Xia Xiaolan couldn’t have imagined Bai Zhenzhu would make such a move.

She could guide Bai Zhenzhu into business, but how it developed wouldn’t entirely follow her plans.

As people gain more experiences, their thoughts and behaviors inevitably change. Xia Xiaolan wasn’t sure if this change was good or bad; she only hoped Bai Zhenzhu wouldn’t lose her core values:

“If she had mentioned this earlier, I would have given her the Jin Sha Chi construction waste project. Now Ke Yixiong got that advantage.”

Two days after Xia Xiaolan returned to Beijing, Kang Wei called specifically to discuss the Bai family situation. Xia Xiaolan had worried Bai Zhiyong might clash with Ke Yixiong but never expected this resolution.

Ke Yixiong deserved to have Bai Zhenzhu compete with his business – who told him to be so arrogant?

People have different levels of closeness, and Xia Xiaolan stood on Bai Zhenzhu’s side.

Though Bai Zhenzhu still ran the building materials store, she wanted to branch out beyond that industry into other businesses.

Overall, her plans for transport and sand quarries were still construction-related, utilizing existing resources. Now, not only would Xia Xiaolan repay the 200,000 yuan she borrowed from Bai Zhenzhu, but she’d likely need to lend money to Bai Zhenzhu… When Bai Zhenzhu wanted to start other businesses, Xia Xiaolan’s support wasn’t just talk.

Kang Wei felt somewhat envious:

“Sister-in-law, what do you think I could do?”

Every shareholder in the building materials store had their main business; building materials had become secondary.

Liu Yong did renovations, Xia Xiaolan developed real estate, Bai Zhenzhu was starting her own venture, and Shao Guangrong’s heart wasn’t in business – only Kang Wei remained directionless.

“What, you think building materials lacks challenge? We only have two stores and haven’t even captured Pengcheng’s market. There are so many places nationwide – building materials is truly profitable!”

If he could succeed in building materials, Kang Wei wouldn’t lack money.

He just felt restless seeing everyone else developing their ideas.

As Kang Wei hemmed and hawed, Xia Xiaolan sighed: “I understand what you mean. I originally planned to bring this up in two years, but since you’re thinking about your own business now, I’ll mention it early. Familiar business is better than new ventures. Our group keeps revolving around ‘housing.’ Look at Gong Yang’s renovation designs – lights, flooring, tiles, and wallpaper are readily available, but furniture needs custom carpentry. Current market furniture can’t match Gong Yang’s renovations. Even your home renovation – weren’t all the beds and cabinets custom-made? If you’re interested, consider starting a furniture factory to produce stylish furniture!”

No matter how fancy the basic decoration, poor furniture wouldn’t match.

Xia Xiaolan had long been dissatisfied with the limited furniture styles in the market.

From tables and chairs to beds, wardrobes, and sofas – while quality was guaranteed to last perhaps ten years, the styles seemed acceptable to most people now, with diamond-shaped mirrors being mainstream in wardrobes… Xia Xiaolan was very dissatisfied with the two main furniture color schemes red and yellow.

Western-style decoration would be mainstream for decades to come.

Though traditional Eastern-style decoration had been popular briefly, it was quickly overtaken by mainstream trends.

Eastern elements were beautiful, and Xia Xiaolan liked them too, but matching them with modern homes required extremely refined aesthetic taste from both owners and designers. She didn’t think carved furniture looked good in concrete houses.

Rather than waiting for others to produce, better to have their people do it.

A furniture factory had more potential than a renovation company. People were willing to spend money renovating their own houses rather than state-assigned housing. But regardless of housing type, wouldn’t furniture need to be bought?

For newlyweds, new beds and wardrobes were essential.

Replacing old benches with sofas, hard beds with mattresses – as society developed, new furniture replacing old was the trend.

As soon as Xia Xiaolan mentioned this, Kang Wei was interested.

His second uncle had told him it’s better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. Though he admired Xia Xiaolan, he didn’t want Kang Wei to just follow her lead, saying it showed limited vision and lacked business ambition.

Kang Wei had argued with his second uncle then, but Kang Lianming was persuasive, and his words kept echoing in Kang Wei’s mind.

Sister-in-law Xiaolan couldn’t keep pulling him along forever.

As a grown man, he’d first relied on Brother Cheng’s help. Now that Brother Cheng had quit the cigarette business, he was shamelessly relying on Brother Cheng’s wife… Though Kang Wei was quite thick-skinned, when a man finds someone he likes, he naturally wants to achieve something to show them.

Wasn’t Bai Zhenzhu also starting her own business?

They’d still do building materials together; friendship wouldn’t change. Kang Wei didn’t want to fall too far behind others.

He talked with Xia Xiaolan for over an hour on the phone, reluctant to hang up even when the handset grew hot. Only when Xia Xiaolan reminded him about her class did he finally hang up reluctantly?

After pondering all night, he simply returned to Beijing to consult his second uncle Kang Lianming.

Kang Lianming’s eyes hurt watching him fidget restlessly in his chair.

Previously wanting Kang Wei to live freely and easily, he’d never strictly disciplined him. Now it was too late to correct his nephew’s posture – how could you manage someone over 20?

“Why did you decide on a furniture factory? I heard Xia Xiaolan is acquiring land in Pengcheng for construction – don’t you have any thoughts about that?”

Kang Wei was indeed envious.

He knew that if his uncle wanted to help, though they might not get land in Pengcheng, they could operate like Xia Xiaolan elsewhere.

But after careful consideration, Kang Wei knew his capabilities.

Real estate development was too eye-catching – acquiring land would inevitably attract attention. How would others view his second uncle?

Making money didn’t necessarily mean building and selling houses – wasn’t selling tiles interesting too? Kang Wei preferred staying low-key; making money quietly suited him better.

“Forget it, real estate development isn’t for me. I’m not studying architecture and have no interest in building houses. I think a furniture factory would be quite profitable too.”

Kang Lianming wasn’t entirely satisfied, “You’re still following Xia Xiaolan’s suggestions, a grown man being led by the nose.”

Though he said this, Kang Lianming wasn’t angry.

Kang Wei wasn’t exceptionally clever, but he had his strengths – he respected rules.

If he felt something exceeded his abilities, he simply wouldn’t do it.

Making money from cigarettes?

When Zhou Cheng said to stop, Kang Wei was willing to trust Zhou Cheng’s judgment and stopped too.

When Xia Xiaolan told Zhou Cheng to buy more houses in Beijing, Kang Wei followed suit and bought some.

But when Xia Xiaolan went into real estate development, Kang Wei didn’t dare follow… Getting involved beyond one’s capabilities would only shame the Kang family. Xia Xiaolan could acquire land, but if Kang Wei did so, the impact on his second uncle would be too negative.

After all, he wasn’t his father; Kang Wei didn’t want to harm his uncle.

As a child from the compound, he lived within the “rules” and was reluctant to transcend them. This self-awareness was also a strength. Most young people his age were impetuous; already having backgrounds, they often harbored ambitions to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the sun. Fortunately, Kang Wei wasn’t like that.

Hearing he wanted to start a furniture factory – this was solid physical economy, low-key and unobtrusive. When scaled up, it might not be inferior to anyone else’s ventures. Kang Lianming was actually quite satisfied with this.