The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 252 Come on, let's drink this bowl of toxic chicken soup for entrepreneurship together!

The next morning, Xie Wanghe woke up thirsty.

I opened my eyes, my mouth was dry, and my head was throbbing.

Where am I?

Xie Wanghe propped himself up on the bed and looked around before confirming that he was lying in a hotel or inn room.

The latter is more likely.

Because there was a plasma TV on the cabinet directly opposite the foot of the bed.

Xie Wanghe also has one of these at home.

At the beginning of the century, the Grand Canal shipping industry had not yet declined, and Xie Tiancheng, the father of a boat captain, bought it for a sky-high price of more than 20,000 yuan.

Xie Wanghe still clearly remembers that when the TV was bought, it caused a sensation throughout the entire Flower Street. Adults and children alike came to his house to watch the excitement; he was quite the celebrity.

In less than ten years, plasma TVs, once synonymous with high-end products, have been reduced to being sold by weight like scrap.

Even slightly better hotels have LCD TVs in their rooms.

In a big city like Beijing, these old-fashioned plasma TVs can only be found in small hotel rooms.

So this is a small hotel near Yanhang?
Xie Wanghe rubbed his temples vigorously.

Besides a headache, he also drank himself into oblivion.

The last memory in my mind was of myself talking endlessly to Zhou Haikuo at a dinner table about my business plans.

It seemed that Zhou Haikuo kept pouring himself more wine.

As for how I got drunk and how I was taken to a hotel, I have absolutely no memory of it.

correct!

Xie Wanghe slapped his forehead, remembering something even more important.

It seems I've invited Zhou Haikuo to join me.

Did Zhou Haikuo agree or not?
Xie Wanghe searched all over his body but couldn't find his phone. He finally found it next to his pillow.

There's one bar of battery left.

Xie Wanghe immediately called Zhou Haikuo.

"woke up?"

"I'm sorry, I drank a bit too much last night."

"You don't need to talk to me about this. If you really want to apologize, go talk to Da Hua Zi. She called me again last night to ask why my phone was off. She called again this morning. I didn't mention that you were drinking. I might have said your phone was dead. Don't forget to mention it when you call back."

Xie Wanghe did need to make a phone call to Xia Fenghua to let her know, but before that, he needed to clarify one thing first.

"I talked to you about starting a business last night—"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Haikuo interrupted him on the other end of the phone.

You drank too much last night.

The implication was that he simply assumed those were Xie Wanghe's drunken ramblings.

Xie Wanghe felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water, and his heart sank.

Even though he knew Zhou Haikuo didn't want to explicitly refuse, Xie Wanghe still pressed for an answer.

"why?"

"Do you know what you talked about most last night?"

"Start a business!"

“No, it’s New Dream!” Zhou Haikuo corrected.

To be precise, it is the entrepreneurial story of the three founders of New Dream: Cheng Dongqing, Meng Xiaojun, and Wang Yang.

"You said you liked Cheng Dongqing's grassroots success story the most, admired Meng Xiaojun's vision the most, and respected Wang Yang's strong sense of loyalty the most."

Xie Wanghe didn't remember whether he had said these things while drunk, but judging from the content, it seemed like he had said them.

Moreover, Xie Wanghe believed that Zhou Haikuo had no reason to lie to him.

I just don't understand why Zhou Haikuo is telling me all this.
"You know the entrepreneurial story of the three partners of New Dream like the back of your hand, but do you know what a classic quote Wang Yang once said at his wedding?"

As soon as Zhou Haikuo finished speaking on the other end of the phone, Xie Wanghe already knew what Zhou Haikuo wanted to say.

Never play mahjong with your mother-in-law!

Never sleep with a woman who has more ideas than you!

Never start a company with your best friend!

Especially the third one.

Although he understood Zhou Haikuo's intentions, Xie Wanghe was still unwilling to give up and wanted to try one last time.

"When Wang Yang said this, the three founders of New Dream were having disagreements about whether to go public. They later reconciled, which led to New Dream's listing on Nasdaq last year. In a later interview, Wang Yang said that he wanted to take back what he said at the wedding."

"But I think what Wang Yang said at the wedding was the truth, and what he said later was just for show."

Xie Wanghe stood there, stunned, holding his phone.

As an adult, Xie Wanghe knew that what Zhou Haikuo said was the truth.

However, this truth is too cruel for Xie Wanghe now.

It's worth noting that when Zhou Haikuo first started his business, he sold his computer to raise money for travel expenses to support himself.

However, while their friendship remains unchanged, Zhou Haikuo has made the exact opposite choice.

"why?"

Xie Wang and the soul ask questions.

