Zhou Cheng’s powers of observation were formidable, and Xia Xiaolan couldn’t hide anything from him. Now that Zhou Cheng had formally brought it up, he gazed at her with eyes that seemed to contain an ocean within them. Xia Xiaolan couldn’t withstand his gaze and could only nod in agreement.

“Fine, I won’t interfere… I’ll go with Sister Bai to look at new store locations, alright?”

Of course, it was alright. Zhou Cheng noticed her cheeks puffing out in slight anger, and he gently kissed her, careful to avoid her facial injury.

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help wanting to smile but then remembered Zhou Cheng saying he would return once Kang Wei woke up.

“You’re going back?”

Zhou Cheng felt quite conflicted, as this question meant she didn’t want him to return to his post.

“I’ll leave after Professor Qiao Yongkui examines Kang Wei.”

Professor Qiao Yongkui had probably just boarded his plane. It would take at least half a day for him to fly from Beijing to Yang City and then come examine Kang Wei. Zhou Cheng told Xia Xiaolan to go about her business, not to drive her away, but rather so he could accompany her, bringing along Bai Zhenzhu to look at store locations.

He felt it necessary to find something to distract Xia Xiaolan’s attention.

That was Zhou Cheng’s thinking.

Since Kang Wei’s car was damaged in the rear, Xia Xiaolan had borrowed a car from Driver Wang, who worked for Tang Hongen. Zhou Cheng drove Xia Xiaolan and Bai Zhenzhu around the city to several locations.

After seeing the actual topography and environment, Xia Xiaolan gained a better understanding of several potential locations for new stores.

“Sister Bai, we should hire two more salespeople now, before opening the new store in six months. We can train them first, so we’ll have experienced staff when the new store opens. You should also look at the high performers in the current store and let them know they could be promoted to store manager… As we open more branches in the future, we can’t oversee every store ourselves, so we need to cultivate some management-type employees.”

Whether as a shop assistant or salesperson, there needed to be room for promotion!

A store manager could be considered middle management, and if “store manager” didn’t sound good enough, they could use the title “manager” instead.

After all, there was a clear difference in how others perceived someone who “sells tiles at a building materials store” versus someone who is “manager at a building materials store.” When people work, salary is one aspect, but spiritual fulfillment and pride are another – the latter requires recognition from the boss, oneself, and those around them.

Having room for promotion would make store employees work harder.

Bai Zhenzhu wasn’t the type to hold onto all authority herself. The fact that she would let others set up stalls and split the profits showed how open-minded she was.

“I’ve noticed two people in the store who are doing quite well. Besides their main job of selling, they occasionally offer useful suggestions for the building materials store.”

With such proactive performance, not promoting and raising their salaries would be unreasonable.

For the new store opening, Bai Zhenzhu decided to create an “assistant manager” position at their current market location, showing others there was a real opportunity for advancement.

“That’s a great suggestion, Sister Bai. Let’s do as you say.”

In day-to-day management, Bai Zhenzhu understood the building materials store’s situation best and invested the most effort. Even if Bai Zhenzhu’s suggestions were terrible, Xia Xiaolan would have to approve them first and then discuss them with her. However, Bai Zhenzhu’s suggestions were far from terrible.

While Xia Xiaolan and Bai Zhenzhu talked, Zhou Cheng didn’t interrupt. He was simply happy to be with Xia Xiaolan.

Xiaolan had a special charm when she was conducting business – Zhou Cheng had known this since he accompanied her in selling eggs. Xia Xiaolan’s facial injury didn’t affect Zhou Cheng at all; his wife looked pleasing to his eyes no matter what!

Though Zhou Cheng remained silent, Bai Zhenzhu still felt uncomfortable. After finishing the store location survey, she quickly said she had matters to attend to at the store and left.

“Sister Bai, don’t walk so fast…”

Zhou Cheng smiled, “Bai Zhenzhu is smarter than her brother.”

