Chapter 27

Unable to figure it out, he could only put it aside for now.

When Hao Meng first saved up thirty gold coins, the system gave him a consolation 'reward'—that '初级基因药剂' (初级 gene agent). Hao Meng had almost figured out its effects. He could now lift items weighing no more than 300 kilograms at will, his physical strength was more than three times that of an ordinary person, his vision was 5.2, and he could run 100 meters in 10.3 seconds. In short, that '初级基因药剂' had directly elevated Hao Meng's physical attributes from those of an ordinary person to those of a world-class athlete.

However, when he saved up 300 gold coins, no reward came.

Hao Meng wasn't a particularly greedy person, but if possible, he still hoped for a reward. After all, one needs a little hope to live, right!

"Got time? Come over, I need to talk to you!" Bai Lan, unable to resist Fei Yu's urging, called Hao Meng.

"Sure, I'll be right there!" Hao Meng hung up the phone, said goodbye to Wei Shufen, and rode his electric scooter to the electronics street.

The electric scooter was second-hand, bought from a repair shop and fixed up to look like new. He had two in total, but he sold one to his neighbor Chang Mei for 600 yuan. The remaining one, Hao Meng used when he went out, and sometimes Wei Shufen would ride it to the market or supermarket.

It's not that Hao Meng didn't want to buy a car; he wasn't short of small amounts of money. But buying a car was a big deal for him. If he was going to do it, he wanted to get a good one, not something that would make him look cheap.

To put it bluntly, in China, a car is a man's face outside the home.

Hao Meng was just a small figure, and he couldn't escape this俗 (cliché). He wanted to show off, to look good, and felt that he needed to drive a luxury car to have face.

So, he suppressed the idea of buying a car, constantly consoling himself that things would come in time—buns would come, bread would come, a house and a car would come soon enough!

He bought some iced drinks from a supermarket at the entrance of the electronics street. Bai Lan's small shop only had a fan. Originally, Hao Meng wanted to install an air conditioner for her for free, but the place was too small, with no room for it!

"Pretty quick!" Bai Lan was sitting in front of the fan, chatting on her tablet. Seeing Hao Meng push the door open, she smiled and said.

Hao Meng handed the drinks to Fei Yu and said, "When Bai Sister calls, how can I dare to be slow? What's up?" He moved a stool and sat next to Bai Lan. In such hot weather, it was really miserable without a fan.

"Bao Bao!" Bai Lan called, but Fei Yu was busy chatting and didn't have time to talk to Hao Meng. In fact, she didn't know how to start. After all, she was older than Hao Meng and had been his 'big sister' back then.

Fei Yu walked over, grinning, and stood behind Hao Meng, ready to massage his shoulders. Hao Meng smiled bitterly and waved her off, "Enough, you don't mind the heat, but I do. No matter how much you flatter me, I won't give you a raise. If you have that energy, you might as well flatter Bai Sister more. That way, your bonus at the end of the month might double. Now, what's really going on?"

"Annoying, some people want my service, but I'm too lazy to bother with them." Fei Yu gave Hao Meng a flirtatious look, as if he didn't know how lucky he was, then pointed outside and said, "See that cell phone store across the street? The owner is closing it, and the space will be available. Bai Lan Sister called you here to ask if you're interested in taking it over!"

Hao Meng turned and looked outside, his eyes flickering. To be honest, he was quite interested. Bai Lan's shop was too small, and it limited what they could do.

"Come on, let's go check it out!" Hao Meng stood up, pulling Fei Yu out of the shop and across the street.

Bai Lan looked up, glanced at the two of them, and frowned. Fei Yu, though a bit loose with her words, was a good person. Otherwise, she wouldn't have let the girl stay with her. As for Hao Meng, she had heard about his character back in school. She was really worried that her little sister might get hurt if she spent too much time with him.

"Can't let this go, I need to have a serious talk with her." Bai Lan muttered. Hao Meng had his own unique qualities; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so popular with the school beauties back then, making people grind their teeth in envy.

It didn't take long, just a few minutes, and the two returned.

Once inside, Fei Yu let go of Hao Meng's arm and said with a grin, "How about it? That shop is pretty good, right? The space is large, and you don't need to invest much in renovation. You could even start using it right away."

Hao Meng nodded, sat down opposite Bai Lan, and asked, "Bai Sister, what do you think?"

"I haven't thought much about it. The rent for that shop is 600,000 yuan per year!" Bai Lan looked him in the eye and said calmly.

The meaning was clear: 600,000 yuan a year was more than she could afford.

Hao Meng thought for a moment and smiled, "How about this: I'll cover the rent and find the inventory. You and Fei Yu will be responsible for the operations. We can register a company together, and I'll take 80% of the profits. How does that sound?"

"You take 80%?" Bai Lan asked with a smile.

"Right!" Hao Meng nodded firmly.

Bai Lan thought for a moment. Actually, 20% wasn't bad. The rent alone was 600,000 yuan, and the space was large. With inventory and other expenses, it would cost at least 2 million yuan. Hao Meng would cover all the costs, and she would only need to contribute her labor and get 20% of the shares. What more could she ask for!

"Okay, but I have one condition," Bai Lan nodded.

"Sure, what is it?" Hao Meng smiled. What he wanted now was not money, but people!

"I want full control over the operations!"

"No problem, I'll be a hands-off boss. I'll only handle the inventory. If I try to interfere, you can cut off the hand that does it. How does that sound, Sister?" Hao Meng said with a grin.

Bai Lan rolled her eyes and frowned, "Can you really come up with a few million yuan?"

Hao Meng smiled, "Don't worry about that, Bai Sister. By the way, how many of those phones have we sold?"

"Less than 2,000 are left."

Hao Meng was delighted. This meant Bai Lan had about 1 million yuan in cash, which was enough. The next step was to secure the shop across the street before someone else snatched it away.

"Let's not waste time. Bai Sister, go talk to the owner of the shop across the street and secure the lease. We can use the money from the inventory!"

Bai Lan hesitated, looking at Hao Meng, "Is that okay?"

"Of course, I'll handle the rest." Hao Meng smiled.

Seeing Hao Meng's confident expression, Bai Lan didn't ask any more questions. She went directly to the shop across the street, contacted the landlord, and negotiated the lease.

After securing the shop, Hao Meng and Bai Lan went to the business administration office to register a company. The total investment was 2 million yuan, with Hao Meng holding 80% of the shares and Bai Lan 20%. The business scope was electronics!