Chapter 33

Watching Su Yingxue sit in the Santana police car, the car spewed out a puff of exhaust and sped away. Li Mu, feeling utterly bored, kicked a soda can by the roadside.

It was a rare opportunity to escort his goddess home late at night, but it was ruined by that sycophantic bastard. Still, it wasn't all bad; learning to drive with the school beauty he had secretly admired for years seemed like a beautiful thing.

In the car, Su Yingxue turned her head and saw Li Mu's actions, a smile involuntarily spreading across her face. Was this guy always so interesting? Why hadn't she noticed before? She used to think he was a bit silly, even endearingly stupid, but it seemed his style had changed too quickly.

Li Mu didn't realize Su Yingxue had been watching him until the car turned at the intersection.

He was only thinking that his high school life was now officially over. From tomorrow on, he would have to start preparing for university.

Money, he thought, was a minor issue, but upon closer reflection, he needed to act quickly. His parents would be unemployed by the end of the year, and Li Mu's hope was to find them a new path before he went to university.

Li Mu knew his parents well. They were in their early forties and still considered themselves young and strong. Even if he could earn a lot of money, pile it in front of them, and tell them to retire comfortably, they wouldn't be able to sit idle.

They needed a career to maintain their passion and to prove their worth. The best solution was to find them a reliable business direction before they were laid off, rather than letting them struggle in the job market.

Li Mu thought carefully about what kind of business would be profitable and not too tiring or stressful in 2001.

After much consideration, Li Mu looked up and saw the sign of a Benetton specialty store still lit late at night, and a light bulb went off in his head.

Right, open a specialty store!

In Hai Zhou at the time, there were very few young people's clothing brands. Apart from Li Ning and Shuang Xing, which were sports and leisure brands, there were only Benetton and Jeanswest.

Semir hadn't opened yet, Yishion hadn't opened yet, and Metersbonwe, which would be popular for many years, hadn't opened yet either. The first Metersbonwe store he remembered opened during his first winter break in university, right before the lunar new year, on the first day of the first lunar month. The business was booming, and the franchisee probably hadn't started operating yet, with at least half a year to go.

Thinking of Metersbonwe, Li Mu thought of Jay Chou, who would become a king-level figure and endorse the brand for over a decade. Although Metersbonwe's status hadn't improved much over the years, Li Mu was certain that while other brands like Benetton, Semir, and Yishion had faded, Metersbonwe remained strong in the mid-to-low-end market.

If he invested money to help his parents open a Metersbonwe franchise, he was confident that in a city like Hai Zhou, a store could easily make several hundred thousand yuan in profit annually.

Moreover, he had a deeper understanding of Metersbonwe's history. The brand was known for its emphasis on information technology, with a powerful network system built by the famous American company Cisco. Li Mu didn't know if they had already started working with Cisco, but this showed that the brand had a long-term vision. With an efficient network system, franchisees would find it much easier to manage inventory, returns, and other issues.

His mother was a finance professional, and his father was very meticulous. If they opened a specialty store and hired an experienced store manager and some young salespeople, they wouldn't need to be at the store every day. They could just regularly check the accounts, inventory, and sales records. With his mother in charge, there was no need to worry about any tampering with the books.

It wouldn't be too stressful or tiring, and it would definitely be profitable, at least for a few years. This plan was highly feasible. Now, he just needed to figure out how much money it would take to open a store.

...

The next day, Li Mu looked up some information online and on Metersbonwe's official website. He had a rough idea of the costs.

Metersbonwe didn't charge a franchise fee, but there were several conditions.

First, they prioritized blank markets, meaning cities without a Metersbonwe specialty store.

Second, in fifth-tier cities, the store had to be in a bustling downtown area, with a minimum area of 80 square meters for a standalone store and 50 square meters for a kiosk.

Third, the investment in a fifth-tier city had to be at least 200,000 yuan, with an interior decoration budget of 80,000 to 150,000 yuan.

