"Fang Bai, are we going to rent a factory?"
As the santana drove towards Jiao Tong University, Qin Shuyu, sitting in the back, asked Fang Bai, who was beside her.
"Yes, the factory in Sha County will have to wait until Nanpu Bridge is open and the roads are built before we can start construction," Fang Bai replied.
When signing the agreement with Sha County, it was stipulated that construction must begin within three years of the paved road being completed, and the investment scale must not be less than 100 million yuan within five years of the paved road being completed.
That's still a long way off. Even if we invest in building a factory, it would take at least a year to put it into use, no matter how fast it's built.
He plans to rent a factory building for two years first, then move when his own factory is built.
Currently, businesses at various factories should be doing well, so there might not be empty factory buildings for rent.
Before looking for a factory building, Fang Bai plans to rent two apartments near Jiao Tong University first: one for himself, and the other for Wang Dakai and Li Xiaolong.
The school has dorms, but showering in winter is inconvenient, and washing clothes is also inconvenient. He also has some items to store, so it's best to rent a house.
The house he bought will not be ready for occupancy for another six months, and it's for his own use, so he needs to find separate housing for Wang Dakai and Li Xiaolong.
Half an hour later, Fang Bai and the others drove to Jiao Tong University's Gate 3 and started looking for houses in the nearby residential area.
It must be said that there are indeed many houses for rent near the school.
In a side street, about 200 meters from Gate 3, they found a shop house with a sign that read, "Shop and Second/Third Floors for Rent." It covered an area of 80 square meters and had three floors in total. The first floor could have been a shop, but due to its poor location and lack of foot traffic, no one rented it.
Fang Bai thought about it and decided to rent it. He could park his car in the shop area; it was somewhat unsafe to park it outside at night.
He could also use the shop as a temporary small workshop. In the early stages, a few tens of square meters would be enough for him to experiment. It wouldn't be too late to recruit staff and lease a factory building after his ground pump prototype is successfully developed.
School is starting soon, and military training will take two weeks. There will be many things to do once classes begin. Currently, he has just started designing the product, and it will take at least three months to produce a prototype.
After renting the factory building, it will also take time to clean it, install equipment, and recruit staff, which will also take a lot of time.
Thinking of this, Fang Bai felt there was no need to rent a factory building too early, which could save a sum of money.
Just because he has a lot of money doesn't mean he can spend it arbitrarily; he must manage it reasonably.
During his military training, he could leave the factory search to Li Xiaolong and Da Kai; he didn't need to do it himself.
"Da Kai, go check if the landlord is there first. Maybe we won't need to rent a factory building for now," Fang Bai instructed from the car.
"Okay."
Wang Dakai got out of the car, left for a bit, and then returned, saying the landlord was there.
Fang Bai and the others found the landlord and looked at the house.
"What are you renting the house for?" The uncle, in his forties, asked Fang Bai and the others. Seeing them arrive in a car, and noticing two of them dressed like bodyguards while the other two young people had a different demeanor—either gangsters or rich young masters and ladies—he was most afraid they would use it for illicit activities.
"The first floor will be used for parking. The second and third floors will be for living. If they're not suitable for living, we'll have to find another place.
I'm a student from Jiao Tong University, uncle, so please rest assured, we'll use it normally." Fang Bai had rented houses before and understood the landlord's concerns about tenants causing trouble, so it was best to clarify what business they were doing and if it would pollute his house before renting.
When signing the rental contract later, the landlord would also ask him for a copy of his ID, and might even come over occasionally to see what they were doing.
"Oh, a top student," the uncle said, becoming much more enthusiastic. He led Fang Bai and the others inside to look around.
Fang Bai looked at the first-floor shop space and felt quite satisfied, then went upstairs to the second floor.
"The second and third floors were where our family lived. Now we've moved to the city center, so this place is empty. Jiao Tong University is about to start, so I came to check. Otherwise, you really wouldn't have found me today," the uncle said cheerfully, offering cigarettes to Fang Bai and the others.
No one took a cigarette, saying they didn't smoke.
Actually, Li Xiaolong smoked, but he knew Fang Bai had undergone surgery on his finger and couldn't smoke in front of him.
To the uncle, this area near Jiao Tong University was already quite remote.
Fang Bai and the others went up to the second floor to look. The second floor had one bathroom and three rooms, one of which was used as a kitchen.
The third floor had two large rooms and one bathroom. This floor was suitable for Fang Bai to live in.
The second and third floors of this house were simply decorated, with not much furniture. Besides the water heater and electric fans, there were no other valuable appliances.
About ten minutes later, Fang Bai finished looking and discussed the price with the uncle.
The annual rent was 800 yuan, which wasn't cheap; it was more than double what he paid for rent at home back then. He remembered renting for only 350 yuan last year.
However, this house was better decorated and had three floors. Prices had risen significantly this year compared to last year, so the rent was reasonable.
But Fang Bai still haggled, cutting the price directly to 750 yuan. The uncle agreed, saying, "You're so rich, yet you still care about this much money."
Fang Bai smiled, "Uncle, it's not easy for my family to earn money."
