After recruiting all the workers, Xu Haizhou used the loan money to purchase several second-hand hemming machines and cutting tables for the factory, as well as some miscellaneous small tools, such as scissors, stools, tables... All of them were second-hand, as long as they could be used.

Finally, they continued to post recruitment posters at the door. The salary information in one of the posters stunned everyone. It said that Anqiao Garment Factory was now looking for several capable designers, with university students preferred. The minimum salary was 50 yuan, and there would be promotion opportunities after becoming a regular employee. The benefits were good.

Qiao Lu herself is an excellent fashion designer, so why does An Qiao continue to recruit designers?

After all, a person's ability is limited. If she doesn't train her own designers now, when the market gets bigger and the competition gets fiercer, will Qiao Lu be able to handle it all by herself?

Not only do we need to recruit, but we also need to spend a lot of money to recruit undergraduates!

The value of today's college students is so high. Let alone fifty, sixty, seventy, or eighty, they will not lose out even if they earn a hundred. Today's college students are all hardworking and talented. After twenty or thirty years, most of them will become the top personnel in various industries. It's really worth it.

So don't be stingy and spend every penny you have to spend.

As expected, after the salary was announced, numerous college students came to apply for the job.

Li'an City has one second-tier university, one first-tier university and two junior colleges, so there is no shortage of college student resources in the city. In just one morning, the couple interviewed no less than 20 people.

The relevant majors include fashion design, and even graduates from philosophy majors are here!

However, those who should be passed should still be rejected. We cannot reject everyone just because they are college students.

After a day of training and giving the workers instructions, half a month later, at the end of November, Anqiao Factory officially opened!

On the first day, there were no orders, but we had to prepare the clothing inventory for the two Purple Dragonfly stores. There were many people in the factory, so the task could be completed in two days.

What should be done after the completion? We can't let these people do nothing in the factory and just play around. That would be too much of a loss for Xu Haizhou.

So the most important thing now is to negotiate the order!

"Haizhou, you just need to complete the tasks of the factory well now. If you need Li Hongjun, let him help you. Don't be so busy by yourself and don't know how to find someone to help you."

Xu Haizhou: "What about the store if he helps me?"

"I'll just take care of the store." Qiao Lu said.

"Can you do it alone?" Xu Haizhou looked at his young wife hesitantly.

"Now we have employees, so I'm not doing it alone. Most of the work can be handed over to the employees. I'm just a manager and I just need to keep an eye on things. Why, are you afraid of tiring me out?" She looked at him jokingly, nudged his arm with her elbow, and said teasingly.

Xu Haizhou shook his head and pulled the person into his arms. It was a very low temperature on that night in late October.

After giving birth to Qiaoqiao, Qiao Lu's body was not as healthy as before. She would easily catch a cold if she was not careful. Sometimes she would still feel cold even with a thin quilt at night. Even if she hugged Xu Haizhou, the big stove, it was not enough. She needed another thin blanket.

This made Xu Haizhou very miserable. His two feet had to be exposed outside the quilt, otherwise he would be too hot to sleep at night.

Pulling the thin blanket down imperceptibly, Qiao Lu lay in his arms, closed her eyes, and chatted with him casually.

"Qiaoqiao is so young, I'm afraid you can't handle it." In fact, when he was busy recently, Xu Haizhou thought about hiring a nanny to come home to help take care of the child. Maybe it was a psychological effect. Apart from the couple, he couldn't trust anyone.

He really couldn't trust anyone to leave his precious daughter to.

But the child, who had just turned one month old, was running around with his parents all day long. No matter how much he thought about it, it was not a solution.

"It's okay. I know what I'm doing." Qiao Lu didn't know her husband was still thinking about who to hand over their daughter to. She casually played with his fingers and replied, "I'll recruit a few smart young comrades to train them and cultivate a few confidants of the store manager. The road is paved step by step. If you can't handle it, you can deal with it slowly. There's no rush. We still have plenty of time."

Both of them are young and have plenty of time to try and make mistakes.

"Are you still chatting? If not, turn off the lights and go to sleep." After yawning, Qiao Lu was about to turn on the desk light.

Xu Haizhou held her jade-white hand and put it in his arms: "Why don't you ask your second sister if she can ask her mother-in-law to help us take care of Qiaoqiao and give her some money. Anyway, she is taking care of Zhiwei at home, so taking care of one more child is not too much, and we are all relatives..."

Qiao Yan and her husband both have jobs, and unless Qiao Yan quits, it is impossible for her to take care of the baby all the time, so the matter is entirely handed over to her mother-in-law.

Qiao Yan's mother-in-law has a good personality. She was born into a wealthy family when she was young, and she became a kind and gentle old lady when she was old. When Qiao Lu visited their home during the Chinese New Year, the old lady always treated her to delicious food and meat and was very warm.

