Going home for the Chinese New Year with a year-end bonus of 100 million

By mid-March, all students had returned to school.

The shop was packed with students, the eight tables had a very high turnover rate, and there were seven or eight people queuing outside.

"Sister Xiaoyu, one more beef roll for table number three!"

"Okay, coming right away!"

Lin Xiaoyu skillfully operated the POS system, turned around and called out to the kitchen, then quickly walked towards the students queuing at the door.

"Student, there are two tables ahead of us, about fifteen minutes away. You can take a look at the menu first."

She handed over the menu, her voice gentle yet clear.

In the kitchen, three women were busy running around.

Lin's mother was tending to three large soup pots, where the milky white bean and rice soup was bubbling away.

Wang Xiuying and Li Cuihua worked together, one cutting and preparing the ingredients while the other washed them. Vegetables were brought in from the front of the house like a flowing stream, and the prepared ingredients were continuously sent out.

"Mom, how many pots have we cooked today?" Xiaoya came in carrying an empty pot, her forehead beaded with sweat.

"This is the fifth batch." Lin's mother wiped her sweat, but a smile graced her face.

"There are so many people today."

"Of course!" Xiaoya said proudly.

"Our store is now a popular spot in the university town!"

"When I scroll through Douyin (TikTok), at least three out of ten videos are of people checking in at our store!"

She glanced at the clock on the wall—2:30 p.m.

Normally, there would be fewer customers at this time, but today the restaurant was still full of six tables, and there were people waiting at the door.

"How much is the turnover?" Xiaoya asked, approaching the cashier.

Lin Xiaoyu glanced at the system:

"It's already over 3,100 since this morning. The evening market hasn't even started yet."

"My goodness..." Xiaoya stuck out her tongue:

"At this rate, breaking 6,000 today will be a piece of cake!"

……

On the second floor, Yang Fan stood by the window, looking down at the bustling scene below.

The glass doors of the hot pot restaurant opened and closed repeatedly, with customers coming and going.

The students queuing at the entrance chatted and laughed, some taking photos with their phones, and others scrolling through short videos—these videos might very well feature "Qianweifang".

Business is indeed good.

It was even better than he had expected.

In less than a month since it opened, the daily turnover has steadily increased from more than 1,000 yuan to more than 4,500 yuan now, and can even reach nearly 6,000 to 7,000 yuan on weekends.

After deducting costs, the net profit can reach about 40%.

In other words, this small shop, with an investment of less than 150,000 yuan, can generate a net profit of 70,000 to 80,000 yuan per month.

What made Yang Fan even more gratified was the state of his family.

My mother, Wang Xiuying, used to work as a cook on construction sites, always covered in dust and dirt. Now, she wears a clean apron and bustles around the shop, always with a smile on her face.

My third uncle and aunt are the same. They used to farm and do odd jobs in their hometown. Their income was unstable and their work was hard. Now that they have stable jobs and income, they are much more energetic.

Needless to say, Lin's mother was also a great help.

This woman, who had spent half her life cooking in the countryside but had never truly been "seen," has now become the core of the shop's technical team.

Every time she hears a customer praise the taste, her eyes light up and she straightens her back even more.

And Lin Xiaoyu.

This gentle and thoughtful girl is now the "face" of the store.

She is patient, considerate, and has a genuine smile; many repeat customers come specifically to her.

Everything is going in a good direction.

But Yang Fan's thoughts went beyond that.

He turned and looked out the window at a more distant place.

That was the construction site of the e-sports hotel that he had invested in Zhou Jin.

Scaffolding has been erected on the exterior walls of the four-story building, and the green protective netting is particularly eye-catching in the sunlight.

According to Zhou Jin's schedule, the renovation will take another month or so, the equipment purchase contract has been finalized, and the goal of opening before May Day should be achievable.

Yang Fan invested three million in this project.

According to the rules of the investment rebate system, as long as Zhou Jin's company can achieve an investment return rate of more than 20% within the agreed period, the system will return double his investment amount - six million.

Furthermore, he will be rewarded with 30,000 investment coins.

Thirty thousand investment coins...

Yang Fan recalled the dazzling array of items in the system's shop—"Beginner's Cooking Mastery," "Introduction to Store Management," "Practical Business Negotiation Skills," and so on...

Any one of these can significantly increase the success rate of investments.

But now, he doesn't have a single investment coin.

The only ongoing investment project is Zhou Jin's.

Although the probability of success is high—the system panel shows a 68% success rate even without any items—the wait is just too long.

Moreover, he is fully capable of undertaking more projects during this period.

"Investing is the most worthwhile thing..." Yang Fan murmured to himself.

Invest in it, and you can double your money back.

This doesn't even include the money earned from the investment projects themselves.

He's guaranteed to make a profit just from the system's refunds.

