Su Ning naturally saw Ye Tang's confusion.
She smiled without saying a word.
Of course she would know. Ye Tang, the only daughter of an unfavored first wife in an official's family, was inherently smart, independent, and stubborn. But being independent didn't mean she didn't long for family affection.
Her name was taken from a poem.
It represented the rare fatherly love her father had shown. In the original novel, Ye Tang had once mentioned this to Fang Lin—yes, that Fang Lin from the Fang family.
Speaking of which, she was actually a female lead.
However, upon returning to the country in the original story, wasn't Ye Tang supposed to be hired as a teacher at a middle school? How did she end up working as a reporter at a newspaper agency now?
Su Ning couldn't figure it out, so she stopped thinking about it.
Come on, with so many plot characters already defeated by her, wasn't a little change normal? If everything remained exactly the same, that would truly be creepy.
The inertia of maintaining the plot would have been too strong.
"Ye Tang, I'll remember your name." Su Ning tilted her head slightly and said to Lin Sen, "Don't confiscate her camera. Let's just... use this photo."
After speaking, she looked at Reporter Ye with a smile:
"I hope your photo is as good as you claim, otherwise I will be angry."
Then she left.
At this moment, Ye Tang hadn't fully reacted yet and nodded subconsciously. She was very confident in her skills. The lighting and composition just now were absolutely beautiful. Even though the photo hadn't been developed yet, there was no way it would look bad!
The others, however, were dumbfounded.
Lin Sen felt like he had seen this kind of scene quite a few times already.
Meanwhile, Ye Tang's fellow reporter, a middle-aged man, flushed red with excitement. He was a veteran and had originally been very unhappy about being asked to mentor a rookie like Ye Tang, feeling she would just hold him back.
Now, looking at her, it was as if she were glowing!
"This is great, Ye Tang! Miss Su personally requested to use your photo. Do you know what this means?"
He received no response.
He didn't mind and answered himself:
"With so many newspaper agencies in Peiping, none can take Miss Su's photo without her permission. This means they will all have to pay a price to exchange for this precious photo! Hahahahaha, the boss will definitely be thrilled."
"And there's more. For such hot news as the fertilizer plant's production line, our Peiping Morning Post will be the first newspaper in Peiping—no, in the whole country—to publish it. The early bird gets the worm... the latecomers will only get the leftovers."
Saying this, he cast an envious and jealous glance at Ye Tang:
"You're going to be famous too."
"Is that so?"
Ye Tang's response wasn't very enthusiastic. As she said those words, she couldn't help but look at the figure at the very front, surrounded like the moon by the stars, her eyes complex and puzzled.
When she was abroad, she and Fang Lin were classmates.
Although for certain reasons, their relationship wasn't particularly close.
But upon returning to the country and learning of his fate, she still felt a bit of pity in her heart. Consequently, her first impression of Su Ning was that of someone who was not to be trifled with, cold-blooded, and domineering—not to the point of disgust, but definitely someone best avoided.
But now, she was favored by Su Ning?
The wind blew past.
Ye Tang lowered her head and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. The feeling in her heart was hard to describe; there was a strange sort of excitement, along with the joy of having her talent recognized.
There was even a hint of guilt towards Fang Lin.
In short, it was a complete mess.
...
Meanwhile.
Su Ning wasn't thinking that much. Finding another female lead was certainly something to be happy about, but that was about it. Counting them up, she actually already had quite a few tier-one and tier-two plot characters in her hands.
Not to mention anything else.
Take Guan Jixing and Mu Wan, for example. These two male and female leads, who believed love was supreme and loved each other to death, were now contributing a wave of rewards to her every few days.
She didn't know if their defenses were being broken by Guan Xiunian or that amusing Second Uncle Guan—Su Ning had already crowned them as the ultimate chives waiting to be harvested.
They were both durable for harvesting and easy to harvest.
Not far away in the crowd, Second Uncle Guan suddenly sneezed loudly. He sniffled, suspecting that his unlucky nephew and his future wife were muttering curses at him again.
Hmph, he wasn't afraid of that.
Second Uncle Guan thought smugly. How smart he was to have sought out Miss Su's uncle early on for a fortune-telling session. Of course, he was quite satisfied with the result.
It said he would suddenly meet a noble benefactor, and if he had the sharp eyes to recognize them, he could seize the opportunity to change his fate and improve his luck, leading a smooth-sailing life.
As for who this noble benefactor was?
Miss Su, of course!
Not only that, but not long after he had his fortune told and requested a peace amulet, Miss Su's uncle became famous. Many important figures flocked to ask for his fortune-telling, and now he only did one reading a day.
And that depended on whether he was in a good mood that day.
