How to Make Money?

What business could be done in Dragon Capital, this eighteenth-tier little city, in early 2000?

Apparently, none.

There were already several medium- and large-sized supermarkets in the city center. A small community supermarket might work, but Chen Guiliang had no capital.

Though the county town had no foreign fast-food chains, KFC had already arrived in the urban district.

Chinese fast food?

Heh, it still wouldn't take off even twenty years later.

This was one of the birthplaces of Sichuan Cuisine's three major schools. Diners here had extremely discerning palates. Anyone who tried making Chinese fast food would die a miserable death.

Flipping DVDs, cassette tapes, and the like might have been viable over a decade ago, but now that market was already saturated.

He had to focus on the internet.

Taobao was actually the first choice, but it wasn't suitable to operate from here. Courier shipping was impossible to solve.

Of course, he could contact manufacturers and have them ship directly. The problem was that once sales picked up, the partner manufacturers would inevitably cut him out. In an emerging market, an online store's brand meant jack shit. He had to stock inventory himself to keep the manufacturers in check.

The direct-from-manufacturer model would only become useful once Taobao's competition became intense.

"Talk business?"

Feng Tao shook his head repeatedly. "I'm just a poor wage worker, and you're only a poor student. What business could we possibly discuss?"

Chen Guiliang asked, "How much of this store do you own?"

"Only 20%. The other 80% belongs to my high school classmate," Feng Tao sighed. "I even owe a mountain of debt just to buy in."

This cousin-in-law was the son of Chen Guiliang's grandaunt—his grandmother's younger sister.

He happened to be exactly ten years older than Chen Guiliang.

Feng Tao was also a kid who had come from the countryside. He had graduated from a junior college in the mid-nineties.

Back then, a junior college diploma still carried some weight.

But Feng Tao had drifted around Yangcheng and Pengcheng for several years without getting anywhere. He had also suffered heartbreak. Disheartened, he chose to return home and live an ordinary life, accepting his parents' arrangements for a blind date and marriage.

Until the beginning of this year, when an old high school classmate brought Feng Tao into Legend Private Server. After making some money, they switched careers and started selling computers.

After calling his wife, Feng Tao said to his assistant, "You can get off work now."

The assistant was somewhat dull-witted. He smiled, bowed, and said goodbye.

Only after the assistant left did Feng Tao introduce him. "This is my apprentice, Yang Xiaolong, from Yangjiaba Village next door. He failed the College Entrance Exam this year and stopped studying. He's learning how to assemble and repair computers from me now. He isn't very good at dealing with people yet, but he learns fast."

"Are you still running Legend Private Server, Uncle?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Before his rebirth, Chen Guiliang had worked in the gaming industry for many years, but he had always handled operations and marketing.

He knew absolutely nothing about technology.

If he wanted to use games to make a big profit from a small investment now, Legend Private Server was his only option.

But Legend Private Server had gone through multiple stages of development. Chen Guiliang first needed to find out what the market was like.

"I just quit," Feng Tao said.

Chen Guiliang asked, "Why did you quit?"

Feng Tao gave a simple explanation. "More and more people are opening private servers, and the competition is too fierce. Making a little money isn't a problem, but making big money is extremely difficult. I'd rather honestly sell computers."

In the autumn of 2003, Legend Private Server would enter its first boom period.

Private servers of every version would spring up like mushrooms after rain. There were too many competitors, the homogenization was severe, and innovation was lacking. It was no longer a time when money could be picked up off the ground.

And in a little over a month, five government ministries would launch a joint special crackdown, frightening many forum owners and private server webmasters into disappearing for good.

Feng Tao continued, "My classmate can't even be bothered promoting online anymore. He only sets up private servers in a few of his own internet cafés. They're all barely surviving, and he can only make a little money."

Chen Guiliang asked again, "With your technical skills, Uncle, could you design a private server yourself?"

Feng Tao shook his head. "I'm a self-taught half-baked programmer. My skills are only average. I can only buy other people's private server frameworks and make minor modifications. I could force myself to design one, but it would only be the simplest kind. Add a few more features, and BUGs would pop up."

Chen Guiliang was a little disappointed. The first person he had envisioned working with had naturally been his trustworthy relative.

Now it seemed he could only find someone else.

Chen Guiliang asked again, "How much does it cost to buy a private server framework?"

"You don't understand anything, but you still want to run a private server?"

Feng Tao teased him, but still answered seriously. "Anywhere from a few hundred yuan to tens of thousands. The more expensive ones are obviously better."

A private server costing only a few hundred yuan would definitely be a common, generic product with no appeal whatsoever.

One costing tens of thousands, on the other hand, would have all sorts of distinctive features and could even be customized according to one's own ideas.

Chen Guiliang had no startup capital right now, only some living expenses from his parents. Private servers costing thousands or tens of thousands were definitely beyond his means.

He planned to introduce pay-to-win mechanics, but he didn't understand technology himself. He had to bring in an investor, then find some technical staff to modify and maintain the game.

Sigh. If he had known, he should have learned programming in his previous life.

Not understanding technology now was pretty awkward.

