Lin Wen-De and Ding Yun did keep their promise and sent people to have a sales contract signed. They had also called Xia Lei to chat for about half an hour before the contract-signing. 

Contracts from the two of them together comprised of a total of 30% of Thunder Horse Manufacturing’s total production; it was an impressive profit. Xia Lei did not have to worry about the remaining 40% and let the youngsters of the sales department handle it. And so, the sales avenues of Thunder Horse Manufacturing were opened and a firm step was taken on the path to success for the company. Xia Lei could also now turn his full attention to the making of the intelligent lathe. 

After sending off Lin Wen-De and Ding Yun’s people, Xia Lei went to his personal workshop. He received a message from Jiang Ru-Yi as he entered the workshop.

It read: shamelessshamelessshamelessshamelessshamelessshamelessshameless…

The whole screen was filled with the text ‘shameless’ and Xia Lei couldn’t help a wry smile. He typed a message back in response: Are you on your period? Why are you calling me ‘shameless’ for no reason? How am I shameless?

Jian Ru-Yi replied quickly: You slept with Liang Si-Yao! That’s shameless!

Xia Lei froze. How did she know?

Jiang Ru-Yi sent another message: She’s your senior disciple. You did naughty things in bed together - you two disgust me!

Xia Lei responded with: ...

Jiang Ru-Yi sent her fourth message: So you admit it?

Xia Lei replied: I admit nothing. It’s not what you think. I went to talk business with clients last night and got drunk. She sent me home. 

Jiang Ru-Yi sent her fifth message: Hahahahahaha… So that vixen lied to me!

Xia Lei replied: You’re crazy. I’m going back to work. Chat with you later. 

Jiang Ru-Yi sent her sixth message: Buy some groceries for me after work. My fridge’s empty. Oh, right and a bottle of shower gel and a packet of sanitary pads. 

Xia Lei: …

She really was on her period. 

Problem was, she was going overboard, wasn’t she? Actually asking a grown man to buy sanitary pads!

A wry smile spread across his face; he was helpless against Jiang Ru-Yi. 

Xia Lei quickly put his thoughts about it aside and soon forgot about it as he busied himself with the work of building the intelligent lathe. 

Meanwhile, in the chairman’s office in East Wind Heavy Industries…

“Chairman Ning.” Chi Jing-Qiu put a report on Ning Yuan-Shan’s desk with a watchful look. “Matters… didn’t turn out like we’d hoped.”

Ning Yuan-Shan flipped through the report before him and his brows furrowed. “This punk. How is he so capable? I told you to lure his clients away and he got even better clients on top of manufacturing his own products. If this goes on he’ll take our big clients away one day.”

“The person helping him is Zhang Sen, a well-known playboy in Hai-Zhu. He is best at capital investments and also likes risky investments.”

“I know him. I am close with his father, Zhang Shi-Rong, and he can be called a friend. I’m not too familiar with Zhang Sen, though; we’re from different generations. I don’t understand what Zhang Sen’s thinking. He should know that I don’t want Thunder Horse Manufacturing to establish itself in the industry so why is he helping Xia Lei? He’s not being considerate to me.” Ning Yuan-Shan was uneasy. He was about equal rank as Mayor Hu in Hai-Zhu so everyone gave him due respect but this Zhang Sen didn’t seem to show any respect for him at all!

“Chairman Ning, should I give Zhang Sen’s father a call and ask him to talk to Zhang Sen?” said Chi Jing-Qiu. 

Ning Yuan-Shan shook his head. “Young people these days rarely listen to their elders. Besides, they are father and son. Zhang Shi-Rong may be my friend but the bond of father and son is much stronger. I’ll be shamed if I call Zhang Shi-Rong and get rejected by him.”

“You are right, Chairman Ning. So should I still continue doing the task you’ve asked me to?”

“How will you continue?” Ning Yuan-Shan looked at Chi JIng-Qiu. “Thunder Horse Manufacturing’s products are selling so well on JD. How are you going to get them to remove their products from their shelves?”

Chi Jing-Qiu smiled. “I can’t.”

“Then why did you even ask? Go back to work. Don’t do anything about this for now.” Ning Yuan-Shan sighed. A person like him had failed to squash a small company - this made him feel like he’d been somewhat defeated.

Chi Jing-Qiu walked two steps away, then turned back with a hesitant look on her face. 

Ning Yuan-Shan looked at her. “What else?”

Chi Jing-Qiu hemmed and hawed a little before saying, “Chairman Ning, my father-in-law has a great idea and he’ll need two elite machinists and a Japanese CNC lathe from Workshop 01. Would you allow that?”

Ning Yuan-Shan was disgruntled. “Our company is working overtime now to finished the orders from Vientiane Group. What research is your father-in-law conducting at this busy time? He can do it later; now’s not the time.” 

Chi Jing-Qiu put on a flattering smile, “Chairman Ning, you know my father-in-law’s temper. If I don’t help him put in a word, he’ll be grumpy at me for forever.”

