Chapter 5

Should he continue developing the previous product? It's not very practical. In 2004, the new energy sector hadn't even started, and the government's policies hadn't shifted yet. Moreover, setting up a personal small laboratory in the dormitory is also unrealistic. The instruments would cost about 20,000 yuan, which he couldn't afford at all.

Buy lottery tickets? This is the best way to get rich. The idea is beautiful, but reality is tragic. Although he often bought lottery tickets in the past, he couldn't remember which numbers were for which draw, and the numbers for each draw were randomly selected, making it hard to ensure they wouldn't change. This plan was completely rejected.

Sing? Forget it. Liu Meng has always been tone-deaf and can't remember the lyrics to many songs. The only songs he could fully remember and that hadn't appeared yet were a few by Chen Yisheng, such as "Love Transfer," "Exaggeration," "Elimination," and "My Backpack."

This was because Liu Meng's singing was so bad that every time he went to a KTV, he would be laughed at. So, he practiced a few new songs, all by Chen Yisheng, printing out the lyrics and practicing them repeatedly, which is why he remembered them so clearly.

However, remembering the lyrics to these few songs wouldn't bring any substantial income. If he sang them himself, he wouldn't make any money. The same song sung by a superstar and a nobody would have completely different results and effects.

The song "Legend" is a good example!

Write novels? This was something he had done ten years ago. In high school, he read all the classic wuxia novels by Jin Yong, Gu Long, Wo Long Sheng, and Liang Yusheng. Later, when there were no more novels to read, he rented some online novels from a rental store, such as "Dark Madness."

In the suitcase, there was a manuscript of about 200,000 words written during the summer, titled "Space Guardian." Liu Meng clearly remembered that when this book was uploaded online, it flopped badly.

The only three famous novels he could remember clearly were "Return to Ming," "Swallowing Stars," and "Fighting Break." These three novels were ones he had read multiple times on the bus during his internship, and if he wrote them now, he could probably do a pretty good job.

After some thought, Liu Meng realized that making money was really not easy, especially the first pot of gold. Relying on his knowledge and skills in power electronics, it would be difficult to earn the first pot of gold, but it would be more than enough to solve his basic living needs.

Getting sponsorships was even less realistic.

Liu Meng came from a poor family, and many of his relatives and friends were even poorer.

For example, his uncle had four sons, and the last three were taken in as sons-in-law by other families. His uncle was a typical lazy and troublemaking person.

His two aunts lived poorly and were married unhappily.

Only his eldest uncle and third uncle were doing relatively well, but at this time, his eldest uncle's family was declining, and his third uncle's family was only average.

His younger uncle had two daughters, and his younger aunt spent all day playing mahjong, neglecting her daughters. Later, their eldest daughter ran away with a male classmate at the age of 15.

Moreover, which relative would lend money to a little kid?

Liu Meng couldn't help but feel a bit regretful. If he had brought his phone, it would have been better. There were dozens of novels and hundreds of songs on it, and he could have made a fortune by selling them. Unfortunately, he had left his phone under the bed and forgotten to pick it up before leaving.

A few songs and three novels were all he had left. At this time, online novels and the VIP subscription model were not yet mature, and there were few paying users. If he uploaded these books now, he wouldn't make much money, and it would be a waste of his limited resources.

Moreover, the most urgent thing now was that he needed to type these novels, which required a computer, something he couldn't afford at the moment.

After some serious thought, Liu Meng roughly outlined a plan.

Step one: Solve basic living expenses and become a god-level scholar.

With his Ph.D., his knowledge was very impressive, and he didn't need to worry about studying. Among the university courses, his weakest was English. Due to the backward education in his hometown, his pronunciation was initially not very standard, and his listening skills were not good. However, his vocabulary was extensive, and his reading and writing skills were top-notch. As long as he paid a bit more attention, he should be able to score well in English.

Using his knowledge of power electronics, he could develop some small household appliances to solve his basic living needs and set up a personal small laboratory.

Step two: Accumulate the first pot of startup capital.

Wait for the development of online literature and use the three novels he could remember to earn the first pot of startup capital.

Step three: Rapidly increase the initial capital.

Using his knowledge of the future development trends and the future development of Jianghai City and its nearby Kuncheng, he could increase his startup capital by tens of times.

Step four: Become an entertainment mogul and a business tycoon.

With a large amount of available funds, he could set up his own entertainment company, produce popular TV series and movies, and some hot talent shows, becoming an entertainment mogul. Using his technical knowledge, he could develop new energy systems and popular electronic products like smartphones and tablets.

At the same time, he could use his knowledge of future trends and patent advantages to apply for a large number of patents and wage intellectual property wars.

Although the plan was clear, the specific implementation would have to be done step by step.

After 26 hours of swaying, the green train finally arrived at Bingcheng, the largest city in the northern part of Huaxia.

Soon, he would arrive in Bingcheng, where he would spend the next four years, the place where his life would start anew. Liu Meng felt a myriad of emotions, as he hadn't set foot on this magical land since graduating in 2008.

Bingcheng in late August was also very hot, especially at noon, with no difference from the south. However, the temperature difference between day and night was significant, and it was quite cool, even a bit cold, at night.

Exiting the station, he saw the low-rise buildings and the signboard displaying the train schedules. Liu Meng's eyes were a bit moist. In 2006, he and Jiang Xiaoyu had stood in this very spot, seeing the train to the capital, and embarked on a spontaneous trip.

