Chapter 17
Zhou Ruilin's malicious phone call was like a poisoned ice spike piercing Li Ming's heart. A chilling rage surged within him, threatening to burst through the confines of his youthful body. His family was the meaning behind all his efforts since his rebirth; they were an inviolable taboo! Zhou Ruilin's actions had completely crossed the line.
Without hesitation, he immediately dialed the phone home. His mother, Wang Xiuqin, answered the phone, and he could hear his father, Li Jianhua, coughing occasionally in the background.
"Mom, it's me." Li Ming tried to make his voice sound calm. "Where's Dad? How...is he doing lately?"
"Your dad just got home from get off work and is having dinner." Wang Xiuqin's voice was tinged with laughter. "What's wrong, Mingming? Did something happen at school?"
"It's nothing, I just... wanted to say a few words to Dad." Li Ming felt a little relieved.
There was a rustling sound on the other end of the phone, followed by Li Jianhua's slightly hoarse voice, which seemed more tired than usual: "Hello?"
“Dad,” Li Ming took a deep breath, his tone deliberately light, “Our school has been holding some kind of safety education campaign recently, and they mentioned that some areas have poor security. When you go to and from get off work, especially at night, try to take the main roads and stay away from the places in the factory where they pile up miscellaneous items and machinery.”
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone before Li Jianhua said in a low voice, "Okay, I know. I'm a grown man, why do you need to worry about me? Just take care of yourself out there." He didn't ask any further questions, but Li Ming could sense that his father seemed to have picked up on something unusual in his words.
After hanging up the phone, Li Ming clenched his fists again. A mere reminder wasn't enough. Zhou Ruilin, that kind of spoiled brat, acted with complete recklessness; more practical precautions were necessary.
He immediately found Zhao Zhen. Upon hearing that Zhou Ruilin had actually threatened his family, Zhao Zhen also abandoned his usual nonchalant attitude and his expression became serious: "That bastard... his methods are too despicable!" He pondered for a moment, "As for Lincheng... I'll think of a way to see if I can find two reliable local friends to keep an eye on my uncle's situation, at least to serve as a deterrent."
“I’ll cover the costs,” Li Ming said immediately. This was the most direct solution he could think of at the moment.
"Forget about money, let's get things arranged first." Zhao Zhen waved his hand and took out his phone to make contacts. Although he was pragmatic, he still had basic ethics and a sense of team boundaries.
Having reassured his rear, Li Ming knew that passive defense would never solve the problem. He had to make Zhou Ruilin feel the pain, to make him realize that continuing the conflict was too costly, before he would have any reservations. At the same time, he himself had to accelerate his growth and quickly acquire a strength that would deter Zhou Ruilin from easily provoking him.
The standardized operation of "Mingqing's Shop" was accelerated under pressure. Zhao Zhendong used his family connections to expedite the business license and other related procedures, officially registering the online store as "Mingyu Trading Co., Ltd.", with Li Ming as the legal representative and Li Ziqing, Zhao Zhen, and Liu Qiang as undisclosed shareholders (Wang Hao has not yet invested, but enjoys the treatment of a technical advisor). Wang Hao built a more complete internal management system and simple accounting software. Li Ziqing was responsible for clarifying the accounts and began to learn about basic tax procedures.
In dealing with Zhou Ruilin's business suppression, Li Ming consciously began to cultivate his team's sense of crisis and coping abilities. He locked himself in the server room for two whole days, combining his vague memories from his past life with his current research, to compile a detailed analysis report on the development trends of the Internet in the next few years. He highlighted several areas that he believed would experience explosive growth—social networks, online video, and an area that he saw as having huge potential but had not yet received sufficient attention: domain name investment.
In the computer room late at night, he was the only one there, the sound of his keyboard striking the keys crisp and rapid.
"Information sharing, dissemination, and acquisition platforms based on user relationships will become the core traffic entrances for the Internet in the next few years..." he wrote down his judgment on social networks.
"With increased bandwidth, the demand for video content will grow exponentially..."
"And domain names, as the address of the internet, will see their scarcity and value increase rapidly with the popularization of the internet... Some short, easy-to-remember domain names with specific meanings may be worth a fortune in the future..."
He specifically highlighted a list of domain names that were currently unregistered or extremely cheap, but whose value would skyrocket in the coming years due to the rise of certain companies, industry booms, or the emergence of specific terms. This was a vague goldmine in his memory; although he couldn't recall exactly which ones were the most valuable, the general direction was definitely correct.
