Chapter 467: I Trust Uncle Chen

Chapter 467: I Trust Uncle Chen

“What is it, hubby?” came out very naturally. Li Ruobing always honored
her bets. She had lost, so she had to call him that, and the word itself
didn’t bother her anyway.

But everyone else in the room reacted.

Zhang Xiujuan froze, then lit up with delight. They weren’t even married
yet, and Li Ruobing was already calling him hubby. Just how close must
she be with her son?

Wu Jiao and Chen Xue traded exaggerated looks and grinned at each other.

“There’s something I want to ask about,” Wu Chen said to Li Ruobing with
a smile.

“Let me wash my hands,” she said.

She’d been handling vegetables, and her hands were dirty.

She went to the bathroom and was back in half a minute. She came over,
sat down beside Wu Chen, pulled a tissue from the coffee table, and
dried her hands.

“What is it?” she asked softly, smiling, leaning close.

She didn’t know what he wanted to discuss, or whether the others were
meant to hear.

“Just one thing… Uncle Chen’s factory used to work with your company,
right?” Wu Chen asked at a normal volume, smiling. “Why did the
partnership end?”

“Well…” Li Ruobing hesitated and thought back.

She couldn’t remember.

Chen Jinye’s Shengye Chemical had worked with Huancai Fashion’s new
factory for only two or three short months before the partnership ended.

Purchasing for that factory was handled by the new plant’s procurement
department, specifically the manager in charge of raw materials.

That manager reported every purchasing matter, large or small, to the
factory director.

Above the factory director sat the Huancai Fashion vice president in
charge of production at headquarters.

Huancai Fashion had been founded only four years ago, but it had started
from a high base and grown fast. The company was already very large, and
as group president, Li Ruobing had far too much on her plate.

It was hard for her to skip several levels of management to learn the
details of a purchasing decision far below.

And to Huancai, Shengye Chemical had been just a small supplier with a
brief contract. It was easy to overlook.

Li Ruobing might have received a final report on it at some point.

But that report might have been a single line in a quarterly factory
production report, a year or two ago. There was no way she’d remember
it.

She thought a moment, frowned slightly, shook her head at Wu Chen, and
looked over at Chen Jinye.

Wu Chen looked at him too.

Chen Jinye grew very nervous.

“Uncle Chen, just tell us what happened. It’s fine… Ruobing doesn’t
remember, so you tell us,” Wu Chen said, smiling again.

“Well…” Chen Jinye still looked unable to get it out.

Of course he remembered.

It was just hard to say!

Especially in front of Li Ruobing. He knew how close she and Wu Chen
were, but he also knew her style in business. Her formidable reputation
was known throughout Donghai!

However close she was to Wu Chen, that had little to do with him.

“Uncle Chen, don’t worry. Go ahead. It’s fine,” Wu Chen said.

Chen Jinye kept hesitating.

“What’s going on, Old Chen? If there’s something to say, just say it.”
Wu Dahai looked at his old brother in confusion, not understanding why
he was holding back.

“Boss Chen, was there… something behind it?” Li Ruobing had worked out
that much. She took out her phone. “How about this? I’ll call and ask…”

The big boss herself was about to call the factory.

“Don’t! Boss Li, don’t, don’t. It’s coming back to me…” Chen Jinye said
quickly. “The thing is… it really wasn’t my fault! There was nothing
wrong with that batch of titanium dioxide, but your factory, Boss Li…
they insisted my goods were defective and canceled our partnership.”

Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium white.

An odorless, tasteless, white amorphous fine powder with strong covering
power, it was commonly used in sunscreen products, as well as in
foundation, eye shadow, talcum powder, face powder, pressed powder, and
similar cosmetics.

Chen Jinye’s resentment was plain in his voice, yet he didn’t dare
offend Li Ruobing.

Something was very wrong!

Li Ruobing exchanged a look with Wu Chen, then asked Chen Jinye, “Boss
Chen, when exactly did this happen, and… what happened?”

Chen Jinye had no choice but to explain.

Things had come this far. He couldn’t just wait for Li Ruobing to call
the factory. Who knew how they’d paint him?

So he told them everything.

Two years ago, Shengye Chemical had signed a contract with Huancai’s
No. 2 Factory to supply titanium dioxide.

The first two months went smoothly.

In the third month, a shipment suddenly turned out to have problems.
Huancai No. 2 Factory sent the goods back, and Bao Yuquan, the deputy
factory director in charge of procurement, even demanded that Shengye
Chemical compensate them. He claimed part of the batch had already been
processed into products, all of which had to be scrapped, causing losses
of several million yuan.

