Chapter 0452: Last-Minute Preparation

Crime is never something that people should commit.

Because however much crime a person commits, they must bear an equal amount of punishment.

Wang Zhen's case finally went through court proceedings during the summer vacation. Zhao's father helped pull some strings, but no matter what, he was bound to face punishment.

Although the saying 'princes are equal to commoners before the law' is now a joke, for ordinary people without power or influence, committing a crime always leads to punishment.

Even though the other party had harmed him first, in the eyes of the law, Wang Zhen's actions were still excessive.

Sentenced to three years.

After the trial ended, Zhao Fusheng received a call from his father.

Three years? Zhao Fusheng was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected the sentence to be so short. He had originally thought it might be five years.

Zhao's father nodded: 'Although there was no civil compensation, he was himself a victim of fraud and had turned himself in. According to Zhao Quan's confession, Wang Zhen was deceived from start to finish, so the court took that into consideration.'

Mm, I understand. Thanks, Dad. Hanging up the phone, Zhao Fusheng let out a long breath.

That was all he could do for Wang Zhen.

From beginning to end, Wang Zhen's parents never called him again. Though he didn't know the reason, Zhao Fusheng understood that they probably didn't want him to be involved with the past anymore.

From the trial to the verdict, it would take at least another week or two, right around summer break, so Zhao Fusheng wasn't in a hurry to see Wang Zhen.

He began to arrange his own affairs, because once he went to Beijing, he wouldn't be able to manage things in Ninghai from afar.

Occasionally when he went home, he brought up the matter of Fan Beibei starting kindergarten with Li Yuan.

Zhao Fusheng's idea was for Li Yuan to send Fan Beibei to the best private kindergarten, because teaching by example and constant exposure are the best ways for children to learn. The living environment and parents' attitudes toward things greatly influence a child's way of thinking.

After all, a person is born a blank slate, and what kind of story is written on it is largely shaped by the parents' behavior.

Li Yuan took Zhao Fusheng's opinion seriously, because in the eyes of the elders, Zhao Fusheng was now considered an adult.

He made a trip to the arcade and instructed Qian Dongliu to calculate last month's profits on time, deduct the dividends for a few people, and send the share to the welfare home.

As for KFC, Zhao Fusheng didn't bother to ask; Tan Kaixuan was having fun with it, so he let him be.

Then there was Dong Guoxiang's matter. He graduated from university this year. Although his salary was decent and the work wasn't hard—he just had to direct two newcomers to maintain the wo123 webpage every day—Zhao Fusheng could tell that this guy also wanted to make a career. He had mentioned several times wanting to do something with the navigation page.

Zhao Fusheng's attitude toward this was noncommittal, because he himself wasn't sure whether he should do something at this time.

The reason was simple: the internet industry was extremely capital-intensive.

Whether you wanted to build a website or get involved in some sector of it, you not only needed to invest a lot of money but also had to have your own connections. Otherwise, relying on a few tech geeks to succeed was nothing but a pipe dream.

This wasn't the Shenzhen of the 1990s, where opportunities were everywhere. Although it seemed like gold was everywhere now, underneath that gold might be nothing but brass.

So caution was the top priority.

Without the entire internet technology being mature, charging in recklessly would likely end up with nothing gained, or even losses.

Zhao Fusheng preferred to play it safe rather than be the first to eat the crab.

Although many people think the first person to eat a crab is great, the problem is that being an innovator isn't easy, especially in the internet industry. Most early pioneers eventually disappeared in the great tide.

What determines a company's long-term survival, besides opportunity and vision, is even more importantly, insight.

Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles; traveling ten thousand miles is not as good as meeting countless people. In Zhao Fusheng's eyes, looking at things from an outsider's perspective often yields a very different conclusion.

This is probably what they mean by 'the onlooker sees the game best.'

But regardless, since Dong Guoxiang had this enthusiasm, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't discourage him. He just told him that the timing wasn't right yet and they should wait until the internet winter passed.

Dong Guoxiang agreed. Since he managed the wo123 navigation page, he knew what internet companies were like. At its peak, the navigation page earned hundreds of thousands in monthly ad revenue, but now it was only a few tens of thousands.

Most websites were now losing money just to get attention.

Even Shengda's MyHome was the same. Chen Tianqiao had mentioned more than once whether they could reduce advertising fees appropriately.

Zhao Fusheng had no objection and agreed after some thought. It wasn't because he felt sorry for Chen the billionaire's money, but because he thought they should go with the market.

After a whirlwind of tasks, Zhao Fusheng suddenly realized that final exams were almost upon them.

Since they would be seniors next semester, this was the last important exam. The school took it very seriously, and it was rumored that the administration had hinted that anyone who failed wouldn't get their diploma.

When this news came out, the entire junior year was in an uproar. The campus atmosphere at that time wasn't as lax as it would later become, and everyone highly valued their diplomas.

Take Zhao Fusheng for example: no matter how successful his career was, even surpassing most of his peers, in his parents' eyes, nothing was more important than that diploma. If Zhao Fusheng said he couldn't get his diploma, even if he already had a job, his parents would be very unhappy.

If even he was like that, other families were naturally the same.

Zhao Fusheng really couldn't understand the obsession that the post-50s and post-60s generations had with diplomas.

But not understanding didn't matter; as long as he knew what to do.

So, in the days leading up to the final exams, groups of students could be seen everywhere, burying their heads in notes and textbooks. It was as if the university had suddenly gained many more people overnight. These guys were usually the ones who often skipped class, but now they all acted like good little kids, devoting all their energy to studying.

Of course, Zhao Fusheng was one of them. Although deep down he was very resistant, there was no way around it: some things never stop being necessary just because we don't want to do them.