H University will be starting its semester soon.

Guan Baiyu delegated much of the work of the study abroad agency to Qi Xiaowu, and also hired two more helpers who were good at English. He paid them according to their workload, and he didn't manage this part of the business much.

He focused most of his energy on running the internet cafe.

Every night, he would go over to check on the renovations and contact people to buy various computer parts.

He also needs to contact the telecom company to have the internet cable re-laid.

Guan Baiyu had initially budgeted 800,000 yuan, but now he finds that he has spent less money than he expected, and more money than he expected.

For example, laying network cables costs a lot of money, and internet fees are not cheap either.

As for the renovation... Shi Zhen gave him some advice, and the final price was much cheaper.

Even so, the money was spent like water.

Mu Tian and Jiang Xingsheng had some understanding of what Guan Baiyu was going to do, and seeing him throw away so much money without batting an eye, they had mixed feelings.

In the past, they would have definitely advised him to focus more on his studies, take care of his health, and not just think about making money, but now they wouldn't say that.

They were rather upset—opening an internet cafe required a lot of money, and Guan Baiyu… from beginning to end, he hadn’t asked them for money or borrowed money.

Putting all that aside, they had to admit that this child was really promising... In their school, which child at such a young age would dare to spend so much money to open an internet cafe?

The internet cafe started renovations in late February, and by late March, the renovations were almost complete, with only some finishing touches to be done.

Guan Baiyu originally planned to open in mid-April, but later realized that this was too hasty, and finally decided to open on May 1st, Labor Day.

This allows us to recruit and train people in advance.

He remembered that in the later internet cafes, there weren't many staff members, but things were different now... Internet cafes were still a novelty, and there would definitely be many people coming to watch, so more people would be needed.

In addition, internet cafe computers need to have some programs set for timers, install single-player games, etc... there are quite a lot of things to handle.

After finishing her class that day, Guan Baiyu rushed out again.

As he walked away, his classmates exclaimed, "Guan Baiyu is so busy!"

"Yes... He used to live on campus, but recently he applied to not live on campus anymore."

"I heard he's starting a business, but I don't know what it is."

...

When the classmates talked about Guan Baiyu, they couldn't help but feel envious.

Cai Huidong was furious: "What kind of entrepreneurship? Most of them just rely on their parents to do some small business."

Everyone stared at him speechlessly.

Even if Guan Baiyu really did rely on his parents... Cai Huidong himself used to keep mentioning that the professor was his relative!

Is it okay for me to rely on relatives, but others can't rely on their parents?

Last semester, Cai Huidong pretended to be very rich, but this semester his true colors have been revealed, and he even failed a course...

He was the only one in his class who failed a course!

It's hard for people not to have opinions about him.

However, everyone was busy studying, so no one targeted him.

Cai Huidong's face darkened when he saw the expressions on these people's faces.

He really is out of money lately.

He was generous last semester, partly because his family gave him all of his living expenses for the semester at once, and partly because he was going to university and relatives gave him red envelopes, so he had a lot of money.

Later, when he visited Jiang Xingsheng and his family, Mu Tian, ​​as an elder, gave him a red envelope. Later, when he asked Jiang Xingsheng for money, Jiang Xingsheng gave him money several times, totaling about two thousand yuan.

Many people only have two or three hundred yuan for living expenses a month! Two thousand is indeed a lot!

But this semester...

At the end of last semester, Cai Huidong's mother came to see him and found that he had spent all his money, so she was a little angry. This semester, they opened a bank account for him and started transferring money to him every month, 400 yuan each month.

Among the students in his class, 400 yuan a month for living expenses is not a small amount, but he spent a bit too much last year, buying clothes and shoes that cost 100 or 200 yuan each, which made him strapped for cash.

The persona of a wealthy man that he had carefully cultivated last semester has, unsurprisingly, collapsed.

Cai Huidong felt that his parents were too stingy and didn't know how to give him more money! Look at Guan Baiyu, Guan Baiyu's clothes and shoes are more expensive than his.

Cai Huidong felt he didn't have enough money, and there was another person... who also felt he didn't have enough money.

That person was Liang Qinxuan.

During his winter break, he deposited all the cash he had into the bank to raise 400,000 yuan, and then gave it all to Guan Baiyu.

He ran out of money.

He could only live on the 1,000 yuan living allowance his father gave him each month.

A thousand yuan is not a small amount. The average salary in the provincial capital is only eight hundred yuan, and the minimum wage is only a little over two hundred yuan, but he has many expenses.

He bought his car last year, and each time he fills up the gas tank, it costs tens of yuan. He has to fill up at least twice a month. His monthly phone bill is also tens or hundreds of yuan. He's also a picky eater...

