A life of success begins with being a landlord.

I've heard it said that a man who rejects a woman is not a man.

Liu Haomei is so sincere; she wants to cook noodles for me. If I were to refuse her, I would inevitably hurt her feelings.

It's hard to be a woman, and it's hard to be a man either.

Before long, Liu Haomei cooked the noodles. Sure enough, they were shredded pork noodles with some lard and chili sauce. They tasted pretty good.

Liu Haomei sat across from me, eating in small bites, and chatting with me about work.

After several days of intensive training and her own hard work, she is now able to work independently.

I asked, "What do you mainly print in your factory?"

"There are many more, all kinds of small GGs, flyers, wrapping paper, posters... and GG planning."

Liu Haomei recounted the details with great familiarity: "The most important thing is printing all kinds of books and magazines. This is the business with the largest volume, and sometimes we can't even keep up with it."

I then asked, "Mainly what kinds of books and magazines?"

"Literary history, fiction, biographies, science magazines, alien exploration... a wide variety of topics, everything is included."

"Wow, they've even hooked up with aliens."

I chuckled and remembered the UFO Exploration magazine I used to subscribe to at school. At first, I thought everything in it was true, but I gradually discovered that it was all made up!

I think I could do that kind of street-stall magazine too!

Liu Haomei smiled and said, "My teacher said that this is an era of knowledge explosion, an era of information explosion, an era of flourishing diversity, and an era full of hope..."

"Wait, your teacher said it was full of hope?"

I doubt I heard correctly!

During my time in Sanlichuan, I witnessed drive-by robberies and even sexual assaults in the street; I saw shameless, money-hungry eyes in a hair salon; I was chased with a machete and almost died here; I also saw Huang Aijun, dressed in a suit and talking about his promising career, tricking my kind and poor old squad leader into joining a pyramid scheme...

I also saw that Daozai Xiong treated women as playthings and ants, and that the heartless boss Yu disregarded the life and death of the female workers injured at work.

Then, Liu Haomei's teacher actually said that this was an era full of hope!

"Yes, that's what my teacher said. This is an era full of hope."

"Okay, your teacher is a writer, and he's a big talker. But I think this place is rotten and hopeless."

I finished my bowl of noodles, wiped my mouth, and got up to say goodbye.

Liu Haomei chased after me: "Hey, Brother Wang, try to think more positively. My teacher said things will get better from now on."

"Just try to think more positively, I'm very positive about it."

I chuckled and waved goodbye.

I ran into Chunyan's father as soon as I went downstairs.

Old Xia grabbed me, grinning ingratiatingly, "Yaozu, I'm out of cigarettes and alcohol. Could you take me to the department store and let me buy some on credit? I'll pay you back when Chunyan gets her salary!"

I stared at my father-in-law, feeling a bit disappointed in him.

I've already covered your rent and utilities, why are you asking me for money?

"Yaozu, how about... you lend me some money so I can start a small business?" Old Xia changed his mind again and asked for money directly.

"Uncle Xia, what kind of business do you run?"

I pointed to the storefronts on both sides of the street: "Look here, what kind of business would suit you?"

If I let him go into business, I'm afraid he'll lose his wife and daughter within a month!

"As long as I have the capital, I can do any business!" Old Xia said enthusiastically.

"Old Xia, stop messing around."

Without standing on ceremony, I didn't call him Uncle Xia, but simply Old Xia: "Here's what we'll do, I need someone to clean. You can come and be in charge of cleaning the stairwells of buildings 26 and 27. The salary is six hundred yuan a month, and I can pay you daily."

I'm currently managing two buildings, and I'm really overwhelmed with the cleaning work.

If Lao Xia is willing to clean, paying him a salary would be a good idea.

Old Xia objected: "Six hundred a month, that's only twenty a day. Twenty a day? Isn't that...disrespectful?"

"Then I can't help you, I'm sorry."

I kept a straight face and walked away.

You can't spoil your father-in-law too much, lest you spoil him rotten!

Now, Chunyan is mine, and Sister Ling listens to me too. My father-in-law is nothing!

Back in 302, Sister Li had just gotten up and was going to the bathroom in her little clothes.

I was so scared that I quickly hid and didn't dare to look.

After washing up and changing her clothes, Sister Li came out and complained to me:

"Last night, that group of pyramid scheme members upstairs made a ruckus until midnight again, which made me so angry that I had a headache and couldn't sleep all night. It's all your fault for renting the house to a bunch of big swindlers."

"Sister Li, don't be angry. Let me talk to them." I sighed as well.

"And Kuai Dafa also called and harassed me, saying that you cut off his livelihood and that he was going to die."

Sister Li sat down: "What's the deal with that printing factory business? How much money does it make?"

I gave a wry smile: "Sister Li, the printing factory business doesn't actually make much money, but it's a legitimate business, and you can earn money with peace of mind."

Sister Li raised an eyebrow: "I don't care, you have to count me in when you make money."

"Okay, Sister Li, I can give you all of my three thousand yuan a month."

"Forget it, I wouldn't even look at such a small amount of money."

Sister Li smiled again, but her eyes suddenly turned fierce: "Don't bother with all that effort, just use force and drive Kuai Dafa out of Dongguan!"

I was slightly surprised: "Sister Li, you mean to chop him up?"

"Just drive him away!" Sister Li said in a low voice, beckoning to me.

I walked over, bent down, stuck out my ear, and brought it close to Sister Li's mouth, waiting for instructions.

"You drive Kuai Dafa away, and we'll do big business and make big money."

Sister Li leaned close to my ear and breathed softly, "I was just looking into projects, and your involvement with the printing factory has reminded me that this is a good business opportunity."

Is Sister Li really going to try and get a piece of the pie?

Now that they've interfered, I'm in a difficult position.

My heart skipped a beat, and I hesitated before saying, "Sister Li, the profit margin from wastewater and scrap materials from a printing factory isn't very high..."

"Who said we were going to make wastewater and waste materials?"

Sister Li tapped my forehead: "With your meager abilities, you wouldn't even be able to strangle someone if you were a ghost."

"Sister Li, so you have connections?" I asked, my worry turning to joy, and I flashed a fawning smile.

Just as Sister Li was about to speak, my phone rang.

It was Dao Zai Xiong who called.

"Brother Xiong!" I answered the phone.

"Brother, we're having a meeting on Banpo Island tomorrow morning. Master Wang will also be there."

Dao Zixiong's voice was very low: "You'd better get ready now. Tomorrow is all up to you. Don't mess things up!"

"We'll start our operation tomorrow, to expose Master Wang, is that right?"

I couldn't help but get nervous.

This day has finally come.

"Yes, it starts at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Is everything alright on your end?" Dao Zixiong asked.

"Brother Xiong, no problem."

I took a deep breath: "Arrange for someone to take me to the site first thing tomorrow morning."

An army is raised for a thousand days to be used for a single battle; a soldier will die for one who understands him.

Dao Zixiong isn't exactly a close friend of mine, but... I'm in Sanlichuan, and he's taken care of me, so I have no way out now.