Xie Changning answered patiently, "Well... some things happened at home, so I came to join my family here."

She didn’t mention her application for the family quarters, only making small talk about unimportant things until they arrived home.

Back home, she entered her pocket dimension and created a design table. Holding the component specifications, she prepared to get up early the next day and head to the factory to have the workers produce the batch.

Then, she would invite the client over to observe the workers’ efficiency and inspect the samples.

The next day, before four o’clock, Xie Changning was standing at the door, calling for Xu Xiumei. "Aunt Xiumei!"

It was only mid-June, the hottest time of year, and in the Northeast, the sun was already up by three-thirty in the morning. So after getting up at three-thirty, she observed her surroundings for half an hour.

Seeing that Wang Guofu and his wife were also up at three-thirty, she went out to call for them without a second thought.

"Changning, what is it?" Hearing Xie Changning’s call, Xu Xiumei hurriedly pushed open her door.

"I have something I need to discuss with Uncle Wang."

At Xu Xiumei’s warm invitation, Xie Changning entered their home.

Wang Guofu’s house had a similar layout to Xie Changning’s, except the main hall was a little larger. It was filled with industrial components, all of them the latest models.

It looked like Wang Guofu was studying them all.

Wang Guofu was the deputy director in charge of production. Whenever new components appeared on the market, he would pull some strings to acquire a few.

"Sorry about the mess..." Xu Xiumei said, shooting a sideways glance at Wang Guofu.

Wang Guofu, however, didn’t seem to mind. He looked at Xie Changning with pride. "What do you think? I’ve got every part imaginable here, don’t I?" ’I could open a small repair shop with all this stuff!’ he thought.

Xie Changning nodded. "You certainly do. I actually came over to discuss a subcontracting job with you, Uncle Wang."

At the mention of subcontracting, Wang Guofu’s expression turned serious.

While the two talked business, Xu Xiumei went to get some water for Xie Changning.

"This is for the steel brake cable wire I’m planning to produce. Take a look, Uncle Wang?"

"What?"

Wang Guofu didn’t even need to look to know how important steel wire for brake cables was.

Domestically, the technology for high-carbon steel was heavily reliant on foreign imports. If their factory were to take this on, he was afraid... "Can our technology even keep up?"

"The main raw materials for high-carbon steel would also have to be imported, which would drag out the timeline."

"Besides, we don’t have an approved quota for high-carbon steel..." The domestic quota for high-carbon steel was insufficient because of problems with the current smelting process. If a few things could be improved, production volume would increase considerably.

But in the short term, producing steel wire for brake cables was definitely not a good option.

But Xie Changning was confident. After helping the steel mill improve its technology, they could rival Japan, and the qualification rate for high-carbon steel could reach as high as ninety-five percent.

Moreover, the production time would drop from eight hours to mere minutes!

"I’ll give it a shot. If we can’t start production within ten days, we’ll have to find another machinery factory for help," Xie Changning said to Wang Guofu.

Seeing that Xie Changning was determined to pursue the brake cable wire project, Wang Guofu didn’t try to dissuade her further.

"Alright!"

Xie Changning ended up eating breakfast at Wang Guofu’s home. Aunt Xiumei’s invitation was so insistent that Xie Changning couldn’t get away. After the meal, she and Wang Guofu headed to the factory at five.

The machinery was outdated. Production times that should have been short were now incredibly long.

"Once we land this contract, we’ll upgrade the machines." The current equipment was too slow, seriously hampering their output value.

"You have a plan for that, Director?"

"I do."

As someone from the 21st century, Xie Changning’s mind was a treasure trove of advanced knowledge!

At seven o’clock sharp, Xie Changning and Wang Guofu departed from Anong County for Chuncheng. Their first stop was the Feige Bicycle Factory...

Traveling with Xie Changning gave Wang Guofu another chance to witness her glib tongue firsthand.

She was incredibly persuasive.

In her past life, Xie Changning had spent countless hours haggling with investors to secure funding. Painting a grand vision to win people over was second nature to her.

Xie Changning made a beautiful pitch, but unfortunately, the bicycle factory was hung up on one issue: the Anong County Machinery Factory had no approved quota for high-carbon steel. Thus, they refused to cooperate.

Xie Changning didn’t get angry. She simply smiled and asked the director, "So, if I can solve the high-carbon steel problem, will your factory subcontract some of the brake cable wire production orders to us?"

The bicycle factory’s director had heard things about Xie Changning.

It was hard not to know about such a young factory director.

He knew Xie Changning was a capable person, so he nodded. "As long as you can solve the high-carbon steel problem, I’ll agree to give you a share of the production quota!"

"Deal! But first, write me a letter of guarantee!"

Xie Changning pulled out two blank sheets of paper and a fountain pen, and began to write up two copies of the guarantee.

The bicycle factory director laughed. "Afraid I won’t keep my word?"

"Of course! Let’s be scoundrels now and gentlemen later."

"Fine."

After reaching an agreement, Xie Changning bid farewell to the director of the Feige Bicycle Factory and left with Wang Guofu in tow.

Wang Guofu hadn’t said a single word the entire time. He simply followed behind Xie Changning, letting her set the pace.

It wasn’t until they were out of the bicycle factory that he finally, and slowly, asked, "Where... are we going now?"

"To find Director Zhao. We’re going to solve the low-yield problem for our sister factory in the neighboring province." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Xie Changning had the driver take them to the Industrial Bureau.

At that moment, Director Zhao was clutching a spreadsheet of the high-carbon steel demand quotas for every factory in Chuncheng. Staring at the drastically reduced allocation amounts, he rubbed his throbbing temples.

Hearing a knock on the door, he just called out, "Come in."

Hearing the strain in Director Zhao’s voice, Xie Changning adopted a calm and steady demeanor before pushing the door open. "Director Zhao."

The tension in Director Zhao’s brow eased the moment he saw Xie Changning.

"Perfect timing. I have something I need your help with."

Director Zhao looked at Xie Changning as if she were his savior, waving her over urgently. "You’re exposed to more of the technical side of things than I am. Do you know of any way to increase high-carbon steel production?"

"The factories’ current metallurgical technology is backwards, and the production capacity is far too low!"

"The national supply of high-carbon steel is no longer enough to meet the quotas. Everyone’s trying to figure out a way to break through this bottleneck."

Wang Guofu was stunned. ’What a coincidence!’

This was the very reason they had come!

"Director Zhao, I actually came today to discuss this exact matter. Our factory has no production capacity at the moment. With so many mouths to feed, we were hoping the Industrial Bureau could throw us a bone..."

Director Zhao was already stressed out. How could he possibly be in the mood to think about allocating orders to the Anong County Machinery Factory?

He rubbed his temples. "Just leave your documents. I’ll arrange something for you later."

But "later" could mean never.

Xie Changning didn’t like uncertainty. After setting down her papers, she spoke to Director Zhao. "Before coming here, I met with the head of the Feige Bicycle Factory. He said that if I can secure a high-carbon steel quota, he’ll give the brake cable wire order to me. So, here I am, ready to help out a brother factory, am I not?"