Chapter 37: A Silly Fool Wants to Scam People?
Qianhai Town, Trendy Frontline Internet Cafe.
This internet cafe opened in 2006. It survived the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent decline of its industry as personal computers became commonplace. It didn’t close until 2018, presumably because the owner had finally earned enough.
The reason it lasted so long was that the owner was well-informed and had good connections.
He always managed to get the hottest and most popular games up and running, staying one step ahead of the competition.
With just this small internet cafe, over a decade of business had made Yang Baiwan a millionaire.
Internet cafes in town weren’t strict with rules. The two of them paid for an hour of computer time, found their assigned stations, and got online.
The first thing he did was check his college entrance exam score. It was 548, exactly as he remembered.
The cutoff score for a standard undergraduate arts program this year was 545, meaning he had passed by a mere three points.
Getting into a top-tier 985 or 211 university was a lost cause. Even slightly better-known schools and popular majors were off the table. He might, however, be able to snag a spot in an unpopular major at a good university if he got lucky.
But the Xu An of today didn’t need to worry about that.
He went to the university application page and, without batting an eye, entered Yan University for law and Shuimu University for business administration.
The dream he couldn’t fulfill in his past life was finally coming true in this one—applying to Yan University and Shuimu University!
As for whether he’d get accepted? Definitely not. The cutoff scores weren’t just for show.
He was just doing it for the thrill.
Xu Heping was happily playing a game nearby, glancing over occasionally to see what Xu An was up to. When he saw Xu An filling out his application, he asked casually, "What’d you score?"
"548."
"What schools are you planning to apply to?"
"Yan University for law and Shuimu University for business administration."
The broadsword wielded by Xu Heping’s game character froze mid-swing. The monster, however, didn’t stop its attack and swiped at his character with its claws.
KO.
"Anzi, my grades aren’t great, but even I know you can’t just apply to those schools unless you score over 620. Your 548 isn’t bad, but it’s a long way from getting into either of them. Maybe you should lower your sights a little?" Xu Heping suggested cautiously, afraid he might set Xu An off.
After all, only a crazy person would dare to apply to the nation’s two top universities with a score of 548.
After clicking the "confirm" button, Xu An closed the application webpage.
"Just messing with you."
"Damn it, how did my character die?!"
Xu Heping breathed a sigh of relief. He turned back to his game, only to find the "GAME OVER" screen staring back at him.
With his main task at the internet cafe complete, Xu An opened a browser and started reading the news.
The top of the page showed recent news reports, covering everything from neighborhood gossip to national policy.
’EatUp iOS App Version 2.0 Coming Soon.’
’So EatUp launched its app this year, huh? And they only released an iOS version at first.’
’Looks like the food delivery industry is just starting to take off, but a lot of people can already see the huge business opportunities.’
’By 2013, there would be over five thousand websites and apps related to food delivery. Mealtopia was the one that clawed its way out of that bloodbath, becoming a beast capable of rivaling EatUp.’
The creation of EatUp was a complete coincidence. A few university students, after an all-night gaming session, had called a nearby restaurant to order food, which the owner then delivered to the entrance of their dorm.
While they ate, they started talking about it. The conversation took on a life of its own, and soon they had the idea of starting a business.
They were men of action. They even found an ace from the computer science department to join them, and in 2008, they founded the EatUp app.
At first, they just aggregated local businesses to serve students on campus. Later, after securing investment, they began to expand rapidly.
Online ordering, dedicated delivery!
Xu An suddenly froze.
That’s it!
’How did I not think of that!’
He could switch from an on-demand sales model to a pre-order system. He could determine the next day’s demand for boxed lunches a day in advance and prepare exactly that amount.
That way, he would avoid situations where eighty people wanted to buy a meal, but he had only prepared thirty.
He could also avoid preparing eighty meals when only thirty people wanted to buy one.
Two locations were particularly suitable targets: the Zijing Garden construction site and the Hai City Nautical College.
’Why not run a trial at the Zijing Garden construction site?’
