Chapter 376 Just Like the First Time We Met

Chapter 376: As If It Were the First Time

Before they knew it, another summer vacation arrived.

Throughout the first half of the year, Fu Zhengtu had jammed his schedule full, spending most of his time working overtime. Even on weekends, he rarely rested—all to squeeze in a ten-day vacation to accompany Su Taotao on a trip back to her hometown in G City.

Su Taotao was no exception. She worked tirelessly to roll out new products, launching them just before the Dragon Boat Festival. After fulfilling all the orders, she immediately began preparations for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

This year’s festival special edition was hard candy, which had a longer shelf life and shipped better, ensuring it wouldn’t melt even in high temperatures. The new packaging featured updated "comic strips" and a few lines from Qu Yuan’s poetry printed on the back.

The organizations that received the festival specials were amazed—the products from this subsidiary sugar factory were like little works of art. Not only were they delicious, but each batch of candy wrappers was also worth collecting.

Sharp-eyed folks had already noticed that the children on the packaging were the same two from last year. They had grown alongside the factory—while the scenes remained largely similar, the children were clearly older, with different clothes and hairstyles. The fun touch added an extra layer of charm.

The kids who snagged these wrappers cherished them dearly, carefully storing them away and proudly showing them off to their friends.

This caused a stir—kids who didn’t have these candy wrappers went home and begged their parents for them.

Coconut candy wasn’t as famous as White Rabbit Creamy Candy, so most adults had no idea what it was and had to ask around.

News traveled fast, inadvertently giving Su Taotao free publicity.

Foreseeing this, Su Taotao had long ago printed a contact number on the packaging, which had sat unused until now. Suddenly, orders from all over the country came pouring in like snowflakes.

The sales department, led by Xiao Lu, was overwhelmed—the phones were ringing off the hook with calls pre-ordering Mid-Autumn Festival gifts.

Not only that, but state-owned department stores and supply and marketing cooperatives nationwide also called to place bulk orders.

Once again, the factory faced overwhelming demand.

When Xiao Lu came to report the situation, his voice was hoarse: "Sis, we can’t keep up—orders are overflowing. We’ll have to hire more people in the next couple of days.

Oh, and can we add another production line? We need to expand."

Su Taotao calmly tossed her pen back into the holder. "No rush. Take as many orders as we can handle, and politely decline the rest."

"Decline them?" Xiao Lu paused, then realized this wasn’t the first time—even back in their small workshop days, they’d rejected plenty of orders. "It’s just such a shame."

"Do you know what artificial scarcity is?" Su Taotao asked.

Xiao Lu shook his head. "No."

"It’s also called ‘holding stock for higher prices,’ similar to ancient merchants stockpiling goods to sell at higher prices. Of course, we’re not intentionally creating artificial scarcity—we genuinely can’t meet demand. But coincidentally, the effect is the same.

In short, rarity increases value. Right now, every organization wants our coconut candy, but we can only fulfill orders on a first-come, first-served basis. The few who manage to secure some must feel incredibly proud, right?

They’ll think it’s worth far more than the price and will keep showing it off, giving us free promotion. The wider the reach, the greater our reputation—and the more exclusive our product becomes."

Xiao Lu’s admiration was unmistakable as he gave Su Taotao a thumbs-up. "You’re a genius, sis!"

Su Taotao found it amusing. She could only get away with this strategy here with Xiao Lu. In this era of material scarcity, few manufacturers put effort into packaging.

She had simply spotted a market gap, and with a genuinely great taste, her candy offered both prestige and satisfaction—turning an 8/10 flavor into a 12/10 experience.

In the future, when all kinds of snacks flooded the market, her coconut candy would already have become a generational favorite, ensuring steady sales.

For now, at least half of her vision had succeeded.

As the saying goes, "Man proposes, God disposes." The other half? She’d leave it to time and fate.

"By the way, I need to take ten days off. Hold down the fort at the factory while I'm away," Su Taotao said.

Xiao Lu's heart skipped a beat: "Ten days? Su-jie, the factory can't run without you. Three to five days would be fine, but ten days is pushing it—I don’t think I can hold up that long."

Su Taotao: "You’ll have to tough it out. Isn’t there Auntie Zhong? Zhou Shiyan is also reliable and can be groomed as a core team member. The junior assistants are solid too—though not fully independent yet, they handle tasks steadily.

As for the department heads, they're no stars, but they won’t drop the ball.

As for Zhang Jingan... I’ll talk to him later."

Speaking of Zhang Jingan, Su Taotao really couldn’t find any fault with him. The Party committee structure was already in place, and he handled Party affairs, safety policies, policy implementation, and employee ideological training flawlessly—whether in supervision, management, or even ensuring production safety.

They worked together like clockwork.

Often, Su Taotao only needed to say half a sentence before he seemed to understand her intentions, making her feel that "It’s a breeze working with someone sharp."

Especially in relaying information, when reporting to higher-ups, he always put a positive spin on things, clearly having the factory’s back.

It made Su Taotao feel a bit guilty for once suspecting him of ulterior motives.

He was simply doing his job as the Party’s rep, with no trace of selfishness.

He was even-keeled.

In short, being on the same page as the factory was the best outcome Su Taotao could hope for.

In principle, she also needed to run her leave by him.

After Xiao Lu left, Su Taotao called Zhang Jingan.

Hearing that she was taking leave to visit family in G City, Zhang Jingan went quiet for a beat.

How things played out this time around had already diverged completely from the last.

Even if Su Taotao returned to G City, she probably wouldn’t get back with Xu Jiadong, nor would she walk out on her family and never return, right?

The silence stretched so long that Su Taotao couldn’t help calling out: "Secretary Zhang?"

Zhang Jingan quickly recovered:

—"Apologies, someone came to report work just now and distracted me. If there’s anything to hand over during your leave, just pass it my way."

Su Taotao: "Alright, I’ll swing by later."

—"Sure."

"Do you need me to bring anything to your family?" Su Taotao asked politely.

—"No need, thank you. I sent stuff home before the Dragon Boat Festival."

…

After hanging up, it was Su Taotao’s turn to fall silent.

Polished, unassuming, and fair-minded—just like her first impression of him.

Time tells you who someone really is. He truly was a good person and a Good Secretary.

Maybe she’d misjudged him all along.