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

After hanging up the phone, Yang Fan's gaze fell on the computer screen.

There, in the document, was Zhou Jin's operating report for the e-sports hotel in August.

Since its opening in early May, the "Xinghai Esports Hotel" has been doing brisk business.

Net profit was 24.2 in May, 40.1 in June, and slightly decreased in July during the summer vacation, but still reached 32.

In August, as students returned to school, the number rebounded, reaching 38.5.

Cumulative net profit over four months: 134.8 million.

According to the initial settings of the investment system, an investment of three million was required to achieve a return on investment of more than 20% within twelve months, that is, a profit of at least 60.

Now, in just four months, the profit has exceeded 134 million.

Return on investment: 44.93%.

It far exceeds the system's required 20% threshold.

Yang Fan took a deep breath and opened the investment system interface.

A pale blue light curtain unfolded before my eyes.

[Investment Project]: "Xinghai Esports Hotel Equipment Solutions" service

[Investment Target]: Zhou Jin

Investment Amount: 3,000,000 yuan

[Investment Time]: May 1st

[Agreed Period]: 12 months

[Profitability Requirement]: Return on investment ≥ 20%

[Current Status]: Completed (Return on Investment 44.93%)

[System Verification]: Investment Successful

Below is a line of striking gold text:

[Congratulations, host, on completing your first successful investment!]

According to the investment rebate rules, you will now receive double your investment: 6,000,000 yuan.

[Already deposited into the system's fund pool, ready to be withdrawn to any account under the host's name at any time]

[Also awarded: 30,00 investment coins]

Current investment coin balance: 30,00

Yang Fan stared at the string of numbers, his heart beating slightly faster.

Six million.

More importantly, these three thousand investment coins.

He immediately opened the system store.

A dazzling list of props appeared before my eyes.

"Beginner to Advanced Cooking": 100 Investment Coins

"Introduction to Store Management": 80 Investment Coins

"Practical Skills in Business Negotiation": 600 Investment Coins

"After-Sales Service System Construction": 400 Investment Coins

……

He could only look at these props before, because he didn't have a single investment coin.

Now, he has 30,000.

You can buy almost all the items in the beginner section of the store.

Yang Fan didn't rush to buy anything; instead, he first brought up his mother Wang Xiuying's control panel.

[Key Weaknesses]: Never independently operated a store before, zero management experience; lack of financial knowledge...

[Recommended Empowerment Tools]: "Store Operations Management from Zero to One" (150 Investment Coins), "Introduction to Finance in the Catering Industry" (100 Investment Coins)

Without hesitation, he purchased two props, specifying that they should be used on Wang Xiuying.

Purchase successful! 250 investment coins deducted.

The item has taken effect, and its effects will gradually become apparent over the next week.

Next, he found Lin's mother's control panel and purchased "Beginner's Cooking Mastery".

Then I brought up Zhou Jin's panel and purchased "Practical Skills in Business Negotiation" and "After-Sales Service System Construction".

Finally, he thought about it and bought Zhou Yao a copy of "Introduction to Store Management" as well—although the girl was already doing well, she could do even better.

After all that, I spent less than two thousand investment coins.

Yang Fan looked at the remaining thousand-plus investment coins and finally stopped.

With these tools, the success rate of his investments will increase significantly.

And he has more projects to invest in next.

Chen Mo's AI team has moved into the computer lab provided by the school, all the equipment is in place, and model training is progressing smoothly.

Zhang Xiaowen's beauty studio is now on the right track, with her fan base growing to 150,000 and she starting to receive brand collaborations.

There are also a few projects that Xiaoya recently recommended—one focuses on campus cultural and creative products, and another on a platform for second-hand textbooks—both of which have great potential.

He will scan them one by one and select the most worthwhile investments.

And all of this is just the beginning.

Just as Yang Fan was checking the system's earnings, Chen Zhiyuan was throwing a tantrum in an office building on the other side of the city.

"Eight hundred thousand! Eight hundred thousand thrown in, and this is all we get?"

He pointed at the data on the computer screen and roared into the phone:

"Chen Yi, what did you tell me back then?"

"Over 100,000 users in three months!"

"And now?"

"It's been three months, and we still have less than a thousand paying users!"

On the other end of the phone, Chen Yi's voice sounded somewhat weak:

"Mr. Chen, please don't worry... we are already adjusting our strategy."

"We've been in talks with several educational institutions about collaborations recently, and once we reach an agreement..."

"Talk my ass!" Chen Zhiyuan interrupted him.

"I asked some friends in the industry, and your algorithm is basically a copy of Stanford's open-source code. You just made a few minor modifications and call it your own independent research and development!"

"And you know perfectly well how much of that internal testing data is inflated!"

Chen Yi fell silent.

A few seconds later, he lowered his voice:

"Mr. Chen, you know about this... When starting a business, you always have to use some tricks at the beginning."

"Once things get going, who cares how you started?"

Chen Zhiyuan trembled with anger: "Get it done? What are you going to use to get it done?"

"Yang Fan was right not to vote for you!"

"Someone like you is not trustworthy at all!"

"President Chen..." Chen Yi's tone turned cold, "You've already invested the money, what's the point of saying all this now?"

"Why don't we think about how to revive the project?"

"Give me another 500,000, and I promise..."

"Guarantee my ass!" Chen Zhiyuan hung up the phone immediately.

He slumped into the boss's chair, looking at the city night view outside the window, a deep sense of frustration welling up inside him.

More than a million yuan went down the drain.

And what about Yang Fan?

The e-sports hotel he invested in is booming; the billiard hall he invested in is operating stably; and all the other small projects he invested in are doing quite well.

"Could it be... that I really misjudged him?"

Chen Zhiyuan muttered to himself.

But soon, his eyes turned fierce again.

No, it's impossible.

Yang Fan was just lucky.

He was determined to show Lin Qingyue who truly had discerning eyes.

With that in mind, Chen Zhiyuan sat up straight again, turned on his computer, and began searching for new investment projects.

He wants to prove with his actions that he is better than Yang Fan.

Meanwhile, in the university town, night was falling.

The "Star Billiards Club" was still brightly lit, with bursts of laughter and the sound of billiard balls clashing coming from inside.

In the lobby of the "Xinghai Esports Hotel", several students were checking in with their suitcases, their faces full of anticipation.

The "Qianweifang" hot pot restaurant had just closed, and Lin Xiaoyu was checking today's sales figures with a faint smile on her lips.

Yang Fan stood on his balcony, gazing at the vibrant university town with a distant look in his eyes.

The first pot of gold from the investment returns has been earned.

The road ahead is still long.

And he was ready.