Fifty million a day, trapped in the county town, can't spend it all.

Zhang Yang changed into a clean T-shirt and shorts, told his parents he was "going out to meet a friend," and left.

The night breeze still carries the lingering heat of the day. That's how it is in southern Sichuan. In summer, the whole city feels like it's been stuffed into a sauna. A downpour can cool things down for two days, but then it's back to being a free sauna for everyone.

This city is great; it even offers free saunas for everyone!

It's like being in a sauna 24 hours a day, which is a bit too much for some people.

He walked along the road in front of his house to the intersection, raised his hand and hailed a taxi. He had asked Xiao Li and Liu Chuang to leave work early today after returning from the mall. It would be too much trouble to ask someone else to make a trip so late, so he simply took a taxi.

"Driver, go to this address." Zhang Yang opened the car door, got in, and handed the address Liu Senran had sent to the taxi driver.

The car drove through the main road of the county town in the night. There were quite a few pedestrians on the street. Many people came outside to cool off. Although it was not cool outside, people probably felt that at least there would be a breeze outside occasionally, so they didn't need to turn on the air conditioner at home so early.

Twenty minutes later, the car drove into a small alley and stopped in front of a place that looked a bit like a farmhouse restaurant. But Zhang Yang knew it wasn't a farmhouse restaurant, since there was no sign, and besides, who would open a farmhouse restaurant in an alley?

After Zhang Yang got out of the car, he pushed open the inconspicuous iron gate and walked along the gravel path lit by LED strip lights. He passed through the corridor woven from tree branches and saw Liu Senran sitting in a pavilion in the middle of the courtyard, with a pot of tea and two cups in front of him.

"Old Zhang, have a seat." Liu Senran gestured and poured him a cup of tea. "Drinking tea tonight won't affect your sleep, will it?"

"It doesn't bother me. I haven't been sleeping much lately." Zhang Yang sat down opposite him, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and glanced around. "Is this place yours too?"

"Well, I occasionally meet up with friends to chat, and that's how I ended up with this courtyard. After all, I don't really like discussing things in public places."

Zhang Yang nodded thoughtfully. He realized that Liu Senran was indeed like that; it seemed that he always preferred to discuss serious matters on his own turf.

"Tell me, what project made you call me out so late at night?"

Liu Senran leaned back in his chair, his gaze falling on the bamboo leaves illuminated by the lamplight along the edge of the courtyard wall: "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if you can handle it."

How big?

Liu Senran thought for a moment and said, "I want to build a comprehensive commercial and logistics park in the north of the city."

Zhang Yang put down his teacup and smacked his lips as he looked at him.

Liu Senran continued, "You know that piece of land, right? It's the only way in and out of Mu County after you get off the highway, and it connects to the provincial highway. It's about a hundred acres, and it's still wasteland now, but I've already obtained planning permission there."

"Logistics park?"

"Logistics is only part of it." Liu Senran picked up his tea and took a sip. "My idea is to build a logistics park over there, and also build some supporting commercial facilities around it, so that vehicles entering and leaving Mou County can stay in the county to spend money."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang considered the matter in his mind.

He had seen that area in the north of the city when he passed by; it was indeed very large. But the "logistics park" that Liu Senran mentioned was a very broad concept, encompassing everything from warehouses to transportation to commercial facilities, each involving a large number of people and money.

Are you facing a funding shortfall?

Liu Senran smiled and said, "I can handle most of the funding, but I can't run such a large operation by myself. I need a partner to do this project, and I think you are the most suitable person."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang pondered for a moment. The logistics park, covering more than 100 acres, plus its supporting commercial facilities, was larger than all the projects he had worked on before combined.

But Liu Senran said he would "not interfere with management," which means he has full operational control.

Thinking of this, he asked, "Why me?"

"Because you give me a different feeling." Liu Senran looked at him. "I saw everything you did in Mouxian County. Buying factories, buying buildings, opening shopping malls, you took every step steadily. And you have ideas. You don't just want to make money, you want to do something."

It's funny, actually. Before, when I worked on projects, all I thought about was how to make more money; I rarely considered anything else. But what you've done has really changed some of my perspectives. I suddenly feel that if you do things the way you do, Mou County will truly be a different place. And everything I've built with my own hands seems to bring me more joy than making money!

Zhang Yang traced his finger along the rim of the teacup as he listened to Liu Senran's comments, wondering what it meant. Was Liu Senran impressed by Zhang Yang's extravagant spending during the day? Or did he endorse Zhang Yang's people-oriented philosophy?

Logically, this shouldn't be the case, but Zhang Yang did subtly sense that Liu Senran was different from usual, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

After Liu Senran finished speaking, he asked seriously, "If we cooperate, how do you plan to divide the profits?"

"I proposed the project, I own the land, I'll contribute the majority, you'll contribute a smaller portion, but you'll lead the management and operation. I can be listed in the name, but I will never interfere." Liu Senran paused, "The specific proportions can be discussed, I don't have that many complicated details on my end."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang smiled slightly. Liu Senran's cooperation method was very clean, without any hidden clauses or roundabout terms.

"I have a condition."

"you say."

"We will try our best to absorb all the costs of this project within Mou County, including labor and materials, and ensure that the money flows into the hands of the local people."

Liu Senran paused for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, that was my idea all along. People in the county will have work to do, and everyone can earn money. It's about the internal economic cycle."

"Furthermore, regarding the supporting commercial facilities, I want to create a model similar to Pang Donglai, not just renting out shops, but with unified management and standards."

Liu Senran thought for a moment, picked up his tea and took a sip: "Such a large area, following your model all the way, is probably a bit difficult, but I trust you, let's try it out first."

Zhang Yang smiled and extended his hand to him: "Then it will be a pleasure to cooperate with you."

Liu Senran reached out and shook it vigorously: "Pleasure doing business with you."

The two released their hands, and Liu Senran refilled Zhang Yang's tea before sitting back down in his chair. "Oh, right, there's something else, about that phone call."

Zhang Yang raised an eyebrow: "What did you find out?"

"That virtual number was registered for a very short time, only two days, and it was canceled after I made that call to you." Liu Senran put down his teacup. "But the last location where the signal appeared was indeed the provincial capital. I've already had people continue investigating there."

"Is it possible to find out who's behind this?"

Liu Senran looked at him and shook his head: "I'm not sure, but if you want to know, I can find a way."

Zhang Yang thought for a moment and said, "No need for that now. I'm more interested in the logistics park than those things."

Liu Senran nodded: "That's true."

The two sat for another half hour, discussing some project details. The night breeze blew through the courtyard, rustling the bamboo leaves.

Around midnight, Zhang Yang got up to say goodbye.

Liu Senran saw him to the door: "I'll have someone send you the preliminary plan for the project another day. Take a look at it first, and let me know what you think."

"OK."

As Zhang Yang walked toward the main street, he was still thinking about what Liu Senran had mentioned that evening.

Liu Senran wanted to partner with him to build a logistics park. This project was much larger than the shopping mall and had a wider coverage. Once it was established, it would not only affect the customer flow of the shopping mall, but also the logistics, employment, and commercial facilities of the entire Mu County, and could even radiate to the surrounding districts and counties.

Does this mean we can bring back a group of people from outside?