Chapter 15: Not a Good Thing

When buying the train ticket, a new problem arose: an ID card was required. Chen Xie stood in front of the automatic ticket machine, silently looking at the synthetic beauty named Wu Qi, who had given herself this name. Because of her presence, Chen Xie had received countless jealous and envious glances along the way.

Apart from her lower body temperature (actually, she had almost none), Wu Qi looked no different from an ordinary person. Facing Chen Xie's gaze, Wu Qi stepped forward, slapped the ticket machine, and a ticket came out without inserting any money. So simple and brutal, and yet, the people behind her seemed to ignore it, as if only Chen Xie had noticed.

In fact, everyone had seen it, but a cute and innocent beauty slapping the ticket machine was no big deal, as it wasn't damaged. Thus, Wu Qi got the ticket without an ID card. Others wouldn't think much of it, but Chen Xie knew that this girl was a "black household."

"Why did you agree to my casual request?"

"What casual request?"

"About being my secretary."

"I thought it would be fun!"

After this conversation, Chen Xie put on his headphones and listened to music on a new domestic brand phone he had bought, closing his eyes to rest. Clearly, after spending some time with an object that had no life or emotions, many things had become numb to Chen Xie.

When the train arrived in Quancheng, as he walked out of the station, he saw a woman wearing sunglasses holding a sign that read, "Picking up Mr. Chen Xie from Jiangcheng!" There was no doubt that this was the person who had borrowed him. It was the height of the autumn heat, and the woman was wearing a short skirt, her long and slender legs very alluring. This scene would never be seen in the Ming Dynasty, where it was said that a man named Hai Rui had his daughter starved to death for eating a piece of cake from someone else. The truth of this story was debatable (Note: I don't believe it!), but it did show the low status of women in Ming society.

"I am Chen Xie!" He stepped forward and extended his hand. From a higher vantage point, it was easy to see the "I"-shaped groove, which, according to a certain female fashion expert, was created by compression. Despite this, when the beauty removed her sunglasses, Chen Xie still gave her an 80 out of 100. She had a round face with a bit of baby fat, making her much more real compared to the uniform fox-faced beauties online.

"Wu Qing, the legal representative of She Tian Factory." The woman introduced herself straightforwardly, and Chen Xie suddenly realized something. When they shook hands, her soft and warm hand felt very comfortable. Unfortunately, there were no signs of scratching on her palm.

"This is my secretary, Wu Qi." Chen Xie introduced the synthetic beauty, who clearly had no habit of shaking hands and stood aside with her chin held high in a proud manner. In fact, Chen Xie had always wanted to tell her that fox-faced beauties were now a dime a dozen and no longer his type.

Wu Qing reluctantly retracted her hand and led the way, glancing sideways at Wu Qi as they walked. She thought this woman must be very favored by Chen Xie, otherwise, how could a secretary be so arrogant? What was so great about her, anyway? Just because she had slept with the boss? At most, she was just a bit better at her job, had longer legs, and bigger breasts...

There was still a lot of information after the ellipsis, such as the woman's cold and elegant demeanor, her haughty and condescending attitude, which was entirely natural and not put on. Her 178 cm height also made Wu Qing, who was only 165 cm, feel inferior.

Wu Qing drove a Touareg, indicating that she had some wealth. After driving for a while, she chatted with Chen Xie in the passenger seat, while Wu Qi sat in the back, silent. Her female intuition told Wu Qing that there was something more to this. Perhaps this female secretary could influence the deal.

At 30, Wu Qing was at the age when women exude charm. She had thought Chen Xie would be a middle-aged man, easy to handle, but seeing him as a young man with a cold and alluring female secretary made her less confident about the deal.

"Mr. Chen, shall we go to the factory to see the production process?" As the car entered a small town rather than a city, Wu Qing turned to ask. Chen Xie thought for a moment and said, "I'm not interested in how it's produced; I care about whether the product quality meets my standards. I don't care about the rest." This was a bit of a blow, as she had planned to take Chen Xie to the workshop, dazzle him, and get him to make a decision on the spot. Young and impulsive, he might have decided right then.

"Then let's go to my office; all the new products are there." The car drove into a courtyard and stopped in front of a five-story building, with steel-framed factories on both sides.

