The sun rose as usual; another new day.
Yu Xing got up, washed, and came downstairs feeling refreshed. The company's second-in-command was already waiting below.
"Why didn't you come up?" he asked his junior casually.
"It's the same waiting anywhere, and the air's better down here." Zhong Zhiling smiled. "Xing-ge, let's make another trip today and get the company registered first."
Yu Xing had taken only two steps when he suddenly caught the meaning. He turned his head. "We don't have enough money yet."
"Shi-gu placed a big order, and Shi-niang put in some money too. I thought about it last night, and this morning I borrowed fifteen thousand from relatives and friends." Zhong Zhiling said earnestly, "Add that to what we pooled last time, and that's just about enough."
Yu Xing was somewhat astonished—not that his junior had managed to scrape together money, but at this proactive, positive attitude.
He pointed toward the cafeteria, indicating they should get breakfast first, and asked, "What made you think of borrowing from relatives and friends?"
"Xing-ge, you said before that we're short on time. I couldn't sleep last night thinking about this, and we really do need to race against the clock." Zhong Zhiling chose his words carefully. "Since we're doing this, and since it's not just me doing it, we should be on the same side and do this as well as we can."
Yu Xing found it hard not to be even more astonished.
He asked as they walked, "That's exactly what I told you the past couple of days. Why did it only change after Lü Haiying came along? Is the power of love really that strong?"
"I don't know." Zhong Zhiling shook his head. "Anyway, either the project kills me, or I kill the project."
"Work the project. It's *work*." Yu Xing corrected him, still feeling a bit gratified. "Good. Looks like the first move should've been calling your girlfriend over."
Zhong Zhiling was silent for a few seconds, then made a request: "Xing-ge, at the very least—even if you call Xiao Ying over, you should give me a heads-up first and discuss it with me. From now on, if any decision involves family, you shouldn't keep it from me."
"Fine." Yu Xing agreed readily, then added, "It's not that I kept it from you—I didn't expect her to agree right over the phone. And it was she who said she wanted to tell you herself."
Zhong Zhiling didn't dwell on that point, and instead carefully raised a new request: "Xing-ge, you used to say—settle the petty stuff first, then be gentlemen."
"Yes, I said that." Yu Xing admitted.
"Then our company's business and cash flow..." Zhong Zhiling paused, but finished anyway. "Can they be transparent?"
Yu Xing glanced at his junior and couldn't help laughing. "You're actually planning to have Lü Haiying switch to finance? When would she even finish getting certified?"
"We went back and discussed it last night. Starting a business is even harder for us than the triple-cross postgraduate exam—crossing majors, crossing schools, and crossing regions. But we've already started, so we have to try to see what we can do well." Zhong Zhiling said seriously. "She's a bit slow at studying. Last night she spent ages on 'every debit must have a credit, and debits must equal credits.' I got it at a glance, and I still had to explain it to her. But I believe she'll manage in the end."
Yu Xing walked along thinking for a while, then suddenly asked, "I noticed Lü Haiying has a pretty outgoing personality. How about we have her do sales while you handle the finances and funds? That way you'd be watching the money yourself—wouldn't that put you more at ease?"
Zhong Zhiling was taken aback. His senior trusted him that much?
The two walked into the cafeteria, casually ordered two simple breakfasts, and found a secluded spot to sit.
"Me handling the finances—is that really appropriate?" Zhong Zhiling still voiced it.
Yu Xing answered vaguely, "I think that's pretty cost-effective."
He smiled again. "Anyway, you manage it for now. See how Lü Haiying does with sales, and how her certification goes. Once things are truly official, you handling that area wouldn't be allowed by the rules anyway."
Zhong Zhiling thought it over and nodded.
Yu Xing bit into a bun and said thickly, "Alright, junior brother. Since you borrowed the money, let's see how fast it gets here."
Zhong Zhiling put down his backpack, pulled out a black plastic bag, and handed it to his senior.
Yu Xing weighed it in his hand and felt his junior had truly improved too much compared to yesterday. Just preparing the money this early took some effort—the attitude behind it was utterly different.
He stuffed the money into his pants pocket, the bulge giving him a sense of security.
"Alright. Thank you, junior brother." Yu Xing said sincerely.
Zhong Zhiling looked at his senior and reminded him, "Then let's go register this afternoon."
Yu Xing spat out two words: "No rush."
Zhong Zhiling nearly panicked. "What?"
"Didn't you hear me talking with Ying-jie? She thinks it's better to register a Xiangjiang company, and that's not just about the difference in location." Yu Xing said unhurriedly. "What's good about it? What's good is that we can use a few thousand yuan to take control of a company with several million in registered capital. Later, facing clients, if they don't know the difference between mainland and Xiangjiang companies, they'll believe we have real strength."
