Reborn in 1977, I will no longer be my brother's blood bag.

The contact form in Officer Xu's hand rested on the table.

The young clerk at the door was still waiting for a reply.

"Limin said that all forty units will be priced the same as last year?"

"Yes. If Deputy Factory Director Song sends it personally, it will be delivered in half a month."

Officer Xu sat back down.

He had just agreed to give Xinghe twenty sets for trial production, but Limin is an old factory with whom he has cooperated for many years. They accepted forty sets at once, without raising the price or increasing the delivery time.

If this list is to be split up, he needs to give the logistics department a plausible reason.

After a while, he turned the contact form over.

"Comrade Lin, I need to change my mind about this."

"Please speak."

"Of the forty sets, I still prefer to give them to Limin."

Officer Xu's tone carried a hint of apology.

"They've been working with the mine for many years. If I force them to dismantle twenty sets for Xinghe to test, and something goes wrong, I won't be able to explain it to them."

Lin Xiuhe nodded.

"I understand."

Officer Xu was somewhat surprised.

"Aren't you going to fight?"

"How do we fight for it?"

Lin Xiuhe smiled.

"I can't even provide evidence that Xinghe is doing a better job than Limin. There's no point in pushing the price down any further."

Officer Xu looked at her for a while.

"It's not easy for young people to start a business and fail the first time."

It's a pity we didn't get the order.

Lin Xiuhe put the inquiry form back into her bag.

"But this trip finally made me realize what people are really worried about after leaving Beijing."

Officer Xu smiled.

"OK."

"If the mine has any small-batch orders that are suitable for you in the future, I will have someone send a price quote to Beijing."

"Then thank you in advance."

She didn't continue to press.

When I walked out of the office, the young clerk from the logistics department was still in the corridor.

When he saw her come out, he glanced inside.

"Didn't get it?"

"no."

The young officer, perhaps afraid of embarrassing her, softened his tone.

"Limin has a long-standing partnership with the mine."

"I know."

Don't take it to heart.

Lin Xiuhe was amused by his words.

"How can I possibly keep every single deal in business?"

The young staff members also smiled.

"You're quite optimistic."

"If you can't think straight, tomorrow's train won't be late to wait for me."

As she went downstairs, she ran into Deputy Factory Director Song at the gate of the courtyard.

He came to confirm the delivery time for those forty sets.

The two bumped into each other, and Deputy Factory Director Song slowed down a bit.

"Are you done talking?"

"We've finished talking."

"How much did Officer Xu give you?"

"Not a single one was given."

Deputy Factory Director Song looked somewhat embarrassed.

"This matter..."

"It has nothing to do with you."

Lin Xiuhe laughed first.

"It's normal for the mining bureau to choose you if you do forty sets at once."

Deputy Factory Director Song nodded.

"Let's try again next time."

"it is good."

This time, no one was polite anymore.

The two parted ways at the entrance of the mining bureau.

Lin Xiuhe returned to the guesthouse, put her bag on the bed, and only after sitting down did she realize that her legs were sore.

These past two days, she took the train from Beijing, running through residential areas, through Limin, and even into alleyways looking for repair shops.

In the end, they didn't bring back any contracts.

She took out the remaining change from her bag, counted it, and then placed her train ticket back to Beijing for tomorrow on her pillow.

Xinghe paid for all the travel expenses, accommodation, and meals himself.

She stared at the ticket for a while, then put the change back in its place.

I didn't make any money on this trip.

But it can't be considered a wasted trip.

She checked out of the room early the next morning.

Just before boarding the train, I made another detour to the residential area.

The woman carrying the thermos was shelling beans downstairs. Seeing that she was carrying a bag, I knew she was leaving.

"Did the deal go through?"

"no."

"Why didn't it work?"

"It benefits the people and ensures greater stability."

The woman was not surprised at all.

"They've been doing it for a long time."

The young woman holding the child next to her also came out.

"So all that listening to us the day before yesterday was for nothing?"

Lin Xiuhe laughed and said, "How could I listen for nothing?"

"If it's really Xinghe's turn to do it in the future, at least I'll know what you don't want anymore."

Everyone laughed.

"Then next time you come, remember to make it more solid."

"And don't make it too expensive."

"understood."

As she walked out, someone called out behind her:

"Beijing boss, don't forget next time!"

Lin Xiuhe turned around and waved her hand.

She slept by the train window the whole way as the train left Jizhou.

It was already evening when we arrived in Beijing.

Lin Xiuhe rode her bicycle all the way back from the train station. When she arrived at the entrance of the alley, she could see that the lights were on in both of Xinghe's houses.

She instinctively rode faster.

The gate to the courtyard was open.

There were still guests inside.

He Qiuyan was standing by the table, talking to two men. Several boxes were already stacked against the wall, and on the table was a letter from Ningzhou, along with three small slips of paper with names and addresses written on them.

Upon seeing Lin Xiuhe enter, He Qiuyan merely raised her chin at her.

"You've come back just in time."

Lin Xiuhe pushed the bicycle in.

"Why isn't it closed yet?"

"The person from the west of the city came to pick up the goods this afternoon, and six were missing."

He Qiuyan explained something to the two men.

"Take what you have now, and make up for the missing ones by noon tomorrow."

One of them nodded immediately.

"Comrade He has already told us that it can be delivered tomorrow."

Lin Xiuhe did not interfere.

After the two people moved the goods, the yard was finally cleared out.

She looked around.

"Have you been to Ningzhou before?"

The letter was left on the table.

"What about the other three?"

"These are the new customers we've had in the last couple of days."

He Qiuyan pulled out a chair and sat down.

"I didn't dare quote you a price, but I left my address."

Lin Xiuhe smiled.

"I was gone for two days, and you actually managed to keep watch at the gate."

"What else?"

He Qiuyan glanced at her.

"You pay me wages, I can't just let people come and leave."

She finished speaking before asking:

"What about Jizhou?"

"Not a single order was returned."

He Qiuyan raised an eyebrow.

"Did you come back with your hands bare?"

"Vacuum-bound".

"That's fine too."

Lin Xiuhe was amused by her.

"I didn't even close the deal, how come you seem quite satisfied?"

"At least it shows you didn't agree to anything just to get orders."

He Qiuyan lowered her head and carefully put away the papers on the table.

Lin Xiuhe then noticed that there was an enamel mug on the corner of her table.

There was another letter lying next to it.

She recognized the name of the organization on the envelope.

This is where He Qiuyan works now.

"your?"

"I just arrived this afternoon."

He Qiuyan picked up the letter.

"My company is urging me to return to work after the training ends."

Lin Xiuhe sat down opposite her.

"So what do you think?"

He Qiuyan held the envelope and looked at the two rooms with lights on.

Someone else was passing by outside and casually asked:

"Is Xinghe still open today?"

He Qiuyan replied, "Close it quickly, come back tomorrow."

The footsteps faded into the distance.

She then put the letter back on the table.

"I'm going back to my old workplace tomorrow."

Lin Xiuhe looked at her.

"Isn't the training still ongoing?"

"It's almost over."

He Qiuyan smiled.

"The things that need to be done over there must be finished."

She reached out and pushed her enamel mug into the table.

"After I'm done, I'll come back and we'll talk about salary."