Chapter 0237: The Bolder the Person, the Bigger the Dream

Ignoring Tan Kaixuan’s utterly devastated expression, Zhao Fusheng turned his head to look at Wang Zhen and asked, “So, how about it? Fast, right?”

Wang Zhen was taken aback and replied casually, “Whether you’re fast or not, you should ask your future girlfriend. Why ask me?”

Huh?

Zhao Fusheng was momentarily speechless. He was always the one with the sharp tongue, but he never expected to be bullied by this guy Wang Zhen. Truly, one who hunts geese all day can end up with his eyes pecked out by a goose.

“You jerk, believe me, I won’t give Dong Chenxi any time off from now on, and you’ll end up a lonely bachelor,” Zhao Fusheng said irritably, only to draw laughter from Wen Yu and Tan Kaixuan.

Tan Kaixuan snapped back to reality at that moment, grabbed Zhao Fusheng by the shoulders and shook him, insisting on getting an explanation for his sexual orientation.

But unfortunately, he was no match for Zhao Fusheng in combat. A few words from Zhao Fusheng subdued him, and he slunk back to his bed to continue reading the newspaper, looking pitiful.

Wen Yu could tell that Zhao Fusheng and Wang Zhen had something to discuss, so he didn’t call Wang Zhen back to play games and started a new game on his own.

Zhao Fusheng and Wang Zhen tidied up a bit and left the dormitory together.

It wasn’t that they didn’t trust Wen Yu and Tan Kaixuan, but some things, even between friends, need to be kept confidential if the other party isn’t willing to share.

It’s better to maintain some distance between people, even among very close friends. Perhaps they, too, feel that an appropriate distance should be kept so that each other’s troubles can be fewer.

Of course, if it’s someone you dislike, it’s best to be separated by life and death. That’s a saying from a philosopher named Lü Shu in Zhao Fusheng’s memory.

“Old Zhao, where do you think we’ll be ten years from now?” Wang Zhen and Zhao Fusheng walked to an open area near the dormitory building where a few basketball hoops stood. Because the weather was a bit chilly, no one was playing basketball at the moment. Wang Zhen leaned against one of the hoops and suddenly asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and shook his head calmly: “Hard to say. After graduation, we’ll scatter to all corners. Who knows where we’ll end up…”

“Yeah, even we ourselves can’t be sure what we’ll do in the future,” Wang Zhen suddenly said, his tone quite desolate.

Zhao Fusheng didn’t say anything. He knew Wang Zhen was feeling a bit emotional. After all, Wang Zhen wasn’t a local; his birthplace was ordinary, nothing like a big city. After graduation, he would either go home to find a stable job or, like Zhao Fusheng in his previous life, drift to Beijing or struggle in first-tier cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou.

This was the life portrayal of the vast majority of the post-80s generation. Most of their parents lacked the ability to do much for them; getting them through college was already the greatest effort they could muster.

The rest of the journey in life could only rely on themselves.

“You don’t have to be so melancholy. Dong Chenxi is a good girl; you two will surely be happy.” Seeing Wang Zhen a bit down, Zhao Fusheng patted him on the shoulder and offered some encouragement.

Wang Zhen nodded, a bitter smile curling at the corners of his mouth: “Yeah, she’s a good girl, so I can’t let her down.”

Zhao Fusheng remained silent. It’s often said that poverty shortens one’s ambition, and that’s no joke. At the very least, a poor person truly dares not hope for love. After all, girls can be naive and easily swept away by emotion, but as a man, how can he afford to be naive?

“Sometimes I think maybe everyone meets someone as brilliant as a rainbow. When we do, we feel incredibly happy…” Wang Zhen said to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head helplessly. It seemed this guy had been thinking a lot lately; otherwise, he wouldn’t be so sentimental. After all, the Wang Zhen of before was definitely not like this.

It’s often said that love can change a person, and there’s truth to it. Once someone falls in love, they start thinking about many things, and the more they think, the more they understand.

“Come on, tell me, what are you thinking?” Zhao Fusheng decided not to let this guy keep being sappy. He wasn’t Dong Chenxi, and he had no interest in listening to this guy’s literary pretensions.

If he were twenty years younger, maybe Zhao Fusheng would be standing here lamenting along with him.

But unfortunately, the current Zhao Fusheng, in his early twenties, harbored a soul that had seen through the myriad facets of life. For Zhao Fusheng, life had long passed the point where lamentation was necessary.

Rather than standing here lamenting for a long time, it was better to talk about serious matters, to discuss the virtual community Wang Zhen had envisioned.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng’s words, Wang Zhen smiled and said, “This idea came to me while chatting with Chenxi one day. What do you think about setting up a virtual community online where people can live through a virtual avatar—work, buy and sell things, join bands, take up various professions, and even get married and live together?”

