Zhang Xinmin swept his eyes over the drawing, satisfaction flashing across them as he unconsciously nodded.
With a trace of pride, he placed the draft on the coffee table and lightly lifted his chin.
“Little Zhang’s design preserves the traditional style while adding fresh ideas. Chief Xu, why don’t you take a look before making a judgment?”
Xu Jinming was full of disdain.
He had already made up his mind that no matter how beautiful a design the printing factory produced today, he would still terminate the partnership.
Because of that, he had no intention of seriously examining Zhang Yunqing’s draft.
Yet the moment his gaze landed on the thin sheet of paper on the table, he unconsciously straightened his posture.
On the white paper, a square the size of a mooncake wrapper had been sketched in pencil.
Inside the square, a ring of interconnected auspicious-cloud motifs formed a perfect circle.
Within the circle, on the right side, the large characters “Mooncake” were written in the traditional style to clearly indicate the pastry type.
At the lower left of the word “mooncake,” she had cleverly used a seal-carving effect to stamp the words “Five-Nut Filling.” Beside it was even a thoughtful note indicating the flavor could be changed.
But the most ingenious part was the left half of the circle.
Traditional packaging patterns usually used meticulous detailed drawings of people or flowers.
Such designs looked fine in drafts, but once put through a printing press, the lines often blurred together into a mess.
Considering this issue, Zhang Yunqing had directly simplified the original style.
With only a few elegant strokes, she outlined the silhouette of Chang’e flying to the moon.
Though merely a silhouette, the subject was instantly recognizable at a glance.
The final touch she had just completed in the upper-left corner was a small circle representing the moon Chang’e was flying toward.
Using an engraved effect, the four small characters “Pingcheng Foods” were written inside the moon.
Xu Jinming found it hard to look away.
Anyone with functioning eyes would have trouble finding fault with this packaging design.
But remembering the plans he had made with his brother-in-law, he covered up his reaction with a cough.
“Well… the design is alright, but it still differs somewhat from what I had in mind.”
As he spoke, he secretly stole another glance at the drawing on the table, trying to memorize the design.
Later, he could describe it to the provincial printing factory and have them make an identical version.
It might be unethical, but he considered it all for the good of their food factory.
Unfortunately for him, his staring was just a little too obvious.
Without drawing attention to it, Ying Quan smoothly pulled the draft back toward himself.
Using an official tone, he said, “I’m sure Chief Xu only wants what’s best for the food factory. Precisely because it concerns the factory’s interests, choosing a partner carefully is important.”
There was deeper meaning hidden in his words.
Sadly, Xu Jinming ignored it completely.
His regretful gaze lingered on the removed draft before he forced a laugh.
“Of course. As for the partnership, we’ll still need to discuss things with the factory. Let’s talk about it another time.”
The obvious attempt to stall made Ying Quan frown.
There were less than two months left before Mid-Autumn Festival. If the design wasn’t finalized soon, there would be no time left for printing.
Just as the situation grew tense, Zhang Yunqing smiled and stepped in.
“Chief, Master Zhang, since Chief Xu isn’t satisfied, then perhaps we should simply forget about this partnership.”
“Little Zhang, don’t talk nonsense.”
Zhang Xinmin tugged lightly at her arm, worried that her youthful impulsiveness might disrupt the fragile balance between Pingcheng’s state-owned factories.
At the time, the government operated under a “regional balance and differential allocation” resource distribution system.
State-owned factories in each province and city were expected to prioritize satisfying local production needs first.
That was exactly why Xu Jinming had to first find fault with Pingcheng Printing Factory before seeking cooperation with the provincial printing factory.
If the food factory set this precedent, other factories might follow suit.
Should higher authorities decide to investigate, none of them could bear the responsibility.
But Xu Jinming looked as though he had found an opening and immediately praised her.
“Ah, this young comrade truly understands the bigger picture.”
Zhang Yunqing gave Zhang Xinmin a reassuring glance.
Her smile remained calm as she continued,
“Since Chief Xu isn’t satisfied with this packaging design, then in order not to waste it, I plan to send copies of the draft to the provincial food factory, Xucheng Food Factory, and Lucheng Food Factory. Perhaps they’ll be willing to use it.”
With every factory name Zhang Yunqing listed, Xu Jinming’s expression darkened further.
The reason was simple.
Those factories belonged to the nearest neighboring cities around Pingcheng.
On the surface, they maintained harmony—but secretly, they were always competing with each other.
Every so often, they would probe one another, hoping to sell their products in neighboring markets.
If Zhang Yunqing distributed this design everywhere, then if Pingcheng Food Factory later used the same packaging, wouldn’t they look like copycats picking up someone else’s leftovers?
But Zhang Yunqing still wasn’t finished.
“Clearly my skills aren’t good enough if Chief Xu dislikes the design. In order to improve myself, I’ll send new sample drafts to everyone during every holiday and festival from now on. Hopefully one day I’ll finally reach the level that satisfies Chief Xu. Then we can cooperate again.”
When she had shown this draft to Xu Jinming, Zhang Yunqing had never feared plagiarism.
In this era, copyright awareness barely existed.
Even ten or twenty years later, much of China’s light industry would still rise through imitation. Yiwu’s small commodities were famously sold all over the world.
So what if he copied it?
If he had the ability, then let him keep lagging one step behind other factories and copying forever.
Over time, the only result would be Pingcheng Food Factory becoming a laughingstock.
She only hoped that by then, Xu Jinming would still be able to keep his position as section chief.
Having worked for many years, Ying Quan immediately understood Zhang Yunqing’s intentions.
He promptly cooperated.
“Little Zhang makes a good point. This afternoon I’ll arrange for the drafts to be delivered to the other factories.”
“Wait!”
Xu Jinming panicked and hurriedly interrupted.
If it were only this one draft, he could still return to the factory and claim the printing factory had acted dishonestly.
But when Zhang Yunqing mentioned sending fresh new designs to other factories every holiday and festival, he could no longer ignore the problem.
After all, her skill level clearly surpassed everyone else’s by a large margin.
If she really did this, he’d never be able to explain himself to the factory in the future.
The provincial printing factory he had worked so hard to connect with would instead become evidence used against him for violating directives.
Realizing this, goosebumps instantly rose across Xu Jinming’s skin.
He immediately changed into a warm, brotherly smile and draped an arm around Ying Quan’s shoulder.
“Comrade Ying, I must’ve been mistaken earlier. I think Little Zhang’s draft is excellent! Let’s use this version. Give me the contract and I’ll go back right now to stamp and sign it.”
As for the plans he had discussed with his brother-in-law?
They had already been completely thrown out of his mind.
Compared to his own future, forget a mere brother-in-law—even his own father would have to step aside.
The contract had already been prepared in advance.
After putting it away, Xu Jinming shamelessly asked,
“So… you won’t be sending the draft to anyone else, right?”
After receiving confirmation, he pressed further.
“And you won’t send future designs either, right?”
Ying Quan wore an inscrutable smile.
“Well, that depends on Chief Xu.”
After seeing Xu Jinming off, Zhang Xinmin finally turned toward Zhang Yunqing with disapproval written all over his face.
“You’re not allowed to pull stunts like that again in the future.”