A life of success begins with being a landlord.

"It's not a lie, it's an invitation! A classmate, a comrade-in-arms, they'll be here in a couple of days." Gao Jianfeng stood in front of my door, craning his neck to look into the house, sniffing:

"It smells so good! Are you eating?"

Trying to freeload again?

I chuckled and said, "Yeah, we've eaten. Have you eaten yet? If you have, that's fine. If not, you... you should hurry back and eat."

"We'll have to wait a while before we get our food," Gao Jianfeng chuckled, then asked:

"Hey buddy, you said last night you wanted to join our business. Actually, I've found you're really suited for this. If you put your heart into it, you'll earn even more than our boss, Mr. Huang!"

I rolled my eyes and went inside.

Gao Jianfeng, that rascal, actually followed us in: "Fellow villager, let me introduce you again..."

"Hey buddy, didn't you see I'm about to eat?" I pointed to the door. "Can we talk again sometime when I'm less busy?"

"Oh, okay, I'll go first then."

Gao Jianfeng grinned and left.

"Chunyan, hurry up and eat."

I slapped Chunyan on the bottom, then grabbed and released her repeatedly: "After we eat, we can sleep for a while."

"You beasts, all you do is eat and sleep!"

Chunyan smiled and kissed me.

"Who said that? Animals have to work too, besides eating and sleeping! Haven't I worked hard enough these past two days?"

"That's enough, so I feel sorry for you and want you to rest."

Chunyan brought me the food and told me to wash my hands and eat.

After lunch, Chunyan and I took a nap.

Afternoon nap is also called afternoon rest, but with Chunyan around, I had no mind to rest at all, and I was even more tired. Sigh.

At 2 o'clock, Ding Zhili called to urge him to go discuss business... no, to collect scrap and waste.

I went downstairs and ran into that fat bastard, Kuai Dafa.

"You fat bastard, stop right there!"

Full of fighting spirit, I called out to Kuai Dafa, "Time's up! Is your bathroom fixed yet?"

"Wang Yaozu, stop rushing me!"

Kuai Dafa's eyes were bloodshot, and he was furious: "My business has been stolen, I'm almost starving! Don't rush me, I'll come and fix it in a few days, I promise!"

So you already know your business has been stolen?

I felt a surge of satisfaction and sneered, "You fat bastard, I knew you were a liar, not a word of the truth. You'd better move out tonight, or I'll burn your house down!"

"Go ahead and burn it, then burn it and that's it!"

Kuai Dafa got on his motorcycle and sped away.

I chuckled, called Ding Zhili over, got in the car, and headed straight for Liangpin Printing.

Mr. Fei from Wuhu Printing Factory had already introduced me to Liangpin Printing, so the meeting went very smoothly.

In less than an hour, we finalized the contract and prepaid a deposit of five thousand yuan.

Ding Zhili took me to Hengjie Industrial Zone to look for Longteng and Fengju Printing Factory.

At Longteng Printing Factory, we ran into another obstacle; we couldn't even get through the door.

Ding Zhili got the phone number from somewhere and told me to call Boss Jia of the printing factory directly.

I dialed the number: "Mr. Jia, I recycle wastewater and used film from printing plants..."

But as soon as I opened my mouth, Mr. Jia launched into a tirade of abuse:

"What 'General Manager Jia'? Your whole family is General Manager Jia! Call me again and I'll kill you. I won't give you any of the scrap metal from the factory, I'll just throw it away!"

Damn it!

I yelled into the phone, "You bastard, I'm right outside your factory! Come and chop me up if you dare!"

But they had already hung up the phone.

Ding Zhili stopped me: "Brother Zu, don't be impulsive. We're after money, not anger. Harmony brings wealth."

"Screw you, he was going to kill me, didn't you hear me?" I said angrily.

"Brother Zu, we're just scrap collectors, we get yelled at all the time, but you'll get used to it after a while." Ding Zhili patted my back to soothe me.

