Chapter 91: The factory faces a crisis, and someone is adding fuel to the fire!

The two kidnappers were stunned.

What's going on?

Her daughter's life is in their hands, and she couldn't care less?

Or is she just pretending not to care, putting on a brave front?

"Ye Zhiqiu, we're not joking with you!" one kidnapper snarled, his face fierce, threatening again.

"I'm not joking either." Ye Zhiqiu even put the shotgun away, the corners of her mouth slightly curled, her whole face showing an indifferent expression toward the two of them.

She knew full well that although her daughter hadn't learned any martial combat skills, with internal strength comparable to that of the previous Sect Leader, dealing with these two was more than enough.

For a martial artist, when the gap in internal strength reaches a certain point, even superb external techniques cannot make up for it.

Unless the person possessing internal strength doesn't know how to use it.

But just now she already taught her daughter how to use it—the overturned stone table is the best proof.

This is the perfect moment for her daughter to get some practice.

"You really think I don't dare to act?" one abductor glared with murderous intent, "I'll count to three—if you don't open the training room door, I'll break your daughter's arm!"

Yet Ye Zhiqiu remained calm and composed.

The kidnappers grew angry, pressing down on Ning Jinli's shoulders as they tried to snap her arm on the spot.

Ning Jinli immediately circulated her internal strength, thrusting both elbows out to the sides with great force.

Bang! Bang!

Two dull thuds.

The two kidnappers, still reacting, flew backward like sandbags, slamming their backs hard against the training room wall, then both clutched their sunken chests, vomiting blood in disbelief as they died.

Although their deaths were partly due to their lack of defense, they were nonetheless considered top-tier experts within the sect.

Not even fellow disciples of the same rank could kill them that swiftly.

The shock value of this scene can easily be imagined.

The remaining dozen or so turned deathly pale with fright, needing no further words from Ye Zhiqiu, they hurriedly volunteered to channel internal strength to Ning Jinli.

As their internal strength flowed continuously into her, they visibly grew weaker—skin wrinkling, hair whitening, appearances aging rapidly.

Ning Jinli focused completely, directing all her attention to sensing; gradually, the entrance and exit of the spacetime portal she had just seen became clearer……

……

At this very moment.

Inside Ning Jinli's factory.

Factory director Zheng Houcheng was answering a phone call in his office.

The call was from Su Qinglan.

Su Qinglan knew Ning Jinli was busy and normally wouldn't disturb her, but it had been over half a month and Ning Jinli hadn't contacted her even once.

Moreover, she couldn't get in touch with Ning Jinli.

She had gone to the antique company, but the people there said they hadn't seen the boss either.

So she had to seek out the person in charge at the factory to find out what was going on.

"Miss Ning is busy with work, please don't worry." Zheng Houcheng said, wiping sweat and forcing himself to speak, "This... because it involves the factory's confidential projects, she really isn't in a position to contact you."

Su Qinglan wasn't asking him this for the first time.

But he truly didn't know where Ning Jinli had gone.

After realizing he couldn't reach Ning Jinli, he had secretly arranged people to look for her and even filed a report with the police, but to keep Su Qinglan from worrying and to prevent the factory workers from panicking, he concealed the matter.

"Rest assured," Zheng Houcheng said, holding the phone to comfort her, "Once Miss Ning finishes her business, she will definitely contact you right away."

After a lengthy round of reassurance and promises, Su Qinglan finally hung up.

Zheng Houcheng furrowed his brows in worry, lit a cigarette, and took several deep drags.

Miss Ning, Miss Ning...

Where on earth have you run off to?

If I can't find you again, or if you still don't show up, I really won't be able to hold it together...

The cigarette was soon finished.

Zheng Houcheng coughed violently a few times, then pulled out another cigarette and lit it.

His pressure was truly enormous.

Not only was the boss missing without reason, but he also had to keep it from Su Qinglan.

There was another matter that made him feel extremely anxious, already keeping him awake for several days.

That is, the factory is now facing a serious problem.

Initially, Ning Jinli instructed him not to worry about sales, just to get the factory running and have all production lines operating at full capacity as soon as possible.

Although he had doubts, this was something the boss repeatedly emphasized.

So he did his best to follow those instructions.

By now, several production areas of the factory have already restored their output capacity.

Every day, from purchasing raw materials to producing finished goods, each step continuously burns money.

As he watched the warehouse fill with ever more inventory, the result was that Ning Jinli went missing.

