Blazing Sun~Chapter 28

 

Chapter 28

My first reaction was to decline the job; going to the factory wasn't absolutely necessary for me. However, before I could speak, another young man said, "Haven't I seen this colleague before?"

He slapped his forehead, "Zhuang, isn't she the one you chatted with downstairs in the apartment complex last time?"

"Yes," Zhuang Xu stood up and said, "What a coincidence! This Miss Nie is my college classmate."

Section Chief Wu said, surprised and pleased, "What a coincidence! Perfect! Let's hurry over there."

Section Chief Wu walked out of the meeting room first, and the unfamiliar young man packed his things and followed.

Zhuang Xu lagged behind, stopped at the door, opened the meeting room door, and turned to look at me.

Outside, Section Chief Wu looked back with some confusion.

I stepped outside.

We walked out of the office building together.

The young man, Alex, who introduced himself, was quite talkative. "I'm sorry, I went to another company earlier and arrived late. I'm sorry to have kept you from leaving get off work."

"It's alright, it's alright," Section Chief Wu said repeatedly.

"Is the factory area far from the office area? Do you need a ride? Zhuang is actually still on sick leave, but I called him over to help out because he used to be in charge of your company's business. He's no longer in our department..."

He was interrupted by Zhuang Xu before he could finish, "I'm fine."

Section Chief Wu glanced at Zhuang Xu: "I wondered why Mr. Zhuang didn't look too well. Shall I call the driver? It'll be a while."

"No need, I'm fine, thank you, Section Chief Wu."

I followed behind them, having just finished sending a text message. Hearing this, I looked up at his back; he had indeed become increasingly thin.

The factory area wasn't far, but the weather was hot, and walking there wasn't easy. Halfway there, just as the employees were leaving get off work, we walked against the flow of people to the outside of the new factory area. Alex took out his camera. "Section Chief Wu, as I told you before, we needed to take some photos for record-keeping. Don't worry, these photos won't be released to the public."

This was part of the post-loan inspection process, and Section Chief Wu didn't stop him. "We promised you we'd take the photos, so we definitely will."

After Alex finished taking photos of the exterior of the new factory, we led them inside to tour the production line. Section Chief Wu wasn't as familiar with this part as I was, so I did the entire explanation.

We walked and talked, explaining everything from the production process to the production line's performance and capacity, as well as financial data like average costs, trying to be as concise as possible.

Soon, the entire production process was explained, and we reached the end of the tour. Standing beside the equipment, Alex asked me, "Ms. Nie, I've looked at the copy of the production line purchase contract. You bought second-hand equipment. Why not import the most advanced equipment from Europe?"

"It's mainly for two reasons," I replied earnestly. "First, of course, is cost—the cost of the production line itself and transportation costs. Second is time. The government has recently introduced many favorable policies, and we are very optimistic about the market. Buying the production line domestically allows us to start production as quickly as possible and seize the first wave of opportunity."

"Since you're so optimistic, why not go all in?" Alex said. "If you anticipate a market surge, buying the latest equipment before others react is always better than being ripped off by equipment manufacturers when demand rises later."

I patiently explained, "We've studied the performance data of the latest foreign equipment, and compared to what we've purchased, there's no fundamental breakthrough. As for whether we'll be ripped off later…maybe in a few years, we won't need to buy equipment from overseas anymore?"

Alex was visibly shocked: "Ms. Nie, do you think photovoltaic production equipment can be completely domestically produced in the future?"

“Let’s gradually localize production; I think that’s definitely the future trend. Actually, we believe the entire photovoltaic industry chain will eventually be localized, with upstream and downstream fully integrated.”

“All right, Ms. Nie is indeed very optimistic.” Alex shrugged, his expression clearly disagreeing with what I said. “You and Zhuang are indeed alumni; your views are similar. Last year, the entire Chinese photovoltaic industry suffered a severe blow, and major banks tightened lending. We’ve been hesitant about lending to your company, and Zhuang’s industry development research report and trend predictions played a significant role. Zhuang, is it because of Ms. Nie that you’re so concerned?”

