Heaven’s Instructions

“A registered letter?”

Liu Fen became excited instantly. “Where did the registered letter come from?”

“From the capital city. Open it and see if it’s the one you’ve been asking about every day!”

The post office staff all knew Liu Fen by now, as she kept asking about the admission letter. They were also curious to see what Qinghua University’s admission letter looked like. Liu Fen’s hands trembled with excitement, almost tearing the envelope.

Qinghua University’s admission notice wasn’t particularly special – just a pristine white paper stating that Xia Xiaolan had been approved for admission to the Department of Architecture, majoring in Architecture.

The post office staff craned their necks to look:

“Is this Qinghua’s admission letter?”

It wasn’t much different from other admission notices, except for the particularly eye-catching bright red official seal.

“An admission letter?”

“Shh, it’s from Qinghua University…”

From whispers to openly peering heads, everyone at the post office – those sending letters, collecting telegrams, or transferring money – crowded around to see this notice. The post office staff explained that Liu Fen was collecting it for her daughter, and onlookers praised Liu Fen’s good fortune!

Good fortune?

When did it happen that she, once considered a barren hen and an ill-fated star who would end Xia Dajun’s family line, became someone others envied for her good luck?

Liu Fen clutched Qinghua University’s admission letter, her eyes already blurred with tears.

She felt that decades of misfortune in her life had been swept away in this moment.

Even seeing the college entrance exam scores hadn’t felt completely real – holding this paper finally proved it was true, her daughter had been admitted to Qinghua University!

Liu Fen didn’t understand many complex principles. Back in the village, she rarely even thought about things and didn’t know how to resist life’s hardships. After leaving the Xia family, Liu Fen changed a bit, and living in Shangdu, she continued to progress.

Grandmother Yu had said that a woman needs skills to never go hungry, and Liu Fen had taken those words to heart.

Qinghua University’s admission letter was worth more than one – no, more than a hundred millionaires combined! Business ventures might fail, but this admission letter meant Xia Xiaolan’s fate for the rest of her life had changed!

This made her even happier than changing her fate.

…

The Qinghua admission letter had arrived.

Far away in Pengcheng, Xia Xiaolan breathed a sigh of relief, while also needing to share the news with those close to her.

From June to early August, after two months, the renovation project at the Pengcheng Government Guesthouse was nearing completion, and Liu Yong finally had time to renovate the “Anxin Building Materials” storefront. This was another new challenge, but compared to when Liu Yong came alone to Pengcheng trying to get a small part of the guesthouse renovation project, “Anxin Building Materials” wouldn’t require him to advance funds for renovation, and he had gone from having no helpers to having renovation workers in Pengcheng who coordinated well with him. Under these circumstances, he was certainly confident about renovating “Anxin Building Materials.”

That summer, besides the college entrance examination, Chinese people were also focused on the 23rd Olympics being held in Los Angeles.

On July 29th, 27-year-old shooter Xu Haifeng won China’s first Olympic gold medal!

Soon after, photos of the Chinese Olympic Committee Chairman personally awarding Xu Haifeng’s medal appeared in Chinese newspapers and on television, igniting the nation’s sporting enthusiasm. While others discussed athletic competition and national pride, Chen Xiliang, that shrewd businessman, only saw new business opportunities. He believed that influenced by the Los Angeles Olympics, sportswear would become hugely popular. Chen Xiliang wanted to produce autumn athletic sets, and he came to find Xia Xiaolan in Pengcheng:

“Sister Xia, want to take a gamble with me on this one?”

At first, Xia Xiaolan didn’t understand – stockpiling some sportswear wasn’t such a big deal that Chen Xiliang would need to seek her cooperation.

When Chen Xiliang explained his intentions, Xia Xiaolan heard his audacious plan and couldn’t help but admire it! Old Chen was truly daring – no wonder how by the millennium he’d transform from a clothing wholesaler into a clothing tycoon with hundreds of millions in assets who’d be kidnapped for ransom by his young wife. That fortune hadn’t fallen from the sky – Chen Xiliang had gambled for it!

