Chapter 984: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 984: Seeking Common Ground While Reserving Differences

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

"Erhai, the new house at home needs furniture. Do you know anyone selling furniture in the county town? If so, take us down there to have a look another day."

During lunch, Li Xiulan said this to Wang Erhai.

"Mom, I'll go look around when I get a chance."

Wang Erhai answered like this.

"Find a reliable one, don't get scammed!"

Wang Zhanggen reminded him with a sentence, and also said:

"The furniture industry has deep waters; you need to keep your wits about you."

Wang Zhanggen spoke as if he knew this trade very well.

Actually he doesn't know either; it's just hearsay.

So-and-so's family bought furniture, originally wanting solid wood, but bought veneer instead.

So-and-so's family bought appliances, told it was the market's lowest price, but asking another shop later found that shop cheaper by two hundred yuan.

Anyway, the furniture and appliance trade, because prices aren't transparent, indeed has many pits.

"Dad, don't worry, I'll just ask a few more shops."

Wang Erhai finished lunch and went back to the county town.

Coincidentally, Zhang Yueran's house had just finished renovation; she wanted to custom-order a few cabinets, then buy some sofas, chairs, and such.

So in the afternoon he made time to accompany Zhang Yueran to the furniture mall.

After walking around once.

Wang Erhai deeply felt that this trade's waters are truly deep.

Prices aren't transparent, and quality is also uneven.

This made him suddenly think: if renovation plus whole-house customization, all done in one assembly line by us, would there be profit?

At least client sources, he wouldn't lack.

All clients choosing to renovate on Liguo Mountain are potential client sources.

Additionally, he definitely can make prices lower than other shops.

Because customer acquisition cost is much less than other shops.

He can allocate this reduced cost onto the customization cost.

He told Zhang Yueran his idea.

Zhang Yueran thought a bit, and said:

"Your idea is good, but can you manage it? Now you have to manage Liguo Mountain, the restaurant, and Shanggou Village matters; you're already busy to the point of smoking hands and feet."

Wang Erhai is indeed extremely busy.

So busy that every night he gets off work very late; even time chatting with Zhang Yueran has decreased a lot.

Zhang Yueran sends him WeChat; sometimes he takes over an hour to reply.

Zhang Yueran feels somewhat unhappy about this, but after Wang Erhai explained, she didn't say anything more.

"So I want you to help; when I open the whole-house customization company, you come help manage it."

Wang Erhai said like this.

"Me?"

Zhang Yueran exclaimed in surprise:

"I'm also very busy; I grade homework every day until past ten at night."

Zhang Yueran teaches high school, not kindergarten; she is indeed very busy.

Not only must she go to school at six or seven in the morning, but evening self-study she must watch the class, and after returning she must grade homework.

"That's true..."

Wang Erhai sighed.

He actually wants Zhang Yueran to quit her teacher job and help him build a career together.

After all, Zhang Yueran is a high school teacher now; working herself to death yet salary isn't high. Although there are winter and summer vacations, and five insurances and one fund are paid more, compared to Wang Erhai's income, it's simply nine oxen one hair.

But Wang Erhai can't bring himself to say it directly.

Because he knows Zhang Yueran really likes this profession.

Being a teacher, though suffering hardship and toil, brings her full sense of achievement.

"If you ask me, don't be so ambitious; just afraid the tail gets too big to wag, then capital turnover fails, everything collapses at once, and you go bankrupt again."

Zhang Yueran's words sound a bit harsh, but are sincere advice.

Before, Wang Erhai ran Shanhai Real Estate; because ambition too big, business expanded too fast, then Zhang Sheng used a move of 'drawing firewood from under the cauldron', stunning him completely.

If not for his big brother Wang Dashan giving three million to plug the hole, he probably still couldn't have climbed back up, might even have become a dishonest debtor long ago.

"Yueran, your words make sense."

Wang Erhai sighed.

He just has too big ambition, and does things comparatively aggressively.

Also lacks a bit of judgment, and strategic vision.

Now Shanggou Village doing high-standard farmland construction, he got fooled into it; later he'll probably have to put in tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand himself to farm.

If back then he had been a bit more resolute, his ears not so soft, after cursing out the Town Party Secretary at the meeting he would have quit on the spot — how could he have ended up entangled in this kind of mess?

But if he didn't do it, the Town Government would certainly find a capable person to replace him; at that time, Shanggou Village's high-standard farmland construction, how it would turn out, might be another story altogether.

But one thing is certain: put anyone else in his place, and they definitely wouldn't put in their own money to handle this.

Most likely they would just look for loopholes, pocket the subsidies, and then wash their hands of those high-standard farmlands entirely.

"Don't think so much for now; if you really have some spare cash on hand, you'd be better off buying a house in a big city — then when we marry and have kids, we can transfer the child's household registration to the big city and let the child study there, that's far better than studying in a small county town; the educational resources in big cities are not something our palm-sized little county town can compare with — their high school teachers are all Tsinghua and Peking University graduates, while ours are all second-tier and third-tier university graduates."

Zhang Yueran's considerations differ from Wang Erhai's.

Wang Erhai single-mindedly thinks about career expansion.

Zhang Yueran, on the other hand, thinks about securing a future for their children.

"But to buy a house in a big city, you need purchase eligibility, and I don't have that qualification."

Wang Erhai answered like this.

Before, when he was together with Liu Mei Qi, he had also thought about going to Guangzhou to buy a house.

As a result, the house was picked out, but then the two of them discovered that neither of them had purchase eligibility.

Thinking back on this blunder now, he still finds it a bit laughable and helpless.

"Have the intermediary help you transfer your household registration to a collective Household Registration in Guangzhou first, then pay social security for about half a year — basically you'll then have the qualification to buy a house."

Zhang Yueran said this.

Wang Erhai nodded:

"I'll consider it."

But in reality he didn't really consider it at all.

Right now his career focus is all on the county city side; even if he bought a house in Guangzhou he wouldn't live there, leaving it vacant would just be a waste.

Zhang Yueran is so clever — seeing Wang Erhai like this, she knew he was just humoring her, so she sighed:

"Forget it, I won't force you; you just focus on your career — no matter what, I respect your choice."

This is the biggest difference between Zhang Yueran and Liu Mei Qi.

If Wang Erhai didn't suit Liu Mei Qi's wishes, she would directly lose her temper.

Whereas Zhang Yueran can seek common ground while reserving differences — even if Wang Erhai doesn't listen to her advice, she still respects Wang Erhai's choice.

"My parents said they hope you can come back with me for the Spring Festival to meet them, and at that time we can also talk about the marriage matter."

Zhang Yueran said this sentence at this moment.

Wang Erhai agreed readily:

"No problem; then when the time comes I'll make a trip to your place — Uncle and Auntie, whatever they like, I'll buy some gifts in advance."