A whirlwind marriage with a high-ranking official: Lights out, don't force me to take the initi

The second line of business involves joint ventures to establish factories, focusing on both export and domestic sales.

A joint venture was established with a local state-owned garment factory.

The Chinese side contributed its factory buildings, existing production equipment, and site usage rights as equity investment.

The Hong Kong side will collaborate by contributing its own brands, clothing design technology, and overseas sales channels, with both parties sharing operating profits according to their shareholding ratios.

However, the joint venture factory proposed by the city is a small-scale, low-capacity garment factory that is on the verge of bankruptcy.

The meaning is clear: to use the lowest cost and the worst foundation to put Hong Kong's management, equipment, and technical capabilities to a litmus test to see if they can pull the company back from the brink of collapse.

Hong Kong City's initial assessment of the plan concluded that it did not meet expectations or positioning. Using a small, half-dead factory to test the comprehensive capabilities of Hong Kong capital was too low a starting point and could not fully leverage the advantages of Hong Kong.

Therefore, Lin Wanzhi clearly raised her objections and temporarily suspended the progress. She needs to argue her case again in subsequent talks to strive for better joint venture resources.

Lin Wanzhi held three sets of materials for potential joint venture factories in her hand. This background information was collected by Cai Shan through some external connections and by asking local acquaintances for help.

The factory's scale, equipment status, staffing, and historical production capacity data are all readily available.

But she didn't look up. She tapped her fingers twice on the paper and asked Cai Shan, "Did you conduct any on-site research?"

"I...I didn't go there myself; I asked Zhang Sheng and the others to collect it for us..."

Lin Wanzhi raised an eyebrow, a hint of displeasure on her face, and put the materials in her hand on the table.

He said coldly, "Call the Light Industry Bureau and tell them I'm not feeling well and the meeting is being rescheduled."

Cai Shan panicked immediately and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Linda, I'll call them back this afternoon, and then go to the site with Zhang Sheng and the others as soon as possible!"

"Amy," Lin Wanzhi's voice turned cold, "if you continue to be careless in this kind of matter, you might as well prepare to book your ticket back to Hong Kong."

"I'm so sorry... I've been in meetings with you these past few days and haven't had a chance to speak..." Cai Shan stammered, unable to finish her sentence.

Lin Wanzhi crossed her arms, her gaze sharp: "No time? What are we here for?"

"To save time at the most crucial step... you expect us to make decisions based entirely on secondhand information from outsiders? Is this how carelessly you handle things?"

Cai Shan twisted her fingers and lowered her head.

"I even specifically asked Director Liu if we could go to the site to take a look. Why do you think I had to ask for permission?!" Lin Wanzhi's voice suddenly rose as she finished speaking.

This sound drew the attention of several guests nearby.

Just then, Ye Wenxi and his two companions passed by the table.

Startled by the loud noise, Ye Wenxi turned her head and saw Lin Wanzhi's aloof face, as well as Cai Shan, who was sitting opposite her and dressed fashionably.

Her eyes lingered on the two men for two seconds.

Suddenly, Ding Jiahe gave him a hard push from behind: "Come on, hurry up, I'm starving!"

Ye Wenxi looked away and was pulled forward a few steps. The three of them sat down at a round table by the window.

Ding Jiahe waved to the waiter and rattled off a list of orders on the menu: "Three steaks, three borschts, three cream of mushroom soup, and two extra garlic breads."

"Why do you need so much soup?" Ye Wenxi stared at Ding Jiahe.

"Hehe...I want to drink."

"Give me some meat!" Ye Wenxi slammed his hand on the table.

"Okay, okay, another serving of cream-braised grilled fish and fried chicken cutlet."

"Give me another cup of coffee, I'd like to try it," Ye Wenxi said to the waiter.

"Then I'll have one too, let's have three cups," Ding Jiahe said.

The waiter nodded and left.

Ding Jiahe turned to Wang Yingxue and said, "Xiaoxue, let me tell you, this beef is delicious, so tender. And this bread, dipped in the soup, I guarantee you'll love it."

Wang Yingxue's face was slightly flushed, whether from shyness or excitement, she didn't know. She fiddled with the knife and fork on the table, her fingers rubbing back and forth on the knife handle.

She looked up at Ding Jiahe and asked softly, "Jiahe, how do you use these knives and forks?"

