Factory

The next morning, after his unshakable ten-kilometer run and breakfast, Ning Yifan set out a little after six on his road bike, heading for the industrial park west of the city.

After searching online, Ning Yifan found listings for two factories for sale in the city. Both were in the industrial park south of town. He figured he might find other options by looking around in person, too.

Dawn had barely broken, and there were still few pedestrians and cars on the roads.

Riding his road bike at forty kilometers per hour, Ning Yifan sped all the way to the industrial park in the small city, arriving in just over twenty minutes.

The park covered a vast area. Ning Yifan rode first to the two factories he had found online. Both were beside the park's main road. One occupied around ten mu, and its gate was shut tight.

After circling the factory, Ning Yifan decided not to contact the company owner about buying it and crossed it off his list for now. The wide roads would make it easy to transport product components and handle deliveries, but the factory looked rather run-down. He would have to rebuild or renovate it before he could use it. It was simply too much trouble.

Besides, Ning Yifan wanted a small office building where he could live. This place had only the factory and a guard booth by the gate. He couldn't very well live in the booth or sleep on the factory floor. He didn't have high standards when it came to living conditions, but there was no need to make himself that uncomfortable.

Without looking back, Ning Yifan turned and left. On to the next one.

The second factory was a little newer, but it still had nowhere for Ning Yifan to live, so he ruled it out as well.

He spent the whole morning looking around the industrial park without finding a factory he liked. Besides the two listed online, four other factories were for sale, but they were either too small for his needs or so poorly equipped that he couldn't be bothered to fix them up.

There didn't seem to be a suitable factory in this city. It looked like he would have to move somewhere else.

Under the heat of the summer sun, Ning Yifan boarded a high-speed train that afternoon for the capital of Chuanxi Province. He hoped to find a factory that suited him in the big city.

Had Chen Shunjie ever seen Wu Yanzu or Eddie Peng riding a shared bike? In the past few days, he finally had. People like that could have lived their dream lives on good looks alone!

Chen Shunjie was a real estate agent in Chengdu. His job brought him into contact with all kinds of people. He couldn't say he had seen them all, but he had certainly met his fair share.

But in the past few days, he had encountered a customer he just couldn't figure out.

And right on cue, here he came!

Chen Shunjie had only just opened up that morning when the man arrived, riding a shared bike. He was about six-foot-one, with an incredible physique. Even Chen Shunjie, another man, couldn't help swallowing when he saw him. Don't get the wrong idea—he wasn't into men. The guy was just so well-built that Chen Shunjie envied him. He had only ever seen a physique like that in pictures online or described in novels. Words like "musclebound hunk" immediately sprang to mind!

He wore a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers, dressed like an athlete. He looked like the handsome star of a school drama who played basketball or soccer, and nothing like a big-shot businessman.

But the reason he had come to see Chen Shunjie was to buy a factory, with a budget of five to ten million yuan!

A big-shot businessman in his early twenties, riding a shared bike and boasting an incredible physique—Chen Shunjie had never met anyone like him. If he could afford a factory worth several million, or even ten million, surely he could drive a car worth at least a hundred or a few hundred thousand yuan. And why was he so young? Was he some rich second-generation heir? He didn't look like one.

In short, Ning Yifan's arrival left Chen Shunjie baffled. But a customer was a customer, and he still had to show him around!

Picking up his car keys, Chen Shunjie went to greet him. "Yifan, you're up early again!"

After parking the shared bike, Ning Yifan said, "You're up early too, Brother Jie. The company's waiting on a new factory, so I don't have much choice!"

Chen Shunjie nodded to show he understood. "Come on. The factory we're going to see today is in Dujiangyan Industrial Park. It matches what you asked for: a nice surrounding area with somewhere to run, over three thousand square meters of factory space, and ready to use as soon as you take it over. It also comes with a small building."

"I think you'll like this one. There's a beautiful river nearby, one of the branches of the Dujiangyan. A riverside running path, built in recent years, stretches for more than ten kilometers. You can follow it all the way into the Dujiangyan urban area. The factory covers four thousand eight hundred square meters, and there's a small building with fully renovated interiors."

As he introduced the factory they were going to see, Chen Shunjie started his car. Once Ning Yifan got in, he drove toward their destination in Dujiangyan City.

After driving on the highway for an hour, Chen Shunjie brought Ning Yifan to the used factory in the industrial park, not far from the highway exit.

A brick wall completely enclosed the factory grounds. From above it, they could see blue-and-white tiles inside, and the imposing main factory building was made of brick as well—a far cry from the light-gauge steel factories Ning Yifan had seen over the past two days.

Ning Yifan preferred brick buildings to light-gauge steel structures. It had only taken a few minutes to drive there from the highway, and the area looked nice, with shady trees lining both sides of the road. Perhaps he would find what he was looking for today.

When Chen Shunjie drove up to the entrance, the factory's owner, who had been waiting there, opened the electric gate.

Once the car was parked in the factory lot, Ning Yifan and Chen Shunjie got out together. The owner came over to greet them.

After introducing themselves, the owner led them inside to look around. Chen Shunjie and the owner explained the details of the factory to Ning Yifan as they went.

The building had been constructed three years earlier. The owner had run a clothing factory there for two years, but business had been poor. Now that he was getting older, he no longer wanted to run it, so he was selling the factory and taking the money home to retire.

