THUD—
The sound of something heavy kneeling on the ground cut clearly through the noise of the bustling train station, reaching Xie Changning's ears.
Then, the man kneeling ramrod straight on the ground gave Xie Changning a military salute. "Hello, Comrade Xie Changning. I am your new husband, Yue Yihan! Salute!"
He said it with such gusto that Xie Changning felt the urge to grab her luggage and get right back on the train.
'How mortifying!'
'My toes are curling hard enough to dig a new train station out of the floor!'
Yue Yihan's actions were certainly eye-catching. Everyone stopped in their tracks to stare at the two of them, their gazes filled with curiosity as they wondered what on earth was going on.
Her face flushed red in exasperation. Gritting her teeth, Xie Changning pulled a pregnancy report from her pocket and slapped it onto Yue Yihan's face. SMACK.
"Consider it an early New Year's present!"
Her voice wasn't loud and carried the unique lilt of a woman from Shanghai, making it sound soft and sweet.
Confused, Yue Yihan peeled the pregnancy report off his face. He read it over carefully, his gaze finally settling on the doctor's flamboyant scrawl.
And saw only one word—Pregnant.
He scrambled to his feet, overcome with emotion. "You... You're pregnant?" As he spoke, he moved to hug Xie Changning.
But then he remembered her current condition and stopped short. He began hovering around Xie Changning like a gawky kid, his limbs looking completely uncoordinated.
To Xie Changning, his clumsy movements made him look like a gorilla dancing with joy.
She glared at him irritably. "Attention!"
Yue Yihan immediately snapped to attention.
Xie Changning huffed and handed him her luggage. "Hold this!"
Yue Yihan took it with a silly grin.
'Even her scolding voice is beautiful. She's so pretty. This is great! Just great! This is my wife!'
His lovesick expression was more than Xie Changning could stand. She had to turn away and speak to the few men who had traveled with her. "My apologies, please don't mind us. This is my husband, Yue Yihan."
Hearing Xie Changning introduce him to others, Yue Yihan's expression instantly turned serious.
Though he was jumping for joy on the inside, he kept a straight face and nodded to them. "Hello. I'm Yue Yihan, Xie Changning's husband."
One of the men from the Northeast, who had gotten friendly with Xie Changning on the trip, sized up Yue Yihan for a long moment.
"He seems nice!" 'A little dopey, though.'
'Still,' he thought, 'if I had a wife that pretty come all this way to see me, I'd be over the moon too.'
"Let's head to the guest house first. I've booked a room for you. You can rest for a day, and tomorrow morning I'll take you to the base to apply for family housing." After greeting the others, Yue Yihan turned to Xie Changning and laid out his plan.
As he spoke, his gaze couldn't help but drift to Xie Changning's belly.
"First, I have to go with these gentlemen. There's some business to discuss at the Department of Commerce," Xie Changning said, nodding toward the Russians who had just disembarked. She then quietly recounted the events from the train to Yue Yihan.
Her manner was so casual that it made Yue Yihan keep glancing at her.
Anyone could see how nervous he was.
The men standing nearby exchanged winks and knowing glances, their teasing gazes fixed on Yue Yihan.
"Given your condition, you shouldn't be getting involved in dangerous situations like that. Leave it to the railway police in the future," Yue Yihan said, his voice full of concern.
Xie Changning met his gaze, and seeing that his concern was genuine, she nodded.
Yue Yihan was behaving himself, so Xie Changning's attitude toward him wasn't too cold. Once the Russians emerged, they all took a car to the Department of Commerce.
Before getting in the car, Yue Yihan put all of Xie Changning's luggage in the trunk, then pulled out an apple he had prepared. "I bought this for you on the way here. I already tried one; it's really sweet."
Xie Changning: "..."
'When we first got married, I didn't realize he was so...'
Meeting the teasing gazes of those around them, even Xie Changning, with over thirty years of life experience from two lifetimes, felt a little embarrassed. She nudged past Yue Yihan and got into the car.
Upon arriving at the Chuncheng Department of Commerce, the boisterous men went to find the person in charge and explained the situation with the Russians.
Because it involved foreign currency exchange, the manager in charge didn't dare to handle it himself and immediately alerted the head of the department, the Minister.
"Ms. Xie, hello. I'm Yu Chunhe, the Minister of the Chuncheng Department of Commerce." Yu Chunhe was a mild-mannered woman. Dressed in an indigo suit, she appeared gentle, refined, and quite approachable.
Xie Changning knew that was just an appearance.
'If she were truly that easygoing, she'd never have made it to the minister's chair.'
"Hello, Minister Yu. I'm Xie Changning."
The group went to a conference room in the department, where Minister Yu spoke to Xie Changning. "Old Wang and the others told me everything. I just have one question: can a deal for the S195 diesel engines at 195 US Dollars a piece really be made?"
Those visiting Russians are incredibly arrogant. They don't want China to make a profit; they only ever drive the price down relentlessly.
"A deal is never that easy, of course. But if they don't make a deal with us now, they'll have to wait until the Autumn Trade Fair. I know plenty of factories across the country produce this model of diesel engine, but sending more people over would just increase their costs..."
Minister Yu nodded repeatedly at Xie Changning's words.
She felt Xie Changning had a point. The real reason she'd asked was to see if the deal could be guaranteed.
"Do you have a plan?"
"We'll have to see how their head office responds."
"Alright!"
Minister Yu felt that with an opportunity right in front of them, you'd never know if you could succeed unless you tried.
'Of course, if they really won't go for 195 US Dollars, it's not like I can't agree to 165,' she thought.
'It would just be a little frustrating, that's all.'
'After dealing with these foreigners for so long, she was used to it.'
With Minister Yu's approval, Xie Changning turned to look at the Russians. They were meekly rubbing their bruised faces while making a call to their head office.
When the call connected, the voice on the other end shot up in pitch upon hearing that their men would have to pay an extra 30 US Dollars per machine.
Not wanting to listen to the angry tirade, Xie Changning took the receiver. "The Spring Trade Fair is already over. I trust that your coming to China at this time demonstrates a great deal of sincerity!"
The sudden change to a new voice—clearly a Chinese person—took the other party by surprise.
They immediately understood they were speaking to a Chinese translator.
Their tone softened, and they began to politely negotiate with Xie Changning, explaining that 195 was truly impossible, and so on and so forth.
"We can't give them to you for 165 US Dollars, either. We can't possibly sell at a loss just for the exposure, right?" Xie Changning's negotiation tactic was to be polite first, then firm.
As Xie Changning's speaking pace quickened, the hearts of everyone else listening were in their throats.
They couldn't help but wonder, 'Is this deal about to fall through?'
The men from the Northeast were also thinking, 'If we had just agreed to 165 US Dollars from the start, would we have avoided all this trouble?'
'Why did she have to pick a fight with the Russians?'
Just as they were wondering whether they should tell Xie Changning to accept the 165 US Dollar price, she hung up the phone.
All eyes in the room immediately fell on her.