Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt

Chapter 131 Part 1 – Stay Single and Get Rich (I)

“Are you sure you’ve got the right people?” Mao Huimei looked at the young man in front of them.

“You’re Xia Mian and Mao Huimei, right?” The young man accurately stated their names.

The two exchanged puzzled glances. They had just returned from the international exhibition area and hadn’t even made it back to their own booth before being stopped by this young man, who said someone from the Sanyi County Investment Office was looking for them. The expo included several government projects, so there was indeed a temporary office set up to promote local investments.

The moment they walked into the office and saw He Min, they knew this wasn’t going to be anything good.

The He family really was like a lingering ghost. Perhaps his face wasn’t as thick as his cousin’s, because He Wei, for whatever reason, wasn’t present.

He Min clearly assumed they were young and impulsive, easy to bait, so she used the same old tactics. She pointed at them and introduced them to a middle-aged man with a potbelly and a receding hairline. “Director Zhang, these are Miss Xia and Miss Mao. They’ve just finished a discussion with the delegation from Country D about purchasing juice-processing equipment.”

“Isn’t that right?” He Min turned to Xia Mian with a smile. “I saw you chatting for over an hour—surely you didn’t leave empty-handed?”

Her tone made it sound as if not buying anything would be humiliating. Xia Mian had no interest in engaging with such a tasteless person and turned straight to Director Zhang. “Hello, Director Zhang. What exactly did you want to speak with us about?”

The man smiled kindly. “I heard you’re interested in acquiring a factory. I happen to have a canning plant. Would you like to see if it suits your needs?”

He Min chimed in, “Don’t underestimate Miss Xia here, Director Zhang. She’s the girlfriend of an investor from Mohe Group. In terms of power and backing, she far surpasses our He family.”

Director Zhang’s eyes immediately lit up.

Seeing this, He Min smiled sweetly at Xia Mian. “Miss Xia, this canning plant can be acquired for just forty or fifty thousand. It’s just pocket change for someone like you, isn’t it?” She added with a hand over her mouth, eyes glinting with mockery. “But if you don’t have that kind of money on hand, just forget I said anything.”

Director Zhang frowned at that, and Xia Mian, having had enough of this woman’s nonsense, cut her off and turned back to him. “We are indeed considering acquiring a plant. But we need to assess whether it’s suitable.”

When He Min tried to butt in again, Xia Mian shot her an impatient look. “Miss He, are you seriously this idle?”

“Even if you are, kindly leave. What we’re about to discuss is a commercial secret. Please show some courtesy.”

He Min’s face twitched, but before she could reply, Mao Huimei stepped in, “Unless you’re the one buying it? Then, by all means, go ahead. We’ll let you take the lead.”

He Min saw the eager look in Zhang Defa’s eyes and didn’t dare say yes. She and He Wei had been avoiding him exactly because they didn’t want to get stuck.

Even though things were going far more smoothly than she’d expected, the way Xia Mian and Mao Huimei looked down at her left her feeling humiliated rather than satisfied.

But she really had no reason to stay, so she slunk away in defeat.

Once He Min had left, Director Zhang let out a long sigh. “Let me tell you upfront. The biggest problem with this plant is that it’s not eligible for loans.”

“To get it up and running, you’d probably need at least a million yuan.”

“If that’s something you can accept, then we can keep talking. If not, no hard feelings.”

Xia Mian and Mao Huimei were both momentarily stunned. They’d assumed this was just some trap He Min had laid and were bracing themselves to respond cautiously. They hadn’t expected this potbellied, shady-looking factory director to be so… honest.

Sensing their confusion, Director Zhang sighed again. “If I were willing just to dump this factory, it would’ve been sold long ago.”

“But I’ve worked here nearly twenty years. There are old workers who’ve been here most of their lives. Skilled hands with ten-plus years of experience. Watching them all get laid off without any security… it just doesn’t sit right with me.”

“So I’ve been holding on, hoping someone could bring it back to life.”

