Chapter 85 Confrontation

Chapter 85: Confrontation

A copy?!

When Xie Xinyi heard the news, she thought she was hearing things.

She looked at Old Liu, who was sitting in his chair lost in thought, and carefully reviewed their entire development process.

Back when she and Old Liu were making the ice pops, everyone from the Ice Pop Team was present, and there were even a few people from the Sweet Rice Ball Team observing from the sidelines.

With so many people watching, it was hard to identify any suspects.

But just to be safe, Xie Xinyi had prepared the ingredient ratios in the warehouse beforehand. She only mentioned a few key points to Guo Lishu and the others during the mixing process, without revealing the exact changes.

She had kept a trick up her sleeve, so even if there had been a spy from Hongguang Food Factory in the crowd, they shouldn’t have known the formula.

Moreover, the timing didn’t add up.

Xie Xinyi and the others had sent the new product for review and pricing at the commercial bureau on the very afternoon they developed it.

Without knowing the formula and without enough time, how could there be two identical new products, both appearing simultaneously during the commercial bureau’s review process?

Unlike last time, when the imitation appeared after their product hit the market, this time they were confronted directly during the review stage.

Xie Xinyi thought for a long time but couldn’t figure out where things had gone wrong. Old Liu was equally puzzled.

Yuan Kang recounted the trouble he'd run into at the commercial bureau.

“They asked us to go back and discuss whether we should put both products out at the same time or develop a new one.”

“Releasing both is impossible.”

After the lesson of being copied last time, although their factory now puts its name on the packaging, this time both sides had submitted their products for pricing at the commercial bureau simultaneously.

Timing was not on their side this time. No matter how prominently they wrote “Guohui Food Factory,” consumers would still buy whichever one they preferred.

Besides, Yuan Kang mentioned that the new product Hongguang Food Factory submitted for review looked exactly the same as theirs. If he hadn’t been holding their factory’s product at the time, he would've thought he was seeing things.

Without the formula, they had produced something identical to theirs.

If they went head-to-head with Hongguang Food Factory, there would be nothing to gain whatsoever. It might even waste all the hard work their factory had put in so far.

Old Liu didn’t want to engage in a pointless argument with such people and decided to give up on the Seven Dwarfs.

Although Yuan Kang felt frustrated, thinking about what Hongguang Food Factory had said to his face, he had no choice but to agree with Old Liu’s suggestion.

The other party had told the commercial bureau that this was their only new product for the season, so they had no intention of giving it up or developing a new one.

Since Hongguang Food Factory refused to back down, Guohui Food Factory had to be the one to concede.

The commercial bureau demanded a prompt response from their factory. After reporting the situation to Fang Mingan, who was on a business trip, they divided up the work.

One group, led by Yuan Kang, would respond to the commercial bureau. The other, consisting of Old Liu and Xie Xinyi, would put in extra hours to develop a new product as quickly as possible that could compete with the Seven Dwarfs.

As a seasoned master, Old Liu was deeply troubled by this incident. From the moment he learned about it until the start of the new development, the old man kept frowning and spoke even less than before.

Xie Xinyi had also been thinking through the details these past few days but still had no ideas.

Master and apprentice tacitly avoided discussing the matter further, focusing instead on what new product could rival the Seven Dwarfs.

“Master, how about making a hand grenade?”

Considering that the Seven Dwarfs primarily appealed to children, Xie Xinyi shared her idea.

“Hand grenade?”

The name for this ice cream was coined by children in her previous life.

Because its shape resembled the hand grenades seen in war dramas, this ice cream was really popular with kids.

The name was unusual, but Xie Xinyi believed it would grab consumers’ attention.

A unique name and novel design were key to a product’s success, with taste being secondary.

She understood this well, and Old Liu, as an experienced master, knew this better than anyone.

The Seven Dwarfs were Xie Xinyi’s creation—both the formula and the name were her work. Old Liu felt no one understood the new product better than she did. So, when Xie Xinyi suggested making a hand grenade, although he didn’t quite get it, he didn’t argue.

“Draw a sketch first.”

Time was tight this time. They needed to create a product that could beat out the Seven Dwarfs in the shortest time possible.

There was no room for trial and error. The quickest and most effective approach was to sketch the proposed product first.

They would assess whether the design was competitive. If it passed, they would move on to developing the formula.

Unlike before, where they would jump right into testing with ideas, Old Liu took out pen and paper and asked Xie Xinyi to sketch her ideas first.

The more designs, the better. He refused to believe that, with Xie Xinyi and himself on the case, Hongguang Food Factory could still get the better of them!

Old Liu snorted in anger. Xie Xinyi knew the old man was determined to outdo Hongguang Food Factory and didn’t hold back. In no time, she had sketched several unforgettable ice cream shapes on paper.

