Early the next morning, Xia Lei came with Shentu Tianyin to an industrial park on the outskirts of Jingdu. The mobile phone factory was there.
Shentu Tianyin’s strategy was to wait for the brand to mature before increasing production in accordance with increased sales, placing orders with OEM factories. Before that though, the project was going to be go-it-alone, and the quality and after-sales were going to be guaranteed too. It was easy to tell from this that she was an ambitious woman and that she had a cautious side too.
Xia Lei thought Ahn Suhyeong would not come but he found that he was already waiting when they arrived at the factory.
Their gazes met and intense hate burned in Ahn Suhyeong’s eyes but he smiled in the next instant. He was breezy and unconcerned and seemed to have forgiven all wrongs. He took the initiative to welcome them and greeted Xia Lei and Shentu Tianyin. “Good morning, you two. I thought you’d take longer to some; didn’t expect you here so early.”
Shentu Tianyin just gave him a slight nod. “Good morning to you too.”
She said just those words and nothing else. She knew how it was between Xia Lei and Ahn Suhyeong and she did not want to talk further with Ahn Suhyeong in case it made Xia Lei unhappy. She was now Xia Lei’s fiancee so she had to approach some matters from the angle of Xia Lei’s fiancee.
A smart woman would not make mistakes easily.
Xia Lei didn’t even want to greet Ahn Suhyeong. He spoke to Shentu Tianyin, “You go on and talk, Tianyin. I’ll go to the workshop and have a look at your production line.”
“Nn, okay,” said Shentu Tianyin. “You’re the best machinist and electrical engineer in China, so please help me out if you spot any problems.”
Xia Lei smiled. “No problem.”
A sinister smile appeared in the corners of Ahn Suhyeong’s lips as he watched Xia Lei walk off. He seemed to be hiding something and this something was helping him get his revenge more quickly.
“Suhyeong,” said Shentu Tianyin, “Xia Lei is my fiance now. I hope you can accept this reality and behave accordingly. If you cannot, it will affect our collaboration.”
Ahn Suhyeong shrugged and pretended to be cool about it. “Business is business. I won’t ruin the relationship between our two families because he snatched you away. China is a huge market and I am looking very favourably upon the future of our collaboration.”
“It’s good that you’re thinking this way. You’re going to be taking over control of Shinyeok Group in the future, so you have to be open-minded,” said Shentu Tianyin.
Ahn Suhyeong laughed and said, “Tianyin, you’re his now but we are still friends. Look, didn’t I greet Xia Lei first this morning? But he ignored me. He was rude but I didn’t harp on it. Isn’t it gracious of me, not bringing up his rudeness?”
Shentu Tianyin wrinkled her brows. She did not like Ahn Suhyeong saying Xia Lei was rude but she did not want to talk about Xia Lei with him any more. “The reporters and guests are not here yet. I’ll take a look in the workshop,” she said.
“I’ll go with you.” Ahn Suhyeong followed Shentu Tianyin to the workshop.
Gu Kewen and Fu Mingmei followed behind the two. Two women - one was Shentu Tianyin’s assistant and the other her bodyguard - of course they had to follow Shentu Tianyin closely.
“An engaged woman is different indeed.” Fu Mingmei rarely spoke to Gu Kewen before but she initiated conversation today with a smile on her face. “Say, Miss Gu, is the power of love that strong?”
“Yes.” A trace of a smile appeared in the corners of her mouth. “Haven’t you been in love before?”
Fu Mingmei shook her head. “No. I’m not an easy woman.”
She seemed to be insinuating something with her words but Gu Kewen didn’t mind. “I’m guessing that Xia Lei and Shentu Tianyin have already done it last night. Only ‘that’ is considered a proper love.”
“Whatever, I’m not discussing this with you anymore.” Fu Mingmei quickened her steps.
Gu Kewen giggled, and was right behind her.
Just then, Ahn Suhyeong looked back at Gu Kewen, then avoided her gaze.
In the workshop, Xia Lei did actually find a problem. He looked about, then asked loudly, “Who’s in charge here?”
Two people walked over right after he spoke. One was a middle-aged man and the other a young man. The middle-aged man’s work badge read ‘Head of Technical Department - Park Jangheung’. The young man’s badge read ‘Technician - Zhang Jia’.
It was plain to see that the middle-aged man was an employee of Shinyeok Group and the young man was just a worker on the Vientaine Group side.
“Who are you?” Park Jangheung strode over with a face of discontent. “What are you raising your voice for?”
This Park Jangheung was apparently able to speak fluent Chinese.
“Are you in charge of the installation of the production line?” said Xia Lei.
“So what if I am?” Park Jangheung was rude. “I asked who you are. Answer my question.”
Xia Lei did not introduce himself and just said, “I’ve found a problem. It will become a huge safety hazard if it’s not taken care of.”
“Hey, you punk,” sneered Park Jangheung, “How did you get in here? Where’s your work badge?”
Xia Lei held his anger in check. “I don’t have a work badge.”
