Xia Xiaolan had always wanted to focus on retail.
Throughout the 1980s, in the clothing industry, it wasn’t the manufacturers who made the most money, but the retailers. Many millionaires of the 1990s started by selling goods from street stalls, and clothing was the easiest entry point for street vendors.
Xia Xiaolan had registered the “Blue Phoenix” trademark early on, intending to establish a retail chain model. Her next step was to open a “Blue Phoenix” store in the capital and bring her mother to manage it. For now, she planned to use Commercial City and the capital as two central hubs, radiating outward to surrounding areas.
To truly expand nationwide across all major cities would be beyond her financial capacity, and in the 1980s, with limited communication capabilities, management would be difficult. She planned to expand gradually – “Blue Phoenix” would start as a retail chain, then move into private labeling… meaning they would still source clothes from wholesalers but apply their brand labels through manufacturers.
Many people were doing this – it was simple, requiring no design team, just chain store management. Opening these retail outlets was also about securing territory for Xia Xiaolan. Like the small building with unclear property rights between Grandmother Yu and State Cotton Mill No. 3, Blue Phoenix’s current storefront would give Xia Xiaolan priority rights to convert from lease to purchase in the future.
Even thirty years later, a listed company’s annual profit wouldn’t match the value of a single property in a first-tier city. While Xia Xiaolan wanted to grow her business, she wouldn’t let go of the opportunity to acquire property and land – she was keeping multiple strategies in play.
Chen Xiliang suddenly had the impulse to create his clothing brand. The suggestion came unexpectedly, but after careful consideration, Xia Xiaolan realized it wasn’t that difficult – this wasn’t yet the era of intense competition in the clothing industry. In 1984, who would think of creating their brand?
Using intensive advertising campaigns would succeed in promoting a clothing brand.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t doubt Chen Xiliang’s abilities. As one of the “first-generation entrepreneurs,” he was still inexperienced, which was why Xia Xiaolan was guiding him. In her previous life, without foreknowledge, she was just a sales representative busy expanding markets before the millennium, while Boss Chen, worth hundreds of millions, wouldn’t have given someone like her the time of day.
Xia Xiaolan’s hesitation was whether her energy and capital would allow her to partner with Chen Xiliang.
When Xia Xiaolan said she needed to think about it, Chen Xiliang had no choice but to wait. Fortunately, the cashmere coat business was settled, allowing him to stay in the capital for a few more days. He had temporarily entrusted his wholesale business to a friend, who naturally wouldn’t be as dedicated as himself, so he was concerned about the business while waiting for Xia Xiaolan’s response.
How much money could Xia Xiaolan contribute? The building materials store wasn’t yet profitable; “Blue Phoenix” was the only source of stable monthly income. Along with her savings of over 100,000 yuan, she had a total of 163,000 yuan. She had invested 6,000 yuan in government bonds, spent 15,000 yuan on books, and needed to repay Zhou Cheng 20,000 yuan, leaving 122,000 yuan.
Buying a house would cost at least several tens of thousands, leaving only a few tens of thousands available for use.
Xia Xiaolan hadn’t outright rejected the idea because she remembered Zhou Cheng’s letter mentioning that after ending the cigarette business, he would have significant idle funds and had asked for her suggestions.
If she didn’t partner with Chen Xiliang, could she invest Zhou Cheng’s money instead?
Investing in real estate wasn’t wrong, but they couldn’t invest all their money in capital city property. Should Zhou Cheng live solely on his salary during the years waiting for property values to rise? Xia Xiaolan felt they needed both approaches.
Moreover, with Zhou Cheng’s money invested, Chen Xiliang would have to be more cautious in his decisions.
Zhou Cheng and Chen Xiliang had no prior relationship – Zhou Cheng wasn’t one to abuse his position, but Boss Chen would still be wary!
Xia Xiaolan decided to visit Zhou Cheng’s workplace on Sunday to discuss this.
More than a month had passed since the last incident, and Xia Xiaolan hadn’t visited Zhou Cheng’s workplace. She couldn’t avoid it forever; she had to face it eventually. Xia Xiaolan was determined to weather these two years of difficulties with Zhou Cheng.
On Friday afternoon, Manager Wu provided an update.
Over several days, Manager Wu utilized his network to the fullest – friends, family, colleagues, old acquaintances, and bank clients. After scouring the entire capital, he finally found several houses for sale for Xia Xiaolan.
He came to show his premium client, Miss Xia, the properties.
“The first house is near Nanluogu Alley…”
Before even seeing the house, Xia Xiaolan was interested in just hearing the location. Nanluogu Alley would later become a commercial tourist street showcasing hutong culture and siheyuan architecture. If she couldn’t appreciate houses in this area, she’d be doing Manager Wu a disservice.
Of course, Manager Wu didn’t know about the future commercial tourist street; he mainly thought the courtyards here were impressive. During the previous dynasty, these streets and alleys were filled with officials and nobles, with princes’ mansions everywhere… While Manager Wu couldn’t access these mansions, which were now protected historical sites, Xia Xiaolan couldn’t touch them either.
But besides these mansions, some descendants of formerly prominent families, now proletarians, were willing to sell their ancestral properties for the right price.
These ancestral properties had originally been nationalized, but like Grandmother Yu’s situation, they had been returned to eligible owners in recent years.
As they walked, Manager Wu explained the homeowner’s situation:
“They don’t want to stay in the country, but they don’t qualify for public-funded overseas study. They want to sell the house and pursue their career abroad…”
Xia Xiaolan’s expression was quite telling.
In her previous life, she had read a story about someone in the 1980s who sold their siheyuan near Gulou for 200,000 yuan and went abroad to pursue their dreams. They worked as dishwashers, endured hardships, and after 30 years finally accumulated 2 million euros. When they wanted to return to China for retirement, they discovered their former courtyard had changed hands several times and was now listed for 80 million yuan!
While the story might have been fabricated, such situations were real.
For such brave souls, Manager Xia could only offer her blessings. How could she advise them not to sell the courtyard, to stay quietly in the capital instead of going abroad, and just wait for the siheyuan to appreciate… Others would think she was talking nonsense!
Xia Xiaolan and Manager Wu each rode a bicycle, arriving at Nanluogu Alley as they talked.
When they reached the place Manager Wu mentioned, there was already a commotion at the courtyard entrance.
“You’re heartless! Do you want to sell the house and drive us out? Let me tell you, it won’t happen! We won’t move – this is housing allocated to us by the state…”
“That’s right, let’s see who dares to buy this house!”
“You’ve completely lost your conscience.”
A man in his early thirties was cornered against the wall by a group of people.
No wonder he wanted to sell the house.
The property had been returned to him, but he couldn’t handle the “tenants” inside.