While Guan Huo’e might disregard others’ opinions, when her husband of over twenty years, Zhou Guobin, who rarely commented on family matters, spoke up, she had to carefully consider his words.
Very well, she would try to view Zhou Cheng’s first girlfriend with an impartial attitude.
The college entrance exam results were announced, but no one had visited yet. Perhaps they were waiting until the admission letter arrived?
…
Xia Xiaolan was unaware of Zhou Cheng’s mother’s private musings. She had no intention of meeting the parents, while the Zhou family was imagining all sorts of scenarios.
Wei Kang arrived at Yang City on July 21st, flying directly from the capital to Yang City’s Baiyun Airport, bringing along Shao Guangrong who had managed to get a free ticket. This was Xia Xiaolan’s first time at Baiyun Airport. In 1984, Baiyun Airport looked rather basic, with only a few aircraft on the tarmac and very limited flight routes. Only major cities like the capital and Yang City had flights between them. Though many places had civilian airports, as the saying goes, without sufficient rank, one couldn’t take flights.
Wei Kang and Shao Guangrong both worked for decent work units, which was why they could purchase airline tickets.
Shao Guangrong once again witnessed how the wealthy “spent money like water” – one airline ticket cost as much as a meal at the Maxim’s Restaurant on Chongwenmen Street!
Shao Guangrong couldn’t settle his mind, even though he knew the job arranged by the Shao family was good, with a decent salary and benefits compared to others, and promising future prospects… Young people loved excitement – dating required money, treating friends required money, and his small hobby of motorcycles required money. While his salary and bonuses could cover food and drink without worry, other areas were tight.
He was already 22 years old, and it wasn’t appropriate to keep asking his family for money.
Shao Guangrong wanted both career prospects and immediate pleasures. Wei Kang said he was too greedy, which Shao Guangrong admitted.
But seeing how Wei Kang enjoyed financial freedom – damn, that looked great!
Xia Xiaolan was slightly surprised to see Shao Guangrong but didn’t show it. This joker was too amusing, immediately calling out “Greetings, Sister-in-law,” fawning like a little eunuch. Xia Xiaolan guessed he must want something. Since Secretary Hou had previously helped with Yuan Hui’s qualifications and company registration, Xia Xiaolan attributed half of that favor to Shao Guangrong, so she certainly wouldn’t be stingy with her smiles.
However, before they could congratulate Xia Xiaolan on becoming the top scorer in the college entrance exam, they noticed the unremoved cast on her hand.
“Sister-in-law, what happened?”
“Oh, I fell! Haven’t told Zhou Cheng yet, so don’t let it slip.”
Xia Xiaolan appeared completely natural, and both Wei Kang and Shao Guangrong seemed to have no doubts.
Xia Xiaolan took Wei Kang directly to see the site.
The small goods market was quite chaotic, with various street vendors. The customers came from diverse backgrounds – there were fishermen, female workers from foreign-owned factories, and construction workers helping build Shenzhen. The market sold all sorts of items, even pots and pans, but no renovation materials. Xia Xiaolan was planning a four-story building exceeding 1,200 square meters, which made Wei Kang think the business scale was rather large.
It wasn’t that Wei Kang lacked experience but besides department stores, where could one find such a large retail shop?
There were no supermarkets or shopping centers yet. An average family’s house was only fifty or sixty square meters, while four floors adding up to over 1,200 square meters could house more than twenty families. Yes, not twenty people, but more than twenty households! No wonder Xia Xiaolan wanted to bring in partners. Wei Kang’s cigarette business handled more money monthly than Xia Xiaolan’s clothing business, but he was about arbitrage between different locations, requiring no physical store.
At most, he’d rent a warehouse near the train station. He had no idea how to handle a four-story store.
Xia Xiaolan brought him to sit down for a serious discussion. In late July, it was suffocatingly hot. On the fourth floor, there was a large wooden table with several stools and a pile of papers. The building had electricity, with two temporary fans swaying back and forth, desperately trying to create airflow… though it wasn’t much use, as the air itself was hot, so they were just moving hot air around.
Wei Kang and Shao Guangrong were soon covered in sweat.
The business was a partnership between Xia Xiaolan, Bai Zhenzhu, and Wei Kang, with not just Shao Guangrong listening in, but Liu Yong as well.
Liu Yong had experience in renovation work, and by coincidence, had even taken on projects like hotels worth over a million yuan. He knew exactly which renovation materials would be needed.
Xia Xiaolan pointed to the paper and pens on the table:
“Today’s meeting is for discussion. Everyone can share their opinions, and we’ll explore them together. First, we need to determine what the store should sell!”
What to sell?
Wei Kang thought of his home renovation. People said electrical appliances were in short supply, but they weren’t the hardest to buy.
The paint was the hardest to get.
Domestically, white lime coating was popular, as was oil-based paint. The latex paint that Liu Yong used in his house renovation, the kind that could be color-adjusted, had no market previously, so no domestic manufacturers produced it. Wei Kang had to use connections to buy some Japanese-made latex paint.
“Latex paint and wallpaper – we must have these two.”
White walls looked clean and nice, but to create style, some color accents were needed. Wallpaper already existed by then. As early as the mid-18th century, the British had started mass-producing printed wallpaper by machine. By now, this technology had developed to include foam wallpaper. “Foam” referred to screen printing embossing foam – this type of wallpaper had obvious texture, felt soft to the touch, with strong three-dimensional effects… The downside was poor water and moisture resistance, making it prone to mold.
Latex paint was fine, but for wallpaper, Xia Xiaolan put a question mark next to selling it in Shenzhen.
Bai Zhenzhu could contribute something – she had visited the hotel construction site and thought the floor tiles looked good.
“Easy to clean, looks better than cement floors, bright and shiny, just have to be careful about slipping.”
The slipping hazard could be addressed, as many manufacturers were producing tiles mainly for wall decoration, requiring glossiness to look good in sunlight. The same tiles could be categorized into floor tiles and wall tiles. This was still true in the future – floor tiles could go on walls, but wall tiles weren’t suitable for floors.
Wooden flooring was originally good, better than tiles for preventing slips, but wasn’t suitable for buildings that weren’t tall enough. Shenzhen’s humid weather was too damaging – laying solid wood flooring on lower floors was disastrous, similar to the issue with foam wallpaper.
Liu Yong felt lighting fixtures were important – no matter how well-decorated a house was, it wouldn’t work if the lighting didn’t match. Proper use of lighting could create great atmospheric effects. Liu Yong wasn’t yet an expert in this area and was still exploring. After discussing for a while, they preliminarily decided to sell wall decoration materials on the first floor, including paint and wallpaper; tiles and wooden flooring on the second floor, including cheaper options like floor leather and other floor decoration materials; bathroom and kitchen hardware products on the third floor; and everyone thought lighting fixtures could go on the fourth floor, though Xia Xiaolan had slightly different plans, which she hadn’t mentioned yet.
“I think you’re all more concerned about the partnership ratios, right? Even close brothers need clear accounts. If we’re embarrassed to discuss money now, it will only cause conflicts later!”