Chapter 13

Support, collect, vote... Don't miss out as you walk by. ***

Since the early 90s, residential areas have been built around Dongou University, with the street famous for its snack alley. However, the old houses, two to three stories high, still stand in the alleys. Song Chen's target was this area.

Since Song Chen did not plan to obtain a business license at first, he automatically ignored the bustling snack alley. Instead, the small alley connected to the snack alley caught his attention.

Walking into the alley, he saw two rows of tightly closed shops, with only a few scattered tailor shops and key-making stores. Fortunately, one storefront was open. Song Chen looked at its location, which was close to the alley entrance but not too close, requiring about ten steps to enter. Thus, Song Chen walked in.

The ground floor of the old house was divided into front and back sections. The front part had a space of about twenty square meters, while the back part, used as a dining room, was only about ten square meters. A square dining table was tightly placed against the wall. At that moment, the homeowners, a middle-aged couple, seemed to still be eating. Seeing Song Chen appear suddenly, they were quite surprised. The middle-aged man looked at Song Chen with a wary gaze and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing in my house?"

Feeling quite abrupt for not announcing himself upon entering, Song Chen blushed and hurriedly bowed apologetically, saying, "Uncle, Aunt, I'm sorry for the disturbance. I just came to ask if you have any storefronts for rent?"

"Are you here to rent a storefront?" The middle-aged couple looked at the young boy, who hadn't even grown facial hair, with great surprise. However, their faces instantly turned friendly, "Yes, yes! Do you want to rent a place? Oh, that's great! Come in, come in! Make yourself at home!"

"Thank you!" Song Chen smiled modestly and sat down opposite the middle-aged woman.

The male owner of the old house was named Hu Quan, who was in his early fifties. The female owner was named Li Lian, around forty-five years old. They had a son who had graduated from university and worked in the suburbs, far from the bustling area of Dongou City, rarely coming home.

From what Hu Quan understood, the storefronts on the snack alley were not yet fully rented out, so the alley called San Kou Lane was still relatively quiet, causing Hu Quan, who was retired at home, to be very anxious. On one hand, he was still far from retirement and hoped to find another job to supplement the family income. On the other hand, he hoped to earn extra income by renting out the storefront. Therefore, they were very happy to hear that Song Chen wanted to rent the place.

"So, how much is the annual rent?"

Hu Quan smiled and said, "Since you're young, I don't want to deceive you. I'll give you a slightly lower rent than the surrounding areas. What do you think?"

Song Chen smiled and said, "I like your storefront. Uncle, what's your price?"

Hu Quan was delighted and said, "Old Wang, the tailor who fixes buttons, pays 740 yuan per year. I'll give you a slightly lower price, 720 yuan! 60 yuan per month! How does that sound?"

Song Chen did a quick mental calculation. The front part was about twenty square meters, so the rent was about 3 yuan per square meter per month. Compared to the skyrocketing housing prices and expensive rents of the future, this rent was negligible.

After some thought, Song Chen smiled and said, "Uncle, could you also install an iron gate? I have some valuable items for my business, and I'm afraid they might be stolen!"

Installing an iron gate wasn't very expensive, and Hu Quan nodded after a brief hesitation. His wife, Li Lian, curiously asked, "Student, are you still a college student? What kind of business do you plan to do?"

"Microcomputers!" Song Chen's eyes twinkled, and he added with a smile, "Computer training! But I'm not a college student; I'm on a leave of absence! Uncle, I don't have the money with me right now, and the contract needs some time to draft. Can I come back in a couple of days?"

The straightforward Hu Quan chuckled and nodded, not asking for a deposit. Since Song Chen had returned part of his tuition due to his leave of absence, he could pay in cash, but he hadn't brought much cash when he first came out, so he felt embarrassed to mention it.

"Sure! I'll have the iron gate installed tomorrow!"

...

Luxurious and opulent decor, a dark and ambiguous background, colorful neon lights, and deafening rock music... Of course, the most abundant were the sexy, bold, and alluring beauties. All these elements formed the distinctive characteristics of the bar and provided the most profound interpretation of urban nightlife.

