The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 829 - 828: Mysterious Person Donates

"Deputy Director Shen."

Seeing Xia Wushuang return, Shen Mingzhu, without looking up, instructed, "Just take the purchase order to Manager Pei and ask her to arrange the payment before the end of today."

"Director Du hasn’t signed it."

Shen Mingzhu looked up, seemingly surprised by this outcome, and after pausing for two seconds, asked, "What’s the reason?"

"Director Du said the purchase amount is too large and needs to be discussed in a meeting before a decision is made."

Upon hearing this, Shen Mingzhu calmly put her pen back in the holder, stood up, and said, "I’ll go talk to Director Du then."

Xia Wushuang instinctively said, "You could just call her on the internal line, there’s no need for you to go personally, especially since you are her boss!"

"She is the General Manager, it is proper for me, as the Deputy Director, to report to her, and she deserves that respect."

"Then I’ll go with you!"

Shen Mingzhu smiled as she took the purchase order from Xia Wushuang’s hand, "I’m going to discuss work, not to pick a fight, why bring so many people? Alright, go do your own work."

"Oh."

After Shen Mingzhu left the office, Xia Wushuang immediately returned to her own desk and dialed a number.

...

"Director Du, Deputy Director Shen is here."

Hearing Mai Qiu announce this, Du Juan looked up and showed a surprised and unexpected expression as Shen Mingzhu entered.

However, this surprise and unexpectedness seemed somewhat deliberate.

"Why have you come over?"

Shen Mingzhu smiled and said, "I came to discuss some work matters, do you have time?"

"It’s about the purchase of the microcomputer, right? Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that too. Have a seat first, I just need to finish this document. The marketing department is waiting for it. It won’t take long."

"Alright, you go ahead."

After Shen Mingzhu sat down on the sofa, Mai Qiu quickly brought over three cups of tea.

Just as Shen Mingzhu was wondering who else might come, Pei Wenping entered.

Seeing Shen Mingzhu there, Pei Wenping was both surprised and not surprised.

She had been called by Du Juan to discuss matters and presumed Shen Mingzhu had been as well.

After sitting, the two made small talk in a volume that wouldn’t disturb Du Juan’s work.

"You look like you’ve lost some weight?"

Shen Mingzhu touched her waist, "I suppose, I haven’t weighed myself lately."

Pei Wenping said, "That’s enough. Too skinny isn’t attractive, you look just right now."

Shen Mingzhu nodded and was just about to ask Pei Wenping what matter she was there for with Du Juan when she saw Du Juan get up and instruct the assistant to send the document she had just finished to the marketing department.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Pei Wenping, ever the jester, replied, "It’s rare to have a legitimate excuse to slack off, we’d rather you stayed busy a bit longer."

Du Juan stood in front of the sofa and laughed, "In that case, should I go out for a stroll so you can talk more?"

Pei Wenping pulled her down to sit on the sofa, "No puffing up now, let’s get down to business, I have a lot on my plate."

Shen Mingzhu observed the two, now understanding that Pei Wenping had been called over by Du Juan, and could roughly guess why Du Juan had summoned Pei Wenping.

Thinking this, she took the initiative to express her thoughts about upgrading the office equipment to Du Juan.

"Mingzhu, the three of us are all insiders, so I’ll just speak my mind. Your idea is good, and it’s for the better development of the factory. If it were just a matter of eight or ten thousand yuan, I’d fully support it, but the price of this microcomputer is just too high."

"One machine costs twelve thousand eight hundred yuan, ten microcomputers along with the engineer’s on-site guidance fee come to a total of over one hundred and thirty thousand yuan. Truthfully, the factory simply can’t afford it right now."

She then had Pei Wenping explain the economic difficulties of the food factory to Shen Mingzhu.

That was also the reason she had brought Pei Wenping over.

Pei Wenping looked somewhat distressed.

Although as the financial manager, reporting the financial situation to the shareholders was her duty, Du Juan calling her over like this was clearly putting her on the spot.

If she really did as Du Juan instructed, wouldn’t that mean joining forces to pressurize Shen Mingzhu?

"Financial difficulty is indeed a difficulty, but I still support the upgrade of office equipment. These microcomputers can improve office efficiency and simplify office procedures, meaning we won’t need as many staff in the future, which has its pros and cons."

Pei Wenping refused to take sides, leaving Du Juan with no option.

"So how about this, let’s discuss it further in tomorrow’s morning meeting and let everyone vote on it, how about that?"

"That works..."

Before she could finish, a knocking sound interrupted their conversation.

Huang Ju burst into the office, "President Shen, Director Du, Manager Pei, our factory just received a donation!"

The three of them looked at each other.

"Donation" wasn’t a foreign concept, as the food factory donated money and goods every year, but receiving a donation was unprecedented.

"What was donated? Who donated it?"

"Twenty microcomputers were donated. The donor left no name, only mentioning they are a loyal customer of our food factory and really enjoy our snacks."

Hearing about the donation of twenty microcomputers, Du Juan and Pei Wenping both turned to look at Shen Mingzhu first.

"This has nothing to do with me."

Shen Mingzhu calmly denied any connection.

Although she had indeed considered financing the microcomputers herself just moments ago, Huang Ju had entered before she could finalize anything.

"It really is like finding a pillow when you’re falling asleep, perfectly timely."

Pei Wenping looked at Shen Mingzhu, her teasing carrying a hint of mockery.

Her woman’s intuition led her to suspect that someone was trying to support Shen Mingzhu through this.

Du Juan, hiding her complex feelings, smiled and chimed in, "Exactly, it’s like receiving charcoal in snowy weather, truly resolving our urgent need."

...

"What mysterious donor, I think it’s simply Deputy Director Shen’s own script, directing and acting herself. You disagree with her buying, so she stages this act, clearly opposing you!"

After Shen Mingzhu and the others left, Mai Qiu immediately closed the door and murmured.

"Regardless, it’s a good thing, why are you so bitter?"

Seeing Du Juan’s displeasure, Mai Qiu became anxious, "Okay, I won’t speak ill of Deputy Director Shen anymore."

"These twenty microcomputers weren’t bought by Mingzhu."

"Why not?"

Du Juan looked at her, "Everyone has their own motives in what they do. Rather than donating anonymously, it would make more sense to openly tell everyone and have the entire factory feel grateful, thus enhancing their reputation and authority, wouldn’t it be more solid than secretly spending the money?"

Mai Qiu was taken aback, "If it wasn’t Deputy Director Shen, then who could it be?"

Du Juan remained non-committal, "I also want to know who is so generous."

A lavish donation of two hundred and sixty thousand yuan, yet couldn’t be bothered to leave a name.

Despite being incredibly busy, her gossiping nature still prevailed, and after leaving Du Juan’s office, Pei Wenping didn’t rush back to work but instead pulled Shen Mingzhu aside to inquire about the donor’s identity.

"Do you think it could be Little Yang? Other than us, he’s the only one who knows about your wish to buy microcomputers, right?"