The factory had three floors, each with a ceiling height of eight meters and an interior area of 1,600 square meters, for a total floor area of 4,800 square meters. The whole site covered eleven mu. It already had everything needed to run a factory, including industrial power, environmental compliance, and fire safety approvals.

The owner had sold off all the clothing production equipment, and the entire factory had been cleared out. If Ning Yifan wanted, he could bring in his equipment and start production right away.

The factory was relatively new and spacious, meeting Ning Yifan's requirements. On top of that, it was only a few hundred meters from the nearest river. Running seven or eight kilometers upstream along it would take him to Dujiangyan, a famous local scenic spot. The riverside infrastructure along the way was excellent.

Behind the main factory stood a small, fully renovated three-story building where Ning Yifan could rest and live.

The building had been designed entirely as a residence, and even came fully furnished with household appliances. The first floor had a reception room and a meeting room, while the second and third floors were where the owner had lived. In fact, he had been living there until now.

After spending two hours inspecting the factory from top to bottom, Ning Yifan finally spoke. "Not bad. I'm satisfied with it."

Over the past few days, Ning Yifan had looked at dozens of factories. This was the one he liked best. It had all the necessary infrastructure and needed no renovations; he only had to move the equipment from his rental place.

And with more than four thousand square meters of space, it would be enough for him for a long time.

"You've got a good eye, young man. You're clearly going to make a lot of money!" The owner was delighted to hear Ning Yifan was interested and praised him repeatedly.

Ning Yifan smiled and changed the subject. "I'm just wondering if there's any room to negotiate on the price?"

Hearing that Ning Yifan liked the factory, Chen Shunjie quickly chimed in. "The price is always negotiable!"

After seeing dozens of factories over the past few days, Ning Yifan had a good idea of their general prices. This place was a considerable distance from the main urban area of Chengdu—practically in the suburbs—and several kilometers from Dujiangyan's city center, so the price wasn't too high.

After some discussion, Ning Yifan bought the factory for 6.8 million yuan.

The real estate agency would handle the ownership transfer and the transfer of the environmental and fire safety approvals. Including the agency fee, transfer fees, the installation of a one-thousand-megabit corporate internet connection, and various other expenses and services, the total came to exactly seven million yuan.

The agency would take care of all the paperwork. After spending several days finalizing the purchase, Ning Yifan hurried back to his rental place to get ready to move!

With Zhou Yuánlěi no longer smearing him online, and Zhou Yuánlěi's apology video making people realize how impressive the Phantom Projector really was, more and more buyers wanted one. But there still weren't any products to buy.

Through the automatic reply program Ning Yifan had set up, consumers learned that production had been disrupted because Shenma Technology Company was moving its factory and upgrading its production line. Even so, plenty of people kept asking every day when the products would be available!

The sooner he moved into the new factory, the sooner he could start making more money!

In this day and age, money could make the devil turn millstones. Even moving was easy when you had enough of it.

The professional moving company needed only half a day to move all the equipment and components Ning Yifan needed, along with his personal belongings, out of the rental place.

Then a housekeeping company cleaned the house until it looked just as it had before Ning Yifan moved in—perhaps even cleaner and tidier.

Once everything was taken care of, Ning Yifan pulled out his phone and called the landlord. It had taken only half a day to pack everything up.

"Hello, Boss Liu? I'm Ning Yifan, the tenant renting your place."

After a moment, the other man replied with a laugh, "Right, you're the tenant over at Zijing Garden Community. I know."

"Yes, that's right. I wanted to let you know that I have to relocate for work, so I won't be renting the place anymore. There are still six months left on the lease, but since I didn't give you three months' notice as required by the contract, I won't ask for the remaining rent back."

"That's fine. I understand."

"I also had a housekeeping company clean the place today. When you have time, could you come by so I can give you the keys? Or I can bring them to you."

"Got it. Give me a moment. I'm not far away. I'll be right over."

The call ended. After waiting about ten minutes, Ning Yifan saw the landlord arrive at the complex in his car.

After going inside with Ning Yifan to look around, the landlord took the keys and said, "The furniture and appliances are all in good shape, and the place is so clean. You're a responsible tenant. There aren't many like you around these days."

"I was just doing what I should. It's only a matter of mutual trust."

"All right. I hope life treats you well and that your future is bright!"

"Stay healthy."

After the landlord left with the keys, Ning Yifan looked back at the place he had rented ever since graduating and starting work in the city. Then he turned and headed downstairs.

He remembered how, after work, he had come home each day and cooked for himself—fish stew, hot pot, barbecue. The food hadn't been particularly good, but cooking and eating alone had still been nice. He had watched movies and anime, played games, and enjoyed his freedom, doing whatever he wanted. A few months ago, he had prepared his gear in this room for a solo cycling trip along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, setting off with the money he had earned after graduating.

He was used to living alone, and he enjoyed it.

The breakfast shop near the school would no longer see Ning Yifan there at six every morning. He hoped the hardworking owner's days would keep getting better.

After riding in the moving company's truck for more than three hours, Ning Yifan arrived at the factory he had bought.

The movers put Ning Yifan's personal belongings in the three-story building. They carried the Phantom Projector components and the Fully Automatic Production Robotic Arm into the factory and stacked them in the corner of the second floor that Ning Yifan had designated.

At last, the move was complete. A new life was about to begin.