Chapter Five: An Impossible Choice

The bustling second floor of the talent market gradually quieted down. Many people noticed the commotion around Zhu Lan and, wary of being implicated, moved aside, giving the area a wide berth. The situation soon drew the attention of the market management; with tens of thousands of people present, any incident here would be a major affair, so dedicated security personnel were on hand to handle such matters.

Zhu Lan's expression changed constantly.

“What’s going on here?” Several uniformed men who looked like police officers pushed through the crowd.

Seeing them arrive, Fang Ren thought to himself, This is bad!

Zhu Lan, relieved to see the security staff, spoke up at once. “You’ve come just in time. This gentleman here is loudly declaring my company is a shell corporation, seriously impacting our recruitment.” She didn’t even wait for Fang Ren to explain, instead turning directly to the newcomers and making her complaint.

The talent market was a place provided by each city for job seekers and employers alike, and no trouble was tolerated. Any situation would be reported directly to the municipal committee; ordinary people had no way to influence decisions here.

Though Fang Ren’s family was well-off, he stood no chance of swaying the market’s ruling. The outcome was inevitable: with witnesses confirming Zhu Lan’s account, Fang Ren’s company was promptly expelled from the market.

Recruitment continued.

By the end of the day, Zhu Lan had found several satisfactory hires.

The department manager, Lan Tianxin, was twenty-eight and already had seven years of work experience, having served as sales manager in several large companies.

Secretary Cheng Xue had just graduated with a degree in biology. She should have entered a research institute, but for reasons unknown had opted for employment instead—an ideal hire, as Zhu Lan’s next goal was to break into the bioindustry.

In addition to these two, she recruited four clerks and two programmers. Zhu Lan wasn’t a specialist in these fields and needed a team to build a company website.

Understanding the company might develop rapidly, Zhu Lan also hired five security guards. With three million in hand, she had few concerns.

There were originally eight more candidates, but upon hearing the workplace was in the northern suburbs, they left immediately.

The remaining thirteen were all willing to work in the northern outskirts, largely due to the high salaries on offer—even clerks were being offered 3,500 a month, while programmers were offered 6,000. Monthly expenses for salaries and other costs would reach over 200,000.

Zhu Lan told the thirteen to report to the company the following day, then left the market and called Luo You.

Soon after, Zhu Lan met Luo You again at the Sky Blue Café.

“You move quickly, my friend!” Luo You smiled as soon as they sat down.

Zhu Lan shook her head. “Mr. Luo, the reason I’m here today is to rent the two adjacent units as well as the one I already have, for three years at an increased rate. Name your price.”

Luo You’s smile broadened. Those warehouses had stood vacant for ages—someone finally wanted them, which was a stroke of luck. “Alright, since you’re being so straightforward, I won’t haggle. Three warehouses, three years, two hundred thousand. How about it?”

Zhu Lan frowned, but quickly relaxed. Before, with little money, she would have bargained hard. Now, with three million on hand, she had no reason to quibble. “No problem.”

Luo You made a call, and someone soon brought the contract.

But Zhu Lan didn’t sign immediately. Looking up, she said, “Brother Luo, I’d like to add a clause: in the future, no matter how the market changes, I’ll have priority in both purchasing and leasing these properties.”

Luo You was briefly taken aback, but then understood. In recent years, rapid market swings had caused serious conflicts between landlords and tenants; some landlords, seeing their properties become lucrative, simply evicted tenants to take over themselves. Tenants, of course, resented this, but with contracts in place, all they could do was accept compensation and leave in frustration.

“Alright, I agree to that!” The northern outskirts had been abandoned by the city, and there was plenty of space for development in the eastern, southern, and western suburbs. It would be many years—perhaps a decade—before anyone considered developing the north. Moreover, Luo You’s focus had shifted to the southern outskirts, a scenic area where the city planned to build a major park, with great prospects for the future. Luo You needed funds, and though Zhu Lan’s sum was modest, every bit helped.

When the contract was amended, Zhu Lan was astonished. Not only did she now have priority in leasing and purchasing, but there was also a new clause: if Party A forcibly reclaimed the property, they would have to pay Party B a hundred times the current production value in compensation.

Moved by Luo You’s sincerity, Zhu Lan signed at once and transferred the money.

After securing the two adjacent warehouses, Zhu Lan immediately contacted a renovation company to refurbish them. Fortunately, warehouses weren’t like office buildings; only a thorough cleaning and installation of equipment were required.

