The car stopped, and a man in his forties stepped out.
"What are you all doing here? Get back to work immediately."
The man's expression was grim as he gestured with his eyes for everyone to leave quickly, appearing extremely tense.
Seeing his expression, the ringleaders grew even more excited. Among the followers, some hesitated, some watched from the sidelines, and many simply joined in the commotion.
Zhou Huarong rushed over, tears and mucus streaming down his face, wailing: "Director Wei, you've finally come! If you hadn't arrived soon, our factory would be finished!"
Female representative Li Xiaolan also spoke with a troubled expression: "Director Wei, we don't want to cause trouble at this critical moment either, but the factory's current situation makes it impossible for us to work with peace of mind."
Wei Dongsheng's face twisted with anxiety, his eyes continuously signaling for everyone to leave first. But no one paid attention, instead the commotion grew louder.
"What are you all doing! We can discuss any issues later."
Li Xiaolan: "Director Wei, we just want an explanation – is our factory going to shut down?"
"Who told you our factory is going to shut down!" Wei Dongsheng exclaimed angrily.
"We all know what's happening in the factory! Don't try to hide it from us!"
"That's right, Director Wei. Give us a straight answer – is the factory unable to continue? You always make us put on appearances, but this doesn't seem right at all."
Wei Dongsheng's face grew darker, his finger pointing at the crowd while his whole body trembled.
"Xiao Zhao, did you inform everyone what day it is today?"
Zhao Xianghong stepped forward, looking dejected: "I notified everyone, and even specially cleaned up the entire factory inside and out."
"You all know what day it is, yet you're still causing trouble here. Do you really want our factory to shut down?!"
Wei Dongsheng's eyes swept across everyone present. "When we hired you, you weren't the most outstanding among the applicants. But the factory made exceptions because of your family difficulties. What are you doing today? You clearly know we have important guests visiting today – guests crucial to the factory – yet you deliberately choose this time to cause trouble. Are you… are you hoping the factory collapses! What good would that do you!"
Wei Dongsheng was so angry he could barely catch his breath, his face full of disappointment.
Some people in the crowd quietly left, but more stood their ground, loudly complaining about how bad the factory's situation was and asking whether this month's wages would be paid, completely ignoring what Wei Dongsheng said.
Finally, Wei Dongsheng simply fell silent and turned to lean against the car window.
The window rolled down, and he spoke to someone inside, his expression filled with guilt and helplessness.
Zhou Huarong and the other troublemakers exchanged glances, knowing they had succeeded today, smiles appearing in their eyes.
Su Ruyi had been watching from the side, clearly observing everything.
"Sis, I feel like these people are doing this on purpose," Wang Huiting whispered.
Su Ruyi: "Yes, they want to drive away today's important client."
The factory had clearly notified everyone about the important client visiting today. When the factory is in difficult times, one major client could change the factory's fate.
Yet these people deliberately chose this moment to cause trouble – clearly intending to drive the customer away.
Important clients aren't like cabbages that you can pick randomly from a field. If this client is lost, the factory might not survive until the next opportunity.
Anyone who genuinely cared about the factory and wanted to keep working here wouldn’t do something like this.
This wasn’t like decades later, when many factories faced labor shortages. At this time, the labor force far exceeded the number of available jobs, especially in Qing Province, where economic development lagged behind the booming southern cities with their dense clusters of factories.
Private factories in Qing Province were still relatively scarce, forcing many to leave their hometowns and seek work in the south.
Because of this, most people cherished the opportunity to work in a factory.
From Su Ruyi’s observations, the factory’s benefits seemed quite decent.
The living quarters, though consisting of single-story houses, were tidy and spacious.
Moreover, she noticed elderly people and children, indicating that the dormitories accommodated families.
Private enterprises weren’t like state-owned units that assigned housing to workers.
Even if dormitories were provided, they were usually just for production convenience, reserved for workers alone, and rarely allowed family members to move in. Even if exceptions were made, families would often have to squeeze into a single bed.
But from what she observed, there were clearly designated family rooms.
Although this was partly because land was plentiful here and building houses was easier, it still came at a cost.
