Liu Fen didn’t look like a powerful businesswoman.
She lacked commanding presence and social finesse.
But when talking to Section Chief Ma, she wasn’t too intimidated.
Perhaps dealing with higher-ranking officials had increased her confidence.
Section Chief Ma completely ignored Xia Xiaolan. Upon hearing she was still a student, he assumed Liu Fen was just showing her daughter around, never considering that Xia Xiaolan was the decision-maker.
In this regard, Director Wu’s assessment of Ma was quite accurate.
Corrupt officials might have fixed their eyes on Xia Xiaolan, but once Ma heard she was a student, he automatically classified her as a younger generation. It would be impolite for an elder to stare at a young girl, so Ma only spoke with Liu Fen.
With Director Wu facilitating the conversation, Liu Fen managed well. When Ma called her a “heroic woman,” Liu Fen didn’t understand the exact meaning, but she knew it was praise.
“You flatter me. It’s just a small business, enough to support us mother and daughter.”
Being a police station chief required keen observation.
Ma noted something meaningful in those words – supporting mother and daughter, why no mention of a husband?
Director Wu quickly got to the point, “Section Chief Ma, isn’t that just the case? It’s not easy for women to do business, and they’re from out of town. I work at the bank but can’t keep watch over the Xidan area. Business competition isn’t what we fear, it’s troublemakers and hooligans – we need your help looking after them.”
Ma looked at Liu Fen more carefully upon hearing this.
People without means couldn’t open such a large store, could they?
But for a family with connections, letting a woman run the business seemed odd too.
“What Director Wu asks isn’t a problem – the station can keep an extra eye out. But that’s just treating symptoms, not the cause. I see the clothing store does good business, must have significant daily earnings?”
Ma’s words left both Director Wu and Liu Fen puzzled.
Xia Xiaolan, who had been playing the obedient daughter, couldn’t help asking, “What do you mean?”
“I don’t mean anything special, don’t misunderstand – I’m not asking for bribes. I’m saying outsiders see the business is thriving, making Comrade Liu Fen an easy target. Better not carry large amounts of cash – deposit money in the bank before heading home.”
Xidan had banks, and even the Industrial and Commercial Bank had an office there.
Ma was thinking with a police mindset – having police protection didn’t mean they should carelessly create opportunities for criminals.
Best to eliminate risks at the source – simply don’t take money home, make a daily trip to the bank despite the inconvenience.
Xidan had banks, and so did Xiushui Street.
Ma’s words stunned even Xia Xiaolan. Her thinking had been limited – she’d been counting money after closing when banks were already closed… But why not change the accounting time?
They could do it in the afternoon – say, start counting at 3 PM at the Xiushui store, deposit the money at the nearest bank, then do the same at Xidan.
Sales after accounting could count toward the next day.
Liu Fen wouldn’t need to carry money home, greatly ensuring personal safety. The afternoon to evening earnings could be kept in a safe at the store. Xia Xiaolan realized she’d been too busy with the opening and drawing plans to think clearly.
Still, the evening wasn’t wasted – they’d shared a meal with Section Chief Ma and become acquainted.
After dinner, as Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen left, Ma held Director Wu back:
“Wu, is she your relative? Why isn’t there a man in charge of their family? You’re being too careless – lucky it was me you met.”
An out-of-town woman with no backing, running two or three stores – just looking at the clothing store’s scale, they must have at least 100,000 yuan in assets. Most ordinary people would be tempted; meeting someone unscrupulous, they might try to take both money and woman.
Director Wu didn’t know much about Xia Xiaolan’s family situation.
But he knew they were genuinely wealthy.
“Who says they don’t have men? The family runs big businesses – the daughter came to Beijing for university, and her mother came along to do business.”
And bought a quadrangle courtyard.
No, one in Shichahai and another in Nanluoguxiang!
Though it was strange – Director Wu had only met Liu Yong, Xia Xiaolan’s uncle, but never her father. Buying property and opening stores were major decisions – all left to the wife and daughter.
Director Wu didn’t tell Ma too much.
Xia Xiaolan was his big client, buying government bonds and taking loans. His involvement with Xia Xiaolan grew deeper for these reasons. They helped each other – if he didn’t look after their stores, what about the people he’d recommended for jobs there?
Both Xia Xiaolan and Liu Yong had taken loans from his branch – if something happened to their clothing stores, how would they repay?
The Shichahai quadrangle wasn’t worth 200,000 yuan.
Ma pondered thoughtfully.
The dinner gave Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen insight. Ma was interesting – the next day he personally led people to patrol around Luna and Lan Fengmei, accepting just two packs of cigarettes, not even drinking at dinner, showing great respect for Director Wu’s face.
The police station staff privately speculated these clothing stores might belong to Ma’s relatives; Ma didn’t deny it.
These people couldn’t match his moral awareness – Ma felt that a widow and orphan doing business in Beijing wasn’t easy, but keeping an eye on them wasn’t a big deal!
Such a small, thin woman – if she got robbed, it would be pitiful.
Though Director Wu hadn’t confirmed it, Ma concluded that Comrade Liu Fen was single… Poor thing, so young and already widowed, still raising a daughter.
…
Xia Xiaolan didn’t know that just from one dinner, Section Chief Ma had defined her mother as a pitiful widow.
If she knew, she’d accept the ‘widow’ part but reject the ‘pitiful’.
The mother and daughter lived such fulfilling lives that Liu Fen never felt pitiful or needed anyone’s sympathy. It took Xia Xiaolan half a month to complete the Grand View Garden architectural plans. After submitting this assignment to Ning Xue, she went to help at the Xiushui store as usual.
That day, she met Catherine, the English competition judge.
“Xia, what are you doing here?”
Catherine had a deep impression of Xia Xiaolan, the champion of the first English competition.
“Teacher Catherine, this is my mother’s store. I help out in my spare time.”
Excellent and talkative people are hard to dislike – Catherine quite liked Xia Xiaolan and couldn’t hide her excitement: “Hey, you know what? The TV recording of the finals is finally going to air… Xia, I think you’ll become the most famous student in the country.”