I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

When Zhang Quan jumped out of the driver's seat, his legs were trembling.

It's not cold.

Yes, I'm afraid.

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, took out three sticks side by side, and handed them over with a smile.

"Brother Gou, Grandpa Gou! We were blinded by greed and listened to those lies. We've come to apologize! We delivered the packaging boxes overnight, so there was absolutely no delay in Jiangjia Village's shipment!"

Wang Dagou didn't even glance at the cigarette. He put both hands in his coat pockets, bared his teeth, and hissed as he inhaled the cold air.

"Tsk, Mr. Zhang, your memory isn't so good. How quickly you stamped the termination letter the day before yesterday? Faster than your own father's death certificate."

Zhang Quan's smile froze for a moment, but quickly returned to normal.

At that moment, the driver's cab doors of the two trucks behind also opened.

Mr. Liu from Huatong Packaging and Mr. Chen from Xinda Color Printing jumped down one after the other, their expressions exactly the same as Zhang Quan's—fear mixed with ingratiation.

Boss Liu jogged over, his face beaming with joy: "Manager Gou! We were so foolish! We..."

Boss Chen also joined in, puffing out white breath, "Give me a chance! Give me one more chance!"

The sound of slippers stomping on the ground came from inside the courtyard gate.

Jiang Chen came out.

His military overcoat was open, revealing that he was wearing thermal underwear and pajamas underneath, and cotton slippers on his feet. His hair was a mess, like a bird's nest.

When the three factory managers saw him, they all straightened up immediately.

Zhang Quan was the first to step forward and handed over the pack of Zhonghua cigarettes.

Jiang Chen didn't even glance at the cigarette.

He put his hands in his coat pockets, his gaze sweeping over the three trucks before finally settling on Zhang Quan's face.

"The contracts are all void. Boss Zhang delivered a truckload of cardboard in the middle of the night; was he planning to donate it to the village for cooking and heating?"

Zhang Quan's smile faltered, and his lips trembled slightly.

Boss Liu quickly chimed in, his voice trembling with emotion, "President Jiang! We were wrong! We were really wrong! You've seen all the criticism online. We've almost gone broke from all the order cancellations! The compensation the Chu family offered isn't nearly enough to fill this hole!"

Boss Chen wiped his face and said, "President Jiang, this batch of goods in our warehouse is all made for you. No one else needs this size. If you don't accept it, we'll have to sell it as waste paper..."

Jiang Chen yawned.

He turned to look at Wang Dagou.

"Da Gou, we can't break the rules of our village. Go get the calipers to inspect the goods."

Wang Dagou said "Yes, sir," turned around and ran back to the guardhouse. A minute later, he returned with a gleaming silver industrial vernier caliper.

He quickly jumped onto the back of the first truck, pulled out a package of cardboard boxes from the back, tore open the plastic seal, pulled out a half-finished corrugated cardboard box, set up calipers, and read the value.

Five seconds later, Wang Dagou threw the cardboard box on the ground.

"One millimeter off. Return it!"

The sound of the cardboard box hitting the ground was particularly crisp in the quiet winter night.

Zhang Quan's face twitched, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Brother Gou! One millimeter really doesn't affect bottling! A little error in cardboard cutting is perfectly normal! No factory can achieve zero error!"

Wang Dagou squatted on the back of the truck, his hands on his knees, looking down at the three factory managers below.

"Boss Zhang, I would believe you if you said that in any other company. But your termination letter clearly states that the contract is terminated by mutual agreement due to non-compliance with product quality standards."

He picked up the cardboard box and waved it in front of Zhang Quan.

"Look at this, the excuse you came up with back then, I'm using it now. Doesn't it feel good?"

Zhang Quan opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

Jiang Chen stepped forward.

There was neither laughter nor anger.

His tone was flat and indifferent, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

"The sign for Jiangjia Village can't be even a millimeter off. Either take it back and redo it, or turn around right now."

The three factory managers looked at each other.

Zhang Quan gritted his teeth and stomped his foot.

"Rework it! Rework it overnight!"

He turned and yelled at the truck driver, "Turn around! Go back to the factory!"

Without saying a word, Boss Liu and Boss Chen each ran to their own trucks.

The engines of three heavy trucks roared as they struggled to turn around on the narrow village road. The truck headlights swept across the fields on both sides, startling a few sparrows that were hibernating there.

The taillights disappeared into the night.

Wang Dagou jumped off the train and rubbed his hands together.

"Brother Chen, this time you're really ruthless. Not giving an inch."

Jiang Chen turned around and walked back, his slippers making a pattering sound on the cement pavement.

"It's not that I'm ruthless. It's just that the rules have to be upheld. If we give way a millimeter today, they'll dare to give way a centimeter tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, they'll dare to try and fool us with cardboard."

He walked to the gate of the courtyard, stopped, and looked back at Wang Dagou.

"Notify Attorney Zhou to prepare the new contract. This time, add two clauses: First, the penalty for breach of supply will be tripled. Second, all cardboard boxes must be accompanied by a test report; if they do not meet the standards, compensation will be five times the value of the goods."

Wang Dagou chuckled: "Alright!"

Noon the next day.

The sun was high overhead, making people's foreheads feel hot; it didn't feel like December at all.

The three heavy trucks are back.

This time, Zhang Quan didn't even dare to stay in the driver's cab. He climbed onto the truck bed himself, unpacked everything, and measured each item with calipers to make sure they all met the standards before letting the driver take the truck to the village entrance.

Wang Dagou led two security guards up to randomly inspect more than twenty boxes.

Perfectly fitted.

The dimensions, thickness, and load-bearing capacity of each carton are all within the standard range.

Jiang Chen leaned against the stone stool by the door, holding a bowl of leftover pork stew soup from last night, slurping it down.

He only put down his bowl and wiped his mouth after hearing Wang Dagou shout "Passed".

"Accept if it meets the requirements."

The three factory managers all breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Quan's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

"but--"

Jiang Chen's voice rang out again.

The three people who had just relaxed tensed up again instantly.

"Settle at 80% of the previous contract price."

Zhang Quan's face paled slightly.

20% off? That cuts the profit by more than half!

He opened his mouth, wanting to bargain.

Jiang Chen glanced at him.

It's neither fierce nor ruthless.

I just looked at him calmly, like I was watching a primary school student being punished for doing something wrong.

"Take it or leave it."

Zhang Quan swallowed back the words that were about to come out.

dry.

It has to be done.

If he doesn't do it, the criticism from outside will drive his factory to bankruptcy.

The three factory managers lined up and sat down at the folding table that Wang Dagou had brought over, signing the supply order one after another.

Attorney Zhou had arrived at some point, holding three printed supplementary agreements, which he read aloud to the three bosses, line by line.

"...Article 8. The Supplier may not unilaterally suspend or terminate this Agreement without the Buyer's written consent. In case of breach, the Supplier shall pay the Buyer a penalty equivalent to 300% of the total contract amount..."

Zhang Quan's hand trembled slightly.

Three hundred percent.

If the money supply is cut off again... he'll never be able to turn his life around.

But he signed it anyway.

All three of them signed.

The scratching sound of the pen on the paper sounded like a declaration of surrender.

Jiang Chen stood aside and watched as the three factory managers, looking disheveled, signed the papers and got into the car.

As the truck drove away, he turned to Zhou the Attorney and said something.

"This is just an emergency measure. We still need to build our own packaging plant. We can't put our necks under someone else's knife."

Attorney Zhou adjusted his glasses: "I'm already preparing a plan."

Jiang Chen nodded.

But the most important thing right now is not building a factory.

Those hundreds of thousands of orders need to be packed and shipped out quickly.