"Southeast Asia."

  "Weren't we originally outsourcing to Hongji? Find me the Hongji contract; let me take a look first. Actually, Hongji isn't bad, but their payments are always slow and unclear.

  How many months was the st promissory note they paid?"

  "Six months."

  "That's really not acceptable. How many months were specified in the contract?"

  "It seems like three months."

  "Bring me the contract first; let me take a look." Bai Peiwen took the documents and examined them one by one. Manager Zhao turned to leave, but Bai Peiwen called out to him.

  "Wait a moment, Manager Zhao."

  "Mr. Bai?"

  "I saw that the workers in the boiler room seem to be suffering; the temperature is too high. Please notify Accountant Zhang to install air conditioners in the machine room and include the cost in the instaltion expenses. Get it done as soon as possible; the faster, the better."

  "Understood." Manager Zhao smiled. "But if we do that, everyone will be fighting for the work in the machine room."

  Manager Zhao left the room, and Bai Peiwen leaned back in his chair, starting to study the contracts in his hands. He marked a few points that needed to be modified. Just as he was about to call Accountant Zhang, he suddenly saw a group of female workers hurriedly running past the window, accompanied by noisy voices.

  He was startled and stood up. He opened the door and saw everyone running toward the tea drying area. Following the direction they were heading, he saw a crowd gathered in the tea-drying area, not knowing what they were looking at. He grabbed Manager Zhao, who was running toward the scene, and asked, "What's going on? What happened?"

  "A female worker colpsed in the tea-drying field."

  "Colpsed?" He was startled and quickly headed toward the tea-drying field. The sun was beating down like fire, and the cement ground of the field was so hot it seemed to burn. Coming out of the air-conditioned room, he felt the heat hit him even harder. In such weather, it was no wonder the female worker had fainted. Workers in the tea-drying field should have been on shifts; who could withstand such intense sun exposure? He rushed over to the crowd, shouting, "Everyone, move aside! Give her some air!"

  The workers made way, and he walked over, seeing a female worker lying on the ground, her straw hat still on her head. Beneath the hat, her entire face was covered in a yer of blue cloth, leaving only her eyes and nose exposed, and her hands and feet were also wrapped in blue cloth. This was the standard attire for the female workers under the sun, to protect their skin from sunburn.

  Bai Peiwen crouched down to check on her and then looked up at the sun still beating down. He knew that the most urgent thing was to move her to a shaded area and remove the bandages. Without hesitation, he reached out and picked up the worker. Her body felt light in his arms, and he couldn't help but pause for a moment.

  He carried the worker into his room and said to Manager Zhao, who had followed him in:

  "Turn the air conditioning up! Quickly!"

  Manager Zhao turned the air conditioning up. He id the female worker ft on the sofa, then immediately removed her conical hat and unwrapped the cloth around her face. As the cloth came off, a beautiful and shiny bck head of hair cascaded down like a waterfall, revealing a pale and delicate face.

  The face was so graceful that Bai Peiwen was momentarily stunned. The high forehead, the curved eyebrows, the long shes under closed eyelids, the small, slightly upturned nose, and the tightly pressed lips—thin and colorless, almost pitiful—made an impression on him. He stared for a few seconds before quickly removing the cloth from her wrist and unbuttoning the colr of her shirt.

  He asked Manager Zhao, "What's the name of this worker?"

  Manager Zhao looked at her. "She seems to be new; we'll have to ask the supervisor to know more."

  "Call the supervisor over, and get a cold towel too."

  The supervisor was a woman in her thirties named Cai Jinhua, who had worked at the factory for over ten years. Looking at Bai Peiwen, she respectfully said:

  "Her name is Zhang Hanyan. She's only been here for three days. From the way she looks, I can tell her health isn't very good, but she insisted she could handle the work..."

  "Zhang Hanyan?" Bai Peiwen interrupted Cai Jinhua, struck by how elegant the name was. "How is it written?"

  "Han" is the character for "today," with a "kou" character underneath, and "yan" is the character for "for incense smoke.". Cai Jinhua awkwardly expined.

  "Does she live in our factory dorms?"

  "No, the dorms are full. She wanted to stay in the dorm, but it's not possible at the moment."

  "Why not have her work in the tea-drying room?"

  "Oh, Mr. Bai," Cai Jinhua forced a smile, knowing well how difficult it was to be a supervisor. Who wouldn't want an easy and comfortable job? Who would want to work under the scorching sun? "Everyone is assigned to the tea-drying room; who's left to work in the tea-drying field? She's a new worker; we can't have her do other tasks yet."

  "Oh." Bai Peiwen nodded, looking at Zhang Hanyan lying on the sofa. She was small and slim, wearing a white dress with small red flowers, her skin fair and delicate, her fingers slender and long. She didn’t look like a typical female worker—too delicate.

  "Where does she live?"

  "I don't know," Cai Jinhua said, feeling uneasy. "I′ll ask her ter. If I had known she couldn't handle it..."

  "Alright," Bai Peiwen waved his hand. "You go ahead! Let her rest here for now. She probably won't be able to continue working today. Once she wakes up, let her take a day off. You can go now."

  Cai Jinhua left. Zhang Hanyan, with a cold towel on her forehead, had been lying in the air-conditioned room for a while. Soon, she woke up. Her brow furrowed slightly, her long eyeshes lifting upward, revealing her hazy, watery eyes. They flickered briefly, then her shes fell again, and her brow furrowed even more. She tried to move, letting out a soft moan.

  "She's awake," Manager Zhao said.

  "I think she's fine now," Bai Peiwen said, feeling relieved. "You can go now. Let her lie here a little longer." Manager Zhao left the room. Bai Peiwen walked directly to the front of the girl, sitting at a low table in front of the sofa. He crossed his arms over his chest and quietly, carefully studied the young face before him.

  The pointed little chin, the beautiful curve of the neck beneath it, the slender shoulders... This girl looked like a delicate, exquisite piece of art. The slightly furrowed brows were endearing, the long eyeshes fluttered gently like a fan, and the small lips, that soft, sighing mouth... She was truly awake. Her long eyeshes suddenly fluttered open, and she gazed with wide, startled eyes. Her pupils were rge, deep, and dark, like two dark, tranquil pools.