Let me become your lackey

"Perfect."

Chen Yu couldn't help but exclaim.

He had been thinking about investing some money for a good publicity campaign, but to his surprise, the gaming workshop had already taken action without him doing anything.

"Alright, by the way, Jian Ge, do you have any classmates over there? Can you call some of them to help with a few things?"

"I have plenty of classmates from vocational school, but you know, vocational school graduates have limited skills."

"No problem, it's not a high-end job. Just ask them if they're willing, and if they are, we'll pay them 500 yuan per month."

"Chen Yu, how many people do you need?"

"At least 10."

"10 people, that's quite a lot."

"10 isn't too many; it should be enough. I'll rent an office in the next couple of days, but tell them in advance that if they join, they may have to skip classes."

"Don't worry, I'll talk to them about it."

"Alright. Jian Ge, in the next few days, also talk to Wang Pangzi about shutting down the workshop."

"Got it."

Zhang Jianming nodded. "What about the shares?"

"Shares, hmm."

Chen Yu thought for a moment. "I'll invite Wang Pangzi to dinner and discuss the matter with him."

"That works."

With their plans in place, they went their separate ways.

Chen Yu first went to look for an office near Chenyi Square.

Originally, if he wanted to save money, he could have just found a residential house as an office. However, since 5173 was already up and running, and they planned to expand in the future, everything needed to be done properly. Unfortunately, in the year 2001, Xinfeng didn't have any decent office buildings; there were only a few second-floor storefronts converted from commercial housing. But in a small county town, even though they were technically on the second floor, there weren't many people renting these spaces.

As a compromise, Chen Yu decided to rent one of these second-floor storefronts.

After some searching, Chen Yu rented a storefront of over 200 square meters.

The location of this storefront was acceptable, and the environment was decent. The previous tenant had used it to sell furniture, and they had knocked down some walls, making it spacious enough. However, due to poor business, it had been abandoned for several years. This, however, gave Chen Yu an excellent opportunity to negotiate the rent.

Perhaps because they rarely had a potential tenant, combined with the storefront's abandonment, the landlord quickly agreed to Chen Yu's negotiation. In the end, they signed an agreement for a monthly rent of 1500 yuan.

Afterward, Chen Yu hired a few cleaning ladies to spruce up the storefront.

Furthermore, he immediately went to the secondhand market and found a lot of nearly-new office desks.

Of course, although this was somewhat tedious, it didn't cost much.

The major expense came from setting up the office computers.

5173 was, after all, an internet website, and to manage it well, essential computers were indispensable.

"Mr. Xiao, busy as always, huh?"

"Hey, it's Brother Chen, my friend. The computer I got you last time, it's working well, isn't it?"

"It's great, really fast."

"Of course, I told you, this computer is top-notch even for the whole Xinfeng. So, Brother Chen, are you here to buy more computers?"

"Yeah."

Chen Yu nodded.

"You're an expert, my friend. I won't recommend anything to you. Just tell me the specifications you want."

"I've written down the specs; take a look."

Chen Yu handed the specification sheet to Mr. Boss, the computer seller.

Upon seeing it, Mr. Xiao burst into laughter, "My friend, your taste has gotten worse; you're going for a Celeron."

"I'm not using it myself, why bother with such high specs?"

"Oh, I see. Alright, no problem, 5000 yuan."

"That's expensive."

Chen Yu shook his head.

"My friend, 5000 yuan is not expensive at all. You know your stuff. Think about it, with your requested specs, how much profit am I making on each unit? I'm barely making anything."

"One unit may not make much profit, but I want 10 units."

"What? You want 10 units?"

"Yes."

"My friend, you're not fooling me, are you?"

"Why would I fool you? If you don't believe me, I can find someone else."

"Wait, wait..."

Seeing Chen Yu about to leave, Mr. Xiao panicked.

These were 10 computers. If they walked away, he'd be in tears. "Since you're buying 10 units, I'll reduce 100 yuan per unit."

"Mr. Xiao, that's not very generous of you. Only 100 yuan off? You can do better than that. How about 4600 yuan?"

"4600 yuan! My goodness, my friend, I can't even make a profit at that price."

"Don't say you can't make a profit; I'll sell you 10 units at this price."

"You're really... fine, fine, I'll make a little less. But I can't provide you with that many right now. I can only give you three."

"No problem. In a couple of days, you can prepare 10 computers for me. Oh, and throw in a router."

"My friend, routers are quite expensive; I can't just give them away."

"Then, goodbye."

"Wait, wait, wait! My friend, you're too hasty. I didn't finish speaking. What's a router compared to the bigger picture? I hope you'll take good care of our business in the future."

"Don't worry, if you're more generous next time, I'll come back to buy more computers from you."

After some haggling, Chen Yu handed over a 2000 yuan deposit.

...

Hua Tian Vocational School.

Hua Tian Vocational School was the only vocational school in Xinfeng.

However, even though it was a vocational school, everyone understood what this school was all about. Basically, it was for those who couldn't make it into high school, and parents were not comfortable letting their kids go out to work at a young age. So, they sent their children to the vocational school for a few more years.

"Hey, guys, Jian Ge is back."

As Zhang Jianming had just returned to the dormitory, several roommates gathered around.

"Hehe, why are you all crowding around like this?"

"Hey, Jian Ge, heard you rented a place outside?"

"Yeah, I rented a room."

"I heard the class beauty stayed at your place."

"What do you mean, stayed? She just came over to take a look."

"Jian Ge, we're good buddies; you don't have to pretend."

"Get out of the way."

Although he was inwardly delighted, he preferred to keep such matters to himself.

"Whatever..."

They all flipped their middle fingers at Zhang Jianming.

"Oh, by the way, Jian Ge, do you still need people for your workshop?"

"I don't need anyone anymore."

"What? Jian Ge, didn't you say you'd bring us to work at your workshop later?"

"I'm not involved with the workshop anymore."

"Not involved?"

Ever since they found out that Zhang Jianming had started a workshop at Dreamscape Junction, he had become the star of their class. Many classmates hoped that he would mentor them someday and let them join the workshop.

But now, just as they were discussing this, he said he wasn't involved with the workshop anymore.

"Why, Jian Ge? Why quit when things were going well? Your workshop was so impressive in Legend."

Everyone spoke up, expressing their disappointment.

"Alright, don't be disappointed. I'm going to work on a website with my buddy."

"A website?"

"Yes."

"Wow, Jian Ge, that's so high-tech."

They were all extremely excited.

Earlier, when they heard that Zhang Jianming had started a gaming workshop, they had already been envious. Now, the workshop was turning into a website.

In the eyes of these vocational school students, it was like they were doing scientific research.

"Well, it's not that high-tech, just a small website selling game equipment. My buddy said he needs 10 people, and I was planning to recruit."

"Me, me, me! I'm in!"

As soon as they heard that Zhang Jianming needed 10 people, all of them raised their hands.

"Jian Ge, recruit me! I'll do anything, even fetch tea and sweep the floor."

"Jian Ge, pick me! Pick me! As long as you recruit me, I'll be your loyal lackey from now on."

"Jian Ge, Jian Ge..."