2. Testing Each Other

Zhang Peng felt that Chen Ling was acting a bit unusual today. Usually, their relationship was neither close nor distant, neither good nor bad, and Chen Ling rarely took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

Moreover...

"Why do you need a supermarket card? Wouldn't it be more convenient to just use cash?"

Chen Ling kept smiling as he replied, "Well, it's just a way to make a little extra money, to supplement my living expenses."

"A supermarket card can make money?" Zhang Peng's curiosity was piqued almost instinctively. "How does that work? Tell me."

Seeing that Zhang Peng was successfully hooked, Chen Ling thought to himself that he was already halfway there, and pretended to hesitate. "Uh..."

"Is it inconvenient to say?" Zhang Peng was quick to respond. "Don't worry, I'm just curious, I won't steal your business. If it really works, I'll invest, and we can do it together!"

"Alright then." Chen Ling nodded, dropping the act. "Originally, the deal is you get a supermarket card worth 200 for topping up 200, so if I put in 200 myself, I can top up your phone with 400, and you'll never lose out no matter how you look at it, right?"

"That's right."

Chen Ling continued, "So that means I spend 200 to help you top up your phone, but I get a supermarket card worth 400, so..."

He hadn't finished, but Zhang Peng already understood.

"Damn! That's an instant profit of 200? Doubling the money straight away? Old Chen, you're about to take off!"

Zhang Peng was genuinely amazed, and started calculating on his own. "We have about twenty thousand students at our business school, and with all the schools nearby, there are nearly one hundred thousand students in this area. Even if we only get 10 percent of them, that's..."

"At least a two million market!" Chen Ling finished the calculation aloud, adding, "But supermarket cards can't be sold at face value; I estimate we can sell them at about a five percent discount. And with our energy, we probably can't reach that scale."

After that, there was no need for Chen Ling to persuade further. Zhang Peng looked at him, his eyes shining. "Old Chen, let's do this together!"

"It's done!" Chen Ling laughed inwardly, but wore a reluctant expression. "Old Zhang, is that really a good idea? I don't have much capital, and I was planning to do this slowly on my own. But if you join in..."

Hearing this, Zhang Peng was momentarily confused, but as a business student, he quickly caught on!

"Haha~ I was too forward! You're worried that my capital is bigger than yours, and I'll take a larger share, leaving you with little profit, right?" Zhang Peng teased, "Don't worry, I just think this business is interesting. Since it's your idea... How about this, I'll put in five times your capital, but only take 50 percent. How about that?"

Chen Ling replied quickly, "Wouldn't you be getting the short end of the stick?"

"That's not important!" Zhang Peng waved his hand dismissively. "This promotion is time-limited, only until the end of the month. So speed is what matters now. If you do it alone, how much can you get done in a month? But with more capital, we can scale up from the beginning. Plus, I know way more people than you, so efficiency will be higher!"

He added, "Of course, as I said, this is your idea. If you really don't want to, I'll pretend I never heard any of this and I won't take advantage of you."

At this point, Chen Ling was actually very satisfied. His feigned reluctance was meant to see just how big Zhang Peng's ambitions were. After all, this could be a million-yuan venture; even if Zhang Peng was a rich kid, he couldn't be indifferent.

What was rare was that Zhang Peng dared to promise that if Chen Ling didn't agree, he wouldn't do it.

Thinking about this, Chen Ling looked at Zhang Peng, only to find the latter was also watching him...

"Interesting!" Zhang Peng thought. "I didn't expect him to react so quickly! He must have thought up this scheme right after hearing me mention the promotion—a remarkable feat!

But it depends on how he responds to me. If he only wants to keep everything for himself, that's his limit. But if he really agrees, well—this is getting interesting! Still, seeing how hesitant he is, perhaps..."

"Since you've said so, let's do it together!" Chen Ling answered decisively. "Let's make it big and strong! Strive for glory!"

"Really?" This genuinely surprised Zhang Peng!

He knew Chen Ling's family background, and in such a situation, someone like Chen Ling would usually be blinded by immediate profit, losing sight of the bigger picture, and more importantly, missing someone like himself as an investor.

Zhang Peng was very clear about his own value. After all, this business could only be run for a month, but what about afterwards? His value was far greater than that two million market.

But Chen Ling agreed so readily, making Zhang Peng look at him in a new light!

"Good! Then let's do it together!" Zhang Peng laughed heartily, quickly opened his notebook, and began writing.

Moments later, he pushed the notebook in front of Chen Ling...

"A partnership agreement?" Chen Ling glanced at him, and Zhang Peng nodded. "Business is business—verbal promises aren't enough. It's better to have everything in black and white so we both feel secure. Besides, if we don't sign an agreement, we aren't living up to our major, right?"

Chen Ling smiled slightly and took a careful look. The agreement was simple: they would partner up, jointly invest, with the investment amounts left blank for Chen Ling to fill in.

"Take a look—how much can you put in?" Zhang Peng asked seriously. "If the total isn't enough, I can add more, but my share stays the same. That's fair, isn't it?"

"Don't rush," Chen Ling shook his head. "We haven't found buyers for the cards yet—if we rush to collect a bunch of cards and can't sell them, we'd lose money."

Zhang Peng froze, then laughed awkwardly. "Haha—how did I forget that step?"

"I'm going out now to find buyers. No need to hurry—wait for my news."

"Need me to go with you?"

"No need, just wait for my message."

With that, Chen Ling took Zhang Peng's two hundred yuan, nodded, and walked out of the dorm.

Zhang Peng remained seated, didn't continue watching the movie, but began calculating in his mind. "This looks simple, but in practice it's tricky. The first challenge is scaling up, then it depends on how the business office handles things—once the volume gets big, a single office can't keep up. Then there's the matter of selling—if we can get a better discount, the profit will be even higher.

And he doesn't want me to go with him, clearly wanting to keep control of the channels for himself. Tsk tsk—he's thought this through! If Chen Ling really manages to pull this off, he's definitely a talent worth recruiting!"

Meanwhile, as Chen Ling walked out the door, he was calculating in his own mind, thinking much the same as Zhang Peng, but with an extra consideration: "After this, my status in Zhang Peng's eyes will surely rise. With his way of thinking, he'll definitely want to recruit me for his own use. But that's not what I want—if he needs anything from me, I must be able to negotiate with him as an equal.

Looks like I'll have to be careful about the boundaries in our future interactions!"

Lost in thought, Chen Ling had already reached the ground floor. The familiar surroundings made him temporarily forget his worries, just wanting to take it all in. After all, a few years after graduation, this campus would be demolished.

His memories of youth had long been buried in the ruins...

The uniquely shaped fountain, the tree-shaded lovers' garden of Zhilanyuan, and the sports field where sweat was shed—looking at these places locked in his memory, scene after scene of the past appeared before him.

Once again strolling through the memories of his youth, his mood soared! A restarted life, a reversal at its beginning—everything seemed so wonderful!

Including the graceful figure coming toward him...