Contracts are serious business. No random person can just appear and demand to see them—but now he’s letting her?
“Don’t cause trouble,” Chen Zhigang waved his hand dismissively, not taking Lin Ruyuan seriously at all.
“Director,” Lin Ruyuan said, calm but firm, “the contract with the foreign party should have both Chinese and English versions. We all understand Chinese, so there’s probably no issue there. The problem might be in the English version. I happen to know the language, and with one more person reviewing it, we might be able to spot the problem.”
Lin Baoguo opened his mouth but stopped. Standing there, he couldn’t look away—his daughter exuded confidence from the inside out, and it was hard not to be impressed.
Chen Zhigang, sizing up the young girl, thought that running into her tonight might be a stroke of luck. Maybe fate itself sent her here.
Deciding to “give it a try,” he handed her the contract. If she could spot real issues, great. If not, he’d have to make other arrangements.
“Here’s the contract,” Chen Zhigang said, pulling it from his pocket, frowning. He hadn’t expected much—but Lin Ruyuan read through the entire document in fluent foreign language.
Lin Baoguo, who had been watching from the side, was stunned. He knew she was smart, but he didn’t expect her to be this capable!
Li Zhenping patted him on the shoulder. “Hey, can you even understand what she’s saying?”
Lin Baoguo shook his head stiffly. “…Not a word.”
“Our daughter is amazing!” Li Zhenping gawked. Not only was she beautiful, she was brilliant too!
Lin Baoguo glanced at him and cleared his throat. “She’s my daughter.”
“Yes, yes, your daughter!” Li Zhenping said, wishing he had a daughter like hers.
To avoid unnecessary complications, contracts that are mostly fine are usually signed immediately. They’re always prepared in advance.
When dealing with foreign parties, contracts are usually in two copies—one in Chinese, one in English—so both parties can verify them.
After reviewing the English version, Lin Ruyuan checked the Chinese copy as well and immediately pointed out multiple issues.
“First, the dates on the two versions don’t match. The English contract is a few days later than the Chinese one.”
“Second, the exchange rate mentioned here…” she frowned, continuing, “any fees should be covered by the factory. This isn’t a trivial amount; this order could even cause the factory to lose money.”
“Third, the remittance bank mentioned—why isn’t it a domestic one?”
“…It’s not that there’s no problem. There are problems everywhere!”
“The final payment should be settled tonight. The date on the English contract is correct—today.”
Chen Zhigang was stunned. Just the first issue, the date, had been wrong!
Clearly, the translator he hired was completely incompetent. This wasn’t a small oversight; it was pure ineptitude.
As Chen Zhigang was processing this, the finance staff ran over. “Director, the final payment has been settled…”
Lin Baoguo and the onlookers gasped—amazing!
At that moment, Huang Qi arrived with the translator, fashionably late.
“Go tell everyone we’ll stop here tonight and arrange overtime pay,” Chen Zhigang instructed the workers, then glared at his brother-in-law, Huang Qi.
“Why did it take so long? Two hours in total! A baby could’ve been born in that time!” Chen Zhigang barked.
Huang Qi swallowed hard and tried to explain. “Brother-in-law, I… I had to increase the fee to 2,000 yuan to get him here. You can scold me later, but let’s check the contract first.”
The translator frowned impatiently. “Director Chen, the foreign party didn’t follow the agreement. Coming here so late to make me work overtime—2,000 yuan is already giving you face! I don’t want to waste more time here; once this is done, I want to go home.”
Huang Qi inwardly rolled his eyes—he wasn’t rushing home to sleep. He was eager to get back to his woman! That bastard… he’d settle this later.
Huang Qi glanced at Xi Zhou. “Brother-in-law, are we letting them leave now?”
A sudden thought made his heart skip a beat. Is the factory about to go bankrupt?
Chen Zhigang stared coldly at the translator, Feng Xiaolong.
“Was it your translation error, or did the foreign party not comply with the schedule?”
Feng Xiaolong, feeling his competence challenged, threatened to leave. “Director Chen, there’s a saying: ‘Trust your people or don’t use them.’ Since you don’t trust me, I’m done tonight! Pay me my wages, and I’m leaving immediately.”
“No, that’s not what my brother-in-law meant,” Huang Qi said, trying to smooth things over. He knew scolding wouldn’t help, given Chen’s temper.
“I mean it literally,” Chen Zhigang said calmly. “You mistranslated and still had the audacity to blame the foreign party for not following the schedule? Feng Xiaolong, I haven’t even come for your wages yet, and you dare demand them? Shameless!”
Lin Ruyuan: “…”
So that was the translator—clearly not someone reliable.
The workers finishing their shift glanced over. Lin Baoguo and the others had also finished work—but tonight, they’d wasted time and earned nothing.
“Dad,” Lin Ruyuan called softly. Lin Baoguo’s face lit up, nodding.
“Is this your daughter?” Chen Zhigang was surprised—a young woman like her was the daughter of one of his factory laborers?
Indeed, you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Chen Zhigang’s tone softened, even when speaking to Lin Baoguo. “How come I never knew you had such an outstanding daughter? She immediately spotted the problem!”
Problem found?! Huang Qi exhaled—finally, no more scolding tonight.
“Director Chen! So you’re just playing games with me?” Feng Xiaolong complained, displeased. “She’s just a little girl! Probably just got lucky this time. If your factory offends me, I won’t translate for you again!”
“I’ll deal with your translation error later,” Chen Zhigang said firmly—he wouldn’t let Feng Xiaolong off. He’d caused enough trouble already.
“You’d better watch your mouth! Don’t underestimate anyone. My daughter scored first in the university entrance exams and is now at Jing City University studying finance. Even the senior professors think highly of her—you have no right to criticize her,” Lin Baoguo snapped.
Whoa! This girl is seriously impressive!