After meeting these requirements, one could apply to Metersbonwe. A 3,000 yuan inspection fee would be required, and they would send an inspector to evaluate the site. If the inspection was successful, the application would be reviewed by headquarters. If approved, the training, decoration, and inventory stages would begin, followed by the opening of the store.

Li Mu roughly calculated that the total cost would be around 400,000 yuan. The official investment amount already considered local rent and inventory, so for an 80-square-meter store, the annual rent would be only a few tens of thousands of yuan. After all, it was 2001, and a fifth-tier city's real estate prices were still below 1,000 yuan per square meter, with commercial rents not much higher.

However, considering the impact of the store's location on business, Li Mu preferred a larger space. In the future, specialty stores would often be several hundred square meters, but at the time, they were usually less than 100 square meters, possibly due to investors' caution.

A larger store would mean higher rent, decoration costs, and inventory, as well as more salespeople. However, it wasn't a big issue. Online, it was said that from the start of the inspection to the opening of the store, the entire process took about two months. If the decoration was done quickly, it could even be done in a month and a half. This meant that the first person to open a Metersbonwe store in Hai Zhou wouldn't start for at least three months.

The only thing lacking now was money.

Li Mu opened his QQ account, "Never Give Up," and as soon as he logged in, he received a message from Sun Peng: "Hello, 1,000,000 yuan is really too high. I found a partner to invest, and 800,000 yuan is the maximum we can come up with. Is that okay?"

Sun Peng wasn't exaggerating; 800,000 yuan was indeed his limit. He had quietly discussed it with his old partner, who was very interested and also disliked people like Jia Bei. If they could get the ultra-powerful "Stone Age Overlord" hack, they wouldn't have to worry about people like Jia Bei competing with them anymore.

Together, they had about 700,000 yuan in cash. After further discussions with their families, they could come up with another 100,000 yuan or so, making 800,000 yuan their absolute limit.

However, they were confident that once they had the "Stone Age Overlord," former agents would come running to them like dogs to a bone, and they would quickly start making a profit.

Li Mu thought carefully. If Sun Peng said this, it didn't matter if it was true or not. One thing was certain: if he agreed, he could get 800,000 yuan quickly. If he wanted more, it would involve prolonged negotiations and haggling, which could take a long time.

Understanding this, Li Mu replied, "Okay, 800,000 yuan. Where are you?"

"Beijing!"

Li Mu thought about the location. Beijing was too far, and it was on their turf. He couldn't go there himself; it wasn't safe. He decided to choose a more neutral location.

So, Li Mu said, "Come to Pengcheng for the transaction!"

"Pengcheng?" Sun Peng asked urgently, "Are you in Pengcheng?"

Li Mu: "Yes, I'll bring a laptop for you to inspect the program. You can deposit the money into a Construction Bank card in advance, and we'll transfer it at the bank."

"This..." Sun Peng hesitated.

Even though he had decided to buy the hack, he still had many concerns.

For example, would the seller keep his word and not use the hack after selling it? What if he sold "Stone Age Overlord" to him and then created a new version to compete with him?

What if the seller had better technical solutions and could create an even more advanced hack?

What if the seller was a scammer and tampered with the code?

Sun Peng thought too much, but he couldn't help it. 800,000 yuan was all they had, their entire stake.

Li Mu asked, "What are you hesitating about?"

Sun Peng replied, "I'm afraid you'll compete with us in the 'Stone Age' market in the future."

Li Mu sent a "haha": "If I had that intention, I would have operated the hack myself and ensured you wouldn't make a single cent. The reason I didn't do that is that I don't think much of hacks. You must have studied 'Stone Age.' With my skills, making a hack is too trivial. This is just a program I created casually; it's not even a proper software in my eyes."

Sun Peng was convinced.

When someone acted this way, he might have resisted, but "Never Give Up" was indeed impressive. After studying "Stone Age Overlord," they found it impossible to understand the core technology or even the programming logic.

As a fellow tech person, Sun Peng believed "Never Give Up" at that moment and replied, "Okay, Pengcheng it is. Tell me a time, and I'll buy a train ticket tonight!"