“On my conscience! I’ve been in business for decades. When have I ever
cheated anyone? I finally landed a contract with a big factory. Would I
have to be out of my mind to send them defective goods?”

“I personally watched every single shipment that went out to Huancai.”

“The goods they sent back were defective, sure, but they weren’t from
our factory! I don’t know where Bao Yuquan got them. He put them in our
packaging.”

“He even said he’d sue me! I said fine, sue me! Worst case, we go to
court! Then all of a sudden he says forget it, I don’t have it easy
either, they’ll just cancel the partnership.”

“I think he set me up on purpose because I didn’t pay him enough in
kickbacks. He wanted to swap me for another supplier! He framed me
deliberately so he could terminate the contract!”

The more Chen Jinye said, the more worked up he got. He even stood,
almost as if he were defending himself directly to Li Ruobing.

He had long heard that Bao Yuquan, the deputy director, and Wang
Xiangming, director of No. 2 Factory, were thick as thieves. He’d also
heard both men were “old hands” Li Ruobing had brought with her when she
came to Donghai to start the company.

They were her trusted people!

That was why he hadn’t dared speak up earlier.

It had been two years.

He had nothing but his word, no evidence that anyone had framed him. The
other side would deny it to the death. Accusing them in front of Li
Ruobing would only make enemies.

Her reputation was too fearsome.

Making baseless accusations against her trusted people would offend her,
and it might even reflect on the Wu family. Would he still be welcome
here afterward?

But he’d been pushed far enough. Now that he’d started, he absolutely
couldn’t let all the blame get dumped on his head.

He had no evidence left.

But no matter who stood before him, Chen Jinye’s conscience was clear!
His goods had been fine. He’d been framed!

Li Ruobing’s expression shifted as she listened.

A large company inevitably gathered dirt in its corners. She knew
perfectly well that Huancai Fashion had plenty of small internal
problems. She also understood the old saying that water too clear holds
no fish.

She was the boss!

There was no way she could personally handle every detail of everything.

Procurement, for instance, was a plum job in any company, and kickbacks
came with the territory. Huancai Fashion had them too. When word of such
things reached Li Ruobing, she often turned a blind eye.

Running a company meant managing people, not just business.

So long as no one went too far, she could count it as an employee perk.

But framing a supplier that had won its contract through competitive
bidding, just to drive it out and replace it with one that paid bigger
kickbacks?

That, Li Ruobing would not tolerate!

However…

This was still only Chen Jinye’s side of the story.

“Bao Yuquan… and Wang Xiangming both came with me from back home.
They’ve worked for my family for more than twenty years…” Li Ruobing
said thoughtfully.

The moment Chen Jinye heard that, he knew it was over!

Of course she’d trust her own people!

And he wasn’t even an “outsider” to her. He was a complete stranger.

“Boss Li, I, Chen Jinye, swear to Heaven today! If I ever passed off
fake or shoddy goods, may I be hit by a car the moment I step out the
door! May I die a horrible death!” Chen Jinye was so agitated he was
swearing oath after oath.

“Old Chen, calm down, don’t…” Wu Dahai caught his arm. The man had
worked himself into a frenzy.

Li Ruobing showed no reaction to the display at all.

If oaths proved anything, there’d be no need for investigations.

“I’ll call and ask…” she said, picking up her phone again.

She had just opened her contacts when she stopped.

Her eyes slid toward Wu Chen, who was enjoying the show.

Wait.

Wu Chen was the one who had called her over! Wu Chen was the one who had
raised this! Would Wu Chen set up his own father’s best friend?

Knowing how he operated, and his almost mystical command of
intelligence, he should already know the truth of it!

So…

“Hubby.” Li Ruobing put her phone down and turned to him. “Who do you
think is in the right here, and who’s in the wrong?”

Chen Jinye was taken aback. Something this important, an internal
company matter, and she was asking Wu Chen?

“I trust Uncle Chen,” Wu Chen said, turning his head with a smile.

“Understood.” Li Ruobing looked straight at Chen Jinye. “Boss Chen, go
out to No. 2 Factory this afternoon. I’ll let them know. We’ll resume
the partnership.”

Chen Jinye was taken aback again, and then completely dumbfounded.

One sentence from Wu Chen, and Li Ruobing simply believed him?

Then he watched her pick up the phone again and make a call, her face
turning ice-cold.