Kalenna, a beautiful widowed beauty who held immense resources in her hands.
Her family controlled a massive electronics factory and numerous supporting enterprises and supply chains, possessing a wealth of patented technologies.
The woman Wang Yu had gone to great lengths to obtain last time... well, that might sound a bit ambiguous, but it was more or less the case.
Wang Yu subtly dodged Kalenna's overly enthusiastic embrace. He was not interested in this woman and did not want Wu Lingling to misunderstand.
"Wang, why so distant? Is our relationship that fragile?"
Kalenna winked at Wang Yu, but it was clear Wang Yu was not interested.
"Talking about feelings hurts business. We have no feelings, so let's talk business."
Wang Yu said faintly to Kalenna, then shifted his body slightly. He slowly asked, "Where are the things I want?"
"Heh, what a heartless man," Kalenna pouted and pulled out a disk from her deep cleavage.
Ah, it was a floppy disk used for data storage. USB drives hadn't been invented yet.
"Here you go, heartless man. This is what you need."
Kalenna was about to hand the still-warm floppy disk to Wang Yu when a small hand quickly reached out and took it.
"Wang Yu, aren't these friends from the Ice Bear Kingdom a bit too enthusiastic?"
Wu Lingling said normally to Wang Yu, taking the floppy disk with her.
"Yes, they're overly enthusiastic," Wang Yu sighed helplessly. If anyone said their armored trains for transporting goods weren't enthusiastic enough, then there would be no enthusiastic people in the world.
"What you need will be brought back with your cargo this time," Wang Yu said with a smile to Kalenna, earning her a pretty eye-roll. Clearly, she was not satisfied with the outcome.
The floppy disk Kalenna provided likely contained the patented technologies of her electronics factory. Wang Yu had also paid a price to obtain them, or perhaps it could be called a win-win situation for both parties.
"Wang, what kind of riddle are you guys playing?" Makarov asked Wang Yu, feigning dissatisfaction. "You're keeping secrets from us."
Although he had a rough demeanor, his shrewd little eyes betrayed him. He had been very curious about what Wang Yu and Kalenna had traded.
"It's not good to ask a beautiful woman about her privacy," Kalenna said with a charming smile, deftly ending the conversation.
Makarov didn't press further. He then watched as Wang Yu arranged for his men to start unloading and handling the various items brought by Makarov's group.
These included orders for various parts and accessories, as well as semi-finished products for processing. They were scattered across more than twenty train cars, a much larger scale than last time, which explained why they had used armored trains.
Besides the workers from Wang Yu's automobile factory, many young women were also present on-site. They were all wearing matching, neat white shirts and gray trousers, exuding both youthful vibrancy and the spirit of the working class.
It was worth noting that their uniforms were almost identical in style to the black work uniforms worn by the employees of Wang Yu's automobile factory, only with reversed colors, making them appear quite complementary.
"Are these your people?" Wang Yu asked Wu Lingling curiously.
"Of course," Wu Lingling declared proudly. "I haven't been sitting around doing nothing. I've already registered my own trading company and hired many laid-off female workers from your county. They're all shrewd and capable."
"As your largest cooperative dealer, I can't just have an empty shell company hanging around. I need my own team."
Wu Lingling said with a giggle. Wang Yu had to look at her with new respect.
This woman had quietly assembled such a team. Truly, a barking dog doesn't bite... wait, something feels off?
Wang Yu pouted, shaking the chaotic thoughts from his mind.
He saw that the female workers under Wu Lingling were all proactively and skillfully showcasing various goods to the Ice Bear Kingdom representatives, including clothing, food, beverages, and drinks.
They knew how to do business, taking advantage of Wang Yu's interaction with the other party to directly promote their own products.
"Tsk, tsk, do I need to charge you a service fee? I'm here negotiating business, and you bring people over to develop yours?" Wang Yu teased Wu Lingling with a smile.
"Hmph, then why don't you mention how much I've helped you earn? How much did we make just from those fuel-assisted vehicles? I work hard to earn a little money, and you take the lion's share!" Wu Lingling retorted to Wang Yu indignantly.
"Haha, it's mutually beneficial!" Wang Yu and Wu Lingling laughed, then invited Makarov and his group to rest.
As guests, they certainly needed to be properly entertained. Wang Yu arranged for Zhao Laoda and others to be in charge of their reception, emphasizing that the international friends should be well-fed and entertained.
As for himself, he drove a car out of the production workshop overnight and headed directly to the provincial capital!
Where to? To the patent office, of course! He needed to file patents for everything he had!
Since Jiangyang County had no such department, he had to go to the provincial capital.
...
Another day began. Yan Donglai arrived at work punctually as usual and sat down in his office.
He then unhurriedly boiled a kettle of water and brewed a cup of tea.
Watching the hot water slowly pour into the teacup and the tea leaves unfurl, releasing their fragrant aroma, Yan Donglai felt a sense of comfort, though also a bit of boredom.
Honestly, a patent office, while part of the government sector, was a veritable "clean department" with little real power.
Besides himself, the director, there was only one old man nearing retirement in the entire office.
The office was practically the smallest, and the salary wasn't great either... Unfortunately, their country had no concept of patents. Even if you obtained one, people would still copy it without hesitation, rendering a certificate almost useless.
However, the upside was that there was very little work, with nothing else to do besides occasionally dealing with inspections from above.
Thinking this, Yan Donglai took a sip of his tea and opened the newspaper in front of him.
His gaze fell upon the electric kettle. What a good thing it was! He had connections and had managed to get it from Jiangyang County. It saved him a lot of effort for boiling water and making tea.
Muttering to himself, Yan Donglai's attention was caught by a news item in the newspaper.
"Young local tech talent challenges Japanese experts and wins big? What kind of news is this? Is this the entertainment section? Huh? It's from our province? Jiangyang County Automobile Factory?"
Yan Donglai was resting his legs on the table, muttering to himself, when the office door was pushed open. His subordinate, Old Liu, rushed in, panting, with a look of utter shock on his face.
"Director, something's wrong! Something big has happened!"
"What are you panicking about? Making a fuss?" Yan Donglai reprimanded his subordinate irritably, then spat out some tea leaves into the cup.
"What big thing could have happened? Speak slowly!"
Hearing Yan Donglai's words, Old Liu slowly caught his breath and replied,
"Someone brought a whole train car full of documents to apply for patents."
"Pfft! What did you say?"