roof. As such, towards his girlfriend Wang Lu, he seemed less interested, and though she sensed something amiss, tried her best to please him, but seeing his indifferent attitude made tears well up i...Chapter 3: The Wall Between East and West Berlin

The next morning, Su Richen went to the company while the home phone was still out of service. Su Cai woke up at the same time as his parents. In this era, Fuzhou's gas pipeline project had already covered almost the entire city within a radius of 2.5 rings. His new house could be directly connected to the gas supply, which made Zeng Ke somewhat relieved despite her initial unfamiliarity with it, making things more convenient for them.

In Xiahai, there were no such large-scale gas pipeline projects like in big cities; households generally used large iron tanks. In earlier times, they had been using coal stoves to burn beehive-shaped coal briquettes and could only use solar water heaters when the weather was particularly sunny. However, one didn't need to worry too much since Xiahai's climate conditions were usually very good with plenty of sunshine most of the time even during winter.

Sitting at the new dining table in the living room, looking out through the sliding glass door onto the property scenery of their residential area and the internal environment connected to the company headquarters, all this gave Su Cai a strange sense of detachment he couldn't quite put into words.

Now his life had transcended Xiahai's path and taken another route. He wondered if Xue Yiyang would still be so popular in class after he left, enjoying himself amidst the blossoms with laughter.

Would the two of them still go up to the rooftop Would Liu Rui continue gazing at the girl across from him 30 meters away whom he only dared to admire from afar without ever confessing his feelings

Last night, they had been busy until almost midnight. As Guo Xiaozhong needed to attend classes tomorrow morning, he really couldn't stay much longer past eleven o'clock PM. On leaving, Su Cai told him that he would treat everyone separately the following evening, which made Guo Xiaozhong hum songs all the way down the stairs with a light step.

Regarding Guo Xiaozhong, even though he was only a high school student and knew limited information, as soon as Su Cai arrived in Fuzhou, having such a companion wasn't something he rejected. After all, his understanding of Dafu Construction Limited was confined to some information from the future and snippets heard through conversations with Tong Jianjun and his father. Guo Xiaozhong's knowledge could still provide Su Cai with an overview.

However, it seemed that through yesterday's conversation, Su Cai hadn't gained any useful information, mostly just trivial matters among the children of various departments within the company headquarters as told by Guo Xiaozhong.

The headquarters and City Story appeared to be separated by a fence, but in reality, there was an archway connecting Su Cai's residential area courtyard with the headquarters. There was interaction between them, but it wasn't very close or frequent.

The employees within the company and Guo Xiaozhong are around the same age, forming a large circle consisting of about twenty people. These individuals grew up within Dayong Construction, living in one-unit courtyard houses. They used to reside in old housing areas owned by Dayong Construction, but as development progressed and the Shìchǎng Wùyǔ residential complex was constructed, internal fundraising took place within the headquarters. Although this residential area is marketed externally as commercial property, over half of the units were actually purchased by employees from within the company.

As a result, many people moved to the new complex; some relocated due to job transfers or moved out of Rongcheng to other urban districts, causing the originally large circle to fragment. Since Guo Xiaozhong's family did not buy property in the neighborhood and still lived in the old courtyard houses, they naturally became distant from their former friends.

Of course, due to geographical separation and internal development within the group company, the situation of everyone eating from a communal pot no longer exists. On this side separated by a wall from the Shìchǎng Wùyǔ residential complex, the children of the old staff quarters appear somewhat simple in their lifestyle, while some offspring of employees who became wealthy first in the city narrative complex tend to compete with one another. With societal progress, they have developed a certain petit bourgeois sentiment and begun to distance themselves from friends from the original staff quarters, forming their own small cliques.

This has led to children from the old headquarters' staff quarters looking down upon the modern residential complex standing next to them, finding some of the girls pretentious. They have thus formed their own circles as well.

The conflicting situations among these employees’ offspring also reflect a clash between two different mindsets within the group corporation. Along with the transformation brought about by reforming large state-owned enterprises, fundamental changes occurred in the internal distribution of interests.

Uneven wealth distribution has emerged; this is evident in some powerful departments where hidden benefits far exceed those of ordinary departments, such as better housing allocations and promotions. Less obvious perks include double red envelope amounts during holidays or partial wages being distributed in cash without taxation.

This led to people with a special say in personnel affairs or who are related to management advancing rapidly and seeing their incomes rise continuously. In contrast, technical workers and engineering designers could only maintain their old salaries to support their families, lacking the money for internal fundraising to build housing; despite policy benefits, some also hesitated due to outdated notions about spending on property purchases, envying others in new homes.

Consequently, employees living in older buildings harbored a certain level of hostility towards those residing within Shìchǎng Wùyǔ residential complex. They felt that despite being fellow company employees, the other side’s wealth sources were questionable, accumulating resentment and envy.

Su Cun held a steaming cup of milk with foam on his lips and stood on the living balcony, gazing at the iron fence wall separating the headquarters from the city narrative residential complex. He shook his head somewhat helplessly, “The Berlin Wall”

This kind of situation reflects the trends of society in this era. This is merely a small garden.

