Chapter 018: Entrepreneurship Practice
After the picnic, Qi Yu drove back to the city and dropped off Wang Xuan and Gao Zhishi at their previous meeting point. He then drove to a French restaurant he often visited for dinner.
By the time he got home, it was already eight o’clock in the evening.
Qi Yu took a bath, thinking of what he had talked about with Complex Number that day. Curious, he decided to search about the Li Zao Group on the Internet.
Just as Complex Number said, Li Zao Group’s equity distribution did reveal too much information. And it didn’t stop there, there were actually many “gossip posts” related to this big family.
The posts talked about the three Zhang Family brothers who founded the Li Zao Group. The eldest Zhang Bifa had served as a soldier in his early years. He had a somewhat mysterious background. Later, he took the plunge and engaged in business, starting from a home textile business. He led his brother to make a family fortune. Now, Zhang Bifa was mainly involved in the strategy and capital operations of the Li Zao Group.
The second brother, Zhang Youfa was responsible for the daily operations of the company. He often appeared in public but his reputation wasn’t as good as his elder brother’s. Gossip has it that he was promiscuous and had a lot of mistresses outside. It was rumored that a certain actress was also included in his harem.
Among the three brothers, the third brother, Zhang Aifa was the most low profile and stable. Although he also held an important position in the group, he seldom came to participate in activities. Moreover, this person was unable to have children and still remained childless at the age of forty-five. It was indeed pitiful.
Qi Yu ate a bunch of the Zhang Family’s melons but still couldn’t guess to which ” there must be love ” Zhang Cheng Xuan belonged to. In any case, he can’t be Zhang Aifa’s.
Afterwards, he also searched for Zhuo Shi Investigation Company.
This investigation company was established seven years ago. Because it wasn’t a listed company, there was very little information on the Internet about it. Only the registered capital and the legal representatives could be seen.
Qi Yu finally found a piece of news from four years ago that mentioned “Zhuo Shi”. It said that Zhuo Shi had exposed a domestically listed company’s financial problems, which caused its shareholders and managers to be investigated by authorities. The company was subsequently suspended and delisted.
Although it was news from years back, Qi Yu still read the news with trepidation in his heart. This was because his family’s Mei Wei currently had financial problems, and now he was hiring a person who was closely related to an investigation company to be his business chat partner? That wasn’t very good now, was it?
Qi Yu turned off the computer and lay on the bed. He picked up his phone and clicked on Complex Number’s WeChat information. He saw the statement “If relationships benefit me, then I lose morality. If I lose morality, I must see others’ wrongs.”
He couldn’t help but ask the other person: “What does that bookish statement on your profile mean?”
Complex Number didn’t immediately reply.
Qi Yu pondered for a while and thought that he might be overthinking things.
Zhuo Shi was a service-oriented company, after all and Complex Number was only a salary-collecting worker. Although he’d said that the problem was relatively serious at the time, he simply did nothing about it afterwards.
Add to that the fact that they’ve been in contact for more than half a month and Qi Yu hadn’t perceived the other as having any special motive, rather, he felt that he had benefited a lot…
After thinking about it, Qi Yu released the other party from his list of suspicious people to avoid. However, inwardly, he made up his mind to talk to his father about Mei Wei’s financial problems when he goes back home for Christmas holidays.
***
When he woke up the next day, Qi Yu saw the answer Complex Number sent.
F1S: “It means that you mustn’t want everything to be beneficial to yourself. If you lose morality, you’ll only be looking for trouble.”
F1S: “It’s already so late. Why are you still not asleep?”
It was sent six hours ago.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Qi Yu replied: “I’m already awake.”
M1V: “P pera ijlv vbkc.”
Te: “……”
Te: “Cgf sbe ublcu ab riffq?”
M1V: “Vfflcu jr sbe’nf jigfjvs rjlv atja sbe’gf jkjxf, P xcbk la’r cba atf alwf obg wf ab riffq sfa.”
Hl Te kjr lcfzqilmjyis mbjzfv ys atfrf kbgvr, jcv tf rfca yjmx j “ijeutlcu” fwbpl.
F1S: “I went out socializing during the day. I went to a private concert with a client. There was a solo violin performance that was very nice.”
Qi Yu was surprised. What a coincidence! He also gave a violin performance yesterday.
He asked, “Do you like the violin?”
F1S: “En, the sound of the violin is like that of a confiding lover. It makes the people who hear it feel very peaceful and worry-free.”