“This is the hand grenade I mentioned,” she explained, pointing to the first sketch. “I’m not great at drawing, so please bear with it. But this is the general idea—it’s very distinctive.”

Old Liu followed her finger and looked.

On the cream-colored letter paper, a plump, round object immediately caught his eye.

From the first day he started working with ice pops, he had only ever seen flat or rectangular shapes—the most common designs on the market.

Before Xie Xinyi came along, Old Liu had assumed all ice pops were like that. But after the girl arrived, the shapes of ice pops underwent a complete change.

There was the doll-like Doll Head Ice Cream, the sandwich resembling a stuffed biscuit, the corn-shaped ice pop, and now the hand grenade.

Old Liu had no idea where the girl came up with such strange ideas.

They were quirky and unconventional, something he couldn’t quite grasp, but he liked them.

After examining Xie Xinyi’s hand grenade design, he followed her introduction to look at the others.

“Let’s go with the hand grenade.”

The other ideas were good too, but as Xie Xinyi had said, to beat the Seven Dwarfs, the hand grenade was the most suitable and competitive option.

He fully agreed with his apprentice’s idea. Once they decided on the new product, Old Liu and Xie Xinyi began working on the formula.

According to Xie Xinyi's recollection, the outer layer of the grenade-shaped ice cream was an orange-flavored ice coating, while the inside contained cream-flavored ice cream.

The flavor wasn’t complicated, and the recipe was simple—it was just the mold that was a bit more complex and needed to be custom-made.

“I’ll handle the communication with the mold supplier. You focus on working out the proportions over the next couple of days.”

The people in the procurement department were known for judging people by their status. Back when Old Liu took Xie Xinyi on as his apprentice, these people did plenty of gossiping behind their backs.

As a newcomer, Xie Xinyi might easily be turned away with a few dismissive words if she went to the procurement department herself.

Old Liu didn’t want his prized apprentice to be mistreated, so he took on the most difficult task himself, letting Xie Xinyi focus solely on her recipe.

The old man was protective, and Xie Xinyi didn’t argue with him.

She wasn’t the type to seek the spotlight or take on everything herself.

The people in the procurement department were shrewd and hard to deal with—it was better for her to stick to what she was good at.

This time was different from before. She had to create a new product that would outshine all the others to get her master some well-deserved recognition, so after work, she went to the hospital to give Sister Tian a heads-up.

“I’ll be quite busy over the coming period. Would you mind helping take care of things at night?”

Xie Xinyi paid Sister Tian the agreed-upon fee of one yuan per night and also bought her breakfast meal tickets from the cafeteria.

Only after making arrangements for her mother did she go back to check on her child.

Because she had been taking care of her mother at night over the past few months, Xie Xinyi had rarely stayed overnight at home and had spent very little time with Xiao Yue'er.

But fortunately, blood ties run deep.

Even though it had been a long time since she’d seen her child, the little one still babbled and reached out with both hands, lunging into her arms the moment she saw her.

When the child was six months old, Wen Shuhua had started adding complementary foods as Xie Xinyi had requested.

With solid foods and formula, Xiao Yue'er had clearly gotten a lot stronger.

Her little feet pressed up and down on Xie Xinyi’s stomach, and before she could even climb up, Xie Xinyi winced in pain.

“You’re hurting Mommy.”

Wen Shuhua, noticing Xie Xinyi’s pained expression, took the child while laughing and said, “She’s really strong. The other day, her father was napping with her, and she kicked him so hard in his sleep that he saw stars. His face was swollen by the afternoon.”

Xie Xinyi found it amusing and went over to tickle the little one, asking if she had deliberately bullied her dad.

“Giggle… giggle…”

Xiao Yue'er curled up in Wen Shuhua’s arms, laughing uncontrollably. Amid the laughter, Gu Yu returned home.

The swelling from where the child had kicked him near his eye hadn’t gone down yet. After washing his hands in the bathroom, he took Xiao Yue'er from Wen Shuhua and held her.

“I just went to the hospital. Sister Tian said you were back.”

No wonder he hadn’t shown any surprise to see Xie Xinyi at home—he had already been to the hospital.

During the time Xie Xinyi’s mother had been hospitalized, Gu Yu had visited and helped care for her every day. When Xie Xinyi stayed overnight, he would keep her company until the hospital lights went out before leaving.

Whether it was because they had discussed their future plans or for some other reason, the man seemed less busy lately—no overtime, no business trips.

Xie Xinyi wondered if Gu Yu was already making plans. That night, as she lay in bed, she considered asking him, but as soon as the door closed, he pressed close to her.

Earlier in the living room, Gu Yu had managed to maintain a calm and composed demeanor despite his excitement, but now…

As soon as he locked the door, he wrapped his arms around her. His moist lips met hers, and the question Xie Xinyi had meant to ask stuck in her throat.

