Dawn of Life

Just a few days ago, Lin Yue was thinking how wonderful it would be if Qin Lan invited her after her startup project launched. She trusted Qin Lan's character and professional abilities, and her ultimate career goal was to become an expert like Qin Lan.

But she quickly dismissed the idea, because consulting firm positions are only at two extremes: assistant or consultant.

It's obvious that she can't be an assistant, which is usually a job for recent graduates. She also can't be a consultant. Her highest title is only half a year as the HRD at Dasheng. Without the halo of a big company or experience in large projects, such a resume is really not presentable to clients.

The next morning arrived quickly, and Lin Yue arrived at Qin Lan's company half an hour early as agreed. The company wasn't large; the main office area had about ten workstations, and there were also two separate offices. When Lin Yue arrived, she saw Qin Lan sitting in his office, holding a video conference.

Besides Qin Lan, there was another young woman in her early twenties in the office. She smiled brightly at Lin Yue. Although she was young, she was very efficient. Perhaps because they didn't hire a housekeeper, she did all the sweeping, watering, and wiping of tables herself.

Lin Yue glanced back casually and saw her carrying a bucket of water on her small arms. Before Lin Yue could react and go to help, the girl had already staggered and put the bucket on the water dispenser.

Lin Yue sat on the small sofa by the reception desk, waiting for Qin Lan, her eyes constantly scanning the office. The office seemed to have been rented and used without any renovations. The total area was probably less than 200 square meters, and there was no special decoration. After looking around, Lin Yue came to a conclusion: Qin Lan didn't have much start-up capital for his business.

After finishing the meeting, Qin Lan called Lin Yue to her office and handed her a bottle of mineral water from the table. After a brief greeting, she got straight to the point. Qin Lan tapped her phone on the table twice and said, "I only have half an hour. I have to go to the client's company in half an hour. I heard you've been unemployed for a while now. What are your plans? Would you like to consider coming and working with me?"

Lin Yue pursed her lips and answered truthfully, "I did consider continuing to follow you, but I'm not sure if I could really help you. Besides, I'm under a lot of pressure supporting my family on my own right now, so regarding salary..."

Lin Yue lowered her head in embarrassment as she spoke. Because of the time constraints, she didn't do any preamble and directly revealed her two most crucial concerns.

Qin Lan gazed at Lin Yue, trying to discern her expression from her downcast face, while simultaneously gathering her emotions and considering how to convey the prepared plan to her. After a few seconds of pause, Qin Lan said firmly, "Come and be my partner."

Lin Yue reflexively raised her head, looking directly into Qin Lan's eyes, as if searching for any hint of humor in his words. When she saw the sincerity and certainty in Qin Lan's eyes, she became even more confused. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she uttered three words: "Partner?"

Qin Lan picked up her water glass, took a sip, and calmly said, "I've done a preliminary calculation. To set up this consulting firm, we need 5 million yuan for registered capital, renovations, staff salaries, office equipment, and marketing, etc. We still need nearly 2 million yuan short. My former partners all have their own main businesses now, so they can only contribute their technology as equity. What I need is someone who can treat this place as our sole career with me."

Qin Lan knew that Lin Yue wasn't a confident girl, and having just gone through so much, she was actually prepared for Lin Yue to reject her. But she still wanted to give it a try. Although Lin Yue's resume was average, she was hardworking, had a strong learning ability, rich practical experience, and was someone she had mentored, so they got along very well.

Her only concern about Lin Yue is that he's not mature enough. Due to heavy family pressure, work is just a means to make a living for Lin Yue. He's fine as an employee, but as an entrepreneur, he lacks the drive and ambition.

So Qin Lan asked Lin Yue to come up with some money, partly to push her further. Starting a business in this environment is extremely risky, and entrepreneurs need to be prepared to face any challenge to survive. The 500 million yuan was Qin Lan's reserve for the company to survive for a year if it had no income. If all went well, they could take on a few projects within a year, and wouldn't need that much.

Lin Yue stared at Qin Lan, feeling a bit overwhelmed. She didn't quite understand why Qin Lan had extended such an olive branch to her, and the word "entrepreneurship" had never even crossed her mind before.

For the first 37 years of her life, she lived within a predetermined framework and rules, working methodically and receiving her monthly salary on time – this was the main theme of her life. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, not only need substantial financial resources, but also a wealth of connections, and even more importantly, strong mental and physical stamina.

