The news that the Director of Fengzhou No. 3 Electronics Factory had fled spread through the streets of Fengzhou like a massive bomb, reaching every corner of the city in no time.
Song Yan, in the finance department, also learned of it quickly. She knew You Che worked at that factory; with their Director gone, the factory was likely on the verge of collapse. That meant You Che was about to be unemployed. She didn’t care about others losing their jobs—at most, she’d watch for the spectacle—but You Che was different. He was Meng Ruo’s husband, and his misfortune was equivalent to Meng Ruo’s misfortune.
Song Yan was triumphant, wishing she could rush to Meng Ruo’s office right now to gloat. However, just as she stood up, she was stopped by her aunt sitting opposite her.
Zhu Hailan stared at her with wide eyes and asked with a dark face, “Where are you going now?”
Song Yan lied with a smile, “Auntie, I’m going to the restroom.”
Zhu Hailan continued calculating the accounts in her hand and said, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. You heard someone’s husband hit a streak of bad luck and want to go next door to gloat, don’t you? It seems you didn’t get enough of a scolding last time,” Zhu Hailan added. “Last time, not only were you scolded, but you dragged me along to be lectured by the Factory Director as well. I haven’t even settled that score with you yet. Keep quiet for me; with your stupidity, don’t go looking for trouble.”
As Zhu Hailan spoke, she continued clicking away at her abacus. The excitement in Song Yan’s heart was instantly doused with cold water. Left with no choice, she sat back down.
At this time, the No. 3 Electronics Factory was in complete chaos. Everyone knew the Director had fled, and more importantly, due to the previous issues with appliance inventory, the factory now owed more than one million yuan in external debt. It was precisely because of this debt that the Director had run away.
Due to the Director’s erroneous decisions, the entire factory had been working three shifts a day in the first half of the year, working overtime day and night to rush production. The factory’s funds had all been spent on purchasing materials and production. Afterward, the warehouse was filled with household appliances that couldn’t be sold. The higher-ups began to put pressure on the Director, demanding he find a way to clear the backlog as soon as possible, or face direct accountability.
With no other way out, the Director chose a “layered sales” model. The factory provided household appliances to shops across the province for free, and the shops would sell them directly, returning the funds to the factory only after the sales were completed. It was this sales model that allowed the massive backlog of appliances to be cleared out of the warehouse all at once. Of course, when the factory gave the appliances to the shops, both parties signed contracts.
However, compared to reality, those contracts were nothing more than waste paper. Many shops initially followed the factory’s pricing, but they couldn’t sell anything. Consequently, the shops began to lower prices level by level. This led to the phenomenon You Che had seen earlier at the department store: a color TV that should have been sold for over four thousand yuan was being sold for two thousand in some places, while others sold it for over two or three thousand.
When You Che saw that chaotic price system, he felt something was going to happen. Sure enough, a few days later, the Director fled. The factory’s supply and marketing department had successfully cleared the warehouse inventory through the layered sales model, but recovering the payments was a major problem. They managed to get the first batch of payments back with great difficulty, but the subsequent payments were extremely hard to track down, and some were simply impossible to obtain.
The hole from purchasing massive amounts of materials in the first half of the year had yet to be filled, and now the funds from the sold appliances couldn’t be recovered. With things going wrong both inside and out, the factory ended up with over one million yuan in debt. One million yuan! For many of them, an annual salary was only ten or twenty thousand; to most people, one million was an astronomical figure.
You Che didn’t believe the Director wouldn’t have anticipated that the factory’s operational status could end up like this when making the layered sales decision. You Che was more inclined to believe the Director did foresee this situation, but he already knew he couldn’t solve the problem once the warehouse was filled with unsold goods. Thus, he could only grit his teeth and continue making wrong decisions, using the illusion of successfully clearing inventory to blind everyone and buy time for his escape.