It felt like drowning—she could barely catch her breath, and her body went weak all over.

Gu Yu’s broad hand cradled her head, pulling her closer. In a low, husky voice, he whispered during a brief pause, “Sweetheart.”

“That tickles!”

Xie Xinyi squirmed away, pushing against his shoulders to keep him from moving recklessly.

But her arms had little strength. What was meant to be a restraint now seemed more like a coy refusal.

She had no idea how she looked—her fair cheeks flushed with an intoxicating rosy hue, the corners of her eyes slightly upturned, her gaze unfocused. Her voice, already soft, now sounded even more like a coquettish plea.

Gu Yu’s grip tightened, and his kiss deepened even further.

“You…”

She wanted to say something, but as soon as she spoke, a sudden sense of weightlessness swept over her. The man lifted her by the waist, and before she could process it, she found herself sinking into the soft bed.

The familiar scene felt like a return to that day. Everything was so recognizable, yet it still made Xie Xinyi nervous.

She half-propped herself up, leaning against the soft pillows Gu Yu had arranged to support her.

Beside her ear, the man, noticing her tension, made a hoarse promise. But then…

Gu Yu got carried away and broke his word. By the time Xie Xinyi lay curled up on the bed like a kitten, she didn’t even have the strength to pound the mattress in frustration.

She shot a resentful glance at the man who was now tidying up, then turned over, facing away from the culprit, and ignored him for the rest of the night.

*A man who doesn’t keep his word.*

The next morning, Xie Xinyi’s annoyance hadn’t subsided.

Nearing thirty, it was understandable if he didn’t know his own strength the first time. The second time, after going without for so long, sucking so hard he left marks on her was something she could also excuse. But now, as a father, he still hadn’t learned to be gentler—Xie Xinyi could only sigh in resignation.

She looked down at the clearly visible red marks on her body, then, supporting her aching lower back, picked out a long-sleeved jacket from the wardrobe to cover them.

When she went downstairs for breakfast, Gu Yu had, as usual, gotten up early to queue for her favorite fried dough sticks. But that did nothing to change the fact that he was to blame.

Xie Xinyi chatted cheerfully with Wen Shuhua and Grandma Gu, but she kept a cold face toward Gu Yu, refusing to speak to him or acknowledge the culprit throughout the entire meal.

Perhaps aware of his mistake, Gu Yu insisted on accompanying her to the hospital to see her mother and then personally saw her off to the factory gate.

Uncle Wang, seeing them approach one after the other, greeted Xie Xinyi, “Here for work?”

Xie Xinyi smiled and responded to Uncle Wang, then walked straight toward the workshop without looking back.

Uncle Wang: “...”

What was this?

A fight?

Once in the workshop, Xie Xinyi felt too drained to muster any energy. The slightest movement made her back ache and her hands cramp. Old Liu, noticing her condition, thought she might be ill. “Why don’t you go home and rest for a bit?”

“No need.”

She wasn’t sick, so going home to rest was unnecessary. Besides, she had a heavy workload today and needed to finalize the formula for the “Grenade” ice cream as soon as possible.

The procurement department had promised to procure the new molds promptly yesterday. To avoid delaying the new product launch, she and Old Liu needed to work faster.

Xie Xinyi briefly described the taste she remembered to Old Liu. Based on his experience, Liu Yinsheng determined the proportions before lunch.

Without the molds, he first made a prototype using the old corn ice cream mold. After four hours of cooling and two hours of setting and demolding, Old Liu tasted the finished product.

“Not good.”

The orange flavor was too strong, while the milk ice cream flavor was too weak.

He frowned and immediately decided to start over—without even letting Xie Xinyi taste it.

Xie Xinyi glanced at the discarded sample in the trash bin and went to the storage room to fetch fresh raw materials.

After several rounds of new product development, Xie Xinyi had already grasped Old Liu’s workflow.

As Old Liu poured milk powder into the mixing basin, Xie Xinyi quickly handed him sugar. Once all ingredients were measured and added, she picked up the stirring rod from the workbench and passed it to him.

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, the master craftsman and the young woman worked in seamless harmony—neither uttering a word.

This time, Old Liu took the appearance of an identical new product more personally than anyone else.

As head technician of the factory, Hongguang Food Factory’s move was essentially a slap in his face.

Throughout history, the food industry had seen plagiarism, imitation, and trends—but never anything like this.

Having two identical new products appear during the review process was deeply humiliating. The pride Guohui Food Factory once held in Old Liu was now matched only by the humiliation he felt.

Xie Xinyi watched the old man working intently with a stern expression at the workbench—her feelings indescribable.

Knowing Old Liu was upset, she didn’t try to reassure him not to worry. Instead, she quietly stayed by his side, doing her best to support him in this tough battle.

