"When I come back, we’ll have the wedding!"

"Okay."

Shen Que reluctantly hugged Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng felt a bit guilty inside.

She tightened her arms again. Sensing Jiang Cheng’s unease, Shen Que comforted her, "You are already my wife. We have a lifetime to spend together. Now, go and do what you want to do. I have responsibilities of my own to take on. Neither of us owes anything to the other. We are both working towards a better future."

"Mm."

Jiang Cheng gave a heavy nod, letting a few tears stain Shen Que’s clothes.

How lucky she was to find Shen Que, with whom she felt a deep connection.

"I’m off. Wait for me to return with the latest production line!"

Jiang Cheng let go and gave Shen Que a brilliant smile, confidently clenching her fist.

"You definitely can."

Shen Que encouraged her in time. Jiang Cheng waved her hand and turned, running towards the team awaiting her departure.

Jiang Cheng joined her traveling team and set off. Before entering the gate, she turned back once more, and Shen Que was still there.

Shen Que’s presence seemed to tell Jiang Cheng that no matter where she went, as long as she looked back, he would always be there.

Jiang Cheng nodded at Shen Que and made a heart gesture.

From a distance, Shen Que put his thumb and forefinger together and pondered: What does this mean?

Already seated on the plane, Jiang Cheng looked out the window.

With the roar of the engines, the plane taxied and took off, the sensation of being pushed back hit, and a buzzing filled her ears.

She was going abroad.

Her thoughts returned to the day before the trade fair ended, when someone from Beijing approached her.

They wanted her to serve as the interpreter for the trip abroad.

The purpose of going abroad was to secure a production line from Country M.

They said "secure" because Hua Xia was just one of the competitors.

Moreover, there was a strict order from above to get that production line at all costs.

"Relax, it’s okay."

The gentle and kind voice interrupted Jiang Cheng’s thoughts. She turned to look at Teacher Qi and smiled wryly.

"Yes, I’m okay."

Teacher Qi patted Jiang Cheng’s hand, trying to ease her fear of flying for the first time.

After the plane climbed to a certain altitude and gradually leveled off, the flight attendants undid their seatbelts and served breakfast and water to everyone.

Jiang Cheng unbuckled her seatbelt, ate the simple breakfast, and flipped through the documents in her hand.

The other members of the team were doing the same, everyone working hard to perfect their part of the responsibilities.

The flight was dull, but that very dullness signified safety.

After flying for more than ten hours and completing the customs declaration and other procedures, the plane safely landed in the foreign port city of Country M, where they needed to undergo inspection and transit.

The plane’s security check was extremely discriminatory. Fortunately, they had national credentials and were invited, so there was less harassment.

After passing the security check smoothly, they transferred planes to head to their intended city.

By a stroke of coincidence, on the connecting flight, they encountered people from Country H.

Jiang Cheng immediately swapped seats with someone on their team to sit next to the Country H group.

"Hello, we came from Hua Xia."

Jiang Cheng greeted in English, introducing herself, but the person from Country H across from her ignored her arrogantly.

Jiang Cheng pursed her lips, withdrew her hand, flipped open a randomly bought magazine, and rustled through it, expressing her displeasure.

The person from Country H beside her began chatting away.

"People from Hua Xia are so backward."

"I heard they’re still eating dirt to fill their bellies."

"She does look a bit like someone from Country H."

...

The people from Country H continued with their insulting remarks, but Jiang Cheng maintained her displeased expression without any change.

"I guess she really doesn’t understand the language of Country H."

"I told you guys not to worry; it’s good enough that she knows English. Our language is so difficult!"

"Exactly, it’s not that easy to learn. You are being too cautious."

Apparently, they were deliberately testing Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng flipped through the magazine from front to back, and then back to front again.

Adorable fools, your crude scheme would only work on her when she was in elementary school.

Jiang Cheng’s superficial and visibly emotional demeanor made the people from Country H lower their guard.

Of course, they weren’t foolish enough to discuss their bottom price on the plane.

Jiang Cheng wasn’t there for that; she primarily wanted to understand her opponents.

The plane flew for more than two hours.

After landing, Jiang Cheng threw a proud snort at the few from Country H and walked away without looking back.

The people from Country H were even more convinced of Jiang Cheng’s shallow demeanor.

The two delegations left the airport and met the person sent to pick them up.

A large bus accommodated both the Hua Xia and Country H delegations to transport them to the hotel.

Throughout the journey, Jiang Cheng leaned against the window, acting overwhelmed and shouting in awe, like a country bumpkin.

The persona deepened.

The people from Country H never expected that everything had started from the moment they met.

More than an hour later, the bus arrived at the hotel.

The person receiving them was Jerry. After handling the check-in procedures, he said, "Tomorrow morning at nine, I will take you to visit the factory and the production line. Please feel free to arrange your time today." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Here is my phone number. You can contact me anytime if you have any questions. The hotel has phones."

After Jerry gave almost all the instructions, he left ahead of them.

The Hua Xia and Country H delegates were left unattended like that.

Country H accepted it well, seemingly able to accept whatever Country M did.

Hua Xia remained calm, never discussing or commenting on anyone outside, prioritizing caution.

The two groups walked towards the elevator together, scrutinizing each other without speaking.

The elevator door opened with a ding, and a familiar voice came out.

The people from Country R.

How nice, everyone’s here!

The people from Country R came out of the elevator, scanning the two groups with their surveying eyes.

"What a waste of airfare."

After the arrogant person from Country R finished speaking, the people from Country H were indignant.

When it comes to arrogance, who can outdo them!

The two groups immediately began communicating in their respective languages.

The Hua Xia group quietly stood aside, watching the commotion.

Finally, hotel staff came over and separated the two groups in time.

As the people from Country H got on the elevator, they disdainfully muttered about Hua Xia: "Losers!"

In the Hua Xia group, more than just Jiang Cheng could understand, but everyone maintained a blank expression—pretending not to understand!

The people from Country H felt that they had wasted their breath, closed the elevator doors, and went up first.

The Hua Xia group maintained their honest, low-profile demeanor, waiting for the elevator, going upstairs, and entering their rooms.

After entering, the security personnel casually began to check the rooms.

After checking everything once, he made a safe gesture toward everyone.

Seeing this gesture, their expressions finally changed.

"Sit down and discuss how to provoke Country R and Country H into fighting first."

"That’s right. To secure the production line, aside from the bottom price, we can start by eliminating our competitors."

The two advisors of the team spoke up, then uniformly looked at Jiang Cheng.

"Ms. Jiang Cheng, you have been performing all along, do you have any ideas?"