The next morning, Fang Bai informed Li Xiaolong and Wang Dakai that they would be going on a business trip to Shanghai for about ten days in the afternoon, telling them to go home and prepare their clothes.
Wang Dakai had finished his driving lessons and officially joined Xinghai Electrical Appliances Company.
Currently, the company has three drivers: Li Xiaolong, Wang Dakai, and a veteran named Wang Jian.
The company had recently purchased a small truck. For household appliances weighing over sixty catties, if the customer had a phone or a bp machine, the company would deliver them to their doorstep within the city. Currently, Wang Jian was solely responsible for deliveries, accompanied by two staff members to help with the moving.
The home delivery service earned Xinghai Shopping Mall a good reputation, and business improved.
At noon, after lunch.
Fang Bai, Li Xiaolong, and Wang Dakai set off in a santana sedan with a Zhejiang C license plate, their luggage piled in the trunk.
Li Xiaolong drove, Wang Dakai sat in the passenger seat, and Fang Bai sat alone in the back.
Wang Dakai was tall, and sitting in the passenger seat was a bit uncomfortable for him.
The santana of the 90s really lacked aesthetic appeal and wasn't comfortable to sit in. Going over bumpy roads, it rattled like a "dinosaur fighting a wave." If you drove a little faster, your head would almost fly up and hit the roof.
Even though passersby cast envious glances, Fang Bai felt no sense of superiority and hoped to reach their destination soon.
However, Wang Dakai, sitting in the passenger seat, was in high spirits, and Li Xiaolong was enjoying the drive. The two were eager to take turns driving.
"What's so good about driving this broken car? One person drives for two hours, then switch. Don't drive while fatigued," Fang Bai grumbled from the back seat.
Wang Dakai said cheerfully, "Oh, my young master, this car costs two hundred thousand! It's precious all over, only you don't care about it.
Brother Long, you drive for two hours first, but you must let me drive later."
"Okay, no problem."
Li Xiaolong said with a laugh. He knew that Da Ge Zi next to him was good friends with Manager Fang, so he had to give way to him.
If Manager Fang hadn't let him drive first, it wouldn't have been his turn.
The journey from Wen City to Shanghai was about six hundred kilometers. Driving a private car would be faster, taking about thirteen hours.
They took Provincial Highway 223. In the afternoon, when they reached Nanxi River, the surroundings were all mountains, and the road was winding. A section of the road was blocked by bandits.
However, when the bandits saw the local license plate and two fully armed, strong men in the front seats, they were shocked. They let them pass directly, not daring to ask for money, and even smiled fawningly, saluting them as they left, explaining that the road ahead was difficult and they were only blocking cars to warn passing vehicles.
There were seven or eight of them, but the others were not to be trifled with; they were soldiers. Fighting them might not even be enough for them to play with.
Moreover, they mainly blocked cars from other regions. Blocking local vehicles carried too much risk.
"Damn it, these bandits are quite arrogant. I was ready to get out and fight, but they chickened out," Wang Dakai cursed, a steel pipe resting beside his seat.
"Da Kai, take it easy. If you can avoid trouble, avoid it. They're just looking for money. But if they really try to rob us, just drive straight through. If that doesn't work, then we'll fight," Fang Bai had prepared three steel pipes, three sets of stab-proof vests, and helmets in the car, ready for use at any time.
Before setting off, Wang Dakai and Brother Long had put on their black stab-proof vests and other protective gear, knowing that the road was not very safe and they needed to be prepared.
The rest of the journey was smooth, and they did not encounter any more bandits blocking the road.
They drove for a few hours in the evening, found a hotel in the provincial capital to rest, and set off the next morning.
Fang Bai was not in a hurry to travel. The roads were difficult, and sitting in the car was tiring. Sleeping in a hotel for a night made him much more refreshed the next day.
At two o'clock that afternoon, Fang Bai and his companions arrived near the University of Finance and Economics.
After finding a hotel near the school and booking rooms, Fang Bai made a call from the hotel front desk.
Wang Dakai and Li Xiaolong then realized that Manager Fang was here to see his girlfriend.
Especially Wang Dakai, he just found out that Fang Bai had a girlfriend, and she was already in college. He had never heard about it before; it was kept very secret.
Studies, career, love—successful in everything.
This is what a true winner in life looks like!
Suddenly, Da Kai felt that the little AI classmate in the front row was quite good, and he missed her a little.
After the two dropped Fang Bai off at the Northwest Gate of the University of Finance and Economics, Fang Bai gave them a task: to find a house near the school.
They had just walked around and found many newly built residential areas, but they were all multi-story buildings, meaning no elevators, and not exceeding nine floors.
Fang Bai planned to purchase three properties here. The first would be near Qin Shuyu's school, convenient for Qin Shuyu to live in on weekends, and Fang Bai could also come over on weekends.
The second would be near Jiao Tong University (Xuhui Campus). Fang Bai felt confident that he could get into Jiao Tong University, so he directly targeted that area.
It was 12 kilometers in a straight line from the University of Finance and Economics, and 18 kilometers by road, nearly an hour's drive.
The third location would be near the soon-to-be-established Shanghai Stock Exchange, which was also a crucial residence.
The Stock Exchange was located at No. 15 Huangpu Road, HK District, north of Huangpu Park, next to Waibaidu Bridge.
In a few months, subscription certificates would be issued.
