“I provide the supplies and rent the stalls. For each stall, I split the monthly profits half and half with the person manning it.”

Sell more, earn more.

Bai Zhenzhu now had 6 stalls. The most profitable one had earned her over 2,000 yuan last month.

Of the remaining five stalls, one brought in over 1,000, and the lowest earned more than 700. She only needed to restock inventory, without being tied to the stall all day, yet earned several thousand yuan monthly.

This model puzzled Kang Wei. “The profits are split equally, and the stallkeepers don’t need to invest any capital. Now everyone in the small commodities market calls her Benefactor Bai. Sister-in-law, what’s her reason for this?”

Why split it equally instead of Bai Zhenzhu taking sixty or seventy percent?

Even taking just 0.5 percent more would emphasize Bai Zhenzhu’s dominant position.

Kang Wei thought people would still work for Bai Zhenzhu even without profit sharing, just for a salary. Offering two or three hundred yuan monthly would have people flooding the small commodities market!

He couldn’t understand it, but Bai Zhenzhu seemed delighted with her approach. Kang Wei needed Xia Xiaolan to explain.

Xia Xiaolan thought for a moment. “You think Sister Bai is losing out? In business, you can’t be too calculating. Taking a small loss isn’t a big deal.”

Bai Zhenzhu laughed heartily. “I knew only Xiaolan would understand!”

Her laughter was so uninhibited, carrying a real outlaw spirit. Kang Wei grew anxious watching these two but seeing his genuine desire to learn, Xia Xiaolan stopped teasing:

“Let me try to explain, though Sister Bai might think differently – just hear me out. Sister Bai’s main focus now is the building materials store because she sees it as a long-term business. If we concentrate our efforts there, we can expand and strengthen it. Sister Bai needs to make choices since people have limited energy… Sister Bai, am I right?”

“Keep going, I’m listening.”

Bai Zhenzhu didn’t comment, but Xia Xiaolan knew she was on track, so she continued.

“Street vending is profitable, but its prospects don’t match the building materials store. Sister Bai has essentially given up this business. You think she’s losing too much by sharing half the profits. But from her perspective, it’s a business she was going to abandon anyway, yet still brings in thousands monthly – that’s an incredible deal, and she’s thrilled!”

Now Bai Zhenzhu nodded enthusiastically. “That’s pretty much exactly what Xiaolan said.”

With this shift in perspective, what seemed foolish suddenly became wise.

“But why half? Why not 60-40 or 70-30?”

Kang Wei still didn’t understand, but Xia Xiaolan didn’t mock him.

Kang Wei’s background differed from Bai Zhenzhu’s. He started in the cigarette business under Zhou Cheng’s guidance. Did cigarette trading require wit? Zhou Cheng was clever for pioneering it, but Kang Wei just followed established routes – Zhou Cheng set the path, and Kang Wei executed.

His second venture was joining the building materials store.

This required Kang Wei to stand on his own, but it wasn’t enough.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t ask such questions.

“The key isn’t profit distribution, but motivating the stallkeepers. Splitting profits equally makes them feel ownership, encouraging them to promote sales actively. If original profits of 1,000 yuan increase to 1,200, it eliminates the difference between 60-40 and 50-50 splits. What if profits reach 1,500 or even 2,000? Yes, Bai’s sharing more money, but her portion also increases! You’re probably wondering if there are other ways to motivate stallkeepers while keeping more profit for Sister Bai. There certainly are, but all methods require effort, and that’s exactly what Sister Bai wants to avoid spending.”

Xia Xiaolan thought this could be solved by hiring a single “manager” to oversee the stallkeepers.

No need to interact with stallkeepers directly – just deal with the manager, much simpler. Of course, in 1985, early in the reform and opening-up period, there weren’t many “business management” university graduates. Finding a trustworthy manager was difficult – better none than incompetent ones, while capable ones might deceive everyone, including Bai Zhenzhu.

Kang Wei pondered, “If stallkeepers get too much money, won’t they accumulate capital and start their businesses?”

“Comrade Kang Wei, your thinking is becoming dangerous, moving towards capitalist ideology. Capitalists accumulate wealth by paying workers minimal wages, just enough to prevent starvation… Don’t hide, I saw you glaring at me! The crucial point is that after tasting success, they can only work with Sister Bai – low risk, high returns – because she still controls the supply chain!”

Bai Zhenzhu could manage this, but others couldn’t easily copy it.

Minor losses and underreporting were trivial issues. Bai Zhenzhu supplied each stall’s inventory – to cheat her, they could only skim a few cents per item. If Bai Zhenzhu was willing to share 50% of profits, small losses meant nothing.

Want to bypass Bai Zhenzhu for direct supplier access?

Ha! They’d have to get past her fists and the Bai family martial arts school first.

Benefactor Bai? More like Fierce Goddess Bai – who’d dare cross a woman who didn’t even see herself as one? Comrade Bai hired stallkeepers to make her life easier, letting others prosper alongside her. If anyone harbored ill intentions, Xia Xiaolan would pity their foolishness.

Neither she nor Kang Wei could replicate this business – they lacked Bai Zhenzhu’s martial prowess.

Kang Wei was convinced. What seemed like a losing strategy contained such complexity.

“You’re amazing!”

Ah, this society was tough – women kept emerging who outperformed men, quite deflating for Kang Wei.

As they talked, they reached the building materials store. Bai Zhenzhu parked: “Don’t admire me, I learned this from Xiaolan.”

You can’t earn all the money in the world – bringing others along creates friends and allies. The Western pants trade in the small commodities market was lucrative, yet Xia Xiaolan still shared the opportunity. Without Xia Xiaolan’s generosity, today’s Bai Zhenzhu wouldn’t exist. If stallkeepers wanted to start their businesses later, as long as they weren’t betraying trust, Bai Zhenzhu wouldn’t stop them.

Bai Zhenzhu presented the store’s general ledger to Xia Xiaolan:

“Look at this, Xiaolan!”

Xia Xiaolan turned straight to the last page, hardly believing it herself: “In just over three months, you’ve all managed to generate this much profit for the building materials store?”