Liang Qinxuan, who used to thrive in the circle of rich second-generation heirs by relying on dividends, now spends his days eating out at the expense of his friends.

"Liang Qinxuan, you've invested all your money here?"

"This internet cafe looks pretty good!"

"I don't think internet cafes are very interesting, but it seems like a lot of people like them, and they're quite profitable... Your investment won't be a loss."

...

Although the internet cafe hadn't opened yet, the computers were already installed, so Liang Qinxuan brought a group of his friends there to play.

As soon as they arrived at the entrance, everyone thought the internet cafe looked very high-end.

After following Liang Qinxuan inside...

Shi Zhen really likes a simple, elegant, and modern style with a touch of technology, which is also the style he designed for Guan Baiyu's internet cafe.

People rarely decorated their homes in this style back then; it just looked... kind of cool.

Putting everything else aside, the bar next door, made of black glass, where you can have some cold drinks, looks really cool.

Guan Baiyu had arrived earlier and was installing games on some computers. When he saw them, he asked them if they wanted to play.

At that time, computer games were not popular.

The rich kids who were with Liang Qinxuan had a lot of things to do. Although their families all had computers, most of them had never played with them or practiced typing.

The computer was too bulky to bring to school, and there was no internet at school... so they would just play with it a little bit at home.

At this moment, Guan Baiyu invited them to play... so they tried out some computer games they had never seen before.

They had played solitaire and Minesweeper before and found them not fun at all.

Wow... there are so many games on this computer! And they look really fun!

Although computers are not yet widespread in China, many games have already emerged in large numbers overseas.

In the late 1990s, games were released one after another.

This is actually one of the reasons why internet cafes were so popular after 2000.

Guan Baiyu himself doesn't play games, but he knows that games are extremely attractive to many people.

So he searched for all the latest games and installed them one by one on the computers in his internet cafe.

Liang Qinxuan and these rich kids were playing games for the first time, and once they started playing... they became addicted.

"Damn, this guy is amazing!"

"This is way more fun than the kind that's connected to a TV!"

"I never expected it could be like this!"

"This scene is beautiful!"

...

A group of rich kids who came to visit the internet cafe ended up having a great time playing on the computers. Some of them weren't very good at the games themselves, but they found it very interesting to watch others play.

Needless to say, Liang Qinxuan's eyes were glued to the computer screen; he couldn't take his eyes off it at all!

Soon it was dinnertime, and Guan Baiyu asked them what they wanted to eat. The group immediately replied, "Anything is fine."

"Bread, just give me some bread."

"I want a hamburger! I'll eat it while I'm at it!"

"I want a hamburger too!"

"Yes, hamburgers are still the best."

...

The appeal of games to people is undeniable, especially now, when there are far fewer games available than there will be ten or twenty years from now.

And so... these people were immediately captivated by the latest games on the market.

Guan Baiyu bought some hamburgers for them and then went back to his own business.

As a result, he was busy until 8:30, and these people still showed no sign of stopping.

Guan Baiyu said to Liang Qinxuan, "Liang Qinxuan, I'm leaving. What about you?"

"Let's play a little longer," Liang Qinxuan said, waving his hand.

Seeing this, Guan Baiyu smiled and said, "You guys like playing games too? If you do, you can come and play often. There are even better private rooms upstairs."

"A private room?" asked the person playing the game.

“Yes! There are private rooms upstairs, but I forgot to take you to see them,” Liang Qinxuan said.

These people stopped the game they were playing and said with great interest, "Wouldn't the private room be better? Take us to see it!"

Guan Baiyu said, "The private room will definitely be better. I will put a computer with higher configuration there. It will cost five yuan per hour to use the internet downstairs, but it will cost ten yuan per hour to use the internet upstairs."

The rich kids love to feel superior.

These people immediately became interested: "Take us to see it!"

Guan Baiyu led them upstairs.

There are all sorts of private rooms here. Some rooms are very small, with just one computer desk inside, while others are larger and have several computer desks inside.

However, none of these computer desks have computers yet.

“In a few days, I will buy some higher-spec computers and install them here,” Guan Baiyu said.

"When will you be done? We'll definitely come and play then!" someone said.

"It will definitely be ready before it opens! By the way, the upstairs and downstairs are a little different. Here you can pay by the hour, or you can get a membership card. With a membership card, you can play here for unlimited time. You can also book a private room here. Only the person who booked the room can use it."

"How are membership cards and private rooms calculated?" someone asked.