He took a sip of porridge and continued, "Mainland companies do need registration, but we can start operating first and register once money comes in. Nobody's going to police that."
Zhong Zhiling listened, dumbfounded, and only after a good while asked, "Then why did you take my money!"
Yu Xing answered innocently, "Didn't you hand it to me?"
Zhong Zhiling truly panicked now. He stood up, came around the table, and went straight for the money in Yu Xing's pocket.
Yu Xing blocked his hand with one arm while earnestly reasoning, "You said it yourself—we're on the same side! We're going to work this project to death, we're going to do this as well as we can—all of that needs money invested!"
Gritting his teeth, Zhong Zhiling said, "Why did you have to wait until I handed you the money before telling me the difference between Xiangjiang and mainland companies!"
Yu Xing clutched his junior's arm tightly and reasoned, "You never asked! So I didn't exactly keep it from you, did I?"
Zhong Zhiling still wasn't willing to let it go.
Yu Xing had no choice but to emphasize, "You're the one managing the money anyway—what are you afraid of! This counts as the company borrowing from you! How it's used will go before the board!"
Hearing this, the company's second-in-command finally somewhat stopped his money-grabbing hands.
"It's already borrowed—what's there to be afraid of?" Seeing this, Yu Xing finally pulled out the money and set it on the table. "More lice, less itch; more debt, less worry. And here you go getting all hesitant again!"
Zhong Zhiling looked at the money, his hands itching again, and complained, "Don't keep things from me! Don't keep things from me!"
"I'm not keeping anything from you. I was planning to call Ying-jie right after breakfast anyway—there's been no movement on her end." Yu Xing shook his head. "We need to nudge her."
Zhong Zhiling calmed down somewhat and returned to his seat across the table to eat, though his eyes kept drifting to the black bag from time to time.
He felt that with his girlfriend joining and last night's reflections, he had grown.
But who knew—changing his attitude alone wasn't enough. When you didn't understand certain things, the more proactive you were, the more easily you got taken advantage of!
Damn it, how the hell was every step a trap?!
Yu Xing finished his bun quickly and said, "Still, Ying-jie has given us guidance *and* placed a big order. With the money not in place and things not started, it wouldn't be great for me to call her like this."
Zhong Zhiling thought for a moment and nodded. "It really wouldn't."
She'd already been so supportive—could he really turn around and complain she was slow?
"Fortunately..." Yu Xing smiled, "I promised to take Shanshan to the amusement park. Ying-jie can bring her along, and we'll bring the registration materials—ID cards and such—with us. That way it won't seem abrupt."
Zhong Zhiling took two sips of porridge, savoring both the porridge and the words, and looked up in shock. "Xing-ge, when you promised to take Shanshan out to play—were you thinking of this even then?"
What a perfectly tailored little hook to arrange a meeting!
Yu Xing shook his head in denial. "We're all ordinary people. Who can think that far ahead? It just happened to work out."
Zhong Zhiling lowered his head and drank his porridge, wondering whether ordinary people could use people to control people like that, and whether ordinary people could sketch out the outline of a project in just a few days.
A moment later, Yu Xing took out his phone, walked outside the cafeteria, and called to set up a time.
About five minutes later, Zhong Zhiling watched his senior come back smiling.
"Done. Ying-jie's side is fine." Yu Xing was quite pleased. "Call Lü Haiying and have her lock down those two friends' orders. We've already cut the price—299 should work for them."
Zhong Zhiling nodded.
Yu Xing pondered a moment, then said, "The two of us shouldn't be idle today either. Let's split up and hit the nearby universities. We'll look for counselors, and in the name of a club or a school social survey, check out the romance situation on campuses."
"This is..." Zhong Zhiling didn't understand.
"I want to know what proportion of Jinling's 115,000 graduates this year are couples." Yu Xing said. "They'll be our potential customers. We need a rough picture in our heads first."
Zhong Zhiling said, astonished, "Xing-ge, how did you know there are 115,000 graduates this year?"
Yu Xing made a phone gesture with his hand. "Called city hall, of course. Same reason as just now—a campus social survey. Besides, it's hardly secret data."
Zhong Zhiling said with heartfelt admiration, "Xing-ge, I really think—honestly, I think—every time we part and meet again, you've got something new to pull out!"
"No need to be surprised. After all, your ability is only 8.6% of mine." Yu Xing laughed.
Zhong Zhiling was puzzled. "8.6%? That's awfully precise."
Yu Xing mouthed the shapes of 500 and 43.
Zhong Zhiling froze, then understood. So it was 430,000 versus 5,000,000 in debt... the greater the debt, the greater the ability...