Though Xia Xiaolan was friendly, she wouldn’t accept just anyone’s invitation.

Chen Xiliang could arrange a meeting because he was an old friend and still a close business partner.

Zhang Xiao, with her superior emotional intelligence far above Chen Xiliang’s, actually disagreed with Chen Xiliang bringing someone to meet Xia Xiaolan unannounced. But since Chen Xiliang insisted, Zhang Xiao couldn’t argue with him.

However, she needed to make things clear – bringing Old Duan was fine, but asking for favors on his behalf was impossible.

Old Duan’s face reddened.

“Let’s eat, let’s eat. No business talk at the dinner table, just old friends catching up.”

Xia Xiaolan had no objections.

She and Old Duan weren’t competitors, with basically no conflict of interest. If there was something she could easily help with, Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t be stingy.

In business, more friends meant more opportunities. Helping someone now might mean having their help when needed in the future.

It was 1987 now – “Reform and Opening Up” had been proposed for a full eight years. While the inland regions hadn’t changed much, the special economic zones were already producing many business tycoons.

Old Duan wasn’t one of the tycoons from Xia Xiaolan’s memories.

But if someone was worth helping, sometimes Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t calculate the return on investment too precisely.

Again, if they weren’t competing or conflicting with her interests, it was purely a matter of mood.

And recently, Xia Xiaolan has been in quite a good mood!

Another year-end approached. Every year she would take stock and calculate her assets, tracking earnings and investments. She needed to keep a clear account, and for 1986, she had exceeded her targets.

The dinner was quite pleasant with Zhang Xiao and Chen Xiliang keeping the atmosphere lively.

Xia Xiaolan politely sipped some red wine.

Old Duan truly wasn’t there to network; he was just confused:

“Speaking of money, I’ve earned plenty these past two years. I’ve gone from being a hidden second-hand dealer to someone who dares rent two shops in the electronics plaza. You could say I’ve moved from the gutter into the sunshine, no longer afraid of investigations… but what next?”

“Then you just wait for Chengrong Plaza to become popular and make a fortune!”

What was there to be confused about?

If Chengrong Plaza became as popular as SEG Plaza from her previous life, with Old Duan’s two rented shops – as long as he wasn’t foolish enough to transfer them – he wouldn’t need to worry about money for at least the next 20-plus years, if not 30!

Great fortune depended on opportunity, modest fortune on choices, and Old Duan’s current choice was correct – he just needed to persist.

For Xia Xiaolan with her foreknowledge, she was certain Old Duan could make money.

The money was right there in the Chengrong Plaza shops; Old Duan just needed to bend down and pick it up.

Old Duan shook his head:

“No, it’s not about making money. I’ve found that even with too much money, I can’t spend it all. I feel like I can see the end of my life’s road – from guerrilla wholesale to having two shops. Am I just supposed to watch over these two shops and do nothing else?”

Every day just stocking and selling, trapped in the shops with nowhere to go.

Xia Xiaolan seemed to understand.

This person had enough to eat and drink; he wanted spiritual fulfillment.

“Brother Duan, do you have any particular hobbies? Like how Brother Chen loves designing clothes and Sister Zhang Xiao loves acting – something that’s uniquely yours?”

Old Duan was embarrassed. “…My family was very poor before. I often went hungry as a child. If we hadn’t been so poor, I wouldn’t have dared to start dealing in electronics. When you’re poor, you don’t love anything, just think about how to make more money all day.”

So now he felt he had too much money?

No more goals to strive for?!

This was quite a condition.

No, in some sense Old Duan was still quite pure – Xia Xiaolan had never met someone who complained about having too much money before.

Many big bosses wouldn’t dare be as ungrounded as Old Duan.

Why did some people in the country look down on individual businesspeople? Wasn’t it because their earnings were temporary – one failed investment could lose everything?

For these people, stable employment seemed safer.

Xia Xiaolan found Old Duan interesting. He wasn’t arrogant; he seemed genuinely lost.

Having secured the Chengrong Plaza shops, he felt his business was stable but had hit a bottleneck, not knowing how to develop further!

An idea struck Xia Xiaolan:

“Brother Duan, would you like to try something more challenging?”

Old Duan was very interested. “What is it?”

“It’s a new electronic product. I think it has great prospects. The finished product has just been produced but hasn’t officially gone on sale. I can give you a contact – you can inquire about it yourself.”

Xia Xiaolan gave Old Duan Ma Hai’s contact information.

Old Duan tucked the card in his pocket:

“I knew Director Xia would have ideas!”

Chen Xiliang watched curiously. “You’re not even asking what you’ll be doing?”

Zhang Xiao gave him a reproachful look. “Xiaolan wouldn’t harm him!”

Why would she harm Old Duan? They weren’t even in the same league – his assets weren’t worth Xia Xiaolan’s attention.

Zhang Xiao was emotionally intelligent and spoke well; Xia Xiaolan appreciated her sentiment.

There was a reason she had stayed popular for so many years.

“I think their product needs promotion, initially around Guangdong Province. Brother Duan has years of wholesale experience with his channels – perhaps he could consider getting distribution rights for provinces outside Guangdong.”

Xia Xiaolan explained further, reassuring Old Duan.

She was casually finding something for Old Duan while helping expand the electronic dictionary’s reach. Sales methods could be diverse – if Wenquexing electronic dictionary didn’t quickly capture the market, others would soon rush in to grab the big cake.

If Xu Jing and Ma Hai, two overseas students, could produce an English-Chinese electronic dictionary, other capable companies would surely be inspired to produce their own once reminded.

Having more people like Old Duan would be good; Xia Xiaolan enjoyed this dinner.

…

While Xia Xiaolan enjoyed her dinner,

At the city government residential compound, Liu Fen and Old Tang were having an intimate meal.

But for Ji Ya, this meal was rather difficult to endure.

She and George had gone to customs to pick up Mrs. Wilson and a young Chinese girl. Mrs. Wilson introduced her as Tina, her beloved niece, leaving Ji Ya confused.

Tina was clearly of Chinese descent.

How had she become Mrs. Wilson’s niece? Was she adopted?

Mrs. Wilson was in a bad mood, coming to China to clear her mind. She remained as dismissive of Ji Ya as before but was very affectionate toward Tina.

George had met Tina several times, but their age gap was too large to be playmates.

He also knew why Tina had come to China.

Because Tina’s parents had passed away.

It was truly because of Tina’s father’s unfortunate death that Harold had become unrestrained.

After picking them up, George gave Tina a big hug:

“Tina, do you remember me?”

Tina looked dazed for a moment, then smiled: “Of course I remember, you’re Brother George!”