Chapter 28: The Snake Swallows the Elephant

At first, Bai Lu felt a bit self-conscious, but as she kept walking, her stride returned to normal. Her slender waist swayed gently, and the hem of her skirt fluttered.

"Lu Fan, tell me, if we just walk in and ask them for the factory, will we get thrown out? Can this really work?"

"I don't have absolute certainty. If the owner of this garment factory can borrow money or secure a loan, he will likely manage to hold on for a while. Or perhaps he values this factory so much that he’d rather endure the losses from stagnant inventory than sell it. In that case, there’s nothing we can do."

"We’ll take it one step at a time. Once we’re inside the factory, just stay quietly by my side and don't say a word."

"Okay!"

Bai Lu turned her head and found Lu Fan staring intently at a certain part of her body. Feeling both embarrassed and coy, she pouted, "Fine, I see why you wanted me to walk in front. You really are a bad man."

"Alright, alright. Today, I’m going to teach you the second lesson of being a businessperson. Let’s start with a name."

Bai Lu looked at him expectantly. Yesterday, she had already learned the first lesson: to cut costs and pursue profit, turning both into an instinct.

"What is the second lesson called?"

"Let’s call it 'The Snake Swallowing the Elephant.' Have you ever played the game Snake? A small snake can only grow larger by constantly eating. So, if a businessperson wants to grow, they must keep consuming; whenever an opportunity arises, they must pounce and take a bite."

"If a capitalist wants to climb the social ladder, they must swallow something larger than themselves to move upward step by step."

Bai Lu nodded, appearing to understand, though she felt the name sounded a bit unpleasant. Can a snake really swallow an elephant? She had only seen that in the story of *The Little Prince*. And besides—what if it choked to death? That sounded unlucky, so naturally, she wouldn't say it out loud. When her man was doing something, she could only offer encouragement; she couldn't hold him back, let alone shake his confidence.

"Lu Fan, I believe you’ll definitely succeed!"

"It doesn't matter. This is just an opportunity; it would be a shame not to try."

When they entered the factory, Lu Fan peeked through the office window. Ding Maocai was not there, but the accountant was—and she looked even more disheveled than the day before. Lu Fan didn't go in; instead, he took Bai Lu to the workshop. It was nearly noon, and a group of female workers had stopped their machines and were huddled together, chatting.

After they entered, the women scrambled back to their stations, but upon realizing who it was, they relaxed. The middle-aged woman who had been in charge of collecting collars yesterday looked the pair over and asked in surprise, "Are you Bai Lu?"

"Yes, Auntie, it's me."

"Oh, how much are you picking up today?"

Bai Lu looked at Lu Fan, who said with a smile, "I came to see Factory Manager Ding today, but he wasn't in his office, so we just stopped by to have a look."

"Oh, the manager’s first wife came by this morning with a whole crowd. They caused quite a scene, beat up the 'little wife,' and took the manager away."

Lu Fan asked with interest, "Is that so? Tell me more, sister."

This struck a chord with the woman. She waved her hand to the others and said, "It’s almost noon, everyone take a break, take a break."

"Let me tell you... [blah, blah, blah]..."

Several others gathered around, all talking at once, recounting the events of the morning. It was a common story of catching a mistress, but the women embellished it with such drama that it sounded incredibly intense. Lu Fan listened with great relish, especially regarding how the two women had fought and what they had called each other—the middle-aged women told him every detail.

Ten minutes later, Lu Fan finally interrupted them. "Yesterday, when I was outside the office, I heard your accountant—that 'little wife'—say that there was no money left in the accounts. They couldn't even pay this month's wages, and they owed suppliers for months."

"Boss Ding said it was all the little wife's fault for taking on that foreign trade order. It filled the warehouse with unsold stock and tied up all the factory’s cash. Then the two of them started fighting."

"Ah, really?"

"What do you mean, 'really'?"

"He said this month's wages won't be paid?"

"It seems so, or maybe not. You all worked on a big batch of foreign trade orders a while back, right? Are they still sitting in the warehouse?"

"Yes, there are over thirty of us in the factory, and more than twenty worked on that for nearly half a year."

"Right, is that stock still being held in the warehouse?"

"We don't know for sure. Old Huang, who manages the warehouse, is a relative of the boss. He doesn't let anyone in."

"Oh, then that must be it. How many pieces did you make in total?"

"How could we count that? The piecework was all managed by the little wife. We worked day and night; twenty-something people could make about three hundred pieces a day."

Lu Fan shook his head and sighed. "I think this factory is going under sooner or later. All that stock is just money sitting there, isn't it? And your manager is so caught up in this mess, he has no energy to manage the factory. You all should plan ahead. Calculate your wages and commissions as soon as possible and go to the finance office to collect your money. If you go early, there might still be something left."

The women looked thoughtful. As Lu Fan and Bai Lu walked out of the workshop, they heard someone behind them say, "Old Li, go to the warehouse and distract Old Huang. Doesn't he like talking to you? The rest of us will go take a look and see if that stock is really piling up."

After they left, they went back to the office. The accountant was still there, sitting blankly in her chair, staring into space. She seemed not to notice them at all, not even caring that her clothes were torn and she was partially exposed.

Lu Fan scanned the office, walked to a coat rack in the corner, took down a work jacket, and draped it over her shoulders. Only then did the woman look up at Lu Fan. Perhaps the small gesture of care warmed her, as two lines of tears instantly streamed down her face. Her face was scratched in three places, one eye was bruised, and there was blood on the corner of her mouth.

Seeing her miserable state, Lu Fan sighed softly. "You're still so young—why are you so stubborn about living with an old man?"

"Yesterday, when I came by, you were being beaten by your man. Today, you were beaten by your man’s wife. You have to ask yourself if you brought this on yourself."

"In your situation, when you're wronged, you probably don't even dare to tell your family; you just hide and cry in secret."

"What year do you think it is? Who can't survive without someone else? I really don't understand why you're still staying here. To be insulted and beaten?"

"If I were you, I'd smash this place to pieces to vent my anger. Then, I’d take every cent from the company accounts, find a place to hide, and call every one of the company's suppliers to tell them the business has gone bankrupt."

"By then, when Old Ding goes bankrupt, he and his wife will have to share the debts, and his wife will suffer through the hunger right along with him."

"If anyone dared to bully me, I would ruin them and tear their family apart!"

"But unfortunately, you aren't me. You'll only hide and cry in secret."