After the breakup, I was taken in by a group of trendy young women.

Wang Xiaoying's car was parked in front of the villa.

White BMW 5 Series, three years old, but maintained like a new car.

The leather seats have no extra decorations, and there is only a minimalist amulet hanging on the rearview mirror. There is a bottle of white tea-scented car air freshener in the air conditioning vent.

Today she wore a navy blue suit skirt, the hem of which was just two inches above her knees, and a very thin silver brooch was pinned to her collar.

Her hair was styled into a neat low bun at the back of her head, revealing her slender neck and a pair of pearl earrings.

Her makeup was lighter than usual.

She was wearing a pair of black pointed high heels.

She stood by the car door, holding a briefcase in one hand and her phone to her ear in the other, explaining something to someone from her company.

Her tone was still as assertive and capable as it was in the office, but when she said the last sentence, her gaze went past the phone screen and landed on Lin Ye, who was walking out of the villa gate.

Then she said something to the person on the other end of the phone.

"That's it, I have more important things to do."

The call was disconnected.

The blond-haired boy leaned out of the second-floor window, his honey-brown twin ponytails cascading down and brushing against the windowsill.

With a lollipop dangling from her mouth, she saw Wang Xiaoying leaning against the white BMW, her eyes lighting up. She pulled the lollipop from her mouth and exclaimed, "Manager Wang looks so cool today! Even cooler than those female CEOs on TV!"

The tattooed man squeezed past the blond guy from behind, tapped the window frame with the temple of his sunglasses, and looked down.

She nodded and commented in an extremely objective tone, "Going to negotiations dressed like this, your aura alone gives you a 30% advantage."

Wang Xiaoying didn't look up, but simply reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her earlobes turning slightly red.

Lin Ye walked out of the villa's gate.

He also changed into a formal outfit today.

A white Oxford shirt, sleeves rolled up to the forearms, revealing tanned forearms and a mechanical watch that he had just bought a few days ago.

He wore dark gray trousers and brown derby shoes. His short hair was styled into a neat side part with hair gel, and his jawline was sharply defined.

He took his sunglasses off his face and hung them on his shirt collar, then walked to the passenger seat of the white BMW.

Wang Xiaoying walked around the front of the car and opened the driver's side door.

The deep rumble of the white BMW's engine echoed along the cobblestone path, its taillights flashing twice at the corner of the villa's iron gate before it drove into the tree-lined avenue.

The car was quiet.

A very soft jazz piece was playing on the car stereo, the saxophone's notes echoing between the leather seats.

A faint breeze blew from the air conditioner vents, carrying the scent of white tea aromatherapy mixed with Wang Xiaoying's very light perfume. Unlike the aggressive woody and citrusy scent Bai Jie had used in the VIP room last time, this was a more restrained lily of the valley fragrance that could only be smelled at this distance.

Lin Ye leaned back in the passenger seat, crossed his legs, and unconsciously tapped his fingers on his knees twice, looking out the window at the sycamore trees leaning backward.

A bus drove by, and several passengers pressed their faces against the window, their eyes following the white BMW as it turned ninety degrees—not to look at the car, but to look at the woman in the driver's seat, wearing a navy blue suit, with her hair in a low bun, and whose profile was so exquisite it looked like she had been cut out of a magazine cover.

"Do you know anyone at the Land and Resources Bureau?" Lin Ye asked.

Wang Xiaoying gripped the steering wheel with both hands, her eyes fixed ahead, her tone calm and confident: "I don't know anyone here. But I've checked, that industrial zone belongs to the planned land of the East New District, and there's no clear investment attraction plan yet, so the land is idle. As long as it's not a commercial complex or a developer acquiring the land, the approval process for small-scale leasing can be streamlined. I made a list yesterday of the materials we need: business license, legal representative's identity certificate, site use statement, fire safety plan, and simplified environmental impact assessment filing. The business license hasn't been issued yet, but we can go get a number first."

Lin Ye didn't say anything.

Wang Xiaoying glanced at him sideways, then turned back to continue driving.

"Don't worry, I won't embarrass you."

The Land Resources Management Office is an old-fashioned five-story office building with gray-white tiled exterior walls and a thin layer of dust on the window frames. A white sign with black lettering hangs at the entrance, which reads "Urban Planning and Land Resources Management Office".

A row of electric bikes and several Santanas covered in mud were parked in front of the car. Wang Xiaoying's white BMW was parked in the middle of the row of cars, like a bright pearl falling on sandpaper.

She turned off the car, took out a small mirror from her briefcase to check her makeup, wiped away the little bit of lipstick that had gotten on her lips, and then reapplied it.

Then he closed the mirror and put it back in his bag, unbuckled his seatbelt, and reached for the car door.

Lin Ye pressed down on her wrist.

"Don't rush."

He took out his phone and scrolled to a contact in his address book. It was a high school classmate he hadn't contacted in a long time: Li Zhiqiang, who was now a section chief at the Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources.

They sat next to each other for a year in their senior year of high school, climbed over the wall together to go out for late-night snacks, played League of Legends all night at internet cafes, and were punished by their homeroom teacher to stand in the corridor together.

Later, they went to different universities and started working. They would occasionally send each other group greetings during holidays. It was the kind of friendship where they didn't contact each other regularly, but they could still recognize each other when they met. Lin Ye dialed the number, and after five rings, the other end answered.

"Hey? Old classmate, what brings you to call me all of a sudden?"

Li Zhiqiang's voice carried a hint of surprise, but not a lack of familiarity.

"I wanted to ask you something. Who's in charge of that abandoned machinery factory site in the East New District now?"

"Wait a minute, let me check the system."

The sounds of keyboard typing and mouse clicking came from the other end of the phone, followed by Li Zhiqiang's low, slightly teasing voice.

"That place is a dead end now, why are you asking about it? You're not thinking of setting up a logistics warehouse, are you? Let me tell you, that place is too far from the highway exit, it's not worthwhile to use it for logistics."

"They set up a training ground for racing teams. The Ghost Train team does modifications and provides training."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Then Li Zhiqiang burst out laughing.

"Why are you still acting unpredictably, just like you did in high school?"

"Will-o'-the-wisp? Did you strike it rich?"

I guess so.

"Okay, okay, I won't ask anymore. That land is currently idle and belongs to the Chengdong New District Land and Resources Bureau. The approval authority is at the district level, not the municipal bureau. I'll give you a phone number, Section Chief Wang. He's in charge of leasing approvals at the Chengdong Bureau. Just say I introduced you."

I owe you a drink.