Volume 1, Chapter 59: Cloud Farmer's Selection

The two drove all the way to Nanping Street, which could be considered the bustling city center of Yuncheng.

Numerous companies were located here.

Drawing upon memories from his past life, Li Yan quickly located a commercial building.

Nowadays, there were already many corporate registration agencies available; one simply needed to head into a commercial building and check the ground floor for bookkeeping and agency firms.

Just as he anticipated, there were several such companies operating right within this building.

They would just go from one to another, compare prices, and check out the scale of each company.

Shu Qin followed closely behind Li Yan, appearing somewhat restrained.

After all, she was still a college student.

Although she would occasionally come here with her roommates to go shopping, she had never actually set foot inside an office building like this.

Previously, they had only ever dared to stand at the entrance of such buildings, watching people stream in and out while imagining what it must be like for the people working inside.

Did they sit in brightly lit offices and casually discuss million-dollar business deals?

Yet, seeing that Li Yan showed no trace of nervousness and appeared completely at ease, she subconsciously moved a little closer to him.

As Li Yan was scanning the directory board on the ground floor for company names, he suddenly caught a faint, delicate fragrance.

Whether it was from shampoo or her natural scent, it smelled quite pleasant.

This unique fragrance belonging to a young girl had an inherently captivating quality.

"Let's go. We'll head up and take a look to compare our options."

Shu Qin nodded, then asked with a puzzled look, "Weren't we going to register a company? Why are we coming here? And how come you seem so familiar with this place?"

Li Yan reached out to press the elevator button and explained, "Going through the registration process yourself is a huge waste of time. It's much better to just hire them to handle it on our behalf."

"Oh, so that's how it is," Shu Qin nodded, looking at Li Yan with a gaze full of admiration.

She felt that Li Yan knew so much; could these things have been taught back in high school?

Inwardly, she began to regret not studying harder herself.

Thus, the two of them went from one company to the next, inquiring and negotiating.

Finally, they settled on a business named Mingchuan Commerce to handle the agency work.

As for the name of their own company, Li Yan temporarily decided on Yunnong Select.

He remembered that in his previous life, New Oriental had used a similar name when venturing into livestream e-commerce, and it had blown up with incredible popularity.

In this regard, he was merely taking advantage of his rebirth to copy someone else's homework.

Having settled the agency matter, the two of them set out to find an internet café.

Most places were still traditional internet cafés back then; upscale internet lounges with great environments and services were not yet very popular.

However, this particular internet café was located in the city center, and its overall condition was quite good.

In particular, it offered private rooms.

Li Yan and Shu Qin rented a single computer in a private room, intending to get the online store registered right then and there.

However, just as the two of them sat down in the private room and turned on the computer, they suddenly heard sounds coming from the adjacent compartment.

A young woman was trying her best to suppress her voice, yet muffled moans escaped from time to time.

Accompanied by this were the rhythmic impacts of a sofa and table against the wall.

As someone who had been through it all, Li Yan quickly guessed what the man and woman next door were up to.

He had to admit, these young people possessed boundless passion anywhere and at any time.

Hearing these sounds, Shu Qin could hardly fail to understand what was happening.

Her pretty face flushed bright red, and she didn't even dare to meet Li Yan's eyes.

The atmosphere instantly turned somewhat awkward.

With a helpless sigh, Li Yan lit a cigarette, deciding to wait until the couple next door finished their business before proceeding with the online store registration.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before the commotion next door died down.

Li Yan looked at his half-smoked cigarette and chuckled derisively, "Are they really that fast? My cigarette is only half-smoked. Don't you think so?"

How could Shu Qin possibly dare to answer? Generous and cheerful though her personality might be, she was, after all, inexperienced in such matters.

She could only keep her head down, her small hands nervously twisting the pleats of her skirt.

"Never mind them. I'll teach you how to register." Li Yan was genuinely worried that the guy next door might lack endurance and try to make up for it with frequency, starting all over again in a moment.