"Ah, it seems the richer you are, the more you save," the landlord sighed.
After agreeing on the rent, both parties signed the contract, exchanged keys, and Fang Bai and the others provided him with two copies of their identity documents.
Half an hour later, the rental matter was settled.
Fang Bai didn't plan to buy the house; that would cost a lot of money.
He had a 100-mu commercial plot of land in Sha County that he could develop himself, so there was no need to throw money around haphazardly.
Fang Bai asked Li Xiaolong and Wang Dakai to buy a new lock cylinder for the main door, purchase two washing machines and an air conditioner. When they moved out, they could simply take the appliances with them.
He and Qin Shuyu went to a nearby store to buy daily necessities and quilts. They planned to clean the room thoroughly and could move in that night, no longer needing to stay in a hotel.
A few days later,
It was soon September 4th.
Today was the official registration day for new students at Jiao Tong University, and Fang Bai needed to go to school to register.
Qin Shuyu's school was also starting soon. Li Xiaolong drove her back to her school, and they agreed with Fang Bai to meet again on the weekend and call each other when they had time.
The two schools weren't far apart, but it still took more than thirty minutes to drive.
At 3 PM, Li Xiaolong parked the car near the East Gate of Huashan Road, which was also Gate 1, the main entrance of the university.
The main gate of Jiao Tong University had a different architectural style from other university gates. The last time Fang Bai passed by here, he even thought it was a palace.
Actually, Fang Bai's feeling was not wrong. The ancient and simple old school gate, built in the late 19th century, with its vermilion doors, green tiles, carved eaves, and corners, displayed a strong Chinese palace architectural style.
Shanghai Jiaotong University's Xuhui Campus, built in the 19th century, has been in use for nearly a hundred years, spanning two centuries.
Every plant and tree on campus carries the memories of countless generations of Jiao Tong University students. After nearly a hundred years, many old buildings on the Jiao Tong University campus still remain.
Fang Bai, carrying a small travel bag, slowly walked into the campus, occasionally observing the new students registering around him.
Most new students carried luggage bags made of various materials, and a few students and parents even carried cotton quilts.
The admission and registration instructions had already stated that the school would uniformly provide bedding, sheets, and sleeping mats, so students didn't need to buy them. It was estimated that some students' parents were afraid it wouldn't be enough.
On campus, boys dressed relatively simply, with various styles of shirts on top, mostly loose-fitting suit pants and bell-bottoms, and leather shoes or sneakers on their feet. Many students also wore gray Zhongshan suits or blue Liberation suits, leading to an extremely high "fashion clash rate" on campus.
Most girls dressed quite conservatively, with no exposed navels or cleavage. Their necklines were tied tightly, as if they wanted to cover their entire necks.
In contrast, Fang Bai wore a black slim-fit shirt, black slim-fit suit pants, and black casual leather shoes. This style of dressing would be common on the streets in later generations.
But in this era, you couldn't find a second person dressed like him.
Coupled with his tall stature and good build, he was practically a walking model, at the forefront of fashion. Students passing by cast curious glances, and even turned their heads to look back a few times after he passed.
It wasn't that Fang Bai didn't want to keep a low profile; he simply wasn't used to the clothing styles of this era and felt uncomfortable all over. So, his clothes were more fitted, leaning towards a Korean style, or he would wear full sportswear.
Most new students thought he was an older student, as he only carried a small backpack and had a natural demeanor, lacking the excitement typical of new students.
Fang Bai's backpack contained almost nothing: a mobile phone, a bp machine, a wad of cash, two small packs of tissues, and his personal documents and admission letter. There were no other items.
It wasn't like later generations, where a single cell phone would suffice.
Now, if he urgently needed to go to the bathroom, he'd have to run to a store to buy paper, which was too inconvenient.
This era had many inconveniences in daily life, but it also had trends that later campus life lacked.
Beyond the same three-point line of dorms, cafeterias, and academic buildings, students in later generations would stay in their dorms playing games and scrolling on their phones, even reluctant to find a girlfriend and date.
However, students of this era lived their youthful lives with great fervor: video halls, dancing, various ball games, classical music, hula hoops, Jin Yong fever... As the most sensitive nerve of society, university students were naturally the trendsetters of the era.
There weren't many activities available, so they tried every means to create new trends.
As for Fang Bai, he planned to have Wang Dakai help him move some daily necessities over tomorrow, after he paid his tuition and found his dorm room.
In the afternoon, he would go back to the rented house to shower and wash clothes, then return to the school dorm to sleep at night.
He estimated that he wouldn't be able to stay overnight outside of school until his sophomore year, unless he took a special route.
At this moment, Fang Bai didn't care about the glances of the surrounding students. He had a thick skin, and besides, he was already used to it at Oubei No. 1 Middle School.
His university life was destined to be different and extraordinary; there was no need to deliberately feign poverty, as it would only be himself who suffered.
In university, one should display oneself at appropriate times to gain access to school resources, the attention of teachers, and the respect of classmates, who will then be more willing to approach you.
Fang Bai wanted to build connections, so there was even less need to deliberately hide himself.