"With your assurance, I can now proceed without holding back!"

Xie Changning accepted with a smile.

After leaving the Provincial Industrial Bureau, Director Zhao drove Xie Changning back to the Chuncheng Screw Factory. Before she could even go inside, she noticed several cars parked at the entrance.

Seeing her get out of the car, a worker who had been waiting at the gate immediately came forward.

"Vice Factory Director Xie, you have to come quick! The factory director is being cornered!"

Hearing this, Xie Changning’s brow furrowed. She looked at the worker, confused. "What’s going on? Tell me, quickly."

As they stepped into the Chuncheng Screw Factory, Xie Changning told the worker to quickly explain the situation.

On the way in, Xie Changning learned that the cars at the entrance were all from the Southern Province. The visitors claimed there was a problem with the last batch of screws from the factory and were now demanding replacements.

If they couldn’t get them, they wanted a refund.

In short, they were demanding a resolution.

Xie Changning had the worker take her to inspect the screws the men had brought back first. After looking them over, she frowned.

She followed the worker into the office building and could hear shouting from Wang Lisheng’s office even from a distance. Wang Lisheng’s voice boomed, "This isn’t the model specified in the contract! Why the hell should I take them back!?"

The other party said something inaudible, and Wang Lisheng’s voice grew even more agitated.

"Are you fucking picking on an honest man? Believe it or not, I’ll beat the shit out of you!"

Hearing Wang Lisheng, Xie Changning rushed to his office. "KNOCK KNOCK—" The abrupt sound silenced the argument inside.

The highly agitated Wang Lisheng caught his breath.

"Come in."

When Xie Changning opened the door and walked in, she immediately saw Wang Lisheng and Li Guodong surrounded by seven or eight men.

They were the directors from three or four different factories, and they had come to demand a resolution from Wang Lisheng.

"Changning, what are you doing here?" Upon seeing Xie Changning, Wang Lisheng’s first instinct was to get her away from the confrontation; he was worried the men might shove her.

When the other men saw Xie Changning, their gazes grew sharp.

They were clearly wondering about her identity, whether she had any authority, and if she was the young, new vice factory director they had heard rumors about.

"You must be the new Vice Factory Director Xie."

The speaker was a shrewd-looking man with gold-rimmed glasses, who projected an intellectual air.

The moment she saw him, Xie Changning felt a sense of unease.

’She had a strong suspicion that he was the one who instigated this whole affair. The other factory directors looked too simple and honest; they didn’t seem like the type to come up with such a scheme.’

"Hello. Yes, I am." Xie Changning stepped forward and shook his hand.

Then, she glanced around the room, her eyes finally settling on Wang Lisheng. "Director, what’s all this about?"

It was one thing to hear the story from the worker, but getting the details from Wang Lisheng himself would be another matter entirely.

Seeing that Xie Changning was determined to get involved, and that the men from the Southern Province had no intention of letting her just walk away, Wang Lisheng realized he had no choice but to explain.

"They ordered a batch of screws from our factory last month..." The story was mostly the same as what the worker had described: the screws they’d ordered were allegedly defective, and now they were here to cause trouble.

Their demand was for a replacement shipment.

They were all in complete agreement, insisting on a replacement—specifically, the batch of screws the Chuncheng Screw Factory had prepared for export.

If they didn’t get what they wanted, they threatened to make the issue public and disrupt the factory’s operations to the point it couldn’t function.

Their brazen tactics made Xie Changning frown. She looked at Wang Lisheng. "A contract was signed when the order was placed, wasn’t it?" An order of this size would have to have a paper trail.

At the mention of a contract, the men from the Southern Province didn’t seem concerned at all, retaining their arrogant demeanor.

Wang Lisheng didn’t think the contract would do much good either, but he still retrieved the original contract and related documents and handed them to Xie Changning.

"You stubborn girl, you should be staying far away from this," he grumbled, frustrated that she was involving herself.

Xie Changning said nothing. She simply opened the contract and, after reading it carefully, turned to face the troublemakers.

"I believe you gentlemen are well aware of what type of screws you ordered from us."

She spread the contract open, pointing to a specific section. "It says right here that you ordered custom M16 T-slot bolts. However, the screws you brought back are mostly M20x1.5 screws."

Xie Changning had noticed the screws on Wang Lisheng’s desk the moment she walked in.

"Before I came upstairs, I examined the screws you brought. A few of them are indeed ours, that’s undeniable. But... the quality of our factory’s products is not nearly that poor."

Xie Changning stood in the center of the room, perfectly calm and composed.

The men grew angry at her words and started to move forward, but she simply raised her chin slightly. "You are all respected figures in your own right, and I’m no different. I am a key research talent being specially cultivated by the Provincial Industrial Bureau. Go on, lay a hand on me. Just try it."

This was the moment for Xie Changning to play her card: the Provincial Industrial Bureau.

She swept her gaze across the room. "If this blows up to the provincial level, involving both the Southern Province and Lin Province, I doubt you gentlemen will be able to justify your actions."

They were clearly here to cause trouble, hoping to use a defective batch of screws to swindle the factory out of a new, high-quality one.

The men who had started to move forward were indeed intimidated by her words. "And you don’t have to take my word for it. Go ask around. You’ll soon find out I’m telling the truth."

The men exchanged glances, their gazes eventually, and covertly, landing on the man in the glasses.

The man adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and spoke with a mild laugh, "Vice Factory Director Xie, you truly are young and capable. We aren’t barbarians; we would never resort to violence. It’s just—

Our copy of the contract seems to be a little different from yours."

As he spoke, he had one of his men bring their contract forward and unfold it for Xie Changning to see.

They had come prepared.

Xie Changning didn’t get angry. She even had to gesture to keep Wang Lisheng’s temper in check. "It’s true, our contracts are different. In that case... why don’t we head over to the Industrial Bureau and check the Director’s copy? All our contracts are signed in triplicate."

This was a detail Xie Changning had noted the last time she oversaw the contract signing with the foreigners.

Normally, the main copies of the contract were held by the Chuncheng Screw Factory and the partner company. The Industrial Bureau just kept a copy on file to prevent future complications, like a contract going missing.

She never expected to put that knowledge to use today.

"We’re all sister factories here, why bother the leadership over this? Vice Factory Director Xie, you are young. We only came this time hoping you could compensate us with some extra screws. As you know, without compliant screws, we can’t ship our machines."

The spectacled man was taking a softer approach.

He made it sound as if Xie Changning would be the villain responsible for halting their production if she refused.

"It’s precisely because we’re sister factories that we must handle this with the utmost integrity. Otherwise, wouldn’t it damage the relationship between us?" Xie Changning turned to Li Guodong.

"Call Director Zhao!"