Ji Ya was getting desperate.

For someone who never had to worry about money to suddenly talk about it naturally surprised people.

Mrs. Wilson gave her a meaningful smile:

“How can you help me? Whether you believe it or not, I never intended to swindle Tina’s money… Besides, it’s too late for you to speak up now. The lawyer Farn called should arrive soon, and this matter can’t be changed anymore, you know?”

Money wasn’t the goal?

Being so kind to Tina without wanting her inheritance – this wasn’t the Mrs. Wilson that Ji Ya knew.

She wasn’t even this attentive to her son George!

Ji Ya didn’t believe it at all.

But she was also considering Mrs. Wilson’s point. That Farn, or Xu Changle in Chinese, had moved too quickly. The trust agreement lawyer he invited was probably almost here. Once the lawyer arrived and the trust agreement was signed, Tina wouldn’t be able to independently manage her inherited estate until after college graduation—and it was quite a substantial sum.

Over 20 million US dollars in cash—even before Mrs. Wilson and old Ivan’s financial situation became tight, that would have been difficult to produce all at once!

Ji Ya’s questioning gaze lingered on Mrs. Wilson’s face.

Mrs. Wilson just smiled without speaking, as if everything was under her control.

Ji Ya suddenly became agitated. If Mrs. Wilson didn’t need her help, where else could she borrow 3 million dollars from?

January 25, 1987, five days before the official opening of ‘Cheng Rong Plaza’.

Somewhere along the way, a saying had become popular among common folk: “Of all directions—east, west, south, north, and center—fortune comes from the East of Guangdong.” ‘East of Guangdong’ referred to Yang City in Guangdong Province. As the provincial capital of Guangdong, Yang City was the most prosperous and wealthy, while also neighboring the Special Economic Zone.

If Peng City was still under construction, then Yang City was already an exceptionally dazzling presence among existing national cities. Every day, trains from all over the country arrive at Yang City Railway Station.

Built-in the 1970s, Yang City Railway Station had a main building area of over 26,000 square meters and a plaza of 40,000 square meters—how many passengers could it accommodate?

Xia Xiaolan initially set her sights on train naming rights, but when that approach didn’t work, she decisively switched to another strategy!

Only those who had personally experienced long-distance train travel at this time truly understood what it was like. Especially in summer, the carriages were stuffy and hot, filled with the stench of sweat, foot odor, and various fermented food smells. After getting off the train, people would smell sour!

The trains of the 1980s, commonly known as ‘green-skin trains’, were extremely slow. Those who couldn’t get seated tickets had to stand at their destination. They would envy passengers who had seats, though Xia Xiaolan thought there wasn’t much to envy—the seats on green-skin trains weren’t like the later high-speed rails that emphasized comfort and ergonomics. Standing to the destination was uncomfortable, but sitting wasn’t much better.

Heh, who talked about ergonomics now?

Take it or leave it—all train seats were like this! The angle between the backrest and seat, if not exactly 90 degrees, was pretty close. After sitting in these hard seats for two days, you’d deeply understand that future internet meme—”Why are you, among all lumbar discs, so prominent?”

Because the seats were uncomfortable.

The angle couldn’t be changed.

But what about adjusting the softness?

What Xia Xiaolan had Du Zhaohui order urgently from Chen Xiliang were cushions that could be fitted onto the seats.

Home appliances were valuable items now—people would cover their TVs and refrigerators with cloth when not in use to prevent dust, so covering train seats with cushions wasn’t strange… Getting the railway bureau to pay would be difficult, and they weren’t expecting to make money from the cushions, but offering them for free as a donation—Xia Xiaolan thought this could be negotiated.

Standard-sized, easily washable complete cushion sets, free upgrades for train seats—a Hong Kong merchant’s heartfelt care was truly hard to refuse. The merchant sponsored these cushions without charging fees, only printing two promotional advertising phrases on the cushions, which didn’t seem excessive.

Xia Xiaolan got this inspiration from the long-distance buses she had ridden.

In the future, many people will see car and taxi seats covered with fabric printed with advertisements for men’s hospitals or gynecology clinics, blatantly obvious. Compared to these ads, her promotion of ‘Cheng Rong Plaza’ was extremely positive and uplifting.

She just wanted to tell passengers that Peng City had a ‘Cheng Rong Plaza’, specializing in electronic products with a comprehensive inventory—interested passengers would love it!

Although this was counted in Du Zhaohui’s advertising budget, the budget was limited, so they couldn’t provide for every train nationwide. They mainly supplied trunk line trains stopping at Yang City Station.

Du Zhaohui handled the train seat cushion donation project without much fanfare.

Unlike the full-page countdown advertisements or news coverage, this was carried out steadily and low-key.

Somehow, many trains heading to Yang City had been fitted with these cushions, and the first to feel the effects were wholesalers like Old Duan… Small merchants taking the train to Yang City for goods asked Old Duan about this Cheng Rong Plaza.

Old Duan was both happy and worried, but still had to advocate for Cheng Rong Plaza:

“It’s indeed the biggest and most complete electronics plaza. Whether you’re buying finished products or components, they have everything. After it opens, I’m moving my stall there too.”

Oh?

Moving there—but how would they get goods? They’d have to go to Peng City and get border passes!

For the small merchants getting goods, it was both sweet and bitter.

More choices were still attractive.

All electronic products are gathered in one place for wholesale—could they push down the purchase price? If Old Duan didn’t agree, they could get goods from other vendors.

Old Duan understood these people’s thoughts, which was why he was worried.

He needed to develop new customers, make money from individual buyers, and keep these wholesale merchants.

A completely new challenge—damn it, he had been confused earlier, but what was there to be confused about!

Every small merchant who came by train knew about ‘Cheng Rong Plaza’.

Even if their train hadn’t yet been fitted with the custom cushions, it didn’t matter—as soon as they got off the train, they’d see the huge billboards… Anyway, ‘Cheng Rong Plaza’ seemed endlessly determined to promote through trains, focusing all their attention on advertising there.

What Old Duan admired most wasn’t the billboards—billboards had been around for a while.

What he admired most was adding cushions to train seats!

This kind of financially powerful advertising method could even be packaged as serving the people.

Old Duan pulled Chen Xiliang aside, his face full of admiration:

“No wonder you managed to get interviewed by the People’s Daily back then. I can see it now—this is Director Xia’s consistent approach!”

Bah!

This was nothing.

“You’ve seen wind and rain, felt sunshine and snow, walked many paths… you think this means you’ve seen all Director Xia’s approaches?”

Old Duan thought it over and couldn’t refute Luna’s Director Chen lecturing him.

So he beat up the poet Chen Xiliang and firmly declared:

“That’s Director Xia’s brilliance, what’s it got to do with you!”