Zhan Jingrui pushed the cup away.
"Alright, it's getting late. You have work tomorrow, so let's leave it at that. I'm heading back."
Xu Zheng hurriedly stood up to stop him, stammering, a little embarrassed.
"Don't rush off. I've been talking for a while, but I haven't gotten to the real point yet."
"Academic whiz. For the sake of us being deskmates for so many years, can you do me a favor?"
So, his newfound enthusiasm was for a reason.
Zhan Jingrui looked at the flushed and boisterous Xu Zheng and suddenly realized the sorrow of being an adult.
This meager bit of classmate camaraderie was about to be exploited the moment they met again.
"Tell me."
"I know it's not right. We haven't been in touch for so many years, and just after meeting... I'm too ashamed to say it, which is why I've been dragging my feet. But I'm truly at my wit's end!"
"After my parents divorced, my mom and I have had a tough few years."
"I used the money my mom got from the divorce to start a company making smart home accessories. Everything started from scratch, it's been incredibly hard, and it's really wearing me down."
"Actually, our technology and quality are quite decent, but we're small and can't find large companies to cooperate with. Zhan Group's branch in Sucheng is so big, if you could just divert a little bit of business my way..."
So that's what it was about.
Zhan Jingrui refused him, "I'm sorry, I've just returned to the country and haven't reported to the company yet. I don't know anything about the company's affairs."
Xu Zheng quickly added.
"I know, I know, I'm just discussing it with you. I'm not trying to force you with our past relationship, nor do I want to put you in a difficult position. How about this? Come and visit my company. Tomorrow morning, just spare two hours, even just one hour, to visit my company."
"Confirm that I'm not lying. Give us a chance, let me talk to your company's sales representatives, and I'll be satisfied."
"I'm not asking you to give me orders directly, just give me a chance to prove myself, okay, old classmate?"
Seeing a grown man, with a flushed face and neck, speaking so humbly to another man, even a heart of stone would have been moved.
Besides, he had once genuinely considered him a friend in his heart.
He patted his shoulder and smiled as he was about to leave.
"Call me tomorrow morning before we head out."
The next day, to showcase his professionalism, Zhan Jingrui also changed into a white shirt and black trousers, slicked back his casual hairstyle with hairspray, dressing like a business elite, and set off with Xu Zheng.
On the way, Xu Zheng drove, carefully and enthusiastically introducing his company, its affiliated factory, and the various products it manufactured.
He had already instructed them the night before that important guests would be visiting and to tidy up every corner of the company.
Unexpectedly, Zhan Jingrui went off-script and insisted on going directly to the factory.
"To the factory? Look at you, all clean and neat. The factory is dirty and noisy..."
Zhan Jingrui insisted, "Just go to the factory. Less talk."
"What's there to see in an office building? You won't let me see any confidential documents anyway, it's all just for show. If you sincerely want me to get you business, let me see the real you. Or are you just bragging and don't have the confidence to let me see?"
"No, no, no, of course not. As long as you don't mind getting dirty or messy, we'll go to the factory."
Actually, Xu Zheng was panicking inside.
After all, he himself hadn't been to the factory many times, and he didn't even know the name of the person in charge there.
He wanted to arrange things in advance and put on a good show, but the "great god" was sitting right next to him, and he didn't even have a chance to make a call.
He could only hope he wouldn't embarrass himself today.
He reluctantly led Zhan Jingrui there.
The factory park was a bit far from the office building business district, and they were setting off from home.
After encountering traffic and stops, it took nearly two hours to reach their destination.
The factory had been operating for over an hour. As soon as they arrived at the entrance, they could hear the sounds of various machines operating.
Xu Zheng had intended to take Zhan Jingrui to the semi-finished goods, finished goods workshops, and warehouses, departments that were relatively cleaner and more presentable, but he directly rushed towards the dirtiest and messiest, the parts production workshop.
Rows of lathes, machine tools, and automated operation machines were lined up.
Employees wearing gray coveralls, white gloves, and gray baseball caps worked diligently behind the machines.
Zhan Jingrui, who studied cutting-edge intelligent equipment research and development, had spent years learning abstract professional terms from textbooks. He had very few opportunities to witness and operate in a workshop setting.
Therefore, he was very interested in this.
He walked past each machine and said to Xu Zheng.
"Alright. Let's start the tour from here. Introduce it to me."
At this point, Xu Zheng stopped pretending and smiled sheepishly.
"I usually run errands outside and negotiate big deals. I don't have time to come to the workshop to study these things. It's difficult for me to explain them to you. If you really want to understand, I'll find a professional for you. Please wait a moment."
He patted the shoulder of an employee who was operating a machine and asked him to call the workshop supervisor.
The employee told him that the supervisor was on leave that day.
"What about the deputy supervisor? Call the deputy supervisor over."
"The deputy supervisor is upstairs attending a production meeting."
Huh. What a coincidence? In such a large workshop, not a single leader could be found?
"Go, go upstairs and call that workshop supervisor down."
The employee didn't recognize him and shook his head, saying, "No. Factory regulations state that employees cannot leave their posts without permission during working hours. What if something happens? You call yourself if you need to."
Xu Zheng was stunned by his retort. Seeing Zhan Jingrui still staring intently at him, he forced a smile and said.
"How about you wait a moment? I'll go up and call them?"
Zhan Jingrui was surprised that he was still his usual slovenly self.
As the boss of the company, he had no basic understanding of his own products.
"You're really useless, Xu Zheng. With your attitude of not respecting the profession, do you expect me to give you orders?"
"Oh, academic whiz, old deskmate! Don't jump to conclusions so quickly! You know I've never been sensitive to these things since I was a child. Give me a chance, give me a chance, I'll go up and call someone, okay?"
As they were talking, an employee noticed someone walking in the workshop and pointed to her, saying to Xu Zheng.
"Find her. If you have any questions, find her. She was trained by our supervisor herself, so she knows the most."
Xu Zheng followed his gaze to a short person wearing a gray coverall, pushing a small cart with tools, checking the machines one by one.
She even repairs machines, so she should know something about this. He quickly went to find that person.
"Hey, hey, come here."