He Xin smiled calmly and walked over to the car with her.
"Vice Director Lin, don't be shy. Since you're so curious, why not have a good look? Everyone, hold off for a moment—let Vice Director Lin have the first look at our equipment!"
As soon as he spoke, the workers started pulling off the rain tarp covering the cargo.
One by one, brand-new machines—completely different from the ones Lin Jiayi's team used—were revealed before everyone's eyes.
"What is this…" Lin Jiayi stepped forward and carefully inspected the equipment. Not a single piece resembled what they used.
Considering their equipment was already top-tier, she instinctively assumed these couldn't possibly be better.
A hint of smugness flickered across her face. "Professor He, it's not like our institute lacks equipment. Why haul a bunch of foreign scrap metal back here?"
"Mmm." He Xin, always modest, had no intention of arguing with her when she didn't even recognize the machine models. After all, the research hadn't started yet—no one could say for sure how things would turn out.
He wasn't interested in pointless bickering. With a faint smile, he said, "If you think it's scrap metal, so be it. Workers, please unload the cargo."
"What's 'scrap metal'?" A foreigner, speaking Mandarin with a thick accent, suddenly emerged from the front of the truck and stared at the group in confusion.
Ke Ling couldn't help but giggle. She had been about to say something herself, but Shu Lanzhou had stopped her.
Shu Lanzhou had whispered, "No need to get into a war of words. Let them think our equipment is inferior—it's better that way."
Thinking it over, Ke Ling agreed. This was like playing dumb to catch the prey—let the real results speak for themselves later.
But unfortunately, not everyone was in the mood to tolerate Lin Jiayi's foolishness.
What no one expected was that Saiwen had come along to Shen City as well.
He must have been sitting in the truck the whole time, and no one had noticed!
Just as Shu Lanzhou stepped forward to stop him, it was too late—Saiwen had already pulled out his business card and a product brochure and stuffed them into Lin Jiayi's arms.
"This last truckload is our company's latest research. Its functions are more complete, and it has a shorter experimental cycle than the previous set. Most importantly, it combines the capabilities of several different devices into one."
He was speaking in his native language, but Lin Jiayi had lived abroad for several years and could understand every word. Her face went completely pale.
"What did you say? Say that again!" She grabbed Saiwen's arm, staring at him in disbelief.
Saiwen assumed she didn't understand his language and slowed down his speech:
"I said this batch of equipment is the upgraded version of the previous one. It's our company's latest research—just launched three months ago and already receiving great feedback."
"Buying this set is actually more cost-effective than the previous two, and the efficiency is much higher!"
Lin Jiayi's knees nearly buckled. If Du Yifan hadn't caught her in time, she would've made a total fool of herself right there.
"No… No way… That's impossible! Han Weicheng said the equipment we ordered was the most advanced in the world…"
What nonsense.
At this point, still trying to defend herself just made her look even more ignorant.
As a vice director of a research institute, she wasn't even aware of the market status of key equipment? She didn't even recognize machines that had been on the market for months—what did that say about her?
Looking at Lin Jiayi's bloodless face, Shu Lanzhou felt a wave of satisfaction.
Watching someone you dislike make a fool of themselves… truly refreshing—especially when someone else was doing the heavy lifting!
"You just believe whatever someone tells you? That's a pretty casual way to run a research institute," Ke Ling sneered, making no effort to save face for Lin Jiayi.
"Saiwen, I'm Ke Ling—we've spoken on the phone before. It's nice to finally meet you!"
Her fluent, polished English made Saiwen breathe a sigh of relief. He quickly grabbed his brochures and ran over.
"So you're President Ke! I almost got it wrong—makes sense now…" He chuckled. "Well? I wasn't lying, was I? Pretty good equipment, right?"
Ke Ling smiled. "Absolutely. It was recommended by someone who knows the industry. Of course it's good. Oh, let me introduce an old friend—I'm sure you two haven't met yet."
With that, she pulled Shu Lanzhou forward.
Caught off guard, Shu Lanzhou nearly choked. Crap—wasn't I just enjoying the drama? Why is the spotlight on me now?
Everything she had told Ke Ling earlier was a lie. If Saiwen said something contradictory, she'd be exposed!
Thinking fast, she smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, Saiwen. I'm Shu Lanzhou. I added your contact through your company's website a while back. We've chatted before, though it's been a while—you probably don't remember."
Saiwen, being in sales and dealing with global customers, knew plenty of online contacts. Names didn't always match faces, so he believed her.
"What was your username?" he asked earnestly.
Shu Lanzhou laughed it off. "Doesn't matter. Here—just add my current contact info."
She handed him her phone—not because she wanted to stay in touch, but to redirect him from digging up their past interactions online.
Thankfully, Saiwen wasn't the type to overthink things. He didn't press further and immediately exchanged contact info with her.
Ke Ling was satisfied with that and didn't dwell on it. After all, it didn't really matter—either way, she benefited.
"Actually, I only learned about your company thanks to Shu Lanzhou. Without her, we might not have done this deal. We're all friends now—why not grab a meal together?"
So that's why Ke Ling had insisted Shu Lanzhou come accept the delivery—she was worried about the handover. Since Shu Lanzhou "knew" Saiwen, she could help smooth things out.
But how could she know the Saiwen Shu Lanzhou knew had existed in a previous life?
Whew. Luckily, everything worked out. Shu Lanzhou let out a subtle sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Saiwen was thinking: Our company doesn't even have a localized website in this country. She actually went through the trouble of using a VPN just to find us? Has our reputation really grown that much?
Unbelievable! This could really help us break into this market.
With the country's growing need for advanced medical equipment, their company's future prospects looked bright—and his wallet even brighter.
Thank you, sweet girl. Cute, lucky, and helpful—you're an angel! I could practically worship you!
The unloading finished quickly. The technicians Saiwen brought were ready to start training at any time.
Ke Ling suggested they grab lunch first.
Seeing the equipment all neatly in place, He Xin locked up and didn't object.
Lin Jiayi, still pale and shaken, declined, "I won't join. Enjoy your meal. I'll see you all at the training this afternoon."
She practically fled the scene, terrified someone might laugh at her if she lingered.
No one actually said anything—but the silence was deafening.
Once she left, Du Yifan and the others quietly slipped away too, too embarrassed to join Ke Ling's group for lunch.
So in the end, only He Xin from the institute accompanied Shu Lanzhou and Mu Side, joining Ke Ling, her assistant, and Saiwen at the restaurant.
As they left, Lin Jiayi stormed into her office and started smashing things.
"You liar—Han Weicheng, you ignorant fraud!"
Du Yifan didn't dare enter. He just watched as Lin Jiayi furiously dialed Han Weicheng's number…