Xia Xiaolan learned one truth across her two lifetimes – those who aim to achieve great things cannot work alone.

She wasn’t blindly fixated on academic credentials. Even if she could recruit college graduates, most would still be green and require extensive training.

If she couldn’t recruit them, she would carefully select people around her.

Bai Zhenzhu was one of her selections.

Chen Xiliang didn’t count – he was a lucky find, a fashion mogul before his rise to fame.

But Ge Jian was someone she had carefully chosen.

Even Pan Weiliang could be polished from a grain of sand into a pearl.

Just looking at the clothing store, Xia Xiaolan had selected Wang Lin to help Liu Fen with management. Wang Lin shouldn’t be underestimated – without her, Liu Fen wouldn’t be able to travel so freely, as she would have been tied down managing several stores in Beijing.

A famous health products tycoon from the future had experienced multiple business ups and downs, once so poor he couldn’t even pay salaries. Yet his core team never abandoned him and stayed through his comeback because each member was personally trained by him! While Xia Xiaolan didn’t aspire to match such business giants, she knew that people she personally discovered and trained were indeed more reliable.

She now saw great potential in You Li.

You Li was also very clever.

After completing her short-term training, You Li had two choices: Blue Phoenix or Luna.

Most people would choose Luna – recent operations had greatly increased Luna’s reputation, and working at Luna seemed more promising.

Yet You Li chose Blue Phoenix.

When Xia Xiaolan asked her about it, You Li revealed her thoughtful reasoning:

“Sister Xia, even though Blue Phoenix is smaller, it’s your family business. Luna may be bigger, but it’s a partnership with others… so I choose Blue Phoenix.”

Partnerships always carried the possibility of dissolution.

You Li trusted Xia Xiaolan personally more than Luna’s brand reputation.

What could Xia Xiaolan say? No boss would dislike an employee who showed such gratitude and knew how to flatter.

This time, You Li chose to pioneer the new store rather than rest easy at the old one. Xia Xiaolan guessed it was related to her adventurous personality – without such spirit, a young girl wouldn’t dare set her sights on Shao Guangrong.

However, this also indirectly showed You Li’s urgency to earn money. The new store had a “pioneer bonus” – simply put, a higher commission rate.

If they could make the new store’s performance match the old store’s, the bonus would be even larger!

This was a tactic to stimulate employees’ enthusiasm.

How does one cultivate loyal confidants?

Besides paying salaries, one must understand employees’ needs.

Some people enjoy receiving public recognition from their boss.

Others seek continuous growth and career development, maintaining their drive when they see no ceiling to their advancement.

And some have simple needs – they remain loyal to bosses who pay higher than industry-standard wages!

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t yet identified You Li’s type of need, but at this stage, most people’s difficulties could be solved with money. If money could solve the problem, Xia Xiaolan didn’t mind lending some to You Li.

Help in times of need would be remembered longer.

Seeing You Li’s hesitation, Xia Xiaolan added:

“If it’s about money, I can authorize an advance on your salary.”

You Li finally understood.

Xia Xiaolan was offering to lend her money!

If Xia Xiaolan were a man, You Li would have fled immediately – unexpected kindness usually meant ulterior motives.

But Xia Xiaolan was a woman, and even prettier than herself… this was genuine help.

Was it about money?

You Li did need money to solve her problems, but money alone wouldn’t be enough.

Without family ties, who would willingly get involved in her messy family affairs?

With no evidence, and having already tasted failure once, another unsuccessful attempt would trap mother and daughter forever.

After some internal struggle, she lowered her head:

“Sister Xia, thank you, but I don’t need it right now. I’ll earn the money myself.”

She planned to save money while working and carefully plan their escape.

Taking an advance from Xia Xiaolan and running would be too rushed and risky, and fleeing with her mother would essentially mean deceiving Xia Xiaolan.

You Li didn’t hesitate to deceive men.

After all, those men just wanted to take advantage of her.

But deceiving Xia Xiaolan… since her mother’s paralysis, Xia Xiaolan had been the kindest to her, expecting nothing in return. You Li couldn’t bear to cheat her.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t push further, patting You Li’s shoulder:

“Well, keep working hard then. Whenever you need anything, just come to me!”

You Li was deeply moved as she rode away on the second-hand bicycle Xia Xiaolan had “lent” her.

This scene was witnessed by Shao Guangrong, who was arriving for class – he had taken the continuing education college entrance exam in October and was admitted in December. The continuing education college had flexible class schedules, considering that most students were working professionals, with classes arranged in afternoons, evenings, and weekends.

When Xia Xiaolan wasn’t in class, it was Shao Guangrong’s turn. These two rarely met at Huaqing University due to their opposite schedules.

You Li often came to the school to see Xia Xiaolan, but Shao Guangrong had never encountered her before.

Suddenly seeing them together, Shao Guangrong was very surprised.

When did that deceiver You Li become so close with Sister Xiaolan?

She was even riding Sister Xiaolan’s bicycle – their relationship was not casual.

Shao Guangrong smirked coldly. This deceiver was bold enough to target him, a grown man, and while that was merely embarrassing, now she was approaching Sister Xiaolan. Even without Zhou Cheng’s intervention, whichever hand You Li extended, Shao Guangrong would cut it off!

Though determined inside, his face showed nothing as he greeted Xia Xiaolan cheerfully:

“Hello, Sister. I just saw someone who looked familiar – did I see wrong?”

Xia Xiaolan gave him a look, “You saw correctly. That was Little You, but she won’t bother you anymore. She’s working honestly at my store now, as my employee.”

Honestly?

Shao Guangrong barely recognized the word!

His impression of You Li was terrible – she had given him psychological trauma. Now when he thought about his past girlfriends, he worried whether he had ever done anything inhumane.

“Sister, she’s not honest…”

Being deceived by a young girl was too embarrassing, making Shao Guangrong stammer.

Xia Xiaolan waved dismissively, “People who are too honest can’t achieve good sales. She has some minor flaws, but nothing serious.”

Minor flaws?

Shao Guangrong was almost convinced by Xia Xiaolan.

But after saying goodbye to Xia Xiaolan, the cold wind cleared his mind – how clever, she had gotten close to Sister Xiaolan.

But it was useless. Did he need solid evidence to deal with a mere girl?

…

Shao Guangrong didn’t need evidence to handle You Li.

But to bring down Jiang Wu, they needed evidence.

The Jiang family was powerful, and Jiang Wu himself was cunning and ruthless. After sending Ke Yixiong to the police station in Pengcheng, Zhou Cheng didn’t immediately return to the academy but had gone to the China-Myanmar border.