At this thought, Xie Changning’s smile brightened considerably.

She arrived at the leaders’ office and greeted them. "Hello, Directors."

"Ah, good, good."

Upon seeing Xie Changning, the director of the Spring Trade Fair instantly relaxed. He beamed and said, "Here’s the situation. This foreign gentleman wants to have a word, but I don’t have a translator available. I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you to help out."

The director said this without batting an eye.

Xie Changning understood perfectly. "Of course, Director. I guarantee the mission will be a success!"

The foreign representative’s translator relayed their conversation. The representative frowned and looked at Xie Changning; he knew a little about this woman.

She was difficult to deal with.

"Hello, I’m Xie Changning. I’ll be your designated translator from China," Xie Changning said to the foreign representative, her tone perfectly polite.

The more she acted this way, the more wary the foreign representative became.

"Hello."

The two shook hands. Then, the foreign representative finally couldn’t hold back any longer. "Ma’am, the prices for your country’s products at this year’s trade fair are double what they were last year. Please give us a reasonable explanation." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Hearing this, a polite smile appeared on Xie Changning’s face. She looked at the foreign representative before her and began to speak slowly.

"We’re all businesspeople here. You should understand that raw material prices fluctuate annually. Our domestic material costs have seen a severe increase this year. There’s nothing we can do, even if you find it unacceptable."

This was Xie Changning’s reply.

Everyone knew Xie Changning’s words were just an excuse.

Everyone knew that China was a vast country with abundant resources, lacking neither manpower nor materials. She was just saying that because she didn’t want to lower the price.

While Xie Changning was explaining to the foreigner, Xie Changyi was also beside them, discussing the matter with the leaders.

Hearing Xie Changning’s response, the director of the Spring Trade Fair couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth lift into a slight smile.

"From what I understand, your factories receive state support for earning foreign currency. Even if you lose money by lowering your prices for us, the state will subsidize you so you don’t actually suffer a loss."

The foreigner’s words made Xie Changning’s eyes darken.

’Look at that. These foreigners know everything. But what good does it do them?’

Because—

"Our country has run out of money. You’ve been making us lose money for so many years, so where would our country get the money to support us? There’s none left. The state is broke."

Xie Changning threw the problem right back at the foreigner.

No matter what he asked, the answer was the same: there was no money.

The foreigner could see that Xie Changning wouldn’t budge, so he turned to Xie Changyi and the others. "Are you just going to let her talk to me like this? Does China have no sincerity for a long-term partnership!?"

Hearing this, Xie Changning sized him up with a glance.

"Sir, may I ask what business you did with us at the last Autumn Trade Fair?"

"..."

Xie Changning’s question left him speechless. He didn’t know the answer—or rather, he hadn’t attended last year’s Autumn Trade Fair at all.

Xie Changyi and the others had given Xie Changning full authority to handle the matter. They wouldn’t object to anything she said. Otherwise, wouldn’t that be a slap in their own faces?

Seeing that Xie Changning and the others were completely unyielding, the foreigner glared at her hatefully.

"You just wait!"

"Oh? So this is your foreign etiquette? When we refuse to lose money supplying you, you resort to threats? What, you want to start a fight with us on China’s turf?"

As she spoke, Xie Changning picked up a fountain pen from the desk and smiled faintly at the foreigner. "If you don’t understand my words, sir, I also know a little something about fisticuffs."

The fountain pen in Xie Changning’s hand snapped in two.

This action silenced everyone in the room. No one dared to make a sound.

Especially the foreigner. He never imagined Xie Changning could snap a fountain pen with one hand! That was a fountain pen!

The look in his eyes changed in an instant.

"Do you need me to see you out?" Xie Changning took a step forward, her smile still just as friendly.

The foreigner took a frightened step back and shook his head. "Thank you, no need."

With that said, he took off like a shot, as if his feet were greased.

Only after he left did the director of the Spring Trade Fair let out a secret sigh of relief. He looked at Xie Changning with admiration. "I couldn’t understand what you two were saying, but I understood one thing. He was just thanking you."

Xie Changning looked at the director of the Spring Trade Fair, a hint of apology on her face.

"I’m sorry, Director Liu. After he goes back, he’ll probably conspire with people from other companies to stop buying our products. The foreign currency earnings for this Spring Trade Fair might hit rock bottom."

"That’s a minor issue!"

Director Liu was very pleased.

Xie Changning’s actions in front of the foreigner had really done China proud!

An educated young person is really something else. An educated young person who also knows martial arts is on another level entirely!

This downturn wasn’t a problem. When they decided to back these factories, they knew this bunch of foreigners wouldn’t give up easily. But so what?

Could they refuse to cooperate with China for the rest of their lives?

China is a vast country with abundant resources. If they don’t work with us and go cooperate with people elsewhere, their costs will only get higher!

And the quality won’t be as good as China’s!

In reality, the foreigners were indeed weighing the pros and cons. The morning of the third day passed, and some of the factory representatives were getting antsy, starting to grumble amongst themselves.

They claimed that this wasn’t how things should be.

Just as they were arguing, Wang Shumei spoke up: "Haven’t you noticed the leaders haven’t said a thing? They know the consequences of this better than we do. If this was really going to harm the country and our factories, would the leaders let us do it?"

Of course not!

"Then why did the leaders call Xie Changning over?"

"To argue with the foreigners, of course!"

That’s what Wang Shumei thought, and Shen Jiaci felt the same way.

Time trickled by as everyone waited anxiously. Just when they thought they would have to pack up for the day, a commotion was heard from outside.

Before long, a foreigner appeared in the exhibition center. He made a beeline for his target booth and, without even haggling over the price, placed an order directly with the factory.

The appearance of this foreigner showed everyone a glimmer of hope, and at the same time, it made them realize one thing—

As long as they stood firm, the foreigners wouldn’t bully them and wouldn’t force them to lose money!

Thinking about this made their hearts ache with regret.

They had missed out on so much real gold and silver!

That one foreigner was just the beginning. Soon after, more began streaming into the exhibition hall, heading straight to the factories they needed to place orders. Before long, many factories had sold out their entire annual production capacity.

While placing their orders, the foreigners naturally didn’t forget to place orders at Xie Changning’s booth as well.

However, Xie Changning’s two factories were small. It was too late to expand, so they could only accept orders slightly exceeding their current production capacity.

Xie Changning planned to subcontract some of these orders to their partner factories, having them produce semi-finished goods.

That way, they could save some time.

The foreigners who couldn’t get an order in with Xie Changning’s factories beat their chests and stamped their feet, regretting that they had ever listened to others!