"So what would you do about the current situation?" Murong Xue was not blaming the department chief as he had been doing well.

The department chief became serious and introduced the plan he had been considering, "I'm wondering if we can recruit people from A province since the town where the branch is located is less populated. As we provide them with food and shelter, I think many will be willing to come here despite the long distance. And Rise Group has a good reputation."

Murong Xue lowered her head and considered this plan. The plan itself was feasible as the markets of the cities were already saturated and the only reason why people were having a hard fight there was that small towns and villages did not have decent enterprises. Besides, starting a business would help promote the town's development as well.

On the way here, Murong Xue had been looking around and she had only seen a few workshops calling themselves companies. She now realized that this place was far less-developed than she had imagined.

"Great. File a report and send it to the headquarters." Murong Xue said to the department chief. She wanted the headquarters to be in charge of this project.

"Okay, chief executive. I'll start the preparation at once." The department chief had been very nervous, but now he got the unexpected yet welcome answer.

Murong Xue gave a thin smile, "No hurry. Take me to the factory and the agricultural base before writing the report." She was wondering if people in the factory were the same ill-disciplined as those working in the branch.

"The factory? Okay, but..." The department chief sounded hesitant.

Murong Xue frowned and suspected that something went wrong with the factory, "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, but the people working in the factory are all earthy farmers, different from the people in civilized cities who are polite. I'm afraid that you won't get used to it." When the department chief just came there, he was not used to being around these people. However, as time went by, he found that these farmers were kind-hearted and enthusiastic though they spoke carelessly. When they were asked to work overtime, they made no complaints and all rushed to work. All of them worked hard. They also worked as much as possible for fear that they didn’t finish enough work.

Murong Xue rose up, "That's not a problem. Do you think I'm just a spoiled rich girl?"

"No, I didn't mean that." The department chief became nervous and his face turned red. He did think that Murong Xue was a spoiled rich girl, but he didn’t dare to confess it.

"Never mind. I'm just joking. Let's go." Murong Xue took the lead.

"Long Yi, do you guys want to go somewhere else and hang out? I mean the factory is not interesting, and I won't be in danger in this town." Murong Xue said to Long Yi and the others. Long Yi had been serving as Murong Xue's bodyguard since she came to A province.

"No. We have to stay with you all the time. Don't you forget what happened before?" Long Yi knew he would be killed by Huangfu Yi if he left Murong Xue alone there. Loong Pavilion had warned others to stay away from Murong Xue, but no one could guarantee that no outlaw would take a risk for the large reward.

"Well then, we should go now." Murong Xue did not pursue the matter further. In fact, she knew that Long Yi would not leave her alone, but she still wanted to ask them to take a break as she felt guilty.

At the same time, the department chief standing aside heard the conversation and began to wonder who those men were as they were not working for Rise Group and Murong Xue treated them differently from ordinary bodyguards.

The department chief drove the car given by the branch. Murong Xue got into the handmade bulletproof car. The department chief led the way while Long Yi and the others followed him.

The road to the factory was even worse than in the town. Some parts of it were not finished and some parts were mud paths. The factory was located in a wild and lonely part of the village.

When they arrived at the destination, the two cars were dotted with mud and beyond recognition. Murong Xue was not careful enough and she stepped into a mud puddle and made a splash.

"Ah!" Murong Xue nearly fell over and failed to suppress her exclamation.

Luckily, Long Yi grabbed her hand, "Are you okay, Miss Murong?" Long Yi did not like this place because of the terrible road, and he knew he would not have a great time when he reported this to Huangfu Yi tonight.

Thanks to Long Yi, Murong Xue regained her balance. After a while, she shook her head to tell him that she was okay.

Although Murong Xue was fine with the mud path, the mud on her clothes still made her feel uncomfortable as she always paid attention to hygiene. Frowning, she began to consider the transportation if Rise Group really decided to be better and bigger by opening factories in places like this one. If in that case, these roads needed to be fixed.

However, Murong Xue's frown caused a misunderstanding. The department chief thought that she was unhappy about the mud, so he walked over, took off his suit coat, and wanted to lay it down on the ground. Seeing this, Murong Xue stopped him, "What are you doing?"

The department chief paused for a while and said, "You can walk on the suit coat, so the mud won't splash."

Murong Xue felt a slight twitch in her face, "No need. I'm not that delicate." She now was sure that her young face would make her look vulnerable, and then she started walking again.

Long Yi patted the department chief on the shoulder and followed Murong Xue.

The department chief now realized that Murong Xue was surprisingly easygoing. At this moment, he had a thought in his mind.

After walking for a while, they arrived at the front gate of the factory. Murong Xue was satisfied with the layout, which was as good as those in A province. With two guards at the gate, Murong Xue found the factory neat and quiet except for the noise of working machines inside.

Seeing Murong Xue's expression, the department chief breathed a sigh of relief.

Murong Xue did not stop her steps and walked straight to the machine room.

When they entered the machine room, all workers were working concentratedly and all of them were half-naked as they felt very hot.

The moment Long Yi saw the workers' naked upper bodies, he stepped forward to stop Murong Xue from seeing that. He knew he could not allow it. Otherwise, Huangfu Yi would punish him.

Murong Xue now could only see his tall figure. Seeing Long Yi acting like this, Murong Xue was speechless, "Long Yi, what are you doing?"

Opening his arms, Long Yi turned to answer her, "Miss Murong, you shouldn't see this. I can block them."

Murong Xue rubbed her head and said, "How should I check on their work if you don't let me see?"

"Everyone! Put your clothes on right now!" Long Yi shouted at them. He couldn’t let Murong Xue see that scene.

Now Murong Xue wanted to give Long Yi a hard kick, but she could only put up with him as there were so many people.

Thanks to Long Yi's loud voice, every worker turned around while busy working.

"Department chief is here."

These workers began to discuss loudly, "Ha-ha, we have other visitors. Who are they?"

One of them even wanted to make a match, "Department chief, my sister is really good. You should meet her some other day."

"..."

At this moment, the department chief felt very embarrassed and wanted everyone to keep silent in front of Murong Xue, the chief executive. As he came to check on these workers on a regular basis, he was very familiar with them. Jokes were not rare between them. It was very common. As long as it would not affect the work, he would say nothing. But this time was different.

Murong Xue was standing behind Long Yi now. The department chief took a look at her and saw her black face. Then he understood why Long Yi was keeping these workers out of her sight, so he shouted at them, "Well, put on your clothes first."

Murong Xue felt amused now, but she did not say anything as the words could not be taken back. She couldn’t ask them to keep half-naked, could she? She did not find these half-naked men very irritating as she had seen a lot of people who only wore their shorts on the beach, so she did not understand why Long Yi bothered to do this.

The workers had never been asked by the department chief to put on their clothes when he came before, so they had a slow start. When they realized that the person who came with the department chief could be a big figure, they put on their shirts very fast and wondered if they caused trouble for the department chief.

Long Yi did not move his body or stand aside until everyone was dressed.

Giving Long Yi a glare, Murong Xue walked to the machine.

Now, these workers saw her.

They had wanted to make some jokes, but they remained silent when they saw her young face. They did not want to scare her, a young girl. Nobody thought that the young girl was their boss, either.