"Like this, use your left hand fork and your right hand knife to cut a small piece, then fork it up and put it in your mouth. Simple, right?"

Wang Yingxue tried to cut it, but because she used too much force, the tip of the knife poked a small mark on the plate, which startled her so much that she quickly put down her knife and fork.

"See, see, I told you I didn't know how to use this thing. Can't I just use chopsticks?"

.......

The coffee was served first by the waiter.

Ye Wenxi picked up the cup and took a sip. The mellow flavor and slightly bitter taste brought back memories of the dead, impacting her brain.

She closed her eyes, as if she had returned to those late nights when she was working overtime at a large company, holding a coffee to keep herself going, and let out a long breath.

"Is it that good?" Ding Jiahe looked at her blissful expression and also picked up her cup and took a sip.

The next second, his expression froze, and he felt like vomiting. But remembering that the coffee was a bit expensive, he forced himself to swallow it.

"Oh my god, what is this? It's bitter! How can you enjoy it so much? Don't you have a sense of taste, Ye Wenxi?"

Wang Yingxue held her cup, smelled it, and said, "It smells quite good, not like Chinese medicine." She took a cautious sip.

"Ugh—" She put down the cup, her face contorted. "It's Chinese medicine."

Ye Wenxi ignored it, continued to hold the cup and happily drank several more sips, then let out a long sigh: "Ah~~~ Delicious."

Ding Jiahe looked at her like this and clicked her tongue twice: "Come on, come on, it's all for you, you can drink it all."

Wang Yingxue pushed her coffee cup over as well, saying, "I don't want it either."

The three of them ate and drank to their hearts' content, then happily walked out.

While Ding Jiahe was paying the bill, Ye Wenxi went to the hotel front desk, borrowed the phone, and called Liu Jianguo.

"Director Liu, this is Ye Wenxi. Do you have time this afternoon? I'd like to come over and confirm some documents with you in person."

Liu Jianguo chuckled on the other end of the phone: "I was supposed to have a meeting with people from Hong Kong this afternoon, but they said they weren't feeling well and had to cancel it. Luckily, I'm free now. Come on over, just come to my office."

Ye Wenxi hung up the phone and turned to Ding Jiahe and Wang Yingxue, saying, "The Light Industry Bureau is free this afternoon, let's go together. We'll first find out the overall situation and see how the authorization in Hong Kong is going, and then we'll divide the work. Starting tomorrow, we'll each be in charge of our own tasks."

"Alright, let's go. I also want to see what exactly that company in Hong Kong authorized."

The three of them walked out of the hotel. The sun outside was blazing, and a heat wave emanated from the asphalt road. The air felt thick and sticky, as if it had been baked.

Ye Wenxi walked up to the doorman, holding an umbrella, and asked, "Hello, excuse me, what bus goes there quickly to get to the Light Industry Bureau?"

The doorman shook his head: "There's no direct bus from here. You might as well just walk; it only takes half an hour."

Ding Jiahe pulled her sun hat up over her head and said, "Let's go then."

Ye Wenxi opened an umbrella, and the three of them braved the heat to move forward.

They had only taken a few steps when a black sedan stopped in front of them, blocking their way. Lin Wanzhi and Cai Shan walked out of the revolving door, and the doorman ran over to open the car door. The two of them got into the car one after the other.

Ye Wenxi watched the car disappear into the dust and sighed, "I also want to buy a car."

"Let's go, let's go, it's only half an hour, we'll be there in no time." Ding Jiahe grabbed her arm and dragged her forward under the scorching sun.

Ye Wenxi clicked her tongue: "What kind of legs are those? Can I borrow a piece of them...?"

"I'm sorry, I only have two legs."

"Um... if you were a man..." Ye Wenxi didn't finish her sentence.

"Ah—! Ye Wenxi!! You're doing it again!!"

Ye Wenxi was interrupted by Ding Jiahe's scream before she could finish speaking.

Ding Jiahe covered Wang Yingxue's ears and walked forward: "Come on, Xiaoxue, let's not listen to her."

"Huh? What's going on?" Wang Yingxue was pushed along, looking completely bewildered.

"Hey, you're still covering Xiaoxue's ears? Did you forget something?" Ye Wenxi called out to her from behind with a laugh.

Ding Jiahe stopped and stared blankly at Wang Yingxue.

She realized what was happening...