Now the entire electronics factory was in an uproar. Not a single worker remained at their post; everyone was running about, looking for the leadership to demand an explanation and a solution. The Director’s flight had been premeditated; no one knew about it except the Director himself. Their clamoring for a solution from the leaders was in vain—a useless effort. As for a solution, the Deputy Director had gone to the higher-up leaders as soon as he got the news. These remaining lower-level section leaders likely didn’t even understand how the situation had developed to this point.
“What should we do, You Che? I heard them say our factory owes over a million. The factory won’t just collapse like this, will it?” Cao Zhanfei scratched his hair anxiously, his face full of distress.
You Che sat at his workstation, lost in thought. Their electronics factory was, after all, a state-owned enterprise; if the Director ran away, the higher-ups wouldn’t just ignore it.
“Probably not,” You Che consoled him. “The Deputy Director has gone to the higher departments. It shouldn’t come to that. There’s no point in you being anxious here, because this isn’t something we can solve,” You Che added.
“How can you still be so calm? It’s like the fire is singeing our eyebrows now!” Cao Zhanfei said, irritably scratching his hair. “I know being anxious is useless, but I’m not anxious for the sake of solving the problem—I just can’t help being anxious! If the factory really collapses, what will I do?”
By the time Meng Ruo learned the news of the electronics factory director’s flight, it was almost time to get off work. As soon as work ended, she stood at the food factory gate waiting for You Che to pick her up. Many situations aren’t credible when just heard from others; she had to ask him personally to find out the truth.
As Meng Ruo waited for You Che at the food factory gate, she happened to be seen by Song Yan, who was also passing by after work. Initially, Song Yan had been quite somber after being scolded by Zhu Hailan in the afternoon. However, the moment she spotted Meng Ruo standing at the gate, her eyes lit up with excitement, like a cat seeing a mouse.
“Meng Ruo!” Song Yan shouted, forgetting herself in her triumph. “I heard something big happened at the electronics factory!”
She was just about to walk over to properly gloat, but Zhu Hailan, walking behind her, gave a dry cough and called her name in a heavy voice.
“Song Yan.”
Hearing this voice, Song Yan immediately lost her nerve and obediently turned back toward the bicycle shed. The gloating expression on Song Yan’s face was all too obvious. Meng Ruo had no time to deal with her now and continued to look ahead expectantly. Soon, she saw You Che riding his bicycle toward her.
After Meng Ruo got on the bike, she thought about it but didn’t speak. Although she was currently desperate to understand the specific situation, she decided to wait until they got home to ask.
Back at home, Meng Ruo nimbly cooked two dishes. She was even surprised by her own speed; it was nearly twice as fast as usual. As expected, human beings can always unleash hidden potential when faced with gossip. Previously, she had seen all sorts of news about paparazzi taking candid photos—hiding in trees, grass, or on utility poles. Paparazzi would crouch in all sorts of awkward places just to get one photo; besides for the money, it probably stemmed from a deep-seated love of gossip.
Once the dishes were on the table, Meng Ruo saw that You Che was eating with his head down, and she felt it might not be a good time to bring up the electronics factory matter, lest it affect his meal. At that moment, You Che suddenly spoke: “If there’s something you want to ask, just ask.”
Meng Ruo gave an awkward smile. “Am I being that obvious?”
“Yes,” You Che answered honestly. “From the moment I picked you up at the food factory, you’ve had an ‘about to speak but hesitating’ look on your face.”
“I see.” Meng Ruo lowered her head with an embarrassed smile. Since everything was out in the open, there was no need for her to be restrained anymore.
“I heard from my colleagues at the food factory that the director of the electronics factory has run away,” Meng Ruo started the topic.
You Che nodded and began to recount the facts he knew.
“Owing over a million… it won’t be easy to balance those books,” Meng Ruo remarked with a sigh. You Che’s narration was very calm—calm as if he were an outsider rather than someone involved.
Is this the psychological quality of a tycoon? Meng Ruo thought. To remain unperturbed even if Mount Tai were to collapse before his eyes.
“Do you have a solution?” Meng Ruo asked tentatively. This was a sudden thought that popped into her mind. Could the reason You Che was so calm be that he already had a solution in his heart? She felt it wasn’t impossible; after all, in the original book, You Che was the future electronics tycoon.
