Age of Legends

Chapter 258 Good or Bad

On New Year's Eve, Zhang Chen received many text messages.

Unbeknownst to many, text messaging and QQ have become the most popular forms of electronic social interaction.

Zhao Tao simply wished him a Happy New Year! He was still working overtime in the office, occasionally communicating with Zhang Chen on QQ. For Zhao Tao, this was an extremely difficult year. During this year, he was once lost and confused, almost experienced life and death, and started a new career.

"This month, after deducting expenses, Shengfeng didn't make much profit. The money to pay salaries was still advanced by my internet cafe, and each person didn't get much, only four or five hundred yuan. The highest paid person, Bu Ruijie, got nine hundred yuan. But he actually had a tough time; he lost someone else's phone, a Nokia, and had to pay more than three thousand yuan in compensation!"

"What happened?" Zhang Chen asked. He didn't find it strange that Bu Ruijie admitted to the loss. Perhaps others would think that Zhao Tao and his gang were reckless and aboveboard, and that daring to ask them for money was tantamount to courting death.
But Zhang Chen actually knew that the people who could hang out with Zhao Tao and were recognized by Zhao Tao were mostly reasonable.

Zhao Tao was a reasonable person. He hated unreasonable people. In the past, in the fights on the streets of Rongcheng, Zhao Tao would beat people up and then reason with them, pointing out their mistakes. It was quite ridiculous. A group of people with blood everywhere and watermelon knives lying on the ground would squat on the ground and be lectured by Zhao Tao like a kindergartener. The other party would nod in pain, their heads and faces bleeding, whether they were convinced or not.

Among this group, Bu Ruijie may be the biggest, strongest, and most menacing, but he is actually the most rule-abiding, perhaps even more reasonable than Zhao Tao. Sometimes Zhao Tao might get carried away, but Bu Ruijie can usually persuade him to calm down.

His usual fierce demeanor simply masks this side of him...

"You can ask him yourself later. Ha, this guy is out drinking and eating edamame with them, he's almost crying... But then again, the lost package rate is still a bit high, thankfully the compensation is adequate, otherwise his reputation would be ruined."

Zhang Chen asked, "Tao-ge, are you tired?"

“What do you think? If I set up the internet cafe business, I might have less to do. But with this, I have to pick up and sort packages in the morning, and then sort and deliver them at night. Even after the truck leaves, it feels like something's still hanging over me. Once, they called me at night saying their delivery truck had fallen into a ditch on the national highway, and there wasn't a village or shop in sight. There wasn't a single vehicle available, so I had to call a small trailer truck overnight and drive 300 kilometers to get them to the rescue. It took all night, but thankfully, it didn't delay the delivery... Over the past few months, I've invested almost all of my money, and I'm planning to open more branches. We still don't have enough branches right now. We need to expand.”

Zhang Chen: "It doesn't earn as much as an internet cafe, and it seems like they're constantly investing more money. You still think choosing this was the right decision?"

Zhao Tao: "Internet cafes can't support the people they employ. I brought out this group of people from the factory and the compound. They need some kind of security; things can't continue like before. I think the express delivery industry is the future."

From an initial two hundred orders a month, to several thousand orders a month by the end of this year, they have survived the enforcement efforts of the postal service.

"Although I don't earn much, everyone around me seems to have found something to do. People have told me, 'Brother Tao, before, everyone on the street thought I was a scoundrel. My family was always arguing, my dad didn't like me, and my parents kept telling me to go out and find a proper job.' Later, when he started this, his family thought he would be like before, working sporadically. But after observing him for a while, it seems he has really settled down. He used to be frequently detained, but now he drives a car every day. He used to gamble all the time, leaving his wife at home, and his kids needed money for school, so he had to rely on relatives for help. Now he can bring money home with him."

“I’ve told them before that we can’t go on like this forever. We need to find what men should do. I don’t expect to become rich and famous, but at least we need to lay the foundation for starting a family and building a career. Internet cafes can’t do that, but this is something we can do. I plan to make sure that all the guys I have can independently support a site in the future. If we expand to other provinces or even the whole country in the future, then everyone’s business will be big.”

Zhang Chen: "You've really decided to go this big?"

"Is it a big deal? Not really. Deliverymen don't make much money. And it's hard work. But... at least they can do it."

Zhang Chen understood, and thought to himself, no wonder Zhao Tao was so successful in everything he did in his past life. His motivation didn't seem to be entirely about satisfying his own pursuit of wealth and status. On the contrary, it seemed that those who genuinely wanted to follow him were able to build a solid foundation for themselves.

This is the eldest brother.

When I called Bu Ruijie, I asked him about the 3,000 yuan he lost, and whether he was heartbroken. Bu Ruijie, however, seemed quite cheerful, saying, "Oh dear, I lost someone's phone. A girl named Gao Li works in the Panda City office building... I just paid for it, bought her a new one, and didn't even depreciate it. I didn't expect her to be so touched, thinking I was a good guy, so she introduced me to all her business in the office building. What's this, a blessing in disguise? Hey, when are you coming over for drinks with us, Zhang Chen?"

"It's not just a blessing in disguise, it might even bring you some romantic luck!" Zhang Chen laughed.

"Hehe, slow development, slow development!" Bu Ruijie laughed over there.

He then handed the phone to his drinking buddies, Hong Yao and Qian Junyi, who were both there and greeted Zhang Chen. After hanging up, more than an hour later, Bu Ruijie called again. It turned out he had drunk too much and kept thanking him, his voice trembling with tears.

Zhang Chen asked Hong Yao, who had just taken the phone, what was going on. Hong Yao replied, "I just finished talking to you on the phone, and he started talking about his past. He was kicked out of school by his dad, and he could only get enough to eat at the sports school. He was bullied and fought back, so he was expelled. Later, he hung out with Brother Tao. If it weren't for you, everyone would have been in a terrible situation. Now his fate has changed. Although he's tired, he still feels like there's hope in life. So he thanked Brother Tao and insisted on calling you to express his gratitude. He was drunk..."