Guan Baiyu said, "A monthly membership card costs 1,000 yuan, which averages out to just over 30 yuan a day. If you play here for more than four hours a day, getting a card is definitely more cost-effective than calculating the time separately. If you get an annual card, it costs 10,000 yuan a year."

These people were somewhat tempted; they felt they could simply buy an annual pass and come whenever they wanted to visit.

Guan Baiyu added, "But even if you get a card, if there are too many people and all the seats are full when you arrive, you'll still have to wait... The best option is to book several computers directly. If you book them, only you can use them. Also, internet cafes usually erase the data on their computers, but if you book them, your data won't be erased."

The so-called card application and reservation system were all things Guan Baiyu came up with on the spot.

As for why he came up with this idea... it's mainly because he was broke.

He put a hundred computers downstairs, but it still didn't fill up the space. As for the computers upstairs... he simply didn't have the money to buy any more.

He didn't want to borrow money, but these rich kids were obsessed with computer games, so he came up with this idea.

"How much does it cost to include the computer?" someone asked.

Guan Baiyu led them to the largest private room upstairs. The room had ten computer desks, a sofa, and a coffee table against the wall, creating a very elegant environment.

Guan Baiyu said, "It costs 30,000 yuan a year to rent a computer here, but I can give you a discount. I'll put ten computers in this private room for you. You'll pay 200,000 yuan a year, and this place will be yours alone. How about that? You can come here for any gatherings you have, and you can also bring your friends here."

Ten computers would normally cost 300,000 yuan a year, but now it only costs 200,000 yuan!

Most importantly, there's a private room here... How awesome is that!

These rich kids looked at each other, then gritted their teeth and said, "We'll take this private room!"

There were eight of them who came with Liang Qinxuan this time. Each of them only needed to contribute less than 30,000 yuan, which was enough.

These people told Guan Baiyu that they would come to pay the money tomorrow.

Liang Qinxuan couldn't help but secretly give Guan Baiyu a thumbs up—that's awesome!

Yesterday, Guan Baiyu was telling him that he didn't have money to buy a computer.

Now that I've suddenly received 200,000 yuan, that's enough to buy 20 or 30 computers, right?

The key point is that this private room can only be booked for one year, and the price will increase after one year!

Also... according to Guan Baiyu, he planned to sell various foods in the internet cafe, and the internet cafe staff could help buy food from nearby places... of course, it would all cost money.

Do you think these rich kids could play computer games here without spending any money? Absolutely not!

So even if internet access is free, as long as they come here, they can send money to Guan Baiyu.

Liang Qinxuan was suddenly a little moved.

These people paid 200,000 yuan for only the right to use the private room for a year, while he paid 400,000 yuan and Guan Baiyu will give him 40% of the profits. What a good brother!

After receiving the money, Guan Baiyu used the 200,000 yuan to buy 30 computers and placed them on the second floor.

These computers are indeed better configured than the ones downstairs—their screens are better.

The graphics cards and stuff inside are all the same, cough cough.

In any case, most people wouldn't be able to tell.

After the hardware for the internet cafe was all set up, all that was left was the staff.

Guan Baiyu plans to keep the internet cafe open 24 hours a day. The employees he hires will be divided into three shifts, just like in a factory. Everyone will take turns working the day and night shifts, and if someone has something to do, they can switch shifts with someone else.

Network administrators are open to both men and women, one per shift, with a monthly salary of 1,000 yuan.

There are two people per shift responsible for selling snacks and drinks. The base salary is 800 yuan, and they also get commission on sales. This job is for women, and their monthly income should be higher than that of the internet cafe managers. However, they also have other tasks to do, such as preparing meals and cleaning the internet cafe.

In addition, a supervisor was hired, with a monthly salary of one thousand yuan plus commission. There was only one supervisor, and his working hours were from eight in the morning to seven in the evening. He didn't actually have much power; in fact, if a customer wanted something, like a hamburger, he was responsible for buying it for them. However, he also received the tips, plus commission. If he did a good job, his income should be the highest.

Guan Baiyu hired all the local young people who lived nearby as employees.

As long as he doesn't have bad luck and encounter any weirdos, such an employee will most likely continue to work well and won't suddenly disappear or do something like stealing something and running away.

The working environment in internet cafes is much better than in factories—computers are relatively expensive nowadays, and smoking is not allowed in internet cafes.

Working here also allows you to use computers... There are quite a few applicants, including many high school graduates.

Guan Baiyu chose those who had graduated from high school, because people like that learn things quickly.

Computers are prone to problems, but fortunately, there are only a few common ones. Guan Baiyu took the time to train them and told them the rules and regulations of the internet cafe... After about ten days of training, they were able to handle the job.

Now, we're just waiting for Labor Day so the internet cafe can open.