Chen Guiliang changed the subject. "Uncle, could you tell me about that high school classmate of yours?"

Feng Tao said, "His name is Tao Chenggang. Both his parents work at the boiler factory, a state-owned enterprise. Like me, he only got into junior college. But he's quick-witted. I don't know how he made several hundred thousand yuan, then returned to Dragon Capital two years ago to open internet cafés."

"He now owns eight internet cafés and a game studio for grinding and farming gold. He also owns 80% of this computer shop. He was the one who brought me into Legend Private Server and helped me make money."

Chen Guiliang said, "I'd like to visit him."

"What do you want with him?" Feng Tao treated Chen Guiliang like a little brat.

Chen Guiliang said, "Just arrange a meeting."

Feng Tao considered it carefully and felt there would be no harm in it, so he nodded. "Sure. I'll arrange it for you. But tomorrow and the day after are holidays, and I can't leave the shop. You'll have to find him yourself."

"Thank you, Uncle." Chen Guiliang handed him another cigarette.

"You're thanking me?"

Feng Tao tucked the cigarette behind his ear, got up, and closed the shop to prepare for heading home.

Chen Guiliang followed his uncle to the parking area and soon saw his uncle's ride—a secondhand Jialing motorcycle.

"You're a boss, more or less. Why are you riding this piece of junk?" Chen Guiliang teased.

Feng Tao complained bitterly. "Boss, my ass. The money I earned working in the south was all spent on my wedding. Then I partnered up to open this shop this year, and my share of the private server profits wasn't nearly enough. Add in the mortgage on the marital home, and I'm carrying over sixty thousand yuan in debt."

Chen Guiliang offered some auspicious words. "Selling computers is profitable. A few tens of thousands is nothing, just a year or so of work."

"Let's hope so." Feng Tao got onto the motorcycle.

The residential compound where his uncle lived was quite upscale. He had bought the place two years ago, when it had been among the most expensive housing in the city.

Back then, it cost around 1,000 yuan per square meter.

Now the price had risen to 1,100 yuan per square meter.

Feng Tao opened the door and entered. The sound of stir-frying came from the kitchen.

His aunt Lin Chunhong called from inside, "Sit down first! There's one more dish!"

Feng Tao turned on the television and dropped heavily onto the living room sofa.

Chen Guiliang walked to the kitchen entrance. "Aunt, sorry to disturb you. I came in such a rush that I didn't even buy any fruit."

Lin Chunhong said, "You came, that's enough. We're family. Why buy fruit?"

Chen Guiliang looked at the Kid on his aunt's back, his feelings extremely complicated.

Lin Chunhong was very pretty, the kind of beauty who could be considered the prettiest girl in a village.

But she wasn't very worldly and hadn't even finished high school. When she married his uncle, she had not even reached the legal marriage age. They held the wedding banquet, then only got their marriage certificate more than half a year later.

For now, she was fairly virtuous.

A few years later, once the family became prosperous, her heart would grow restless.

She would meet an online boyfriend in person and cuckold his uncle.

For the sake of their child, the couple would divorce and then remarry.

Later, his uncle would be diagnosed with stomach cancer. Half his stomach would be removed, and he would recover for a time. Less than two years later, it would recur. Aunt Lin Chunhong would insist on divorce no matter what, and despite his uncle's illness, she would demand that they sell the house and car and divide the property.

His uncle would die from his illness.

His aunt would vanish without a trace, completely abandoning her son.

Her son would live with his grandparents, but they too would pass away one after another. In the end, Chen Guiliang's parents would step in and adopt him.

In other words, the Kid Lin Chunhong was carrying on her back right now was actually Chen Guiliang's younger brother in the legal sense.

The Kid was quite sensible and would later attend a military academy.

"Aunt, let me hold him for you. It's inconvenient for you to cook like that." Chen Guiliang walked into the kitchen.

Lin Chunhong immediately put down the spatula, untied the Kid, and handed him to Chen Guiliang.

"Waaah, waaah, waaah..."

The moment Chen Guiliang took him, his little cousin began wailing.

Feng Tao laughed from the living room. "Bring him over here. You can't handle him."

Chen Guiliang quickly handed his little cousin over, and the house finally became quiet.

Feng Tao teased his son and said smugly, "This kid is shy around strangers. No one but his mom and dad can hold him."

Chen Guiliang went along with him. "It's good for boys to be a little rambunctious."

Feng Tao spoke grandly. "Once I have money in the future, I'll pay the fine and have a daughter too. I don't have any great ambitions in life. Having both a son and a daughter is all I want."

They were plain, ordinary words, but hearing them from his uncle filled Chen Guiliang with emotion.

Chen Guiliang said, "If you want both a son and a daughter, you need to take good care of your health. You should get a full checkup every year."

Feng Tao joked, "I'm perfectly healthy. I won't be donating money to the hospital."

Chen Guiliang knew persuasion would be useless. He could only wait a few years, then use his own need for an annual physical as an excuse to take his uncle to the hospital whenever he returned home.

The uncle and nephew watched television, chatted, and played with the child.

Before long, Lin Chunhong brought the dishes to the table and served their rice as well.

