Chapter 202: Chapter 202: Director Zhao’s Lazy Soldier

With no real dirt on them, it was naturally easier for the higher-ups to handle the situation.

Besides, just making a few pieces of furniture for Xie Changning’s in-laws hardly counted as capitalism. What’s more, the workers were helping out, not being paid for it.

The other party’s overreaction, on the contrary, greatly annoyed the leadership.

’Was it really necessary to report such a trivial matter to the higher-ups?’

The leaders wouldn’t handle such a minor issue personally. They simply suppressed it and passed a message to Director Zhao, telling him to mention it to Xie Changning the next time he saw her.

"Did you offend them?"

"I didn’t ask them for help. I suppose that counts as offending them, right?"

Xie Changning shrugged.

Director Zhao was rendered speechless by Xie Changning’s words.

’This is the first time I’ve heard of someone offending another person by *not* asking for their help.’

However, on second thought, Xie Changning was the factory director. There were many hidden benefits to be gained by helping her.

Director Zhao made some small talk, and seeing that Xie Changning could handle it, he didn’t dwell on the topic. "So, what brings you here?"

"Well, our daily chemical factory recently developed two new products. I wanted to let the leaders sample them. Oh, and here are the documents for the land I want for expansion, as well as the application to add more production lines..."

Xie Changning took the documents out of her bag one by one and placed them before Director Zhao. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Director Zhao looked at the thick stack of files. "You know, some of these documents aren’t for me to handle."

"Could you do me a favor and pass them along during the meeting?"

"Xie Changning! You’re going too far!"

Director Zhao was about to slam his hand on the desk, but when Xie Changning looked up, he gently placed it on the tabletop instead. "Even if you’ve prepared everything, you at least have to introduce your products to me, right? Are you just going to have me act as your messenger?!"

’I’m a director! Don’t I have any pride?’

’Between the two of us, who’s working for whom?!’

"Of course, I’ll introduce them right away!" Xie Changning opened the top file, placed it in front of Director Zhao, and then pulled several samples out of her backpack.

There was a gardenia-scented perfume, a chamomile-scented perfume, a pine-scented perfume, and two flavors of toothpaste.

All were packed in small containers and neatly arranged in front of Director Zhao.

"The ones in the glass bottles are perfumes; they have labels on them. The ones in the small boxes are toothpaste. The green one is a mint flavor that helps prevent gum bleeding, and the purple one is a lavender flavor for whitening."

Xie Changning introduced her products to Director Zhao.

Director Zhao already had high expectations for Xie Changning’s products, and now, hearing her description, a look of keen interest appeared on his face.

He picked up the samples, examining them one by one, and then began to decide which ones to keep.

"I brought plenty of samples. You can keep them all if you like, just remember to give me some feedback." Xie Changning was very generous. She pulled a plastic bag from her pocket, filled with the CLINKING and CLANKING of perfume and toothpaste samples.

Seeing she had prepared so many, Director Zhao didn’t stand on ceremony.

He swept all the samples on his desk into his possession.

He planned to take them home to try.

’It’s good that Director Zhao isn’t being polite,’ Xie Changning thought. ’This way, I can ask him for more favors without feeling bad.’

’What can I say? Director Zhao’s subordinate is just that shameless!’

Accepting a gift puts you in their debt. In the end, Director Zhao accepted both the documents and the samples. He planned to take them to the afternoon meeting to distribute, and then collect feedback.

After chatting a bit more in Director Zhao’s office, Xie Changning left.

After Xie Changning was gone, Director Zhao sighed and asked his secretary to get the car ready. He had to leave early today. He had... a mission!

「—」

After leaving the Bureau of Industry, Xie Changning went to check on the courtyard she had rented for Yue Yang and Huo Xiaoqian.

She remembered that they didn’t have classes at this time.

’They should be in the courtyard.’

As Xie Changning approached the courtyard, she saw the two of them in the yard, talking.

They were washing clothes in the yard. One was doing the first wash, while the other did the second rinse and hung the clothes to dry. They seemed to be getting along very happily.

Compared to before, Yue Yang had put on some weight and her complexion was much fairer. She smiled a lot more and seemed much more confident.

It was a change that came from the inside out.

Xie Changning stood there watching them for a long time before stepping into the courtyard.

Hearing footsteps, they both turned their heads and saw Xie Changning standing not far away, watching them with a smile.

Their eyes lit up instantly.

"Director! What brings you here!" Perhaps because they had spent so much time together, the first thing they said upon seeing Xie Changning was exactly the same, spoken in unison.

Seeing them getting along so well and so changed from before, Xie Changning felt gratified.

"I came to see how you’re doing."

They put down the clothes in their hands and brought a stool over for Xie Changning to sit on.

Xie Changning gestured with her chin. "Don’t mind me. You two carry on."

Seeing that Xie Changning wasn’t there to interrogate them, they went back to washing clothes, picking up their pace.

Xie Changning looked around.

When she first rented it, the courtyard was full of weeds. Now, the two girls were taking excellent care of it.

There wasn’t a single trace of weeds.

They had also repaired the walls.

Xie Changning peered through the open door. The outer room was very clean, with firewood stacked neatly against the wall.

The two of them each had their own room, and everything seemed very harmonious.

Xie Changning stood up. "Do you mind if I take a look at your rooms?"

"Not at all." They both shook their heads.

Xie Changning stepped into the house and first went to look at the east room.

The things in the east room were tidy and simple. One look and you could tell it was Yue Yang’s room. The only place with items on display was the desk.

There was a desk lamp, various books, and her fountain pen and notebook.

Xie Changning didn’t rifle through them, but she could see from the desktop that Yue Yang took great care of her books. The fountain pen was a gift from Xie Changning, and it had faded, showing how long she had been using it.

Xie Changning left Yue Yang’s room and went to check on Huo Xiaoqian’s.

Compared to Yue Yang’s room, Huo Xiaoqian’s looked much cozier.

Her desk was covered with a white tablecloth. A wooden pen holder sat in the corner, and her books were all put away in a cabinet. The only thing on the desk was her unfinished homework.

As for the kang—

On the kang was a pink doll Yue Yang had made for her, along with a pink cloth chest cover. The overall color scheme was more girly than Yue Yang’s room.

As for how Xie Changning knew Yue Yang had made the doll—it was because, of the two, only Yue Yang was skilled at needlework.

Yue Yang also doted on Huo Xiaoqian.

She took great care of her.

Even Huo Xiaoqian’s curtains were made by Yue Yang, who had taken apart a white mattress cover, embroidered patterns on it, and fashioned it into curtains.

The two finished washing the clothes and came into the room. Seeing Xie Changning looking at the curtains, Huo Xiaoqian’s face instantly turned red. "Yangyang embroidered the curtains for me. I don’t know how to."

Both girls were very frugal; the chest cover, tablecloth, and curtains were all made from old duvet covers.