Running a factory isn't playing house; once it's finally operating normally, you can't just say 'stop' and stop.

Otherwise, not only would the previously agreed raw material supply cooperation run into serious trouble, but he also wouldn't be able to explain things to the several thousand employees.

So the only solution now is to sell off the ever‑growing stockpile of goods.

But what Zheng Houcheng didn't expect was that every sales channel for that type of product refused to cooperate without exception.

Even if he pushed the product price down to cost, he still hit walls everywhere.

He can't figure out why this is happening.

Every sales representative has all sorts of reasons to refuse.

It seems an invisible force wants all the products in his factory to rot in the warehouse.

Yet he still cannot disclose this situation to the employees.

Otherwise it would cause panic.

Bang bang bang.

The knocking on the door sounded.

Zheng Houcheng pressed the cigarette butt into the ashtray, took a few deep breaths, kept calm while sitting in the office chair, and then said, "Please come in."

The secretary entered the office carrying a stack of documents and said, "Factory Director Zheng, there are several purchase invoices for raw materials that need to be settled; the other side is urging us, the total is roughly over forty million."

Zheng Houcheng was startled and asked, "Weren't we supposed to settle quarterly? Why are they urging us now?"

The secretary replied helplessly, "I don't know either; they're just urging us, and they said if we don't settle, they won't sell our raw materials anymore."

Zheng Houcheng furrowed their brows and fell into thought.

The secretary added, "Also, several production lines need maintenance, and the day to pay the employees' wages is approaching…"

Zheng Houcheng held their forehead and asked, "Raw material settlement, production line maintenance, and employee wages—roughly how much in total?"

The secretary flipped through the documents and said, "Just over 130 million."

Zheng Houcheng's temples throbbed with blue veins.

The factory hasn't made a single cent so far; the upfront costs were sky‑high, the funds in the plant's account are burning faster than paper offerings, and now there's less than a hundred million left.

Yet they have to shell out another 130 million right away!

Where will the missing money come from?

Should we take a bank loan to cover it for now?

But Ms. Ning, the boss, is absent, so we can't get a loan…

Zheng Houcheng subconsciously reached for another cigarette, only to find the pack empty, so they crumpled it into a ball, tossed it into the trash, and paced back and forth.

"Factory Director, is it that… we've run into some difficulty?" the secretary asked softly.

Zheng Houcheng forced calm, waved their hand, and said, "No, you go out first."

"Yes." the secretary reminded, "You should smoke less; it's bad for your health."

After the secretary left.

Zheng Houcheng felt themselves about to collapse, neither sitting nor standing, and just slumped onto the sofa.

Meanwhile, Ning Hai, who was drinking tea and reading in the home study, received a phone call.

"Mr. Ning," the caller politely reported, "Ning Jinli's factory is about to collapse."

Ning Hai's eyes lit up, "Are you sure?"

"Confirmed. All the information comes from the people we placed in the factory. On one hand, Ning Jinli hasn't shown up for a long time; on the other, per your plan, the factory's sales channels are blocked, the goods are fully backlogged, and we've already pressured the raw material suppliers. I've already emailed you the detailed financial data we gathered."

"Well done! I'll look at the data first!"

"Understood, Mr. Ning."

After hanging up, Ning Hai immediately turned on the computer.

When they saw the factory's financial spreadsheet in the email, they laughed heartily.

Most people might not understand, but through those tangled numbers they could at a glance determine that Ning Jinli's plant indeed has a serious problem.

But to bankrupt the factory, they still need to pour oil on the fire.

Ning Hai thought briefly; to avoid prolonged trouble, it's best to strike a fatal blow while the opportunity lasts.

He immediately picked up his phone and made a call.

"Listen up, have the workers we placed inside the factory start stirring up trouble."

"Right, make it big!"

"Tell them not to fear anything; as long as they don't reveal their identities, even causing deaths is fine—I'll cover them!"

……

After he finished speaking, the people on the other side began to act.

It's now dinner time.

The factory workers gradually entered the canteen.

Suddenly, someone slammed a tray onto the floor and shouted, "What's going on? The meals get worse every day; today's dinner is this kind of food?!"

The crowd was drawn by the commotion and gathered around.

"Aren't you just looking for trouble?" the canteen worker said, slamming a big ladle, "There's fish, meat, vegetables, the taste isn't bad, it's filling—what do you mean we're feeding you this? Go check other factories; whose meals are better than ours?"

