eat to our hearts' content. Secretary Wei has prepared such a good meal, if we don't eat it, we'll be letting him down."

At her invitation, her cousins ​​didn't hold back at all. They had been sleeping for so long and were starving. They devoured their bowls and flatbreads in a couple of bites. Two roast chickens were served, roasted to a golden brown and fragrant color. They tore open easily with one hand, revealing tender white meat dripping with succulent oil. A large chicken leg was plump and fragrant. One bite and the meat was so tender it melted in your mouth, you could even taste the flavor in the bones.

Liu Yan's cousins ​​are all in their twenties, and men of that age generally have a large appetite.

As soon as they picked up their chopsticks, the dishes on the table dwindled rapidly.

The two roast chickens were gone in no time.

The stinky mandarin fish had quite a few bones, but they were quickly reduced to almost nothing.

The restaurant manager was stunned. Didn't Secretary Wei say that today's meal was for the boss from Beijing? How come the boss from Beijing is so hungry?

It's like a starving ghost being reincarnated.

Wei Xian was used to these kinds of things and wasn't particularly interested, but seeing how these people were wolfing down their food, he couldn't help but wonder if this was really the boss.

He eats just like an ordinary farmer.

He nudged Director Zhang, wanting him to say a few words, but Director Zhang was also engrossed in eating. Wei Xian couldn't help but roll his eyes.

No wonder Old Zhang hasn't been promoted all these years. He's really short-sighted and embarrassing. He can't even appreciate a few dishes properly. He's so ignorant.

After waiting for Liu Yan and the others to finish eating and drinking, Wei Xian was already getting impatient. He said, "Boss Liu, you all want all this denim, right?"

Liu Yan said, "Yes, you have fifty tons, right? I'll take them all, but you'll have to give me a discount."

“How much cheaper can we go? 130,000 is already the lowest price in our budget,” Wei Xian said. “Boss Liu, we’ve taken on a lot of debt to produce this batch of fabric, and now many of our workers can’t even afford to eat.”

“Wait, stop.” Liu Yan made a pause gesture and looked at Director Zhang. “Director Zhang, I remember we discussed a price of 120,000.”

“That’s right, it’s 120,000. Secretary Wei, you’ve got it wrong,” Factory Director Zhang said straightforwardly.

Wei Xian rolled his eyes inwardly. 120,000? This old Zhang is really stubborn.

With 120,000, you can only earn 30,000 to 40,000 at most. What's so great about a profit of 30,000 to 40,000? It's a far cry from the boasts you made about earning foreign exchange.

If we can't earn foreign exchange now, we should at least earn more money so we can have a better explanation to our superiors.

“Yes, Lao Zhang is right, but Lao Zhang doesn’t know that this 120,000 is the cost.” Wei Xian complained, “If you give us 120,000, we can at most break even and pay off the money we owe to other factories, but we still can’t pay the workers’ wages.”

“We have 36 workers in our factory, and the total monthly salary for all of them is only a little over 7,000 yuan. I was thinking that we should at least pay the workers a month’s salary so that they can have money to live on, don’t you think?”

Factory Director Zhang stood to the side, his face flushed red, rubbing his knees, unsure of what to say.

Liu Yan glanced at him and knew there was something fishy about the numbers Wei Xian had given. Although she wasn't entirely sure how many spindles and how much it would cost to produce fifty tons of cloth, she knew it wouldn't be 120,000. Under normal operating conditions, a factory would keep at least half of its profits.

In other words, the actual cost is 60,000 yuan.

“If you’re going to ask for this price, then we can’t negotiate,” Liu Yan said. “I originally thought I’d give you a hand. You’re stuck with unsold denim, and I happen to need some, so we could help each other out. But if you’re going to raise the price like this, then forget it. I’m not afraid to tell you, I called my friend last night, and she told me that someone else came to us to sell denim. I didn’t agree then, but now it seems I should go back and check out other factories’ denim. Don’t worry about paying for this meal tonight, I’ll pay for it myself. I’m not taking advantage of you.”

As Liu Yan spoke, she took out a hundred yuan from her pocket and gestured for Le Quan to go to the front desk to pay the bill.

Wei Xian didn't expect Liu Yan to have such a quick temper, turning on him so easily. He panicked and looked at Director Zhang.