He said jokingly.

While I was talking to Alex, Zhuang Xu maintained a detached attitude, his gaze lingering on the equipment. Only when Alex mentioned him did he turn around, saying casually, "I didn't know Nie worked here. I just joined last year; my research report wouldn't influence my superiors' decisions."

I didn't argue with Alex, smiling politely, "Thank you anyway, Zhuang. Mr. Wang, there's no need to worry too much. You should have already checked our collateral; the bank won't lose money, right?"

Section Chief Wu secretly gave me a thumbs up, chuckled, and said, "I think we shouldn't just stand there talking. There's a small conference room up ahead; let's rest and have some tea."

Section Chief Wu gestured for them to proceed, leading Zhuang Xu and Alex towards the conference room.

After walking a short distance, he lagged behind and whispered to me, "This Alexander is a bit arrogant, not as good as your classmate. It's a pity he changed departments and isn't in charge of our company anymore. This Alexander, banks aren't charities, why does he have so many complaints? Your reply was good."

I said, "Don't worry about it too much, just be polite."

Section Chief Wu said, "Of course. I think General Manager Dai intends to stop lending from Bank A, since the main business is domestic now."

I nodded.

The small conference room was rather simple, the kind used for workshop meetings. Upon entering, Section Chief Wu gestured for everyone to sit at the table, and I poured them some tea. Alex asked a few more questions, then glanced at Zhuang Xu, stood up, and said, "Section Chief Wu, where's the restroom? Could you show me there?"

Section Chief Wu also stood up: "It's a bit hard to find, I'll take you there."

Section Chief Wu led Alex out of the conference room, and the room immediately fell silent.

I was surprisingly calm, no longer considering avoiding him, and quietly waited for him to speak. Zhuang Xu's expression was calm and expressionless. Perhaps due to his recent illness, his cheeks were slightly sunken, and he looked pale and thin as he sat in his chair.

His gaze was fixed on his glass. "I've been here before. I didn't expect to see you."

My eyelashes fluttered slightly, but I remained silent.

“I even went to your finance department.”

“Fate is truly strange, isn’t it?” He looked up at me. “When you graduated from university, I thought you would go to work in Shanghai. At the job fair before graduation, I submitted several resumes for you, all related to Bank A. But you never showed up, and I couldn’t help but call you, but your phone was always off. I also called Jiang Rui, but his phone was off too. Later, I went back to Nanjing and visited Jiang Rui’s house. Aunt Zhang told me that you and Jiang Rui went to study abroad.”

“When I saw you again on New Year’s Day, you said you were already with Lin Yusen, and that you were just studying abroad before.” He said calmly, “Now Jiang Rui tells me that you weren’t together back then.”

I finally stood up: “I’m sorry, I have to go back to work.”

“Why are you running away?” A desolate smile played on his lips. “Would I come here to interfere in someone else’s relationship? I just…”

“I don’t know what I’m doing here.”

His gaze fell on the table. “What did I do wrong? Nie Xiguang.”

I was silent for a moment: “Did I do something wrong?”

A suffocating silence filled the air.

I stood up and walked out. As I opened the door, a soft voice came from behind me, "Why did you lie to me on New Year's Day? I can accept many reasons, but don't you regret missing out on this, Nie Xiguang?"

I gripped the glass door, and after a long pause, I spoke: "Zhuang Xu, there's something I've always wanted to confirm with you."

He looked at me: "Go ahead."

"Back in college, I asked Ye Rong, and she told me you two were just not very close neighbors, which is why I confessed to you. I didn't mean to steal someone else's love. I sent you a text message explaining before, but you didn't reply. Did you receive it?"

This time, he answered after a long pause: "I received it. I..."

I interrupted him: "Then I have no regrets."

My eyes seemed a little hot, but I was glad my words were clear: "I proved my innocence, and I have no regrets."