Chapter 151: This Chat Went All Over the Place

After sending Wang Zhiye off and promising her that he would notify the company to ensure proper statistics were gathered, Li Xian spent some time mulling over the matter of sanitary napkins.

Menstrual care products, though a seemingly minor industry, are indeed an essential one. And right now, at the beginning of 1993, it's an essential industry that hasn't yet been fully developed.

It's a promising blue ocean market with definite potential.

Thinking about this, he realized that he shouldn't just rely on his own assumptions. After all, all his current information had come from Wang Zhiye, a female consumer's perspective, which, though firsthand, was not comprehensive.

Investing in a sanitary napkin product requires significant capital and involves many upstream and downstream industries. Therefore, whether to pursue this venture or not should not be decided lightly.

With this in mind, he called Zhang Dagong and Chen Shulin to his house.

When Chen Shulin heard that Li Xian had another sudden idea, this time not involving the backside but rather focusing on women's private areas, his old face froze.

"Director… Can't we do something cleaner? Why do we always have to deal with things like… you know, that stuff?"

Seeing Chen Shulin's awkward expression, Li Xian sighed inwardly. The customs in his hometown were indeed like this—women's menstruation was still a taboo subject, and even twenty years later, most men would still find it unlucky to talk about.

A simple example is that every time he came home for tomb-sweeping during the New Year, female family members who were on their period were not allowed to enter the cemetery and had to wait outside.

This strengthened his belief that it was time to bring in some younger people. While he appreciated the determination and resilience of the older generation of industrial workers like Chen Shulin, the old and rigid thinking could be more harmful than beneficial in a rapidly changing society.

Zhang Dagong also seemed a bit uncomfortable with the topic. After all, it was difficult to discuss women's private matters openly at this time.

However, being ten years younger than Chen Shulin and recently promoted, he was full of enthusiasm. He supported Li Xian's idea despite not fully understanding it.

"Non-traditional businesses can be lucrative. Since there's not much competition on the market, I think it's worth a try!"

Li Xian nodded. Although Zhang hadn't hit the nail on the head, his spirit was commendable.

After thinking for a while, Li Xian asked Zhang, "Didn't I ask you to select some young people from the workers to form a backup team? How's that going?"

"I've picked out a few people but haven't informed them yet."

"Then hurry up!" Li Xian waved his hand. "Here's what you do: set up a market research department outside of the business department and gather these people there. But don't limit yourself to just New North and Sina sections; our company is quite reputable now, so go advertise in the Bingcheng region. It would be great to recruit some college students. For the next while, this department should focus solely on market research for sanitary napkins. I want to know the current sales figures nationwide, the main brands, manufacturers, and their market shares. Additionally, investigate the investment, equipment, raw materials, and technology needed to enter this industry. But remember, while research is your task, identifying talent during this process is crucial."

After noting down everything in his little notebook, Zhang Dagong nodded, "Alright, I'll get on it right away."

Seeing that Li Xian hadn't addressed him yet, Chen Shulin pointed at himself, "Director, what about me?"

"You…" Li Xian chuckled. "Stick to what you're good at. Our business is expanding nicely, and we've developed a whole set of methods through our expansion in the tissue paper business. Just follow that template and work on expanding our New North business into the Ji and Liao regions. This is your expertise."

Hearing Li Xian's arrangement, Chen Shulin grinned, "Alright! Sounds good."

…

After sending them off, Li Xian finally had time to look at the old, yellowed contracts and documents on the table.

They had been delivered by that Gu.

After confirming that all the paperwork was in order, and knowing that the house now officially belonged to him, he couldn't contain his excitement and immediately called his home at the Bajiu Forest Farm.

Li Daoyun answered the phone. After asking about the elderly at home and the recent happenings at the lumber mill, Li Xian asked his grandfather to inform Zhang Yaba and Wang Qinghe, among others, that he had a big job for them and that they should bring their apprentices and the renovation team over.

After hanging up, Li Xian still felt uneasy.

After much consideration, he realized that now that the factory had reached a certain stage of development and he had some money, the need for talent was becoming more urgent.

As he searched through the people around him, Li Xian thought of Li Jie.

When Li Xian called, Li Jie was busy reconciling accounts with Old Liu in the finance office. Upon hearing her brother ask if she still wanted to continue studying, she was taken aback.

"Second Brother, where would I go to school?"

Li Xian pondered for a moment, "Let's start with Beijing. I'll make arrangements, and then we'll see how it goes. Didn't you want to study abroad? You'll need a diploma for that. You can't just go abroad to wash dishes, right?"

Li Jie hesitated for a long time before finally nodding.

…

Over the next few days, Li Xian first contacted Xu Ma and, knowing the old man had connections, asked him to help arrange night school for Li Jie in Beijing. Then he dealt with various miscellaneous company matters.

He had not yet finished when he received a call from Wang Qinghe, informing him that he had arrived in Bangye with the renovation team and Zhang Yaba and his apprentices.

Li Xian temporarily set aside his work and went with Zhou Yong to greet them.

When he brought everyone to the house, the villagers from the mountains were stunned.

Wang Laosan walked around the massive pillar that took several people to embrace at the entrance of the house, then touched the majestic stone lion that always remained imposing despite being covered in dirty snow. "My goodness! Second Brother, did you buy this?"

"Wow, if this were the old days, wouldn't this be a place where some lord would live?" one of the older masons in the renovation team shivered as he admired the exquisite tiles on the gatehouse.

"Ah ba! Ah ba ah ba!" Beside him, Zhang Yaba pointed at the faded vermillion gate and the bat-carved beams above the gate, jumping up and down, trying to express something.