Fang Bai needed to investigate the subscription certificate market and the stock market. When trading subscription certificates, the cash transaction volume would be large, so having a house near the Securities Center would be safer and more convenient.
In the future, when shopping on the Bund, he could walk home directly when tired.
However, in this era, real estate transactions in Shanghai were quite troublesome, mainly due to property rights issues. There were public rental housing, housing reform housing, sellable public housing, unsellable public housing, enterprise allocated housing, commercial housing, foreign-sale housing, land-allocated housing, affordable housing, low-rent housing, usufruct housing, small property rights housing…
It was very confusing, and many locals couldn't figure out "sellable public housing is unsellable, unsellable public housing is sellable," which, of course, also confused Fang Bai, who was from out of town.
It wasn't until the late 90s that property rights were clarified, and apart from foreign-sale housing, all were called "commercial housing."
Ordinary people could buy commercial housing, while foreigners could only buy foreign-sale housing.
"Foreign-sale housing" was very expensive, over 2,000 US dollars per square meter, and had to be traded in foreign currency.
Fang Bai thought this measure was quite good, targeting foreigners and also protecting local real estate.
Real estate transactions in Shanghai also involved many taxes, requiring a 5.55% business tax and 20% personal income tax. These two taxes were only exempted in the late 90s, allowing real estate transactions to only require deed tax.
As for miscellaneous fees, there were also mandatory "lawyer fees" and "notary fees," two charges totaling about 2% of the property price.
Therefore, for a house costing 100,000 yuan, taxes and miscellaneous fees alone would amount to nearly 30,000 yuan, which sounded quite exploitative.
Currently, new houses cost around 2,000 yuan per square meter. Old, dilapidated second-hand houses cost less than 1,000 yuan per square meter. In a remote location like the University of Finance and Economics, new houses are probably around 1,000-something per square meter.
The houses are generally small, around sixty square meters, with no shared common area.
Fang Bai had no interest in hoarding houses; buying enough for use was sufficient. If it were just for money, he would just acquire more land, why buy houses?
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Female Dorm 3, Room 303.
With the holidays approaching, Qin Shuyu still had one exam left. She knew Fang Bai was coming, so she waited in the dorm today.
July was like fire, and she wore her beloved full-skirted dress again.
Around four o'clock, her bp machine rang, and her dorm mates all looked at her.
"Qin Shuyu, your bp machine is ringing! Your family is calling again."
"I bet it's her boyfriend."
Her dorm mates already knew she had a boyfriend, and he was still repeating a year in their hometown.
Now it rang at least twice a week, once for her family and once for her boyfriend, but her boyfriend called one more time.
Qin Shuyu quickly picked it up and saw it was Fang Bai's call signal. A smile appeared on her face, and she quickly scurried downstairs, holding up her full skirt.
"I told you so! Look at Shuyu's excited expression, running so fast her skirt is flying up—it must be her boyfriend!" one dorm mate said, feeling quite envious.
Qin Shuyu came downstairs to the dorm entrance and waited for a while before seeing Fang Bai walk over.
This was their agreement when they talked on the phone: he would call her when he arrived, and they would meet outside the dorm building.
Ten minutes later,
By the lakeside, under the shade of a tree, Fang Bai and Qin Shuyu sat intimately on a bench.
Qin Shuyu liked to be a listener, quietly listening to Fang Bai talk about recent events and his future plans.
"Doing business with your dad is quite interesting. Several times he wanted to partner with me, but he kept hesitating, just too embarrassed to speak, haha."
"Your dad, to curry favor with me, often invites me to drink. I don't dare drink with your dad now. I'm afraid I'll get drunk and accidentally reveal you."
"I'm thinking, if your dad knew about our relationship, what kind of expression would he have? Would he still call me Fang Laodi?"
"I guess your dad must have talked about me in front of your mom. I just don't know what he said. When should I give them a big surprise?
Oh, never mind, let's take it slow. I'm really afraid of scaring them."
"Shuyu, do you know? The graduates from your major are very outstanding, mostly financial directors of various enterprises or companies. But some people didn't uphold the bottom line of accounting, so quite a few were arrested and sent to Tilanqiao Prison to operate sewing machines. They could even hold an alumni reunion.
After completing their advanced studies, they are highly sought after by various bosses with high salaries. I have to say, an accountant who hasn't studied there isn't a good accountant.
Of course, I don't hope you go in for advanced studies, so you need to be careful when you start working."
When Qin Shuyu heard something amusing, she hugged Fang Bai's arm and laughed heartily, showing no trace of a girl's reservedness.
After they chatted for a while, they went to the library to read together.
Qin Shuyu still had to prepare for her last exam, and Fang Bai didn't want to delay her too much.
Fortunately, Fang Bai wasn't stopped by the staff when he entered the library. He and Qin Shuyu found a corner to read together.
Fang Bai had never attended university before, and it was his first time in a university library. He really liked the quiet atmosphere, with no noisy sounds, only the rustling of pages. He could freely find books he liked and read to his heart's content.
However, it was difficult to find books related to mechanics at the University of Finance and Economics, but finding materials for advanced mathematics was no problem.
Qin Shuyu tilted her head, propped her chin with her hand, and quietly watched Fang Bai's immersed expression as he read.
He had really changed so much! No wonder his grades improved so quickly; this was something she hadn't expected.
Hehe, her judgment was really good.
Qin Shuyu pursed her lips and smiled, then lowered her head to read.