“How could any worker want to bring the factory down?” Wang Huiting, a second-generation factory owner, found it hard to comprehend.
Though she had heard plenty of stories growing up about workers clashing with management, those disputes were always about seeking better benefits or fairness.
Deep down, those workers wanted the factory to thrive, so their own lives would improve as well.
What could these workers possibly gain? If the factory collapsed, what good would it do them?
Finding a job was already difficult enough—many state-owned enterprises were struggling to even pay wages. These people were simply ungrateful.
“Could it be that this major client is problematic?”
That was the only explanation Wang Huiting could think of.
Su Ruyi said, “Most likely, they were sent by a competitor to deliberately cause trouble, sabotage the cooperation, and bankrupt the factory.”
“What?! How could anyone be so malicious? That’s such a despicable tactic!”
Wang Huiting, who had never known what business warfare truly meant, widened her eyes in shock.
How could anyone be so shameless?!
Su Ruyi, on the other hand, began to worry whether this factory could survive. Its management was clearly lacking—it was being undermined from within.
It had seemed quite promising on the surface, but who would have thought its management was so lax?
Wei Dongsheng stepped forward again, sweeping a cold gaze over the crowd:
“Let me ask one last time: Did all of you come here today of your own accord, or were you instigated or threatened?”
Zhou Huarong retorted unhappily, “Manager Wei, what do you take us for? You make it sound like we’re here to stir up trouble deliberately. The factory’s situation is what it is—we’re just telling the truth.”
“What a ‘truth’ that is,” Wei Dongsheng snorted coldly. “Since you came voluntarily, there’s nothing more to say.”
Just then, a car door opened, and three people stepped out.
Su Ruyi took a closer look and recognized one of them—the enthusiastic and handsome passenger from the train. She hadn’t expected to run into him again here.
Was this the so-called major client?
He was clearly the leader among the three.
Everyone’s expressions turned uneasy at the sight of Lu Ting.
“Manager Wei, why is it Boss Lu?” Li Xiaolan’s face darkened as she sensed something amiss.
As one of the first workers to join the factory, Li Xiaolan was no stranger to Lu Ting. He was one of the owners of the plastics factory but rarely showed up. Li Xiaolan had only seen him once, back when the factory was first established.
He wasn't responsible for the factory's specific operations, but all the machinery in the factory had been acquired by him. Though young, he was exceptionally capable.
Wei Dongsheng snorted coldly, "It's been him all along. Are you disappointed?"
Ma Hui abruptly turned to look at Zhao Xianghong, her face filled with excitement. Zhao Xianghong also looked surprised but nodded toward her.
By this point, she had already guessed what was going on.
There had never been any major client from the start—it was Lu Ting who was coming.
Ma Hui's previously tearful expression instantly brightened.
She immediately understood that this was clearly a setup.
Wei Dongsheng scanned the people before him with deep anguish: "I, Wei Dongsheng, have never felt that I've wronged any of you. Why would you do this?! I don't expect you to stand by the factory through thick and thin, but why would you kick us when we're down!"
Cao Fei, who had stepped out of the driver's seat wearing sunglasses, a floral shirt, and dress pants, looking utterly frivolous, sneered:
"What else could it be? They've been bribed to sabotage our factory. They've got a death wish, not even bothering to find out who's backing this place!"
Zhou Huarong broke out in a cold sweat, finally realizing what was happening.
"Boss Lu, Factory Director Wei, please don't misunderstand. We were genuinely concerned about the factory, not deliberately causing trouble."
Cao Fei strode over and kicked him: "Enjoying that thousand yuan?"
Zhou Huarong initially wanted to argue, but upon hearing this, his eyes nearly bulged out of his head in terror.
"Damn it! Back then, we took pity on you—the factory spent money and effort to save your grandmother. Instead of being grateful, you collude with outsiders to cause trouble!"
Zhou Huarong repeatedly pleaded his innocence: "I didn't, I really didn't! There must be some misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding my ass! Think we're pushovers?!" Cao Fei kicked him again.
