Chapter 16: Bulletproof Vests and Recurve Bows—Buy, Buy, Buy!

Zhou Da Kui felt very stirred by what he heard.

After all, the thought of betraying the enemy arose not only from a desire to survive, but also from hatred over Xiao Qidi having killed several of his brothers.

But he calmed down, thought it over, and rejected the idea, saying:

"Rumor has it that Xiao Qidi's martial skill is formidable, and now he always has loyal soldiers from Lin Xian Village by his side. Even if he were truly wounded, it would be hard for us to cut off his head. We should avoid stirring the grass and startling the snake; otherwise we won't even be able to escape."

Even if we take a step back, once the Yu Guo Army tramples Lin Xian Village, Xiao Qidi is bound to die without doubt.

And he'll die a terrible death, as the Yu Guo troops are notoriously cruel in massacring prisoners of war.

He can still succeed in taking revenge.

But he didn't voice that calculation.

"Makes sense… Brother Zhou, shall we run now?" someone asked, rubbing their fists in anticipation.

Zhou Da Kui said: "No. Once the defensive works here are mostly finished, we'll record every position, and ideally also gather from Lin Xian Village villagers whether there are hidden routes in the surrounding treacherous terrain, then we'll run!"

"The more intelligence we can feed the Yu Guo Army, the safer we'll be; perhaps we'll even be given important roles and rise to great success!"

His words inflamed the other ten‑plus people, who all knelt before Zhou Da Kui, acknowledging him as their elder brother and vowing to follow his lead from then on.

……

Meanwhile, Ning Jinli had already ordered a huge batch of items online via her phone.

Three thousand sets of top‑grade civilian bulletproof vests.

Five hundred modern‑crafted recurve bows and five thousand arrows.

He originally wanted to buy a crossbow, but that item is prohibited, so he could only purchase bows and arrows for now.

Additionally there were a thousand spears, a thousand combat knives, and several thousand horse stirrups.

Because they're not everyday items, she could only acquire this many at once; otherwise she would have to equip all ten thousand of Xiao Qidi's soldiers.

Low‑end cold‑weapon gear made with modern industrial technology, when placed in their bronze‑age era, counts as a dimensionality‑reduction strike.

To avoid drawing attention, she made all purchases under the factory's name.

In total it cost almost four hundred thousand yuan.

She now has several hundred million in her account, so a mere four hundred thousand is just a drop in the bucket.

The feeling of buying was exhilarating, yet she still thought it was too expensive.

If her own factory produced them, she could at least save half the cost.

Unfortunately time was tight, and she knew nothing about the factory's operations—no staff, no raw materials, and all the production lines lay idle gathering dust.

"In the future Xiao Qidi will need even more supplies; I can't rely solely on buying ready‑made goods, I must quickly find a way to get the factory running," Ning Jinli said, pacing back and forth in the warehouse with her phone, her mind racing.

She hadn't slept for a day and a night, exhausted to death, yet her mind wouldn't stop.

"By the way, we could look for former employees! How did I only just think of that? How stupid of me!"

With a breakthrough, she rallied her spirit and rushed straight to the office building.

Soon, she rummaged through the archives and uncovered the factory's former employee roster, also finding the records of the previous plant manager.

Zheng Houcheng, forty‑five years old.

He had been a technical worker at this factory twenty years ago, and gradually rose to the position of plant manager!

Ning Jinli recalled that when she visited as a child with her parents, she had seen him; she remembered him always bustling about, dusty and busy, yet without any airs, treating all workers kindly.

The records showed that he was dismissed because mismanagement caused severe losses for the factory.

But Ning Jinli believed that the factory's problems were certainly not his fault.

"I don't know whether he's found a job now…"

"Never mind, let's call him first; if he already has a new job, I'll have to poach him back!"

Ning Jinli made up her mind and dialed the number listed in the file.

The call connected quickly.

"Hello, are you Mr. Zheng Houcheng?" she asked.

A weary, hoarse voice sounded from the phone, "Hello, I'm delivering takeout; please stop calling repeatedly to urge me, I'll definitely repay the loan."

Ning Jinli was startled.

Delivering takeout?

Owed a loan?

"No, no, Mr. Zheng, I'm not a debt collector," Ning Jinli hurriedly explained, "I'm the owner of Xing Ning Factory, my name is Ning Jinli. I saw you when I was a child; I wonder if you still remember me. I'd like to ask whether you'd be willing to return here as plant manager?"

"You… what did you say?" the other's voice trembled.

