During the Spring Festival

February 6, New Year's Eve.

Waking up in the morning, he spoke with Lu Xuedong over the phone. The other party had already returned to the country, landing at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport after four in the morning, and was currently taking a train back to his hometown in Qin Province.

After the two chatted for a few minutes, Huang Weichang walked in carrying a plate of vegetable cakes: "A-Yuan, these are the vegetable cakes my mom made. Are you still going to the company today?"

"I won't go. Big Brother Dachang, you go take a look, see how the computer installation is coming along, and while you're at it, find an advertising agency to make a sign and some lettering."

"What name should I put on it?"

Huang Xiuyuan tore a page from his notebook and wrote: Huang's International Investment Fund Company (Shanmei Branch).

"That's the name."

"Alright."

Huang Xiuyuan gave him a few minor details and told him to call if any problems arose, noting that since the Spring Festival was approaching, he could tell the advertising company to come over after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

With his task in hand, Huang Weichang drove off to the city center with brisk efficiency.

After eating the vegetable cakes, Huang Xiuyuan made a call to Career International, a large domestic headhunting firm, to request their help in finding talent.

This included a president, managers, finance staff, as well as the intellectual property legal counsel, patent registration experts, chemical engineers, and materials researchers that Huang Xiuyuan specifically requested.

He requested over thirty mid-to-high-level professionals all at once, negotiating their service fee down to 25%. Career International's fees for such talent usually ranged from 25% to 33% of the hire's annual salary, typically between 40,000 and 150,000 per person.

Through email, fax, and phone communication, both sides finalized the general details, and after reaching an agreement, Huang Xiuyuan wired a one-third deposit of 100,000.

The Pengcheng branch of Career International, ignoring the impending Spring Festival, immediately sent someone over to ensure this major order was signed.

At noon, just as he finished putting up the Spring Festival couplets and the "Fu" character, the representative from Career International pulled off the highway and appeared at his doorstep.

"Boss Huang, hello. I am Xu Yaomin, a business manager at Career International. This is my business card."

The man speaking wore a sharp navy blue suit and had his hair slicked back with oil, wearing a smiling expression that made him look like a cunning fox.

"Manager Xu, hello. Let's go inside to talk."

Once inside, Huang Xiuyuan brewed some tea while adding a few specific requirements. Using the printer in his home, the two quickly finalized the contract, and through an overseas online transfer, he wired the remaining 200,000 deposit into Career International's account.

Xu Yaomin promised to arrange for the first batch of candidates to arrive around February 15, though he dared not make any absolute guarantees.

The main issue was that Huang Xiuyuan's company hadn't even been established yet, and being located in Shanmei, a fifth-tier city, would genuinely deter a large number of people.

Regarding this, Xu Yaomin could only say he would try his best to make arrangements.

Huang Xiuyuan didn't pay much mind to it, as the conditions he offered were not low.

The highest-ranking position, the president, had a monthly salary of 80,000 plus a certain amount of stock options; meanwhile, the salaries for engineers and researchers reached between 50,000 and 100,000 per month, with additional stock options, R&D incentives, and patent dividends.

In 2008, this salary level was actually quite good, and he would continue to improve benefits once the company had stable profits in the future.

As for now, Huang Xiuyuan could only make do.

He watched the Career International representative drive away.

Returning inside, he felt an increasingly urgent need for a qualified manager to help handle these miscellaneous tasks.

Without a moment to catch his breath, his mother in Shu Province chatted with him on the phone for over half an hour, giving instructions about meals, ancestral worship for New Year's Eve, and visiting relatives starting from the third day of the Lunar New Year.

The mere thought of it made his scalp tingle, but with his parents away, he had to handle these matters himself.

He first sent out New Year red envelopes to the seven employees at the recycling plant and told them to return to work on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year.

He ate his New Year's Eve dinner alone, went to the ancestral hall to pay his respects, and returned to set off firecrackers to welcome the new year; by then, it was already past two in the morning.

After sleeping in, he got up and, taking advantage of the fact that friends and relatives hadn't yet come to visit on the first day of the Lunar New Year, he searched online for domestic laboratory construction firms and laboratory equipment companies.

To complete the R&D of new materials, the rudimentary laboratory at the recycling plant was simply insufficient.

He had previously asked Huang Sixiao to help find a new experimental site, and there were currently three potential locations; he would start site visits once the Spring Festival was over.

His current work involved looking into laboratory construction and equipment companies while considering the facilities and equipment the lab would require.

Based on his available funds, he had transferred a total of 31 million USD into the country. The current exchange rate was at its highest since 2008, reaching around 7.16.

The 31 million USD converted to 221.96 million CNY, and the balance in his offshore company account was approximately 40.25 million USD.

He budgeted around 100 million for setting up the materials laboratory, and this was only for the first phase of planning.

With limited funds, he had to make trade-offs, excluding equipment not currently needed from his procurement list.

The laboratory's basic infrastructure was essential, such as a Class 100 cleanroom for the preparation area, and even vacuum experimental chambers.

As for laboratory equipment, he listed out various items; the equipment he had confirmed he needed included a high-resolution X-ray diffractometer, a scanning electron microscope, a transmission electron microscope, and a Hall effect measurement system.

Considering the budget, he racked his brains to ensure every cent was spent where it mattered most.

Referencing the quotes from those companies, he revised his plan over a dozen times, tentatively setting the laboratory construction budget at around 30 million, equipment procurement at around 60 million, and setting aside 10 million as a reserve, resulting in a simple proposal.

The 100 million budget was finalized.

Next, Huang Xiuyuan negotiated with these companies via the internet and phone.

The experimental equipment side moved quite quickly; three equipment companies took on his entire order for devices and instruments, and both sides agreed to come to Shanmei on February 13 to sign the contracts.

As for the two construction companies, both required on-site inspections to provide a definitive plan and quote based on the condition of the site.

Huang Xiuyuan arranged to meet them in the Shanmei city area around February 18.

He wrote down a series of work arrangements on his schedule to avoid missing any deadlines.

In the year 2008, where the festive atmosphere of the New Year still lingered heavily, the greetings of visiting relatives, the beating of gongs and drums, and the sound of firecrackers were still clamoring across this land.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, his elder sister, who had married into Haifeng, came to pay a New Year visit along with his brother-in-law and little niece.

After that came other relatives and friends, and he also visited several of their homes.

By the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, the house finally quieted down significantly, and the recycling plant began normal operations as well; Huang Xiuyuan went to give the recycling plant employees a New Year red envelope to show his appreciation, then left the remaining matters for Uncle Xiao to handle.

It seemed he was destined for a life of toil; before he had even stepped through his front door, his phone rang.

Upon checking, it was Lu Xuedong, who had rushed over from Qin Province; he had arrived early to report for duty and was currently at the Shanmei Passenger Station.

"Brother Dachang."

"Ah Yuan." The burly Huang Weichang trotted over.

"Drive, to the Urban Passenger Station."

Without asking why, Huang Weichang drove directly toward the Shanmei Passenger Station.