Dad Su Licheng's face wasn't too good when he returned home at noon, indicating that there were some obstacles during today’s briefing meeting and that his deputy minister title had not been confirmed yet.

The family ate their first meal in the new house together. Early in the morning, Zeng Ke met with Tong Jianjun's wife as planned to take a walk around the neighborhood and get familiar with nearby markets, supermarkets, hospitals, and talked about the geographical features of the area and which places were suitable for starting businesses.

After asking around about local shops, they found that monthly rents ranged from six hundred to over one thousand yuan, not much higher than those in Xiahai City. This discovery pleased Zeng Ke because even the rent for her favored location near a mixed middle school and residential area was within her budget of two thousand yuan per month.

Su Can didn’t express any opinions on this matter. Mom Zeng Ke already had the ability to operate shops independently, and her trial in Xiahai City half a year ago earned nearly one million yuan from three stationery stores. Plus, seventy thousand yuan was used for setting up three new stationery points through Shushan Chain Store before they left, and another fifty-five thousand yuan was spent on buying and decorating the house. Therefore, there were still over 1.05 million yuan in family capital left under Zeng Ke's control. In this era, this amount could be considered a substantial sum that would allow little mom to expand her chain stores across Rongcheng.

If by chance it became a chain enterprise group, Su Can wouldn’t mind being called a second-generation rich kid.

Su Can didn't fantasize about competing with the world's financial tycoons or dealing daily with princes of Dubai, Russian media giants, and oil barons at the peak of the global pyramid. He also had no interest in standing atop power or wealth, which would be quite exhausting. Such ambitions were not something that a reborn Su Can, who only wanted to make his life more fulfilling, would impose upon himself.

"This afternoon I’m going to get familiar with the nearby environment and learn about some shops. You shouldn’t wander around too much either, Su Can. Stay at home and read more books. Tomorrow is registration day at school, or rather, it’s the day after tomorrow. We should also bring a gift for Teacher Zhang; he's done us such a big favor, and getting into Rongcheng No.27 High School is something many people dream of but can't achieve."

Su Can simply nodded. Mom Zeng Ke seemed busier than ever after arriving in Rongcheng. After experiencing the benefits of her old business in Xiahai City, she recognized its huge potential and was more adept at continuing with it rather than pursuing anything else.

Su Licheng took a nap and went to work after lunch, while Zeng Ke met with Liu Rong, the wife of Tong Jianjun, for some shopping nearby. With nothing much happening in the afternoon, Su Canghai felt rather lonely. He closed his book on the table and came downstairs. Knowing that it was Monday, he realized that Guo Xiaozhong had gone to school already; he would be going to register at No. 27 High School on Wednesday. The entire courtyard looked deserted. Occasionally, through some glass windows, Su Canghai could see people working in the office building.

Su Canghai found the famous archway and walked into the Group's headquarters. The interior was shaded by trees, and he wandered along a path, ending up far inside where he got thoroughly lost. Only now did he understand the complexity of the buildings seen from his home balcony; looking down from above gave him an overview but not the intricate details.

The backyard had a small pond with some rock formations in the middle and some trees planted around it, creating a unique landscape. At this point, voices were heard coming from the front. An elderly man with a cane walked out from a side path, his demeanor impressive; he was followed by several trembling figures wearing gray Zhongshan suits or well-tailored Western attire, some of them wearing glasses that appeared quite scholarly.

The old man said while walking and scolding others: "Your vision should be broader, but you must also be more meticulous. I agree with your enthusiasm; I won't interfere much, but don’t do things that are harmful in the long run! Cutting down trees to profit from them is short-sighted; it damages industry norms!"

Several people looked grave during his speech, indicating their respect for him. Some who were close to this old man disagreed with what he said but dared not show it openly. They argued: "Sir, in today’s world, who cares about industry norms We might look impressive and be considered the construction giants of Rongcheng, but there are many people watching us, waiting for our fall. If we don’t develop rapidly, increase property values in prime areas, or hype up prices, how will we join the 'billion-dollar club' Just building roads and bridges won't do it; these incremental efforts don't build much of a reputation. Instead, pushing out commercial buildings would increase our fame."

"Rubbish! Where did you learn this Who said that basic construction is inferior to real estate development You have two houses yourself and talk big about others not being able to afford them; look at the workers today, who can buy your properties Speculative price hikes lead to unrealistic expectations and a bubble economy, which often ends in collapse. Even children know these principles; why don’t you" The old man sat down on a bench by the pond and turned to Su Canghai.

Seeing all eyes directed at him, Su Canghai was momentarily stunned.

The old man stared straight ahead without any hint of joking. After surveying everyone present, Su Canghai said: "Isn’t this like pouring beer into a cup Pour quickly and watch the foam overflow, but in the end, there's only a small amount left for anyone to taste."

Everyone was taken aback; they hadn't expected Su Canghai to respond.

The old man immediately nodded approvingly, one hand holding his cane while pointing at nothing with the other, emphasizing: "Exactly! This young man's beer theory is far more incisive than your lengthy arguments!"e with an annual salary of only thirty thousand yuan last year could buy his son a luxury car worth millionsThe depth and size of potential problems were unimaginable.Mu Zi, who understood the implica...