If we let her help take care of Qiaoqiao and pay her some salary, or if she doesn't want it, we can just bring some gifts, I think there shouldn't be any big problem.

After thinking it over, Qiao Lu felt that Xu Haizhou's method was reliable: "Okay, I'll go ask him tomorrow. I don't have to bother him every day. Sometimes I'm too busy and can just throw Qiaoqiao over."

Qiaoqiao is a child who is not afraid of strangers and is very outgoing. She is happy to be hugged by anyone, so the couple has never worried about this.

Unlike Qiao An, when he was a child, he would cry whenever he was held by Qiao An, Qiao Yan, or Lu Xiuhua. He would cry until his voice became hoarse, and he would not stop until his mother came back.

"Oh, by the way, our Anqiao will open next week, and the most urgent thing now is to find business. Previously, I asked my aunt and others to help us find retailers. I did a comprehensive statistics yesterday and found a total of thirteen, all in the south of the city. I estimate that the order volume is not large, but it doesn't matter, we will continue to promote it. Then we can hire a truck driver, the kind with his own car, the salary is relatively high, and the road to the south of the city is not far, so I think someone will pick him up."

Xu Haizhou nodded: "Okay, I'll have the Red Army look for it tomorrow."

"Yes. Also, Mrs. Li asked me to play mahjong at her house tomorrow and introduce me to some of her friends. I'll ask her if she can introduce me to some orders when the time comes."

Play Mahjong? Introduce friends?

Xu Haizhou was puzzled: "Are you two so close now? You are asking such a question out of the blue. Will you..."

Qiao Lu poked him on the head: "I was more tactful at the time. I didn't ask her to help us. And the fact that she dared to ask such a question proves that our relationship is pretty good. If it wasn't, would I have asked it?"

After thinking it over again and again, he finally compromised: "Well, I know you have an idea. Just do it."

But he couldn't help being surprised. He really admired his wife's social skills.

…

Half a month ago, Yu Fan said that she wanted to ask her mysterious friend from Hong Kong to treat her to a meal. However, because the boss was busy with work, the matter was postponed until the end of November. With two days left before the factory opened, she finally invited this gentleman.

Oh, to be precise, the boss treated them to dinner.

It is not easy to take time out of your busy schedule to treat these "ordinary people" to a meal.

We made an appointment at the only foreign restaurant in Lian City - Cosam Restaurant.

It is a "high-end restaurant" specially built for returned overseas Chinese and foreigners. Just like overseas Chinese shops, you cannot enter without an ID or foreign exchange coupons.

Thanks to the boss, I can come in and enjoy myself today.

How else can you say it is a high-end restaurant? There is a large door that is two people tall, and a well-dressed doorman in uniform on one side. Regardless of whether you meet the requirements to enter the restaurant, the doorman will first smile at you politely and ask, "Hello, how many people are you?"

Usually at this time, people who know the answer will take out their credentials and answer skillfully: "XX."

But unfortunately, Xu Haizhou and his wife and Li Hongjun do not meet the requirements at all.

Fortunately, Yu Fan came downstairs early and waited there. She arrived just as they arrived.

"Excuse me, please let my friend in, who is with me."

It's rare that she hasn't put on makeup in a long time. Today she put on a heavier makeup, with sexy red lips, thick and curled eyelashes, and big chestnut curly hair. Her hair is much longer than when I first saw her two years ago, and it is curled up to below her shoulder blades.

Anyone who sees her would say that she is fashionable, and this expensive coat makes people wonder which rich lady she is?

The doorman said "Welcome" enthusiastically and let Xu Haizhou and the other two in.

Yu Fan took them upstairs. Along the way, the magnificent restaurant lobby deeply attracted the three of them.

The overall environment of the restaurant gives people the feeling of two words: "luxury"!

In the arc-shaped hall, there are neatly arranged and exquisite soft chairs, and the double-layered French window curtains are stable and elegant. You can tell at a glance that they are expensive. There are actually quite a few people dining in the restaurant, including foreigners, Chinese, old people, children, all kinds of suits, all kinds of coats...

There were quite a few people, but unlike a Chinese restaurant, it was so quiet here, too quiet, everyone was communicating in voices that only the other person could hear, and basically no third person would hear.

For Li Hongjun and Xu Haizhou, who were used to the noisy environment of state-owned hotels, this kind of atmosphere was quite... torturous and made them feel uncomfortable.

Although it is called a restaurant, it is actually a hotel, with the dining area only on the first and second floors.

On the side of the lobby, there is a retro elevator. When the elevator is open, you can see an elevator operator sitting inside to greet customers. He presses the button for the floor the customer wants to go to, which is also a feature of the era.

In fact, Qiao Lu didn't think it was so new. She had been to places more exaggerated than this before she traveled through time. It was mainly the other two men who looked here and there, with constant admiration in their eyes.

