Complexities

"Wife, let's go back to work."

After thinking it over for two days, Xiao Jianguo finally made up his mind and told his wife, Jiang Xinyi, what he was thinking.

Make money in Peng City, spend it in Peng City.

Xiao Jianguo and Jiang Xinyi earned nearly thirty thousand a month between them, but the pressure was still immense. Life was far from smooth, money was tight, and they often felt mentally and physically exhausted.

The only good thing was that the two of them were together and could offer each other emotional comfort.

This was also a common problem among young people in modern society. With elderly parents above them, young children below them, and the mountains of mortgages, car loans, education, and medical expenses, many people simply remained single.

Those who found partners could still enjoy the sweet haze of young love, feeling as though nothing else in the world mattered. But once they got married, whenever they thought about the state of their lives, all they could do was sigh.

But the die had been cast. Trapped in their difficulties, they could only grit their teeth and keep moving forward. Before they had even had the chance to savor life, they were already getting older and older.

At that moment, the two had finished dinner and were resting on the sofa. They had also just finished a video call with their parents and child.

Hearing Xiao Jianguo's words, Jiang Xinyi fell silent for a while before sighing. "I think you're just unwilling to accept that this is how your whole life will be. You still want to give it another shot."

Xiao Jianguo immediately felt a little regretful.

"Wife..."

Just as he was about to say something, Jiang Xinyi waved her hand and looked at him. "You're my husband. I won't deny your ideas, and I'm willing to support you. At worst, we'll treat this as a trial and error. I think we can afford the consequences if it goes wrong."

As she spoke, she could not help but chuckle.

"Alright!"

Xiao Jianguo was deeply moved. Holding her hand, he nodded heavily.

With his wife's support for his idea, Xiao Jianguo felt much more at ease, and his confidence grew as well.

After that, the two chatted for a while longer, mainly about Zhou Feiyu's startup and working under him in the future.

"He works in materials research and development. He's recruiting you, an Electronic Engineer in the Mobile Phone Glass industry. Could he be planning to enter the Mobile Phone Glass industry?"

Xiao Jianguo did not know much about the industry, so he voiced his doubts.

As a professional, Jiang Xinyi naturally knew far more than Xiao Jianguo. She smiled and said, "It's hard to say what will happen in the future, but right now, he definitely won't enter this industry. He doesn't have the capital for it. In our industry, the mold for any single product costs tens of millions to invest in, and that's only the R&D cost for one product. It doesn't even include the cost of the production line. Once you add in the production line, you can't get started without several hundred billion.

"Look at industry leaders like BE and HE. Which one of them didn't invest hundreds of millions or even billions every year for more than a decade before reaching their current scale? BE in particular—I have no idea how much money it lost, but it must be at least one or two hundred billion. How could an individual possibly afford to play this game? Even the richest person in the country couldn't make it work. Only the state could pull something like this off."

"Alright, this isn't running a company. This is burning money!"

Xiao Jianguo was utterly dumbfounded.

"What did you expect?"

Jiang Xinyi curled her lips, then voiced her own thoughts. "I think he probably wants to learn from me about industries involving materials used in Mobile Phone Glass. Mobile Phone Glass may look simple, but there are actually a great many materials involved. Any one of them could support a giant company worth tens of billions..."

After listening to his wife's explanation, Xiao Jianguo finally gained a rough understanding of the field. He felt that this was probably one of the reasons Zhou Feiyu wanted his wife to go work for him as well.

"If that's the case, it seems my old classmate has big ambitions."

Xiao Jianguo wore a broad smile, and his confidence in going back to help his old classmate increased another notch.

But Jiang Xinyi shook her head. "Let's take it one step at a time. This field isn't that simple. High-end technology is basically controlled by foreign countries. Although domestic companies have made tremendous progress over the years, the gap compared to foreign countries is still considerable."

Xiao Jianguo, on the other hand, did not have so many concerns. "You have to believe in us, believe in the country. There are millions, even tens of millions, of university students and engineers graduating every year. After decades of this, it should be harvest time. If we lack technology and equipment, then we'll throw people at it and pour money into it. It should be time to see results."

"Hopefully."

Jiang Xinyi did not have high expectations. If reality were really that simple, it would have been wonderful.

So many years had passed, yet in the end it was still just talk. Things remained the way they had always been.

Early the next morning, Xiao Jianguo called Zhou Feiyu back and said he would return to report in immediately.

"That's great. I've been waiting for you. Tax and finance issues have been giving me such a headache."

When Zhou Feiyu received the call, he was going over the books with the procurement, HR, and production departments. All those tedious calculations related to money had left him dizzy and overwhelmed.

He could understand the issues and think of ways to solve them, but he was not trained in finance or accounting and was unfamiliar with the work, so it was truly difficult for him.

His old classmate's call was a timely rain.

Zhou Feiyu immediately stopped going over the books and told them to return to work first.

"Little Yu Ge, I'll go report to Director Dong tomorrow. I can also learn about finance from the people at the bank, so I'll be able to help you later."

Li Shihan, who had been helping him handle matters at his side, could not help laughing at how overwhelmed he looked. But she also felt sorry for him, so she said this.

Zhou Feiyu was startled and looked at her. "That's not your field of expertise. It'll be difficult."

Li Shihan gave a soft snort. "Just wait and see."

Zhou Feiyu did not want to dampen her enthusiasm. He was very touched by her initiative in offering to help, but he still joked, "True. It's only natural for the Boss's Wife to handle the accounts."

"Pah! Who's the Boss's Wife?"

Li Shihan spat.

"Whoever is my darling is the Boss's Wife."

Zhou Feiyu grinned, unable to resist stepping forward to hug and kiss her.

Li Shihan hurriedly dodged aside and cried out, "Don't come any closer! If you do, I'm going to get mad."

"Go ahead and scream. Even if you scream yourself hoarse, no one will—"

The two were still fooling around when Zhou Feiyu's phone rang again before he could finish, breaking the mood.

Zhou Feiyu picked it up and saw that it was Director Dong calling.

"Speak of the devil."

Zhou Feiyu waved the phone at Li Shihan, signaling that he hadn't been bluffing her—there really was a call—before answering it.

Li Shihan was breathing heavily. She shot him a glare, but she made no further moves or said anything else.

"President Zhou, I have some good news for you. A distinguished guest would like to attend your company's opening ceremony next Wednesday. Make preparations in advance."

Director Dong's voice was loud and firm.

"A distinguished guest?"

Zhou Feiyu's heart stirred, and he quickly asked, "Is it one of the bank's senior executives?"

Director Dong laughed. "It's a county leader in charge of industry and economic development. After hearing me describe your company's situation, he was very pleased. You have no idea—right in front of me, he praised you highly and said that the county would fully support your work and safeguard your company."

Zhou Feiyu was pleasantly surprised and immediately said, "Director Dong, thank you so much. Don't worry, I'll make sure the reception is properly arranged."