That evening, the four of them sat together in their dorm room, discussing their progress.
All eyes were on Zhang Wei first.
"So," Lin Feng began, "how's the app coming along?"
Zhang Wei cleared his throat.
"Making a full app won't be easy," he admitted. "But there's no need to be disappointed. I actually found something better."
The others wore curious expressions.
"I was thinking of making a WeChat mini program instead," he continued. "From my research, this is what most small to mid-sized businesses use. It's lighter, easier to develop, and - most importantly - we won't have to worry about receiving payments. Customers can pay directly through WeChat."
He paused.
"Though there will be a 1% cut for WeChat. And if we earn too much, we'll need proper certification."
Lin Feng nodded slowly. That sounded reasonable.
"Alright," he said. "You can work on that. Your role will be CTO - Chief Technology Officer."
Zhang Wei blinked but didn't protest.
"We don't need to worry too much about these titles right now," Lin Feng added. "They're mostly just on paper. But it's better to get used to the duties early, just in case we actually need to register as a real business later."
He then turned to Chen Ming, whose expression had already brightened in anticipation.
"You," Lin Feng said, "will be our CMO - Chief Marketing Officer. Your focus will be public relations. Marketing, customer outreach, building our reputation. That's your domain."
Chen Ming grinned widely. "Leave it to me!"
Lin Feng then looked at Li Jun.
"You'll be our Executive Director," he said. "And if we register officially, you'll also serve as our legal representative."
Li Jun raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
The reason Lin Feng made Li Jun the face of the company wasn't random. He remembered the rumors about Li Jun coming from a wealthy and well-connected family, possibly even connected to the government. If those rumors were true, having him as the public face could earn them favors and open doors that would otherwise remain shut.
Lin Feng decided to put it to the test.
"You'll handle our business relations," he said. "Your first task will be finding us a reliable supplier and maintaining a good relationship with them."
Li Jun simply nodded.
Lin Feng studied him for a moment, trying to read his expression.
Does he really have something in mind? If he really has connections, he might bring us great profits.
Only time would tell.
"What about you?" Chen Ming asked, turning to Lin Feng. "What will you be doing?"
"Me?" Lin Feng smiled. "I'm the strategist. So I guess I'll take on the role of Supervisor."
The others nodded in agreement.
"Now," Lin Feng said, his tone shifting to something more serious, "let's talk profit."
The room fell quiet.
"Even if this business really succeeds," he began, "the profit might not come instantly. The four of us each own 25% of the company. That's our equity - our wealth on paper. But it's hard to turn that into actual money unless one of us is willing to buy shares off the others for cash."
He shook his head.
"That wouldn't be good. It could lead to unfair treatment and resentment. I hope all of us can remain with equal ownership."
The others nodded slowly.
"Now, for actual money - salaries," Lin Feng continued. "We won't just take the profits and divide them four ways. If we do that, we'll burn through our capital and die quickly."
He held up a finger.
"Here's how I think we should handle it. We divide profit into two parts. The first half becomes business money - restocking, expenses, operations. Everything needed to keep us running."
He held up a second finger.
"The second half gets split again. Half of that - so 25% of total profit - goes into savings. Emergency funds. Money we set aside for rough moments. This doesn't get used to expand the business. It only gets touched if we're in trouble and need to pull ourselves out."
He paused.
"The remaining 25% of total profit is our share. We split that four ways, and that becomes our salary."
He let the numbers sink in.
"So basically: 50% for business expenses, 25% for savings, and 25% for salaries. Each of us makes about 6.25% of total profit."
He looked around the room.
"What do you think?"
Chen Ming whistled softly. "You really thought this through. As expected of the strategist."
"It sounds reasonable," Li Jun said with a nod.
"I'm okay with that," Zhang Wei added.
Lin Feng smiled.
"Then we're all in agreement."
…
[Personal Balance: ¥3,305.00]
Lin Feng observed his balance.
Both he and Chen Ming had sent 1,500 yuan to Li Jun, who would use it to find a supplier and purchase their initial stock. He would also look for an affordable storage room while he was at it.
"Since we're just testing the waters," Lin Feng said, "we shouldn't spend more than half the money on stock. Even if we get a good deal, it's best to give ourselves some breathing room."
He paused.
"This could help us out in case we encounter other issues - delayed payments, unexpected expenses, things like that."
Li Jun nodded. "Leave everything to me."
Lin Feng then turned to Chen Ming.
"You can continue with your surveys," he said, "I'll help you in remaking the survey to more accurately meet our current needs."
Chen Ming listened intently.
"Then, Monday evening after classes, you can track down the class monitors. They'll probably be creating group chats for their classes around that time. Once they do, you can request access and send a survey to the groups. But some leaders might not be so agreeable…"
Lin Feng glanced at Li Jun.
"So I suppose you should allocate a 'marketing budget' for him."
Li Jun nodded again.
After that, they discussed a few more details until it was finally time to sleep.
…
Lin Feng lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
He exhaled slowly.
Why am I trying so hard when I don't even know if this idea will work?
And even if it worked spectacularly - even if he could make a thousand yuan a month that entered his system balance - it was still nothing compared to his tutoring job. That alone added over four thousand to his system limit each month.
Still, maybe it wasn't a fair comparison.
After all, most of the business money would be tied up in shares, not direct income. And besides, money was one thing, but experience was something else entirely.
He was planning to make something of himself in this life.
He shouldn't be afraid of failure.
And even if he failed? In just a month, he should be able to recover more than his losses thanks to the system. The safety net was already there.
He suppressed his timid self - the voice in his head that always whispered what if it goes wrong?
He would see how things turned out.
And he would face them head on.
With that thought, he slowly drifted off to sleep.