It wasn’t until she stepped into the clothing factory’s workshop that Yu Nian truly understood what Cheng Si meant by “special.”
This was a clothing factory staffed by people with disabilities.
Looking at the person in charge who had been led before her, Yu Nian’s face—which usually showed little emotional fluctuation—displayed a rare, reassuring smile.
She naturally extended her non-dominant left hand to shake hands with the manager in a friendly greeting, acting as if she hadn’t noticed the empty sleeve hanging on the manager’s right side.
In truth, there wasn’t much time for small talk. After briefly explaining the current production situation to Yu Nian, the manager hurried back to the production line to help. It wasn’t just Yu Nian and her team who were anxious; for this factory, this order from ZS Trading represented their largest single source of income for the beginning of the year.
Yu Nian turned to the group standing behind her and nodded.
From Business Group Seven to Group Nine, everyone was present except for Cheng Si, who was away on a business trip.
“I believe Secretary Jin briefly explained the situation to everyone over the phone. I won’t waste words. I’m sorry for calling you all out at this hour.”
“Oh, President Yu, you’re being too polite. If there’s a problem with the project, we definitely should be here.”
“Right! Right!”
“That’s true.”
“President Yu.”
One of the group leaders approached with a bitter smile and bowed deeply to Yu Nian. “I am truly sorry. There have been so many things to handle these past few days, and I thought I should prioritize the urgent items first. I didn’t expect…”
He was the person who had taken over this down jacket export project after Supervisor Zhao’s resignation. He had assumed there would be no issues and had temporarily set it aside, never expecting such a major oversight to occur.
The others, including the two other group leaders present, didn’t dare make a sound. They watched Yu Nian’s expression out of the corners of their eyes.
To their surprise, Yu Nian looked at the middle-aged man bowed at a ninety-degree angle and simply shook her head. “Save the self-reflection for later. Time waits for no one. Production is up to the workers; the rest is up to us. Time is tight; we need to start immediately.”
“Yes… Yes!”
The middle-aged man straightened up, feeling as though a heavy burden had been lifted, and quickly followed in Yu Nian’s footsteps.
“Hey… come to think of it, why don’t I have any impression of this project at all? It’s almost March; can down jackets even sell at this time?”
Walking at the back, a few staff members were whispering.
“Of course you don’t remember. This project was taken directly from Minister An’s hands by Supervisor Zhao. Haven’t you noticed? This isn’t a profit-making project at all.”
“Not a profit project? Then… I mean, why did Supervisor Zhao take it on?”
“Why else? It was a task assigned by the head office. This project is actually a response to a government initiative. Hasn’t the head office been focusing on their public welfare image these past few years? We naturally have to respond to the head office’s call. This down jacket project is a collaboration our company facilitated between a disability organization and a charitable foundation.”
“What? So that’s how it is.”
“Yeah. These clothes weren’t meant to be sold. The charity will distribute them for free to impoverished households in various regions. Otherwise, why do you think our group would do such a small project? There’s no profit for us; in fact, we have to cover quite a few costs out of pocket.”
“Ah… so that’s why the leaders are so nervous now.” The person asking wasn’t a fool and immediately understood the crux of the matter.
“Exactly. Think about it. If it were a normal project, a small mistake might be overlooked. But this is a task assigned by the head office. If it gets messed up, what do you think will happen to our group? Most importantly, President Yu has only just taken office. If something goes wrong…”
The speaker left the sentence hanging with a cryptic expression.
The group suddenly looked at each other and fell into a tacit silence.
They didn’t notice a figure following silently behind them, listening to every word of their conversation.
Mai Suisui bit her lip, her eyes constantly drifting to Yu Nian’s back. Her lowered face was full of self-reproach and worry.
Twenty thousand down jackets had to be loaded onto trucks by 4:00 AM to make it to the cargo ship in time.
With the current manpower, this was clearly an extremely difficult, if not impossible, task.
Fortunately, after reaching out through various channels, Yu Nian and the others managed to find nearly twenty hired workers at that hour, which finally gave everyone a glimmer of hope.
Thud!
After Yu Nian and several others placed the last box of goods into the truck’s cargo hold and stepped out, Yu Nian first raised her hand to check the time, then looked at the crowd watching her. Her usually expressionless face couldn’t help but break into a brilliant smile.
She let out a slow breath and said to everyone with a smile, “It’s finished.”
The watch showed that it was only 4:00 AM—two hours faster than expected.
“Ah, finally… we did it!”
“I thought we were dead meat this time. Scared me to death…”
In an instant, over a dozen uncontrollable cheers echoed across the wide, open concrete ground in front of the factory.
Relief was written on almost every face, a mix of joy and exhaustion. Some were even moved enough to hug one another.
Once they realized the severity of the mistake, the employees felt as though a guillotine was hanging over their heads. If the problem hadn’t been resolved, no one knew how the head office would react.
The larger the corporation, the less room there was for error. The world was never short of talented people; they had fought tooth and nail to get into the company, and no one wanted to be kicked out in disgrace.
But now, it was fine. The goods could be loaded ahead of schedule. As long as nothing went wrong on the road, everything would end perfectly.
“President Yu, thank you so much this time! Really… thank you so, so much!”
