Chapter 391

On the construction site of Zhongai Machinery Company, an office location was temporarily set up using several tin sheds. Outside these tin sheds, two flagpoles were inserted, and one of them had a plaster flag hanging on it.

These two flagpoles weren't tall, but Li Zhongfa still had to look up to see the flags above. When he looked up, he happened to be stung by the midday sun, causing two old tears to fall.

The sudden appearance of over twenty people naturally startled the people inside the tin shed.

A man wearing a full suit in the sweltering heat walked out and asked in a strangely accented language, "May I ask what you are here for?"

Just as Factory Manager Wang was about to speak, Li Zhongfa pointed at the flagpoles and asked in a deep voice, "Don't ask us what we're here for yet. What's with these flags? Who let you hang them?"

The man in the suit glanced at Li Zhongfa and said very unpleasantly, "We hung them according to regulations. The red flag is the highest, most conspicuous, and most prominent. Is there a problem?"

Li Zhongfa's face was a bit gloomy. He turned his head to look at Chen Yanhong, who had followed them, "Little comrade, why didn't you Pengcheng Pengcheng Hongniu hang the flags of Malaysia and Hong Kong?"

Chen Yanhong was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Old comrade, you've really asked the right person. Many joint ventures here hang flags, but our boss says he is a Zhonghua person, and Pengcheng Pengcheng Hongniu is also a Zhonghua enterprise, so we didn't hang any flags."

Li Zhongfa let out a breath, his expression softening slightly.

He looked up at the midday sun and said to Factory Manager Wang, "It's midday, let's not stand here in the sun. Why don't we come back in the afternoon?"

Factory Manager Wang looked at the shabby state of the site and said with a gloomy face, "We're not coming back in the afternoon either. They haven't even built a factory building; isn't this just trying to scam people?"

Both factory managers had spoken, so everyone naturally turned to leave.

But just at this moment, a black Duke King sedan drove over and stopped in front of the crowd.

The driver got out of the car, gave a slight bow to Factory Manager Wang and the others, and asked, "Excuse me, are you the guests from Changbei Machinery Factory?"

Factory Manager Wang nodded silently without speaking.

"Please wait a moment."

The driver hurriedly ran back to the car and said something to the person in the back seat.

Then Nakamura Naoto got out of the car, walked over with a smile, and said, "I'm really sorry, I thought you all wouldn't be able to come until the afternoon! I've really neglected you all."

Factory Manager Wang glanced at Nakamura Naoto and said flatly, "It's not a matter of neglect or not. We were leaving anyway."

"Leaving already?"

Nakamura Naoto was stunned, and only then did he look at the man in the suit who had come out of the tin shed.

"Shimoji, what's going on?"

The man in the suit named Shimoji was visibly panicked. He lowered his head and said a few words in bird language.

Nakamura Naoto's expression changed instantly.

He turned back to Factory Manager Wang and the others, bowed ninety degrees, and said, "I'm sorry, everyone. Please give me one minute."

Factory Manager Wang and the others were puzzled; only Li Zhongfa curled the corners of his mouth, revealing a cold smile.

The next moment, everyone saw Nakamura Naoto walk up to Shimoji and start "spraying" him.

"What is wrong with you? Why didn't you take care of our guests? Don't you know the customer is God? ##￥￥……&"

"I... I saw they came from Pengcheng Pengcheng Hongniu next door, I didn't know they were guests..."

"Guests are guests when they come to your door. Don't you even understand that? Are you a child who knows nothing? Stupid people only make excuses..."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry Mr. Nakamura, it was my mistake, please forgive me!"

"You shouldn't be asking for my forgiveness, but for the guests' forgiveness."

"Hai!"

Shimoji hurriedly ran to Factory Manager Wang and the others, bowing repeatedly while shouting "I'm sorry" frantically.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry... Please, you must accept my apology, otherwise I will feel uneasy in my heart for the rest of my life..."

This actually made Factory Manager Wang and the others feel embarrassed. The reason they wanted to leave was because they saw that Zhongai Machinery was just an empty lot without even a shadow of a factory building, which had nothing to do with this Shimoji.

But looking at this Shimoji right now, with his panicked eyes and sweating profusely, bowing almost one hundred and eighty degrees, it was as if he were repenting for some heinous crime.

"This person... is really polite."

"Yeah, maybe we should forgive him!"

"Forgive what? We should clarify things for him to that Nakamura guy."

Among the crowd, only Li Zhongfa was lazily watching the show, while everyone else was sympathizing with Shimoji.

Factory Manager Wang didn't like Shimoji, feeling he was overly humble and lacked backbone.

But with Shimoji blocking their way and apologizing incessantly, they couldn't leave either!

Just at this moment, a large bus drove over from the distance.

Nakamura Naoto came over, bowed deeply, and said, "Everyone, please board the bus! We have prepared reception programs in advance. I hope our sincerity can make up for our negligence."

Factory Manager Wang and the others were stunned, wondering how this bus had arrived so quickly.

"How did this bus get here so fast?"

"Need you ask? They prepared the bus in advance; we just came early."

"Right, right, right, they had originally scheduled it for the afternoon..."

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Factory Manager Wang took the people from Changbei Machinery Company onto the bus.