"Is there no shooting range here?" Chen Xie suddenly asked, and Wu Qing was taken aback, shaking her head. "There's definitely no shooting range; the procedures are too complicated. But there are plenty of places outside the town to test the equipment."

Chen Xie waved his hand. "Then let's not go up. I'm in a hurry. Just get the latest crossbow and let's go test it."

Wu Qing was a bit angry. Who does business like this? But the customer is always right. She quickly went upstairs and came back with two men, both in their thirties. One carried a target, and the other held two large boxes.

The two men got into another car, and the two vehicles left the town and stopped at a field. One man carried the target to a distance, while the other began assembling the crossbow. Chen Xie watched silently, saying nothing. Wu Qi, however, pointed to another unopened box and asked, "What's in this?"

"A compound bow!" Wu Qing answered, and the synthetic beauty immediately squatted down, opened the box, and skillfully assembled a bow with pulleys, drawing it to full tension. "Draw length 28 inches, 70 pounds, with good luck and favorable wind conditions, the maximum range could be 500 meters or even a bit more. In calm conditions, the range is between 350 and 400 meters."

"You're an expert!" The man assembling the crossbow was stunned and gave a thumbs up.

"Is this also your product?" Chen Xie asked, and Wu Qing was a bit embarrassed, shaking her head. "This is an American product we bought to replicate. The materials might be a bit inferior, so the performance isn't as good as the original."

"Let's focus on the crossbow." Chen Xie said calmly, and Wu Qing felt a bit disheartened. This woman was clearly an expert, not just a secretary. This young man, though he looked young, was actually quite cunning.

The target was set up, and the man who set it up stood behind it, raising a red flag to signal that they could start shooting.

Wu Qing held the crossbow and walked to Chen Xie, saying, "This is our factory's product, made with modern materials and equipped with an optical sight, with an effective range of 100 meters." Before Chen Xie could reach for it, Wu Qi took the crossbow again, barely aiming, and the arrow flew out. It hit the target with a thud. The man behind the target stood up and shouted, "Nine rings!"

"The wind is a bit strong today, but it's a very nice crossbow." Finally, Chen Xie gave a positive comment, and Wu Qing was almost in tears.

"If you have stock, I'll take 500 of these." Chen Xie's words made Wu Qing's legs go weak, and she timidly said, "Mr. Chen, I don't have that much stock." Chen Xie was surprised. "How much stock do you have?"

"This is our latest model, and we only have ten in stock. Don't worry, we can deliver 500 in two months at most." Wu Qing had run this factory with difficulty, usually selling one at a time, and the most she had ever sold at once was five. No one had ever asked for 500, which was a huge deal. She had thought Chen Xie was joking on the phone, but now she realized he was serious. Initially, she had planned to sell five or ten, but now she was a bit nervous. There were many competitors in this business, and the competition was fierce, which was why she had considered replicating the compound bow to expand her product line.

"Since that's the case, I'll take these ten crossbows first. We'll sign the contract today, and I'll pay half as a deposit, with the rest upon delivery. Is that okay?" Chen Xie's domineering gaze made Wu Qing feel even shorter, and she nodded vigorously. "No problem, absolutely no problem."

"Then 1,000 yuan per crossbow, is that okay?" Chen Xie suddenly changed the question, and Wu Qing nodded instinctively, but then shook her head vigorously. "No, the lowest price I can give you is 2,200 yuan. Any lower, and I won't make a profit."

"Alright, 2,200 yuan per crossbow. No issues, let's go back." Chen Xie agreed straightforwardly, turned, and walked to the car. Looking at his tall back, Wu Qing gritted her teeth and muttered, "Pretty boy, you're not a good person, worse than that woman."

2,200 yuan was Wu Qing's bottom line. With this price, her profit margin was only 15%. She had planned to act cute and raise the price, but Chen Xie had stunned her with the large order and then quickly negotiated her to her bottom line. Despite the frustration, she was still happy to have secured such a big deal. Besides, a young, rich, and handsome man might have the opposite effect if she tried to act cute. In the end, middle-aged men were easier to deal with, while young, handsome men were cunning and could turn their backs on you as soon as they got what they wanted.

Back in the office, they signed the contract, and Chen Xie paid half the amount as a deposit. Wu Qing was finally at ease. She suggested they go out to celebrate, but Chen Xie directly refused. "No, I need to rush back tonight."

Feeling another blow, Wu Qing began to doubt her charm.

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