Chapter 91: Chapter 91: I Want All of Modu to Know My Name

Because of what happened with Wang Xingyu, their romantic dinner was cut short.

After paying over two thousand yuan, Wu Yun led Qi Fei out of the restaurant.

Since they were in Modu, it was only natural to visit its famous Bund and take in the riverside nightscape.

It was the weekend, and the streets were flooded with an endless stream of post-dinner tourists. People were everywhere, snapping the usual tourist photos.

Wu Yun and Qi Fei quietly held hands and strolled along the riverbank. They’d only stop in a secluded spot to take pictures of each other or ask someone to take a photo of them together.

On a viewing platform, Wu Yun leaned his hands on the railing, gazing at the towering skyscrapers of Lujiazui. "Within two years," he declared, "I want everyone in Modu to know my name! I’m going to have my own office building in Lujiazui!"

Seeing his determined expression, Qi Fei gently leaned her head on his shoulder. "Xiaoyunzi, I believe in you!"

’Qi Fei thought he was being too conservative! Once Little Red Cars blanketed the streets and alleys of Modu, the whole city would know about them. If Wu Yun was willing to show his face, everyone in Modu would know who he was.’

’He’d wanted to shout it out loud but figured he’d spare the people around him from thinking he was a lunatic.’

’The scene stirred a memory. In his past life, he’d read a business-themed rebirth novel where the protagonist, Lin Feng, had said something similar upon arriving in Modu. Everyone thought it was a joke, but the ending was a satisfying smackdown where he proved them all wrong.’

’Someone else managed to be reborn without a system and still practically made Modu his own personal domain. With both a rebirth and a system, how could he, Wu Yun, fail to achieve this small goal?’

’If he couldn’t, he might as well just find a block of tofu and smash his head into it.’

According to the original plan, the first batch of seventy thousand bicycles was set to be deployed in Modu in the next few days. At that point, Little Red Car would receive another huge wave of security deposits and registered users, bringing Wu Yun one step closer to his goal.

After strolling around and taking some pictures, Wu Yun led Qi Fei back the way they came to the Peace Restaurant.

Back in the suite, Qi Fei had Wu Yun unzip her dress, revealing the back strap of her bra. Wu Yun mischievously hooked a finger under the strap, pulled it back gently, and let it go. It snapped back against Qi Fei’s skin with a sharp SMACK.

"Hey! You’re such a pervert!" Qi Fei said with a cute pout, turning to smack his right hand.

"Let’s shower together! We’ll save time!" Wu Yun seized the opportunity, wrapping his arms around Qi Fei’s waist as he helped her out of her dress.

Of course, Qi Fei knew what he was up to, but she played along, whispering in his ear, "I checked... the tub’s too small. It won’t fit two people!"

"That’s fine. I’ll stand in the shower! You can take your bath," he said, then scooped Qi Fei up and carried her toward the bathroom.

After a few token struggles, she went limp and hooked her arms around his neck as he carried her into the bathroom.

A moment later, the sounds of splashing water, and other things, echoed from the bathroom...

The next morning, Wu Yun woke up right on cue with his internal clock.

He swam for half an hour in the hotel pool on an empty stomach before returning to the room, by which point he was feeling ravenous.

After changing, Wu Yun woke the exhausted Qi Fei. He waited another half hour for her before they finally went down to enjoy the Peace Restaurant’s lavish breakfast.

Today, Wu Yun was scheduled to interview several executive candidates recommended by a headhunter. The interview location was the same one Qi Fei had sent him for Pinduoduo’s temporary headquarters: the 28th floor of the Citigroup Mansion in Lujiazui, right along the river.

When Qi Fei had given him a video tour of the place, the view of the river had been enough for Wu Yun to make an immediate decision: he would rent the entire 28th floor of the Citigroup Mansion.

The rent—three hundred thousand a month, plus a steep property management fee of 30 yuan per square meter—had made Qi Fei’s heart ache. ’He’s being too extravagant,’ she’d thought. ’What kind of startup moves directly into a Grade-A office building?’

However, she knew Wu Yun wasn’t short on cash. Still, she put her skills to use and haggled with the leasing agent for ages, managing to knock the total annual cost of rent and fees down from 4.68 million to a flat 4.2 million.

This led Wu Yun to praise her endlessly, calling her a wonderfully capable woman.

Of course, the 4.2 million would be paid from Pinduoduo’s corporate account. Wu Yun planned to go with the agency on Monday to sign the papers at the relevant government offices so they could finally get the business license issued.

Following Qi Fei’s directions, Wu Yun parked the car in a dedicated spot that came with the lease, courtesy of the Citigroup Mansion’s property management.

Qi Fei had been here two or three times already, so she found the elevator entrance with ease.

Although the office building had been completed in 2005, the bright lights and modern decor of the elevator lobby showed no signs of age. The property management was clearly doing a good job, but as the saying goes, the wool still comes from the sheep—all those maintenance costs were passed on to the tenants.

The elevator quickly reached the twenty-eighth floor.

Wu Yun’s Pinduoduo had rented the entire floor, so the elevator doors opened directly into the company’s reception area. For now, however, the company had zero employees.

They were still more than twenty minutes early for the scheduled appointment.

Qi Fei led Wu Yun on a tour of the office. Just as he’d seen in the video, some areas were empty, ready to be set up with workstations or designated for other uses.

There were plenty of existing desks and chairs, more than enough for Pinduoduo’s initial phase of development.

After a quick tour, Qi Fei led him to the chairman’s office. It wasn’t the dark brown office furniture that impressed Wu Yun the most, but the office’s sheer size and incredible view.

This office was much larger than his one at the Little Red Car Company, nearly a hundred square meters in total.

’An office area, a reception area, a lounge area, a rest area... Hmm? What’s with this little door?’

Wu Yun pulled Qi Fei over to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Watching the endless procession of ships on the Huangpu River and the flow of traffic below and on the opposite bank, he felt like he was looking down on the whole world.

’This sparked the idea of owning his own office building. He thought about how many of Modu’s office towers sold entire floors at a time, and sighed to himself. He was still too poor. If he bought a floor, he’d have no money left to actually run the company.’

To the left were several high-rise residential buildings that many people would recognize by name: Tomson Riviera, one of the top ten luxury residences in all of Huaxia.

’Looking out at the scenery, Wu Yun suddenly felt like money disappeared way too fast. There were so many things he needed to spend it on. He’d have to work harder, try to buy a suite in Tomson Riviera next month. Otherwise, he’d be an embarrassment to the whole urban-tycoon-protagonist genre.’

"Xiaoyunzi, what are you thinking about?" Qi Fei asked, seeing him gazing out the window, lost in thought.

Wu Yun snapped out of it and smiled. "Just thinking about when I’ll have my own building, and when I’ll buy a suite in that complex next door."

"If you’re bold enough, there’s always all that security deposit money in the Little Red Car Company’s accounts!" Qi Fei teased, a rare joke from her. She knew he would never actually misappropriate the funds.

Qi Fei’s words, however, sent Wu Yun into a thoughtful silence. ’I can’t touch the security deposits, but what about taking out a loan?’

A system prompt appeared. "Game rules prohibit the use of loans or other forms of borrowing. Minor infractions will result in an experience penalty. Major infractions will result in account termination! Host, please manage your funds rationally! Spend rationally! Play rationally!"

’Well, so much for that idea.’