The First Automobile Works’ Revolutionary Committee convened an emergency meeting.

Xie Changning, meanwhile, went to Director Zhao’s office and sat down quietly.

Director Zhao was on the phone. When he saw her come in, he gestured with his chin for her to sit aside. After hanging up, Director Zhao finally spoke to Xie Changning. "I’ve looked into what you asked me to. Here are the two plastics factories I recommend."

Xie Changning stood up, took the documents Director Zhao handed her, and quickly flipped through them.

After looking them over, Xie Changning agreed that these two plastics factories were very suitable.

"Thank you, Director."

"How did the entrance exam go?"

Director Zhao had heard that the kids from Xie Changning’s factory insisted on taking the exam, so he was curious to see if they had practiced hard during their time off.

Speaking of the kids from her factory, the corners of Xie Changning’s lips curved up slightly.

"The results aren’t out yet, but... I’m confident in their skills. They’ve made huge progress this month." Especially after receiving Xie Changning’s guidance, the kids’ skills had improved by leaps and bounds.

Director Zhao nodded in satisfaction. "I’m really looking forward to it. I agreed to quite a few conditions from the First Automobile Works’ Revolutionary Committee this time. They’d better study hard."

"They definitely won’t disappoint you."

Xie Changning clutched the documents and chatted with Director Zhao for a while before preparing to leave.

Director Zhao glanced at her swollen belly, and, worried something might happen on the way, had his driver take Xie Changning.

After thanking him, Xie Changning went to visit the two plastics factories.

After hearing Xie Changning’s request, the first plastics factory stated that they currently had too many orders and couldn’t help her. Her order would have to be scheduled for six months from now.

Xie Changning knew this was just an excuse.

In reality, they thought her design was too complex and the order too small—just a single set. They didn’t want to waste the manpower and resources.

Xie Changning understood the subtext. Before they could outright refuse, she left the factory. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Since they didn’t want to cooperate, Xie Changning had no intention of forcing the issue.

At the same time, she prepared herself for rejection from the second plastics factory as well.

She understood that a factory needed to make money. ’Just these few keycaps would take up a lot of the mold makers’ time, and it would be a huge hassle.’

Mentally preparing herself, Xie Changning arrived at the second plastics factory.

Compared to the first, the second plastics factory was much smaller. Similar to the Anong County Machinery Factory, only half of their machines were running, and the other half of the workers were on break.

When Xie Changning arrived, the deputy director of the plastics factory was waiting for her at the entrance.

"Director Zhao called us," he said. "He told us you would be coming."

The deputy director’s words made the corner of Xie Changning’s mouth twitch slightly. She then nodded. "My apologies. I was delayed on the way and only just arrived."

"Not a problem at all. Please, come in."

’Director Zhao must have expected that the first factory wouldn’t cooperate.’

’But he probably felt that if he had only recommended this one, I might get the wrong idea that he wasn’t willing to connect me with a larger factory. So, he picked one large one and one small one.’

’After the large factory refused to cooperate, I wouldn’t have any reservations about working with a smaller one.’

In reality, Xie Changning didn’t care about the factory’s size. Her only requirements were good quality, good materials, and a fast turnaround!

So far, the smaller factory met her third requirement.

As for the first two, Xie Changning would have to wait and see.

The plastics factory was very enthusiastic about Xie Changning’s visit. When they heard she only wanted one set of prototypes made, they showed no resistance at all. They took every potential partnership seriously and cherished each one.

Xie Changning listed a few materials and asked if the factory could procure them.

"To be honest, Director Xie, there’s only one material on your list that we can’t obtain due to our factory’s size. If you could help with that, we can produce the prototypes you need within two days."

’He’s a sharp one.’

’He knows Director Zhao is personally cultivating my career. As long as I make the request, I can definitely get enough materials.’

His clever little ploy didn’t fool Xie Changning, not that he intended to hide it.

’This is a two-way street, really.’

The corners of Xie Changning’s lips curved up, and she didn’t refuse his request. "Go and file an application with Director Zhao. Just say it’s for my prototypes. Director Zhao won’t give you any trouble."

She was confident about that, at least.

At her words, the man’s eyes lit up, and he nodded happily. "Great!"

"Now then, shall we discuss my designs?"

Xie Changning took her blueprints from her cloth bag. A dozen or so sheets were slowly spread out in front of him.

The more he looked, the brighter his eyes grew.

He had never seen such an exquisite keycap design; every measurement was incredibly precise!

"This is...?"

"I can guarantee that if these prototypes are a success, and if our product goes into mass production, your factory will be our first choice."

The plastics factory’s deputy director was no fool; he understood what Xie Changning was implying.

’Her factory is developing a new product. If it succeeds and goes to market, it will eventually require mass production. When that happens... our factory will become their dedicated manufacturer for these keycaps.’

’The molds we create won’t be a one-off job.’

"I appreciate your trust, Director Xie. I think we should sign a contract." Better to be safe than sorry.

’I have a feeling she’s going to succeed.’

’I have to lock down this order. If I do, I won’t have to keep half my workers idle anymore!’

"Of course!"

After Xie Changning signed the contract, the plastics factory’s deputy director made an executive decision to provide the prototypes to her for free, as a show of his factory’s support for her R&D team’s project.

Xie Changning expressed her thanks, then met with their design team to explain the manufacturing requirements detailed in her blueprints.

Once the plan was finalized, the half of the workforce that had been on leave was officially put back on the clock.

That evening, the driver took Xie Changning back to the guesthouse instead of letting her travel back to Anong County so late at night.

As Xie Changning entered the guesthouse, she saw Yue Yihan showing a marriage certificate to the front desk clerk. He was explaining, "Is there a pregnant woman named Xie Changning staying here? I’m her husband."

The clerk took his marriage certificate, and after confirming it was real, began to speak.

"She’s in—oh, Ms. Xie is back."

The clerk nudged their chin toward Xie Changning at the entrance.

Yue Yihan turned to look at the doorway and saw Xie Changning standing there in a modified maternity dress, a wide smile on her face.

"Honey!"

The moment Yue Yihan saw Xie Changning, he rushed to her side and took her by the arm.

Their eyes met, and Xie Changning felt—

—like she was looking at a husky waiting for its owner to return from a business trip, its eyes bright with joy, right before it pounced on them!

That was exactly how Yue Yihan looked right now.