Wang Dakui, seeing the situation turning bad, tried to slip away but was grabbed by a tall man and thrown onto Zhou Huarong. This man was as towering as a city wall, his appearance and movements seeming somewhat clumsy, but he handled throwing people with remarkable efficiency.
"Hey, trying to run?" Cao Fei patted Wang Dakui's face. "Didn't think about today when you were gambling, did you?"
Hearing this, Wang Dakui trembled even more violently.
"I—I was forced! They set a trap. If I didn't do this, they'd chop my hands off! I really didn't want to harm our factory."
Cao Fei: "Didn't want to, or didn't get the chance?"
"I really didn't want to!"
Cao Fei delivered another kick, harder this time, directly causing Wang Dakui to cough up blood.
Everyone present gasped—was this a factory or some gangster organization?
"What gives you the right to hit people? We haven't done anything!" someone in the crowd shouted. "This is a shady factory! We're going to report you to the police station!"
Others, afraid they might be targeted next, joined in the shouting from within the crowd.
"Everyone, come see! The factory hired gangsters to beat people! They won't give us workers a way out if we don't obey!"
Lu Ting signaled to the tall and sturdy Xu Dazhi beside him. Xu Dazhi grunted lowly and stepped forward.
He was exceptionally tall, nearly two meters, and with each step he took, the ground seemed to shake.
Everyone was terrified by his massive build. Even though they outnumbered him, they still retreated in fear.
Xu Dazhi singled out those who had spoken up earlier, one by one, and tossed them aside, preventing them from hiding in the crowd.
Xu Dazhi's oppressive presence was so overwhelming that everyone fell silent for a moment.
Su Ruyi watched with gleaming eyes—this big guy's strength could rival hers!
Lu Ting spoke up at that moment: "Wang Dakui, on the 1st of this month, you attempted to set the warehouse on fire but were discovered by patrols and fled. Two days ago, you tried to poison the cafeteria. Did you really think no one would notice what you were doing?"
Wang Dakui, who had been ready to make a scene, broke into a cold sweat upon hearing this, trembling like a leaf.
Lu Ting then turned to Li Xiaolan: "Li Xiaolan, did you truly believe that by being someone else's pawn, they would abandon their wife and marry you?"
Li Xiaolan's face filled with terror as she staggered back two steps.
No wonder the factory had been so quiet lately—they had been waiting here all along.
Their backgrounds had long been thoroughly investigated, yet they naively thought their actions had gone unnoticed, biding their time to strike and break the factory's last straw.
Lu Ting didn't name everyone individually, his gaze sweeping over all present.
When his eyes fell upon Su Ruyi in the corner, he was quite surprised but didn't linger.
"Since you're all here today, there's no need to fish you out one by one. Don't let me see you in the provincial capital again, or I'll beat you every time I lay eyes on you."
Lu Ting's expression remained calm, but no one thought he was just making empty threats.
Wang Dakui was terrified, scrambling to beg for mercy: "Boss Lu, I'll leave right away, I swear I won't appear before you again."
Cao Fei laughed: "You still think you can leave?"
"Murder is illegal! You… you can't do this! Everyone is watching!"
Other factory workers had emerged from the workshops, watching from a distance without approaching.
"Killing you would just dirty my hands," Cao Fei said with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking every bit the ruffian. "We're law-abiding citizens—how could we do such a thing?"
Before Wang Dakui could feel relieved, a group of police officers entered through the main gate.
"What a shame it would be if someone like you didn't end up in prison," Cao Fei whispered in his ear. "I'll make sure to have people inside take good care of you."
The group was taken away by the police, and peace returned to the factory.
Wang Huiting was somewhat dazed—the scene had been utterly spectacular, and she never expected such a reversal in the end.
Zhao Xianghong hurried over to apologize to Su Ruyi.
"Boss Su, I'm truly sorry you had to witness that. Since it's almost lunchtime, why not stay for a meal so we can properly express our apologies? Our cafeteria serves quite decent food, and you can take a look around to better understand our factory's capabilities."
Su Ruyi was indeed feeling hungry, and with no other dining options nearby—plus her reluctance to leave just yet—she agreed.
Zhao Xianghong led the two toward the cafeteria, explaining the earlier incident along the way.
