How best to distinguish whether you are living in 2005 or 2023?
The best way is to return to a city you are familiar with and look at its iconic buildings.
The changes of an era are often reflected in these iconic buildings.
Tianyi Square, located on the south side of Zhongshan East Road in the bustling commercial street of Ningcheng city center, and the nearby Chenghuang Temple are among the representative buildings.
Churches, fountains, a central square, a food court, Yaohuang Temple, and shopping areas form the main complex of the Tianyi Square commercial district.
In 2005, there was no luxury brand street or Yi Avenue.
Today is Saturday, and there are truly many people in Tianyi Square.
There are also some performances in the pool area, attracting many onlookers.
Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing, each holding a drink, strolled through the square, feeling incredibly relaxed at this moment.
Putting down work and temporarily moving away from his long-term residence, today he was neither a company boss nor a junior, as if he had truly returned to his 20s in an instant.
What was he doing during the Mid-Autumn Festival this year in his previous life? He seemed to be lying in his rented room playing games instead of setting up a stall.
Watching young couples holding hands walk past him, Tan Jincheng couldn't help but sigh,
"Youth is really f***ing great!"
At 20, one should do 20-year-old things.
If he hadn't been reborn, Tan Jincheng's 20s wouldn't have been perfect.
Besides Zhang Xupeng, he had no other close friends or relatives, let alone people of the opposite sex.
His late marriage in his previous life was largely delayed by his experience of selling lunch boxes.
At an age like flowers, very few people would look up to someone selling lunch boxes, even if you could make money.
In a society not yet fully materialistic, education and a respectable job are often more effective than money, unless you have a lot, a lot of money to change society's perception.
As couples passed by, Tan Jincheng suddenly smiled and said,
"Does this count as our first date?"
In an instant, Gu Qingqing felt as if the air had stopped flowing, and the pedestrians passing by didn't seem to avoid her.
What did he mean?
Was he going to confess to her?
Were there too many people here?
Was the setting inappropriate?
She smoothed her hair and composed herself, saying,
"Can't say that, can we? The word 'date' should be used for boyfriends and girlfriends."
"Can't this word be used if we're not boyfriends and girlfriends?"
"It's a bit inappropriate to use this word if we're not boyfriends and girlfriends."
Smiling, Tan Jincheng said to Gu Qingqing,
"Come on, let's find a place to sit."
In the central square area, there were many benches for tired visitors to rest, but today there were many tourists, and most of the benches were full.
After walking for a while, they found an empty bench in a relatively secluded area.
During this process, neither of them spoke.
After they had settled down, Tan Jincheng finally asked,
"What do you want to do in the future?"
Gu Qingqing was stunned:
"Ah? What do I want to do in the future? I haven't thought about these things yet. I just want to learn more, so I might use it when I enter society in the future."
Why suddenly bring this up?
Weren't we just talking about dating?
However, Gu Qingqing genuinely hadn't thought about what she wanted to do in the future.
She was only in her second year this semester, with two years left until graduation.
Postgraduate entrance exams were not very popular in this era, and most university graduates didn't consider them; Gu Qingqing was no exception.
Suddenly asked by Tan Jincheng, Gu Qingqing really didn't know how to answer.
She now knew that Business English was not a good major, and job competition might be fierce.
So what could she do in the future?
Go home and do e-commerce?
Inherit her parents' shops and collect rent?
Or start her own business like him?
It must be said that jumping from one topic to another significantly eased the awkward atmosphere.
"Then you can start thinking. You have two years until graduation, and two years pass in a blink of an eye. Besides, after junior year, it's basically internship period."
Gu Qingqing nodded and said,
"That's true. But I really haven't decided yet. Do you have any suggestions?"
"You think first. Once you have an idea, I can give you some advice, but I can't tell you what you want to do, just like when you wanted to open an online store to sell small ornaments. You need to have an idea first."
When mentioning opening an online store to sell small ornaments, Gu Qingqing couldn't help but blush.
She had thought about how to trick him back then, but she was seen through at the time.
Fortunately, she listened to his analysis then and didn't continue.
In fact, Gu Qingqing later did some research.
If she really went to sell small ornaments, she might not even earn back the express delivery fees.
Online shoppers wouldn't buy these items in bulk, unless it was for wholesale business.
"You said before that the best developing industries in the future are import and export, real estate, and the internet. But you're more optimistic about real estate and the internet among these three, right?"
Tan Jincheng said with some surprise,
"Hmm? Why do you say that?"
"It's simple. You've now gone into electric scooters, which means you're transitioning, and it also means that import business can indeed make money, but it definitely lacks good sustainability. Industries that ordinary people can easily enter are bound to have fierce competition."
