Chapter Forty-Three: A Gamble

  "Of course, but I still hope that Mr. Xu can take a closer look at the picture and make this product as soon as possible. The sooner you do, the earlier your profitable days will come, don't you think?" Zhang Lei nodded in response. A single-person weaving machine is not expensive to produce, and Zhang Lei was confident that no matter what, Xu Feng would not be able to break his mechanism, so he didn't put much thought into it.

  Zhang Lei responded, and Xu Feng's eyes flashed with a hint of cunning as he said, "That's only natural. If I can get it done earlier, why wouldn't I want to?"

  "Well, I guess that's it. The purpose of my coming here is also achieved. Oh, by the way, I wonder how many new items like this can be sold in Mr. Xu's store?" Zhang Lei suddenly remembered that he still had many designs that hadn't been implemented yet.

  Xu Feng and Yang Yong were both shocked. Yang Yong involuntarily asked: "Could it be that Old Zhang has other things that aren't right?"

  "That's natural," Zhang Lei said with a pleased smile. "There are several kinds of machines for sewing clothes and so on."

  "Boss Zhang is a great talent!" Yang Yong exclaimed sincerely.

  "Alright, alright, I was just casually asking. Those are still half-products, if Old Xu can accept them, then I won't have to go find another house." Zhang Lei said.

  Xu Feng said: "Eat down eat down, Old Zhang, you can rest assured, it's not me bragging, in the whole Songjiang Prefecture, my shop is not among the top three, and being among the top ten is no problem at all. At that time, with the help of Old Zhang's east wind, I won't even put those other few families in my eyes."

  With that, Zhang Lei felt at ease. The partners he had found were all old shops that had been operating for many years, and their relationship network was relatively stable, which saved him a lot of trouble.

  With Xu Feng around, Zhang Lei didn't have to worry about anything else. The sewing machine was easy to make and he had one at home when he was a kid. It wasn't difficult at all, and Zhang Lei made it in no time.

  Xu Feng obtained the first single-person weaving machine after getting Zhang Lei's consent. When he brought it back to his own shop, it instantly attracted a crowd of onlookers.

  "What is this thing?" someone asked.

  Xu Feng immediately told everyone about his trip, and Er Gou complained after hearing it: "This young man is so arrogant, he only produced one part, and we did all the rest. He still wants to take half of the profit, which is simply unreasonable."

  Others also echoed: "Yes, the conditions are too harsh. Boss, why did you agree to it? You should have refused and let him hit a wall, then he'll learn his lesson."

  Although that's what they said, Xufeng was also helpless and said with a bitter face: "It's not as easy as you think, this Songjiang government is not just my family, if he cooperates with others and squeezes our business again, won't I be in an even more precarious situation? Alas, if I can help him get out of trouble, it's no big deal to let him take the lead. However, this young man seems to have a lot of ideas... Alas, never mind, just leave it for now and talk about it later. Today, there is finally hope for revival, we should be happy instead. Everyone stay after work, I'll treat you to dinner."

  "Right, boss. He said he made that little thing and then took half the profit for himself. What's the secret in that box? Why don't we take it apart and see, and then make one ourselves? That way, we won't have to give this kid any profit." Er Gou fell silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke out of the blue.

  Xu Feng raised an eyebrow and burst out laughing: "Second Dog, you're thinking the same thing as me! Haha, let's do it this way. If he can make something, why can't I? Once I figure it out, I'll kick him to the curb... Haha..."

  "The boss is wise." Everyone flattered and said.

  He meant what he said, Xu Feng cleared a spot in the yard and began to dismantle the iron behemoth.

  The entire surface of this box is made of fine steel casting, with no decorative items on it. On the front, there is an abacus-like thing with nine rotatable beads, each bead engraved with a number. This is Zhang Lei's password lockbox. Inside this password lockbox, there are several steel pipes protruding from both sides to support the operation of a single-person spinning machine, and nothing else.

  "What's going on here?" Xu Feng looked left and right, but really couldn't figure out where to start, this thing was simply cast in one piece on the outside, and not even a seam could be found.

  After some thought, Xu Feng could only resort to the most foolish method - trying passwords. Although the success rate was unknown, at least there was still hope, right? If they were to forcefully break it, the internal structure would be deformed and become useless.

  Finally, Xu Feng started dialing the string of numbers.

  After thinking for a very long time, Xu Feng finally felt that heaven should have heard his prayers, and then he dialed a number.