Xu An slowly turned his head toward Xu Heping, his eyes locking onto him.
Xu Heping, who was happily grinding monsters, felt a chill run down his spine. He fumbled his next few moves and ended up getting reverse-swept by the boss in a fight he should have easily won.
Damn it!
Xu Heping ripped off his headphones and slammed his mouse down, about to complain to Xu An, when he saw Xu An staring at him with a calculating glint in his eyes.
"Heping, you just said demand for the boxed lunches at the Zijing Garden site has gone up, right? That a lot of workers wanted to buy one today but couldn’t because you ran out, right?"
Xu Heping couldn’t quite grasp what Xu An was getting at, but he nodded instinctively.
"When you set up your stall tomorrow, bring a pen and paper and ask them if they want to pre-order lunch for the day after. If they do, you take down their name and collect the payment. What do you think?"
"I don’t think that’ll work. They’d have to pay before even seeing the food. They’ll worry we’ll just take their money and run," Xu Heping said, shaking his head after a moment of thought. He thought the plan had little chance of success.
"Just give it a try. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, we don’t lose anything," Xu An said, his voice like a devil whispering in Heping’s ear, each word dripping with temptation.
Xu An placed a hand on Xu Heping’s shoulder, speaking persuasively.
"If they accept the pre-order model, you’ll only have to drop off the lunches and leave. You won’t have to wait around all day for customers anymore.
Then, you could go back to the village to play marbles with the kids, climb trees, and catch fish in the river.
You could be lying in a rocking chair, enjoying the breeze from a fan, playing on your phone without a care in the world, and no one would bother you."
Every word from Xu An painted a peaceful, idyllic scene in Xu Heping’s mind, sparking his imagination.
’Maybe I should just give it a try?’
The next day, Xu Heping arrived at the entrance of the Zijing Garden construction site, carrying thirty boxed lunches, a notebook, and a pen.
Perhaps because the meals had sold out so quickly the day before, a large crowd of workers was already waiting when he arrived at eleven.
Looking at the crowd of workers, Xu Heping didn’t immediately take out the lunches. Instead, he pulled out his notebook and pen and cleared his throat.
"Alright everyone, listen up! Business has been booming lately, and we’re having a hard time guessing how many lunches to make. This means a lot of you have been missing out on our food.
So we’ve come up with a solution: a pre-order system!
If you want to buy lunch tomorrow, you can sign up and pay with me today. We’ll set a meal aside just for you, so you’ll never have to worry about us selling out again."
The crowd fell utterly silent, just as Xu Heping had feared.
Even the people who had just been shouting for him to start selling went quiet.
Xu Heping could perfectly read the message in their eyes and expressions.
’Is this kid nuts?’
’Is he trying to scam us?’
’Not a chance!’
AHEM.
After a couple of awkward coughs, Xu Heping slowly lowered his raised hands.
"Put me down for one."
The speaker was Xu Dongliang, who was on his way home for lunch and happened to pass by and witness the awkward scene.
He was family, after all, and couldn’t just stand by and watch the boy be humiliated. So he stepped in to save the situation.
Xu Heping looked at Uncle Dongliang, his eyes welling up with tears.
’Uncle! You’re a true uncle!’
With Xu Dongliang having broken the ice, some of the other workers started to react.
"So, are you still gonna be here tomorrow?"
"I am!"
"I work close to the gate, so I’ll just buy one directly. No need to pre-order."
The worker chuckled, grabbed a boxed lunch, paid, and left.
The other workers followed suit, coming up to buy their lunches. Many of them were chattering about the pre-order idea.
The consensus, however, was that the lunch-stall kid was getting greedy.
In the end, all thirty lunches sold out, but only four people signed up to pre-order for the next day.
’Sigh. I told him it wouldn’t work, but Anzi just wouldn’t listen.’
Xu Heping tossed the notebook back into his box, found a shady spot, and plucked a leaf to chew on. He crossed his legs, pulled out his phone, and happily started playing.