Chapter 42: Reborn 1987 Chapter 42 Even Gentle People Get Angry

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Protagonist:

Jiang Wenyu

This director is nearly fifty this year; he has only a daughter studying in another city at home. Chen Lan doesn't know much about the rest, only that he is a very decent person.

But when she suddenly said she wanted to sell the clothing factory, Chen Lan was equally astonished.

"Sell it? Why sell it when everything's fine?"

The director looked around, then finally brought Chen Lan back to her office, sighed, and said: "Prices are soaring, everything is going up, only clothes haven't risen much. Last month not making a loss was already pretty good; this month it'll probably be a stretch too. My reserves weren't much to begin with; if this continues, I'm afraid there won't even be money to pay your wages! Better to call it quits while we're not losing money."

In fact, recently Chen Lan had also sensed something — everyone's wages had shrunk a bit, but the margin wasn't large so nobody paid it much mind; she never expected it had already become this serious.

Selling the factory to someone else isn't a big deal; the problem is what to do with these workers.

Chen Lan voiced the confusion in her heart: "What about everyone?"

Mentioning this, the director also looked awkward; after a long while he could only say: "The other party is a boss from a big city, also in the clothing business, even has operations overseas. This time, thanks to you going to the competition, we got to know him. I brought up acquiring the factory, and he came with his daughter to inspect it. Our talk just now went pretty well; the price offered is high enough. However…"

"Alas, however, after acquiring the factory the other party will carry out some reforms. Although they'll still make clothes, the technology will be imported from abroad. We're still using sewing machines here; once those technologies are brought in, specialized workers will enter the factory. The original workers here… can only leave."

Clearly the director is also in a tight spot. Hearing this, Chen Lan finally couldn't hold back and urged: "Director, everyone's worked here a long time, and the factory's only been open less than half a year. Even if there are occasional losses we can surely find a way to tide over. Selling to someone else is a small matter, but what about so many workers? Everyone has families to support."

"I understand… I understand it all!" The director sighed heavily again, and in the end didn't know what to say.

After a long silence Chen Lan left. Afterwards she didn't tell the other workers about this; she only informed Jiang Wenyu when she got home that evening.

"Sell it?" Having heard the whole story, Jiang Wenyu hesitated a moment. He said: "Looks like it's all due to soaring prices. Not just your factory — our mall has had some changes recently too."

Chen Lan said: "I'm fine myself, but the others all rely on this job to support their families. Once the factory's sold, these workers will all be unemployed…"

Regarding this matter, not only Chen Lan, even Jiang Wenyu has no solution. The only way is for the director to change his mind, or for the buyer to change his mind, but thinking about it, neither seems likely.

The next day, Chen Lan brought Nuan Nuan to the kindergarten beside the factory first thing. As luck would have it, she ran into that young girl from yesterday again.

"Huh? Is this your daughter?" Chen Lan had spotted her early too. The girl ran over quickly; her looks and outfit made people glance a few extra times.

She ran right up to Nuan Nuan and crouched down, ignoring Chen Lan beside her and reaching to touch Nuan Nuan's hair. But after just one touch, Xiao Nuannuan immediately hid behind Chen Lan.

The girl kept staring at Nuan Nuan, especially after seeing Nuan Nuan's clothes. Yesterday's haughty attitude surfaced again: "And you're a clothing designer? Your daughter's outfit is simply unbearable to look at. It's clearly focused on warmth, but right now trends trump everything. Children need to be instilled with knowledge about this from a young age."

In fact, Nuan Nuan's outfit is the most common — not only warm but very comfortable. Chen Lan didn't originally rebut anything, but the girl's next sentence completely ignited Chen Lan, who never liked to get angry.

"The kid's looks are pretty good, but she's dressed in clothes tacky to the extreme. You as a mother are really unqualified. You too — clearly not bad-looking, yet you dress so dowdy. And with that you can enter a design competition?"

As the words fell, a spark of fire rose in Chen Lan's eyes. She stared dead at the girl. The sudden move startled the girl. Only to hear Chen Lan say coldly: "Everyone here dresses like this."

She was clearly angry, but also forcibly suppressing the impulse.

At this moment, those who had cast curious glances earlier all frowned and stared at the girl. Feeling those gazes, the girl scanned the surroundings and found everyone wearing a cold face.

"Wh… what are you doing? Dressed this tacky and you won't let people speak?" The girl finally got a bit flustered.

Chen Lan said blandly: "I don't know where you're from, but I think one shouldn't judge others' clothing based on one's own opinion. Very impolite, and very uneducated!"