The other party took shamelessness to a whole new level, infuriating Smith. He raged into the phone, "If you have something to say, get over here and say it to her face!"

’He’d like to see if Viney can take a tongue-lashing better than he can!’

Seeing how firm Smith’s attitude was, Viney knew he had no choice but to make the trip today.

In the end, he could only mumble a few complaints before telling Smith, "I’ll be there. Give me a few minutes." With that, he hung up.

He didn’t even give Smith a chance to get the last word in.

After the call was disconnected, a frustrated Smith wiped his face. "This matter... this is our fault. When their man gets here, we can all discuss how to resolve this. What do you think?"

Xie Changning was nearby and heard the whole thing.

She knew they were saying her machines were fragile.

"Mr. Smith, come and take a look at this." Xie Changning pointed to a spot. "When they were modifying this, they showed no care for the machine whatsoever. I have reason to suspect they broke it on purpose to demand compensation."

The R&D team had just finished disassembling the first machine. Now, working on the second, they found clear signs of forced disassembly where the interface had been changed.

Smith’s brow furrowed as well.

To be honest, when he first heard the machines were faulty, his immediate thought had been that this was just typical of products from China.

He never imagined the problem with the machines had nothing to do with China. It was something Viney’s own people had done!

He was going to demand an explanation for this!

’Oh God, what have I done!?’ Smith was furious now, but he patiently apologized to Xie Changning.

Xie Changning waved her hand. It was true she’d been berated.

But she wasn’t going to argue with Smith verbally right now. When it came time to get down to brass tacks and talk compensation, she would absolutely be factoring this part of the damages into the total.

’No one was going to shortchange her!’

At this moment, Smith was still unaware of Xie Changning’s thoughts. If he had known, he wouldn’t have been praising her.

When Viney arrived, he saw Xie Changning with a group of people standing not far away, dealing with the machines. Smith was beside them, saying something.

"Oh, Smith!"

"Viney!"

Hearing Viney’s voice, Smith turned his head.

The sound of their voices made the busy crowd pause. They all looked in unison toward the newcomer, Viney.

This Viney was a bald man who looked to be in his forties.

His pair of blue-green eyes stared intently at Xie Changning and the few people behind her. The hostile gaze made Xie Changning frown.

Smith knew Viney’s personality, so he made the introductions. "This is the director of the Anong County Machinery Factory, and she’s the main person in charge of these machines. Changning, this is the buyer of these machines, Viney."

Xie Changning lifted her eyes and met Viney’s gaze. Their eyes locked, and in that instant, Xie Changning knew their personalities were completely incompatible.

’This is probably going to escalate into a shouting match.’

"Smith, I told you we shouldn’t buy things from China. They always have all sorts of little problems. But you just wouldn’t listen."

"Viney, before you say that, maybe you should ask yourself what you’ve done."

Smith knew he was in the wrong now, so of course he wasn’t going to back Viney up.

’After all, this lady from China is formidable. Even he couldn’t win an argument against her.’

’He was the American, for crying out loud, yet this Chinese lady could leave him speechless in his own language.’

The moment Xie Changning took a firm stance, Smith switched sides, standing behind her. "This lovely lady from China has already found that you modified the interfaces without authorization."

Smith had a "don’t-try-to-fool-me" expression on his face.

Viney frowned. "She says that, and you just believe her? Smith, you’re a grown man. Don’t you have any basic judgment of your own?"

Viney was even more thick-skinned than Smith had expected.

Smith’s face flushed red with anger.

"The signs of forced disassembly are right there! Are you telling me you didn’t change the interfaces!?"

Hearing this, Viney finally understood why Smith was siding with Xie Changning. It turned out they had accidentally left traces when they changed the interfaces.

Viney crossed his arms over his chest.

"What, are we not allowed to change the interfaces on a machine from China?"

"We refuse to accept returns or exchanges for machines with interfaces that you’ve modified yourself!" Smith snapped before Xie Changning could speak. He’d been played!

He’d been played by his own countryman in front of the Chinese!

’That damn Viney... just you wait!’

"On what grounds? The user manual and warranty card don’t say that." That’s what his translator had told him.

’Besides, the Chinese have always admired people from the United States the most. Americans buying their machines is a gift to them; they should be on their knees apologizing to me!’

Viney looked at Xie Changning, his expression arrogant. "Ma’am, you should get on your knees and apologize to me. Your machines are such trash, they’re a complete waste of my time!"

Hearing his words, the translator’s face turned grim.

He was about to speak, but Xie Changning beat him to it.

"Make me kneel?" Xie Changning took a step forward, her expression frigid. "The grass on the graves of the people who told me to kneel is already six feet tall. What, you want to try me?"

As she spoke, a vicious, killing intent flickered in her eyes.

It shocked Viney into silence for a long moment.

’He never expected such a small, slender woman to have such a powerful aura!’

"Your machine has a problem! Shouldn’t you be the one apologizing to me!?"

"Did your translator fail to mention the clause in the English version?"

’Both the Chinese and English versions of her user manual and warranty card clearly stated that intentional damage was not covered by the warranty!’

’How dare they think China should be groveling at their feet?’

’Who the hell did they think they were?’

Seeing the two of them on the verge of a fight, Smith quickly cut in, speaking to Xie Changning. "My dear lady, this is all his fault. We will handle this matter properly, and we will absolutely ensure you don’t suffer the slightest loss."

When they were making the purchase, the factory staff had also explained that intentional damage was not covered by the warranty.

The other party had damaged the equipment themselves and was now being completely unreasonable, so of course Smith had to step in and stop him.

"This lady brought a lawyer with her," Smith said to Viney. "If you really refuse to accept this, she will probably take you to court."

Viney glanced at Xie Changning’s team, saw they were all Asian faces, and scoffed.

"They’re just a bunch of weaklings from the East. Let them sue me. What’s there to be afraid of?"

"You idiot! You’ll ruin your reputation in China! Be careful, or China will stop doing business with you altogether!"