The Secret of the Yoga Club: The Women's Identity is Not Simple

"This prepayment percentage is higher than the ones we discussed with before." Lu Jianguo lowered his head and made a note in his notebook, his handwriting noticeably heavier. "President Lin, if Shuke can keep up this pace, BYD can prioritize your project's progress in terms of equipment scheduling and technical personnel allocation. Our production line schedule is currently booked until March next year, but priority projects can be put on the back burner; I can promise that."

"That's the promise I want," Lin Feng said, looking at him. "But we're used to doing things quickly. The prepayment can be 40%, but the delivery dates and acceptance standards must be clearly stated. We can't let BYD's scheduling issues cause delays in production line delivery. There will be a penalty calculated on a daily basis for delayed delivery; this clause cannot be removed."

"I agree to retain the penalty clause for delayed delivery." Lu Jianguo didn't dwell on this. "We can set the specific delivery date now. Once the contract is signed, BYD will assign someone to monitor the progress and send you a project progress report every week."

"Once a week is too slow," Vice President Zhang chimed in. "We can do it once a week during the initial civil engineering and supporting construction phases, but during the installation and commissioning phase after the equipment arrives at the factory, we need a progress report every two days and an on-site meeting every three days."

Lu Jianguo thought for a moment and looked back at the key technical personnel.

The other party quickly glanced at the work log and said, "During the debugging phase, we will send a project manager to be stationed on-site, and the daily progress reports will be signed and confirmed in person. This is more direct."

"It would be best if someone could be stationed on-site." Lin Feng nodded. "You can decide on the personnel for on-site work, but their experience and technical level must be clearly stated in the contract."

The two sides continued their discussion for over an hour, going over everything from the specific delivery dates to every step of the acceptance process.

The technical staff checked the parameters one by one, and the finance manager recalculated the revised budget twice, printed it out, and spread it out on the table so that everyone could see it.

By 4 p.m., the most contentious clauses in the document—maintenance rates, technology upgrade costs, equipment purchase prices, delivery milestones, and acceptance standards—were all finalized.

Lu Jianguo closed the folder, the thick stack of documents making a dull thud on the table. He rubbed his nose, his tone relaxed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. "President Lin, now that the main direction has been agreed upon, let's sign the contract tomorrow morning. The subsequent equipment delivery and technical personnel deployment can proceed as planned."

He paused for a moment, pulled out a sticky note from the folder, glanced at it, and said, "If your site and supporting facilities can keep up, the construction period for the first phase of the project can be controlled within six months. Keep a close eye on the construction progress on the infrastructure side, so that the equipment arrives before the site is ready."

"The factory area is already working overtime. It used to manufacture cars, and a lot of that can be put to use," said Vice President Zhang.

"Then there's no problem." Lu Jianguo stood up, put his notebook and documents into his briefcase, and said, "President Wang said he'll be here in person to sign the contract tomorrow. That way you can meet, and there will be more opportunities for you both to interact in the future."

"See you tomorrow morning." Lin Feng stood up and shook hands with him, their hands clasped firmly on the table. "Let's all have dinner together tonight, no work to talk about."

"Okay." Lu Jianguo smiled. "I'll choose the place."

The location Lu Jianguo sent to the group was at the end of a narrow alley. The entrance to the alley was only wide enough for one car to pass through. After entering, you had to turn two corners before you could see an inconspicuous wooden door.

The moment the door was pushed open, everyone stopped in their tracks.

The courtyard was a hidden gem, with winding corridors and a thin layer of moss covering the bluestone pavement, making a soft rustling sound underfoot. Several osmanthus trees grew in the courtyard, their canopies covering most of the yard. It wasn't yet peak blooming season, with only a few buds clinging to the branches, but their faint, sweet fragrance already wafted on the night breeze.

"This place is interesting." Vice President Zhang looked up from the corridor. "The people of Suzhou really know how to eat."

"It took me ages to find it too," Lu Jianguo said, walking at the front and turning into a private room on the right with practiced ease. "This restaurant has been open for almost twenty years. The owner doesn't advertise; it all depends on regular customers bringing in guests. There are only about ten private rooms, and you have to book a week in advance."

The private room was small, with a round table seating ten people. The table was covered with a bluish-gray linen tablecloth, and the bowls and plates were hand-thrown rough pottery with uneven glaze but a warm and smooth texture.

The waiters began serving the dishes one after another. When the cold dishes were placed on the table, Lu Jianguo had already opened a bottle of baijiu. The transparent bottle reflected the warm light from the ceiling chandelier. He stood up and poured the wine into each glass one by one, his movements swift and efficient, ensuring that each glass was poured evenly.

"This liquor is from Shenzhen, made from the base liquor of Maotai Town in Guizhou, and aged for seven years." He placed the bottle on the table, picked up his glass, and smelled it first. "I usually can't bear to drink it, but today is a rare occasion. Come on, let's have one."

Everyone stood up and clinked glasses. The rims of the glasses made a crisp sound as the liquor swirled in the glasses, filling the entire private room with a spicy aroma mixed with the fragrance of osmanthus.

After a few drinks, the conversation at the table completely drifted away from work.

Lu Jianguo took off his suit jacket and draped it over the back of the chair, rolling up the sleeves to his elbows to reveal an old scar on his forearm. The color had faded, but the shape was long and thin, indicating that it must have been quite deep back then.

"This scar?" He noticed the gaze of Vice President Zhang beside him, pressed his finger on the scar, and chuckled. "I got it in the workshop when I first started working. Back then, BYD wasn't as big as it is now, and many processes on the production line were done manually. I was responsible for tightening the screws on the chassis, and I had to tighten thousands a day. One day, I worked too late, and my hand trembled, the wrench slipped, and my wrist hit the iron frame next to me, cutting it. I needed seven stitches."

"You guys really had it tough back then." Vice President Zhang raised his glass and clinked it with his. "When we were in logistics, it wasn't much better. Fleet management relied entirely on walkie-talkies and paper documents. Dispatchers would sit for more than ten hours at a time, their ears burning from answering the phone. One summer during a typhoon, more than a dozen vehicles were stuck on the highway. I stayed there from eight o'clock at night until four o'clock the next morning, drinking eight cups of coffee, which almost gave me stomach problems."

"It's all about making a living." Lu Jianguo took a sip of his drink, put down his glass, and said, "Looking back now, the experience we gained from those years is actually the most useful. People who have worked in the factory know the temperament of the equipment best. Our boss, Mr. Wang, also worked his way up from the production line, so he is particularly meticulous about technical details. If a parameter is not right, he can stare at you for three days."

The key technical staff member, who was sitting quietly drinking nearby, pushed up his glasses and spoke up, unusually speaking up, "When General Manager Wang came to the lab last time to look at the test data, he put a question mark next to the process parameter of a welding point. I didn't realize it at the time, but after checking, there was indeed a deviation, a difference of a few tenths of a millimeter. He looked at it for less than ten seconds."

"That's real skill," Lin Feng said.

The glass of liquor was refilled twice, and each time after refilling, he raised it to clink glasses with the person next to him, neither refusing nor urging others to drink, and he drank very steadily.

Lu Jianguo poured him another glass, and the two clinked glasses across the table, the rims of the glasses making a clear sound again.