Who said that the 1980s were only about being rustic and conservative?

It’s just that luxurious places are not easily visible to ordinary people like us.

"Hey, where's your daughter? Didn't you bring her here?" He still wanted to tease the child.

Qiao Lu withdrew her gaze from the restaurant and said with a smile, "No, I gave her to a relative to take care of. Why did we bring her along for a dinner? If she cries, it will be a nuisance."

With a chuckle, Yu Fan pointed to the door of the private room about ten meters ahead: "Come on, he's already here, I'll take you in."

Qiao Lu was a little worried and walked faster: "Have you been waiting for a long time?"

It was about five o'clock, and now it's four forty-six. I don't know when she arrived.

Yu Fan shook his head: "No, I just got here, I put down my bag and came down to wait for you, I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence."

"That's good."

Yu Fan didn't even need to open the door of the box himself. There were two doormen guarding the door. When they saw the group of people walking towards the box, they asked about their identities and then let them in.

What caught my eye was a man in a suit and tie sitting in the middle of the square table.

It's not one of those oversized, inappropriate casual suits. This is custom-made, with every seam fitting the body, and a business style that makes one feel at first glance that he's not from the mainland.

His age is estimated to be no less than 35, a mature and elegant uncle type, with a tough face like a knife.

When he looks at you, his warm smile makes people think that he has a good and gentle personality, but when Qiao Lu saw him for the first time, she inexplicably felt a hint of... uh, indifference?

Blinking her eyes and meeting the man's gentle smile, she thought that she was probably overthinking it.

"Hello."

"Hello."

When they met for the first time, both sides felt a little awkward with each other.

Of course, it was Qiao Lu who felt uneasy unilaterally. Look at the big guy, who was sitting there, feeling naturally lazy and comfortable, without any sense of being restrained at all.

Then she looked at her own man... okay, he was quite outgoing and didn't feel awkward at all. Only she and Li Hongjun were fidgeting and didn't know where to put their hands.

That's not right. She had seen all kinds of big scenes before she traveled through time. Why did she feel awkward facing this real estate tycoon?

After much thought, she attributed the reason to the particularity of the times.

Yes, it must be due to the environment, not her problem.

"Junze, let me introduce you to these three people. They are my good friends and partners. This one is Qiao Lu, and we are good friends. This one is her husband, Xu Haizhou, who is our brain and a major shareholder. This one is Li Hongjun, my good friend."

"This is my friend in Hong Kong, Yan Junze." He pointed at the man in a suit and introduced him.

"Hello." The voice was deep and one could tell that he smoked a lot.

The couple smiled and nodded in unison. When Li Hongjun's name was called, his body suddenly straightened up.

If he had not cooperated with Xu Haizhou, how could he have benefited from Yu Fan and had dinner in a private room with some Hong Kong bigwig? It was something he would not even dare to dream of.

Suddenly, I felt awkward, and the chopsticks fell from my hand, hitting the tile floor with a clang. This was a heart-stopping sound...

Just then the service department came in to serve the dishes. Yan Junze raised his eyes and motioned for her to change a pair of chopsticks for Li Hongjun.

“No, no.” Li Hongjun quickly refused, speaking faster and in a panic: “Here’s some paper, I’ll just wipe it.”

Puff——

Yu Fan laughed without giving her face: "Just a pair of chopsticks, Red Army, give it to her."

The waiter always kept a decent smile on his face, took the chopsticks from Li Hongjun's hand and replaced them with a new pair.

After taking the new chopsticks, Li Hongjun realized belatedly that he had made a big fool of himself.

How could such a grand restaurant allow customers to use dirty chopsticks!

He is the one who is low, he is the one who is low!

It is obvious that he is shameless and smooth-talking when facing customers... but now... he is such a loser.

On the contrary, Xu Haizhou and his wife acted quite serious.

Half of his face instantly turned red.

In fact, there was nothing much to talk about. During the conversation, Yu Fan kept looking for topics to talk about among them to create a good atmosphere.

Most of the topics they talked about were career-related, with an occasional mention of how miserable and poor their lives were in Li'an.

After receiving a teasing look from Yan Junze, he was satisfied and changed the topic and continued talking.

By the end of the meal, the ground won't turn into ice and snow.

The boss really didn't talk much. He answered almost everything Yu Fan asked. Occasionally he chatted with the couple about the store and factory. He learned that they had founded a clothing brand called "Purple Dragonfly". The way he looked at the two of them was suddenly very different from when he first arrived.

There was admiration and slight surprise in his eyes, which then turned into a faint smile and disappeared at the corner of his mouth.

Finally, he glanced at Yu Fan from time to time.

Qiao Lu kept an eye on the two people opposite him. Why did he feel that... the atmosphere between them was a little subtle?

…

“This is my business card.”

Tianli Real Estate...