She didn't beat around the bush, directly revealing that their factory had recently been targeted. Sabotage had occurred in various areas, and this had been a setup to identify and remove all the troublemakers.
"Our factory's situation isn't as dire as it appears on the surface—we were just putting on a show," Zhao Xianghong added, saving face.
Su Ruyi simply smiled without commenting.
This factory clearly had its plans in order, but whether things were truly not that bad remained to be seen.
They had obviously offended someone powerful, becoming the target of relentless pursuit and obstruction.
Not only are they setting traps and creating obstacles in business, but they're also inciting workers to cause trouble, and doing it so ruthlessly—there must be something big behind this.
"Who have you offended?" Wang Huiting asked curiously.
Zhao Xianghong smiled bitterly. "We've always run our factory honestly and properly. Everything was fine for the past two years, but I don't know what happened this year—suddenly we're being targeted."
She knew saying this wouldn't reflect well on the factory's reputation, but she still chose to be honest with the two of them.
"But now that Boss Lu is back, things will be fine. He'll definitely get to the bottom of this. Our factory isn't just going to take hits passively! You can rest assured."
Entering the cafeteria, they saw workers lining up in an orderly fashion to get their meals. Among them were many disabled individuals—a proportion clearly higher than in an ordinary factory, likely intentionally hired.
Su Ruyi asked, "Do you have many retired soldiers in your factory?"
"Yes, half of our workers are retired soldiers and their family members, while the other half are local hires. That's why we implement military-style management with strict requirements. If it weren't for this, we would have been cheated several times already," Zhao Xianghong said with lingering fear.
"So our factory's production standards are very high—this isn't just me boasting."
After Zhao Xianghong left with Su Ruyi and Wang Huiting, Lu Ting called Ma Hui over to inquire about these two visitors and why they had shown up today.
Their factory had been repeatedly targeted recently, and its reputation outside had suffered. Rumors were spreading that the factory was about to collapse, and hardly any clients were coming.
The appearance of these two today seemed far too coincidental.
Ma Hui explained everything in detail, then worriedly asked:
"Brother Lu, you don't think they're here to cheat us too, do you?"
She hadn't thought so before, but now she wasn't so sure.
If they started producing this new item and the two girls disappeared, what would they do with all the products?
Unless they received most of the payment when placing the order, it would be easy to get scammed—but such cooperation terms were rare nowadays.
Lu Ting asked, "Hula Hoop?"
"If I remember correctly, that's what it's called. I have no idea what it is. Sister Zhao asked me to go into the city later to buy one and gather some information. Brother Lu, do you know what this thing is?"
Lu Ting actually did know. During his previous trip south, he'd seen many people playing with it.
However, he hadn't paid much attention at the time—he just knew such a thing existed and never connected it to plastic factories.
Although he held shares in this plastic factory, he usually didn't get involved in its daily operations and management, having only purchased a few machines in passing.
If the factory hadn't encountered continuous problems and seemed on the verge of collapse, and if Wei Dongsheng hadn't asked for his help, he wouldn't have gotten involved in this mess.
But now, with this reminder—especially hearing Su Ruyi mention the Asian Games—Lu Ting's eyes lit up.
"This might actually be an opportunity."
Ma Hui's eyes brightened immediately. "Really?!"
As the office secretary, Ma Hui knew all too well about the factory's current situation. No wonder those internal saboteurs chose this moment to cause trouble—their factory couldn't afford to lose another major client.
This was their last chance, though it had only been intended as bait.
Even though they had dealt with the troublemakers, the factory's underlying problems remained unresolved.
Without a turnaround soon, their factory would be in serious danger.
The competition in this industry was fierce, with not only local factories vying for business but also pressure from out-of-town manufacturers.
Although Lu Ting had returned, his business wasn't in this field, and he rarely stayed in Qing Province normally.
So while he could deal with those deliberately causing trouble, the factory still needed to find its own ways to survive.
Lu Ting nodded affirmatively: "Her analysis is quite reasonable."
Upon returning this time, he discovered the plastic factory still had significant problems.