After a moment, Tan Jincheng laughed,
"You're very smart. It's indeed as you said. The import and export industry is currently a highly profitable industry. Firstly, due to information asymmetry, the number of participants hasn't saturated. Secondly, there are changes in exchange rates, tariffs, and policies. Once everyone reacts, it won't be so easy to make money."
Dong Ge once said in an interview that when a fellow countryman opens a gas station and makes money, countless gas stations will appear next to it instead of other industries, ultimately leading to everyone losing money.
Such examples are ubiquitous on any commercial street in China.
If a restaurant makes money, several, even a dozen, will appear next to it within a few months.
This year is a year of vigorous development for the internet.
With the acceleration of informatization, information about making money through foreign trade will be transmitted to countless people in the mainland in the future, leading to the rise of countless trading companies, and even some OEM factories will enter the market themselves.
With more people vying for the pie, market chaos is bound to occur, profit margins will decline, and there will also be risks of dumping.
On another front, with the advent of the 2008 financial crisis, exchange rates will fall year by year, which invisibly compresses a portion of the profit margin.
That Gu Qingqing could see this point from his transition from foreign trade to electric scooters shows that she is truly intelligent and good at thinking.
"So, according to you, in the future, it's either real estate or the internet, right?"
"That's one way to understand it. Real estate costs are too high, and the internet offers more opportunities. If you really haven't decided, I suggest you learn more about this area, attend classes in other departments, and then make a decision."
"Will you do these things then?"
Gu Qingqing asked, her eyes sparkling.
Taking a sip of the drink in his cup, Tan Jincheng looked up at the sky and said,
"Me? Hard to say."
If he were to build cars, it wouldn't be an independent industry.
Many aspects would be involved, such as land for factories and employee dormitories, right?
Wouldn't that count as real estate?
Take Shenzhou International, the largest enterprise in Beicang and a leading domestic textile company, for example.
It also owns Shenzhou Zhiye, which in the future not only built employee dormitories but also developed many residential complexes for sale.
Doesn't that count as real estate?
Additionally, new energy vehicles involve autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, car-to-internet connectivity, and so on.
Doesn't that count as internet?
So, simply saying which industry to do seems a bit inappropriate; one can only say that the main business isn't in that area.
Leaving aside cars, even the electric scooter industry, in its later stages, enters intelligence, which is inseparable from the internet.
Building factories also requires a lot of land, making it no longer an independent industry.
"What do you mean 'hard to say'? Haven't you decided yet?"
Smiling, Tan Jincheng looked directly at Gu Qingqing and said,
"Do you know? I have a dream."
Gu Qingqing felt a bit embarrassed by his intense gaze and asked, lowering her head,
"What dream?"
From Tan Jincheng's perspective, asking if it was their first date earlier was a test.
After the test, Gu Qingqing didn't show any resistance, which was a good sign.
However, an old man found it hard to be in love; he had never confessed directly even in his previous life, always feeling it was too deliberate.
Compared to a direct confession, Tan Jincheng preferred things to happen naturally.
"Next year, Shanchi's annual production capacity can exceed 100 million. My dream is to increase Shanchi's annual production capacity to 1 billion within five years. Acquiring land, building factories, and expanding are all inevitable. Real estate will naturally be involved, and as for the internet, I will likely intervene when the timing is right in the future."
Tan Jincheng broadly outlined his five-year plan, from the electric scooter industry chain to acquiring land and building factories, and then to expanding production lines.
These business plans inevitably involved somewhat confidential information.
But Tan Jincheng still spoke, partly to pave the way for later conversations, and partly because Tan Jincheng desperately wanted someone to confide in.
Reborn individuals, to some extent, are a particularly lonely type of person.
A person with an unspeakable secret deep in their heart often cannot form deep relationships with others, always fearing inadvertently revealing the secret of their rebirth.
Although no one would believe it if he said it, what if?
Having someone relatively trustworthy to confide in reasonably is not a bad thing, especially under today's circumstances.
Gu Qingqing listened quietly.
Although she didn't speak, her eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Although she didn't understand much of the information, it didn't affect her admiration for Tan Jincheng at this moment.
A talented and ambitious man was right before her eyes.
Gu Qingqing raised her drink cup, motioning for Tan Jincheng to clink glasses,
"That's amazing! Although I can't help you much, I will definitely support you. I hope you can achieve your dream in five years."
"Who says you can't help? You can help,"
Tan Jincheng said with a smile.
"Ah? I don't understand any of this. What can I do?"
"Be my girlfriend."
(End of chapter)
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