When the others heard Xie Changning tell Li Guodong to call Director Zhao, they immediately tried to move forward. However, Xie Changning blocked their path. She smiled faintly. "Pardon me. I’m only three months pregnant, and the pregnancy isn’t very stable. Please, be patient with me."

Wang Lisheng knew that women sometimes had more methods for handling things, but he never expected Xie Changning to resort to such shameless tactics.

Would they dare to lay a hand on her?

She was a research talent on record with the provincial industrial bureau, and she was pregnant...

"She’s a military wife. You’d best be careful," Wang Lisheng quickly added.

When it came to someone connected to scientific research and the military, people naturally shied away and wouldn’t dare to get physical.

Those military folks were extremely protective of their own. Besides, with soldiers defending the country on the front lines, bullying their families back home? Wouldn’t that just break their spirits?

The military usually stepped in to handle such matters seriously.

So, the few simpletons from Southern Province were stunned into taking a few steps back, terrified that Xie Changning would complain of a stomachache or some other pain and pin the whole thing on them.

They weren’t about to take the fall for this!

They couldn’t afford to!

With Xie Changning running interference, Li Guodong successfully made the call. After he hurriedly explained the situation to Director Zhao, the director immediately said, "Wait there. I’m bringing people over right now."

From beginning to end, Xie Changning’s gaze never left the man with the glasses.

’There’s something wrong with him. Something very wrong.’

Seeing things spiraling out of control, the man pushed up the glasses on his nose and smiled at Xie Changning. "Vice Factory Director Xiao Xie, you’re still young. You don’t understand how these things work."

Xie Changning smiled faintly.

"And what sort of ’things’ would those be? Or perhaps, is this director trying to do something underhanded that you don’t want the leadership to know about?"

Xie Changning’s question was sharp.

Wang Lisheng whipped his head around to look at Xie Changning. He hadn’t thought much of it at first, but her words made him realize—these people were clearly after his batch of screws.

If they took this batch of screws, wouldn’t his Chuncheng Screw Factory go bankrupt!?

Shit!

Are they even human?

Wang Lisheng’s expression grew even more furious. He glared at them angrily. "You people have gone too far!"

"Xiao Liu, have someone serve tea to our esteemed factory directors. We’ll wait for Director Zhao to arrive!"

’Do they think they can do whatever they want here just because they have more people?’

Xie Changning’s meaning was clear: she had no intention of letting them leave before Director Zhao arrived.

"Vice Factory Director Xie, isn’t what you’re doing a bit inappropriate?" The man with the glasses finally dropped his smile, his expression turning ugly as he stared at Xie Changning.

’Is she planning to have her factory workers imprison us here?’

"Of course not. We’re just inviting you for a cup of tea. No need to get so worked up."

Xie Changning was unmoved.

Before long, Xiao Liu returned with a few workers. They obediently poured tea for the factory directors, then took up their posts dutifully by the door.

Xiao Liu was the worker who had been waiting for Xie Changning at the entrance earlier.

He was very sharp.

When Xie Changning had entered, she had told him to wait at the door for her signal.

Xie Changning hadn’t expected Xiao Liu to understand her intentions so perfectly. She gave Xiao Liu a satisfied look.

A silent acknowledgment that he had done well.

Director Zhao arrived half an hour later. The moment he got there, he saw a dozen or so workers guarding the door to Wang Lisheng’s office. They didn’t look like gatekeepers; they looked like they were ready for a brawl.

"What are you all doing standing guard here? Get back to work!"

Director Zhao quickly shooed them away.

Pushing the door open, Director Zhao immediately understood why a crowd of workers had been standing guard. The group inside clearly had hostile intentions.

Director Zhao entered, frowning at the people inside the room.

"What’s going on here?"

"It’s like this, Director. These factory directors feel there’s a problem with our screws. They came here specifically to demand replacements—they won’t even take a refund."

Xie Changning didn’t give the other party a chance, lodging her complaint the moment Director Zhao spoke.

She held out their contract for Director Zhao to see. "The screw model on their contract is different from ours. That’s why we had to ask you to bring your copy, to see if there’s a problem with our contract."

"If the problem is on our end, we’ll make it right for a fellow factory, even if it means sacrificing our foreign orders!"

She said this with immense bravado.

The man with the glasses was so angry he gritted his teeth. He would remember her for this.

Director Zhao gave a sidelong glance to his secretary, who took the cue immediately. He opened his briefcase and laid out all the contracts for comparison.

In the end, Director Zhao’s contract was identical to the one kept by the Chuncheng Screw Factory.

"Is that so? Then we must have mixed up the contracts when we were organizing them. Our sincerest apologies." The man with the glasses was incredibly thick-skinned. He stood up and apologized, but his face showed no hint of remorse.

Xie Changning scoffed at this.

’This man is a scoundrel. I need to be careful!’

As a researcher, Xie Changning had met all sorts of people. She had disliked him from the moment she first saw him. Especially in such a backward and sensitive era, she felt he might be a traitor.

However, she had no proof at the moment and could only suppress the thought.

When she had time, she would have to talk to Yue Yihan and see if he could dig up any information on the man’s background.

With the matter resolved, they wanted to just walk away scot-free.

Naturally, Xie Changning wasn’t about to let them go.

"Gentlemen, you’ve been so passionate, so trusting of our factory, that you’ve caused us to halt production all morning. If you leave just like that, wouldn’t it make us look unappreciative?"

Xie Changning’s expression instantly turned warm. "Our factory is about to launch a new type of screw, the M22 square head bolt, designed specifically for railways. Are any of you gentlemen interested?"

She blocked the doorway, giving them no chance to leave.

The men stared at Xie Changning’s face with ugly expressions, as if they could bore holes through her with their gazes.

If Director Zhao hadn’t been there, they would have lost their patience long ago and physically pulled her aside. But now—

Not only had they failed to gain any advantage, but they also ended up signing a new contract with the Chuncheng Screw Factory.

"Let’s make it four copies, shall we? I just get the feeling your people are prone to oversights. It’s probably best to prepare a copy for the Southern Province Industrial Bureau, too," Xie Changning said cheekily.

It was enough to make the factory directors choke with rage.

After signing the new contract, the men left quickly without a backward glance. Only the factory director with the glasses turned back to smile at Xie Changning.

The look he gave her was like that of a cold, venomous snake staring at its newly chosen prey.

Xie Changning returned his smile, showing not a hint of fear.

Their first clash ended in his defeat.

After they had all gone, Wang Lisheng wiped the sweat from his face. "Weren’t you being a little too reckless, young lady? Huh? If something had actually happened to you, how could I ever face Yue Yihan?"

"No need to explain anything. I knew what I was doing."