Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten-Chapter 354: A Debt of Gratitude

They didn’t go to an office—instead, they sat down at the security booth nearby.

Uncle Jiang explained the full situation.

The gist of it was that the previous factory director had been Uncle Jiang’s boss for many years. He was always responsible and reliable, and Uncle Jiang had worked hard for years to finally move up to a leadership position. But recently, the factory hadn’t been doing well and had no large orders.

The former director had been out looking for investors and couldn’t return for a while, so he temporarily appointed Uncle Jiang as the acting factory director. Just a few days ago, they finally secured a large order.

However, the new product required entirely new raw materials, and they were short on funds. So the previous director approached Uncle Jiang.

He said that as long as Uncle Jiang helped him through this tough time, he would officially make him the deputy director—and even give him shares in advance. Uncle Jiang would also gain full control of management duties.

Uncle Jiang had hesitated but ultimately agreed. After all, he had followed this man for years and trusted him. The offer also seemed sincere, so he put in all his family’s savings—and even borrowed some money.

At this point, Uncle Jiang was full of regret.

“Who would’ve thought… the day after I gave him the money, he just disappeared. He even sold his house, turned off his phone—vanished completely. Left me with this mess.”

Jiang Xueli anxiously asked, “Dad, how much did you give him?”

“Over a million… including what you gave us earlier, almost all of it’s gone.”

“Over a million…” Jiang Xueli didn’t say much more. It was a lot of money—definitely more than their total savings. But thankfully, she had made some decent income as a singer over the past few years. She could probably just barely cover that hole.

But Uncle Jiang continued,

“Honestly, losing our savings wouldn’t be the worst. The real problem is… we’ve got breach-of-contract penalties if the new product isn’t finished. I signed the deal as the factory director. If we can’t deliver the goods, we’ll owe a fortune. On top of that, wages haven’t been paid in half a year. With that guy gone, all 200 workers are coming after me for their money.”

Everyone’s faces grew tense—except for Lin Zhengran, who stayed calm and asked, “Excluding the penalty fees, how much do you owe the workers in total?”

“Each worker makes about six thousand a month. It’s been half a year—so just in wages, that’s at least seven to eight million.”

Jiang Xueli’s eyes trembled. “How much?!”

Lin Zhengran nodded. “Got it. Pan Lin, go ahead and issue the wages according to the payroll. Use my account.”

Pan Lin stood up. “Yes, President Lin.”

His decisiveness left Uncle and Aunt Jiang speechless.

Seven to eight million—that’s not money most people can just casually pull out.

Uncle Jiang’s brows furrowed. Then suddenly, he dropped to his knees.

“Ranran… thank you… thank you for saving our family.”

Lin Zhengran and Lili quickly rushed over to lift him up.

Lin Zhengran frowned. “Uncle, what are you doing? Please don’t.”

Jiang Xueli panicked. “Dad…”

Uncle Jiang looked up at him. “But I can’t pay you back…”

Lin Zhengran reassured him, “Don’t worry—I wasn’t finished. Didn’t you say the factory signed a contract? I’ll cover the cost of the raw materials. You just focus on leading the workers and finishing production. Once the order is fulfilled and you get the final payment, the factory will bounce back, right?”

“But we might not make the deadline… the client needed this urgently.”

“Then hire more people. Add more equipment. And deadlines can always be renegotiated. Is the client local?”

“Yes, it’s the Jiang Corporation…”

“The Jiang Corporation?”

Thirty minutes later, Pan Lin and her team were distributing wages downstairs, lining up the workers one by one.

Aunt Jiang was helping calm the crowd—after all, they still needed these experienced workers to stay.

Inside the factory office—

Uncle Jiang had tried calling the Jiang Corporation to request an extension, but they refused outright.

However, once Lin Zhengran stepped in and the other side heard he was “President Lin of Zhengshi,” their tone changed instantly:

“You’re President Lin? Okay, I’ll go talk to President Jiang. She’s in charge of this order. Please hold.”

That President Jiang… was none other than Jiang Qian.

Even Lin Zhengran was surprised when he heard her voice.

“President Jiang…”

Jiang Qian sounded confused too.

“Lin Zhengran? Why is it you? Aren’t you working in entertainment with my sister? How are you involved in manufacturing now?”

Lin Zhengran chuckled. “It’s a long story. The factory here ran into some issues. Can you give us a bit more time? Just one more week. I promise the goods will be delivered.”

“One week? Sure. It’s not that urgent anyway. It’s a rush order, but even if it’s late by a month, it’s fine. I’ll extend it by two weeks—deliver half a month late.”

Uncle Jiang, who couldn’t hear the conversation, waited nervously. Meanwhile, Lin Zhengran felt a little embarrassed.

“Thanks—I owe you one.”

Jiang Qian blushed slightly.

“No, you don’t. You taught me piano, helped me with Xiaomeng, and even saved my sister’s life. This is nothing. Anything else you need?”

“That’s it. Thanks again.”

She replied, “No problem,” and was just about to hang up, when she softly added,

“Are you free next week? Want to grab a meal? We haven’t really met since high school, aside from class.”

Lin Zhengran nodded. “Sure. I’ll set it up.”

“It’s a promise…”

The call ended.

Uncle Jiang immediately asked, “So? What did they say?”

Lin Zhengran smiled. “They gave us two more weeks. Uncle Jiang, just focus on production. But you have to guarantee the quality.”

Uncle Jiang was elated.

“Thank you—thank you, Ranran! I swear on the factory’s name, the quality will be perfect. Once we get the final payment, I’ll pay you back part of it right away. And I’ll return the rest once things stabilize!”

“No rush on the money.”

Lin Zhengran picked up a sample from the table—an electronic component.

“By the way, I think our company uses components like this too. I have a live-streaming business. I’ll have Pan Lin bring someone from the procurement department to take a look. If it works out, how about making this factory a dedicated supplier for Zhengshi?”

Uncle Jiang nodded quickly.

“Really? Your company needs these parts too? That’s great! I’ll go meet with the procurement team in a bit. President Lin, don’t worry—our factory’s quality is top-notch!”

Lin Zhengran smiled.

“Uncle, why are you calling me President Lin again? Just call me Ranran.”

Uncle Jiang was so overwhelmed with gratitude he could barely speak.

“This… this kindness is too much. I don’t even know how to thank you…”

His eyes were red again.

Yes, over ten million was a lot—but for a company the size of Zhengshi, it was barely a drop in the bucket.

What could have crushed a small factory was, to Zhengshi, just a minor inconvenience.

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