The school was about to start.

The land acquisition in Chou Bamboo Gully was still going through procedures, and Xia Xiaolan was quite anxious about it.

She didn’t yet know that Zhou Maotong wanted to recommend Mao Guosheng to work for her. If she knew, given her character of neither causing trouble nor fearing it, and her tendency to face difficulties head-on, she would teach Mao Guosheng how to behave properly. After all, bosses discipline employees into submission, not the other way around – if an employee has leverage over their boss, it doesn’t mean the boss is approachable, but rather that they’re spineless!

Mao Guosheng remained stubbornly resistant. Zhou Maotong had a private conversation with Mao Kangshan, who finally understood Zhou’s intentions.

However, having Xia Xiaolan influence Mao Guosheng indirectly was quite different from completely handing his son over to her management. Mao Kangshan wasn’t worried about her ability to manage him well; he was concerned about her getting exhausted. At the core, it was simply a master being concerned for his young apprentice. Mao Guosheng was nearly forty, with a well-established personality – why burden Xia Xiaolan with him?

“No, let me think about it some more.”

Though Mao Kangshan understood, he didn’t immediately agree with Zhou Maotong’s suggestion.

Since Xia Xiaolan’s situation couldn’t wait, Zhou Maotong introduced her to someone else named Wang Houlin.

Wang Houlin’s situation was relatively complex. He worked for Guangdong Provincial Construction, and like Jiang Wu, he walked with a limp after falling bricks and injured his foot during a construction accident. While this didn’t necessarily prevent Wang Houlin from working – at most, he’d just make fewer site visits – his family situation was complicated. He had a son and daughter; while his daughter had secured a good job, his son wasn’t as ambitious and remained unemployed. When Wang Houlin got injured, he took early medical retirement so his son could take his position at Guangdong Provincial Construction.

This was characteristic of the era – Wang Houlin had to retire early at just over 50.

While Guangdong Provincial Construction would provide his pension, Wang Houlin felt too young to idle at home. Zhou Maotong, his colleague of many years who knew his reliability, recommended him to Xia Xiaolan.

As a retiree seeking re-employment, Wang Houlin wasn’t concerned about career prospects since he had Guangdong Provincial Construction as a safety net, and he was willing to try his luck at this new real estate company.

Without even meeting Wang Houlin in person, Xia Xiaolan offered him a base salary of 600 yuan per month.

“Once we secure the land, Engineer Wang can come work in Shenzhen. Qihang only has this one major project this year. Engineer Wang will need to work a bit harder since I can only visit Shenzhen once a week at most.”

A base salary of 600 yuan per month.

How much would it cost to rent a place in Shenzhen?

Once Qihang’s construction site was operational, Wang Houlin was even willing to live in the workers’ dormitory.

Money makes the world go round. Xia Xiaolan’s generosity pleased Zhou Maotong, who felt she handled things well and showed great respect by not questioning his recommendation.

“Six hundred yuan per month means 7,200 yuan in salary alone per year. With potential project completion bonuses, annual income could exceed 10,000 yuan.”

Mao Kangshan was just making casual conversation with his wife, somewhat worried about his apprentice.

Running your own business was completely different from managing a company.

Running your own business at worst meant not making money, but running a company was different. Hiring Wang Houlin was just the beginning – he was Xia Xiaolan’s first construction engineer, and she naturally had to offer a high salary.

Qihang Real Estate couldn’t operate with just one person.

Besides a construction engineer, they needed an accountant, office clerks, and people to manage the construction teams… All told, a company needed at least twenty people to function. Even if others earned less than Wang Houlin, the annual payroll would still be a huge expense!

Then there was the office space.

As Mao Kangshan counted these expenses on his fingers for Song Daniang, her heart also tightened:

“Old Mao, then we can’t stay in Shenzhen anymore, it’s too expensive!”

Little Xia’s money didn’t grow on trees, and they should save where they could. Song Daniang was still looking out for Xia Xiaolan’s interests.

However, Mao Kangshan disagreed. First, he had promised Zhou Maotong to be a consultant for Guangdong Provincial Construction and couldn’t immediately return to Hangzhou. Second, he wasn’t comfortable with Xia Xiaolan buying land and building houses without him seeing the property.

How could Wang Houlin, no matter how capable, compare to him?

Mao Kangshan thought he should stay in Shenzhen to keep an eye on things for Xia Xiaolan.

“We can’t keep staying in hotels. Let’s ask around about renting a place in Shenzhen for a while. Don’t rush back.”

Mao Guosheng was dumbfounded.

His father was retired and only stayed in Hangzhou because the Provincial Institute rehired him.

Such rehiring had no restrictions – he could quit anytime. Even if Mao Kangshan didn’t return to work at the Provincial Institute, he’d still receive his pension. But Mao Guosheng was on leave – how could he stay in Shenzhen long-term without jeopardizing his job?

Unless, as Senior Zhou suggested, he transferred to Guangdong Provincial Construction and worked between Guangzhou and Shenzhen. He hadn’t expected Xia Xiaolan to offer a 600 yuan monthly salary, five times his current salary at the Provincial Institute… No, he couldn’t think about it. He’d rather starve than accept Xia Xiaolan’s charity. Working for her would be embarrassing, and who knew how much grief he’d have to endure!

While Mao Kangshan and Song Daniang were making plans, Mao Guosheng grew anxious:

“I need to get back to work. If you two are staying in Shenzhen, I’ll have to return alone this time.”

Mao Kangshan barely glanced at him, waving dismissively:

“Go ahead back. Xiaolan will take care of us here, don’t worry about us.”

Mao Guosheng hesitated, then had a sudden inspiration:

“She has to return to school in a few days herself, how can she take care of you?”

Song Daniang completely missed her son’s intentions, “I’ll take care of your father, you go back to Hangzhou for work, don’t let it affect your job!”

With nothing left to say, and neither his father nor Song Daniang asking him to stay, Mao Guosheng could only buy a ticket back to Hangzhou.

He came by plane but returned by train.

Xia Xiaolan was already busy as a dog, and Mao Guosheng wasn’t her master – why should he expect the same high-end transportation service?

Mao Guosheng bought some local specialties with his own money and returned to Hangzhou.

Song Daniang felt puzzled:

“Old Mao, why did Guosheng seem unhappy when leaving? Is he worried about us staying in Shenzhen?”

Mao Kangshan snorted coldly, “You don’t understand what he’s thinking.”

He was too proud at first, unwilling to join Guangdong Provincial Construction or work for Xiaolan.

Now, hearing that Zhou Maotong’s recommendation, someone he didn’t even know, got such a high salary of 600 yuan per month, he probably regretted it – if Wang Houlin, a stranger, got such a high salary, how much would Xia Xiaolan have paid Mao Guosheng himself?

Just wanting the benefits without taking any risks – where in the world could you find such a good deal?

It wasn’t even about risk – it was just that Guosheng couldn’t let go of his pride… Although he was his son, Mao Kangshan truly looked down on him.

What was face worth?

With no real abilities, where did this pride come from?

Mao Kangshan truly didn’t manage Mao Guosheng’s affairs, letting him buy his ticket back to Hangzhou. When he got off the train in Hangzhou, Zheng Shuqin was waiting at the station. Seeing him carrying various packages, she smiled – Little Xia needed something from the old man, so naturally, she had to stay on good terms with the Mao family.

“Guosheng, you stayed quite long in Shenzhen this time. I thought you wouldn’t want to come back. So, did you figure out Little Xia’s background?”

Zheng Shuqin peered behind Mao Guosheng, but his parents were nowhere to be seen. Were they going to stay with Little Xia in their old age?