Chapter 30

Song Chen smiled bitterly and said, "I have no choice but to be forced into this. You all know my family background. Although my father pays for my tuition and living expenses, my mother has to work part-time for others to support herself! I don't want to work for four or five years after graduation just to support myself and my mother!"

Many beautiful eyes turned to him, but Jiang Yan spoke with a tone that was hard to discern as admiration or ridicule: "The courage to burn one's boats is not something everyone has! You're not afraid that if the business goes wrong, you'll lose everything! ... But it looks like you've won the bet!"

Song Chen was not impressed and said calmly, "Without the courage to burn one's boats and careful consideration, how can anyone be a boss? In this world, is there any business that is guaranteed to make a profit?"

Yang De smiled and nodded in approval, "That's true! Actually, our old men also went into business with the best hopes and the worst preparations! You know, before 1992, going into business was a very risky thing!"

After taking a sip of beer, Yang De said seriously, "By the way, Song Chen, last time you said that two million yuan could open a top-notch internet cafe. Now that the funds far exceed that, we think instead of splitting the funds to open a small appliance factory and an internet cafe, we should focus on making the internet cafe business bigger and stronger. What do you think of this idea?"

In the end, it's still the high profits of the internet cafe business that have lured them! Song Chen smiled bitterly, but he knew that the initial profits of internet cafes were indeed tempting. He pondered and asked, "How much have you all gathered?"

Yang De took a piece of white paper from his pocket and said, "A total of 5.7 million yuan. I have 1.2 million, Ye Lin has 1 million, Chen Daohui has 600 thousand..." Song Chen was moved and looked at the usually lazy Ye Lin, surprised by his financial backing.

"Liu Jun has 500 thousand, Chen Daohui has 500 thousand, Shi Tao has 200 thousand, Cui Yao has 200 thousand, Ji Chang has 200 thousand, Wang Xiaoxue has 400 thousand, Zhai Yue has 400 thousand, Jiang Yan has 300 thousand, and Zhao Lin has 200 thousand! These are everyone's investment amounts, and the money is already in my account. But, Ruoxi, are you really not investing?"

Zhang Ruoxi smiled and shook her head. She knew her father's current cash flow was tight, and she couldn't easily bring up this matter to him. Besides... Zhang Ruoxi looked at Song Chen happily—she was still a student and didn't need to be so eager to make money; having him was enough for her!

Song Chen estimated that it was 1997, and rent was cheap! The collapse of Hong Kong's real estate market indirectly led to a decline in the rental and sales prices of mainland China, which were negligible compared to the sky-high prices in the future. A commercial space in a bustling area would need to be at least a few hundred square meters to accommodate a hundred computers, and about a thousand square meters to clearly separate the functional areas and the non-smoking zones! At the current downtown rental price of about ten yuan per square meter, a thousand square meters of commercial space, though not abundant, was still available, with a monthly rent of about ten thousand yuan! About 120,000 yuan a year! The cost of purchasing computers would be 700,000 yuan or more, and over a million yuan including the costs of tables, chairs, sofas, and other decorations!

Having a rough idea, Song Chen asked, "Since you plan to make the internet cafe business bigger and stronger, what are your plans?"

Yang De glanced at Ye Lin, who took a sip of beer and pondered, "In the past two days, we've looked at the main consumer markets. I think we should open an internet cafe at the intersection of Wuma Street and Liberation Road, and another at the intersection of Xiaonan Road and Maaqian Road!"

The steady Shi Tao shook his head, "I think it's too aggressive! Although internet cafes are profitable, investing all the money without any returns is too much like gambling!"

Many people nodded, including Yang De, Liu Jun, and Chen Daohui. As for the girls, except for Zhang Ruoxi who didn't invest and couldn't comment, the others frowned.

The usually lazy Ye Lin was not impressed and said seriously, "Since we know the internet cafe business is profitable, we should boldly invest, just like Song Chen! Knowing that the computer room was profitable, he mortgaged his house to buy all the computers!"

He looked at Song Chen with a half-smile and said, "I noticed that you haven't registered for a business license yet, right?"

Song Chen smiled and nodded, appearing very open about the gray area of tax evasion, but he still gave a more convincing reason: "A business license is easy to get, but a cultural permit is very troublesome. I couldn't think of a way to quickly open a computer room, so I had to get on the boat first!"

Zhao Lin pouted, "You have a point!"

"Even so, opening two internet cafes at once is too ambitious! And the capital expenditure is too large. According to Song Chen's requirements, we conservatively estimate that we need about 4.5 million yuan!" Zhai Yue said softly, "Of course, I'm just suggesting: I think we should use the extra funds to buy more computers and rent a larger space! We should make a big splash with the first internet cafe and use appropriate advertising to leave a deep impression on the people of Dongou."

"I agree!" Wang Xiaoxue giggled, "Although 400 thousand yuan is not much to my father, it's my first time investing in business, and my heart can't handle such a big leap!"

"Exactly!" Zhao Lin nodded, raising her chin proudly like a princess, "My family is not like yours, all millionaires and billionaires. My relatives are all officials, and we don't have that much money!"

Yang De looked at Zhao Lin with a mix of amusement and exasperation, shook his head, and then looked at Song Chen, who was smiling but seemed confident. He thought for a moment and said to Song Chen, "Song Chen, last time you gave us a great suggestion! We discussed it over the past two days and decided to give you a 10% stake in the internet cafe, with the remaining 90% distributed according to our investment ratios. What do you think?"

Zhang Ruoxi's heart skipped a beat as she looked at Song Chen, who slowly retracted his smile. Her heart tightened, and she silently prayed that Song Chen wouldn't be too greedy.

Seeing Song Chen's calm expression, Yang De and the others frowned slightly, wondering if Song Chen was unwilling. Although the investment project, details, and direction were all suggested by Song Chen, they had all invested real money and couldn't give him more dry shares.

"Are you unwilling?" Jiang Yan asked coolly.

Song Chen smiled and exhaled lightly, "Don't misunderstand!"

He sighed deeply and shook his head, "From the beginning, I never intended to take your dry shares. This is the truth! Because compared to the support you might give me in the future, a 10% stake worth a few hundred thousand yuan is insignificant to me!"

Seeing Song Chen's understanding, the tense atmosphere immediately relaxed.

"We are all friends!" Liu Jun and Ye Lin, who had previously looked down on Song Chen, couldn't help but smile, and Chen Daohui added, "If there's anything in the future, just speak up. As for a 10% stake, don't be shy! Otherwise, we won't be able to work together! We will need your guidance for the internet cafe and other investment projects!"

Since Song Chen wasn't greedy, Chen Daohui was happy to boast, showing their appreciation.

"Exactly!" Zhao Lin said boldly, "Don't worry, if your computer room is ever shut down, I and others will find a way to help you!"

Jiang Yan smiled modestly without saying a word, while Wang Xiaoxue and Cui Yao both smiled confidently.

"Then I can put aside another concern!" Song Chen smiled and turned to Yang De, saying seriously, "I won't take your shares for free. I have a great suggestion that can make your internet cafe business bigger and stronger right from the start!"

"Oh! Is there such a way?" Everyone present looked pleased.

Jiang Yan, Wang Xiaoxue, and Zhai Yan looked at Song Chen with sparkling eyes.

"Invest 3 million yuan to create a top-notch internet cafe, the best in the city and even the country, to raise the standards and increase competitiveness! The remaining 2.7 million yuan will be used as working capital. This is the first step!" Song Chen's expression was calm and confident.