At five in the morning, just as dawn was breaking.
Jiang Ye opened the window, shouting to stop the howling wolves. He went to the warehouse, took out the last bunch of small green vegetables, and returned to the second floor of the base vehicle to make a stew.
Halfway through breakfast, a sound like a rocket launch came from far outside the window.
Looking out, Isabel's courier spaceship had just ignited and shot into the sky, trailing a long plume of smoke.
If nothing unexpected happened, she should be going to pick up the citizens of Cao County and the long-legged special whites.
After finishing his meal, Jiang Ye went downstairs and opened the base gate.
Ten meters away, under a fast-growing eucalyptus tree, a woman in a black suit stood with her back to him. Her legs were apart, her back straight, like a knight-errant.
"Good morning, President Xu," Jiang Ye walked over.
"I worked overtime last night, and the carbonated beverage bottling plant is built. I'll take you to inspect it." Xu Yan turned around, her makeup still exquisite.
"So soon?" Jiang Ye was surprised. "Please lead the way."
The soda plant was even larger than he had imagined, with a simple and beautiful exterior, white walls, and arched roofs, resembling a super-sized garage.
Jiang Ye pressed his hand on the iron gate. After the handprint was detected, the gate slowly opened upwards.
Walking inside, there was a small compartment first, with a dozen white plastic one-piece suits and transparent masks hanging on the wall, like protective clothing in a biochemical laboratory.
Xu Yan took one down and put it on herself with practiced ease. "The workshop is sterile inside, so you have to wear isolation suits. All food factories have to be like this, otherwise they can't get sales permits."
Jiang Ye also put on a set. The isolation suit was quite stuffy inside, making him feel wrapped in mummy bandages. The water vapor from his breath fogged up the mask, blurring his vision.
Opening an inner door, they entered the disinfection room. Brilliant red light swept over their surfaces, followed by a spray of disinfectant. Jiang Ye stood in the vast rain of disinfectant, feeling like a flower in a potted plant being watered by its owner with a sprinkler.
Then came the warm air drying.
"Entry permitted!" a cold mechanical voice announced, exactly the same as the one on the fishing boat.
Xu Yan led Jiang Ye in, and the vast factory floor unfolded before them. Various strangely shaped processing equipment and long assembly lines were visible. Thick power lines covered by transparent wire boxes were also on the ceiling.
The factory floor was green, with a one-centimeter-thick layer of water.
"Disinfectant?" Jiang Ye pointed at the floor.
"That's right," Xu Yan nodded. Their voices were muffled through the masks, as if they were speaking with their noses pinched.
It took half an hour for Xu Yan to turn on the machines one by one and show Jiang Ye their operating status.
The small machines were fully automatic, but the large machines required workers to stand by. This was because the large machines were prone to problems.
For example, the machine closest to the exit was responsible for capping the glass soda bottles.
It capped five bottles at a time. However, for every few thousand bottles, it would occasionally exert too much force, crushing the bottle.
At such times, the worker had to press the red button on the machine, and the entire assembly line would slowly stop. Then, the worker would quickly clear the broken soda bottles, and after cleaning, press the green button to resume production.
The entire production workshop required ten workers to operate.
"I have a suggestion for you," Xu Yan suddenly said.
"Please speak."
"When you hire workers here, pay them by piece rate, not a fixed daily wage," Xu Yan said.
"I understand, thank you for your suggestion." Jiang Ye nodded.
He immediately realized why Xu Yan said that.
The assembly line workers had the power to pause production. If they were paid by the day, they could easily intentionally stop the production line, which would be detrimental to Jiang Ye.
Only by paying by production volume could smooth production be ensured.
It took two hours to complete the inspection of the entire factory.
Everything was normal, and it was brand new and shining. As a giant company in the galaxy and a contractor for the military, White Ant Real Estate's quality was quite robust.
The two of them came out of the disinfection compartment, took off their isolation suits, and went outside the factory.
In the distance, the small town was still rumbling, with various construction machinery and mechanical workers coming and going. The last few dozen houses were already being built.
Xu Yan said goodbye and went to supervise the construction site.
Jiang Ye returned to the base vehicle, tidied up the house, and then took a shower in the fishing boat's bathroom.
After washing, he dried himself on the deck.
As soon as he was dry and dressed, the sound of rockets appeared from afar and grew closer.
Isabel's courier spaceship was back!
Jiang Ye ran to the courier center. Behind the courier center was an open space where the spaceships usually parked.
He looked up, watching the spaceship draw nearer, and finally landed steadily on the open ground like a falling leaf.
Jiang Ye's heart pounded. He was finally going to meet his old acquaintances.
The tail compartment of the spaceship opened.
A base vehicle drove out, followed by a second one, both parked outside the spaceship.
The door of the first vehicle opened, and a figure with fluffy long hair stepped out, wearing jeans and a tight white t-shirt that accentuated her chest.
Jiang Ye walked over and met her gaze.
The citizen of Cao County was even more beautiful in person than in photos and videos. She had the handsomeness of a sunny beauty, and her figure was visibly alluring. She was at least 1.7 meters tall, a standard big girl.
Jiang Ye extended his right hand. "It's finally nice to meet you."
The citizen of Cao County smiled at him, then suddenly reached out and slapped his right hand.
"After so long of knowing each other, are we just going to shake hands?" she said.
Jiang Ye was stunned. No handshake? No bow? Or perhaps a kowtow?
The citizen of Cao County lunged forward and hugged him tightly.
Jiang Ye's face instantly turned red. How did this happiness come so quickly?
After spinning him around, the citizen of Cao County finally let go.
"My original name is Ju Lan, but it sounds like 'ju lan' (rotten), so after coming to this planet, I want to start my life anew, and my name should be changed too. So I'll call myself Ju Lanlan," she said, smiling and revealing dimples.
"Hello, Ju Lanlan. I'm still Jiang Ye," Jiang Ye said with a smile.
The sound of a door opening, and a girl also came down from the second base vehicle.
She was a little shorter than Ju Lanlan, about 1.6 meters.
But she showed off her long legs, which were white and straight, their curves as natural as flowing water, visually appearing even longer than Ju Lanlan's legs.
She wore a pink tracksuit with the zipper open, revealing a black sports bra underneath, and sports shorts, with a section of her fair, slender waist conspicuously visible.
Jiang Ye instinctively looked at her legs first, his gaze moving from bottom to top, finally settling on her face.
She was much prettier than he had expected. Her short hair reached her neck, her jawline was clear, and her palm-sized face was so fair and tender that he felt an urge to kiss it.
"Brother Jiang," she said in a very soft voice, her cheeks slightly flushed, seeming a little shy. "My name is Tian Rao."
Jiang Ye had learned his lesson and went directly to hug her.
When he let go, Tian Rao's face was as red as a cooked crab.
"I've brought them to you. You can take them to settle down," Isabel said, her hands in her pockets, stepping out of the spaceship with a blank expression. "I'm going back to catch up on sleep."
Seeing her sullen face, Jiang Ye knew she was jealous.
"Thank you for your hard work!" Jiang Ye waved at her.
Isabel shrugged, turned, and went home.
Jiang Ye turned back to look at Ju Lanlan and Tian Rao. "I'll take you to find a place to live. We'll secure the houses first, then drive over."
"Whatever you say! We'll rely on our old employer to arrange things!" Ju Lanlan gave him an OK sign.
Tian Rao didn't speak, her face still flushed, nodding continuously.