Spending a small amount of money to buy silk made Su Xiaotian very happy; she never thought of taking advantage of anything for free.
"It's not worth much, Comrade Xiaotian, just accept it!" Lü Ruyai quickly persuaded.
"This won't do, two factory directors, I can't take advantage of you for free!"
"This time, Comrade Xiaotian has helped our factory immensely. The factory has a certain amount of silk each year that can be used as prizes to reward workers who have made contributions to the factory," Lü Ruyai explained.
Although Su Xiaotian was not a worker in their factory, she was someone who had contributed to the factory. Rewarding her with some slightly flawed silk wouldn't cause any issues.
"Comrade Xiaotian, without you this time, our business would definitely not have gone so smoothly!" Shi Yuliang also said very sincerely.
Su Xiaotian did not refuse this credit; it was the truth!
"I'm already getting paid, so forget the reward!" Su Xiaotian felt she shouldn't, as she wasn't a formal worker at the silk factory.
"Of course, if there are such defective products in the future, just keep some for me as thanks!" Su Xiaotian said.
It was rare to have an opportunity to buy flawed silk, and Su Xiaotian didn't want to miss it.
She had been muddled before and hadn't thought of this issue. Now that the opportunity presented itself, she decided to bring it up.
Hearing Su Xiaotian say this, the two factory directors exchanged glances.
"No problem, there are flawed products sold every month, and they're mostly for internal consumption. Since Comrade Xiaotian has a need, I'll arrange for someone to pick out the ones with fewer flaws for you!" Shi Yuliang readily agreed.
Su Xiaotian still wanted to pay. Shi Yuliang said, "Our factory workers also receive rewards in addition to their wages."
Oh...
Su Xiaotian could only accept this kindness.
Shi Yuliang spoke again, this time with a very sincere attitude.
"To be honest, if it weren't for you, Director Lü and I would have made mistakes this time."
Su Xiaotian was stunned, not understanding Shi Yuliang's meaning.
Shi Yuliang explained briefly, and Su Xiaotian finally understood.
Simply put, Ma Wanguo had set a trap, intending to use food poisoning to sabotage the business. Then, by exploiting Shi Yuliang's mistake, he planned to seize the factory director's position and completely crush Shi Yuliang and Lü Ruyai, whom he disliked.
However, by chance, Ma Wanguo's plan was disrupted by Su Xiaotian. The foreign merchants did not go to the pre-arranged restaurant, and the problem did not escalate into a diplomatic incident.
"Isn't that too stupid? He targeted foreign merchants, didn't he think he would be investigated?" Su Xiaotian asked in astonishment.
Ma Wanguo was indeed not very smart and was also arrogant, but how could he use such a foolish method?
"Although the method wasn't great, if he had succeeded, both the director and I would have been implicated, and he, as the only deputy director outside of it, would have had a greater chance. Besides, in such chaotic times, who would have the time to investigate?" Lü Ruyai sighed.
Who knew that Huo Sihui would step in to help and decisively call the police, handling the matter perfectly.
Shi Yuliang sighed. He hadn't expected Ma Wanguo to be so audacious.
He had initially thought Ma Wanguo was just arrogant and selfish, but he never expected him to disregard collective and national interests for personal gain.
The higher authorities believed that this matter was not as simple as it appeared on the surface and that there were deeper issues. An investigation was currently underway.
Although Su Xiaotian had suspected before that this might be Ma Wanguo's scheme, she was still shocked when she actually heard the news.
While the factory director's position was very desirable, one shouldn't act so recklessly.
But this was the business of the Qili Silk Factory, and it didn't really have much to do with her. She just listened and that was enough.
Su Xiaotian took the flawed silk fabric gifted by the Qili Silk Factory and asked Su Taohua to make a dress for her.
Because the color was fresh and tender, it wasn't suitable for others to wear, so Su Xiaotian also asked Su Taohua to make a similar dress for Su Xiaomei.
There was still plenty of fabric left, so Su Taohua also made a shirt and a matching silk scarf for Su Xiaotian.
When Su Xiaotian saw the silk scarf, she was overjoyed. She hadn't expected the pattern of alternating light orange and light purple to look so good when cut into a silk scarf.
Looking at the remaining silk fabric, Su Xiaotian simply asked Su Taohua to cut it all up and process it into silk scarves.
Silk scarves, even decades later, would be very valuable. In this era, they certainly couldn't be cheap.
After the era dominated by black, white, gray, and blue, these brightly colored silk scarves were indeed eye-catching.
Even though the silk scarves were expensive, they still attracted many young ladies and married women.
Su Taohua's tailor shop was already doing good business. People passing by saw the silk scarves and couldn't resist wanting them. All ten-odd silk scarves were gone in just two days.
Su Taohua even started thinking about finding a way to get some silk fabric to process into silk scarves for sale. It was much easier than making clothes and earned more.
Before these matters were finished, Su Laosan arrived in the capital.
To the surprise of Su Xiaotian and everyone else, Su Laosan did not come alone.
He brought another person with him, and this person was also an acquaintance.
When the Su family looked at this person, they were all surprised. No one had expected this person to come to the capital.
"Yu Niang? Why are you in the capital?" Grandma Su asked in surprise.
Grandma Su looked at Li Yu Niang, then at Su Laosan.
Her gaze seemed to be asking why Su Laosan had brought Li Yu Niang to the capital.
Tan Zishi was left with only his old wife. If Su Laosan brought her, wouldn't Tan Zishi go mad?
Before Su Laosan could even touch his nose to speak, Grandma Su heard Li Yu Niang crying.
Now, Grandma Su couldn't sit still and quickly asked, "Why are you crying?"
"Sister-in-law, I've come to the capital to seek refuge with you!"
Grandma Su...
Why did she come all the way here to seek refuge?
"The world is so big, and besides your family, I don't know who else to turn to!"
Li Yu Niang sobbed for a long time before she finally made things clear.
It turned out that after the Su family left the county town, their original small stall was handed over to Tan Zishi and Li Yu Niang to operate.
Everything was going smoothly at first. The elderly couple ran the small stall, and their lives were peaceful and smooth.
But who knew that this small stall was targeted by Tan Zishi's son and daughter-in-law.
They were envious of the good business of the breakfast stall and had the intention of taking it for themselves.
The couple visited every day, flattering Tan Zishi in every possible way, and even flattering Li Yu Niang.
Tan Zishi initially had a cold attitude, but after all, he was his own son, so Tan Zishi's attitude gradually softened.
But it was precisely this slight softening that brought trouble.