Regarding the rise of this future tycoon, the original book didn’t have much description. Meng Ruo didn’t know how he rose from a minor technician to a tycoon. But for a technician to become a tycoon, there had to be some kind of opportunity. Meng Ruo felt that the situation before them could very well be that opportunity.
Hearing Meng Ruo’s words, You Che was visibly stunned, looking very surprised that she would ask such a question. It was much like asking an ordinary citizen how to resolve a conflict between two countries. He didn’t say whether he had a solution or not, but instead replied, “This isn’t my place to solve.”
Well, she had watched too many melodramatic TV shows and read too many web novels; her thoughts were a bit far-fetched. It was true—the Director of the electronics factory had fled, and there were two solutions: either the Deputy Director would be promoted, or another Director would be sent over. It would never be the place of a minor employee like You Che to worry about such things.
But there was also a problem: this million-yuan debt left behind would definitely be the responsibility of the new Director to clear. Previously, being the Director of the electronics factory was a coveted position, but now it had become a hot potato—who would dare to take it?
Meng Ruo couldn’t imagine, and of course, this wasn’t for her to worry about.
“Let me tell you some good news,” Meng Ruo suddenly said with a smile. “As of tomorrow, I’ll be a technical worker at the food factory.”
You Che raised his head in surprise. “A technical worker?”
Meng Ruo nodded. “A bread technician.” Then, she calmly gave him a brief introduction to how she had secured this position.
After hearing it, besides being surprised by the event itself, You Che was also a bit surprised—Meng Ruo seemed to be different from what he had imagined. No, it should be said that as they spent time together, he was constantly discovering a new side of her.
For instance, at their first meeting, he thought she must be a pampered lady who grew up sheltered, with a gentle and soft personality. When she explained to him that she had a hypocritical stepmother who wanted to marry her off to an idle old hoodlum, he knew she was also a poor person trapped in a terrible family and desperate to escape. Later, on their wedding night, he saw her timid side. The first time he ate the meal she cooked, it was unexpectedly delicious—not at all like something a pampered person could make; he thought then that perhaps her past wasn’t as sheltered as he had assumed.
And now, she had shown another side: having ideas, having ability, and being willing to execute them.
“You know how to make bread?” You Che asked.
“Mhm,” Meng Ruo nodded and smiled. “Not only do I know how, but my skills are actually quite good.”
“Why did you suddenly think of transferring to be a technician in the production workshop?” You Che asked. “The workshop will likely be more tiring than the office,” he said.
“The technician’s salary is double my current position. I want to earn more money,” Meng Ruo said with a smile. Then she mentioned her life goal in passing: “When I’ve earned enough money, I’ll buy a very big house.”
You Che: “Buy a house?”
Meng Ruo nodded seriously. “Mhm. Buy a house that belongs to me.”
Actually, what Meng Ruo didn’t say was that her real goal was to earn money, buy a house, earn more money, and buy more houses. In the end, she would own a bunch of properties and could live a life of “lying flat” and collecting rent. Her biggest regret in the other world was not catching the wave of the real estate boom and not having her mother buy a few more houses when prices were cheap.
“Am I in the future you envision?” You Che looked at her, and after a few seconds of silence, he suddenly asked.
Meng Ruo, who was envisioning a beautiful future, paused and looked at him. Why did he suddenly ask that, and so seriously? However, to be honest, he really wasn’t in the future she envisioned. He was a future tycoon, and she was just a small character. Now that their paths had crossed due to a trick of fate, in the future, they would likely go their separate ways, Meng Ruo thought.
“Of course you are,” Meng Ruo flashed him a smile and brushed it off casually.
The girl’s eyes curved in a smile, but You Che didn’t see much sincerity in her words or her smile. He nodded as if he understood, lowered his head to continue eating, and said nothing more.
The next morning, when You Che went to work at the electronics factory, the Deputy Director organized a meeting for all employees and announced the solution regarding the Director’s flight.