If flowers bloom, youth will naturally follow.

After Xia Donghai returned to the city, Brother Ma entrusted him with an important task, letting him take charge of that business. He had a high degree of freedom and his commission was much higher, which was somewhat similar to contracting it out to him.

In the following years, the Xia family's life stabilized, and Xia Donghai became quite successful in his career. He no longer worked so hard. He asked his younger brother to help build five large brick houses at home, and the decoration was the best in the village. He would drive back to reunite with his family during festivals.

Four years later, Ma Dongmei gave birth to Xiao Pang.

At that time, Xia Donghai was quite the kind father. He opened a savings account for Xia Tian and Xiao Pang each and deposited some money into it every month. He deposited more money into his son's savings account as a dowry for his daughter.

Xia Donghai had both a son and a daughter, and earned a fortune every year. He truly lived through the most triumphant years of his life.

But as the saying goes, greed knows no bounds. Xia Donghai was flattered by his cronies at home and encouraged by a group of newly made bad friends outside. Gradually, he began to have some ulterior motives.

He made a mistake that some young people make: he mistook the platform for his own abilities.

What follows is a real-life version of the story of Mr. Dongguo, who knew martial arts and killed the wolf.

Xia Donghai believed that now it was Brother Ma who couldn't live without him, not the other way around. He even proposed to cooperate with Brother Ma instead of working for him again.

He would never forget the look in Ma Ge's eyes—anger, disappointment, pity, and amusement: "Hai Zi, are you serious?"

“Yes, brother, you’ll always be my brother, but I have elderly parents to support and young children to raise. I need money, and with your vast wealth, you won’t be short of my little bit of money,” Xia Donghai said.

Ma Ge naturally refused, and the two parted ways.

Xia Donghai set up his own company to compete with Brother Ma for his previous business, and then he discovered that he couldn't even win the most basic bids, and the network of relationships he had painstakingly built was of no use at all.

Xia Donghai then realized that what Brother Ma had said to him was invaluable advice, and in the days that followed, he repeatedly sighed in his heart, "There was once an opportunity..."

Xia Donghai bypassed the bidding process and directly connected with the market. After working in this field for a while, he discovered that the business he was familiar with was completely unprofitable without bidding.

He was too ashamed to go back to Brother Ma to ask for work, so he slunk back to his hometown.

However, he did make some money during the years he followed Brother Ma, and he opened a small factory on the land he bought in his hometown.

With ample funds and a knack for sales, his small factory was thriving, though of course, it was a far cry from the glamorous life he had when he worked for Brother Ma.

He's been running this small factory for over ten years. It hasn't grown much, but it hasn't gone out of business either. To outsiders, it's thriving. Everyone thinks Xia Donghai is at least the richest man in the village.

But Xia Donghai was actually suffering in silence.

Most small factories are in similar situations: they are short of money, and most of their profits are sold on credit, resulting in IOUs. They only have enough for pocket money left.

Xia Donghai actually managed his business quite well. If he had been careful with his money, he could probably have saved up 300,000 to 500,000 yuan by now. After all, an ordinary worker could save 30,000 to 50,000 yuan after working for ten years (in the early 20th century).

But this very personality of Xia Donghai was both his strength and his weakness. He returned from the city in disgrace, but he didn't change his tendency to put on a show. He ran a factory worth 500,000 yuan but acted like a boss worth 5 million yuan. He spent all his earnings on showing off. The big mobile phone and Santana were visible, but what he didn't see was the countless amounts he spent on eating, drinking, gambling, and playing every year.