After hanging up with Bu Ruijie, the clock turned to 2001. Wang Shuowei's text message arrived: "Next New Year's Day, let's go to university together and make our futures bright!"

Then there was Zhuang Yanyue's message: "Little Orange, Happy 2001!" Zhang Chen replied with "Happy New Year," but didn't ask why she was giving people nicknames so casually. Knowing Zhuang's level of cunning, Zhang Chen was just waiting to fall into her trap, so he decided to play dumb.

Meanwhile, before the New Year's Eve countdown began, Shen Nuoyi was racking her brains trying to figure out what text message to send to Zhang Chen.

She first edited: "May all be well and peaceful. Happy New Year!"

This is a line from the poem "The Woman Says the Rooster Crows" in the Book of Songs, describing the beautiful daily life between a couple. But after typing it, Shen Nuoyi exclaimed "Ah! No!" a moment later, removing the first two lines. Her face was already red; she felt quite embarrassed, and now, at least not to Zhang Chen, she couldn't say it. It was midnight again, the New Year was approaching, and there was no time to think anymore. Shen Nuoyi stumbled and pressed the send button.

The network was a bit congested, and I only saw the message "Fetion message sent successfully" at the very end, displayed by the mailbox made up of pixels.

Only the message "Happy New Year!" was sent to Zhang Chen's phone. Zhang Chen looked at it and thought, "Wow, this is a typical straight woman from an engineering background. She perfectly matches Shen Nuo's personality. She probably sent Zheng Xue more than just this message."

So Zhang Chen typed back: "Happy New Year! You're the pig!"

Upon seeing Zhang Chen's reply, Shen Nuo immediately realized that her QQ pet had been exposed. Zhang Chen had clearly seen it, but he hadn't told her. However, she had deliberately chosen this name because she wanted him to see it.

But she wasn't going to hold back right now, replying: "You are! Morning Pig!"

"You're the one who's... Shen Pig!"

"You are you! You are!"

"Bounce!"

"How childish you are... you'll just backfire!"

The two of them exchanged meaningless text messages, each costing only a penny. It was as if they wanted to make up for the fact that they had watched each other grow up but had never been so childish with each other.

Many people sent Zhang Chen their blessings on QQ, even those who weren't usually talkative in his class sent messages. Not many people knew Zhang Chen's mobile phone number, but his QQ account was flooded with friend requests. It felt like he was getting friend requests every day, some revealing their identities, including some from other classes. Some were just playing a game: guess who I am. Zhang Chen usually couldn't be bothered to reply, but some couldn't stand the game and revealed their identities.

Between text messages between Shen Nuoyi and Zhang Chen, a new text message on her phone caught her attention. It was from Han Zhouxuan, asking her to log on to QQ.

She was on a long holiday in the UK, so she returned to China during a break. However, she stayed in Shanghai and didn't go back to Fuzhou, which is why she was able to send text messages to people in China.

Shen Nuoyi saw the long apology letter Han Zhouxuan sent her on QQ. It mainly admitted that Pei Yan had disrupted her emotional state, and that her studies abroad hadn't been smooth sailing; she had experienced some unfriendly and discriminatory situations. Although she was independent and alone abroad, she sometimes struggled to manage her emotions. The letter expressed her hope that Shen Nuoyi wouldn't take it to heart, sincerely apologized, and hoped that they could remain best friends without being influenced by others, and that Han Zhouxuan wouldn't give her the cold shoulder—she couldn't take it anymore.

Seeing Han Zhouxuan's earnest words, Shen Nuo softened and replied, greeting her and asking about her recent situation.

Han Zhouxuan quickly called Shen Nuoyi to reconnect, and the two chatted for a while before starting to talk again.

Shen Nuoyi could indeed sense Han Zhouxuan's sincerity and the caution in her tone. The fact that Han Zhouxuan, who was always independent, was so careful in choosing her words and phrases for fear of offending her made Shen Nuoyi's anger subside considerably.

After a period of cold war with Shen Nuoyi, Han Zhouxuan initially thought she was joking, but then she said, "Are you serious?", then, "I'll ignore you for a month and see what you do!", and finally, "Fine, fine, then let's not have any contact!" But in reality, she had been using her connections in China to find out about Shen Nuoyi's every move, and in the end, she decided to surrender.

Now, the question is a tentative one: "You and Zhang Chen... have officially started dating?"

"Ah."

Hearing the calmness in Shen Nuoyi's tone, and Han Zhouxuan's understanding of her from childhood to adulthood, Han Zhouxuan seemed to have an epiphany.

"Before, I thought you were just acting impulsively. I thought you were just having a tiff with me and with Pei Yan, or that you would naturally cut ties with Zhang Chen and get back together with Pei Yan soon. But when I asked Pei Yan, he was also very depressed and asked me to ask about you. I never expected this, Shen Nuoyi, you are so heartless! You started something and then abandoned it, you forgot your principles for the sake of beauty, you hurt two people at once..."

"Just how amazing is this Zhang Chen...? Next time I come, I'll really have to get to know him properly. You'll give me a good introduction, right?"

Shen Nuoyi said in a low voice, "Don't be ridiculous!"

Han Zhouxuan cried on the other end of the phone, "You're already thinking about him? That's outrageous!" "I promise I'll be obedient, but I'm just worried that Zhang Chen won't be able to handle it!"

Shen Nuoyi had another headache, wondering whether repairing her relationship with the quirky Han Zhouxuan was a good thing or a bad thing.

Maybe we should just ignore her...

(End of this chapter)