“Then you aren’t from our factory. Get out!” Park Jangheung pointed at the exit, acting all imperious.
The young man from Vientaine Group, on the other hand, was polite. “What problem did you find, Sir?” he asked inquisitively.
“One of the nuts in the foundation of the conveyor belt has not been tightened. People will be hurt if the conveyor belt moves from its track when it’s running. How are you guys carrying out checks? This is a serious error.”
The young worker looked at the nut on belt foundation but did not see any obvious looseness in the nut. He still checked.
“You punk! Can’t you hear me?” Park Jangheung grew more aggressive and he pushed Xia Lei, growling, “Get out!”
Park Janheung was definitely using a lot of force since he was angry at being overlooked, but Xia Lei did not even budge.
“Eh? Bastard!” Park Jangheung paused, then suddenly swung his hand at Xia Lei’s cheek.
This Park Jangheung was a textbook case of someone who had a violent temper.
But the person he was up against was Xia Lei.
Xia Lei did not want to argue with this Korean Head of Technical Department. This was Shentu Tianyin’s company after all and nothing to do with him. However, this Park Jangheung seemed to think he was a bullying target because he had kept quiet. He was aggressive, pushed him and even tried to slap him. Need he tolerate such things?
Park Jangheung’s hand was laughably slow in Xia Lei’s eyes and the strength behind the swing pitiful. Xia Lei reached out and grabbed him by his wrist, then pushed his hand in an anti-clockwise direction.
“Ah!” Park Jangheung let out a cry of pain. He could not stand stably on his two feet and started to fall in the direction of the push. But Xia Lei held on to his wrist and did not let him fall.
“I’ll teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents,” said Xia Lei. He swung his hand and a slap rang across Park Jangheung’s face.
Smack! Park Jangheung’s face swelled like he had been hit by a heavy punch. The skin on his face swelled where he had been hit, and his lip had been split too; blood and spit flew from his mouth.
Before Park Jangheung could cry out, Xia Lei abruptly let got of his wrist and gave him a slap on his other cheek. This next slap almost made his teeth fall out!
Xia Lei did not hit him a third time. Two slaps were enough. There was no meaning in beating up a Korean Department Head.
“Y, You…” Park Jangheung was livid but he did not dare to charge at Xia Lei again.
Just then, several people came rushing from the direction Park Jangheung had come from, holding metal pipes and wrenches or other tools in their hands; they were aggressive.
Park Jangheung seemed to gain courage at the sight of these people. “H, He hit me!”
“Fucker! You dare hurt one of us Koreans!” scolded a young man in Korean. He did not waste time saying more and swung the metal pipe in his hand at Xia Lei’s head immediately.
These people seemed to be Koreans and were quite united.
But it was useless - Xia Lei grabbed the incoming metal pipe and let loose with a kick. The ‘enemy’ young man flew upwards, then landed heavily on the ground, groaning. He did not get up even after some time had passed.
The Koreans paused, then came charging at Xia Lei together.
“Stop!” Shentu Tianyin’s voice came from beyond the workshop door.
But the Koreans only spared her a glance and did not listen to her words at all. They paused for a bit, then swung their metal pipes, helpers and hoes and so on at Xia Lei’s dead.
“Stop!” Ahn Suhyeong spoke.
The Koreans stopped this time, and looked fiercely at Xia Lei.
The expression on Shentu Tianyin’s face was ugly. Her words had no effect but Ahn Suhyeong’s did. It was apparent that these Koreans did not respect her as a chairwoman.
“What’s going on?” Ahn Suhyeong put on a show of anger, berating the Koreans from Shinyeok Group. “Do you know who he is? He is Tianyin’s fiance!”
The Koreans did not look surprised; the corners of their mouths turned down in distaste.
Shentu Tianyin spoke coldly, “What is going on here? Ahn Suhyeong, give me an explanation!”
Ahn Suhyeong shrugged. “It must be some sort of misunderstanding. Mr Xia doesn’t have a work badge on him after all. By right, he should not be allowed to enter. My people must have tried to enforce this rule and this resulted in a conflict. It’s all right - this is just a misunderstanding.”
He was obviously siding with the Koreans.
Shentu Tianyin made to speak again but Xia Lei patted her on her shoulder. “You said to help you solve some problems, so let me do it. This is a serious problem. Some people don’t know what place they’re in and what their status is.”
Ahn Suhyeong wrinkled his brows. He felt like this was aimed at him, hinting something to him!
Xia Lei moved as soon as he finished his sentence. He shot forward like a cannonball, going straight at those Koreans.
A Korean youth on Xia Lei’s trajectory had no time to react; Xia Lei’s feet were on his chest almost at once. There was a dull thud and he was sent flying into the air before landing heavily on the ground.
Xia Lei landed on both feet and let a punch fly at a Korean man who was just beginning to dodge. The fight was on.
Ten seconds later, Xia Lei put his fists and legs down. Several Koreans were lying about on the ground around him, moaning. Their faces had been beaten out of shape. They were a tragic sight.