She packed up the suitcase, still feeling uneasy thinking about what her wife had said. As she came out of the house, she saw her cousin pushing his bicycle, about to leave.
"Brother, I need to talk to you about something." Qin Xiaoyu called out to him.
"Is this...is this going to work?" After hearing her explanation, her cousin glanced at the house above with some skepticism.
"Listen to me, you won't go wrong." Qin Xiaoyu smiled, and her cousin's confidence was also boosted.
The next day was another sunny day. By noon, the snow had melted, and water dripped from the eaves. Large icicles glided along, reflecting iridescent light like crystal pillars. Qin Xiaoyu stared blankly outside, her mind filled with endless thoughts.
"Little Fish, aren't you tired? Have a seat. You've been busy all morning," Master Wang called to her.
Qin Xiaoyu had just sat down when she sprang up and rushed toward the door. The three people outside were her cousin and his wife, with her wife sitting on the back of the bicycle.
"Why are you all here?" Qin Xiaoyu's surprised expression made it hard to believe that this was her idea.
"Your brother insisted on dragging me out for a ride, what a hassle." The wife got off the bicycle with her cousin's help, and although she was unhappy, her eyes were gentle and she looked at her cousin's wife with a hint of doting.
"Come inside quickly." Qin Xiaoyu rushed to open the door, and Master Wang also came to greet her.
"This room is nice, but the walls are a bit bare. Go get a painting from my room tomorrow," the lady instructed after inspecting the room. Qin Xiaoyu chuckled to herself, "My goodness, you can't hang that painting here. It's a waste to leave a multi-million dollar treasure in this smoky, dusty place."
Soon the keys to the new house were handed over, and she fell in love with it at first sight. It was a neat two-story detached house with six rooms on each floor. What pleased her most was that both floors had their own bathrooms and heating.
To be honest, this building was only built two years ago. Because several departments were added temporarily, the old buildings in the military region were not enough, so a two-story building was specially built on land allocated from the local area. After everything was settled and it was put into use as an office, it was discovered that this place was just a waste of space.
Back then, getting a stamp between departments required running back and forth. Communication wasn't advanced, there were no cell phones or anything, and the telephone lines were always busy.
Most importantly, security guards need to sign in to enter and exit, so opening a separate door would affect security, and we can't just put up a guard booth.
And so, it was shut down after only a few months of operation.
Just as the downsizing and restructuring began, departments were being reduced, so everyone simply moved back to the old building. Qin Xiaoyu got a great deal; the building was so new it looked like it had just been built, and there were still some old desks and chairs left, all of which could be put to good use.
She drew up some blueprints to plan the layout. The students would be staying in dormitories, with two dorm rooms, a small kitchen, and an office on each floor, and two more rooms for classrooms.
Also, male and female trainees should be separated. Male trainees will live on the first floor, and female trainees will live on the second floor. At night, Master Wang will come and stay with the female trainees. A small iron gate will be installed to block the stairs to prevent any accidents from happening.
These days, relationships between men and women are a very important aspect. If problems arise, it can ruin the school's reputation in no time. All the effort put in now will be wasted, and the school will have no choice but to close down.
“Opening a school isn’t just about having a building. How many students can you teach by yourself? You also need wigs for practice, and a lot of tools, all of which cost money.” Master Wang had taught many apprentices at Dongfeng and knew the rules.
Qin Xiaoyu could do hair right away back then, firstly because she was smart, and secondly because she was a regular customer of Master Wang, so he could cover for her if anything went wrong. But now that these trainees have been brought in, there are many more problems.
“We just need to hire a few more teachers. I’ve thought it through. We don’t need full-time teachers, just part-time ones. Master, do you think there are any skilled but stubborn people in the Dongfeng store who aren’t very sociable? Just find me three or four of those to work part-time.”
"The person you're looking for is rather eccentric. Which organization doesn't have a few like that? Why not someone easy to talk to?"
“Master, you’re too smooth. You’re always holding back. We need to teach you the real skills, not just anything.”
Qin Xiaoyu has her own way of dealing with people like this. How did she win over her cousin's wife? They seem unapproachable, but she found their weakness and won them over in no time.
"How about we ask Da Liu if she's willing to come? No matter how well she does at Dongfeng, it's just a fixed salary. Does she have a grudge against money?" Master Wang's eyes lit up with an idea.
“We won’t look for her; let her come to us herself. She’s very useful.”
"I'll listen to you. Xiaoyu, I've saved up some money recently, you can use it for working capital. If I leave it, my spendthrift son will take it away sooner or later anyway. If you need to buy tools or something, just buy them, it's getting late." Master Wang took out his handkerchief bag, which contained 1,500 yuan.
"Okay, Master, consider it a loan. I'll return it as soon as possible. You don't need to worry about anything else. There's no rush to buy tools; someone will deliver them." Qin Xiaoyu smiled mysteriously, and Master Wang knew exactly what she meant. When had he ever been wrong about something this girl said?
Master Wang quickly found three Dongfeng drivers to come over, chatted with Qin Xiaoyu, and they were all quite good.
Dongfeng's service is special; they can't even rest on Sundays, so they have to take time off at other times. Therefore, they have a special offer: two days off a week.
The three of them managed to schedule their breaks together, which gave them time to teach. Qin Xiaoyu explained to them that it would be a piece-rate system, with payment based on the number of students per class. They readily agreed. Master Wang was right; who doesn't like money? How could they refuse money that was practically offered to them?
The house had been empty for over a year, so it needed some cleaning. They needed to repaint and repair the doors and windows, and some of the heating pipes weren't working, clearly blocked. Qin Xiaoyu found Captain Chen, and the problem was solved in just a few words.
"All my men are willing to work for you, and you're a capable girl. Don't worry, I'll get the house, plumbing, and heating all set up perfectly for you."
Qin Xiaoyu had no worries about Captain Chen's work and simply handed it over to him. These days she was out running errands, keeping Master Wang busy enough at the shop, so she would rush back to help whenever she had time.
The person sitting inside was the one she had been longing for day and night, yet had to pretend not to care.
"Junior sister is back?" Da Liu finally couldn't hold back any longer and came to her door.
"Senior sister is so free." Qin Xiaoyu noticed that this was different from last time. Da Liu was helping a customer remove hair curlers. Taking the initiative to be friendly made it easier to negotiate terms.
"I heard that my junior sister is going to open a hairdressing school. I was just talking about it with my master. You're amazing." Last time Da Liu came, he called him Master Wang, but now he dropped the "Wang" part.
"It's just messing around," Qin Xiaoyu deliberately said, avoiding any mention of the school.
"I heard you found three mentors from Dongfeng to be part-time teachers?" Da Liu couldn't hold back any longer and asked directly.
"Yes." Qin Xiaoyu deliberately killed the conversation.
"Junior sister, are you looking down on your senior sister's skills? Why didn't you ask me for this good thing?" Da Liu said, getting a little angry.
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