In Factory Director Ji’s limited understanding, to have a high-rise building like the Sui City Hotel was already quite impressive.
Now, he was thinking that although the salaries were fixed, he could distribute some more items to everyone, making their lives better.
In fact, after the Spring Trade Fair, the Shanghai Textile Factory almost monthly finds reasons to distribute items - rice, flour, grain, oil, cloth, eggs, meat, whatever they could gather.
Whether full-time workers or part-timers, as long as they worked, they got a share.
Every resident of Lan County genuinely felt the benefits.
Factory Director Ji spent the day daydreaming about the future, to him the foreign merchants before him were no longer people; they were bricks, tiles, rice, flour, meat... the smiling faces of children.
"Hezi, has Uncle Ji gone mad?"
"Should I slap him awake?"
Factory Director Ji didn’t realize that, during his daydream, Lin Nianhe had saved his life.
He was brought back to reality by Kapasa’s contract.
"Uncle Ji, Uncle Kapasa might not be very rich, but he’s our best partner, so his deposit is only ten percent, with the balance due within five months after delivery," Lin Nianhe gently reminded.
Factory Director Ji had been in contact with Kapasa before, but today was their first meeting. He had a good impression of this partner—after all, Kapasa had settled the final payment promptly last time, without needing any reminders.
"Hello, hello." Factory Director Ji dared not look at the numbers on the contract, lest he faint and embarrass himself in front of the foreigner. He shook hands warmly with Kapasa, thought for a moment, and repeated "hello."
Lin Nianhe: "Uncle Ji, are you alright?"
"If you’re fine, come here, let’s take a photo together."
Lin Nianhe pulled out a camera he had prepared earlier, and asked a colleague from the Shanghai Textile Factory to help take a picture for them.
"Uncle Kapasa, may I take a photo with just you?" Lin Nianhe eagerly invited.
Kapasa, seemingly accustomed to it, nodded and said, "No problem... Eh, I don’t know why, but my friends really like taking photos with me."
Lin Nianhe chuckled, and before taking the photo, he quickly pulled Wang Shumei aside and whispered, "Later you and Sister Lan should also take a separate photo with him."
Didn’t understand, but still went along.
Several people took turns taking photos with Kapasa, who seemed used to being an attraction and smiled brilliantly.
Kapasa was here primarily for the photo session, though he had been busy selecting goods all day, he hadn’t forgotten Lin Nianhe’s request from the morning.
"Uncle Kapasa, where are you staying? I’ll take you there."
"No no no, I can’t let a lady strain herself."
Kapasa, smiling, told Lin Nianhe about an obscure small inn where he was sharing a room with another merchant from Milan.
Lin Nianhe thought he hadn’t found a suitable hotel, so he said, "Our accommodation can also host foreign merchants, if you need, I can help you find a room."
"No need, my old friend and I quite like our current hotel, I’m here to work, not to enjoy."
Kapasa smiled relaxedly, carefully guarding the contract, bid farewell to Lin Nianhe again, and then boarded a bus on the roadside.
Lin Nianhe watched him settle in, then turned back to the exhibition.
"Hezi, why did you have us take photos when you had nothing else to do?"
As soon as she left, Wen Lan couldn’t wait to ask.
"For safety." Lin Nianhe seriously replied.
Absolutely couldn’t understand.
Should have known better than to take the photo.
There are many people around now, and it’s really not convenient to talk about that mystical stuff, so Lin Nianhe changes the subject smoothly: "Sister Chingching, haven’t had lunch yet, have you?"
"Not really hungry though." Xu Qing was indeed a bit tired, but she was also genuinely not hungry. She sat in her chair, giving Lin Nianhe a slightly resentful look, "You just took off, really scared me."
"The process was fairly smooth, wasn’t it?" Lin Nianhe asked.
"That... I can’t really say it went entirely smoothly..."
Xu Qing had been quite flustered due to Lin Nianhe’s sudden departure, so much so that when Kapasa asked about the product, her brain couldn’t even function properly.
Fortunately, Kapasa was patient and realized she was a newcomer. He didn’t rush her and even offered her a few words of comfort.
"But now I’m really not afraid," Xu Qing was afraid her performance might hold everyone back, so she assured, "I have experience now."
"Then keep up the good work tomorrow." Lin Nianhe handed her some bread and sausage, "Eat a bit first, we are wrapping up here in ten minutes and then heading back."
Right after Xu Qing took the bread, a foreign trader approached their booth.
He was not very tall and very thin; his suit looked like a kid had stolen an adult’s clothing.
Seeing him, Xu Qing, who hadn’t eaten all day, couldn’t even bite into her sausage.
At this moment, near the closing time, all the salespersons had returned from the negotiation rooms and none of them felt the impulse to serve the bowing and nodding man standing outside the booth.
They were restraining themselves quite well, Sister Lan’s fingers were already cracking from bending them.
Lin Nianhe casually pulled Wang Shumei in front of Wen Lan to block her, set down his teacup, and went to greet him: "Hello."
"Hello," he bowed to Lin Nianhe, "Sorry to bother you, but I need to purchase some hair accessories, please sell them to me, thank you!"
Lin Nianhe looked at his watch and said, "Sorry, it’s too late today, not enough time to discuss contracts, please come early tomorrow."
"Ah?" His expression stiffened, and he also glanced at the time, then exaggeratedly started to show distress, "What should I do? If I don’t get the quota, my boss will be very disappointed in me!"
Lin Nianhe: "Don’t be so pessimistic, think on the bright side—maybe he’s already used to being disappointed."
As the closing announcement played, tears fell from the man’s eyes; however mournful he was, he had to leave honestly.
Before leaving, he didn’t forget to tell Lin Nianhe, "Please wait for me tomorrow, I beg you!"
Lin Nianhe didn’t hear what he said.
She turned around, addressing the visibly upset group: "What are you all doing? He’s a foreign trader, we should serve him when he comes."
Each of the salespersons pursed their lips, clearly disgruntled.
Factory Director Ji looked at everyone, then said to Lin Nianhe, "Never mind them, I don’t even want to sell our Head Flowers to him."
With the Factory Director taking the lead, the others instantly felt encouraged.
"I would rather starve than talk to them."
"So disgusting, just seeing them annoys me! I don’t even feel like eating dinner now!"
Watching his indignant comrades, Lin Nianhe laughed.
"Making money off of them to build our homeland, this is called ’spending others’ money to do our own thing’. Don’t get too emotional, the money we make off them might one day turn into a gift for Miss Qiu’s wedding."