Thinking of this, Second Uncle Guan stopped thinking about his unlucky nephew. He was easy to deal with anyway. He just needed to kindly ask him when he was going to marry Mu Wan, who was heavily pregnant but still just his fiancee, when he got back.
The focus now was on pleasing Miss Su.
So he squeezed his way out of the crowd and started brown-nosing non-stop. And to be honest, he was quite gifted at it.
For one thing, not everyone could put their pride aside.
For another, Second Uncle Guan's flattery was quite original. It wasn't so exaggerated that it made the person being flattered feel awkward, yet it praised Su Ning just right.
Su Ning, well, Su Ning actually quite enjoyed listening to it.
So she didn't signal to send Second Uncle Guan away. Seeing this, some of the others were red-eyed with jealousy, but unfortunately, this ecological niche had already been occupied early on, leaving no room for a second person.
They could only curse furiously in their hearts.
Sycophant, shameless, spineless...
"...Miss Su, such an excellent fertilizer production line is only fitting for someone as incredibly capable as you. Once the fertilizer is produced, this will be a golden goose that lays golden eggs. Truly, extraordinary people do business in an extraordinary way."
Second Uncle Guan finished in one breath.
He said expectantly:
"Now everything is ready and all we need is the final push—when does Miss Su's fertilizer plant plan to start construction? Although our Guan family is not worth mentioning, we would also like to exert some effort for you."
The keyword was triggered.
Su Ning instantly felt countless eager gazes. Shifting her eyes slightly, those who met her gaze were all desperately trying to express their sincere desire to contribute to the fertilizer plant!
"I don't like to dawdle. The production line has arrived, and construction will begin tomorrow."
The crowd's eyes grew even more fervent.
"As for helping..." Su Ning said unhurriedly, "Actually, the preliminary preparations are mostly done. This is thanks to the government's attention and Mayor Chen's concern for the fertilizer plant..."
Damn it, who wants to hear these empty platitudes?
At this moment.
The people present were like pitiful students on a playground listening to the principal's speech. They didn't dare to interrupt, but they were suffering internally, only able to pray desperately for Su Ning to finish quickly.
"However—"
Su Ning smiled and swept her gaze over everyone one by one, speaking in a rarely gentle tone:
"Everyone here has supported me greatly, and my personal temper isn't very good. These past few days, thanks to Boss Duan and the rest of you for your tolerance, I won't hog all the profits to myself this time."
Hogging all the profits wouldn't be easy to swallow anyway.
The preparation and construction of the fertilizer plant wasn't that simple. Electricity, raw materials, and transportation were all issues. The more people she brought in to form a larger interest group, the less attacks and resistance she would face later on.
Even if the plant was built.
The Republic of China era was so chaotic, and her foundation here was insufficient. Without a safe and unimpeded sales channel, it was very likely that the fertilizer would be produced but couldn't be sold.
She might even sell it but not be able to collect the money!
Hearing Su Ning's words, the crowd breathed a sigh of relief, their faces beaming with joy.
Boss Duan smiled like a Maitreya Buddha:
"There are too few people as generous and true to their word as Miss Su nowadays. We are actually taking advantage of you. How about this: let us organize a gathering later to properly discuss what each of us can contribute."
"We will allocate the shares based on the level of contribution."
"Of course, Miss Su will definitely take the lion's share. Without the production line, everything else is just an empty dream."
The crowd voiced their agreement one after another.
Even if they disagreed, they had to swallow it down; Su Ning's heavily armed subordinates were still standing right there.
"That is how it should be. Some people should be a bit more self-aware. If you know you do not have the ability to contribute, do not join in the fun. Wasting our time is one thing, but Miss Su's time is extremely precious."
"Who says otherwise? Do not delay the construction of the fertilizer plant."
"The common folks are waiting for the fertilizer."
"Perhaps, for every second delayed, another person starves to death. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. We need to hurry up, get the factory ready, and produce the fertilizer. It is exactly spring, so we can still make it in time for the sowing season."
Su Ning listened to their discussion in silence.
Her thoughts drifted. Building the fertilizer plant could be considered her contribution to the Republic of China. Although it was like trying to put out a roaring fire with a single scoop of water, there would always be some people who could pull through because of it...
So, she had accumulated good karma once again!
"System, get my lottery draw ready. I will start the draw as soon as I go back and consult my uncle."
Heh, she certainly called him uncle affectionately enough.
Those who did not know would think they were real blood relatives.
The Rich and Heartless System mocked inwardly.
"Just a reminder, Host: your ten-million spending mission is about to be completed. Let me see... the progress is only thirty-five silver dollars away. This system congratulates you in advance. The reward upon completing this mission will be quite a pleasant surprise."