The tray‑smashing person retorted, "I work here; why should I care about other factories? Just say it—has our factory's food gotten worse these past few days compared to the start?"

"You…" the canteen worker blushed, "Isn't it just that some fresh meat was swapped for frozen meat? Frozen meat is still qualified, what's wrong with eating it!"

"So you're admitting it? Hah! I just don't like frozen meat!"

"If you love it, eat it; if not, get lost!"

"Hey? What's with that attitude!"

"What's wrong with my attitude? Even if we used some frozen meat, it's still cleaner and more sanitary than other canteens! You damn it, stop being ungrateful!"

The argument grew more heated, and before other workers could intervene, the tray‑smashing person grabbed a large plate full of vegetables and hurled it at the canteen staff.

The scene instantly spiraled out of control.

The canteen workers lunged at him and a brawl broke out.

"Damn! He actually hit my bro! You guys, kill him!" A few more assembly‑line workers rushed in from the crowd, shouting that they were joining the fight.

Those few were actually from the same group.

One person in charge of stirring things up, a few others immediately cooperated, and in an instant they pinned the cafeteria worker who had been arguing to the ground and beat him.

The other cafeteria workers, seeing their colleague being beaten, thought of how everyone had worked hard every day, improvising meals for this bunch of assembly-line workers; a few days ago the person in charge had conveyed an order saying that, while ensuring food safety, expenses should be slightly trimmed, and they had struggled to make the substitute ingredients as tasty as possible—only to receive this attitude in return.

This is simply unbearable!

There was nothing left to explain; they all swarmed over and started fighting.

Now the other workers couldn't eat either; they all stepped aside to watch the spectacle.

Soon, the cafeteria supervisor came over with a few security guards.

The two sides were fighting too fiercely to be pulled apart.

No choice, the person in charge had to call the factory director.

Not long after, Zheng Houcheng rushed over in a panic, disregarding his own safety, charging straight into the center of the melee and shouting, "We're all coworkers! Don't ruin the harmony—if you have any problems, come to me, report them to me!"

Bang!

A muffled thud.

I don't know whose fist smashed into his face.

He staggered, fell to the ground, and his eyes popped out.

"Factory director!" the cafeteria workers exclaimed, forgetting the fight, and hurried to shield Zheng Houcheng.

The few who had been stirring up trouble exchanged a glance, then stopped.

With the cafeteria workers helping him up, Zheng Houcheng staggered to his feet and said, "Everyone, if there's an issue, speak up—don't resort to violence… Tell me, what exactly is going on?"

The one who first smashed the tray shouted loudly, "The food has gotten worse—we have complaints!"

Zheng Houcheng naturally knew the real reason, but he certainly couldn't say it was because the factory was short on funds; moreover, the so-called decline was only compared to the cafeteria's earlier period.

"I admit, our meals aren't as good as they were at the start," Zheng Houcheng said while thinking, "but they shouldn't be considered bad—I know other factories' cafeterias, and even if ours dropped two grades, it would still be better than theirs…"

Seeing the factory director's forehead bleeding yet still speaking kindly, some nearby workers couldn't bear it and began to comment:

"The factory director is right!"

"Our food is already good enough; there's no need to make a fuss."

"Exactly, you few are being ungrateful!"

The commentary grew louder, all taking the factory director's side.

After all, everyone knew what kind of person the factory director was and what treatment the factory gave them.

Faced with the chorus of support, the instigator raised his voice, deliberately shouting with menace: "Are you stupid? Didn't we come here for the high wages and good food? If today we downgrade a grade, tomorrow another grade, later it'll just keep getting worse—think about it, isn't that logical?"

That remark instantly silenced the others.

One had to admit, it did make sense.

The other workers frowned in thought, their faces showing complex expressions.

"No, no, no!" Zheng Houcheng hurried to explain, "This… this is just that some of our food‑material suppliers have been unable to deliver, so I temporarily had the cafeteria purchase alternatives. Please bear with it for a while… I guarantee we'll restore the original food standard."

Zheng Houcheng didn't want to tell such a lie, but if he didn't say it now, there would be no way to calm things down.

"Hah!" the ringleader scoffed, shouting, "Who are you trying to fool with that nonsense? The food standard has dropped—surely the factory is short on money; now the food is worse, next they'll cut benefits, then they'll slash our wages, right?"

As soon as he said that, all the workers' faces changed.

Even the cafeteria workers and the security guards present narrowed their eyes, countless gazes like knives fixed on Zheng Houcheng.