Some people, you always thought they were professional private detectives with top-notch skills, but after two lifetimes you finally accept the truth: they’re just serial entrepreneurs who keep failing spectacularly.
It took Wen Ying two whole lives to internalise Old Luo’s true persona, and now tonight, out of nowhere, the man has reinvented himself as a driver!
Come to think of it, the last time she saw Old Luo was still after last year’s Shanghai signing.
Mr and Mrs Wu personally drove Wen Ying back to the hotel. Just as she was about to text Xie Qian to check something, Wang Shuang’s call came first. “Great Author, late-night snack?”
“No thanks, I’m trying to lose weight!”
Wang Shuang enthusiastically persisted. Wen Ying shut him down cleanly. He choked for a second, then tried again. “Fine, not tonight. Can I book you for lunch tomorrow?”
Wen Ying finally smelled something fishy. “You’re being this persistent. You need a favour, right?”
Wang Shuang hemmed and hawed. “…I want you to help me raise some investment.”
Wen Ying’s interest was instantly piqued. She teased, “Did I hear that right? Young Master Shuang is asking me for investment? Your family fortune is how many times bigger than mine, and you have the face to try scraping oil off a skinny chicken leg?”
Wang Shuang justified himself confidently. “Family money only counts if my parents are willing to give it to me. If they don’t want to, I can’t force them. Money I earn myself is different. It’s 100 % mine to control. After thinking it over, everything the family gives me is fake. I still have to start my own business—”
Wen Ying cut off his long speech. “Skip the nonsense. How much of that money do you still have?”
At Spring Festival, Tianjiao distributed dividends. Mrs Wang gave Wang Shuang 400,000 yuan to manage himself.
Half a year had passed. Wen Ying wanted to know how much was left.
Wang Shuang was, after all, a second-gen rich kid used to the good life. When pocket money was plentiful he spent like water with no plan. Later, when he had to earn his own spending money, he found it extremely uncomfortable.
After a long period of financial tightness, suddenly having 400,000 in cash at his disposal. Wen Ying suspected he wouldn’t be able to control himself.
She wasn’t trying to look down on him, but if he hadn’t spent a single yuan of that 400,000, why would he need to ask her for investment? For a university student starting a business, 400,000 in seed money was genuinely more than enough!
“I’ve… used a little…”
Wang Shuang tried to gloss over it. Wen Ying wasn’t so easy to fool.
Under her relentless questioning, he finally confessed. “A bit over ten thousand left.”
Wen Ying was genuinely shocked. “That was 400,000! In half a year you’ve burned through it until less than 20,000 remains? You’re done for. From now on, Auntie Dong definitely won’t let you touch Tianjiao dividends again!”
Wang Shuang felt he could still be saved. “The money wasn’t wasted on fun. It was invested in the start-up in the early stages. Sigh, I can’t explain clearly over the phone. Let’s talk tomorrow in person, okay?”
“Fine. Tomorrow it is. You have a whole night to think about what you’re going to say to me and how you’re going to convince me.”
Wen Ying’s tone wasn’t harsh, but Wang Shuang inexplicably shivered on the other end.
Strange. He had clearly dialled Wen Ying’s number, so why did her tone suddenly sound exactly like Xie Qian’s?
He almost thought he’d called the wrong person.
Wang Shuang didn’t even realise that once Wen Ying’s voice turned serious, he automatically became respectful and cautious when speaking to her. Even over the phone he sat up straight, as if he were giving an in-person report to her.
Wen Ying smiled with amusement.
Tonight really had been eventful.
First there was Old Luo, the serial entrepreneurial failure who kept fighting, and now here came Young Master Shuang, who had secretly embarked on the entrepreneurial path without telling anyone.
Starting a business isn’t that simple.
There’s a saying: it’s actually very hard for second-gen rich kids to squander the family fortune completely. Money makes money faster than they can spend it.
So people aren’t afraid of rich kids wasting money; they’re afraid of rich kids suddenly getting the bright idea to start a company!
That’s the real bottomless pit.
Wang Shuang was studying alone in Shanghai, far from the little group. This guy had the guts to secretly start a business behind everyone’s back!
If the cash flow hadn’t dried up, judging by the momentum, he probably wasn’t planning to tell her at all.
…
After finalising the time with Wen Ying, Wang Shuang, who was in a rented flat, let out a huge sigh of relief. He turned to the several people crowded around him. “Alright, crisis averted for now. The money currently in the company account can cover everyone’s wages for last month. Once I secure investment tomorrow, we’ll definitely patch the funding gap!”
Wang Shuang never even considered the possibility that Wen Ying might refuse.
They were that close, and Wen Ying was loaded. How could she watch him die without helping?
Actually, Wang Shuang still hadn’t told Wen Ying the whole truth. He didn’t even have 10,000 left.
Someone immediately called him out. When he said “pay wages first,” the others around him were delighted, but one girl smiled and then worried. “There isn’t quite enough on the account. How about this: pay everyone else first, and delay mine a bit. I’m just… I’m a little worried about this friend you mentioned. Will she really invest to save the company?”
Everyone in the flat was Wang Shuang’s university classmate.
Formerly classmates, now start-up teammates.
Four guys, one girl.
The guys were in the same year as Wang Shuang; the girl was two years above them, a senior majoring in fashion design. She was currently the core member of Wang Shuang’s tiny team. Being older, she acted like a big sister, holding the team together. She was indispensable.
The senior was willing to wait for her salary. Wang Shuang was touched, but how could she doubt Wen Ying?
He was full of confidence in Wen Ying. “My friend isn’t short of cash. Tomorrow she’ll definitely… well, after hearing about our company’s prospects, she should invest.”
The words were already at his lips, but he pulled them back a little.
He felt Wen Ying would definitely invest, but since it hadn’t happened yet, what if Wen Ying said no?
Better not jinx it.
His sudden humility looked to the others like lack of confidence. One of the guys frowned worriedly. “We don’t know your friend. We have no idea if she’ll invest. The amount we need right now isn’t small. Why not just ask your family?”
In his first semester of university, Wang Shuang kept a very low profile; no one knew he was a rich second-gen.
In the second semester, with 400,000 in his pocket, he was the type to spend big the moment he had money. His rich-kid status was quickly exposed.
It all started when a few friends got drunk at a late-night food stall and started bragging about university students starting businesses. Wang Shuang, fretting over how to spend the 400,000 his mother had given him, took the bait the moment someone boasted.
He thought: Wen Ying and the others would come to Shanghai after the gaokao, so he had to achieve something before his friends arrived. Hearing there was a “good project,” he didn’t even verify it, just pulled together a team in record time.
In just two or three months, he had poured more than 300,000 into the project and still hadn’t seen any return. Of course he was panicking!
A university student able to throw 300,000+ into a start-up cemented Wang Shuang’s rich-kid identity.
One of the guys suggested he ask his family for money. Wang Shuang wasn’t happy about that.
The whole reason he wanted to start a business was precisely so he wouldn’t have to rely on his family!
The senior saw he was upset and quickly smoothed things over. “Let’s meet Wang Shuang’s friend tomorrow first and then decide the next step. We’ll definitely get through this crisis.”
Everyone nodded, clinging to that slim hope.
No one noticed that in the shadow at the entrance, Old Luo, now wearing a driver’s cap, had been standing there for a while, quietly listening to every word inside the flat.