He shared the core content of this report at the team's core meeting.
"Social networks? Like blogs and forums nowadays?" Zhao Zhen asked, somewhat puzzled.
"It's more like... everyone has their own homepage, where they can interact with friends in real time and share their status." Li Ming tried to explain in a way they could understand.
"Videos? With internet speeds these days, even viewing a picture is a struggle." Liu Qiang scratched his head.
"Technology will advance, and it will advance very quickly," Li Ming said confidently. "What we need to do is plan ahead."
When the topic of domain name investment came up, even Wang Hao looked up, revealing an interested expression: "Domain names? Does this thing... involve any technical aspects?"
“It doesn’t require any technical expertise, but it does require foresight and luck.” Li Ming pushed the list of domain names to the center of the table. “I’ve analyzed some trends and think these domain names might have value in the future. We have some spare cash now, so we can take out a portion of it to register these domain names or buy them from the current holders at a low price. This might require an investment of tens of thousands of yuan, and we won’t see any returns in the short term; it might even be a complete loss. But if we bet on it right, the returns could be dozens or even hundreds of times.”
This is a gamble, a gamble based on his "prophetic" abilities. He needs to convince the team, especially Li Ziqing, who is in charge of finance, and Zhao Zhen, who is skilled in calculation.
Li Ziqing frowned slightly as she looked at the strange combinations of letters on the list: "Li Ming, isn't this... too risky? We don't have much money to begin with."
Zhao Zhen also held a cautious attitude: "Domain names are very intangible, unlike selling local specialties, which are tangible and visible."
Li Ming didn't press the issue; he knew it would take time to process. "I'm not asking everyone to agree immediately. This is just a preliminary idea. We can try it on a small scale first. For example, we can take out five thousand yuan to register or acquire the top ten domain names on the list that I think have the best chance of success. Even if we lose all of them, it's within our means. If it turns out that my judgment is wrong, I will never mention it again."
His honesty and willingness to take responsibility moved everyone. In the end, Li Ziqing reluctantly agreed to allocate 5,000 yuan as a "strategic investment trial," with Li Ming in full charge.
Meanwhile, Li Ming did not lower his guard against Zhou Ruilin. Through the people arranged by Zhao Zhen, he learned that his father, Li Jianhua, was temporarily safe, and Zhou Ruilin seemed to be only making verbal threats without taking any concrete action. However, he dared not let his guard down.
A week later, all the necessary permits for "Mingyu Trading" were in place, and the quality inspection was successfully passed (Li Ming had made arrangements for the sampling process in advance). The online store was relaunched. After this ordeal, the team's cohesion was stronger, and operations became more standardized. Li Ming took the opportunity to launch a more refined product line and membership services, and sales steadily rebounded. In fact, the previous report by Shen Yan, which subtly mentioned "students encountering obstacles in entrepreneurship" (without naming names), even brought a wave of sympathetic and supportive consumption.
Everything seems to be moving in a positive direction.
However, just as Li Ming had registered his first batch of ten domain names, including several short keyword domain names related to the future of mobile internet and online education, and felt a little relieved, Zhao Zhen brought him the latest and most unsettling news.
“Li Ming, I’ve heard that Zhou Ruilin has been getting quite close to his father’s real estate company lately. They seem to be very interested in the old town redevelopment project behind our school.”
Li Ming's heart skipped a beat. The old town area opposite Jinyang No. 1 Middle School... In his memory, it was indeed the future commercial core area where every inch of land was precious, but the development process seemed to be quite tortuous, involving complicated demolitions and profit distribution.
Zhao Zhen lowered his voice, his tone carrying a hint of uncertain speculation: "Do you think... he might be trying to use the guise of development to pull some other tricks? Like, affecting the warehouse we rented? Or... using a more 'legal' way to cause us some big trouble?"
Li Ming's eyes suddenly sharpened.
Urban redevelopment? This is indeed the Zhou family's forte. If Zhou Ruilin uses this project, under the guise of "urban planning" or "project construction," to surround, demolish, or even subject them to environmental inspections of their small warehouse, they will be utterly powerless to resist!
Just as the business competition was stabilizing, the other side seemed poised to open up a new and even more powerful battlefield.
Zhou Ruilin's revenge, as expected, will not stop, and will become more ruthless and closer to the core of the power game with each retaliation.
Li Ming gazed at the low-rise, chaotic old town outside the window, his eyes deep in thought. He knew that the real test might have only just begun. He had to quickly devise a way not only to defuse this potential crisis, but even... to use their strength against them.
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