Their relationship was more like close friends than lovers, sharing many common hobbies. Although they called each other boyfriend and girlfriend, they rarely had any intimate contact.

Their youth was so carefree, but after graduating in 2008 and moving to different cities, they never met again. They never even said goodbye, and they tacitly stopped contacting each other.

According to the schedule, Jiang Xiaoyu should also be arriving in Bingcheng today. They were from the same year but different colleges. Although they knew they were in the same city, they couldn't meet.

At this time, the school would organize senior students to welcome the new freshmen. Liu Meng easily found the bus to pick up the new students. At Bingcheng University of Technology, there were never any senior girls to welcome the new students.

Bingcheng University of Technology was famous for having few female students, let alone beautiful ones. So, the senior boys were very eager to welcome the new students to secure the limited resources.

Sitting in the bus, Liu Meng gazed out the window. The bus slowly started, and soon they would arrive at the new campus, which was specifically prepared for the freshmen.

While idly gazing out, he suddenly noticed a person limping, accompanied by two women, one about fifty years old and the other a young girl with a ponytail, which was swinging as she pointed at something in the distance.

The girl with the ponytail had her back to Liu Meng, but her silhouette was so familiar.

The silhouette was so familiar, but the girl's back was to him, and he couldn't see her face. His heart almost jumped out of his throat. Liu Meng had talked to Jiang Xiaoyu about her arrival, and he knew that her uncle and mother were bringing her to school.

Her uncle had polio as a child and walked with a limp.

As the bus turned, he suddenly saw the face of the girl with the ponytail. Liu Meng was very familiar with this face; it was Jiang Xiaoyu. It turned out they had almost met on the first day in Bingcheng and would only reconnect by chance more than a year later.

"Stop the bus, stop the bus," Liu Meng called out, standing up from his seat, excited.

The driver ignored him. "Are you kidding? We can't stop here."

The senior student in charge of the new students looked dejected. There were no girls on the bus, and he was feeling very unlucky. He was already a junior and had hoped to find a girlfriend among the new freshmen, but it seemed that wouldn't happen.

"Did you forget something, classmate?" the frustrated senior asked urgently.

Liu Meng calmed down. The bus had already gone far, so he sat back down and said apologetically, "I didn't forget anything. I'm sorry, I thought I saw an acquaintance, but I was mistaken."

Since they would soon be in the same campus, there would be ways to meet. Moreover, getting off the bus now might make Jiang Xiaoyu think he was crazy, and her uncle and mother might even hit him. Realizing this, Liu Meng quickly calmed down.

At the new campus, Liu Meng called a senior from his village who was studying at Bingcheng University of Technology. They agreed on a time and place to meet.

This was the era without cell phones, so they had to determine the meeting place this way. The senior, Meng Hao, came from a poorer family than Liu Meng's and was two years ahead, so he also didn't have a cell phone.

Liu Meng then called home. His father answered, and Liu Meng could hear a deep sigh from the other end. His son had finally arrived safely at school, and his father's heart was finally at ease. Since his son left, he hadn't been able to eat or sleep.

He had wanted to send his son to school, but his son insisted on going alone.

Liu Meng's father reminded him to contact the senior from his village, study hard, and try to get good grades. He also advised Liu Meng to apply for a student loan if possible, and if not, the family would find a way to send him some living expenses.

He spoke quickly, covering everything he could think of, as if reading from a prepared script, and then quickly hung up. Phone calls were expensive, so they had to be frugal.

After hanging up, Liu Meng dragged his two large suitcases to the agreed meeting place and started waiting, also looking around to see if there were any beautiful girls.

Most of the new students were accompanied by their parents, and the girls were very few, less than 20% of the total. The quality was also average, with only occasional sightings of girls in elegant dresses and fair skin.

Liu Meng, standing in the shade, was still wearing his high school uniform, short and a bit pale and thin, looking very rustic.

A group of parents and their daughter walked by. The daughter, excited on her first day, was happily looking around. Her mother quickly followed and whispered, "Xiao Qi, your parents allow you to date in school, but don't date someone like that country boy standing by the road. Such a person usually has many siblings and a poor family. Look at how rustic he looks, like an African refugee."

The girl, called Xiao Qi, pouted and hugged her mother's arm, "Mom, I know. Girls from Jiangdu don't marry out, right?"

Jiangdu was another name for Jianghai City, and locals usually called it Jiangdu, considering Beijing the administrative capital and Jianghai the economic capital of Huaxia.

The mother nodded and said worriedly, "Look, look, how dirty it is here in Bingcheng. Our Jiangdu is so nice, and you insisted on coming so far to study. Your parents are so worried, silly girl."

The mother's voice was loud and shrill, and Liu Meng heard everything clearly. He wanted to laugh. He had encountered someone from Jiangdu so quickly. People from Jiangdu thought everywhere else in the country was the countryside.

"Auntie, I am from Jiangdu," Liu Meng shouted mischievously. The mother had spoken so loudly, thinking the rustic boy wouldn't understand her Jiangdu dialect.

Hearing Liu Meng speak in Jiangdu dialect, she felt embarrassed, glanced back, and quickly left with her family, still walking gracefully.

Liu Meng wanted to laugh. He had come from Jiangdu and had lived there for six years. Although he didn't speak much Jiangdu dialect, he could understand it.