Chapter 101 (1/2)
Keep It Quiet
The day after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The bright and s.p.a.cious workshop was bustling with activity. Purchase orders transferred from Thunder Horse Workshop served to help workers get used to the equipment. Xia Lei had arranged for the normal orders from China Industrial Group to be done a week later to let the new employees get more used to the equipment.
Xia Lei was not expecting to profit immediately in the beginning. He’d have reached his target if he could keep the business running, have money to pay his employees and pay for employee insurance. It would always be tough in the beginning and he could hope for expansion when everything started to go smoothly. This was also Xia Lei’s business strategy. He had never been one to be impatient and was always steadfast and realistic in what he did.
Walking through the aisle in the workshop, he saw Zhou Xiao-Hong from afar holding a mop and mopping the floor. Her blue work clothes wrapped around her hips, emphasising a full figure like a lotus leaf in a pond or a ripened peach, and was very attractive. Because she was leaning forward, her bosom hung forward, straining against the material of her top, almost bursting through it. Quite a few of the new male employees sneaked looks at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and b.u.m every so often.
‘She already has quite a curvy figure so shouldn’t she know to change into work clothes a size bigger?’ Xia Lei smiled wryly and walked over.
“Big Brother Lei… Chairman Xia.” Zhou Xiao-Hong saw Xia Lei when he approached and stood straight. She had a bit of the allure of a professional working woman.
Xia Lei was about to warn her of peeping-toms but changed his words when he spoke, “Um, Xiao-Hong, are you used to the new environment yet?”
Zhou Xiao-Hong blushed for no reason, “I’m okay. It’s just… Putting me in charge of over 30 people… I’m not confident that I’ll do well.”
Thunder Horse Manufacturing had three workshops and Zhou Xiao-Hong was only in charge of one of them while Yang Ben-Cai and Liu Xue-Bing were in charge of the other two. Cui Yong was Yang Ben-Cai’s a.s.sistant and Liu Xue-Bing’s a.s.sistant was w.a.n.g You-Fu. Zhou Xiao-Hong’s a.s.sistant was Chen A-Jiao. All the old employees from Thunder Horse Workshop had been promoted and Xia Lei could consider his promise kept.
“It’s okay. You’ll gradually get used to it. Chen A-Jiao is your a.s.sistant so you can get her to help you keep an eye on things. And you can arrange for someone else to do work like this. You need to behave like a Workshop Director since you are one. If you’re too nice, the workers will not respect you and may even ignore what you say sometimes.”
Zhou Xiao-Hong nodded, “I understand. I won’t let you down, Big Brother Lei.”
Xia Lei smiled, “I’ll go check on the other places.” He took a step, then suddenly stopped and said softly, “Xiao-Hong, go change into a set of larger-sized work clothes. Several workers are sneaking looks at your b.u.m.”
“Eh?” Zhou Xiao-Hong’s face flushed red. She hurriedly covered her b.u.m with her hands and asked anxiously, “Do I have a hole in my trousers?”
Her words seemed to trigger something and Xia Lei’s left eye twitched uncontrollably, making him see a large area of snowy skin. He looked away awkwardly and said quietly, “No, your trousers are too small. Your b.u.m fills the trousers out fully, so those young graduates keep looking at it.”
Zhou Xiao-Hong was so embarra.s.sed she could die, “What can I do about its size? This is already the largest trouser size.”
Xia Lei was speechless.
“Is m,my b.u.m ugly?” asked Zhou Xiao-Hong anxiously.
“No, it’s a nice b.u.m.” Xia Lei realised his mistake once the words left his mouth. Wasn’t this telling Zhou Xiao-Hong that he was also looking at her b.u.m earlier?
Sure enough, Zhou Xiao-Hong became even more embarra.s.sed. She bowed her head till it touched her chest and didn’t dare look Xia Lei in the eye.
The atmosphere became awkward and Xia Lei couldn’t find another topic to switch to, so he quickly walked away.
Xia Lei went to the other two workshops and made a round of the premises before going back to the offices on the fourth floor. His office was also Liang Si-Yao’s office and the 50 square metre s.p.a.ce had just a gla.s.s wall separating it.
Liang Si-Yao was busy at the desk. She was so busy that she did not even get up to refill her empty cup with water.
Xia Lei walked quietly over and took the cup to fill it with some water for her.
Liang Si-Yao only noticed that Xia Lei was back when he put the cup of water on her desk. She pushed the spectacles up higher on her nose-bridge and pursed her lips, “All okay in the workshops?”
“All okay. I’m going to let the employees practice over the next few days and let them do regular orders from China Industrial Group once they’re more familiar with the equipment,” said Xia Lei.
“Relying on orders from just China Industrial Group is not a viable long-term plan. They’re only making normal orders because you can do the special orders for them. If any problem arises… There are over a hundred mouths to feed in this company, and insurance expenses are also high,” said Liang Si-Yao, “We need to have our own products and our own brand. We won’t be entirely dependant on others this way.”
“Did Guan Ling-Shan, Yin Hao and the others have any good ideas?” asked Xia Lei.
Liang Si-Yao laughed and said, “They are just fresh graduates. They have knowledge but no experience. In my opinion, you should be the one to decide what we manufacture.”
Xia Lei smiled, “Okay. I’ll think about it but I can’t come up with anything so quickly for a big matter like this. You think about it too - maybe you’ll think of some better idea.”
Liang Si-Yao stretched, arching her back and quirked her cherry lips, “My neck’s sore and I’m out of inspiration. Maybe my inspiration will come back if you ma.s.sage me.”
Her lazy look and cotton-soft tone made her look like a coy kitty. Her snow-white thighs extended from under her black office skirt, long legs jade-like and indescribably alluring. Her snowy neck was completely exposed to the air, making one feel like ice-cream in summer; one would melt if the temperature was just a little higher. Who could reject her, like this, with this sort of request?
Xia Lei felt that it was inappropriate but he was also soft-hearted and worried about Liang Si-Yao’s tiredness. It would be good to let her relax. With that thought in mind, Xia Lei walked behind Liang Si-Yao, reached his hands out to encircle her snowy neck and started to ma.s.sage her gently.