Wei Dongsheng understood technology, and Zhao Xianghong had her own methods for internal management, but when it came to market expansion and external sales, they weren't as adept. Overall, they remained quite rigid, still adhering to the old state-owned enterprise approach.
"If there are no other breakthroughs, we could try this. The cost isn't high, and it's quite flexible. We could even have people ride bicycles to sell them everywhere. Anyway, many workers currently have nothing to do – we should mobilize them all."
Once it becomes popular in the provincial capital, naturally people will come to purchase goods.
The specific implementation would depend on market research results – Lu Ting was merely offering suggestions.
"We could also organize a Hula Hoop competition, offer high prize money, advertise in newspapers to attract public attention, making Hula Hoops quickly become trendy, thus creating a market."
Ma Hui was astonished – she never imagined such approaches!
Lu Ting spoke whatever came to mind, many ideas drawn from his observations in southern regions and Hong Kong, where people were more flexible-minded and would try any method to promote products.
Ma Hui hurriedly took notes with pen and paper, afraid of missing anything.
After Lu Ting had spoken for quite a while, Ma Hui still watched him expectantly. He couldn't help but laugh:
"Isn't it lunchtime now?"
Ma Hui immediately understood, slapping her forehead.
"Oh my, look at me, I almost forgot. Let's go to the cafeteria now – Uncle Liang will be so happy to see you."
Uncle Liang was the cafeteria chef, formerly from an army cooking squad.
While his stir-frying skills might be just average, his talent for communal meals was exceptional – both fast and excellent.
As Lu Ting entered the cafeteria, he spotted Su Ruyi immediately.
It wasn't that he specifically looked for beautiful women, but many people were glancing in her direction.
The bowls beside Su Ruyi were already stacked high, yet she continued eating with great enthusiasm, clearly very satisfied with the food here.
When Uncle Liang saw Lu Ting, he quickly waved him over.
As Lu Ting approached, Uncle Liang noticed his gaze and chuckled:
"Surprised too, aren't you? This girl can really eat, rivaling Dazhi's appetite. If I weren't worried about embarrassing the young lady, I'd go take a closer look."
As a cook, he felt delighted to receive such affirmation from a diner.
Looking at Su Ruyi's completely unselfconscious expression, Lu Ting thought she didn't seem like someone who would feel shy about having a big appetite.
Cao Fei gasped: "How can she eat so much yet stay so thin? Could she have leeches in her stomach? There's a story in 'Story Club' about a child who could eat endlessly, gulping down food without caring about temperature. His father couldn't stand it and slapped him, and the head fell off, with leeches all over the neck!"
Just recalling that scene made Cao Fei's skin crawl.
Since then, he never dared drink unboiled water, fearing leeches might take root in his stomach too.
Although he'd done farm work as a child, his hometown didn't have such creatures – he only learned about them from books. Despite being fearless in fights, even when facing knives, he was most terrified of these little things.
Lu Ting also told him that there were mountain leeches in the southern forests, which could accurately detect human scent from a great distance and then fly onto people to suck their blood. There were hunting dogs that encountered a swarm of mountain leeches in the mountains and were literally drained of blood until they died.
No matter how much protection the border guards used, they still couldn't completely ward off the mountain leeches.
"No," Lu Ting said with certainty.
Uncle Liang: "I also think she doesn't look like it. Although this girl appears thin, her complexion is rosy. She probably just has a small frame, not like someone with parasites in her stomach."
"She can eat a lot probably because she's strong."
Cao Fei grew even more curious: "Strong? Brother, how do you know that?"
Xu Dazhi nearby pricked up his ears. Though he had shown no interest in Su Ruyi earlier, he now began to look at her.
Lu Ting thought of the scene from a few days ago and couldn't help but curl the corner of his mouth slightly: "I've seen her fight someone. Her strength rivals Dazhi's."
Xu Dazhi looked at his own hands, then glanced at Su Ruyi's petite face the size of a palm.
Cao Fei looked at the delicate-featured girl not far away, then at the handsome Lu Ting, and his eyes shifted cunningly.
"Brother, so you two are old acquaintances. Let's go say hello."