She didn’t want to disturb his time alone with Xiaolan. Bai Zhiyong definitely wouldn’t have shown such sensitivity. Bai Zhenzhu’s constant interactions with people while doing business had been good training for her emotional intelligence.

With Bai Zhenzhu gone, Zhou Cheng returned to their previous topic about buying a car:

“You haven’t invested all the money I gave you in Chen Xiliang’s clothing brand, right? Use what’s left to buy a car. Kang Wei’s Jeep 212 isn’t suitable for women to drive, so don’t choose a cheap one. But like Kang Wei, you need to learn to drive properly at a legitimate school.”

Of course, Zhou Cheng’s money wasn’t all used up, but it could be easily spent entirely – Chen Xiliang’s women’s clothing brand would burn through money quickly, and several hundred thousand wouldn’t be enough. Xia Xiaolan couldn’t bear to use Zhou Cheng’s money to buy a car at this time.

“I don’t want to buy one right now. I’m a bit afraid of driving.”

Even if she only invested 200,000 in Chen Xiliang’s business, the remaining money could buy a decent car. Xia Xiaolan had no intention of competing with Du Zhaohui who drove a Bentley; she simply couldn’t bear to spend Zhou Cheng’s money on depreciating assets.

Her reasoning easily convinced Zhou Cheng. After a recent car accident, being afraid to drive was natural. He realized he shouldn’t have brought up such a sensitive topic.

“Alright, alright, we won’t buy one now.”

His wife wasn’t particularly materialistic. Though she spent money on food and clothes after earning it, she wasn’t extravagant. When it came to buying property in Beijing, she wouldn’t hesitate, but she was reluctant to buy a car.

Xiaolan said Beijing properties would appreciate it. He had bought several courtyards, though he didn’t know when they would appreciate enough so his wife would never have to worry about money again.

Zhou Cheng was overthinking things – Xia Xiaolan wasn’t short of money at the moment. The building materials store had just distributed 25,000 in profits.

Manager Wu had approved a 200,000 loan, of which 180,000 had reached her hands.

Over 30,000 remained from the house purchase.

Back in Shang City, Liu Yong said he would give her all of “Blue Phoenix’s” winter season profits, which would amount to several thousand more.

Adding up all the cash on hand, she had around 300,000, definitely enough to run the two new clothing stores in Beijing. If Xia Xiaolan wanted to buy a car, she could squeeze out several tens of thousands, but she truly didn’t feel the need.

It wouldn’t match her student status, and if she went abroad as an exchange student, Xia Xiaolan needed to have cash on hand. She still needed to help Grandmother Yu find her son!

Living expenses abroad were particularly high. In capitalist countries, everything requires money to smooth the way. Xia Xiaolan would need money for her living expenses and for searching for people. She could foresee her time abroad wouldn’t be easy… If she complained about having too little money before that time came, she might as well give up and compromise. Why should she and Kang Wei’s group work so hard in the actual industry? They could just get permits, or at worst, use connections to get large bank loans – it would be a business requiring no capital, and they’d get rich extremely quickly!

…

Yang City.

“Mother, what should we do now?!”

Wang Jingui pressed close to Old Mrs. Xia. Having stayed in Dahe Village all this time, she found the outside world frightening. At Yang City station, they had lost two bags of luggage, and Wang Jingui’s more than a hundred yuan was in those bags.

Xia Hongxia had kept her money in her pants pocket, but someone had cut a large hole in her pants, and the money she had gotten from her boyfriend in the county seat before leaving had vanished.

Xia Hongbing… heh, that gambling addict had no cash on him.

Originally, Wang Jingui and Xia Hongxia had pretended to be poor to coax money from Old Mrs. Xia. Now three out of the family of four were truly penniless, with only Old Mrs. Xia still having money. If they couldn’t sweet-talk Old Mrs. Xia, the whole family would go hungry!