  However, the box didn't open, but instead let out a dull explosive sound. The force of this massive explosion was so great that even such a heavy trunk jumped violently. Then, a little black smoke emerged from the edges, which made Xu Feng realize that this thing wasn't fully sealed either, but now it's too late to know. Now, even with one's butt, one can think that the internal structure must have been completely destroyed.

  "Good kid, actually designed a mechanism inside, no wonder he was so willing to hand this thing over to me. Alas, alas, the crooked way is indeed not to be desired, it's better to make an honest fortune. Boss Zhang's arrival has already given me the opportunity to get out of the trough, what more should I wish for? The heart of man is never satisfied, like a snake swallowing an elephant."

  Xu Feng sighed and decided not to have that evil thought again, waiting honestly for Zhang Lei's arrival.

  However, Zhang Lei was still relatively generous. In just half a month, he had already brought a boatload of goods to the dock in Songjiang Prefecture. On Xu Feng's side, the wooden parts they produced were enough to produce dozens of single-person spinning machines.

  "Ah, Boss Zhang, I've been waiting for you so anxiously." As soon as Xu Feng saw Zhang Lei, he seemed like a poor devil who had gone hungry for half a month and suddenly saw a table full of food. His expression was as if he wanted to swallow Zhang Lei in one gulp.

  Zhang Lei also made a bitter expression and said, "Alas, Mr. Xu, it's not what I say, I also want to hurry up, after all, who doesn't want to get the money-making things done early? However, there is no way, these treasures are all made by me alone, even if I don't eat or drink, I still need to be quick with my hands and feet to make so many. You just stop complaining, didn't I come?"

  "Haha, great, great! Second Dog, hurry up and bring people over to move these things back, be gentle, these are all treasures."

  All these things were packed in individual wooden boxes, although the volume was not large, but the weight was indeed not small. A group of people used a lot of effort to move them all into the store.

  "By the way, what about that machine Old Xu brought back last time? Has it been used? Where is it? I'll go take a look." Zhang Lei said with intention as he entered the store.

  It's just like Zhou Shifu from Xujiayuan couldn't resist the great temptation and directly copied his own machinery to make a profit. In his imagination, Xufeng would also want to take it apart and study it thoroughly before kicking him out. He didn't doubt this one bit. So he went all out to tamper with the critical parts of the machinery, installing a package of potassium chlorate and gunpowder mixture inside the textile machine, along with some matches. Once the password was entered incorrectly, the match would ignite, setting off the explosive, which would violently expand in the enclosed space, producing an explosion that would destroy the internal structure.

  And in order to prevent people from accidentally touching them, these numeric keys are extremely small and require a lot of force to press.

  When Zhang Lei asked this, Xu Feng looked a bit embarrassed, but he was after all an old and cunning figure, and had already thought of a countermeasure. He said: "Boss Zhang, that machine is the first single-person spinning machine, with epoch-making significance. After referencing the structure of the wooden parts, I have already treasured it away."

  "Haha, Old Xu is indeed a thoughtful person. Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I have a total of 20 machines here, I'll send them over to you, and the rest is up to you to handle." Zhang Leiming knew that Xu Feng was lying, but he didn't expose him. By doing so, it actually had some benefits, which was to knock some sense into him and prevent him from getting any crooked ideas.

  Twenty machines, this already needs some time to digest. Xu Feng nodded and said: "Boss Zhang has worked hard, today I'll be the host and entertain Boss Xu."

  "Alright, alright, sigh, this waterway is really quite distressing." Zhang Lei complained. He had once wanted to start work in Songjiang Prefecture, but thinking about it, Xujiayang had already solidified, however the entire Anhui province he hadn't managed well yet, so expanding to Songjiang Prefecture was a risky move, so he suppressed his restless heart and continued to work diligently in Anhui.

  Lunch was eaten in the largest tavern in Songjiang Prefecture, with Yang Yong as a companion. There were only three people, but they ordered more than a dozen big dishes. Zhang Lei was also amazed by this. If this were placed on a dining table 300 years later, someone would immediately come to check your family property.

  After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, the social niceties had been exchanged and the small talk was over. Zhang Lei felt that aside from delivering the goods, he should also start on the second matter he came for.

  Zhang Lei pulled out a blueprint from his pocket and said, "Mr. Xu, do you still remember the sewing machine I told you about last time?"

  "That's naturally remembered, I've been looking forward to Mr. Zhang's work every day." Upon hearing that there was something new, Xu Feng appeared somewhat excited.

  "Is Mr Xu interested in making a bet?" Zhang Lei said.

  Xu Feng was somewhat perplexed: "Gambling? How do you gamble? What are you gambling on?"