Qi Yu smiled. He didn’t expect this man to be quite romantic.
But looking at Complex Number’s description, this person probably only listens to classical music?
He said, “There are also violin pieces that sound more explosive and cheerful.”
F1S: “Really?”
Qi Yu looked for it and found a few fast-paced dance music that he had previously recorded while playing the violin. He then shared it with the other party: “Have a listen.”
Afterwards, he got up to wash then toasted some bread and warmed some milk. After he finished busying about for a while, Complex Number had also finished listening to the music clips.
F1S: “They sound pretty good.”
F1S: “What’s the song titles?”
F1S: “How come the file names only have dates?”
Qi Yu replied to him while eating breakfast: “I played them myself.”
F1S: “You can even play the violin!?”
Qi Yu replied back with an “en”, feeling a little proud.
He thought Complex Number would exclaim in admiration like his classmates, he didn’t expect that after waiting he would be sent back an inexplicable question in reply.
F1S: “You’re a boy, how can you play the violin?”
Qi Yu frowned: “Why can’t boys play the violin? Many famous violin players are men.”
F1S: “I kind of imagined you as the kind of boy who’s handsome but gentle and frail in temperament?”
Yu: “……”
Qi Yu put down his coffee, and typed out a reply with both hands: “Well, excuse me. I’m 187cm tall and weight 70 kilos. I’m crazy strong!”
F1S: “You’re so tall.”
Qi Yu snorted softly and said to him: “Don’t you have to go to work tomorrow? I won’t bother you today. Go and rest early.”
F1S: “Okay.”
F1S: “However, let me remind you before going off to bed.”
Immediately after, Complex Number sent a chart of the height and weight of healthy men. He drew a red line at Qi Yu’s height, and commented, “You’re on the thin side. Eat more.”
F1S: “Good night :)”
Qi Yu: “…………”
If Complex Number were next to him now, he would want to give him a real live version of Tuzki shaking a person! ! !
***
After the picnic on Saturday, the relationship between the Chinese students in the business school was a lot better. The group chat was bustling with activity every day.
However, Qi Yu rarely participated because every time he spoke, it would cause a sensation in the group. There would also be a number of people who would say behind his back to “take a group photo”. The exaggerated attitude of the students made him a little touchy and he gradually stopped chiming in.
He still lurked a lot though, occasionally collecting some fun emoticons.
On this day, his schoolmates were talking about elective courses in the group chat. The number of courses available at Stafford increased in sophomore year. Their third year seniors were sharing their experiences with elective courses and were telling them which courses were easier, which were better for earning credits, which were exhausting and difficult to pass, and which had amazing professors from whom they could learn a lot…
Qi Yu looked around and was a little interested in one of the courses called “Entrepreneurship Practice”.
This course could be chosen by students of most any major in Stafford University. However, because the course content involved the establishment of a company, its management, financing and other professional content, it was often dominated by business school students.
The course required students to organize an entrepreneurial team of five to twenty people within the school to put to practice the entire process — from generating entrepreneurial ideas, attracting investment, to establishing a company, and cashing in.
In the past, some Stafford students used this course to successfully start a business during their undergraduate years, directly walking onto the pinnacle of life. There were also some students who sold their startup companies after finishing this course and made a lot of money. These “inspirational stories” made a lot of students look forward to this course. But most people, after selecting this course, encounter setbacks in the “organizing members” portion and in the end, they end up with nothing definite.
Qi Yu was also having trouble with this. It wasn’t difficult for him to come up with an idea for a business, but he really wasn’t any good at organizing people…
However, speaking of this, he thought of a suitable candidate.
On Wednesday afternoon, as soon as Qi Yu finished a specialized class, the “suitable candidate” took the initiative to come find him.
“Qi Yu,” Zhang Cheng Xuan asked him with his signature friendly smile on his face, “have you taken an elective course yet?”
“Not yet.” Qi Yu had one hand in his pocket, waiting for what he would say next.
“Great, I’m planning on taking “Entrepreneurship Practice” this year. I’d like to invite you to form a team. Would you consider it?” Zhang Cheng Xuan took the initiative to invite him.
Qi Yu raised his eyebrows. “Let’s go to the cafe on Lime Street and discuss the details?”
Zhang Cheng Xuan was overjoyed. “Alright.”