The Three Emperors Canning Factory was a county-run plant, not a state-owned enterprise. But the structure was basically the same.

“I wanted to sell to the He family because, first, they’re already in the same business, so they’d have lower startup costs than others. Second, they’ve got the capital to revive things quickly.”

“Only, I didn’t expect the two kids they sent over to treat me like some conman the moment they saw me. Guarded as hell. I didn’t even get a proper chance to explain.”

Xia Mian wasn’t surprised. Even she had almost been fooled by the man’s appearance. Someone like He Wei, who was full of bias and arrogance, had probably judged him instantly the moment they met.

Thank goodness for He Wei’s poor judgment. In any case, they were seriously planning to acquire a factory, and if this one was suitable, then it was a lucky break. As for loans—well, with compensation trade, a bank loan wasn’t strictly necessary.

Mao Huimei had clearly realized the same and asked, “Aside from the loan issue, are there any other major problems?”

Hearing that they could accept the biggest obstacle, Director Zhang let out a breath of relief. “Then it’s just the issue of the workers.”

He looked at them and asked, “What kind of factory are you planning to open?”

Mao Huimei replied, “Juice factory.”

Director Zhang beamed, “A juice factory is perfect! The washing room, disinfection room, cutting room, and packaging room are all already in place!”

He was visibly enthusiastic. “Not to brag, but before we shut down, all the workers we had were veterans with over ten years of experience—each one could do the work of two! They were efficient and worked together like a well-oiled machine.”

“Three Emperors is an old brand here in Yan City—much older than the He family’s brand.” At this point, his tone grew a bit downcast. “If not for the chain reaction of shutdowns and closures among our partner factories, we might’ve managed to hold on.”

Xia Mian and Mao Huimei exchanged a glance. If everything Director Zhang said was true, then the hardest part, which was labor and management, was essentially already in place.

After venting his feelings, Director Zhang pulled out a thick stack of documents from his briefcase. “This is everything about my factory, including financials. You can take it and have a professional look over it.”

“Now, about the workers.” He pulled out a separate sheet. “These were the factory staff before it shut down.”

“Forty-nine of them worked here until retirement. Now that the factory’s gone under, I can no longer guarantee their pension, but I want to give them each a one-time payout of 1,000 yuan…” His voice faltered a bit, then continued, “It’s the least I can do.”

“Forty-nine people, 49,000 yuan in total. That’s the price I’m asking for the factory.”

“As for the remaining hundred or so workers, I’ve listed their roles and qualifications here. If you can hire any of them, all you need to do is pay their future wages. As for any back wages, I’ll take full responsibility for settling that with them. It’ll all be in the contract.”

Xia Mian looked at Director Zhang and suddenly felt deeply moved. These past few years, layoffs have become so common that it wasn’t unusual to hear of factory directors being cursed out or having their offices smashed. Director Zhang himself could not have escaped such treatment either. Getting laid-off workers to cooperate couldn’t be easy, yet he spoke of it so lightly.

Given the chance, most people would hope that the workers who had placed their trust in them could live well. After all, who wouldn’t want to live with a clear conscience? But the world rarely allows for ideal endings—it’s full of compromises and powerlessness. And yet, here was this man, willing to swallow his pride and “pester” someone like He Wei, all for the sake of giving the factory he had dedicated himself to and the workers who had followed him a dignified ending.

Mao Huimei clearly understood this too and looked at Director Zhang with newfound respect. She took the documents from him with both hands and said sincerely, “Thank you. We’ll review these as soon as possible and give you an answer within a week.”

“Great, great!” Director Zhang beamed at the firm response and personally walked them out.

The two left the office with mixed feelings. Not long after, Mao Huimei took a deep breath and perked up. “You know, Xia Mian, you really are a lucky charm.”

“Everything just works out wherever you go. If it weren’t for that compensation trade talk with Charles, we wouldn’t even dare consider buying this place without a loan.”

Xia Mian laughed. “Wrong. This time, we should thank He Wei.”

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