Ning Jinli patiently repeated it once more.

The other fell into silence.

Then Ning Jinli heard a sobbing sound.

"Mr. Zheng, are you alright?"

"I… I'm fine, just a bit incredulous. You really are Miss Ning? Isn't the factory already beyond saving…"

Ning Jinli told him that with ample funds now, she intends to rebuild the factory.

She also learned that Zheng Houcheng had originally tried to protect the welfare of several thousand employees, offended Ning Hai, was set up, took the blame and was dismissed, and even assumed several million yuan of the factory's loans.

With that black history, he could find no work in the same industry.

Moreover, at forty‑five, he was too old to be hired for other positions.

Nevertheless, despite the injustice, he didn't collapse; he worked construction sites by day, squeezed time to deliver takeout at night, slowly chipping away at the debt.

Ning Jinli's nose tingled with acidity as she listened, and she immediately arranged a time to meet him for a detailed discussion.

Zheng Houcheng said, "Miss Ning, I promised the foreman tomorrow's daytime work and can't break my word. Could we meet a little later tomorrow afternoon?"

"Sure, sure, whatever time works for you is fine."

After the call, Ning Jinli added his WeChat for easy contact.

Then she casually scrolled through Moments.

Suddenly she saw a post her ex‑boyfriend had just made.

The memory was triggered, and Ning Jinli felt her heart start to sting as she recalled the past.

The man she had dated for four years in college had once promised to marry her and love her forever.

But after graduation she learned she had inherited a factory burdened with tens of millions in debt, and he broke up with her over the phone.

If the breakup were solely for that reason, Ning Jinli could fully understand.

Yet the ex‑boyfriend used the breakup as a chance to confess the truth.

It turned out he had pursued her from the start because she was a Ning Family heiress.

Although she had explicitly said she was already driven out of the house by her uncle, he privately thought that the family ties still existed and, since her grandfather was near death, she might inherit something later.

Even a tiny leak of assets from the Ning Family would be enough for him to never worry about food and drink for a lifetime.

So he went out of his way to act like a good boyfriend.

Moreover, Ning Jinli was so beautiful that dating her brought face.

What annoyed him was that Ning Jinli never consented to be intimate with him.

Thus, during the four years they dated, he cheated countless times.

Then, on the day he dumped Ning Jinli, he posted several photos in Moments of himself holding hands with a rich woman while traveling.

In those Moments photos, the ex‑boyfriend was dressed in high‑end casual wear, standing in a villa, showing affection with a thirty‑something, glittering‑rich lady.

The caption read: "No matter how beautiful the scenery of my villa is, it's not as beautiful as my baby."

A mutual friend commented below: "So jealous, how much did you pay for this huge villa?"

The ex‑boyfriend replied: "Haha, Xinghan City Lan Yue Villa, you can look it up."

Ning Jinli stared blankly at her phone until it auto‑locked; seeing her own tear‑streaked face on the screen, she finally snapped back to reality.

She wasn't unwilling to let go of that scumbag.

It's just…

After four years of love, discovering it was all deception and betrayal from the other side, anyone would feel hurt.

Buzz—

The phone vibrated; it was a call from Wu Sanye.

Ning Jinli calmly wiped away her tears and answered: "Third Uncle, what's up?"

Wu Sanye cheerfully said: "Miss Ning, my childhood friends have decided to immigrate abroad, and there's a nice villa in our city's Lanyue Villa that they want to sell. Are you interested?"

Lanyue Villa is exactly the place Ning Jinli had just seen her ex‑boyfriend brag about in Moments.

It's a top‑tier luxury villa development in Xinghan City.

Each unit is a detached villa, with decent surroundings and very livable.

Ning Jinli thought that living in the factory didn't matter, but it was necessary to buy a good house for Su Yi's retirement, and that villa would be perfect.

The problem was—her scummy ex‑boyfriend also lived there.

Logically he couldn't afford it, yet his Moments clearly implied he had bought it.

"Miss Ning, I'll send you the photos of that house; take a look first," Wu Sanye's words interrupted Ning Jinli's thoughts.

A few seconds later, Ning Jinli saw the villa photos and was stunned.

Huh? That's not right!

She hurriedly opened Moments again and examined the photos her ex‑boyfriend had posted.

Indeed, it's the very one Wu Sanye sent!

Ning Jinli was a little bewildered.

Third Uncle said the villa belonged to his childhood friends, while the ex‑boyfriend claimed it was his family's in Moments.

So, whose is it actually?