Even the most reserved among them, Su Hui, was deeply attracted to the house's grandeur. Although still silent, his eyes shone as he inspected the intricate carvings on the window lattices.

Watching them marvel for a while, Li Xian gathered everyone together. "As you can see, the house is excellent, but it's been badly damaged. I've called you all here to help restore it completely."

Hearing this, everyone became even more excited—they had thought that Li Xian was talking about some big factory work when he mentioned a big job. They never imagined it was to renovate a house!

Of course, doing such detailed, slow-paced work was much more appealing than working in a factory.

The group immediately got to work. The masons in the renovation team were quite experienced, and Zhang Yaba's master was also a skilled craftsman. After inspecting the entire house, they all began to voice their opinions.

"It's doable. The main structure isn't too damaged; it's mostly brick and tile work."

Zhang Yaba also "ah ba ah ba'd" as he used pen and paper to convey his plan.

Li Xian didn't understand any of this, but seeing that everyone was confident, he waved them to start as soon as possible.

"Second Brother."

As the group started clearing the courtyard, removing useless or unrelated items, one of the old masons approached Li Xian.

"Uncle Chen, what's up?" The mason's surname was Chen, and he was in his fifties, considered an old-timer at the forest farm.

Chen pointed to the gatehouse and then to the damaged roof in several places. "The tiles on these roofs need to be repaired, but they're old pieces. We can't just replace them carelessly. We'll need to make new ones to match the original style. But I don't see any place around here to set up a kiln. You'll need to sort this out first, so we don't run into trouble later."

Upon hearing about the kiln, Li Xian waved his hand.

He knew this area well, having played here often as a child. Although the house was within Bangye County, he remembered a nearby village, Maozhu Tun, which had a kiln.

At least, it had one when he was a kid; he wasn't sure if it was still there.

Thinking about this, he asked Uncle Chen to follow him to scout the area.

But after leaving the house for a short while, Li Xian realized he had made a severe mistake—the roads he remembered didn't match the current ones. After walking a bit, he got confused.

As they wandered around, trying to get their bearings, they spotted a figure in a bright floral cotton-padded jacket with two long, thick braids ahead.

Seeing someone, Li Xian quickly approached.

"Excuse me, I remember there being a kiln around here. Do you know where

 it is?"

"Who are you?"

The girl stopped and eyed Li Xian warily.

At this moment, Li Xian also looked her up and down.

She was an honest and straightforward-looking girl with a somewhat dark complexion, standing at about 1.65 meters tall. Her wide face was innocent and lovely, with natural, almond-shaped eyes.

But what caught Li Xian's attention the most was her remarkably thick, slightly curly hair. Even though it was tied into two braids, it was a little disheveled due to the wind, with many short, curly hairs flying about, giving her a bit of a playful look.

The girl's accent was strong, making it clear she wasn't a local. Li Xian smiled, showing his best side, "We're renovating a house and need to fire some new tiles. My uncle says there used to be a kiln in the village. I grew up nearby, but I can't quite remember the exact location. Could you help us out?"

The girl hesitated and then pointed ahead. "Just go straight and turn right when you see a small path. You'll find it there."

"Thank you, thank you! You're a big help!" Li Xian waved his hand happily and turned to leave.

But Uncle Chen didn't move; instead, he stared at the girl for a long while, grinning as if he had discovered something remarkable.

The girl noticed his gaze and grew increasingly uneasy, clutching her old floral jacket tightly as if trying to hide from the cold and the old man's overly eager look.

Feeling that Uncle Chen was crossing a line, Li Xian scolded, "Uncle Chen, what are you doing? We don't want to scare her!"

Uncle Chen turned his head and grinned even wider, "Second Brother, look, I think she's got quite the figure!"

Li Xian was taken aback and didn't know how to respond.

Indeed, despite the girl's old and somewhat out-of-date floral jacket and her cautious and honest demeanor, when you looked at her as a whole, she did have an attractive figure.

However, what did this have to do with anything? She was just a stranger passing by, right?

"What's your name, girl?" Uncle Chen had no shame and continued to ask questions.

The girl frowned, growing more anxious by the moment. Just as she was about to flee, she saw a figure rushing out from a nearby alleyway, charging toward Li Xian and Uncle Chen.

"You stinking thief! How dare you bully my daughter?"

After a loud shout, a plump woman, seemingly the girl's mother, came rushing out and grabbed Uncle Chen by the collar, shaking him furiously.

Seeing this scene, Li Xian was dumbfounded and quickly tried to pull the woman away, "You've misunderstood, ma'am! We're just asking for directions!"

However, the plump woman was hysterical, and instead of letting go, she swung Uncle Chen around like a toy and hurled him to the ground, "Who's your ma'am? How dare you bully my daughter? I'll show you! Come on, you little hooligans!"

With that, she grabbed a handful of snow and flung it into Uncle Chen's face, yelling, "Go back home, you filthy beggars!"

As Li Xian tried to calm the woman down, the girl remained silent, watching the scene unfold with a mixture of concern and confusion.

In the end, it took Li Xian several minutes to explain the situation and apologize profusely before the woman finally calmed down.

By that time, Uncle Chen, who had been drenched in melted snow, was sitting on the ground, shivering and humiliated. The girl's mother shot him a final glare before storming off with her daughter in tow.

As they disappeared into the distance, Uncle Chen wiped the snow from his face and muttered, "I was just trying to be friendly…"

Li Xian sighed, helping the old man to his feet, "Let's just go find that kiln and forget this ever happened."

The two of them continued down the path, hoping that this detour wouldn't be the start of more trouble.