Li Yan was quite familiar with the process of opening an online store.

He had tinkered with it for a period in his past life, though by that time the e-commerce market had already become fiercely competitive, and opening a store then was nothing short of a white-hot battle.

In short, he hadn't made any money; instead, he had burned through quite a sum on paid traffic promotion.

Opening an online store in 2012 was relatively easy, and the reviews were not nearly as strict.

He used "Yunnong Select" as the store name.

For now, it would be registered under an individual's name, and they could upload the corporate business license once it was officially issued later.

With the registration complete, Li Yan turned to Shu Qin and said, "Shu Qin, as we agreed earlier, I'll be responsible for the capital and sourcing the goods. I am now hiring you as my store manager. Do you have any objections?"

A lingering blush still tinted Shu Qin's pretty face, but she shook her head and replied, "No, whatever you say goes."

Li Yan continued in a serious tone, "Here is what we'll do: I'll give you half a month. During these two weeks, I expect you to learn how to set up the entire online store, as well as how to operate it. After half a month, you need to be familiar with the entire process and be capable of independently handling the store's overall operations. Can you do that?"

At this point, Li Yan's tone grew somewhat stern.

Having been the boss of a company in his past life, he still carried a certain commanding presence.

Seeing Li Yan look so serious, Shu Qin nodded solemnly.

"Yes, no problem. We're currently covering these exact topics in class, and we have textbooks for it. I've already studied some of it beforehand, so half a month will be plenty of time."

"That's good. Don't worry, starting today, I'll begin paying you a salary. For the initial phase, I'll start you at 1,500 per month, and I'll give you a raise once you've fully mastered the ropes. In addition, once our store starts turning a profit, I'll give you a five percent commission. How does that sound?"

Hearing that Li Yan actually intended to pay her a salary was something Shu Qin had never expected.

Originally, she had thought Li Yan was just casually messing around with an online store to test the waters, and she hadn't thought much about the future other than viewing it as a good opportunity to challenge herself.

However, seeing the serious expression on Li Yan's face now, she realized he was undoubtedly determined to make this online store a success.

Instantly, she felt the weight of responsibility settle onto her shoulders.

"I don't need a salary; we're classmates. If it makes money later on, you can just give me a bit of commission." In truth, Shu Qin didn't really believe this online store would actually turn a profit.

Li Yan shook his head. "No. Since we're doing this, we have to do it right. For now, you're working for me, but if we succeed later on, you can become my partner, and we can discuss equity distribution then."

Naturally, Shu Qin was young and naive, easily swallowing the grand vision—or rather, the rather crudely painted blueprint—that Li Yan had laid out for her.

So much so that her mind began conjuring up pleasant daydreams of the store actually making money in the future, with herself as a founding member holding company shares.
To be honest, Shu Qin was truly tempted.

She ventured, "Well... 1,500 a month is too much. My living expenses for a whole month are only six hundred."

To her, 1,500 a month was close to triple her living expenses, which felt genuinely excessive.

Yet, from Li Yan's perspective, 1,500 a month was considered quite low.

After all, having someone work for him meant compensation was only fair.

He could always increase Shu Qin's pay once the store business took off; throwing too much at her right at the start wasn't a good idea either.

"Alright, let's leave it at that. Note down the account details and get familiar with the interface yourself. In a little while, I'll take you to buy a computer."

"Ah? We need to buy a computer too?" Shu Qin grew even more astonished.

Li Yan nodded calmly. "Otherwise, how are you supposed to operate it?"

"Oh, right, I suppose so." Shu Qin conceded that made sense.

After letting her familiarize herself with the system for a while, Li Yan took Shu Qin along to the computer market to purchase computers.
He needed to buy one for himself as well, as many upcoming tasks would require a computer to resolve.

The grand plan within his mind was also officially set in motion on this very day.