Whether they were rich kids, second-generation officials, or student white-collar workers, everyone loved bars!

Song Chen was no stranger to the Kaiyue Bar. After returning from a business trip, he would always play a few hours of "World of Warcraft." If he couldn't sleep lying in bed, he would get dressed and go to the bar to have a few drinks, flirt a little with some women, and if the opportunity arose, he wouldn't mind a one-night stand—though this was rare.

In the bar, there were always heartbroken and dispirited "A, B, C, D," as well as groups of "good friends."

Yuan Likai had worked overtime today and hadn't changed out of his suit when he came to the bar. He carried his suit jacket on one shoulder and followed Song Chen, then was surprised to find that Song Chen, like an experienced horse, bypassed the large dance floor and led them to the bar, sitting facing the stage.

"You seem very familiar with this place. Are you a regular here?"

The music was too loud, and Yuan Likai leaned in to ask Song Chen loudly, placing his suit jacket on a high stool.

Song Chen smiled but didn't speak, only asking the bartender for two bottles of alcohol and a plate of sunflower seeds and peanuts.

"Brother Yuan, how has the credit market been these past few years?"

The two clinked their glasses and started chatting while eating the snacks. Yuan Likai was very interested in Song Chen's "good friend" and would ask about it intentionally or unintentionally. Song Chen, on the other hand, was very interested in Yuan Likai's position, as befriending him would greatly benefit his future career. Thus, the two quickly engaged in conversation.

"Average!" Yuan Likai shook his head, raised his glass to clink with Song Chen, took a sip of alcohol, and then smiled bitterly, "This year, the Southeast Asian financial crisis has greatly affected our economy. Many companies have gone bankrupt, and the banks have a lot of bad debts! In July, we received a notice to strictly control the credit scale. If it weren't for your strong connections and the small amount, even if you had pledged private real estate, it might not have been successful! The credit market is tough, and so is my job!"

Song Chen smiled and said, "Don't worry, Brother Yuan's good days are coming soon!"

"Huh? How do you know?" Yuan Likai's eyes lit up, and he leaned in close to Song Chen's ear, "Do you have any inside information?"

"There's no inside information!" Song Chen smiled slightly, pointed to his head, and said, "But I have some speculations. I can share them with you, but if I'm wrong or if it's too shallow, I hope you can understand. After all, I'm not a finance major, and I've only been in college for two months!"

"Alright, go ahead, I'm listening!" Yuan Likai's expression became more perfunctory when he heard it wasn't inside information. As Song Chen had said, he wasn't a finance major, and he wasn't even a college student. What useful advice could he give?

Yuan Likai's perfunctory attitude didn't bother Song Chen. He took a sip of beer, gazed calmly at the men and women writhing on the stage, and said, "The Southeast Asian financial crisis has erupted, and although our country benefits from a relatively closed financial environment, it is not immune to the impact on exports and foreign exchange earnings. Many companies related to import and export trade have gone bankrupt. Coupled with the weak domestic consumer demand and the five trillion yuan in national savings..."

As he spoke, Song Chen turned to look at Yuan Likai, who was frowning and listening intently, and asked, "Brother Yuan, what kind of economic policy do you think the State Council will implement to reverse the downward trend of the economy and the cold consumption?"

Yuan Likai, who was more familiar with the government's predicament, was not a policy maker and lacked the ability to find a solution. After much thought, he still couldn't find an answer. He looked up at Song Chen, his face full of doubt. Could this seemingly ordinary young man have the answer?

Song Chen smiled slightly and slowly said, "To boost domestic demand and revitalize the national economy, we must choose an industry with high relevance to many other industries and one that can make the people spend a large portion of their savings!"

Yuan Likai's body trembled, his eyes brightened, and he exclaimed, "Could it be... real estate?"

Song Chen was about to nod, but Yuan Likai quickly shook his head and sneered, "How could it be real estate?"