Chen Xiliang judged that the Chinese sports team’s “uniforms” would become hugely popular, but those buying these sportswear items wouldn’t necessarily be wealthy customers. Most people with sports dreams were teenagers, and if the clothes were too expensive, they wouldn’t sell well. Better to make quick money than build a reputation!

“Order 10,000 sets of sportswear from manufacturers, keep the cost under 15 yuan per set, and we’ll sell them for 20 yuan each, making 50,000 in profit! If we dare to produce 20,000 sets, we’ll have 100,000 yuan in profit…”

Chen Xiliang spoke with growing excitement, but Xia Xiaolan remained skeptical.

“For this kind of business, you could handle it alone, Old Chen. Why find me?”

Ten thousand sets of sportswear would cost about 150,000 yuan.

While others might not have that much money, Xia Xiaolan didn’t doubt Chen Xiliang had it – this wholesaler’s wealth ran deeper than hers! Moreover, even if Chen Xiliang’s money wasn’t immediately available, his brother-in-law He Congsheng was the owner of ‘Chenyu Garments’ – Chen Xiliang could easily have Chenyu produce first and pay later – unless He Congsheng disagreed.

Xia Xiaolan’s face turned slightly green. What kind of notorious past did Chen Xiliang have that even his brother-in-law wouldn’t trust him? Now approaching her, was he not leading her to wealth but rather looking for someone to share his risks?

“I don’t have money.”

“It would only take two months to make quick money, more input means more output. With my sales channels, and these clothes being inexpensive, they’ll sell.”

Chen Xiliang’s tone particularly resembled an amateur leader trying to recruit people into a pyramid scheme.

No matter what he said, Xia Xiaolan maintained she had no money.

She truly didn’t have money, and Chen Xiliang certainly lacked the confidence to seek Xia Xiaolan as an investor.

Xia Xiaolan’s money all had designated purposes – renovating the village house, investing in the building materials store here, and at ‘Blue Phoenix,’ the summer sales peak had passed, and Xia Xiaolan could receive dividends anytime. But the more than 20,000 yuan she could receive would be completely consumed by the Seven Wells Village house and the Pengcheng building materials store.

Even if Chen Xiliang’s business wasn’t risky, even if it was guaranteed profit, Xia Xiaolan had no money to participate.

Unless she took out a loan!

But why should Xia Xiaolan take out a loan for Chen Xiliang’s venture? She had more stable ways of making money.

At this time, the guesthouse renovation project paid Liu Yong. After repaying the bank loan and deducting costs and various expenses, Liu Yong found he had earned 120,000 yuan from this single project. He brought 110,000 to Pengcheng, repaying 50,000 to Xia Xiaolan along the way. With his earnings plus remaining capital, Liu Yong held over 170,000 yuan, feeling somewhat dazed.

Having earned so much money, how should it be used?

Oh, first he needed to return Xiaolan’s remaining 20,000 yuan capital.

That still left 150,000.

Deducting his own 40,000 yuan capital, 110,000 remained. What to do with this 110,000? Well, split it.

Liu Yong insisted the guesthouse project was a partnership with his niece, so he wanted to split the 110,000 equally with Xia Xiaolan. So Xia Xiaolan’s current assets were like this: borrowed 70,000, repaid 70,000, money planned for renovating the village house, and investing in ‘Anxin Building Materials.’ With over 20,000 in imminent dividends from ‘Blue Phoenix’ and the 55,000 dividend money her uncle insisted on giving her, Xia Xiaolan, who had been claiming poverty, could suddenly gather 80,000 yuan.

Chen Xiliang wasn’t just a shrewd businessman – he was like a dog with a keen sense for money, and this amount happened to be exactly half the production cost for 10,000 sets of sportswear!

Was heaven quietly giving instructions, telling her to partner with Chen Xiliang in this venture?