A train ticket and about ten hours was all it took to travel from the capital to Shangdu.
Train tickets from the capital to Shangdu sold well. Kang Wei’s position at his workplace was a sinecure, extremely leisurely, specially arranged by his Second Uncle. The reasoning was to prevent Kang Wei from getting too tired – the salary was decent, the workload minimal, and it sounded prestigious, though it offered little room for advancement.
If Kang Wei continued in that job, his career prospects would be essentially capped for life.
How could he be satisfied with what was essentially a retirement position at such a young age?
His grandmother was quite pleased with it, though.
His grandfather could have gotten him a different job, but being a man of principle, he refused to make such a request.
The leisurely job did have its advantages – Kang Wei only needed to maintain his position in name, free to go wherever he pleased. Claiming he needed to support Xia Xiaolan, he dragged Shao Guangrong onto the train to Shangdu.
The two of them whispered on the train, planning how to make an impression when they arrived.
Although Xia Xiaolan had contacted Kang Wei, she hadn’t placed all her hopes on him. Since the Zhu family knew that “Blue Phoenix” was her store, she stopped being secretive and began trying to resolve the problem her own way.
Without making a fuss, she went to see the person responsible for business licenses.
“Comrade, we want to apply for a license. Could you please tell us exactly what requirements we haven’t met?”
Though she might have seemed like an unsophisticated country girl speaking softly, she showed no signs of fear.
Usually, private business owners would bow and scrape, afraid of displeasing the licensing officials. But Xia Xiaolan was different – gentle yet insistent on having the reasoning explained clearly.
“Failing means failing! You’re troubling the state with your matters! Young comrade, do you have any sense of self-awareness…”
Xia Xiaolan’s eyes gleamed with a watery sheen as she sat there properly, catching everyone’s attention.
Under her prolonged gaze, the official became somewhat flustered – their previous outburst had been born of embarrassment.
Xia Xiaolan asked very seriously, “I’m responding to national policy, willing to be a small cog in the process of reform and opening up, taking risks as a private business owner because the country needs people like us to accumulate experience! I’m not burdening the state – I’m supporting myself and paying taxes… How is that troubling the state? You should read about what it means to be a ‘public servant’ and understand those four characters! If serving the people in trouble, trouble for the state no less, are you qualified to represent the state?”
Xia Xiaolan’s voice was neither loud nor soft, yet everyone in the room could hear her.
“You… you’re talking nonsense!”
The previously languid, arrogant clerk was now jumping with anger at Xia Xiaolan’s words.
How would the leaders and colleagues view them if this got around the office?
Xia Xiaolan stood up from her seat, “I don’t want to make things unpleasant. When public servants truly serve the people, who would want to be difficult? Comrade, please review my materials again. When I return next time, I hope you can tell me exactly what doesn’t qualify – I’ll cooperate and make the necessary corrections.”
What?
After being criticized like that, she dared to come back.
Everyone who witnessed this scene knew that Xia Xiaolan probably wouldn’t get her business license.
Xia Xiaolan just smiled, her beauty dazzling.
Hu Yongcai wanted to bury his head in shame. He must have been possessed to agree to help with this, actually letting Xia Xiaolan go to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau to “make trouble.” It wasn’t that the clerk was being difficult with Xia Xiaolan – the Zhu family had intervened, and Xia Xiaolan’s actions were just antagonizing them further.
What had been a minor conflict could have been resolved, Hu Yongcai thought, by apologizing to the Zhu family and letting Zhu Fang’s mother get over her anger.
But far from apologizing, Xia Xiaolan was deliberately confrontational.
Just like today at the bureau, making the clerk jump with anger in a few sentences – Hu Yongcai couldn’t understand why Xia Xiaolan wanted to escalate the conflict.
Hu Yongcai had watched Xia Xiaolan’s rise to success – from initially riding a bicycle to the Municipal Party Committee’s guesthouse, pretending to be his relative to sell eels. Then the eel supply business grew, and later she abandoned it altogether, moving to Shangdu with her family to deal in clothing. In the mere four months since their first meeting, Xia Xiaolan had managed to rent three storefronts on Er Qi Road, planning to open Shangdu’s premier private clothing store.
Capable and impressive were Hu Yongcai’s assessments of Xia Xiaolan.
Today he added “impulsive” to her list of traits. Hu Yongcai sighed – she was still a young girl, after all, lacking patience.
Given their established relationship – Xia Xiaolan occasionally sent gifts, forcing a close friendship with the Hu family – Hu Yongcai offered sincere advice:
“If you don’t resolve this conflict with the Zhu family, even if you make a big scene and get the license this time, you’ll still need to do business in Shangdu, and the Zhu family has plenty of ways to make things difficult for you.”
What’s wrong with young people bowing their heads a little?
Bending over in youth means standing tall in old age to enjoy life – that’s a success.
Not bending in youth, charging ahead recklessly, and facing setbacks everywhere, leading to begging for food in old age… that’s truly bitter.
“Brother Hu, I’m not offending the Zhu family, just Zhu Fang’s mother.”
After all Hu Yongcai’s words, this was Xia Xiaolan’s only response.
While he didn’t immediately grasp her meaning, Xia Xiaolan smiled and fell into contemplation.
Offending the Zhu family and offending Ding Aizhen were two different matters. She had no conflict with other Zhu family members – it was just Ding Aizhen who disliked her personally and was making trouble. Xia Xiaolan realized she’d been thinking about it wrong – why should she fight the entire Zhu family when her enemy was only Ding Aizhen?
Perhaps she should include Ding Aizhen’s husband – as a married couple, Zhu Fang’s father would naturally take Ding Aizhen’s side.
But while this couple could get help from Zhu family relatives, they couldn’t represent the entire Zhu family. Just like that clerk earlier, elevating themselves to the level of the “state” – they thought too highly of themselves. If she dealt with the source of the trouble, no one else would pursue problems with her. In the process of handling Ding Aizhen, she could also make other Zhu family members weigh her significance.
Once they knew she wasn’t easy to deal with, why would others who weren’t Ding Aizhen’s sons help her seek revenge?
Zhu Fang was Ding Aizhen’s actual son, and though Xia Xiaolan thought he was decent, there was no helping it – her conflict with Ding Aizhen meant eventual estrangement from Zhu Fang was inevitable.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t need to search for Ding Aizhen’s weaknesses herself.
When someone serves as a minor leader with power, enjoying benefits, they inevitably infringe on others’ interests. Xia Xiaolan was sure there would be allies – given Ding Aizhen’s disagreeable personality, could everyone at State Cotton Mill No. 3 really like Director Ding?
Xia Xiaolan felt like quite the conspirator, considering herself too refined to directly confront Ding Aizhen and instead pushing others to do it.
She’d done the same with Zhang Cui, finding her a competitor to keep her too busy to bother Xia Xiaolan.
But the situation with Ding Aizhen had escalated – causing minor troubles wouldn’t be enough. Director Ding’s power was far greater than that of a rural woman like Zhang Cui. Zhang Cui couldn’t substantially affect Xia Xiaolan, but Director Ding could control her lifeline.
These were different levels of “monsters,” and Xia Xiaolan needed to draw fire while secretly deploying her skills.