Urban Martial Saint

Mu Qingrong’s factory was located in the newly developed industrial park at the northwest corner of Shenchuan City, where close to seventy percent of the city’s production areas were also situated.

This development model was quite common domestically, bringing all production-based factories together in one place, which not only standardized management but also helped to prevent the spread of pollution.

When Ye Qing accompanied Mu Qingrong to the factory, he experienced an upgrade in treatment for the first time, taking a taxi in Shenchuan City.

Circling around the brand-new, luxurious factory district, the taxi stopped at the last, run-down industrial area.

Even in the new industrial park, there were distinctions. The first few industrial blocks, with better locations and access, naturally commanded higher rents. The farther back the factories were, the more remote their location, and the cheaper the rent. As for the transportation, the disgruntled look on the taxi driver’s face told of the difficulties in getting here.

While others visited the shiny new sections of the industrial park, Mu Qingrong’s company occupied an old, dilapidated building. Comparatively, while the previous areas flourished, these back sections were much more desolate. Bustling with trucks loaded with goods, the front sections were contrasted by the emptiness of the factory areas further back.

”This is an old industrial area where the rent is a bit cheaper,” Mu Qingrong explained to Ye Qing, who, however, didn’t pay much attention to these details.

Mu Qingrong led Ye Qing into the old building; her company was small, merely renting one of the workshops inside. Such a scale, within Shenchuan City, could basically be considered a private workshop.

When Mu Qingrong and Ye Qing entered the workshop, it was in the midst of chaos. Twenty or thirty young girls were surrounding a woman in her forties or fifties, clamoring for their wages and threatening to resign. It was clear that the situation in the factory had gotten out of control.

The woman, sweating profusely, pleaded earnestly, ”Please don’t be like this, Director Mu has said that new orders will be coming in soon. Throughout your time here, when has Director Mu ever delayed your wages? The company is going through a rough patch, and I hope everyone can show some understanding towards Director Mu.”

”It’s been a month since we’ve seen any new orders, and without work, what will we eat or drink?”

”We want to support Director Mu, but we are struggling too.”

”My father needs the money for medical treatment, I really can’t wait anymore!”

The girls all chimed in with their grievances. However, they were still polite in their speech, which showed they held respect for Mu Qingrong.

”About this matter...” the woman was about to speak further when Mu Qingrong, standing at the entrance of the workshop, suddenly cut in, ”Aunt Xia.”

Everyone in the workshop turned their heads and fell silent at the sight of Mu Qingrong. The girls who had been surrounding the woman felt embarrassed and looked down, avoiding eye contact with Mu Qingrong.

”Director Mu, you’re here,” Aunt Xia approached, saying, ”There’s no problem here. It’s just a little misunderstanding that I’ve already cleared up with everyone. Director Mu has been so good to us, and I’m sure everyone will understand and support you.”

The girls looked at each other, and finally, one couldn’t help but speak softly, ”Director Mu, my... my father is sick, and I really need the money urgently. I... I’m out of options...”

After speaking, the girl couldn’t hold back and covered her face with her hands, crouching down and sobbing.

Seeing her cry, the other girls looked despondent, and a few bold ones started to raise their voices again.

Mu Qingrong remained calm, waiting until everyone had said their piece before raising her hand and speaking out loud, ”I’m sorry, the company has been on the downturn recently, which is my mistake in management. I’ve come today to bring everyone good news!”

Mu Qingrong’s gaze swept over the crowd as she continued loudly, ”We have just secured a new business deal, and production will begin within the next couple of days. Please give me one week’s time, and I’ll make sure all your wages are paid in full.”

Hearing this, everyone was overjoyed, and one girl quickly asked, ”Director Mu, how big is the new business deal we’ve secured?”

Mu Qingrong glanced at Ye Qing, then said, ”For now, it’s just a project worth a little over two hundred thousand yuan, but that alone will keep everyone busy for half a month. Moving forward, the company will continue to expand and secure even bigger deals. If all goes well this month, everyone should be able to receive double their usual pay!”

At these words, the girls burst into excited chatter. Having work meant earning money. A project worth over two hundred thousand yuan, divided among these girls, meant that each could earn a salary of roughly two thousand yuan, which was by no means a small amount.

Seeing the girls happy, Mu Qingrong finally exhaled a sigh of relief, saying, ”Xiaoshuang, I’ll have finance give you two thousand yuan tomorrow so you can send it back for your father’s treatment. As for the rest of my colleagues, if anyone has urgent needs, please let me know, and I’ll figure out a way to help you in advance.”

The crying girl wiped the tears from her face and spoke quietly, ”Director Mu, thank you. I... I didn’t really want to resign; I just had no other choice. Please... please don’t be mad at me...”