But Li Zhongfa's people didn't move, so Shimoji hurried over and bowed.

"Please board the bus, I beg you!"

Everyone Li Zhongfa brought looked at their old factory manager.

Everyone knew about Li Zhongfa's feat of taking on three soldiers, so whether or not to board the bus now depended entirely on Li Zhongfa's wishes.

Li Zhongfa smiled and said, "Why are you all looking at me? Since they've served good food and fun, don't let down their good intentions."

Only then did everyone board the bus. After boarding, one of Li Zhongfa's confidants whispered, "Director Li, what do you think these Fuso people are up to? The factory isn't even built yet, and they're talking cooperation with Changbei Machinery Company. Can Factory Manager Wang and those people believe them?"

Li Zhongfa smiled playfully and whispered back, "That depends on how much they're willing to spend. Those who eat others' food have short mouths, and those who take others' gifts have soft hands. They understand this principle better than we do."

The confidant blinked blankly and whispered, "Then what about us..."

Li Zhongfa glanced at his confidant speechlessly, "What does it have to do with us? Do you think everyone is worth buying? Fuso people look generous, but they're actually stingy!"

Half an hour later, the tour group arrived at a hotel and witnessed the "generosity" of the Fuso people.

The high-end banquet didn't have much chicken, duck, fish, or meat; it was all kinds of fresh seafood. Compared to the tomato scrambled eggs in the Pengcheng Pengcheng Hongniu cafeteria, this was the standard for entertaining guests.

And they didn't just let everyone eat; they held a friendly raffle on stage, and one lucky guy actually won a large TV.

Factory Manager Wang couldn't refuse such good intentions; otherwise, that guy would hold a grudge against him for a lifetime.

And it didn't end there. After three rounds of drinks, they even prepared a circus troupe to perform songs and dances for everyone.

That kind of circus troupe from the eighties that traveled all over the country—although they didn't have any exciting programs, singing a song or dancing could still liven up the atmosphere to the max, right?

And when everyone was full and left, everyone had a souvenir.

This souvenir wasn't a handbag printed with "xx Commemorative," but a watch for everyone.

This round of hospitality cost several thousand at the very least, and maybe even reached ten thousand. It really couldn't be associated with being "stingy."

To be honest, comparing the hospitality of Pengcheng Pengcheng Hongniu over the past two days to this, it was simply like coming to recall bitterness and think of sweetness.

After eating and drinking their fill, the bus took the dozen or so people from the tour group to a large warehouse.

And inside the warehouse, two sewing machines had already been set up.

Factory Manager Wang and the others looked at them and were surprised, because these two sewing machines were their own Changbei-1 models.

But Nakamura Naoto smiled and said, "Originally, we shouldn't have arranged work matters today,

but in order to dispel your doubts, we very presumptuously added this product demonstration segment. Everyone can inspect these two sewing machines; I believe it will surprise you all."

Everyone looked at each other, and finally, Tang Mingtai walked up.

There was no help for it; among the nearly ten people from Changbei Machinery Company present, only Tang Mingtai was a technical person, or rather, if it weren't for this Zhongai Company matter, he wouldn't have had a place in the tour group.

"Hum, hum, hum."

A slight sound of mechanical operation rang out, and Tang Mingtai's expression immediately grew solemn.

The noise and vibration of this sewing machine were smaller than the Changbei-1. Clearly, this was not a sewing machine produced by their own factory.

Tang Mingtai inspected it carefully before saying to Wang Qinshan, "This is not our Changbei sewing machine. Did they make modifications?"

"Just minor modifications."

Nakamura Naoto walked over with a smile and said innocently, "Most of the parts of this sewing machine are actually Changbei brand; only a small portion was improved and processed by us. So... we should cooperate."

That night, Li Zhongfa, who had returned to the hotel, called Li Ye: "Brother Xiao Ye, I think those Fuso people have ill intentions. Changbei has shares from Dayong and Pei Wencong. Should you give them a heads-up and have them look into it quickly?"

Li Ye on the other end of the phone was also a bit surprised. He thought the competition with Nakamura Naoto would be a while off, after all, his factory hadn't even built the factory building yet!

Building the factory, testing the machines, and training employees—one or two years might pass by the time all that was done. By then, Tang Mingtai and the others might have already developed the Changbei-3.

And Nakamura Naoto still needed to find sales channels, build distribution, and create a brand—how could it be so easy to catch up?

But now it seemed their plans were just like his, Li Ye's.

How could this be allowed?

Changbei Machinery Company didn't just have shares from Li Dayong and Pei Wencong; his, Li Ye's, shares were more than both of theirs combined!

"I understand, Grandfather. Old Pei happens to be in Pengcheng too! I'll call him over to discuss it. But I don't think Factory Manager Wang would be so easily swayed by the Fuso people, right? After all, the current conflict at Changbei Machinery Company is an internal one. He should understand that principle."

"The principle is the principle, but..."

Just at this moment, Li Ye could hear the sound of arguing on Li Zhongfa's side through the phone.

"Brother Xiao Ye, wait a moment, I'll go over and listen."

A moment later, Li Zhongfa, who had acted as a secret agent, returned.

"Brother Xiao Ye! They've challenged your general."

(End of this chapter)