By the time Old Liu placed the second batch of cooled “grenades” into the setting machine, stars were already twinkling outside the window.

Uncle Wang, knowing they had been working overtime these past few days, soon arrived at the workshop with Black Tiger.

He reheated the wild-vegetable buns he’d brought from home for Xie Xinyi and Old Liu, urging them to eat before continuing.

“Some things can’t be rushed. Stop, take a breath, clear your head.”

As he spoke, Uncle Wang broke off a piece of his bun and tossed it to Black Tiger, who was lying by the door.

The big black tiger wasn’t picky—he ate anything Uncle Wang gave him.

Holding the dark wild-vegetable bun in his front paws, he sniffed it, pawed at it, then opened his mouth wide and took a big bite, emitting a satisfied, muffled sound.

Uncle Wang chuckled. Turning around, he saw Old Liu holding his bun without taking a bite—and immediately tried to cheer him up by sharing his own past experiences.

“You always take things too seriously. You take everything to heart, get stuck in your own head, exhausting yourself and others.”

After being injured and discharged from the army, Uncle Wang was assigned as a security guard at Guohui Food Factory—and had known Old Liu for many years.

They were around the same age and both stubborn. Logic suggested they wouldn’t get along—but somehow, their shared stubbornness made them understand each other better than anyone else.

Over the years, Uncle Wang had seen Old Liu lose his beloved apprentice, suffer betrayal, and endure several major ups and downs in his career—yet always manage to pull through. He believed this time would be no different.

He drew upon his military experience to advise Old Liu—just as he had done in the past, when Liu Yinsheng had no one to talk to and would linger in the guardhouse.

Uncle Wang alternated between coaxing and scolding, his expressions vivid and his words passionate. Not only Old Liu—but even Xie Xinyi felt inspired listening to him.

She watched the animated Uncle Wang—and noticed that Liu Yinsheng, who had barely spoken all day, finally took a bite of his wild-vegetable bun. Though he didn’t display the same admiration she felt for Uncle Wang, the wrinkles on his forehead visibly relaxed.

“Alright…” he interrupted Uncle Wang’s monologue, “enough of your old stories. You might not be tired of them—but the young people probably are.”

Xie Xinyi, who had been listening with great interest: “?????”

The old man lacked martial virtue! As Uncle Wang looked her way, she was about to wave her hands in denial—when the setting machine timer went off.

“Xinyi, go get it and taste it.”

Perhaps Uncle Wang had actually gotten through to him—Old Liu sat lazily on the steps, nibbling his bun as he instructed Xie Xinyi to taste the new batch.

Even when Xie Xinyi said the flavor was still slightly off, Old Liu simply stood up, brushed off his hands, and said they’d continue tomorrow.

Gone was the earlier impatience and anxiety over failure. He even cracked a joke with Uncle Wang before locking up.

Xie Xinyi—who had worried the old man might work himself into illness—finally breathed a sigh of relief. She then let the two elderly men—whose combined age exceeded one hundred—walk her to the factory gate and hand her over to Gu Yu, who was already waiting outside.

Old Liu was no longer anxious—but that didn’t mean Xie Xinyi could relax.

She channeled Hongguang Food Factory’s provocation into motivation. After several failed attempts, she finally succeeded in replicating the taste from her memory—on the day the new molds arrived.

This time, she didn’t ask Cui Mama or Big Chen to help with taste-testing. As soon as the product was ready, she and Old Liu went straight to the factory director’s office.

Fang Mingan had returned from his out-of-town meeting a couple of days earlier. Upon returning, he first received a briefing from Yuan Kang, then visited the workshop to offer a few words of consolation to Old Liu.

Like Xie Xinyi, he worried the old man might fall ill from anger—and didn’t push them at all.

However, just because Director Fang wasn’t pushing them didn’t mean they could afford to be slow.

Xie Xinyi brought the new product to the office and asked Deputy Factory Manager Yuan to quickly go to the Commercial Bureau for review and pricing.

“I’ll go.”

Fang Mingan glanced at the new product in Xie Xinyi’s hand. Without waiting for her explanation, he picked up his bag and headed straight for the Commercial Bureau.

This time, they decided not to play their cards close. The new product’s name and price had already been finalized before they left the factory.

They adopted the name “Grenade”—a casual suggestion by Xie Xinyi. The price was set slightly lower than that of the “Seven Dwarfs” ice cream, aiming to regain market share through superior value.

On the day the Grenade officially launched, Xie Xinyi and Old Liu went together to a non-staple food store.

This was the store where their factory had the strongest distribution. Because it attracted far more shoppers, it offered a better market than the department store. The two stayed from morning until evening. Before they could finalize the sales data, they were met by a flustered Cui Jun.

“Xinyi—quick, quick—go to the hospital! Your mom—your mom—she…”

“She’s awake!”