The next morning at 7:50, Lu Ming parked the Maybach in front of Jianjun Auto Repair.

Lu Yuan was already standing by the roadside.

She was a completely different person from the one eating noodles in slippers last night.

A white shirt tucked into black trousers, her hair neatly tied back, and she wore light makeup.

She opened the passenger door, sat inside, fastened her seatbelt, and then pulled a document folder from her bag.

"I've got photocopies of the ID, property certificate, and I wrote the company charter last night. I printed two copies of the business scope."

She flipped through the documents, checking them one by one. "I've also scheduled the seal engraving, it's at 'Lao Zhang Seal Engraving' right opposite the Industry and Commerce Bureau. Almost all official seals in the county come from there."

Lu Ming glanced at her.

"What time did you go to sleep last night?"

"Three o'clock." Lu Yuan zipped up the document folder, leaned back in the seat, and closed her eyes. "Fifty thousand a month, bro. I have to earn that salary, right?"

The car drove onto Central Road.

At 8:25, the Maybach smoothly stopped in front of the Yunmeng County Administration for Market Regulation (Business Registration Window).

At this time, a few people were already waiting for the doors to open.

Most were small business owners from nearby, there to handle individual business licenses, holding plastic bags of materials, chatting idly on the steps.

Lu Yuan pushed open the car door, tucked the document folder under her arm, and walked towards the entrance of the hall.

At 8:30, the doors opened right on time.

Lu Yuan was the first to reach the window.

"Hello, I'm here to register a company." She opened the document folder, pulling out the materials one by one and neatly arranging them on the counter.

Inside the window sat a woman in her thirties with curled hair, sipping goji berry water from a thermos.

She took the materials and flipped through a few pages, pausing when she reached the section on registered capital.

"Registered capital of a hundred million?"

"Yes."

"Subscribed or paid-up?"

"First installment of twenty million, contributed as fixed assets. The property certificate copy is on the last page."

"Please wait, I'll verify the materials for you."

The staff member got up and took the materials to the back office.

In less than five minutes, a middle-aged man with glasses came out with her, holding the stack of materials.

"Hello, I'm the head of the registration department. Your company, Yunmeng Investment Co., Ltd.?"

"Yes."

"The business scope covers a lot of categories, some require pre-approval, like food service needs a food business license, construction engineering requires qualifications..."

"I know," Lu Yuan interrupted him. "Register the full business scope first. We'll handle the relevant permits before starting each corresponding business. Legally, there's no issue with this."

The department head adjusted his glasses, looked over the materials again, and nodded.

"Alright, the materials are complete. If expedited, you can get the license in three working days."

"Can it be today?"

The department head hesitated.

"It's against the rules to issue the license today..."

Lu Yuan didn't respond, just unlocked her phone and pushed it in front of him.

On the screen was a photo of Lu Ming shaking hands with Director Wang from the Finance Bureau, the background was a conference room.

Only then did she speak unhurriedly, "Director, our company is a key enterprise introduced by the county. We just finalized the project with Director Wang yesterday. He specifically instructed us to complete the procedures quickly so that the investment progress isn't delayed by the process. What do you think..."

The department head glanced at the photo, nodded, and his attitude improved significantly.

"Alright, come pick it up this afternoon."

After finishing, Lu Yuan went straight to get the seal engraved.

Meanwhile, Lu Ming wasn't idle either.

Recruiting.

He opened WeChat and edited a post for his Moments.

"[Recruitment] Yunmeng Investment Co., Ltd. is hiring for the following positions: Administrative Manager, HR Manager, General Manager's Secretary, and two Drivers. Work location: Yunmeng County. Salary: Negotiable, above market level. Interested parties, please DM."

The accompanying photo was a front view of the six-story building, sunlight reflecting off the glass facade, giving it a professional look.

After posting on Moments, he opened TikTok.

He registered a new account named "Yunmeng Investment," using the building's photo as the profile picture.

He shot a fifteen-second video, panning the camera from the bottom to the top of the building, with the text: "Yunmeng Investment Co., Ltd. is recruiting talent, starting salary five thousand, no upper limit. Local residents preferred."

Posted.

He spent a hundred yuan on TikTok's local promotion.

Then he leaned back in his seat and waited.

The response from Moments was slower than he expected.

After all, most of his contacts were colleagues and classmates from Shanghai, with few local connections in Yunmeng County.

In the first twenty minutes, only three people liked the post, two were former colleagues from Shanghai, and the other was his mom.

Zero private messages.

Just as he was about to close his phone, a WeChat message popped up.

The profile picture was a side profile photo, with the background being Taikoo Li in Chengdu.

"Lu Ming? Is that you?"

The remark name was empty.

Lu Ming opened the other person's Moments.

The most recent post was from three days ago, with a photo of a coffee cup, location tagged at Zhengzhou Xinzheng Airport, and the caption was just two words: "I'm back."

He scrolled down.

The same girl appeared in the photos, long hair, a collarbone chain, wearing a camisole dress on Chunxi Road.

Another was a graduation photo at the entrance of Sichuan University, in a bachelor's gown, holding a bouquet and smiling.

Lu Ming recognized her.

Chen Li.

A high school classmate, sat two rows in front of him.

The title of the class beauty in their year was undisputed.

She went to Chengdu for college, Sichuan University, but he couldn't remember her major.

They hadn't kept in touch much after high school, just the kind of relationship where you occasionally see each other's posts on social media.

He replied: "It's me."

Chen Li's response was quick.

"You're back in Yunmeng? I saw your recruitment post, did you start a company in the county?"

We are "pawread dot com", find us on google.

"Just registered."

"Wow, impressive. What kind of company?"

"Investment company."

There was a pause of about a minute from the other side.

"Are you free? Can we meet up to chat? I just got back too, and I'm idle at home."

"You returned to Yunmeng too?"

"Yeah, just arrived the day before yesterday."

Lu Ming looked at the message, his fingers paused on the screen for two seconds.

Graduated from Sichuan University, developed in Chengdu, suddenly returned to Yunmeng County?

"Alright, where are you?"

Chen Li sent a location.

Old Town, Central Road, in front of Jinwang Supermarket.

Lu Ming started the car and shifted gears.

The Maybach smoothly pulled away from the Industry and Commerce Bureau entrance, turning onto Central Road.

Seven or eight minutes later, he parked by the curb in front of Jinwang Supermarket.

On the steps of the supermarket stood a girl.

White T-shirt, jeans, canvas shoes, carrying a canvas bag.

Her hair was loose, and the wind would occasionally sweep it across her cheeks.

Lu Ming rolled down the car window.

"Get in."

Chen Li looked up at the sound, her gaze swept over the car's hood ornament, a hint of surprise flashed in her clear eyes, but she quickly regained her composure, walking over with a faint smile.

After a few years, she had shed the youthful innocence of high school. Even in a simple white T-shirt and jeans, her outstanding temperament was undeniable, especially with that clean face in the sunlight, so pure it was hard to look away.

"Long time no see." Her voice hadn't changed much since high school, clear, with a slight upward lilt at the end.

Lu Ming glanced at her through the rearview mirror.

"Where do you want to talk?" Lu Ming asked.

"Anywhere, you decide."

"Have you eaten?"

"No."

Lu Ming thought for a moment, then turned the steering wheel.

"Let's go, I'll take you for a bowl of stewed noodles."

Chen Li chuckled from the back seat: "Driving a Maybach to treat me to stewed noodles, Lu Ming, your style is quite unique."

She paused, then looked seriously at Lu Ming in the rearview mirror.

"I saw your recruitment post. The HR Manager position... I'd like to give it a try."