Having reached this point, Zhou Haikuo no longer intended to hide it.

"On the first day of school, I met a girl named Jiang Xiaohui."

Xie Wanghe was stunned again.

He had thought of many reasons why Zhou Haikuo rejected him, and he had also figured out how to refute them.

But the sudden appearance of Jiang Xiaohui left Xie Wanghe speechless.

"I had been trying to get close to her, but I hadn't made much progress until I started my internship at Shanye Technology. Only then did Xiaohui start to think highly of me. Not long ago, Xiaohui and I got together."

Xie Wanghe knew that as a good brother, he should say something when he heard the good news that Zhou Haikuo had found a girlfriend.

But the words "Congratulations" stuck in my throat, and I just couldn't say them.

Xie Wanghe could ask Zhou Haikuo to give up his internship at Shanye Technology and the opportunity to join Zuoyebang's new company, so that he could gamble on an uncertain future with him.

However, Xie Wanghe couldn't ask Zhou Haikuo to give up his girlfriend and accompany him to start a business regardless of the consequences.

Moreover, Zhou Haikuo's initiative in telling Xie Wanghe about this was tantamount to having already made his choice.

"Wang He, I'm so sorry!"

Zhou Haikuo's last words completely chilled Xie Wanghe's heart.

The two are good brothers, and even if Zhou Haikuo is unwilling to start a business with him, he doesn't need to apologize like this.

But Zhou Haikuo still spoke up.

It wasn't that Zhou Haikuo didn't want to be good brothers with Xie Wanghe anymore, but rather that Zhou Haikuo did something that seemed perfectly right to others, but was tantamount to betrayal in Xie Wanghe's eyes.

Zhou Haikuo told Yang Muye about Xie Wanghe's plans to start a second business.

This can be considered a "pledge of allegiance".

Xie Wanghe was naturally furious about being betrayed by his best friend. But he couldn't bring himself to utter any words of resentment or accusation.

It was I who told Yang Muye in front of him that I had given up on the idea of ​​starting an online question bank, which is why Yang Muye "modified" the online question bank into the current Zuoyebang.

Previously, it could be said that Zuoyebang "copied" the idea of ​​online question banks.

Now, Xie Wanghe's second venture has become a "copy" of Zuoyebang's ideas.

Under these circumstances, how could Xie Wanghe still have the face to accuse Zhou Haikuo of informing Yang Muye?
Even after learning that Zhou Haikuo had betrayed him, Xie Wanghe felt a sense of relief.

Yang Muye's close friends, including Zhou Haikuo, Shao Xingchi, Xia Fenghua, and Ma Siyi, all have some degree of vested interest in him.

In comparison, Zhou Haikuo being the informant was the most acceptable situation for Xie Wanghe.

If it had been Shao Xingchi or Xia Fenghua who had informed on him, Xie Wanghe would have been furious.

If Ma Siyi had informed on him, Xie Wanghe wouldn't just be angry, but utterly despairing.

After taking two deep breaths, Xie Wanghe quickly adjusted his mindset.

"Hai Kuo, you don't need to blame yourself. I respect your decision, and I can assure you that even if we don't start a business together, it won't affect our relationship at all. Maybe you're right, good friends really aren't suitable to be business partners."

"Wanghe, I'm really sorry. If you ever need any help in the future, please don't hesitate to ask."

Xie Wanghe switched the phone to his other hand.

"Forget about later, I need your help right now. Since you're unwilling to start a business with me, then you're responsible for finding someone who can replace you. Let me make this clear, I don't want someone whose skills aren't as good as yours!"

The request sounded a bit difficult, but Zhou Haikuo on the other end of the phone breathed a sigh of relief.

If a good friend asks you for help, it means he still truly considers you a good friend.

"Let me put it this way: among the people I know, those classmates who are more technically skilled than me either want to start their own businesses or have already been recruited by various teams. It's really hard to find someone who meets your requirements."

The key issue is that people may not even be interested in your startup project.

Of course, Zhou Haikuo did not say this explicitly.

Xie Wanghe was slightly disappointed after hearing this, but still wanted to try one last time.

"Are there really no suitable candidates to recommend?"

"You know what, there really is one. His name is Na Jun, and he's my classmate. I'll send you his QQ number. You can talk to him yourself later. Whether you can convince him depends on your skills."

Zhou Haikuo has truly done his best to help.

After hanging up the phone, Xie Wanghe quickly washed up.

After checking out, I didn't go back to school, but went straight to the nearest internet cafe.

After turning on the computer and sitting down, Xie Wanghe immediately logged into QQ.

He first sent a friend request to Na Jun using the QQ number Zhou Haikuo had sent him.