None of these keywords applied to her. So, after processing them in her mind for half a minute, she finally managed a bitter smile and said, "Thank you for your trust, boss, but starting a business isn't for me, and I've never even considered it."

Qin Lan's expression remained calm as always. Lin Yue's answer did not surprise her in the slightest, nor did she want to offer any further advice. She knew Lin Yue too well; she only needed to tell Lin Yue the news, and Lin Yue would process it herself and think it over carefully.

Qin Lan hopes that Lin Yue can overcome her weakness of not daring to break boundaries and be braver. However, if Lin Yue has not thought it through, Qin Lan will not force her, because starting a business is inherently a very risky thing, and Qin Lan cannot make any definite promises to her.

After leaving Qin Lan's office, Lin Yue became even more determined to go home and visit her family. She clearly realized that Hangzhou, the city where she had worked hard for thirteen years, could no longer accommodate her. Betrayed by her marriage of ten years, discarded by the company she had worked for for eight years, and given an opportunity by her former boss who trusted her, she lacked the courage to seize it.

At this moment, she felt utterly exhausted and just wanted to find a place to hide.

After returning home, she contacted Gao Ming and agreed to sell the house. Soon, with the help of the real estate agent, they completed the property verification, contract signing, and transfer procedures. During the sale, Lin Yue seemed completely detached, numbly following the agent's instructions.

Afterwards, Lin Yue planned to rent a small house near Xiao Yu's school for a few months as a temporary measure, while she went back to Mianyang to check on Xiao Yu's household registration and school transfer. She would come back to pick them up once everything was settled.

Soon Lin Yue started looking for a house. She originally planned to find one through an agency, but as soon as she walked around a resettlement housing community, several elderly women and men came up to her and asked if she was looking for a house.

After receiving confirmation, he towed her around the neighborhood on an electric scooter. Many of these resettlement houses have been renovated, dividing a single apartment into several individual rooms.

An elderly woman was showing Lin Yue around an apartment while she kept saying, "In recent years, fewer and fewer people from other places are coming here, so it's hard to rent out apartments. Many are just sitting empty."

After looking around, Lin Yue decided on a partitioned two-bedroom apartment, about 60 square meters, for a rent of 3,000 yuan, with a deposit of one month's rent and three months' rent paid in advance. After paying, she decided to move in the next day.

Many of the large pieces of furniture were bought with Gao Ming in the past, but this time she plans not to bring any of them; she wants to completely sever ties with the past.

I thought there wouldn't be too many things, but I didn't expect that when I started tidying up, I would find that I had such a deep connection with this house. No matter how I tidied up, small pieces would keep coming out.

The little pottery figurine that Gao Ming and Xiao Yu bought when they went to Xi'an together was brought back by Lin Yue and placed on the top shelf of the bookcase to collect dust; the floor-length gauze dress that she bought in Xiamen was only worn once for taking pictures, and she put it in a bag in the closet and forgot about it long ago; and the self-portrait with Xiao Feng by Erhai Lake was also taken out by Lin Yue, put in a big bag and thrown away.

She felt unusually desolate. When she went outside, she saw Lin Haifeng, Liu Cuiying, and Xiaoyu arguing about whether or not to take the Lego and Ultraman toys with them.

Liu Cuiying said, "If it's hard to store them, then let's not bring them." Lin Haifeng said, "If the child likes them, let him take them." In the end, Lin Yue made the final decision: "A home without these little odds and ends is not lively. Transplanting them to the new home can quickly dilute the sense of unfamiliarity of moving."

So everyone put all sorts of small odds and ends into bags, then carried them downstairs one by one and put them in the trunk of their cars.

This place was just a temporary stopover, so Lin Yue didn't put much effort into tidying it up. She simply categorized and arranged the things she had moved in, and then took her family to eat nearby.

They each ordered a bowl of Lanzhou noodles. Lin Yue watched Lin Haifeng and Liu Cuiying slurping their noodles, as if they were feeling a sense of relief as they were about to embark on a brighter future.

Xiao Yu, who was next to her, was using chopsticks to wrap noodles in circles. Lin Yue tentatively asked softly, "Honey, we're moving to a new house soon. Will you be able to adjust?"