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

After chatting for a while, I learned that they were a few people from the No. 40 Garment Factory. One of the deputy factory directors was surnamed Liu, who was in his forties, and he was accompanied by two pattern-making technicians, both of whom were male.

They saw GG and heard there was a trade fair here, so they formed a group and came over on the spot.

They were fairly polite and stated their purpose directly: they wanted to see the styles, fabrics, and craftsmanship of the products.

Everyone asked a lot of questions, and Ye Wenxi answered what she could, and for the ones she couldn't answer, she just smiled and gave a few words to brush it off.

As they talked, Ye Wenxi noticed that the technician was holding a small notebook and starting to copy a clothing design. He would draw a few strokes, look up, then draw a few more, seemingly oblivious to anything wrong with it.

After making a few strokes, he looked up at Xiao He and said, "Comrade, could you please turn that garment inside out so I can see the back?"

Ye Wenxi's eye twitched.

She walked over to the deputy factory director and said, "You've come today to exchange ideas and learn from his experience?"

"Yes, we'd like to take a look at the clothes here. We saw your designs before and felt there were many things we could learn from them," the deputy factory manager said frankly, without holding anything back.

Ye Wenxi felt a sense of helplessness. Sure enough, from top to bottom, these people had no concept of "intellectual property rights" at all, nor did they think that "plagiarism" was a problem.

What's meant to happen will happen eventually, Ye Wenxi sighed inwardly.

Although the military region had previously issued documents to various local units, providing her with some policy support, it would be difficult for her to stop large state-owned factories from "learning from" their practices.

She alone cannot stop the market's pace; if she takes the lead, others are destined to follow.

She decided to take this opportunity to be direct.

"Comrade, I'm sorry, I'll have to look at this one later." Ye Wenxi walked over, speaking slowly and calmly, with a smile on his face.

The deputy factory director and the designer both looked up at her.

“We’re both in the clothing business. You’re a big factory, we’re a small workshop. We’re different in size.” She pointed to the garment. “This is something we make by hand, piece by piece. From design to cutting to sewing, we’re meticulous in every step. What we’re selling is the design and the craftsmanship.”

"To be honest, if your big factories followed this method, you could produce hundreds or thousands of units in no time. What would be the point of our small workshop? Wouldn't all our design efforts be wasted?"

"Large factories have the advantage of mass production, but we have our own way. It's good for everyone to go their own way and learn from each other, and I'm happy to exchange ideas with my peers. But when it comes to design, we still need to put in our own effort. Director Liu, don't you agree?"

Ye Wenxi looked at the deputy factory director with unwavering eyes, neither humble nor arrogant.

His tone was polite, and he even had a slight smile on his lips, but anyone could tell that there was no room for negotiation.

She may be young, but every word she speaks hits the mark, clearly demonstrating the seriousness of the situation.

"How about this," Ye Wenxi said, taking out a small notebook, tearing off a piece of paper, and writing down a string of numbers.

"I'll be in Harbin for the next few days. If it's convenient for you, leave your phone number so we can sit down and chat sometime and learn from each other."

The deputy factory director took the note, glanced at it, and put it in his pocket.

He quickly waved his hand, his face beaming with a smile: "Oh, Comrade Ye, don't misunderstand, we just came to take a look and learn something, that's all."

He turned to the technician, his voice not loud, but with a hint of reprimand: "Who told you to draw this? Put it away, put it away, what kind of mess is this?"

The technician quickly closed the notebook and stepped aside.

The deputy factory director turned back, his tone softening: "Comrade Ye, you're right. When it comes to design, everyone has their own strengths. We just thought your designs were novel and wanted to come and take a look. We didn't mean anything by it, so please don't take it to heart."

Ye Wenxi smiled but didn't reply.

The deputy factory director had heard a bit about her background, but he didn't expect her to be so serious about this matter.

