The translator shook his head at the director. "Director Xie has been describing the printer’s features the whole time. She hasn’t mentioned any of you directors or your factories."

When one translator spoke, another quickly chimed in.

Hearing this, the director who had raised the objection looked mortified.

His earlier accusation had been entirely fabricated, no different from trying to start a fight with Xie Changning out of thin air.

The others glanced at him but didn’t join in.

After a moment’s thought, Xie Changning addressed him earnestly. "Our businesses have nothing to do with each other. I have no reason to do something that would only hurt you without benefiting me."

Xie Changning’s words were heartfelt, but to some, they sounded grating. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The man stared hard at Xie Changning, then spat through clenched teeth, "You’d better hope that’s true!"

Xie Changning frowned.

’Before arriving, I treated everyone with goodwill. Why are some people just naturally inclined to be so negative?’

"Sister Changning, don’t pay him any mind. It’s just a classic case of sour grapes!"

Apparently, Wang Lisheng knew a little something about this man.

That’s why he was the first to jump in when the conflict erupted, telling Xie Changning to ignore the man.

Xie Changning shook her head and said no more.

’It’s only the first day of the trade fair, not even halfway through. What’s the rush?’

Once the incident was over, Xie Changning stopped paying them any mind and quietly waited for the foreigners to return.

Since Xie Changning’s booth was right at the entrance, she was the first person every foreigner saw upon entering. As a result, they would all wander over to her display for a look before heading deeper into the hall.

Gradually, everyone got used to it.

They realized that if they encountered a technologically advanced machine, they would also be eager to check it out first before moving on to the other booths.

At every Guangzhou Trade Fair, the factories pulled out all the stops, using every skill and trick in their arsenal.

Their sole purpose was to earn more foreign exchange.

"Oh, my dear friend, your price isn’t generous enough."

From a distance, Xie Changning could hear foreigners haggling with the other factory directors, driving a price of 230 US Dollars down to 150—a cut so deep it was practically giving the products away.

Xie Changning looked at the machine on her display stand and frowned slightly.

’The production cost is two hundred US dollars. If they sell it for one hundred fifty, how much money is the country losing on each unit?!’

Every time she heard someone’s price get slashed and then watched them accept the deal, a spark of nameless anger ignited in Xie Changning’s heart.

’It’s infuriating! Absolutely infuriating!’

’Just for a tiny bit of foreign exchange, they have to abandon their own cost basis and sell their machines at rock-bottom prices!’

Mentally, Xie Changning found it impossible to accept.

It was probably because she came from a different era.

In her era, the younger generation was brimming with national confidence, taking pride in their cultural heritage and delighting in their country’s technological achievements.

But this era—

Xie Changning wanted to help, but there were too many factories. She could help one, but not all of them.

After all, "there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes."

Throughout the entire day, there was a constant stream of people in front of Xie Changning’s booth, but not one of them placed an order.

Even Wang Lisheng had made his first profitable sale, while Xie Changning had not. Standing nearby, he grew anxious. "Sister Changning, are you sure... you don’t need to lower the price?"

’Twenty-five thousand US dollars! That’s a figure we wouldn’t even dare to imagine!’

Xie Changning shook her head firmly. "No. This is the price. They’ll be back." She was very confident.

Since Xie Changning was so confident, Wang Lisheng didn’t press the issue.

Over the next two days, Wang Lisheng’s screws sold very well. Only Xie Changning’s booth, despite looking busy, had yet to make its first sale.

Everyone was breaking into a cold sweat on Xie Changning’s behalf.

’In such a prime spot, if she can’t even close a single deal, how is that young woman going to answer to her leaders!’

As time went on, everyone grew more worried.

Even the members of her R&D team began to lose heart. "Director, are we really going to sell any?" They had imagined that as soon as they arrived, droves of people would be lining up to place orders.

But reality was nothing like what they had imagined!

While the R&D team worried, Xie Changning picked up her thermos, took a sip of hot water, and said, "Relax. They’ll be here any minute now."

’The price is high. They need to go through the proper channels, don’t they?’

’How could we expect results so quickly?’

Just as everyone was nodding absently, a commotion erupted at the entrance. Several familiar-looking foreigners were making a beeline for Xie Changning’s booth. "Hello, miss. Our company is willing to purchase 10,000 printers at a price of 24,000 US Dollars per unit."

Xie Changning shook her head. "I’m sorry, but I can’t sell them at that price."

Xie Changning’s firm, composed demeanor made it impossible for the woman to get a read on her. Gritting her teeth, she countered, "24,500 US Dollars!"

"$24,999 US Dollars. I’d be happy to foot the bill for the beautiful lady."

"..."

The Caucasian woman was rendered speechless by Yue Li’s comment.

’Who "foots the bill" for a lady with a single dollar? Is she kidding me!?’

"Ma’am, we are genuinely trying to cooperate here, and you..." But before the woman could finish, a Caucasian man rushed to the front and handed his business card to Xie Changning.

"Oh, beautiful lady, my company is willing to purchase 2,000 AN-1 printers for 25,000 US Dollars each. If you just give the nod, the payment will be wired by tonight."

He hadn’t been idle while waiting for the phone call to get approval.

He had inquired about the scale of Xie Changning’s factory and heard it wasn’t large, so he figured their production speed wouldn’t be very high.

Thus, he immediately decided on two thousand units.

"Done," Xie Changning said with a small smile. "I think... we should find a place to discuss the details." She then turned to a staff member who had been posted at the entrance just for this purpose. "Hello, could you please find an office for me? I have several deals to negotiate."

"Of course. Please, follow me."

Xie Changning nodded, then addressed the group of foreign buyers. "If you would all please step this way, we can discuss the details in the office."

With that, Xie Changning, accompanied by a young woman from her team, led the crowd of foreigners to an office to negotiate.

During the commotion, there were even some other companies, worried that Xie Changning’s factory couldn’t meet production demands, who tried to cut in and secure some machines for themselves.

Seeing this, the Caucasian woman quickly shouted, "Twenty-five thousand US Dollars! I’ll take a thousand units!"

Xie Changning told everyone not to worry and that she would speak with them one by one.

Accompanying Xie Changning to the office were lawyers, as well as Yu Chunhe and Xie Changyi. The two men took the printer exports very seriously and were personally overseeing the entire process.

Whenever anything needed to be written down, the two of them had someone else do it, allowing Xie Changning to focus solely on the negotiations.

In the end, taking her factory’s production capacity into account, Xie Changning capped the total orders at 5,000 units. The companies that couldn’t secure a deal all left their business cards with her.

They asked her to remember them and put them at the front of the line for the next production run.