Feng Tao bragged, "Your aunt doesn't have any other strong points, but you won't find a more virtuous wife anywhere. Tao Chenggang... my high school classmate, that is... gets jealous every time he eats at my place. He says I only married such a good wife because I stepped in dog shit."

"Aunt really is very virtuous." Chen Guiliang nodded in agreement.

Lin Chunhong smiled as she went to take her son. "Give him to me. It's time for him to nurse."

Feng Tao brought out a bottle of Wuliangye. "How about a couple of drinks with me? This is good liquor, a gift from Tao Chenggang. I usually can't even bear to drink it."

Chen Guiliang raised a hand to hold down the bottle. "Uncle, drinking is bad for your stomach. I've heard frequent drinking can easily cause stomach cancer."

"Stomach cancer, my ass. I'll pour you a drink." Feng Tao insisted hospitably.

Chen Guiliang could only fall silent.

Feng Tao had a decent alcohol tolerance, which he had built up while doing sales work in Yangcheng.

He still had to work at the shop tomorrow, so he only drank until he was slightly tipsy.

After dinner, Feng Tao called with a hint of drunkenness in his voice.

"Hello, Brother Gang... it's me... I have a nephew who wants to visit you because he's heard so much about you... He's not doing business, he's still in school..."

"Come on, he's a top student. He's in No. 2 Middle School's experimental class and can easily get into a Project 985 university... Just meet him once. It's not like he'll keep you from making millions... Okay, okay, it's settled then."

Feng Tao tossed his phone onto the sofa, rubbed his face, and said to Chen Guiliang, "Tomorrow morning, I'll ride you over to the game studio. Wait there patiently. You may have to wait an hour or two, but he'll definitely drop by sometime in the morning."

"Alright, sorry to trouble you, Uncle," Chen Guiliang said.

Feng Tao reminded him, "He's a loyal guy who loves making friends, and he's extremely concerned with saving face. As long as you give him enough face, anything can be discussed. Put it this way: when he was in high school, he had exactly the same temperament as you. Once, to avenge a friend, he even took a knife and slashed someone. He's smoother now, though. He hasn't gotten into a fight in years."

Chen Guiliang felt as though he were looking into a mirror and immediately laughed. "People like that are actually easy to deal with. You just need to find the right spot and stroke them the right way."

"Exactly." Feng Tao agreed.

Chen Guiliang asked again, "What does his game studio do?"

Feng Tao nearly laughed when he mentioned it. "You'll find out when you get there. He even gave the game studio a nickname—the 'Longdu City Internet Addiction Rehabilitation Center.'"

"Sounds like an interesting guy." Chen Guiliang couldn't help smiling.

Feng Tao said, "Don't you dare doubt it. The studio has only been open for a little over a year, but it's already cured more than ten students of internet addiction. Some parents even went there specifically to give him commemorative banners."

What the hell, commemorative banners?

Chen Guiliang said, "Uncle, can I use your landline?"

"Go ahead." Feng Tao leaned against the sofa and dozed off.

Chen Guiliang took out a slip of paper with a number written on it and called the paging station from the landline. "Hello, please connect me to xxxxxx... Leave a message: 'Your son is at Uncle's place.'"

His father didn't have a mobile phone and was still using a pager.

About ten minutes later, his father Chen Xinghua called. "Are you out of living expenses again? I'll send you money tomorrow."

"Not for now. It's fine if you send it next month," Chen Guiliang said, then asked, "Dad, how much debt does our family still have?"

Chen Xinghua fell silent for several seconds. "These past two years, your mom and I switched to renovation work. We make more than we did at construction sites. Don't worry about that. Just focus on your studies. Don't worry about college tuition either. I've already started saving."

"How much debt is left?" Chen Guiliang asked again.

Chen Xinghua said, "We've paid back almost all of it. Less than twenty thousand remains."

A debt of merely twenty thousand yuan was not an amount a migrant worker could casually produce in 2003.

And Chen Guiliang was about to start university. His parents still had to work while repaying debts, all while saving for his tuition and living expenses.

"Is Mom beside you?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Chen Xinghua said, "Your mom was taking a shower just now. I came out alone to make the call."

Chen Guiliang said, "Then get some rest early."

"Okay, I'm hanging up," Chen Xinghua said. "Long-distance calls are expensive. I didn't go to the phone shop this late at night."

A phone shop was a small store specifically for making calls, where long-distance calls only cost thirty cents per minute.

Public phones in ordinary shops charged much more for long-distance calls. Within 800 kilometers, it cost eighty cents per minute; beyond 800 kilometers, the price rose to one yuan.

To save on phone charges, Chen Xinghua didn't say much and hung up as soon as he could.

Chen Guiliang also hung up and went to lie down on the sofa.

He hoped tomorrow's business discussion would succeed, allowing his parents to escape hardship sooner. They had not dared to return home for seven years.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Guiliang returned to the landline and dialed Bian Guanyue's mobile number.

Bian Guanyue had never left him her number.

But he had memorized it today, while his uncle was writing out the receipt.

Chen Guiliang had always had an excellent memory.