Chapter 178: Warehouse on Fire

Wei Ming heard Su Ruo's words, without hesitation or wavering; he could see that although Su Ruo appeared delicate, she had an unyielding toughness inside.

After the contract was formally signed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but actually buying the Clothing Factory wasn't as simple as signing a contract; they still had to go through the approval procedures from above, and only after everything passed could they proceed.

Although, as long as the funds and price were fine, the matter was basically settled, but Su Ruo and the others still went to find Zhou Feng to expedite its implementation.

After all, the purchase procedures for a state-owned factory are somewhat troublesome, requiring layered approvals; having Zhou Feng mediate in the middle could make things progress a bit faster.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Feng immediately agreed.

During this time, Su Ruo and the others were not idle; they kept running to the bank, going back and forth for three straight days before depositing all the fifty thousand cash given by the master's wife into the bank.

They were just waiting for the approval procedures to come through, then they would immediately transfer the funds.

Originally everything was going smoothly, but Zhou Feng ran into trouble; that day when he returned, he said with a solemn expression:

"There have been some snags in buying the factory; Li Furén has connections with the higher-ups, and they are now deliberately delaying the process."

Although Su Ruo and the three were disappointed, they had already braced themselves for this.

Zhou Feng comforted Su Ruo and the others, saying they need not be too anxious; although the other side has influence, the Zhou and Bai families are not pushovers and will not let them be bullied.

Su Ruo's eyes sank slightly; she had never underestimated the darkness of this world, knowing that although it seemed they were competing with Li Furén, in reality it was a contest between the two powers.

If Su Ruo and the others had no backing, turning the tables would truly be difficult.

Su Ruo knew that since Li Furén wanted to make things difficult for them, he definitely had a backup plan; she would not sit and wait for defeat, so she immediately had the system investigate all of Li Furén's personal information.

Although Su Ruo spent a thousand points for this, upon seeing the information fed back by the system, she instantly felt the points were well spent.

The next day, an uninvited guest came to Su Ruo's home; Li Furén swaggered out of his carriage, accompanied by two lackeys, and menacingly barged into Su Ruo's Siheyuan.

As soon as Li Furén entered, he signaled a lackey to slap five thousand yuan on the table and bluntly said, "We're all smart people; I'll lay it out plainly: the State-owned Clothing Factory in the suburbs, I, Li Furén, am taking it."

"If you accept this five thousand yuan and withdraw, we'll remain friends; if not……"

He didn't finish the sentence, but the threatening implication was already clear.

If Su Ruo were merely a powerless maiden, Li Furén wouldn't have bothered making this trip today; after all, dealing with a powerless maiden, he has plenty of ways.

But behind Su Ruo stood the Zhou and Bai families; he couldn't let the situation become too ugly, otherwise he'd have trouble explaining himself.

Su Ruo sneered, "I don't understand what Boss Li means."

Li Furén laughed, saying, "I'm a crude person, and my underlings are all a bunch of reckless scoundrels; when they act, they're rash and have no sense of proportion."

"Miss Su, I see your household consists only of women and children, with not a man among you; you'd better not invite trouble, after all, running a company to make money is a man's job—what's wrong with you staying home embroidering and painting birds?"

Su Ruo heard this and wasn't angry; instead, she became slightly interested and said, "Boss Li, I heard an amusing anecdote recently and would like to share it with you."

"I heard that in Hat Alley there's a young woman who gave birth to a child out of wedlock, and rumor has it that the child is the illegitimate son of some big boss."

"People say that big boss was once poor, relying on his father-in-law's family to make his fortune; so although he's taken a lover and even had a son, he dares not let his wife know, and can only keep the person hidden."

"This rumor is detailed and specific; Boss Li, have you heard of it?"

Su Ruo snorted, "Isn't that just threatening people? Who can't do that?"

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Li Furén's face immediately darkened: "You're threatening me?"

Su Ruo laughed, saying, "Of course not; I was just telling Boss Li a funny story. Why are you getting worked up? It's not like that child has anything to do with you, right? I just wonder whether your wife knows about such a big matter."

Li Furén's face instantly turned livid with anger; he was originally a rascal who rose to wealth relying on his in-laws' influence, so naturally he dare not let his wife know about this.

This was the first time Li Furén had suffered a setback at a woman's hands; he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, you're great—you're the first to dare threaten me; we'll see how it goes."

Su Ruo's eyes were filled with an unfathomable coldness: "Boss Li, what goes around comes around; when you threaten others, you might want to think about yourself."

When Li Zhaodi and the others heard the news and rushed back, Li Furén had already left.

Li Zhaodi anxiously asked, "What's going on? Did Li Furén come to cause trouble?"

Su Ruo comforted, "It's fine; Li Furén is now a spent force, desperate and out of options, which is why he came to cause trouble—we don't need to pay him any heed."

Sure enough, that very day Zhou Feng brought back the approval procedures; although the person behind Li Furén is formidable, the Bai and Zhou families are not pushovers either.

But Zhou Feng didn't forget to remind Su Ruo and the others: "Li Furén is narrow-minded and holds grudges; by snatching the Clothing Factory ahead of him, you've thoroughly offended him, so you'd better stay cautious from now on."

Su Ruo nodded to show she understood; after obtaining the documents, the three immediately went to the State-owned Clothing Factory.

But when they saw Wei Ming again, his face was bruised and swollen all over, and he walked with a limp.

Li Zhaodi immediately asked anxiously, "Factory Director Wei, did Li Furén's scoundrel send people to beat you?"

Wei Ming gave a wry smile: "I'm just a lonely soul; these are only superficial injuries—Li Furén can't do anything to me. You already know the situation; if you still want to buy, let's go handle the paperwork."

Su Ruo knew that these past days, Wei Ming must have faced many threats and torment, yet he still hadn't yielded.

At this moment, Su Ruo felt a renewed respect for the old factory director who had devoted his life to the plant.

Su Ruo smiled and said, "Of course we want to buy."

Upon hearing Su Ruo's words, Wei Ming felt the stone in his heart finally drop; they first went to the bank to transfer the funds, then completed the transfer procedures, and only after everything was settled did they finally relax.

Su Ruo and the three exchanged smiles; the Clothing Factory now finally belonged to them.

But before they could even celebrate, they heard that the factory was on fire.

When Su Ruo and the others rushed back to the factory, they found that the warehouse storing the fabric had already erupted in a raging blaze.

Li Furén's car was parked right at the factory gate; upon seeing Su Ruo, he immediately hurried over with a smile and said:

"Boss Su bought the factory and on the very first day it caught such a big fire; surely your business will henceforth be prosperous and thriving!"

Su Ruo looked at Li Furén with an icy gaze; to claim this fire had nothing to do with him, she would not believe it even if beaten to death.

The warehouse fire was huge; the fabric stored inside had no chance to be rescued—it all ignited.

The fire raged for a full day, consuming the entire warehouse and all the fabric inside, causing Su Ruo and her companions to lose tens of thousands of yuan for nothing.

Li Zhaodi's eyes reddened with anger, tears pouring down: "I'm going to call the police; I'll make sure that bastard gets locked up."

Su Ruo and Bai Xinya remained silent; they knew the police would have to be notified, but they also knew reporting would be useless, since Li Furén dared to do this and would leave no evidence.

Moreover, there's no surveillance; even if they investigated, the only ones caught would be the low‑level flunkies sent to take the fall.

Li Zhaodi obviously could see this as well, and she said resentfully, "Are we just going to let that bastard get away scot-free? I won't accept it!"

Su Ruo certainly wouldn't just let Li Furén off the hook; since he dared to provoke her, he'd better prepare to pay the price!