Watching the last truck drive out of the factory gates, Yu Nian turned to see the manager of the clothing factory standing before her, bowing repeatedly.
It was clear he was profoundly grateful to Yu Nian and the staff who showed up tonight.
Everyone understood that this down jacket project was essentially a “charity event.” But even if someone hands you a bowl of food, you still have to be able to eat it. If they couldn’t even accept someone’s kindness properly because of their own failures, that would be the most regrettable thing of all.
Yu Nian looked at the slightly hunched figure of the manager before her, and the empty sleeve swaying in the air with his bows, and couldn’t help but fall silent for a moment.
She nodded gently and said, “You’ve worked hard.”
The disabled man, who looked to be in his late forties or fifties, paused almost imperceptibly at her words. Then, he looked up, a relaxed smile appearing on his dark face, his forehead damp with sweat.
Yu Nian turned to the staff: “You’ve all worked hard too. Tomorrow… no, today, everyone gets a half-day off. Go back and rest as soon as possible.”
“Oh, and by the way, tonight’s overtime will be calculated at triple pay.”
“Long live President Yu!!!”
Hearing this, everyone looked at each other and cheered happily.
After today’s interactions, they realized that although their new young president was strict in her work, she was actually quite a good person in private.
It seemed their future workplace life might be a lot more comfortable than they expected.
As Mai Suisui followed the happy crowd out of the factory, she happened to see Yu Nian sitting by the roadside, massaging her swollen ankle.
She hesitated for a moment but finally gritted her teeth and walked over to Yu Nian.
Yu Nian had noticed Mai Suisui helping out in the factory long ago, but she had been too busy to ask.
“Aren’t you getting your hair done? Why did you come here?”
After saying it, both of them froze for a second.
Mai Suisui hesitated before explaining, “Shen Qingqing called and told me. She probably heard from Secretary Jin and then notified me.”
Yu Nian nodded and said casually, “Secretary Jin told me you were getting your hair done. I suppose Shen Qingqing told Jin Enna.”
Mai Suisui’s confusion was cleared; when Qingqing called her, she had indeed told her she was getting her hair done.
“Um…”
Mai Suisui took a deep breath and bowed solemnly to Yu Nian, saying, “President Yu, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault… that’s why everyone had to work so hard tonight.”
“Your fault? What did you do wrong?”
Mai Suisui bit her lower lip, not daring to look up at Yu Nian’s expression. “When you asked me to help check the project files for each group, I was the one who checked this down jacket project…”
“Just because of that? If anyone is at fault, it should be me. I was the one who was careless and didn’t think to double-check the contract terms. It has nothing to do with you.”
“But, but…” Mai Suisui was still struggling.
“That’s enough.”
“It’s okay.”
Mai Suisui felt a hand pat her shoulder, and she couldn’t help but look up.
Yu Nian had a faint smile on her face. “The person responsible for this isn’t you, and it isn’t me either. I don’t have the habit of taking blame that doesn’t belong to me, so you shouldn’t either.”
“Oh, by the way, do you know how to drive?”
Mai Suisui was stunned and nodded quickly. “Yes.”
“Then could you take my car and drive me somewhere?” Yu Nian acted as if it were no big deal. “As you can see, I probably shouldn’t be driving with my ankle like this…”
“Okay!” Mai Suisui nodded repeatedly.
Thinking of her safety, Yu Nian asked with a hint of concern, “How are your driving skills? Can you stay focused after working all night?”
“I can do it, President Yu,” Mai Suisui promised, patting her chest.
Yu Nian awkwardly looked away. “Then take me to…”
She was about to say the private kitchen’s location, but hesitated for a moment. “…just take me home.”
She would go to the private kitchen to get her phone tomorrow morning.
“Okay.”
The ride was silent.
However, when they passed a 24-hour pharmacy, Mai Suisui stopped the car and ran in to buy an anti-inflammatory ointment.
Yu Nian didn’t say anything, but as she watched Mai Suisui run into the pharmacy, a slight ripple of emotion appeared in her eyes.
When they reached the destination and got out of the car, Yu Nian seemed to notice Mai Suisui’s hair.
“This hairstyle looks good on you.”
Yu Nian’s direct praise made Mai Suisui purse her lips, and under Yu Nian’s smiling gaze, she awkwardly tugged at the corner of her clothes.
Yu Nian coughed twice. “Um, the ointment.”
“Oh, oh.” Mai Suisui’s mind went blank, and words tumbled out of her mouth.
“President Yu, you should be able to do it yourself, right? Or do you want me to help you… rub it…”
“…”
Yu Nian stared at the girl, whose face was turning bright red, and pretended she hadn’t heard.
“Then I won’t see you off. Go home and get some good rest.”
“Oh, okay, okay.”
After watching Yu Nian leave, Mai Suisui called a taxi, her face full of frustration.
Back at home.
Tossing and turning in bed, Mai Suisui surprisingly didn’t fret about “Lady 23” not replying to her messages.
Instead, her mind kept replaying the words she had blurted out when saying goodbye to Yu Nian.
How is that any different from saying I want to touch Yu Nian’s feet!
Then she thought back to the first time she met Yu Nian in the elevator, and what Shen Qingqing had said on the phone…
“Aish!!!”
“She wouldn’t misunderstand and think I have some kind of special fetish, would she?!”