He looked up and saw Zhao Fusheng standing there with his mouth open, staring at him blankly. “What’s wrong with you?”

“N-nothing…”

Zhao Fusheng snapped out of it, but still couldn’t hide his astonished expression. He looked at Wang Zhen and blurted out, “Brother, you really are a buried talent.”

“What do you mean? Do you think this idea works?” Wang Zhen asked Zhao Fusheng in surprise. Clearly, he lacked confidence. After all, his understanding of the internet was really shallow. Apart from playing games, he used to just browse websites. Later, because he helped Zhao Fusheng maintain the wo123 navigation page, he had more opportunities to engage with the internet.

But honestly, Wang Zhen really lacked confidence in his own idea because he felt it was too simplistic.

“Heh, what do you think?” Zhao Fusheng looked at Wang Zhen noncommittally.

Wang Zhen gave a wry smile: “I think it’s a bit simplistic. After all, these things are too everyday.”

Zhao Fusheng burst out laughing, pointing at Wang Zhen, unable to speak for a long time.

Although from his perspective, this thing was indeed terribly simplistic, don’t forget, it was 1999. For people looking to kill time, find fun, and make friends online, this was a groundbreaking idea.

Zhao Fusheng could even imagine those folks who spent their days idly posting in forums going completely crazy when they saw this website.

“Hey, what’s your take? Give me a straight answer.” Seeing Zhao Fusheng silent for so long, Wang Zhen was getting anxious. After all, he had poured so much effort into this concept.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and held out his hand to him, spreading his fingers and gesturing four times.

“What does that mean?” Wang Zhen was puzzled, not understanding what Zhao Fusheng meant by gesturing with his hand.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled: “This time when I went to Haidong, I adapted that advertising plan of mine into a movie script and sold it to Andy Lau. He gave me two hundred thousand.”

“Two hundred thousand?”

Wang Zhen gasped. Clearly, the figure of two hundred thousand was astronomical to him. After all, this was 1999; two hundred thousand was enough to buy two apartments near Ninghai Normal University.

“That’s right. You can call Dong Chenxi to confirm. The money in the bank card was withdrawn and redeposited by her.” Zhao Fusheng said calmly to Wang Zhen.

Wang Zhen was stunned, then gave a bitter smile: “People really are incomparable. Here I am agonizing over an idea, and you’ve already sold a script for two hundred thousand. Brother, you’re awesome. I bow to you!”

He meant it. He had always thought Zhao Fusheng had a sharp mind, always coming up with wild ideas. But now, he had transitioned from advertising planning to screenwriting, and that navigation page was developing well, while his own idea was still just a thought.

Zhao Fusheng didn’t bother to explain further and directly asked, “Do you want to go ahead with this project?”

Hearing this, Wang Zhen’s expression froze. He looked up at Zhao Fusheng’s eyes: “What do you mean?”

Zhao Fusheng shrugged: “If you want to build this virtual community, I’ll invest the money. Throw all two hundred thousand into it, and let’s get this website up. Honestly, I think this thing can succeed. Since there’s no similar website out there yet, as long as we seize the first-mover advantage, we’re good.”

“You’re not joking, are you? That’s two hundred thousand…” Wang Zhen hesitated and said softly to Zhao Fusheng.

After all, that was no small sum. A full two hundred thousand—at Wang Zhen’s current state, even selling himself wouldn’t fetch that much.

Zhao Fusheng laughed: “Money spent brings peace of mind. Money is a bastard; when it’s gone, we’ll just earn more. I think your project is viable, so I want to give it a try. Just think of me as an investor. You convinced me with your plan. How about it?”

Wang Zhen was silent for a long time. He was just an ordinary college student from a small city, with a fresh idea in his head and a desire to strive for success. But he had never experienced anything like this before. After just a few words, Zhao Fusheng was ready to invest two hundred thousand. Honestly, Wang Zhen was a bit scared.

This was perfectly normal. They were ordinary people. The most money they had ever seen in their lives was probably just a few tens of thousands. Suddenly getting involved in such a big project, Wang Zhen’s reaction was entirely within Zhao Fusheng’s expectations.

Zhao Fusheng could even understand that at this moment, Wang Zhen wasn’t worried about whether his idea could succeed, but rather about how he would repay Zhao Fusheng if the two hundred thousand were lost.

Thinking this, Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Wang Zhen, “What’s the matter? Are you afraid, or do you think you’re not capable enough?”

As soon as these words came out, Wang Zhen’s expression immediately turned sour.