"In short, you can't argue with customers. If you do, the business will be ruined."

"Get out of my way!"

I took a deep breath to calm myself down and called Director Song's driver, Xiao Pei.

The phone is on.

I told Xiao Pei about the difficulties I was facing and asked if he could help.

I also mentioned Fengju Printing Factory; I need Xiao Pei's help.

I just got a scolding from Boss Jia, which completely deflated my spirits.

You want to train yourself? Train my ass.

This world is all about human relationships and connections!

After asking a few questions, Xiao Pei roughly understood our business model and scope of business. He also found out the address of the printing factory and said after a moment's thought, "I'll contact them first. Wait for my call."

I hung up the phone and smoked with Ding Zhili.

About twenty minutes later, the phone rang. It was Boss Jia, who had just been cursing at me!

I answered the phone: "Mr. Jia? Is this Mr. Jia?"

"Mr. Wang, hello." Mr. Jia smiled on the other end: "I'm so sorry, I was in a meeting just now, there were too many random things, and I wasn't in a good mood..."

"It's alright, Mr. Jia."

"Call me Boss Jia, not General Manager Jia." General Manager Jia paused for a moment, then said, "Come in, I'll be waiting for you in my office on the third floor of the office building."

"Thank you, Mr. Jia... Mr. Jia, I'll be right there."

I hung up the phone and turned to look at Ding Zhili: "That's really weird. Why won't he let me call him General Manager Jia? He wants me to call him Boss Jia instead."

Ding Zhili thought for a moment, then suddenly chuckled: "In Cantonese, 'General Manager Jia' sounds like 'bastard.' That's probably why..."

So that's how it is, Mr. Jia!

In the office on the third floor, we met Boss Jia.

After chatting for a few minutes, Boss Jia called over his subordinates, the cashier from the finance department and the director of the washing workshop, and they signed a contract with us.

While the contract was still being signed, Xiao Pei called to inquire about the situation and told me that Fengju Printing Factory had also contacted me and given me their phone number, asking me to go directly there.

After saying goodbye to Mr. Jia, we went straight to Fengju Printing Factory and finalized the business deal.

Of course, I also know that this was not negotiated, but rather that they were giving Director Song face and rewarding me, a scrap collector, with this job!

It was already completely dark when I came out of Fengju Printing Factory.

Ding Zhili was overjoyed and insisted on treating me to dinner.

We returned to Sanlichuan and went to Changhong Restaurant, where we booked a private room.

I told Ding Zhili to wait here while I rode my bike to pick up Chunyan's mother.

Arriving at the entrance of the Third Ring Garment Factory, I soon saw Chunyan's mother walking out of the gate.

"Auntie, I've come to pick you up."

I waved and called out.

Chunyan's mother smiled and limped over: "Yaozu, did you come here specifically to pick me up?"

"Yes, Auntie, I borrowed a friend's motorcycle, it's very convenient." I said with a hint of pride.

Chunyan's mother nodded, got into the car, and let out a soft groan.

"Auntie, is your injury... still not healed?"

"I strained my leg last night, and both legs hurt. Ugh, today is going to be tough. I should have rested for a day."

"Then you should rest tomorrow; your health is the most important thing."

I naturally offered some words of comfort: "Or you could go to the hospital to get checked out; I have money here."

Several female workers walked over, looking at my big motorcycle with envy, and grinned mischievously at Chunyan's mother: "Tang Yuling, your boyfriend is quite rich, and so handsome too."

"What boyfriend? He's just a relative of mine." Chunyan's mother gave me a push and whispered, "Let's go."

I stepped on the gas, and the motorcycle shot off.

Chunyan's mother, sitting in the back seat, let out another soft groan.

"Auntie, are you... feeling unwell?" I slowed down.

"It's the wound in the back; it hurts when I sit down..."

"Why don't you try sitting in the front?" I pulled over and said, turning around.