Chapter 322

Knowing Xia's shortcoming was not having time. School and children were her shackles.

But Hu Zhou had time, and for now, this person could be trusted.

But he also had flaws. He had no experience in running a factory or management.

This made Knowing Xia inevitably think of the Wu Lei father and son she met today. Although Wu Lei had been imprisoned for assault, there were reasons for it, and it was not entirely his fault.

Besides, he had been the supervisor of a food factory before, and was involved in the founding and management of the food factory. He was also slick enough to make up for Hu Zhou's shortcomings.

She just didn't know if after so many years, he still had the ambition to achieve great things like before.

Knowing Xia chatted with Hu Zhou for a long time before Zhang's wife called them for dinner, only to find that so much time had passed.

Hu Zhou smiled awkwardly, "We still need to discuss this matter in the long run. You guys go eat first, let's talk about it another day."

Since Pei Jing was not home, Knowing Xia couldn't ask him to stay for dinner either.

The next morning, Knowing Xia stopped at Wu Lei's stall entrance, "Xiaohua, where is your dad?"

Wu Xiaohua was weak and shy. Neither his appearance nor personality resembled Wu Lei. His looks inherited from his mother were quite handsome, but his personality was neither as slick as Wu Lei's nor as sharp as Zhang Lin's.

Of course, his upbringing was also a factor that led to who he was today.

After all, Wu Xiaohua was quite sunny and cheerful when he was little. "My dad went to get noodles, he should be back soon. Sis An, do you want to buy youtiao?"

"Get me two." Actually Knowing Xia had already eaten breakfast, but since he asked, it would be inappropriate not to buy two.

After taking the youtiao wrapped in oiled paper, Knowing Xia paid and handed over the ration coupons, then said to Wu Xiaohua, "I have something to discuss with your dad. Tell him I'll come by again at noon when he gets back."

"Okay, I'll let him know." Wu Xiaohua responded.

After entering the campus, she happened to run into Guo Momo, so Knowing Xia gave her the youtiao and told her to give it to PingAn as a snack.

Freshly fried and still hot, it tasted the best when eaten hot. She couldn't eat anymore.

Guo Momo occasionally stayed in the dormitory with her child. PingAn could already walk steadily, and Guo Momo was especially grateful to Knowing Xia for this.

In the class before noon, an announcement was made that the top three students with the best grades in the monthly exam in half a month would be selected to study abroad sponsored by the government. Students who wished to go could work hard to prepare.

Knowing Xia definitely couldn't be interested. Going abroad would take several years, not suitable for a married woman with several children like her.

So she didn't pay much attention to it.

During lunch break, she walked out of the campus and went to see Wu Lei, who could only make youtiao and soy milk. His business was still ok in the morning but not so good at noon.

When Knowing Xia arrived, he was free.

"Knowing Xia, Xiaohua said you came to look for me this morning. Do you have something to discuss?" Wu Lei had gotten much thinner compared to before, and the stubble on his scalp was faintly turning white. He didn't look as energetic as before either.

But he still had that constant silly smile, leaving a good impression on people.

"There is something. Does Wu have time now? Let's find a place to chat," Knowing Xia asked him.

Wu Lei nodded, took off his apron, and told Wu Xiaohua to watch the stall before following Knowing Xia into a noodle restaurant.

Knowing Xia paid for the food while he felt quite embarrassed.

She told him about her situation, and Wu Lei's expression also turned serious as he considered the feasibility of this matter.

Her husband had become an officer years ago, so his status was clear. He certainly wouldn't go after Wu Lei.

As for Wu Lei himself, other than the few thousand yuan from selling his house, he had nothing now. His snack stand could earn some money, but as a grown man, to be honest, he definitely wouldn't be willing to do this if not as a last resort. But to give up the snack stand and start a factory would be too risky. What if it failed? Wouldn't he ruin his own backup plan as well?

Wu Lei swallowed and pondered repeatedly, conflicted.

Knowing Xia waited patiently without rushing him. When it was almost time, she got up and said, "Wu, you can consider this matter carefully. Just give me an answer within a week. I have to get back for class now."

Wu Lei also stood up. "Knowing Xia, may I ask what kind of factory you plan to start? And how much capital do you plan to invest?"

Knowing Xia took out a box from her bag and handed it to Wu Lei. "Wu, take a look at this first. It's a cream made purely from Chinese herbs. After the opening up, the country strongly encourages export trade. Women's money is the easiest to earn in this world. Foreign women certainly don't lack money, so I plan to take advantage of this. No one other than me has used this product yet. I also have several other ideas. Wu can try it when you get home, then give me your decision. As for capital investment, to be honest, neither of us really understands the environment and policies over there yet, so we'll need to do research first before reaching a conclusion. But you can rest assured about money. I won't recklessly dive in without proper planning."

Knowing Xia was very confident. After all, the efficacy could be seen after trying it. No one could resist the allure of being able to become fairer and more beautiful.

As for money, she still had the An Family backing her up, which Wu Lei could easily find out if he asked around.

Of course, she was just using their name. She wouldn't actually use the An Family's money. She had about 150,000 yuan saved up over the past year. Hu Zhou could contribute 50,000 yuan, totaling 200,000 yuan.

If it still wasn't enough, she still had gold, but she didn't want to use the gold unless absolutely necessary.

"Alright, I'll consider it as soon as possible." Actually, Wu Lei already knew he didn't need to consider it at all. By just sending someone out, he could get 5% of the shares, which was like a pie falling from the sky for Wu Lei.

But all of this was premised on the product being good enough.

From Knowing Xia's ambition to even target the international market, anyone could tell the domestic market would be huge too.

Everyone could see the trend since the beginning of the year. Those with brains and time were thinking of small businesses, even selling seeds and snacks earned more money than working for the iron rice bowl.

Of course, no matter how much small businesses and vendors earned, it was not on the same level as an iron rice bowl.

Knowing Xia didn't go to the dormitory at noon. Guo Momo came to find her during the break, relieved to see she was fine.

"Oh yes, did they mention the studying abroad thing in your class?"

Knowing Xia nodded. "Yes, many people are quite interested. The atmosphere in class was much better today. What, do you want to go too?"

"I..." Guo Momo smiled without answering, but asked back, "So does auntie want to go?"

"Why would I go? There's so much going on at home. Your uncle only comes back for two days in a blue moon. What would the kids do if I left for years?" Knowing Xia shook her head. "I definitely don't stand a chance. During the exam, I'll consciously avoid performing too well, in case I take up a slot I don't even want."