With that, Xie Changning handed a mold she had made the previous night to Wang Lisheng.

"Let’s make a prototype first and see how it goes."

Seeing the mold Xie Changning produced, Wang Lisheng felt like jumping up and giving her a big kiss.

Xie Changning was simply his lucky star. He had been worrying about finding a mold machinist to make this specific model, and then Xie Changning went and did it for him!

And she was the one who made the mold!

"Changning, how can you make so many molds all by yourself?" Li Guodong frowned. He thought it was too much work for her to do on her own.

’We should just outsource it.’

Xie Changning shook her head. "It’s fine. I’ll do it." Of course it was hard work doing it herself, but...

She had her secret weapon: the spatial workbench!

The workbench had already dangled a carrot in front of her—as long as she leveled up, she could create molds for all sorts of screws.

Seeing Xie Changning’s insistence, Li Guodong didn’t press the issue.

"If you can’t keep up, just tell us. We can outsource it! Orders are already piling up at the factory; we’re not short on money anymore!"

Once the foreign currency payment arrived, they would expand!

And hold a new recruitment drive for the children of their workers.

Xie Changning thought about it and agreed. She nodded. "Alright, let’s outsource it then." She would create the prototypes, and once the process met the standards, they could find outside machinists to produce them.

But—

"Can’t our own in-house machinists make them?" Xie Changning asked Wang Lisheng.

Logically, their screw factory should be training its own mold machinists. Why would they need to outsource?

At the mention of this, both Wang Lisheng and Li Guodong sighed.

"Our factory’s Level 5 Machinist is always away helping brother factories. He’s never here, so we... SIGH!" Their factory was too small. With only one Level 5 Machinist, how could that possibly be enough?

The remaining machinists were all Third Level, or maybe Second Level.

Xie Changning nodded in understanding. "Then we need to train a batch of our own high-level machinists. Aren’t we planning to expand? We need to start developing our machinists now."

Many of the workers’ children would learn skills from their parents.

"We can select from among the workers’ children and focus on training them."

"Since our machinist is away providing support, we should invite machinists from the brother factories to train ours," Xie Changning suggested.

Wang Lisheng and Li Guodong thought this was an excellent suggestion and nodded in agreement. "Done!"

When the proposal to recruit and train more machinists was submitted to Director Zhao, he was a little surprised. "Your factory has barely learned to walk, and you already want to run?"

"We plan to expand as soon as the first foreign currency order is completed. Expansion requires workers. Regular workers are easy to train, but machinists are not."

"Skilled trades require time and experience."

"We have to prepare in advance."

Director Zhao looked at the proposal, then at Wang Lisheng and Li Guodong, and chuckled. "Did that girl Xie Changning come up with this? Looking at this proposal, she must have written it too, right?"

Wang Lisheng scratched the back of his head. "Heh heh! You know us, Director. Guodong and I didn’t get much schooling. We can talk to machines all day, but when it comes to paper, we’re completely useless!"

’Asking me to write a proposal? Isn’t that asking the impossible?’

’It’s a miracle if I can even remember a few sentences from the leaders’ speeches at meetings!’

Li Guodong silently expressed his agreement.

Director Zhao looked at the proposal again. It was just too well-written; he couldn’t bring himself to refuse. He nodded. "Alright, I’ll go and apply with my superiors!"

Whether or not his superiors approved, well, that was out of his hands!

Expanding the factory’s production was a good thing, and the Industrial Bureau was very supportive. Especially now, with the Chuncheng Screw Factory’s R&D at the forefront of the industry, a lack of production capacity would hinder future collaborations.

Thus, the provincial Industrial Bureau reported it to their higher-ups without any hesitation.

The approval process was slow. By the time the notice came through, a month had already passed.

Three months into her pregnancy, Xie Changning was starting to feel a bit tired, but it was still within a manageable range.

She had recently been developing a new type of screw and was preparing to put it into production. If the prototype passed its tests, she would take it to the Autumn Trade Fair.

"The foreign currency is here! It’s here!"

While Xie Changning was taking a break to get some water, she heard the excited voices of Wang Lisheng and Li Guodong coming from Wang Lisheng’s office.

Since Xie Changning’s office was in a separate building, the two men had been worried. So, they moved their own offices over as well, claiming it was because they were afraid she might feel unwell and they wouldn’t be there to help.

Xie Changning didn’t say much about it.

She had been very busy lately. Even though she had Yue Yihan handle everything, she couldn’t help but get involved with things like photoshoots and trying on wedding clothes.

Every night, she was so exhausted she didn’t want to lift a finger.

"Changning! The foreign currency is here!"

While Xie Changning was lost in thought, Wang Lisheng and Li Guodong couldn’t resist sharing the good news with her.

Xie Changning was happy for them. The arrival of the foreign currency meant their factory had money now.

They could expand the factory buildings and buy new machines!

"Changning, we really have you to thank for this!"

The amount of foreign currency was something Wang Lisheng had never dared to dream of before. They were used to having their prices driven down, used to lowering their prices automatically, even losing money. He never thought there would come a day when they’d be earning the Americans’ money!

"Come over to my place for dinner tonight! And bring Brother Yihan along!"

"Factory Director, Yue Yihan is away on a mission," Xie Changning told him helplessly. He was so happy he’d gotten completely muddled.

Hearing this, Wang Lisheng cheerfully slapped his own forehead.

"You’re right. I’m so happy I can’t think straight!"

"Is Technician Xie here?"

Just as Wang Lisheng was celebrating, a discordant voice cut in, making him turn his head.

He saw Vice Factory Director Lin from the machine tool factory standing not far away.

Seeing Vice Factory Director Lin, the expressions on both Wang Lisheng and Li Guodong’s faces soured, and they frowned.

"What are you doing here?" The two men were of one mind, asking the question in perfect unison.

"There’s a problem with a machine tool. The factory director sent me to ask Technician Xie to come take a look."

Vice Factory Director Lin explained with a beaming smile.

It was as if the unpleasantness of their last meeting had never happened.

Wang Lisheng and Li Guodong exchanged a look. Then Wang Lisheng spoke up: "Fine, I’ll go with her to take a look. You watch over the factory." He didn’t like this Vice Factory Director Lin. He always felt the man was up to no good.

’I can’t let Xiao Xie go off alone with him.’

’I have to go with them.’

Vice Factory Director Lin had originally planned to cause some trouble for Xie Changning on the way. But now that meddlesome Wang Lisheng wanted to tag along!

"Then let’s go together."

Vice Factory Director Lin pressed his lips together, struggling to maintain the smile on his face as he invited Wang Lisheng to join them.

He complained inwardly: ’A factory director has this much free time?! He must have some kind of secret relationship with Xie Changning, right?’

Thinking about it, he began to hesitate.

’Should I send this letter in my pocket or not? What if Xie Changning isn’t the person they’re looking for?’

’But if I don’t tell them, I’m afraid she might be exactly the person they’re looking for!’

After some thought, Vice Factory Director Lin made up his mind. He would send it. It was better to wrongly accuse her than to let the target slip away!