Chapter 5
Edward Quan ·
19
Su He blocked my path the moment I left the meeting room.
“Sometimes, being too forceful only hurts a woman in the end, Director Lin.”
“Look. The men still have to clean up the mess.”
I ignored her and headed for my office.
Fu Huaichuan followed and stopped me in the corridor.
“Jiaojiao. Don’t be stubborn.”
He frowned, a hint of concern in his voice.
“Stay. The director’s job is still yours.”
“I know how hard you worked on Hongjie. I’ll speak to Chairman Li. Ask him not to make things difficult.”
I laughed.
“I need you to plead for me?”
“This company lives off female consumers. Yet both its chairman and its CEO look down on women.”
“Why would I want to stay here another second?”
Carrying the box of my belongings, I walked past him.
“Keep the job.”
“I don’t want it.”
20
I went straight from the company to the airport.
My destination: Hongjie.
In President Zhao’s office, I placed the unexecuted contract on his desk.
“I’m sorry. For personal reasons, I’ve left my former company.”
“I’m afraid this contract can’t proceed. That was my failure, and I sincerely apologize.”
He leaned back, tapping lightly on his desk. He didn’t seem surprised.
“Sit down, Ms. Lin.”
“You’ve come at just the right time.”
His gaze was sharp and direct.
“I’ll get to the point. Our group recently acquired a downstream manufacturing company.”
“We intend to build our own production capacity, step by step.”
“What we need isn’t a supplier. It’s someone who understands the product, has vision, and can lead.”
He clasped his hands and leaned forward.
“Interested?”
“The subsidiary’s CEO position is yours. Build the new lines.”
“Finish here what you couldn’t finish there.”
I looked at his outstretched hand but didn’t take it yet.
“I set the production standards. The group doesn’t interfere with operations.”
“No problem.”
“Give me three months.”
“I’ll deliver a production line that sets a benchmark for the industry, and the first batch of products with no shortfall in length.”
He laughed, genuinely at ease this time.
“That’s what I wanted to hear.”
I shook his hand firmly.
When I left the Hongjie building, the sunset had turned the whole sky gold.
21
For the next three months, I practically lived in the factory and laboratory.
The core team who had left my former company with me worked at my side. From installing equipment to testing raw materials, we saw every detail through.
I wasn’t merely trying to make a product that met the standard.
I wanted to set a new one.
During that time, Fu Huaichuan tried to reach me more times than I could count.
Calls. Messages. Mutual friends carrying his words.
It was always the same.
Regret. Missing me. Wanting me back.
He said he had never stopped loving me.
As for Su He, he had only pitied her.
I looked at those remorseful messages without the slightest stir.
If anything, I found them funny.
22
Three months later, our first batch of sanitary pads quietly went on sale.
At first, no one noticed.
It was so quiet that even the marketing team began to panic.
Then a female blogger with millions of followers posted a review.
[Ten Sanitary Pad Brands Tested—Only One Measures What It Says on the Pack!]
In the video, she took out a ruler and measured each product.
Labeled twenty-eight centimeters. Actually twenty-six.
Labeled thirty-two. Not even thirty.
Only ours matched the ruler exactly.
Not a millimeter short.
“Does anyone understand how this feels?”
Her voice caught.
“I know the industry allows a tolerance.”
“But measuring them myself and finding only one brand that’s actually honest… I’m genuinely moved.”
“This is the most basic respect female consumers deserve!”
The video exploded.
#EthicalBusiness, #HonestBusiness, and #WomenSupportingWomen climbed the trending lists.
Our stock sold out in three days.
23
At the same time, another story shot to the top.
[Social-Media Brand Peach Girl Runs Out of Cash, Owes Multiple Factories, Faces Bankruptcy!]
Suppliers demanding payment filled the comments, alongside furious consumers.
Exactly as I had said.
It came like the wind and went just as quickly.
Leaving only ashes.
A week later, Chairman Li and Fu Huaichuan appeared in Hongjie’s reception room.
His old arrogance was gone. Chairman Li smiled stiffly, his ingratiating tone almost comical.
“Ms. Lin, I was foolish. I failed to recognize your ability.”
“I hope you can forgive an old man’s mistake.”
“Peach Girl has collapsed. The factory’s stopped. Workers are waiting for wages.”
“Hongjie has so many orders. Could you share some with us? We’re flexible on price!”
Fu Huaichuan stood behind him with his head down, afraid to look at me.
From the head of the table, I slowly closed my file.
“Have you forgotten, Chairman Li?”
“You were the one who said a mare couldn’t go to war.”
“We’re only insignificant little people. We wouldn’t dare hold up your big business.”
I pressed the intercom.
“Show our guests out.”
24
Later, I heard that Chairman Li’s company had filed for bankruptcy.
The reason was simple.
Peach Girl had dragged it into the abyss.
To fulfill that “major order,” Fu Huaichuan had run the factory at full capacity.
At first, Peach Girl paid in full.
By the second shipment, it began delaying payment, citing cash-flow problems.
At the same time, Chairman Li had invested most of the company’s working capital in a property project he considered a sure winner.
It collapsed.
The entire investment was lost.
When Peach Girl burned through its funding, the market discarded it. The brand entered bankruptcy liquidation, leaving an enormous uncollectible debt.
Trouble on both fronts broke the company’s finances completely.
A business that had once seemed so promising went under because of one short-term viral order and one blind investment.
25
One night, in heavy rain, Fu Huaichuan came to see me again.
He was soaked, disheveled, reeking of alcohol.
Exhaustion and despair filled his face.
“Jiaojiao, I was wrong. I really know that now!”
He tried to take my hand.
I moved away.
“It was all that idiot Su He’s fault!”
“If she hadn’t clung to me and filled my head with that nonsense, I wouldn’t have…”
“She ruined me!”
He rambled and cursed, piling every failure onto the woman he had once praised as kind, gentle, and understanding.
I listened without moving.
Nothing stirred in me.
At last, he ran out of breath and looked up hopefully.
“Jiaojiao… all the obstacles are gone now.”
“Can we start again?”
I looked at this man who blamed everyone but himself and refused responsibility.
It was suddenly hard to believe I had ever loved him.
“Fu Huaichuan.”
My voice carried clearly through the rain.
“If it hadn’t been Su He, it would have been Zhang He or Li He.”
“They were never the problem.”
“You were.”
“You don’t deserve my love.”
“And you certainly don’t deserve the business I built for you.”
I turned and walked into the building.
The glass doors slowly closed, leaving him and my own pitiful past outside.
Beyond the glass, the city lights came on one by one.
My road lay ahead.
The End
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