Although he doesn't currently have investment coins to buy items in the store, he can easily find someone similar to Zhou Jin—someone with business acumen, low risk after system scanning, and a high success rate.

What the university town has in abundance is young people with this kind of drive.

That money is just sitting in the bank account, just numbers.

Investing his money not only makes him money, but also gives him investment coins—something more important to him than money.

With this in mind, Yang Fan came up with a bold plan.

He planned to ask Xiaoya, Zhou Yao, Zhou Jin, and Lin Xiaoyu to help him find a partner.

They are college students, they know the university town best, and they must have many thoughtful and capable classmates and friends around them.

Asking them for recommendations and then having them scan and filter using the system would be much more efficient.

"Let's do it this way."

Yang Fan took out his phone and sent a message in a small group chat.

[Yang Fan]: At 7 PM, after the hot pot restaurant closes, let's all have a meeting on the second floor. We need to discuss something.

The message was sent out and a reply came immediately.

[Xiaoya]: Received! Bro, what's up? You're being so mysterious.

[Zhou Yao]: Big brother, I'm here on time! Is there anything I need to bring?

[Zhou Jin]: Brother Fan, I finish at the construction site at six o'clock, I'll definitely be there before seven!

[Lin Xiaoyu]: Okay, bro.

Yang Fan looked at the screen and smiled.

[Yang Fan]: Nothing much, just wanted to chat about our plans. See you tonight.

……

The hot pot restaurant closed at 7 p.m.

Wang Xiuying, Li Cuihua, and Lin's mother were doing the final cleaning on the first floor, while Yang Jianguo, Yang Jianmin, and Yang Hao had already gone home.

Five people sat around a round table in a small private room on the second floor.

Xiaoya, Zhou Yao, Zhou Jin, Lin Xiaoyu, and Yang Fan.

Several cups of milk tea were placed on the table—Xiaoya had specially bought them, saying that meetings should have a sense of ceremony.

"Brother, what's going on?" Xiaoya took a sip of her milk tea and asked curiously, "It's so formal."

Zhou Yao leaned closer: "Big brother, is there any new development at the e-sports hotel?"

Zhou Jin sat upright, looking as if he was "ready to serve at any time".

Lin Xiaoyu sat quietly, her gaze fixed on Yang Fan's face.

Yang Fan glanced around and slowly spoke:

"I called everyone here today because I have an idea and would like to hear your opinions."

He paused, then continued:

"As you all know, I invested in Zhou Jin's e-sports hotel project."

"This project is progressing smoothly and is expected to open before May Day."

Zhou Jin immediately nodded: "Don't worry, Brother Fan, I'll keep an eye on it. It will definitely be finished on time!"

Yang Fan smiled and continued:

"But besides this project, I also have some idle funds."

"Money in the bank is just a number."

"I was thinking... could I take it out and do something more meaningful with it?"

He looked at the group of young people present:

"What this university town has in abundance is young people with ideas and drive."

"Many people have good ideas and good projects, but they lack start-up capital and an opportunity."

"Therefore, I plan to set aside a sum of money to invest specifically in these young people with dreams."

The room fell silent instantly upon hearing this.

Xiaoya's eyes widened: "Brother, you...you want to invest again?"

Zhou Yao was also stunned: "Big brother, you just invested three million in Zhou Jin, and now... you're going to invest again?"

Zhou Jin pushed up his glasses, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke:

"Brother Fan, investing involves risks."

"Especially when investing in young people... Many projects sound great, but in reality, the failure rate is very high."

Lin Xiaoyu said softly, "Brother, Zhou Jin is right."

"There are many startup teams at our school. They start with great ambitions, but very few of them actually succeed."

Yang Fan had anticipated their reaction.

He couldn't reveal the system's secret, so he had to find other reasons.

"I know there are risks," Yang Fan said calmly, "but risks also mean opportunities."

"Think about it, why do you think Zhou Jin's project has the potential to succeed?"

He looked at Zhou Jin: "Because he has the skills, understands the market, has resources, and he is serious and hardworking."

"These are the foundations of success."

"The university town is so big, there must be more than one young man like Zhou Jin."

"Some people may be good at creating social media content, some may understand e-commerce, and some may have unique creative ideas... What they lack is an opportunity and some start-up capital."

Yang Fan paused, looking at everyone:

"And I am willing to give them this opportunity."

Xiaoya frowned: "Brother, I'm not against you investing, but... this is too risky."

"What if we lose money?"

"I accept the loss," Yang Fan said, "but I trust my judgment."

He smiled, his tone becoming more relaxed:

"Besides, don't you think this is a very meaningful thing?"

"Helping young people with dreams realize their ideals, watching them go from nothing to something, turning their ideas into reality... this sense of accomplishment is more important than making money."