The factory manager and his team, having been dealt a direct blow by Ye Wenxi, did not linger. After exchanging a few polite words, "We'll contact you later" and "We look forward to communicating with you," they left with their men.

This sudden attack took up a lot of Ye Wenxi's time.

Fortunately, Ye Wenxi didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point, shutting the man down with just a few words.

For the next period of time, Ye Wenxi focused on chatting one-on-one with customers who wanted to buy clothes, adjusting the questions on the questionnaire as she talked.

Around noon, Lu Weidong and Wang Hao arrived carrying lunchboxes, their hands full, stacked several layers high with various sizes.

Ye Wenxi looked at the things in Lu Weidong's hands: "Did you bring all our lunchboxes?"

Lu Weidong smiled and put the lunchbox on the table: "I almost brought the pot over. This is yours, you have more ribbonfish."

When Ye Wenxi opened it, she found half a box of ribbonfish inside, all of them the largest pieces from the middle.

Wang Hao brought a lunchbox to Ding Jiahe's side and placed it in front of her. Ding Jiahe opened it and saw that all the bones of the ribbonfish had been removed and the fish meat was neatly arranged.

"It can't be that bad, can it? I have hands and a mouth." She paused for a moment, then looked up at Wang Hao.

"You didn't pick it with your mouth, did you?" Ding Jiahe glanced at him sideways, looking disgusted.

Wang Hao frowned, looking completely innocent. He often saw Lu Weidong removing fish bones for Ye Wenxi in the cafeteria, so why was he being treated poorly?

It seems I can't learn everything from him anymore.

"Tsk... What are you saying? Pick them out one by one with chopsticks." Wang Hao clicked his tongue, his tone tinged with grievance.

"Really?" Ding Jiahe was a little skeptical.

Wang Hao clutched his heart, feeling he needed comforting.

The two chatted back and forth, Ding Jiahe being sharp-tongued but her actions were more caring than her words. She picked several pieces of ribbonfish from her lunchbox and put them into Wang Hao's bowl. Wang Hao finally felt much better, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a big smile.

After finishing their meal, Ye Wenxi didn't let Lu Weidong stay any longer and urged him and Wang Hao to head back.

"Around when are you going back?" Lu Weidong stood next to Ye Wenxi, his hands in his pockets, his voice softening.

"It should take another week or so," Ye Wenxi said, her cheeks bulging as she chewed something.

"Then I'll come back next week," Lu Weidong said casually.

"I'm coming too," Wang Hao quickly added.

"No, it's too much trouble, and you have to drive for so long." Ye Wenxi waved her hand, her tone a little distressed. Of course, she also wanted to see Lu Weidong more often, but the round trip was too far, and driving was too tiring.

"Okay, I'll talk about it next weekend." Lu Weidong agreed with her.

Ye Wenxi sighed, knowing full well that the two of them would definitely come again.

Before leaving, Ye Wenxi divided the gifts from the survey questionnaire in half and gave them to Lu Weidong: "Take this back to Sister Yunxia and let her keep it for now. I'll call her later to explain."

Lu Weidong took the bag and nodded. The two said goodbye and left the department store.

"Are you really planning to talk to those people from the garment factory today?" Ding Jiahe leaned closer and whispered.

Ye Wenxi turned her head, looked at Ding Jiahe, stared at her for a few seconds, and slowly curved the corners of her mouth into a smile.

"How about... you go 'exchange'?" Ye Wenxi asked slowly, with a hint of mischief in her voice.

Ding Jiahe's eyes widened: "Me? I'm not very good at talking either. You know, I can be a bit blunt."

"So, you can try to reason with them." Ye Wenxi blinked.

"Ah—" Ding Jiahe drawled, then suddenly understood, "You mean...."

"I'll play the good cop, you play the bad cop. Next time there's a similar situation, you go first, and I'll give them a little something extra later." Ye Wenxi patted her shoulder.

Ding Jiahe paused for a moment, then laughed out loud: "Okay, I can do this!"