Mu Qingrong smiled softly and said, ”How could I be mad at you? Without you all, I probably wouldn’t have made it this far. Alright, let’s not say any more than necessary—you all hurry up and start working. Once we finish the business for this half-month, we’ll immediately have new business coming in. Everyone, be sure to give it your all!”

The women were extremely excited and ran back to their respective posts to get to work.

Aunt Xia saw the women return and finally let out a sigh of relief. She turned to look at Mu Qingrong and said, ”Qingrong, your mom just called me. You know, you really should listen to what your mom tells you.”

Mu Qingrong smiled and responded, ”Aunt Xia, when did you start nagging like my mom?”

Aunt Xia said, ”If I don’t nag, what will you do? You’re a girl, shouldering so many responsibilities for what? It’s better to marry into a good family earlier. Your mom has already suggested several good matches for you, and I think their conditions aren’t bad. Why don’t you consider meeting them?”

Mu Qingrong’s face flushed a slight red and she whispered, ”Aunt Xia, there’s no rush for these things. Anyway, how is our recent product quality? What’s the pass rate like?”

Hearing this question, Aunt Xia immediately furrowed her brows and said, ”Qingrong, the design you bought this time isn’t very good. The products made from it do have good effects, but the pass rate is just not acceptable. Why don’t you call them and ask what’s going on? If we go on like this, we’ll waste quite a large sum of money on material losses!”

”How could this be?” Mu Qingrong was surprised. She had spent over two hundred thousand yuan buying this patent, thinking that it would improve the company’s product standards. However, the pass rate had been persistently low, resulting in significant material waste and posing a big problem for the company.

Aunt Xia suggested, ”If it doesn’t work out, why don’t you take the design out and have a professional take a look at it?”

”I’ll take it back and have a look,” Mu Qingrong agreed and went with Aunt Xia to retrieve the design drawing.

The design drawing was very neatly done, but Mu Qingrong’s college major was not in this field. So looking at the design, she couldn’t tell if there was a problem. Nevertheless, the products made with this design were quite effective; this was the reason she had bought the patent in the first place.

Yet, it seemed like the patent was causing more loss than profit.

Mu Qingrong exchanged a few more words to boost the morale of the girls before she left with Ye Qing.

Outside, there were no taxis nearby the factory area. To catch a taxi, one had to run to the number one or number two industrial area ahead.

Mu Qingrong was used to this and walked with Ye Qing towards the industrial area ahead. From bringing Ye Qing out of the company to arriving at this factory area, Ye Qing hadn’t said a word from start to finish.

Mu Qingrong couldn’t help but glance at Ye Qing, unable to understand how this man, who was as stingy with words as they come, could secure such a substantial business deal for Liu Yuan. And the terms Liu Yuan offered were very favorable—an eighty percent down payment was something Mu Qingrong, in all her years of conducting business, had never seen before.

Usually, down payments ranged from ten to thirty percent.

An eighty percent down payment was a substantial concept; to put it in perspective, in Mu Qingrong’s line of work, the final payment was the hardest to collect. Therefore, there was an unwritten rule in the industry: for any business deal, only about eighty percent of the payment was guaranteed, while the remaining twenty percent was difficult to recover.

It could be delayed for a long time, or they might just play tough and refuse to pay.

Liu Yuan making an eighty percent down payment meant that he had essentially paid the entire necessary amount. Even if he didn’t pay the remaining twenty percent, Mu Qingrong’s business transaction would still be profitable.

The more Mu Qingrong thought about it, the stranger it seemed. She couldn’t contain her curiosity and asked, ”Ye Qing, do you know Liu Yuan?”

”Sort of,” Ye Qing replied. He and Liu Yuan had met twice. Though Ye Qing didn’t have many friends in Shenchuan City, Liu Yuan could probably be counted as one.

Mu Qingrong couldn’t decipher the meaning behind ”sort of.” Did it mean they knew each other or not?

Looking at Ye Qing’s serious expression, Mu Qingrong decided not to press further. With Ye Qing’s personality, if he wanted to talk, he would do so without being asked. If he didn’t want to talk, asking him would be futile.

”Ye Qing, regardless, I have to thank you for this time,” Mu Qingrong said sincerely.

”Thank me for what?” Ye Qingqi asked.

”For securing such a big deal for the company, and for securing such a substantial amount of down payment, it’s like you’ve saved the company,” Mu Qingrong sighed and continued, ”You saw those girls earlier. Most of them haven’t even finished high school. Due to various reasons, they had to enter society early to earn money and support their families.

Many have been with me for nearly two years, and they were the ones supporting me from behind when there was no business. These past two years, the company has been through ups and downs, and many have advised me to give up. But, how could that be possible?”

Mu Qingrong turned to look at the dilapidated factory building and whispered, ”Even for their sake, I can’t give up!”

Ye Qing looked at Mu Qingrong and didn’t say anything, but his respect for this resolute girl grew in his heart.