"Since you are Yu Fan's friend, you will be my friend in the future. As long as I am in the mainland, you can ask Yu Fan to come to me if you have any problems."

What it means is, if you have any problems, go to Yu Fan and he will solve them.

Tsk, who would believe that these two people have no relationship?

Between men and women, except for relatives, can things be innocent under normal circumstances?

"Okay, okay." With a brilliant smile on his face, he watched the boss leave the private room.

Yu Fan turned around, gave some instructions to his companions, and then went out to see Yan Junze off.

She sent him to the lobby door downstairs, and when they walked out of the door and onto the street outside, Yan Junze suddenly stopped and stood in front of her.

His eyes were deep, and he lowered his head, staring at her.

"What's wrong? Let's go. I'm going upstairs and the bill will be on your head." Yu Fan frowned and turned to leave, but Yan Junze grabbed his waist.

Yu Fan quickly turned aside to avoid his touch, took a half step back and stood opposite him, smiling meaningfully: "Mr. Yan, a married man should keep a distance, bye~"

She turned around and walked away in a casual manner in her high heels, just like the person she was. When entering into a relationship, she only cared about her own happiness, and when she walked away, she was more casual and natural than anyone else.

After looking at her back getting farther and farther away for a long time, Yan Junze turned around, bent down and got into a Citroen truck parked on the side of the road.

…

The three of them had dinner with Yan Junze for an hour, chatted with him for an hour, and obtained a lot of useful information.

Since they were friends, Yan Junze was not stingy and generously taught the couple knowledge about running a factory and a store.

Many of them were methods that were used badly in later generations, and Qiao Lu knew that. But for natives like Xu Haizhou and Li Hongjun, they were very helpful and inspiring.

This meal was good, the environment was nice, and it was practical, so it was worth it.

The boss left first as he was busy with work, leaving the four of them to continue feasting in the private room.

After he left, others finally felt comfortable eating. Before, they could only eat in small bites, which was not satisfying.

Yu Fan: "Eat slowly, order whatever you want, the bill is on him, don't be polite."

"Hey, I'm really rude then." Li Hongjun picked up the menu beside him and said, "This, this, this, and this... Wait, except for this, this, and this, bring the rest."

Qiao Lu: “…”

Xu Haizhou: “…”

Yu Fan: "Puff——Li Hongjun, you are really rude, it's such a big deal, can you finish it?"

"You can pack up if you can't finish it. It's such a big restaurant, it's impossible to refuse a distinguished customer to pack up, right?" He was quite reasonable, snorted: "What's the matter, your friend is the boss of a real estate business, think about how much a building costs? And it's a real estate company in Hong Kong, what's wrong with me eating something good?"

Yu Fan laughed: "Okay, okay, you can eat whatever you want. It doesn't matter if it costs a few hundred yuan. It's not my money anyway."

The prices here are high, comparable to those in restaurants in the early 21st century. A plate of meat and vegetables in state-owned hotels outside would not exceed 4 yuan at most, but 40 yuan here is considered cheap.

There were many of them, and Li Hongjun ordered a lot of food. After a rough calculation, the meal cost about eight or nine hundred yuan.

Of course, for Yan Junze, it is not even worth the price of a suit.

"Your friend, what's going on? Please introduce it in detail." I didn't feel comfortable asking him about his specific situation during the meal just now, so it would be more appropriate to ask Yu Fan.

"Well... actually it's nothing. You can see his identity. He is the boss of a real estate company, a small boss. The big boss is his parents, and his parents' business."

It turns out he is a rich second generation.

"He came to the mainland in 1980, originally intending to find business opportunities in Li'an, but the overall environment here was too bad and there were too many restrictions. He failed to reach a cooperation agreement and returned to Hong Kong. He came here a few times every year, but never had any business."

"I came back in early 1985, which is the first half of this year. After I came here, I found that the environment here is much better than it was in 1980. Now I am preparing to enter the mainland market."

"What business? Real estate?"

Yu Fan shook his head and drank a sip of lotus soup: "I don't know. He didn't tell me. Maybe he can't do that big. He just does some small business. The real estate still needs his parents to help."

"Then you were so busy to get to know him? Are we friends?" Qiao Lu asked.

"How did we get to know each other..." Yu Fan murmured, put down the spoon, stroked his curls at the temples, and suddenly smiled.

Her age is hard to tell from the heavy makeup on her face, but from her eyes that tell a story, one can tell that she must have a rich experience.

"Actually..." She leaned lazily on the leather sofa and winked at the three of them playfully.

For a moment of trance, everyone seemed to see the Yu Fan from two years ago, who was heavily made up and acted wantonly.

"He's my ex-boyfriend."

"ah???"

The author has something to say:

Ask everyone, which of the two names is more attractive to click on.

1. "Model Couple in the Compound"

2. "The Female Supporting Character in a Period Novel Doesn't Want Love"