With extra money offered, the renovations were completed overnight by hundreds of workers, and office equipment was installed by a computer company. By nightfall, the two warehouses had taken shape, with only finishing touches left for the next day.

A plan for developing the northern outskirts was already in place—after all, to prosper, one must first build roads. Though the city had abandoned the area, the old roads still existed, so despite being desolate, the northern outskirts weren’t hard to reach; a direct road led straight to Zhu Lan’s warehouses.

Late at night, Zhu Lan sat before her computer, gazing at a display of movie posters.

“What should I take first?” she pondered, faced with a vast array of films.

Anything too advanced in technology couldn’t be revealed yet. As a student of biology, she decided to focus on her own field, to avoid drawing unwanted attention.

What she desired most was virtual reality technology. Though primarily considered a network technology, its foundation was biological. True virtuality was achieved by transferring the brain’s bioelectric signals into a virtual world—a field within biology.

The brain remained the most mysterious realm, more enigmatic than the ocean or the depths of the earth, no less so than outer space. Tens of millions of researchers worldwide probed its secrets, but each year yielded little progress. The brain was simply too unfathomable.

Virtual reality technology, intelligent computers, smart robots, and space colonization were hailed as the four great technologies of the twenty-second century. Whoever mastered even one could become the world’s next billionaire. Yet trillions invested each year brought scant results; scientists estimated it would be fifty years before humanity could truly enter the twenty-second century.

Precisely because virtual reality was among these four great technologies, Zhu Lan understood that revealing even a fraction of it now would be courting disaster.

So, she gave up on the most tempting option and chose to start with basic biological technology.

The next day, in Warehouse No. 3, Zhu Lan looked at the six people before her and sighed. For a company just established, things were already going well.

Of the three warehouses, No. 1 was her residence, No. 2 was set aside for servers—which she didn’t plan to purchase, but rather intended to acquire from the world of film. Although the movie universe contained every kind of technology, finding the right server was a challenge: anything too outdated was useless, too advanced was inappropriate; it had to fit her current needs.

“Boss?” Lan Tianxin, seeing Zhu Lan lost in thought, ventured a cautious question.

“Oh! Sorry, I was distracted.”

“Ahem…”

“You can all see the company is new, and there’s much work to do. Manager Lan, here’s your first assignment.” Zhu Lan handed a document to Lan Tianxin.

Lan glanced over it, frowning as she read. She looked up at Zhu Lan. She hadn’t planned to join a startup, but her former company had blacklisted her, leaving no choice but to accept the generous offer from this so-called Fantasy Technologies.

“Boss, this—” She hesitated. The assignment was to assess the potential of the national bioindustry market.

Zhu Lan smiled. “I know what you’re thinking. I’m not asking for a detailed report; just give me a general overview. You can mobilize anyone you need, and if an on-site investigation is required, talk to Cheng Xue. I’ll allocate a special fund for your research.”

Surveying the bioindustry market was Zhu Lan’s reference point for entering the field. She’d spent the previous night pondering but still hadn’t decided on a concrete course of action, so she opted to study the landscape first.

Seeing Zhu Lan’s attitude, Lan Tianxin nodded and lowered her head to study the document.

“I expect you all to cooperate fully with Manager Lan and complete the research as soon as possible. You’ll all be rewarded for your efforts.”

“Yes, Boss!” Though Zhu Lan was young, no one doubted her authority—especially given the attractive salaries on offer.

After dismissing the team, Zhu Lan kept Cheng Xue behind to hand over the company’s new Industrial and Commercial Bank account. With the convenience of internet banking, she could monitor funds at any time and felt secure entrusting the account, knowing she could freeze it within two minutes if needed.

With everything settled, Zhu Lan left for Warehouse No. 2.

Warehouse No. 3 would serve as the office, No. 2 would house the servers and serve as the company’s core, so the five security guards were stationed there, with a security office outside.

“Boss, you’re here!” The team leader came forward as Zhu Lan entered No. 2.

Yu Dongming, a former special forces soldier from the southwestern military district, had been chosen by his colleagues as their leader.

“How’s the progress?” Zhu Lan asked, watching several people install wiring.

“We’ll need another three days to finish everything,” Yu replied.

Zhu Lan nodded. Besides the security team, she’d also arranged for surveillance equipment to be installed. “Keep a close eye on things for the next few days. If anything comes up, find me in Warehouse No. 1. If anyone causes trouble, throw them out—don’t worry about anything else!” She was chiefly concerned about Fang Ren, though she didn’t realize there were other factors at play.