Liu Chen was unaware that his grandmother knew about his and Ren Yu's affairs. He was currently sitting in the old Chen family residence, his left eyelid twitching strangely for the past two days for some unknown reason.
He watched his mother, her pregnant belly high, sitting on the sofa with a plastic plate on it, filled with the sunflower seed shells Liu Fang had spat out.
As she spat, Liu Fang mumbled, "Have you checked on your construction site yet? I heard from your Uncle Chen that there are many people on site, and the house is changing by the day."
Liu Chen nodded, emptying the sunflower seed shells, which were about one-third full, into a nearby trash can. "Uncle Mi sends me photos every day. Since this matter has been entrusted to Uncle Mi, it's not good for me to go too often; it would seem like a lack of trust."
Of course, the real reason was that the team was drawn from a system lottery. Anything produced by the system was a guaranteed quality product, so Liu Chen felt there was no need to worry.
Liu Fang didn't say much more, hearing this. What was there to say? She had no experience with the steps her son was taking now, so she didn't offer any unsolicited advice.
"Alright, you handle it as you see fit... Ouch!"
Liu Chen, who was peeling pistachios while listening to his mother chat, heard the change in Liu Fang's tone. He looked up and saw her face contorted in pain.
"This impudent girl, kicking me, and so hard that it hurts!"
Seeing his mother's furrowed brow, Liu Chen quickly said, placing his hand where she was rubbing, "Don't kick so hard, you'll hurt Mom. When you're born, I'll spank you."
As soon as Liu Chen finished speaking, Liu Fang laughed, "How can she understand human words? You're even threatening her, you silly girl."
They continued watching TV. After a while, Liu Fang suddenly said, "Hey? Chenchen, your sister seems to be kicking much lighter this time, hahaha, did she really understand what you said?"
While Liu Fang was laughing heartily, Liu Chen's gaze fell on his mother's belly, lost in thought.
After helping his sleepy mother back to her room to sleep, Liu Chen drove to the Meili factory. The factory was brightly lit, with two red lanterns hanging from each tree along the roadside.
Liu Chen took a look at the warehouse. The warehouse that had been emptied was now, like ants moving house, slowly accumulating goods in preparation for the next shipment.
Liu Chen's brow furrowed as he looked at the inventory already filling one corner of the warehouse, then he drove around the factory's several production workshops.
He then drove directly to the office building and knocked on Old Mr. Chen's office door.
As the office door opened, Liu Chen frowned slightly. The room was so thick with the smell of cigar smoke that, upon opening the door, it felt like a large net of cigar scent lunged towards the entrance.
"Grandpa, you should open some windows when you smoke cigars."
"Ah? Oh, Chenchen, why are you here in this cold weather?" Old Mr. Chen, startled by the opening door, instinctively placed his half-smoked cigar in the ashtray. As he spoke, he got up and opened all the windows.
While fanning the air with his hand to waft the cigar smoke out, he asked, "Did it choke you? Shall we go to the conference room?"
Liu Chen watched Old Mr. Chen open the window to ventilate and sat down in the chair in front of the desk, smiling and shaking his head.
"Grandpa, I've been to the workshops."
Old Mr. Chen, who was smiling and walking back to his desk, became flustered upon hearing this.
"Grandpa, you secretly gave another production line to my pork jerky, and another to Meimei sausage."
Old Mr. Chen sat back in his executive chair and quickly explained upon hearing this, "Actually, it wasn't that I wanted to give it, it's just that our Meili factory has ample inventory and is fully stocked. I had given everyone time off. The employees who stayed wanted to earn more during the New Year, and too many people stayed, so I opened two more lines. Really, if you don't believe me, ask them."
As if fearing Liu Chen wouldn't believe him, Old Mr. Chen handed Liu Chen a stack of New Year overtime application forms on his desk.
Liu Chen reached out to take the overtime application forms, but Old Mr. Chen's fingers held onto one corner, unwilling to let go.
"Grandpa?" Liu Chen held the application form, tilting his head slightly and smiling at his grandfather.
"Ahem, such a thick stack of applications, Grandpa is afraid it will strain your eyes."
"Is that so?" Liu Chen took the overtime application forms from his grandfather's hand and began to read them carefully.
As he read, Liu Chen understood why his grandfather had been reluctant to let go of the forms earlier.
"From the 27th of the twelfth lunar month to the tenth of the first lunar month, four times the salary, accommodation provided, and three meals a day."
In essence, if one stayed to work overtime at the factory for these thirteen days, they could earn an amount equivalent to two months' salary in normal times.
No wonder so many people applied for overtime during the New Year. If they saved up, they could avoid the obligation of giving out red envelopes during Spring Festival and also save an additional two months' worth of savings.
However, more than two-thirds of people were unwilling to earn this money, so the factory was currently operating only four production lines, all for the Meimei brand.
And if Liu Chen hadn't come today, Old Mr. Chen would never have brought this up proactively.
"Grandpa... you've broken our agreement like this."
"I'm old, my memory is failing, I don't remember agreements. I only know that my granddaughter currently lacks production capacity. You've finally opened up the Beijing market, and we absolutely cannot afford to have it shut down due to production issues. You are young, you don't understand, how proud it makes Grandpa to be able to sell outside of S Province!"
"Grandpa..."
Old Mr. Chen waved his hand. Over the years, there had been not one or two attempts to push into surrounding provinces, but each time they were intercepted by Sanhui or other meat product companies. It had even become a source of worry for him. Now, seeing Liu Chen's Meimei sausage successfully stocked in Beijing and selling well for several days, he was both happy and anxious.
But seeing the child's confident demeanor, Old Mr. Chen dared not pour cold water on her with words of worry. However, he was extremely anxious about the actions that Sanhui and other companies might take.
That was why he was alone in his office smoking cigars, even smoking an entire one, leaving the entire office steeped in its aroma.
"Chenchen... Grandpa has been thinking a lot today, and some things still need to be told to you. When we open a factory, the product is of course the most important driving force, but some other things are also very important... Grandpa fought three times and retreated twice in H Province, and the last time I almost fell into a trap and risked losing Meili factory. Now you have chosen Beijing as your breakthrough point, perhaps they are slow to react, or perhaps they are out of reach. But believe Grandpa, Sanhui and those other companies will not stand idly by while we break out of S Province. Grandpa will do his best to ensure quality control, but in other areas, Grandpa fears he cannot help you."
After speaking this long passage, Old Mr. Chen's face showed guilt. Clearly, he felt he was incapable as a grandfather for not being able to protect his granddaughter's company.
Liu Chen heavily patted Old Mr. Chen's shoulder, his eyes looking earnestly and sincerely into his grandfather's eyes, saying, "Grandpa, believe me, we can definitely do it this time!"