Lime Street was just beside the Stafford University. When they arrived at the Starbucks there, Qi Yu first ordered two lattes and paid the bill.
After sitting down, Zhang Cheng Xuan thanked him, and went straight to the topic. First, he told him about his understanding of the course “Entrepreneurship Practice”, and then moved on to his initial expectations of the content of this venture. He planned to make a clothes renting app for college students. From the early stages to his long-term plans, he spoke in great detail. It was obvious that he had already made preparations in advance.
“What do you think of this idea?” After speaking, Zhang Cheng Xuan looked expectantly at Qi Yu.
“It’s very good,” Qi Yu gently tapped his paper cup and asked slowly, “But I want to know why you invited me to join.”
“Haha.” Zhang Chengxuan said with a smile, “Is there any need for a reason? With your good looks, not only are we going to be able to get investments, but we’ll also be able to save on endorsement fees. It’s killing two birds with one stone.”
Qi Yu leaned back, shook his head and said, “If it’s just for this reason, then I refuse.”
Zhang Cheng Xuan was startled: “Why?”
Qi Yu looked at him and smiled, “You made such a detailed plan, but the two things you arranged for me to do are both related to my appearance. In your eyes, am I just a vase?”
Zhang Cheng Xuan hurriedly said, “Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mean that… If you think there’s a problem with my idea, you’re welcome to point it out. Or, if you have any other entrepreneurial concepts, we can discuss it further.”
Qi Yu tilted his head. “In that case, you could actually find just anyone.”
He believed that the students who could study at Stafford were basically of the same level in terms of their personal abilities.
Zhang Cheng Xuan was struck dumb.
“Have you invited Wang Xuan?” Qi Yu asked again. He knew that Wang Xuan’s family background was very ordinary.
“No,” Zhang Cheng Xuan turned his eyes and looked for an excuse, “I only met Wang Xuan not long ago, and I don’t know her well. Of course, if you think she’s good, we can invite her to join.”
Qi Yu asked back, “We can invite anyone if I think they’re good?”
Zhang Cheng Xuan raised his cup and then put it down, a little unsure how to proceed.
Qi Yu wasn’t deliberately embarrassing Zhang Cheng Xuan. He just didn’t like being approached with ulterior motives.
If Complex Number hadn’t told him of Zhang Cheng Xuan’s background, he might have been willing to accept the other party’s invitation. After all, there were few among his peers like Zhang Cheng Xuan who piqued Qi Yu’s interest.
The problem was that he knew the other’s identity, and he also noticed the deliberate welcome hidden under Zhang Cheng Xuan’s smiling face.
In this way, the enthusiasm and kindness of the other party lost their natural feel, which made him feel very awkward.
“Zhang Cheng Xuan…” Qi Yu breathed out a sigh and looked into his eyes, “I like to deal with frank people. Don’t you think it’s tiring hiding like this?”
Zhang Cheng Xuan’s pupils shrank, and he looked at Qi Yu in surprise.
When Qi Yu said this statement just now, he himself was also a little taken aback. Because the sentence “I like to deal with frank people” was what Complex Number had said to him. And now he unconsciously said it to Zhang Cheng Xuan. .
But he knew in his heart that these words did not represent his true preferences. Rather, it was more like a kind of speaking technique that placed psychological pressure on the party he was negotiating with. It represented that he had the advantageous position in their dialogue.
The smile on Zhang Cheng Xuan’s face slowly faded. He looked at Qi Yu and asked lowly, “Do you know who I am?”
The author has something to say: [Little Theater]
Fu: I listened to someone else’s violin performance and it was very nice.
7 fish: I can play the violin too! This is the piece I played! I am also very tall and blah blah blah…
Fu, while contradicting him, found him so cute he could hardly breathe …What should I do if my wife is too fun to tease?
Love this book … happy dance for new chapter. Thank you 🌸
Enjoying this. Wondering if Zhang becomes a love rival too.
I love it when their subtly florting with each otherr kekekejeke
💙💙💙
Too fun to tease haha!!!😂
Thanks for the chapter~
thanks for the chapter!
This Fu Gong is so slick. What private concert? You watch the video of your wife playing violin on his friend’s moment!. Hahahaha.
I love this story. And the author. Thank you for translating this.
So cute😭😭😭
Our qi yu is too naive…just easily babbling when provoked. But maybe its because it’s Fu HAHAHA he got goaded to describe his physique and got told off, too 😭 and now he is parroting his words, what a great student lmao