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

Ding Jiahe sat beside her, clutching the wreath pattern in her hand, without saying a word.

From the moment she entered the factory until now, she hasn't uttered more than five sentences in total. It's not that she doesn't want to speak, it's that she can't get a word in edgewise.

After Ye Wenxi asked about the overprinting accuracy, looked at the gradient sample, and touched the stack of cardboard, she just watched from the side.

Watching Ye Wenxi hold up the sample paper and look at it through the window, watching Ye Wenxi rub the paper back and forth with his thumb, watching Ye Wenxi turn the box over to check if there was any glue overflow at the bottom opening.

She knew all of these moves, but Ye Wenxi did them differently.

What's different? Ding Jiahe couldn't quite put her finger on it. It's like, you're watching too, but you're just seeing the spectacle, while she's seeing the underlying principles.

For example, among the sample papers on the table, she only noticed that the colors were quite pretty, but Ye Wenxi was asking about the dot count and the gradient transition.

She didn't even know what "gradual transition across the bridge" was, but judging from the tone of Ye Wenxi's question, she knew that Ye Wenxi had done her homework beforehand.

Factory Director Zhou's expression changed from polite when he entered to serious now.

Ding Jiahe's heart stirred. It seemed that... fieldwork wasn't just about "running" after all.

Ding Jiahe looked at Ye Wenxi's profile.

Ye Wenxi was speaking to Factory Manager Zhou, his tone unhurried: "The cardboard will be 350g single-sided coated cardboard, laminated with E-wall corrugated board, and coated with a glossy film. The boxes will have paper snap fasteners. The paper bags will be 250g white cardboard, coated with a matte film, with cotton rope handles and two eyelet buttons. The after-sales card will be printed on the back..."

Ye Wenxi made demands of Director Zhou one by one, and there was not a single unnecessary word in the demands. Every single one of them hit the nail on the head regarding the process.

"Director Zhou, what's your quote for all of this?" Ye Wenxi leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the table twice.

The technician quickly calculated the results and pushed the paper with the conclusions in front of the factory manager. The factory manager gave a price: for this standard, a set would cost about one dollar and twenty cents.

"One dollar and twenty cents?!" Ding Jiahe gasped, she never imagined that a bag or box would cost more than one dollar.

She looked shocked, her eyebrows furrowing as if she'd been tricked. The deputy factory manager quickly gestured for her to stop, saying, "Don't rush, don't rush. This is just a preliminary estimate; of course, we can discuss it further. How many would you like to order for the first time?"

"One thousand sets," Ye Wenxi said. "Factory manager, let's just give you a fair price."

"Well..." Director Zhou glanced at the technician's note, then at Ye Wenxi, "It's clear that Comrade Ye is a professional, and since it's a unit involved in military-civilian cooperation, we'd like to cooperate with them long-term. So, I'll reduce the price to 1.1 yuan."

"One yuan and one jiao?!" Ding Jiahe raised her voice again.

She was truly panicked now. She had expected the price to drop by at least two or three cents, but it was only reduced by one cent? The shock and anger on her face were barely concealed, landing squarely on Factory Director Zhou's face. Factory Director Zhou was stunned, momentarily at a loss for words.

Ding Jiahe was still there, glaring at Director Zhou with her neck stiff.

Ye Wenxi forced a smile, trying hard to suppress the corners of her mouth, but she couldn't stop them from trembling.

She cleared her throat and sat down at the table: "Director Zhou, a thousand sets is just the beginning. If you trust me, we will produce in large quantities this year, and there will be autumn/winter styles and spring styles next year. Packaging is a long-term need."

Factory Director Zhou was a little speechless, his fingers tapping the abacus a couple of times before stopping: "Well... does Comrade Ye have any price expectations?"

"Eight cents," Ye Wenxi said calmly.

Factory Director Zhou nearly dropped his abacus: "Eight mao is way too low, Comrade Ye. We're barely covering our costs!" He shook his head repeatedly, his brows furrowed. "350g paper, hot stamping, lamination, corrugated board—the material costs alone are—"

"You were just saying I was professional," Ye Wenxi interrupted him with a smile. "Do you think I wouldn't know if your budget was sufficient?"

