Chapter 80: Thoughts

"Comrade Xiao Chen, could you give me your contact information? There are some things I can't quite figure out by myself. If I could ask you and Comrade Cheng Jie for advice, I'm sure I'd do a better job at work."

Chen Xin blinked, a little unsure whether he was genuinely asking for work reasons or had another motive.

Still, it was just a phone number. For Chen Xin, it was nothing significant, and since she would need his help later, maintaining a good relationship was necessary.

Xiao Wu accompanied Chen Xin to the station, where a bus bound for the county was just about to leave. Chen Xin needed to take this bus to the county, then transfer to an intercity coach back to the provincial capital.

Xiao Wu thoughtfully checked the bus schedule at the ticket office and came back to tell Chen Xin that as long as the bus didn't make detours to pick up passengers, she could make it back to the provincial capital before seven in the evening.

Luckily, Chen Xin's home was not far from the long-distance bus station in the provincial capital—just two stops on the city bus, and then less than a five-minute walk.

As she boarded, she called Cheng Jie. Cheng Jie and Photographer Mao were already back at their office and were about to ask whether Chen Xin would be coming back that night and whether someone should pick her up.

Noticing Xiao Wu's concern for Old Li, Chen Xin asked Cheng Jie how he was doing. Cheng Jie replied that Old Li had been diagnosed with pulmonary emphysema and pulmonary embolism and needed hospitalization. As there was no one to stay and care for him at the hospital, Cheng Jie and Photographer Mao pooled their money to hire a caregiver.

The caregiver was about fifty, had worked in hospitals for years, and was experienced with elderly patients. Staff from the old town also called to say that the medical expenses they had covered would be reimbursed by someone sent from the town, and the caregiver's fee would also be reimbursed by the town government.

Cheng Jie did not stand on ceremony with the town government, but even if they processed the reimbursement, she and Photographer Mao had already agreed to use the money to buy nutritional supplements for Old Li.

Chen Xin calculated that if she wasn't in a hurry to return, she could spend the night in the county and check on Old Li.

She had already told Liu Chunyan in advance that she would be out today and asked her to pick up Zhang Zhang from school and let him stay at her house for the night.

Mr. Liu and his wife had arranged to travel to Hainan with old colleagues, so Liu Chunyan was staying at their house. Her cooperation with the Zhang family’s town had been negotiated, and an agreement of intent had been signed. They had agreed to help her apply for a low-interest loan, provided she would offer enough jobs to local residents.

For Liu Chunyan, providing jobs to solve her funding shortage was a highly profitable deal. Since she needed workers for her factory anyway, it was convenient to hire locals—no need to provide accommodation, and local workers were easier to manage. The only potential problem was whether the locals would collude to deceive her.

Lei Bang gave her some advice on this. He suggested that she hire a local professional manager with management experience to run the factory, but that she must personally handle all financial matters.

He also recommended establishing comprehensive factory management systems and strictly enforcing them, as well as installing real-time monitoring in key production areas and assigning clear responsibility to each team. This way, if something went wrong, it could be traced to the source without delay.

Lei Bang further suggested building a good relationship with the inspection bureau and voluntarily submitting products for regular checks to boost their credibility with the authorities.

Now Liu Chunyan was busy recruiting staff and handling paperwork, while her husband went down south to oversee the factory relocation.

During the earlier crisis, Liu Chunyan had actively cooperated with the investigation, and responsibility was ultimately pinned on Liu Jianmin's wife's cousin. Although he didn't have to pay compensation, and Liu Chunyan covered all the losses, officials viewed her as an outsider who had simply fallen victim to a local industry insider.

Since they didn't want to stay and compete locally, there was no way to make them stay. But after that incident, the local government issued new policies strictly forbidding such traps for outside investors. Although such things still happened, nothing as egregious had occurred again.

The professional manager Liu Chunyan hired was introduced by Lei Bang. He had been deputy production director at a local food factory for many years. After the factory went bankrupt, he could have transferred to a government post, but after decades in the factory, he couldn’t adapt to office life. When Lei Bang approached him about managing the new food factory, he agreed quickly.

Before taking the job, he met with Liu Chunyan face-to-face, wanting to know what kind of boss she was. If she had been the nitpicking, know-it-all type, he wouldn’t have agreed to work under her.

After chatting with Liu Chunyan for a while, Chen Xin’s bus arrived at its destination. She got off and went straight to the hospital to visit Old Li. The caregiver told her he had taken his medicine and was sleeping. Not wanting to disturb him, Chen Xin left the hospital and found a nearby hotel for the night.

While checking in, Zhou Hao called, asking why she hadn’t returned home so late.

Chen Xin was puzzled how he knew she wasn’t home. He replied, “I’m at your door now, but it looks like no one’s home.”

“I went to the old town today for some errands and am stuck in the county for the night. I already asked Sister Chunyan to pick up Zhang Zhang after school.”

Zhou Hao seemed worried about her safety alone in the county and offered to come pick her up. Chen Xin said she still had things to deal with in the morning and would head straight home after, so there was no need for him to make a special trip. She was a grown woman, after all—how could she possibly get lost?

Zhou Hao sighed softly, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. He wondered whether Chen Xin was aware of his feelings and deliberately refusing him, or if she was simply oblivious to his pursuit.

Chen Xin hung up, feeling troubled herself. She really wasn’t in the mood for romance right now; there was too much to do, and with Zhang Zhang to care for, even if she and Zhou Hao were together, she wasn't sure if he could accept raising the boy as his own.