“I understand, Zhang Fan. I can see that you are a very talented and capable person. But I have something to say. If you think it’s right, listen to it; if not, just pretend you didn’t hear it. The most important thing for a person is to live. As long as you don’t die, you will eventually succeed. Look at you now, you can’t afford to eat, you don’t have a place to live, but you’re unwilling to accept reality. Earning money with your own skills and your own hands is not shameful. There is no distinction between high and low jobs, don’t you think?” Tang Ping said.
Zhang Fan fell silent, seemingly still somewhat unwilling.
"Goujian endured hardship and humiliation for ten years before conquering the state of Wu. Han Xin even endured the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs. Those who achieve great things in ancient times were all people who could endure humiliation and hardship and had an unyielding spirit. You have read more books, so you should understand this principle better than I do."
Tang Ping patted Zhang Fan on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Think it over carefully. If you think I'm right, you can start working at the internet cafe tomorrow as a network administrator. Your monthly salary will be the same as theirs, eight hundred yuan. If you still don't understand, I, Tang Ping, am not doing charity work, and I have the utmost contempt for those who are ambitious but have little ability. You should move out now!"
After listening, Zhang Fan's face flushed red, but he still didn't say anything.
Just then, Song Lili brought up the milk tea.
Tang Ping took the cup, took a sip, and said, "Let him stay one last night. If that doesn't work, then move out."
After saying that, Tang Ping turned around and prepared to go downstairs.
Suddenly, Zhang Fan shouted, "Boss, I'm willing to stay!"
Tang Ping turned around and smiled, "That's right. It's good that you want to do great things, but before that, it's more important to make sure you survive. Start work tonight, and I'll count it as your first day."
"Thank you, boss!"
Zhang Fan smiled too, a confident smile on his face.
Clearly, Tang Ping's words had a profound impact on him.
The internet cafe gained another hand. Zhang Fan was a college student and a computer science graduate, which gave him an advantage over others. He could easily solve any computer problems in the internet cafe.
Song Lili was willing to take him in because she valued this ability of his.
Tang Ping checked the revenue of the internet cafe and the two audio-visual stores, and found that he had several hundred thousand yuan in savings, which was after paying off some of his previous debts.
But even several hundred thousand isn't enough to open a factory.
In the afternoon, Li Qiang came to take over the shift. When he saw Tang Ping, he quickly came over and said, "Brother Ping, Lao Sheng's illegal internet cafe on Jiuchang Street is for sale. Do you think we should take it over?"
Just when you're about to fall asleep, Tang Ping perked up immediately and asked, "Wow, his internet cafe was making a lot of money, wasn't it? Why is he suddenly selling it?"
"Business isn't what it used to be. Two new internet cafes have opened on Jiuchang Street, and their environments and computers are much better than his. The people who go there are mostly elementary school students with temporary ID cards. Besides, he doesn't have a license, and he's been caught a few times, so he doesn't dare to operate secretly anymore."
"Oh, I see. Then I can take it on. Let's arrange a chat with him tomorrow!"
Tang Ping nodded.
Lao Sheng, whose full name is Xu Shenggang, is a native of Jiuchang Street. In the 1990s, he made a fortune by reselling seafood. Later, when the crackdown became more severe, he stopped and opened this illegal internet cafe.
It's not a small place, with more than fifty machines. Li Qiang and his friends used to love coming here to play.
Although Old Factory Street doesn't have as much foot traffic as Lovers' Street, it has the advantage of a denser population, mostly children of factory workers from nearby areas.
Li Qiang made an appointment with Lao Sheng. After meeting him, Tang Ping realized that Lao Sheng was bald and not as old as he had imagined. He was in his thirties, with a briefcase tucked under his waist, looking like a nouveau riche.
"Ah Ping, right? I've heard about you before. Hehe, not bad, you're so young and already a big boss, you even bought my internet cafe." Old Sheng opened a pack of cigarettes, offered one to me, and spoke very warmly.
Tang Ping laughed and said, "What boss? Just trying to make a living. Mr. Xu, I've looked at all the locations, but what do you think about the price..."
"Eight hundred thousand, one price, you can take it all. The machines, the equipment, everything, I'll give it all to you."
Tang Ping shook his head and said, "Eight hundred thousand is too high, that's impossible. The total cost of renovating my new internet cafe and installing the machines is less than that. Besides, these machines of yours are all old-fashioned computers, they're not popular anymore."
Old Sheng said with great enthusiasm, "The monitor can be replaced, and the main unit is a top brand. Besides, look at this location, I don't lack customers at all; it's packed every night. To tell you the truth, my daily turnover is basically around this amount. You don't need to prepare anything; you can just open for business and make money while sitting down. Seriously, if I didn't have other businesses, I would never sell it."
Li Qiang, who was standing nearby, was also a little tempted.
But Tang Ping remained calm. No matter how eloquently Lao Sheng spoke, he never nodded. Instead, he smiled and asked, "What kind of business does Mr. Xu plan to invest in?"
"Hehe, I'm planning to open an arcade."
Old Sheng grabbed Tang Ping's arm, looking all sincere, and said, "Hey, Ping, you're from Jiuchang Street too. We're all family here, so let's not cheat each other. 780,000 is really the lowest I can go. To be honest, with internet cafes doing so well right now, I'm not worried about not being able to sell it. I was just talking to a boss about it."
"It doesn't have a business license, and the area isn't very big. After I take it over, I'll have to renovate it and replace the equipment. In that case, I might as well find a new storefront," Tang Ping said, shaking his head again.
Upon hearing this, Lao Sheng's face turned cold, and he said, "If you're not sincere, then forget it."
At this moment, a man walked in from outside and shouted at Lao Sheng, "Lao Sheng, 750,000 is my bottom line. If you think that's acceptable, we can sign the contract tomorrow, how about it?"
Old Sheng immediately abandoned Tang Ping's side, turned around and said with great enthusiasm, "Oh, Mr. Li, please add a little more. This is a time-honored brand with many regular customers."
The two got more and more into their conversation, and seemed ready to sign a contract right away.
Beside him, Li Qiang grew anxious and said, "Brother Ping, 750,000 is about right. At this price, we're not losing money."
"Spending 750,000 on such a lousy internet cafe is a real rip-off. Let's go, we're not in a hurry to open a branch right now."
Tang Ping smiled faintly and walked out with Li Qiang.
Before leaving, I said goodbye to Lao Sheng, but he completely ignored me.
Tang Ping didn't pay any attention and went home to continue studying the formula for Yu Xue Qing.
The formula is available, and the raw materials are not expensive. The key issue is the production line and factory, which require a large amount of capital investment. Moreover, once it is launched on the market, advertising will also be necessary.
Thinking of the advertisement, Tang Ping immediately thought of Meng Yu.
In the coffee shop, Meng Yu held her coffee in both hands, looked at Tang Ping, blinked her big eyes, and said, "I didn't realize you were such a big boss, you even have the money to open a factory."
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