Why did Senior Zhou ask about this?

Xia Xiaolan obediently nodded, “Senior, you have such a good memory, remembering after hearing it just once from Teacher.”

Zhou Maotong laughed heartily, “It’s not that I have a good memory. I just remembered that my cousin’s daughter got into Tsinghua last year, and when she asked me what major to study, I naturally recommended architecture!”

Xia Xiaolan was slightly startled – what a coincidence.

“Senior Zhou, is your niece Zhou Limin?”

The 84′ Architecture Department had three classes with only 15 female students in total, and only one surnamed Zhou – Xia Xiaolan’s roommate Zhou Limin.

Zhou Limin was from Yangcheng in Guangdong Province. Although Xia Xiaolan frequently visited Yangcheng, she was always busy with business matters and had never visited Zhou Limin’s home. She hadn’t imagined that Zhou Limin would have such a prestigious uncle – for architecture students, having an uncle like Zhou Maotong who held an important position in Guangdong Provincial Construction was an incredible background!

Zhou Maotong nodded, “That’s right. You must know her – there aren’t many girls studying architecture.”

“More than just knowing her – Limin is my roommate. Our entire dorm gets along very well!”

With this connection to Zhou Limin, Xia Xiaolan felt closer to Zhou Maotong.

Her comment about Dorm 307’s good relationship wasn’t false. Even Mao Kangshan knew that Xia Xiaolan had brought her roommate to Pengcheng for summer work – how could she do that if they weren’t close?

However, Zhou Maotong hadn’t mentioned his niece before, keeping even Mao Kangshan in the dark.

Mao Kangshan glared, “You insisted on coming to Pengcheng just to tell your junior sister this?”

Zhou Maotong didn’t dare put on airs in front of his teacher, repeatedly asking for mercy: “Of course not. I came to personally check on the situation here and meet little martial sister. We’ll be interacting in the future – shouldn’t we meet now rather than risk not recognizing each other later?”

Zhou Maotong was genuinely curious about Xia Xiaolan.

Knowing she was in the same class as his niece, he wanted to meet her in person.

It wasn’t about using his niece to build connections, but he naturally wanted to meet the undergraduate architecture student who his teacher had exceptionally accepted as a closed-door disciple.

“Sister Xia, I must thank you for reinvigorating Teacher’s spirit and rekindling his desire to teach. I’m most happy that because of you, the Teacher is willing to contact me again! But personal relationships can’t affect business matters. If starting a company is just a whim, I advise you to abandon the idea early. This industry requires dealing with many people, and construction quality can’t be compromised… I can let your company affiliate with Guangdong Construction, but I can also terminate it at any time, understand?”

If Mao Kangshan hadn’t been watching, Zhou Maotong would have been even less polite.

Mainly because Xia Xiaolan was too young, which made her seem unreliable to someone like Zhou Maotong. Youth meant inexperience, not knowing how difficult real estate development could be, with its numerous challenges. If she quit halfway, Zhou Maotong couldn’t do anything about it – she’d lose her own capital.

However, with the Guangdong Construction connection, Zhou Maotong would be responsible for the building quality.

While it was true that Mao Kangshan liked Xia Xiaolan, Zhou Maotong had to meet her personally, worried that his elderly teacher might have become confused. Being sweet-talked into accepting a closed-door disciple and working hard for that disciple wasn’t a big deal.

But if the closed-door disciple proved unreliable and things ended badly, it would likely devastate their teacher.

Zhou Maotong, like Mao Guosheng, didn’t fully trust Xia Xiaolan.

But Zhou Maotong’s advantage was his frankness. His clear expression of doubt didn’t make people dislike him; instead, it made Xia Xiaolan feel favorably toward this senior – both were taught by Mao Kangshan and if Mao Kangshan taught his students well, could it be that he truly neglected his own son’s education before?

They learned the same things, yet their abilities were completely different, which explained why Zhou Maotong and Mao Guosheng achieved different levels of career success.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t know if Mao Guosheng could understand this point, but hearing Zhou Maotong’s words, she wasn’t angry at all. She put aside her previous playful smile and spoke seriously:

“I take Senior’s teachings to heart. Getting into real estate development is something I’ve considered for two years, not a sudden whim. I’ve prepared the registration capital, choosing the land for development, and have my plans for the entire project. Please help me, Senior Zhou!”

Zhou Maotong’s expression remained serious:

“Alright, tell me about it in detail.”

The two martial siblings ignored their teacher Mao Kangshan and the eavesdropping Mao Guosheng. Xia Xiaolan answered all of Zhou Maotong’s questions earnestly.

Their question-and-answer session lasted two hours without them realizing it.

Initially, Zhou Maotong’s brows were furrowed, but gradually they relaxed.

By the end, Zhou Maotong was completely at ease:

“You’re smart and determined. Your talent isn’t just in architecture – you also understand business matters. I shouldn’t have doubted you because of your age. Senior Brother apologizes to you!”

Xia Xiaolan quickly waved her hands: “How can you say that, Senior? This wasn’t doubt – it was your concern for the Teacher and care for me. Anyone hearing that I want to do real estate development would react like you did, but you came here personally instead of making excuses to refuse help. How could I not understand your protective intentions?”

Xia Xiaolan liked Zhou Maotong.

Zhou Maotong also felt very positively about Xia Xiaolan.

He had expected youthful impulsiveness but found her words and actions very reliable. Zhou Maotong expressed his happiness at their teacher having such a junior disciple.

The gap between people was truly vast, Zhou Maotong thought of his niece.

He always paid extra attention to younger generations who could get into Tsinghua’s Architecture Department with such good academic performance.

But Xia Xiaolan, who was the same age as Zhou Limin, had already moved ahead of her peers – not just by one or two steps, but by several! While Zhou Limin was still learning textbook knowledge, Xia Xiaolan was both learning and using that knowledge to create wealth… this was the difference between people.

After discussing the qualifications, Zhou Maotong changed the subject:

“Little martial sister, for your real estate development, you can’t handle everything alone – you still have to study. If you want to hire help, I can make some recommendations.”

Xia Xiaolan was delighted: “Senior Zhou, if you could recommend suitable candidates, that would be a huge help!”

Zhou Maotong nodded, “As long as you don’t think I’m overstepping. But I need to ask for their opinions first, waiting until your company is officially established and the staffing is roughly settled.”

The prospect Zhou Maotong described made Xia Xiaolan dream.

First, establish the company, then acquire that piece of land – she realized her goal of earning 1 million yuan this year wasn’t set right… Previously she thought it was too low, but now thinking about it, it was too optimistic. How could she earn 1 million? If things went smoothly, she’d owe the bank several million!

But this debt would be worth it – as they say, being able to borrow from banks is a capability.

People without capability want to borrow from banks, but it depends on whether banks are willing to lend.