Chapter 36

Throughout the process of filling out the forms and queuing, Li Mu kept the CD he had taken out of the computer in his hand, never putting it away.

Sun Peng and Zhu Ziwen had been staring at the CD all along, fearing that Li Mu might switch it during the transaction, but Li Mu was even more resourceful than they had imagined.

Not only did he never let the CD out of his hand, but when he handed it to Sun Peng, he also took out two more CDs he had burned and handed them over, saying, "I was afraid the CD might get damaged, causing the core data to be lost, so I burned three CDs. They are all here."

Sun Peng slapped his forehead, "I forgot about that!"

Yes, if there was only one CD, what if it got scratched on the way? What if Li Mu refused to acknowledge it later?

But Li Mu was reliable and considerate, directly giving them three CDs. Now it was easy; they could copy the data into the computer as soon as they got back!

"The part for charging and verification needs to be completed by you," Li Mu kindly reminded them at the end.

Sun Peng nodded and said gratefully, "Of course, we have the existing code and the existing server."

Since they wanted to do online verification, having their own server was normal. Li Mu didn't say much more, shook hands with Sun Peng, and said, "Pleasure to work with you."

"Pleasure to work with you!"

Zhao Kang had been watching from outside the bank, and when he saw the two men shaking hands, he knew the deal was done. He then quietly moved to the side.

Li Mu, Sun Peng, and Zhu Ziwen came out together, and Li Mu asked the two, "Where are you planning to go now?"

Sun Peng immediately said, "To the station, we need to check if there are any tickets left for today."

Li Mu nodded and smiled, "My home is nearby, so I won't go to the station to see you off."

"No, no," Sun Peng hurriedly said, "You go about your business. We'll keep in touch online."

"OK."

Li Mu saw the two men into a taxi and watched it drive away. Then he turned around and saw Zhao Kang, who was squatting outside a liquor store, drinking a soda. He smiled at him and waved.

At this moment, Zhao Kang decided to follow Li Mu wholeheartedly, not because Li Mu could earn 800,000 yuan so easily, but because of Li Mu's calm smile, which was hard to imagine.

Although Zhao Kang only had 50,000 yuan, which was a huge gap compared to 800,000 yuan, this 50,000 yuan still made him so excited that he couldn't stand up.

Yes, he really couldn't stand up. Zhao Kang's legs were completely weak, not because he had been squatting for a few minutes, but because he was so excited that his whole body was trembling.

"Let's go, I'll transfer the money to you."

Li Mu took another can of cola from Zhao Kang, opened it, and took a sip.

After handing over the cola, Zhao Kang didn't pull his hand back, smiled awkwardly, and said, "Help me up, my legs are weak..."

Li Mu shook his head and smiled, then pulled him up. In the bank, he had Zhao Kang take out the card he had just opened and filled out a form for 80,000 yuan based on his card number.

Zhao Kang, seeing the number, blurted out, "Xiao Mu, why 80,000? Wasn't it 50,000?"

"Seventy-three to twenty-seven split."

"No, no, I can't accept that. You did everything from start to finish..."

Zhao Kang didn't know what to do.

Li Mu said, "You might feel like you didn't contribute much this time, but remember, the use of internet trolls will be very important in the future. You need to think about how to gather a large group of trolls online and professionalize and scale them. We will need them for everything we do in the future."

"But..."

"But what? Go home and think about it. We need to finish the transfer and get back."

Li Mu used a bit of authority to make Zhao Kang shut up. Before leaving, they had a big seafood meal together, spending over 700 yuan. Zhao Kang insisted on paying, and Li Mu didn't argue.

At 2 PM, the two men got on the train back.

The short trip to Pengcheng was a success. Li Mu had 720,000 yuan in his card, Zhao Kang had 80,000 yuan, and Sun Peng had the Stone Age Overlord, which would allow him to dominate the Stone Age cheating market for a while. Although the game would face many challenges from subsequent games, it would still earn some money. Li Mu estimated that if Sun Peng operated well, he could recover his costs in the next three months and then make pure profit.

Li Mu didn't throw away the Pengcheng phone card but put it in his pocket.

At around 5:30 PM, his mother called.

"Mom."

"Son, what do you want to eat tonight? I'm off work, and I'm going to the station with your father."

"I won't be eating at home." Li Mu smiled, thinking of his conversation with his mother yesterday. "I might be home late tonight. You and Dad eat together."

"Okay, then I won't talk to you anymore. The phone bill is expensive."

Before hanging up, Li Mu heard his father say, "What's the rush? It hasn't even been a minute..."

Li Mu put away his phone, feeling both helpless and amused, and asked Zhao Kang, "If you have time recently, do you want to get a driver's license?"

Zhao Kang was taken aback, "Learn to drive? Is it useful now?"

"It's a necessary skill for the future," Li Mu said. "And the exam is easier now. It will get harder in the future. I heard there's a college entrance exam class, and all the students will be high school graduates."

Zhao Kang nodded, "Since you said it, let's do it together."

"Good." Li Mu smiled, "I'm waiting for Su Yingxue's notification. We'll sign up together when the time comes."

"Su Yingxue?" Zhao Kang's eyes widened. "You've had a crush on her for three years, are you finally going to make a move?"

As a best friend, Zhao Kang knew that Li Mu had fallen in love with Su Yingxue on the first day of high school and had been unable to get over it for three years.

However, Li Mu's feelings for Su Yingxue were now very complex. He was a seasoned old man, and topics like love were something he couldn't discuss with Zhao Kang, an 18-year-old virgin.

Seeing Li Mu's silence, Zhao Kang thought he was still insecure and felt inferior, so he pretended to be nonchalant and said, "Actually, you are more than qualified to pursue Su Yingxue now. You are so handsome and will definitely get into Renmin University. Most importantly, you can make money. I don't think any high school student can match you."

"Let's talk about it later," Li Mu said with a forced smile, becoming silent and lost in thought, staring out the window. Zhao Kang didn't know what he was thinking but didn't disturb him.

In fact, Li Mu was thinking about something. He had made some short-term money, and it seemed like it was time to prepare for the long term. As for Su Yingxue, since they would be college classmates for four years, he would also consider it a long-term plan.

...

In the end, Li Mu didn't tell his parents that he had earned 720,000 yuan.

He and Zhao Kang agreed to be low-key. He would tell his family 180,000 yuan, and Zhao Kang would say 20,000 yuan.

Li Mu was afraid that his parents' personalities wouldn't agree with his suggestion to open a specialty store, so he decided to hide the amount of money he had earned, keep the money for the store, and then contact Metersbonwe, rent a storefront, and wait for the review. If Metersbonwe approved, he would tell his parents. By then, most of the money would have been spent, and his parents wouldn't be able to refuse.

His parents, being workers in a state-owned enterprise at their age, indeed lacked the courage to break the norm. If not guided, their first thought after being laid off would be to find a job, and their 99th thought would still be to find a job. The 100th thought might not even be to do business.

Back in Haizhou, the two men had some barbecue outside, each drinking two bottles of beer, and then walked home. The summer nights in Haizhou were still lively, with many street stalls and entertainment venues.

Zhao Kang stopped by an ATM, withdrew 5,000 yuan, and gave 3,000 yuan to Li Mu, "Xiao Mu, this is for the phone."

Li Mu nodded and put it in his pocket, as he didn't have much cash left.

Before parting, Li Mu reminded Zhao Kang, "Remember, 20,000 yuan. Don't slip up."

"I got it." Zhao Kang made an OK gesture, "I think my parents will go to your house to confirm this. It will shock them."

"I'll wait at home."

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