Only after finishing did he pick up his instant noodles, eating them while waiting for Na Jun to accept his friend request.

I finished the whole bowl of noodles, even drank all the soup, but I still didn't receive a message that my friend request had been accepted.

Xie Wanghe wanted to call Zhou Haikuo to ask what was going on, but when he took out his phone, he realized what was happening.

It's a little past 9 a.m. now, and Na Jun is probably in class.

We can only wait patiently.

Unfortunately, Xie Wanghe's mind was preoccupied with starting a business, and he desperately needed someone to talk to.

I went through my entire friend list but couldn't find a suitable person to chat with.

At this moment, Xie Wanghe remembered a Yenching University student entrepreneurship exchange group that he had joined when he attended a school entrepreneurship lecture.

There was a guy named Yun Zhiyao in the group. Xie Wanghe had chatted with him twice before and they got along quite well.

Upon opening the QQ group and seeing that Yun Zhiyao was online, Xie Wanghe immediately sent a friend request to her.

"Drip drip!"

The friend request was accepted, and Yun Zhiyao sent a message.

"Going online so early? Don't you have classes this morning?"

Xie Wanghe typed a reply:

Aren't you online too?

"I'm online checking some information. What do you need me for?"

Of course I have something to say, otherwise I wouldn't have added you as a friend!
Xie Wanghe's fingers flew across the keyboard, typing out a line of text:

"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Xie Wanghe, and I majored in economics at Renmin University."

Seeing Xie Wanghe speak so solemnly, Yun Zhiyao's attitude also became serious:

"What a coincidence, we have the same surname. My name is Xie Zhiyao, and I majored in investment at the Central University of Finance and Economics."

Xie Wanghe stared wide-eyed at the computer screen.

What a coincidence!

Of course, Xie Wanghe wasn't referring to the fact that they both shared the same surname, but rather to their professions.

For an internet startup project, product, operation, and capital are all indispensable.

As for operations, Xie Wanghe was naturally in charge.

As for product development, once Na Jun is dealt with, the problem is solved.

What we lack right now is someone who is good at dealing with capital.

Xie Zhiyao happened to be studying investment, so wasn't this like a godsend?
Do you remember what we were talking about in the group chat before?

"I remember, didn't we talk about how New Dreams succeeded in starting its business?"

As Xie Zhiyao typed a reply to the message, he silently thought to himself:
What, you want to debate with me whether Cheng Dongqing or Meng Xiaojun played the biggest role in the success of New Dream?
Xie Wanghe supported Cheng Dongqing at the time, while Xie Zhiyao supported Meng Xiaojun.

The two became acquainted through this debate in the group chat.

“I heard yesterday that New Dream plans to invest in a startup called ‘Zuoyebang’. My friend is interning at that company, and I learned some related information from him.”

After reading Xie Wanghe's message, Xie Zhiyao typed a reply with a puzzled look:
"so what?"

“When I was in my second year of high school, I started an online question bank project. I even secretly went to Beijing to look for investment without telling my family. But I was turned down everywhere and almost didn’t even have the money to go back.”

Xie Zhiyao typed a message of comfort:

"This is still better than many people."

"But do you know what? The 'Homework Helper' that New Dream is preparing to invest in is actually based on my online question bank with some modifications. The general idea is the same. Don't you admire Meng Xiaojun's vision? Investing in 'Homework Helper' is undoubtedly Meng Xiaojun's doing."

From various interviews and materials about the three founders of New Dream, it can be seen that Cheng Dongqing is relatively conservative.

New Dream got into a copyright lawsuit in the United States and, unable to reach a settlement, chose to list on Nasdaq to confront the other party head-on.

Meng Xiaojun, on the other hand, is a radical; he was always at the forefront, from the company's IPO to embracing the internet.

Xie Zhiyao agrees with Xie Wanghe's assessment.

He just couldn't understand why Xie Wanghe was telling him this.
Just as I was wondering, Xie Wanghe sent another message.

"I plan to upgrade and revamp the online question bank, and then seek investment like 'Zuoyebang' did. Right now, I'm missing a visionary partner like Meng Xiaojun. So, are you interested in this project?"

You want to join me in starting a business together?
Xie Zhiyao was stunned.

If it weren't for the previous debate with Xie Wanghe in the group chat, where neither side could convince the other, Xie Zhiyao would definitely have thought that this was another pyramid scheme trying to trick him into joining.

But now, Xie Zhiyao is indeed a little tempted.

　Cheng Dongqing (Huang Xiaoming), Meng Xiaojun (Deng Chao), and Wang Yang (Tong Dawei) – from the movie "American Dreams in China"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)