“I won’t allow it either,” said Ning Yuan-Shan, “The Japanese CNC lathes in Workshop 01 are being used by our company to process military parts. The accuracy may be a little lacking but they can handle the normal high-precision jobs; they should just rest there when there are no military parts to process.”

“There’s no need for a lot; just one will do. Please allow it, Chairman Ning.”

“No is no.” Ning Yuan-Shan was firm. 

“Chairman Ning, why hang onto these Japanese CNC lathes? The other party’s going to have the most advanced intelligent lathe soon, even better than European or American standards,” said Chi Jing-Qiu in a small voice. 

“The most advanced intelligent lathe?” Ning Yuan-Shan paused, then laughed. “What nonsense are you saying? Europe and America are not even selling us high-precision processed parts - will they sell us the most advanced intelligent lathe? What are you trying to pull?” 

“Not buy, build,” said Chi Jing-Qiu. 

“Make yourself clear - not buy?” Ning Yuan-Shan looked anxious.

“This is some information I got after so much effort… Mm.” Chi Jing-Qiu pretended to have a hard time deciding between saying it and not saying it. 

Ning Yuan-Shan glared at Chi JIng-Qiu. “Say it.” 

“That intelligent lathe will be built soon and you won’t be able to guess who.” Chi Jing-Qiu beat around the bush some more. 

“Are done playing games?” Ning Yuan-Shan was getting annoyed. 

“Um-hem…” Chi Jing-Qiu seemed to have something stuck in her throat and couldn’t speak. 

Ning Yuan-Shan understood what she wanted and picked up a notepad with the East Wind Heavy Industries letterhead. He lifted his pen and wrote something, then signed it. 

“Thank you, Chairman Ning.” Chi Jing-Qiu gleefully took the paper from him. 

“Can you tell me what it is now?” Ning Yuan-Shan spoke grumpily. 

Chi Jing-Qiu glanced at the doorway of the office and said secretively, “Xia Lei is building an intelligent lathe now.”

Ning Yuan-Shan was surprised and shot back immediately, “Impossible!”

“How is it impossible? That guy can process a high-precision part that even our Japanese CNC lathe couldn’t with a normal lathe. What is there that he can’t make?” said Chi Jing-Qiu.

“An intelligent lathe can’t be built with just high-precision parts. It requires knowledge from various fields, especially electrical engineering. A high-school graduate like him building one? I don’t believe it!”

“I don’t know the details but I know that he is building an intelligent lathe in his personal workshop,” said Chi Jing-Qiu. 

Ning Yuan-Shan looked at Chi JIng-Qiu. “How do you know?”

Chi Jing-Qiu smiled. “His company is full of young brats. I bribed one of them to keep an eye on Xia Lei every day. I know everything that Xia Lei is doing. This report won’t be sitting on your desk otherwise.”

“I’ve got to hand it to you,” said Ning Yuan-Shan, “Did the person you bribe take pictures? I want to have a look at that lathe.”

Chi Jing-Qiu shook her head. “No pictures. Xia Lei closes the door once he’s in the workshop. My inside man only saw it twice, and only during the times when he was walking in or out of the workshop. Also, he only knew about this secret when he walked past Xia Lei’s workshop and heard Xia Lei and Liang Si-Yao talking in there.”

Ning Yuan-Shan’s eyebrows were locked in a frown. He looked pensive. 

“Xia Lei disappeared for a period of time to goodness knows where. I think this had something to do with this intelligent lathe,” Chi Jing-Qiu added. 

“Don’t talk about this to anyone for now. Also, ask your inside man to take pictures, I want it confirmed. I’ll give him a million if he can get me the drawings and CNC program,” said Ning Yuan-Shan. 

“How about me?” Chi Jing-Qiu grinned. 

“If I can get the drawings and CNC program, I’ll promote you to manager and give you a reward of five million!” said Ning Yuan-Shan. 

“Chairman Ning, I’ll get them for you!” Chi Jing-Qiu looked fairly confident. 

“Go, go. Get it done,” said Ning Yuan-Shan. 

“Yes, Chairman Ning, I’ll go right away.” Chi Jing-Qiu left his office. 

She went straight to Workshop 01 after leaving the office building. 

On her way there, a middle-aged man wearing a safety helmet caught up with her. 

This man was the mysterious middle-aged man Xia Lei chased. 

“Done?” asked the middle-aged man. 

Chi Jing-Qiu twisted her lips in a smile. “What can’t I do? I have permission to use the lathe in Workshop 01 and also have two elite machinists assigned to the project. They will process the parts you need and I’ll give them some benefits for putting in overtime. The parts you want will be ready the next morning.”

“Mm.” The middle-aged man’s voice was deep. “I’ll transfer the rest of the money to you when they’re done processing the parts I want.”

“No problem.” Chi Jing-Qiu asked tentatively, “Can I ask something? What are these parts being used for? You spent so much to get them.” 

“You’d better not ask about what you shouldn’t know. I pay you and you do things for me. Isn’t that enough?” said the middle-aged man. 

“Heh heh, pretend I didn’t say anything.” Chi Jing-Qiu shut her mouth.