In fact, Ye Wenxi had no idea.

She quoted 80 cents, a huge discount, just to test the waters. She had no idea what the actual cost would be, whether the other party could do it, or whether they would lose money. But her face showed no hesitation.

Factory Director Zhou was speechless after hearing her words. He stared at Ye Wenxi for two seconds, probably wondering how many factories this girl had sifted through to find the bottom price.

"Director Zhou, I understand you don't trust our development capabilities," Ye Wenxi said. "How about this, we'll increase the initial order to two thousand sets. This is the biggest concession I can make."

She paused, then gathered the stack of sample papers on the table and piled them neatly.

"Besides that, I'm also considering making a promotional brochure. Of course, this is only if Director Zhou can help us save some costs before I'll even consider it."

Director Zhou's gaze lingered on the words "picture album" for a moment.

Promotional brochures aren't just a matter of printing a few hundred boxes. Tens of thousands are printed at a time, and the paper, ink, and labor costs are all pure profit.

He picked up the abacus again, typed away for a while, and then exchanged a glance with the technician.

"Nine cents a set," Factory Director Zhou said. "Two thousand sets, nine cents a set. We'll discuss the catalog separately."

Ding Jiahe watched from the side, not daring to breathe. She was no longer angry, and was even a little nervous. She vaguely felt that Ye Wenxi's "eight cents" might have been just a casual remark.

But Director Zhou believed him because he thought Ye Wenxi knew everything.

Ye Wenxi didn't reply. She tapped her fingers lightly on the table twice, frowned, and pondered for a moment, seemingly quite troubled by the price.

"Alright, a sample will be ready within three days, is that alright, Factory Manager Zhou?" Ye Wenxi said with a slight sigh.

"No problem, we'll produce a sample in three days and deliver the bulk goods in ten days," said Factory Manager Zhou.

"We'll produce a sample in three days, and I need 20% of the goods by the sixth day; I need them urgently," Ye Wenxi added.

"Good!" Factory Director Zhou extended his hand. "Comrade Ye, it's a pleasure to cooperate with you."

"It's a pleasure working with you."

The two shook hands, quickly and decisively.

Walking out of the factory, the gravel road crunched underfoot. Ding Jiahe had been holding it in the whole way, but finally couldn't resist anymore when she reached the bus stop.

"Did you always know these things, or did you study them beforehand?" she asked. "I don't understand anything you're talking about, like dot matrix, line count, or gradient transitions."

Ye Wenxi laughed: "I know some of it. When I was doing packaging design before, I had to understand printing technology to some extent. Otherwise, no matter how beautiful the design is, it's useless if it can't be printed."

She took two fruit candies out of her pocket and handed one to Ding Jiahe.

"However, I did do some research before coming. I called the Light Industry Bureau in advance and asked some questions by consulting with someone there who knows a lot about this area."

Ding Jiahe unwrapped the candy, popped it into her mouth, and nodded. The sweetness melted on her tongue, and she slowly said:

"It seems I underestimated the importance of fieldwork. I still have a lot to learn."

Ye Wenxi patted her on the shoulder: "You're a top student, studying medicine. What can possibly be difficult for you? You're smarter than me."

Ding Jiahe's shoulder swayed from the pat, and she laughed. After laughing, she became serious again: "I'm serious. I need to learn this routine you're using today."

"Go ahead and learn." Ye Wenxi folded the candy wrapper into a small square and stuffed it into her pocket. "It's not like I'm charging you tuition."

A bus approached from a distance, kicking up a cloud of dust. The two men, covering their noses, jumped on the bus and found seats by the window.

"Shall we go to the textile factory?" Ding Jiahe asked.

"No, you come with me to the university. I need to find out more about the situation," Ye Wenxi said.

"Fine! Don't let me see that kid again." Ding Jiahe gritted her teeth and muttered fiercely.

Ye Wenxi: "............"