Chapter 51: Nan Li's Far-Reaching Foresight

"Honey, what made you think of starting a tutoring center? Didn't you always used to be against enrolling kids in all sorts of cram schools? Why are you opening one yourself now? This doesn't sound like you at all."

When Nan Li learned that the business Zhou Chen was discussing with Zhong Yi was actually opening a tutoring center, she appeared extremely shocked.

Zhou Chen explained, "I think tutoring centers have huge room for development. Didn't you look into this with me before? The current generation of kids is under immense pressure, and attending cram schools has become the norm. Besides, unlike other businesses, tutoring centers rarely suffer from delayed payments, recoup their capital quickly, and yield high profits."

Nan Li countered, "But this isn't your professional field! Crossing over into an unfamiliar industry in business is a huge taboo. On top of that, you're planning to partner with Zhong Yi. From what I know, while Zhong Yi has decent teaching skills, his interpersonal skills are seriously lacking. If you two open a tutoring center together, I'm afraid conflicts will inevitably arise."

"Honey, let's drop the idea of a tutoring center. I think you should stick to your old profession. If you don't want to go to a regular job, you could start a small company of your own. Given your abilities, while you might not land massive business deals, picking up some smaller ones shouldn't be a problem. You could even set up an interior design studio, and I could help you promote it."

"Running a company on one side while writing novels on the other—I think that arrangement would be just fine."

Ever since she found out that Zhou Chen's novel-writing brought in a million a month, Nan Li naturally couldn't bear to let him give up writing. She felt that entrepreneurship was fine, but it should be based on his own professional expertise, starting with a small company first. Once he gained experience and accumulated more capital, he could think about expanding the business.

You can't get fat in one bite; who starts a large-scale tutoring center with a grand fanfare right out of the gate?

"As expected of my wife—clear in logic and far-sighted. I'm impressed, truly impressed."

Zhou Chen first cupped his hands in a gesture of admiration, then pulled Nan Li into his arms and planted several loud kisses on her face.

"Hate it, stop messing around. We're talking about something serious. You're becoming less serious by the day."

Nan Li feigned shyness and annoyance as she pushed Zhou Chen away, rolling her eyes with a captivating charm that made Zhou Chen's heart flutter. If the timing hadn't been wrong, he definitely would have made her experience his prowess firsthand.

"Lili, what you said does make sense. Actually, I did consider starting a small company or studio in my own field. But once I do that, I'll undoubtedly have to pour all my energy into it. Whether I'd have time to write novels is one thing, but I wouldn't be able to look after Huanhuan and Chaochao at all, and that's the real issue."

From beginning to end, Zhou Chen never forgot his mission. Seeing that there was only a year left before Huanhuan entered middle school, his choices were dwindling.

Either he rapidly improved Huanhuan's grades so she had enough ability to test into the top-tier Hanlin Middle School entirely on her own merit...

Although she now had a private tutor and her grades were steadily rising, with only a year remaining, Zhou Chen wasn't entirely confident that Huanhuan could get into Hanlin.

Therefore, he had to prepare for the possibility that she wouldn't make it. And if Huanhuan failed to pass the exams, he would have to deploy his ultimate superpower—namely, money.

Zhou Chen had already considered this. Hanlin Middle School was indeed the most prestigious in their district, but no matter how prestigious, it was still a private institution. To a certain extent, absolute fairness didn't exist in private schools, and financial power could definitely work its magic.

So, in the end, it all came back to where it started: making money.

"Think about it. While I'm not in the education industry, Zhong Yi is. By partnering with him, I don't need him to put up any capital; just by giving him a small share, he'll definitely go all out to help. With his assistance, I can save a ton of time and energy, avoiding the need to invest every single waking hour into it, which leaves me time to write novels and spend time with the kids."

Nan Li said, "But Zhong Yi is just an elementary school teacher. How much capability could he possibly have? Why trust him so much? Furthermore, running a tutoring center isn't as easy as you think. With so many of them around, what makes you think yours is bound to succeed?"

Zhou Chen smiled and said, "If I can't do it, don't I have you?"

"Me? I don't know anything about this either. Even if I wanted to help, I wouldn't know how," Nan Li said with a puzzled expression.

Zhou Chen replied, "You can help us recruit students! With your outstanding abilities and extensive connections, you can definitely help us bring in enrollees."

Nan Li frowned. "If I can help, I certainly will. But I have my own job too; I don't have that much energy to spare for you."

"Then why don't you resign and we can start a business together? When a husband and wife are of one mind, they can cut through metal."

"There you go again with that talk. Didn't I tell you last time? I am not resigning."

Seeing Nan Li show a hint of displeasure, Zhou Chen quickly coaxed her. "Alright, alright, no resigning, I won't make you resign. Just spare a little time to give us some advice every now and then."

Nan Li asked, "Are you dead set on opening this tutoring center?"

Seeing that her persuasion didn't seem to have much effect, Nan Li felt somewhat helpless. She didn't deny that tutoring centers could make money, but getting one off the ground was genuinely difficult. Moreover, she felt her husband was too soft-natured; if he went into business with someone else, he might get taken advantage of, and that Zhong Yi didn't seem like someone with a pleasant temperament.

"Hehe, my wife knows me best." Zhou Chen flashed a flattering smile.

Nan Li sighed helplessly. "Fine. Since you've made up your mind, of course I'll support you. I'll carve out some time to help you figure out a plan. For a tutoring center, a steady flow of students is the prerequisite, but teaching quality is the key. I don't trust Zhong Yi too much, so I'll try to find a way to secure better teachers."

Since it was their own family business, she naturally had to take it seriously. After all, they were investing capital to run a business, not a charity, and making a profit was the top priority.

"Lili, my dear, I love you so much. *Mwah, mwah!*"

"Go away, you just know how to sweet-talk me. I must owe you in a past life."

Zhou Chen wasn't in a hurry even though Nan Li refused to resign, because he knew that the sales director position at Vientiane Warmth would soon be decided, and Nan Li most likely wouldn't get selected.

Of course, if Nan Li genuinely managed to become the sales director, Zhou Chen would be genuinely happy for her, because he knew very well how much effort she had poured into it, and with her ability, she was entirely qualified for the role.

However, in that case, he would have to invest far more energy into the tutoring center himself.

In reality, part of the reason he was setting up this tutoring center was for Nan Li's sake. Once she failed to secure the sales director position, he would have her resign directly and come back to manage the tutoring center. Being the top boss at their own tutoring center would be far better than being a marketing department manager at Vientiane Warmth, where she had to walk on eggshells depending on others' moods.

When it came to business and management, Zhou Chen didn't have much confidence, after all, he had never experienced those things.

On the other hand, Nan Li, who possessed the strong aura of a career woman, was definitely much more capable of taking on the management role than he was. Therefore, he really wanted to push Nan Li to the forefront to handle the administration.