Chapter 0437: Knowing People and Using Them Well

Some say college is a small society, others say it's the last ivory tower of life.

Of course, Zhao Fusheng knew better than anyone what this society would become a decade or so later.

High consumption, high housing prices, high cost of living.

Naturally, the pressure on every post-80s and post-70s generation also increased.

The former Zhao Fusheng struggled desperately, dreaming that one day through his own efforts, he could break away from the life most ordinary people lived and become one of the relatively few happy people in the world.

Luxury cars and beautiful women surrounding him.

But unfortunately, ideals are beautiful, while reality is harsh.

In a society with rigid class structures, it is not easy for an ordinary person to accomplish the feat of leaping over the dragon's gate.

In his previous life, Zhao Fusheng failed.

In his previous life, Fan Baobao succeeded.

The joys and sorrows of this journey were probably known only to the two of them.

Now, although Fan Baobao had still embarked on the path of becoming a star, unlike her previous life, she did it for her dream, not for survival.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, there was a difference.

In an era where money is the sole standard of success, anything can happen. If conscience could be exchanged for money, this world would have no conscience at all.

And the right path is not necessarily the hardest one.

In other words, if there is sufficient material support, why shouldn't a girl be allowed to pursue her dream of stardom?

"You play a few more maids, and be sure to tell me which drama it is so I can find it." He teased with a laugh, provoking Fan Baobao's fury, then hung up the phone with a smile on his lips.

He himself didn't know why, but he was willing to watch Fan Baobao go on like this.

Perhaps it was because of that obsession in his heart.

In his previous life, although he watched her achieve fame and success, Zhao Fusheng knew she must have paid too much that she didn't want to pay, and lost too much that she didn't want to lose.

Isn't that how people are? Gaining happiness doesn't mean everything is perfect; it just means you learn to stop minding the imperfect things.

He knew that Fan Baobao in Beijing must be furious at his words, but Zhao Fusheng thought it was actually quite fun; the girl would surely take his words to heart.

Just as he would remember Fan Baobao's words, she would definitely remember his.

…

…

Sometimes days seem to pass quickly. In the blink of an eye, the May calendar was already more than half over. To Zhao Fusheng's surprise, Qian Dongliu, the current manager of the arcade, had shown astonishing ability.

From the last incident, Zhao Fusheng had seen that Zhang Qian was simply not suited to be a manager of an enterprise. He was too impulsive, used to solving problems with his fists, or else just sat there silent.

Such a person might have been a great general charging into battle in ancient times, but he was definitely not a qualified commander.

Imagine two armies clashing, soldiers charging forward, and suddenly Military Advisor Zhuge rushes from the rear—what kind of picture would that be?

In contrast, Qian Dongliu was undoubtedly much calmer. He had completed the task Zhao Fusheng assigned him last time very well, handling things methodically.

So Zhao Fusheng simply made Qian Dongliu the manager of Glory Arcade.

Not only that, Zhao Fusheng also revised the profit distribution method of the arcade.

Seeing how popular KFC was, Zhao Fusheng suddenly realized that his thinking might still be limited by his previous life. In an era of increasingly better material life, the profits generated by eating, drinking, having fun, and playing might exceed his imagination.

A single KFC brought him and Tan Kaixuan nearly two hundred thousand yuan a month. How much income could the most comprehensive electronic amusement park in Ninghai bring?

So Zhao Fusheng simply allocated twenty percent of the arcade's revenue to the welfare home, and another ten percent for Qian Dongliu and the others to split.

Of course, as manager, Qian Dongliu could get four percent of the arcade's profit share, while the others only got two percent. As for salaries, they were the same.

Zhang Qian was an exception; he only had a base salary, no profit share.

If it were someone else, they might feel uncomfortable, but Zhang Qian didn't find anything wrong at all. In his view, Zhao Fusheng's willingness to give twenty percent of the profits to the welfare home was already the best distribution for him.

As for Qian Dongliu being favored by Zhao Fusheng, the others had no objections.

After all, they were comrades who had shared life and death, brothers who could trust each other with their backs. Moreover, Qian Dongliu's ability was indeed stronger than the rest of them.

Jealousy arises when people with similar abilities see others possess something they think they deserve too, and they envy others' good fortune.

