After leaving the airport, the vehicles drove along a newly paved asphalt road toward the city center.
Liu Yutong looked out the window at the rapidly changing scenery and couldn't help speaking up.
"It's changed a lot."
"Yes, it has."
Uncle Zhu echoed with emotion: "The development of J City is changing with each passing day. Look, new houses, new schools, new hospitals—they're all being built. The future will only get better."
"Mm, I think so too." Liu Yutong nodded.
Uncle Zhu shifted the topic and probed gently: "Girl, I heard you've been working on something big lately?"
Liu Yutong was slightly taken aback: "What is Uncle Zhu referring to?"
"Wanlong Aerospace Technology."
Uncle Zhu looked at her meaningfully: "The launch vehicle manufacturing license and satellite frequency band usage rights you secured in the capital—quite a few people know about this by now. A twenty-year-old girl, building rockets, launching satellites—they all say you're crazy."
Liu Yutong smiled: "And what does Uncle Zhu think?"
"I don't think you look crazy."
Uncle Zhu let out a hearty laugh and said: "You've been in BS Province before, so you should know the situation here. Although BS Province is located in the southwest and its economy can't compare with the coastal regions, we still have unique advantages in certain areas."
"You mean... aerospace?"
"Exactly."
Uncle Zhu nodded: "Our province has an aerospace industry foundation left over from the Third Front construction period. Not to mention the XC Satellite Launch Center, we also have several national-level aviation engine research institutes and special materials laboratories.
Over the years, the province has been thinking about how to revitalize these resources and make the aerospace industry a new calling card for BS Province. But your Uncle Zhu here comes from an administrative background—I'm not well-versed in business operations, and I've never found the right entry point."
"Then I heard you were getting into aerospace, and I knew—the opportunity had arrived."
Liu Yutong finally understood.
Uncle Zhu's real purpose in inviting her to BS Province for this inspection wasn't tourism development or specialty agriculture.
It was aerospace.
He wanted Wanlong Aerospace to set down roots in BS Province and turn it into China's commercial aerospace industry base.
This idea, she had to admit, was remarkably forward-thinking.
BS Province did indeed have unique advantages.
First, the XC Satellite Launch Center was located within BS Province—one of China's three major aerospace launch sites, handling a large number of commercial satellite launch missions.
If Wanlong Aerospace's rockets were launched here, it could indeed save considerable costs.
Second, BS Province had a complete aerospace industry chain left from the Third Front period.
From special materials to precision machining, from engine testing to ground tracking and control, there were ready-made enterprises and talent reserves. Although most of these resources were state-owned, through mixed-ownership reform and industrial cooperation, they could provide strong support for commercial aerospace.
Third, labor costs and land costs in BS Province were far lower than in the coastal regions, which was a considerable advantage for a company like Wanlong Aerospace that needed large numbers of engineers and technical workers.
"Uncle Zhu, what exactly do you want me to do?"
"I want you to put Wanlong Aerospace's core R&D and manufacturing base here in BS Province. At the very least, set up one of them here."
"Girl, if you're willing to place Wanlong Aerospace's R&D and production base in BS Province, the province can give you the most favorable policies—land, taxes, talent recruitment, research support—as long as it's within policy limits, I can give you the green light."
"For example, in terms of land, you can pick any site you like. The province will handle acquisition and leveling, and waive land use fees for five years. For taxes, full corporate income tax exemption for the first five years, and half exemption for the following five. For talent recruitment, the province will handle household registration, children's schooling, and spousal employment for any experts you bring in from outside, plus additional relocation allowances. For research support, the province's aerospace-related research institutes can open up to you—joint R&D, shared results."
Liu Yutong listened and began calculating in her mind.
Uncle Zhu's conditions were indeed very generous.
If all these policies were actually delivered, Wanlong Aerospace's upfront costs for landing in BS Province could be reduced by at least thirty percent.
Most importantly, there were those research support resources.
The aerospace research institutes left over from the Third Front period should be hiding many treasures.
Special welding techniques, ultra-precision machining technology, composite material forming processes... If they had to develop these technologies from scratch, it would take eight to ten years at minimum.
But if they could be shared through joint R&D, Wanlong Aerospace's rate of technological accumulation could at least be boosted by one to two times.
"Uncle Zhu, I need time to consider." Liu Yutong didn't agree on the spot.
The conditions were tempting, but business decisions couldn't be made on impulse alone.
Wanlong Aerospace's headquarters were already set in the capital, and its R&D center was already established on the outskirts of the capital. Placing the production base in BS Province would mean a dispersed layout, increasing management and communication costs.
Besides, she also needed to consult Professor Zhou Yingpei.
The old professor was the chief technical officer, and the selection of a production base site involved numerous technical issues—she had to hear his thoughts.
"No rush—take your time thinking it over."
Uncle Zhu smiled: "If you have free time these days, feel free to look around the province, see the changes here and the industrial foundation we have. Once you have a clear picture, we can talk in more detail."
"Alright."
Half an hour later, the convoy arrived at the SW Guesthouse.
It was a small building tucked amid green trees, unremarkable on the outside but elegantly decorated on the inside.
Liu Yutong was assigned the best suite on the third floor. Opening the window, she could see the distant green mountains—a view that lifted the spirits.
Uncle Zhu chatted with her for a while and then left due to other commitments.
After all, tomorrow was the official inspection; today she was still free to do as she pleased.
After spending some time at the guesthouse, Liu Yutong changed into a more casual outfit and went out directly.
While the daylight was still good, she figured she'd take a stroll around the city.
Actually, Liu Yutong knew this city very well, because in her previous life, she had attended university here.
Back then, she hadn't been reborn yet—she was just an ordinary college student.
After several years of hard work, she finally obtained her lawyer's license and joined a fairly large law firm in J City, where she was overworked and spent years as a trainee.
After that, she was reborn.
In this life, she chose to stay in her hometown of Pearl City, chose the University of Finance and Economics, and chose a different path.
But J City remained the most special place in her memory.
Here lay her previous life's youth, dreams, and the traces of her struggles.
After driving around the city for a while, Liu Yutong brought Yun Cheng and the others to an old street called Qintai.
This old street was a famous historical and cultural district in J City, lined with shops in antique architectural style—selling calligraphy and paintings, Shu brocade, silverware, bamboo crafts, and other handicrafts, along with quite a few snack stalls and tea houses.
Every day, a steady stream of tourists comes to visit, making the place lively and bustling.
She remembered that in her previous life, during her college years, she often came here with her roommates to stroll around.
They didn't come to buy anything—it was simply for the love of the neighborhood's lively, homey atmosphere.
After walking for a while, the three of them arrived at a teahouse.
A few bamboo tables and chairs were set up outside the teahouse's entrance. Liu Yutong and her companions ordered three bowls of covered-bowl tea and sat down on the bamboo chairs by the street, slowly sipping their drinks.
The tea was ordinary jasmine tea, a few yuan a bowl, but it tasted wonderful—the floral fragrance was rich and fragrant.
The teahouse owner was an old man in his sixties, wearing a blue button-front jacket. He sat on a bamboo chair by the door, a purple clay teapot in his hand, squinting in the sun like he was truly enjoying life.
Not far from them, at another table, some people were playing mahjong, the shuffling of tiles making a crisp clattering sound.
"Peng! Bastard! That's the tile I've been waiting for!"
"Hahaha, Old Li, you've dealt into the pot again. How many times is that today?"
"Bullshit! That was strategic defense. You lot don't know a thing!"
"..."
Liu Yutong listened to the familiar Sichuan-Chongqing dialect and a smile crept onto her lips.
This feeling was just wonderful.
