She wanted to see where China’s daily chemical products stood in the market here.

The group arrived at a supermarket. As soon as they walked in, Xie Changning noticed a display of bowls and plates in the distance—a 52-piece set.

’Hm, products from Wang Shumei’s factory.’

Judging by the price, it was in the high-end goods section.

As Xie Changning walked, she made sure to point out to her team which products were from China and what prices they sold for.

Then they reached the daily chemical products section.

It was a sea of foreign brands. The Chinese soap bars were relegated to the furthest corner, selling for a very low price.

Seeing Chinese products treated this way, everyone found it a little hard to stomach.

They were furious.

"Getting angry is pointless. Our household products are too simple. If we want to break through, we need to develop different kinds of products and different kinds of production lines." This wasn’t something that could be changed overnight.

’I wonder when China’s daily chemical industry will finally have its breakthrough.’

’I hope it won’t get cornered and beaten half to death, the way it does in the future.’

At this thought, an idea sparked in Xie Changning’s mind.

’I think I can make a suggestion to their leadership. Start by changing the smaller factories, see if we can develop products like these...’

’The only problem is finding the right talent. That’ll be a lot of work.’

"Factory Director, we don’t want to buy anything anymore."

The others felt a sense of China’s backwardness. It left a sour taste in their mouths, and they lost all desire to buy anything here.

Xie Changning smiled faintly. "No, we have to buy them. We need to bring them back so people back home can see that there are good things like this abroad. We need a breakthrough! We need to change!"

"Right!" The group nodded emphatically.

Xie Changning watched their reactions with satisfaction.

With every item they picked out, they would ask Xie Changning about its function, its name, its scent...

After everyone had made their selections, they decided that each person would buy one type and one scent. That way, they could pour them into smaller containers and trade with each other back home.

Their cleverness made Xie Changning’s eyes curve into a smile.

’See? The Chinese are very smart. They’ve just been suppressed for too long and haven’t been exposed to things like this, or these kinds of business methods...’

Xie Changning suddenly felt that even if she was the spark, the changes she could make were limited to her own path.

’Still,’ she thought, ’even if I only change a little, it can help China move forward just a little bit more!’

After they finished their "research" shopping, they bought a few other things and looked through the rest of the store before checking out and heading back to the hotel.

"I can’t believe the difference in aesthetic taste between here and back home is so huge!"

Song Xiaoyu was completely shocked.

Jingdezhen porcelain was actually in the mid-range section, not the high-end one.

You have to understand, Jingdezhen porcelain is considered very famous back in China!

And yet it wasn’t a high-end product here!

Meanwhile, Wang Shumei’s 52-piece porcelain set was selling very well in the high-end section, mostly bought by newlyweds or dating couples.

They didn’t understand why anyone would like something so plain and simple...

But then, Song Xiaoyu thought about it and felt that this color scheme had a strange, beautiful appeal of its own.

After a moment, he gave up thinking about it.

’Whether it’s beautiful or not has nothing to do with our factory anyway. We only deal with machinery, not ceramics.’

After their trip, Xie Changning led them back to the hotel. They gathered in her room, laying all their purchases out on the floor. Staring at the unfamiliar brand logos, they felt a wave of emotion.

"I never thought we’d one day be using foreign goods."

Having suddenly bought all these foreign products, everyone was still a little giddy, arranging them excitedly.

"All those different types... I’m so jealous! I want them all!" Wang Tingting pretended to cry. "Every single one is so nice, but unfortunately, I don’t have the money!"

"It’s okay, we’re better off than a lot of people! We have so many nice shampoos and body washes!"

’Everyone back home is still using soap bars, and here we are with shampoo.’

Xie Changning knew that the young people of this era had frugal habits, so she told them, "Every one of these products has an expiration date. The shelf life is one year. You have to remember to use them up within a year, or you’ll have to throw them away."

Xie Changning looked at the members of her team and explained the concept of shelf life.

Hearing this, the young people’s faces immediately fell. "Huh? They have expiration dates? We have to use them up in a year?"

’For something so expensive to only last a year... it’s such a waste!’

’If we’d known, we wouldn’t have bought them!’

Seeing what they were thinking, Xie Changning said, "Actually, soap bars have expiration dates too. It’s just that they’re cheap, so people don’t feel bad about using them up, and they always finish them before they expire."

Xie Changning’s words made them thoughtful. ’Is that how it is?’

As they mulled it over, their gazes couldn’t help but fall on Xie Changning, feeling that what she said made sense.

"We’ll do whatever the Factory Director says! The Factory Director would never lie to us!"

Bolstered by these new things, everyone was filled with anticipation for the future, and the shock from the gun incident earlier had subsided considerably.

To be honest, even Xie Changning hadn’t expected the other party to pull out a gun.

She had been startled when she saw it, too.

After their talk, everyone went to bed. When they woke up the next morning, they all excitedly went to find Xie Changning, looking forward to the day’s work.

Xie Changning took them to breakfast.

And successfully ruined their good mood.

Every one of them turned into a little sourpuss.

"SOB, SOB... Factory Director, I want to go home..." The food here was so bland and awful!

’It’s not as good as the potato slices or roasted sweet potatoes back home!’

The others all nodded in agreement.

A small smile appeared on Xie Changning’s face. "Heh heh, it’ll still be a while before we can go back. You’ll have to endure it and get used to it~"

Xie Changning’s words instantly turned their expressions sour.

After breakfast, the group trudged listlessly to Smith’s company to see him.

Smith’s attitude today was clearly much colder than yesterday. Apparently, after an internal meeting, his company had decided to side with Viney.

Xie Changning wasn’t too worried about this.

"Ms. Xie, didn’t we finish dismantling the machine yesterday? Why have you come again today?"

"To gather evidence, of course."

They hadn’t brought a camera yesterday. They needed to take pictures today, so of course they had to come back.

Xie Changning gave him a faint smile, then gestured to the people behind her, signaling for them to continue dismantling, take photos, and collect the evidence they had noted before.

"Mr. Smith, I know you want to side with Viney, but you should be clear on what you stand to lose." As she spoke, Xie Changning took a photograph from her pocket.

It was a picture of her small printer.

"This printer has all the capabilities of that large machine, but it’s only one-fifth the size. A single adult can carry it. And its price is far, far lower than the large machine..."