Shenzhen.

Everyone makes mistakes in life – one wrong choice can affect several years of one’s life.

Or just a moment’s difference in judgment and two people who started from the same point can develop in completely different directions!

At the small commodities market, Senior Wan rented a stall controlled by Bai Zhenzhu, earning decent money monthly, greatly improving his family’s financial situation. But human hearts are greedy – when poor, they want money; when they have money, they pursue status, seeking recognition and respect from those around them.

Who would respect a street vendor?

Even if a street vendor earned several times or even ten times more than an office worker monthly, their social status was still far lower.

Vendors could only associate with other vendors.

Office workers, however, had various social connections.

Senior Wan earned well but envied Li Dongliand and Ge Jian terribly.

Li Dongliand had become Liu Yong’s top lieutenant, managing large projects for him.

Ge Jian was younger and seemed less remarkable working under Liu Yong.

When Xia Xiaolan’s Qihang Real Estate was established, like thunder from clear skies, Senior Wan realized that Ge Jian was Xia Xiaolan’s trusted confidant!

Who could have imagined that Xia Xiaolan, who used to resell clothes, would suddenly open a real estate company?

Her real estate company wasn’t just a shell – they had acquired land.

With Xia Xiaolan usually absent from Shenzhen, local affairs were handled by Ge Jian.

Li Dongliand and Ge Jian both had bright futures, dealing daily with large state-owned enterprises or government departments, and handling projects worth millions. How could Senior Wan feel content haggling over pennies and dimes in the small commodities market?

Li Dongliand was different – he had protected Xia Xiaolan from the beginning.

But Ge Jian had risen later, taking what was originally Senior Wan’s position. Senior Wan eventually realized that Xia Xiaolan disliked his presumptuous behavior. After he bought the tape recorder on his initiative, Xia Xiaolan replaced him with Ge Jian as bodyguard.

At the time, Senior Wan thought being Xia Xiaolan’s bodyguard was beneath him and didn’t care about being replaced.

Now he realized how successful a bodyguard could become, and he regretted it terribly!

In Shenzhen, it was impossible not to hear about Ge Jian’s current situation.

At the small commodities market, Senior Wan muttered: “That should have been mine, what right does Ge Jian have…”

Bai Zhenzhu happened to pass by and silently shook her head.

Nothing inherently belongs to anyone.

What Ge Jian had now was the result of his efforts.

Xia Xiaolan was dissatisfied with Senior Wan’s character – even if he had remained her bodyguard, he would have been just that, never trusted with important responsibilities.

While Senior Wan stood here beating his chest in regret, why didn’t he think about cherishing his current opportunities?

Why did others do better than him at running street stalls?

Starting from a street stall herself, Bai Zhenzhu had built up to a physical store, managing An Family Building Materials’ old store while the new branch also thrived. Though Xia Xiaolan’s help had been instrumental in reaching this point, Bai Zhenzhu was grateful but not self-deprecating.

When the opportunity came, she seized it through hard work!

Envying Ge Jian?

Senior Wan had no idea what Ge Jian had sacrificed!

…

Ge Jian himself didn’t know he had become an object of others’ envy and jealousy.

For him, everything had developed naturally.

Handling matters for Miss Xia had become his instinctive thinking.

As a rough martial artist, Ge Jian was grateful that Miss Xia didn’t mind his simplicity and patiently taught him how to handle affairs. Even when he made mistakes as a bodyguard, Miss Xia had given him chances. Ge Jian attributed his dramatically changed life entirely to Xia Xiaolan.

He never tried to be clever – he never changed the main direction of Xia Xiaolan’s instructions.

When Xia Xiaolan said to pour gold into the pool, Ge Jian wouldn’t even blink – following Miss Xia’s instructions would never go wrong.

Of course, they couldn’t pour gold yet – Ge Jian first had to get people to clear away the garbage.

Clearing garbage was simply a matter of hiring people.

Add a bit more to the going rate for day labor, and people would compete for the work.

Ge Jian hadn’t hired nearby villagers – they’d all received compensation, and who would work honestly then? Ge Jian wouldn’t waste Xia Xiaolan’s money treating them like lords.

Every cent of Miss Xia’s money had to be spent effectively. Ge Jian didn’t fully trust the new accountant Ying Jinchuan yet.

With Miss Xia usually away from Shenzhen, Ge Jian felt responsible for keeping an eye on everyone in the company.

Stinking Bamboo Ditch… no, it was now called Jinsha Pool.

At the Jinsha Pool site, Ge Jian supervised the garbage clearing.

Despite the scorching sun, Mao Kangshan and Wang Houlin were also on site.

Even before the area was cleared, Mao Kangshan was calculating how many houses could be built there.

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t planned to build elevator apartments.

Elevators were expensive both to purchase and maintain – she couldn’t afford them.

Elevator buildings weren’t mainstream in the 1980s; most buildings were six or seven stories.

Some buildings were eight stories high, still without elevators – people had to climb stairs, as there were no regulations requiring elevators above a certain number of floors.

“Seven floors would be best, but that girl Xiaolan insists anything over six floors is inhumane, preferring five floors – that’s two whole floors less!”

Mao Kangshan worried.

Commercial housing was priced by square meters – losing two floors per building meant losing many square meters.

Across an entire complex, with every building two floors shorter, the total sellable area would be much less.

Mao Kangshan feared his young apprentice would lose money on her first property development – this wasn’t a matter of hundreds but millions, and bank loans for construction had to be repaid.

“Miss Xia must have her considerations,” Wang Houlin said uncertainly.

But Wang Houlin wasn’t Xia Xiaolan’s master, so he couldn’t speak as firmly as Mao Kangshan.

As a salaried employee, he naturally did whatever Xia Xiaolan said. Including how to build the houses – Xia Xiaolan had her ideas. Wang Houlin didn’t dare underestimate her – though Xia Xiaolan was just an undergraduate in Huaqing’s architecture department, she had become Mao Kangshan’s last disciple. Her youth and limited experience didn’t diminish her professional skills.

As Wang Houlin stood with Mao Kangshan at the site, with garbage clearing in full swing, Luo Degui led a group of villagers in a grand procession to demand explanations.

Hearing Luo Degui’s purpose, Wang Houlin’s brow furrowed enough to kill a fly.

“Master Mao, these people are here for benefits. If not handled well, it could lead to conflict.”

Having frequently visited construction sites, Wang Houlin had encountered such situations often.

Building bridges and roads benefited the people, right?

But harsh environments breed difficult people – some folks just wouldn’t listen to reason. Wang Houlin had even encountered elderly people rolling on the ground during bridge and road construction, refusing to let them blast rocks, claiming it would disturb the mountain god.

Mountain god?

A small rocky outcrop hardly counted as a mountain!

They just wanted to take advantage of the situation for benefits.

Wang Houlin felt frustrated just thinking about it. Watching Luo Degui approach his people, the battle-experienced Wang Houlin immediately entered combat mode. Ge Jian was young and might not handle this well, which could lead to endless future troubles. Wang Houlin limped forward as Luo Degui shouted at Ge Jian in his heavy accent:

“…Get your boss out here. Whoever bought the land needs to give our village an explanation – where are we supposed to dump our garbage?”