But if the gap in ability is too large, there is no room for jealousy, only admiration.

After all, how much others earn is their business; one's own life must go on as usual.

Qian Dongliu's mindset was somewhat different from his comrades'. After all, everyone has ambition; no one would refuse an opportunity to develop toward a better position.

We always like to use the phrase 'let nature take its course' to gloss over the thorns and bumps on life's path, but rarely admit that true letting nature take its course is not forcing things after doing one's best, not doing nothing with hands in pockets.

Qian Dongliu's current thinking was very clear: since Zhao Fusheng had entrusted Glory Arcade to him, he had to live up to that trust and do everything in his power to make the arcade's business better and better.

To this end, Qian Dongliu mobilized several comrades, and they taught themselves the skills to repair game machines. Being elite soldiers, they mastered the machines in just a few days. In Qian Dongliu's words, barring accidents, the arcade could officially open on Children's Day.

The arcade, covering nearly five hundred square meters, contained everything. Zhao Fusheng had gathered almost all the game machines suitable for teenagers on the market. Qian Dongliu was confident he could make the arcade a success.

More importantly, because of the previous incident, Glory Arcade was known to both the official and underworld circles in the city.

Officials knew it was connected to Red Star Welfare Home and was a place of interest to journalists, so they gave it a green light without setting any obstacles. As for those in the underworld, although Hua Zi and his ilk were not big shots, the problem was that even the authorities dared not cause trouble. What could a bunch of people living in darkness do?

If they really came to cause trouble, a phone call would bring the police. Even if the police had connections, to avoid being reported by journalists, they would likely handle the matter impartially.

Not to mention that Qian Dongliu's record from last time had already spread.

Taking on four opponents alone and knocking them all down in half a minute—such a formidable record meant no one would easily come looking for trouble.

Zhao Fusheng was naturally pleased. After his internship, he would only come to the city on weekends, and then he would have to go home to visit his parents and see Fan Beibei. It was most convenient for Qian Dongliu to handle the arcade independently.

Because the internship was about to start, the school was strict about attendance. Even with Zheng Yao's connections, Zhao Fusheng didn't dare skip classes most of the time and obediently showed up.

Naturally, both Tan Kaixuan and Wang Zhen had to put aside their own affairs and come to class.

Today's class was Economics. Although it was an elective, the professor insisted on taking attendance. To avoid being the unlucky one marked absent, everyone sat obediently, not daring to leave.

The lecturer was talking about currency, and a few of them chatted quietly out of boredom.

"Damn, it's so unfair," Tan Kaixuan said discontentedly. "Why is the yen worthless while the dollar is valuable? Besides, I think the renminbi can also serve as a payment unit; it's no worse than the dollar."

"How to put it..." Zhao Fusheng mused. "The gap between the yen and the dollar is like how sometimes men are more useful than women, but normal people would still choose women, right?"

"..."

"..."

Everyone was stunned. Tan Kaixuan had prepared a lot of arguments to refute Zhao Fusheng, but they all got stuck.

After staring at Zhao Fusheng for about ten seconds, Tan Kaixuan sighed. "I'm really convinced. There's just nothing normal coming out of your mouth."

Zhao Fusheng smiled seriously. "I'm a pure person; you can only say your mind is too dirty."

"Pfft!"

What greeted him were six raised middle fingers. Clearly, everyone was too lazy to praise him with words.

Zhao Fusheng shrugged, lamenting that these guys simply didn't appreciate real economic insight.

Classes lasted all morning. After lunch, Wang Zhen and Wen Yu, the two bastards with girlfriends, abandoned their brothers and rushed off to find their respective girlfriends, leaving only Tan Kaixuan and Zhao Fusheng staring at each other.

"Class starts at 1:30 in the afternoon," Zhao Fusheng said to Tan Kaixuan.

Tan Kaixuan nodded, took out his phone, and glanced at it. "It's noon now."

Then, the two resignedly nodded together. "Let's go to the cafeteria."

"Yeah, grab a bite, then go back and rest a bit."

Since they had afternoon classes, there wasn't enough time to do anything else, so Zhao Fusheng and Tan Kaixuan gave up the idea of going to the city.

After all, they had originally planned to visit the KFC store today.