The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 81 The Greatest Capital of Rebirth
"Cheng Feng, didn't you start a band just to spite your dad? Now you've suddenly changed your mind because of a song?"

Xia Qing said sarcastically.

Cheng Feng had spoken too hastily, and only now did he realize the problem. He looked at Yang Muye, ready to back out.

He will never reconcile with his father, not in this lifetime.

Yang Muyi then explained, "Don't misunderstand, the song I wrote, 'Old Boy,' tells the story of youth pursuing dreams, which is completely different from the original song's theme."

Most importantly, if Cheng Feng wants to sing this song, he'll have to pay for the copyright himself.

Apart from Gao Yunyue, who had a fleeting hint of disappointment in her eyes, everyone else seemed fine.

Xia Qing said with no small amount of envy, "Including 'Little Apple,' you've already written two songs for Cheng Feng and the others. It must be so nice to be your roommate."

Shi Xiaomeng was eager to improve himself, so Yang Muye helped him achieve real "advancement".

Cheng Feng liked to show off, so Yang Muye wrote songs for him.

If Yang Muyi were the kind of person who is particularly generous and righteous, that would be one thing, but he isn't.

Moreover, Yang Muye's various actions clearly reveal a "cunning and calculating" nature.

So what's the point?

Xia Qing was just about to ask Yang Muye for advice.

Cheng Feng spoke first: "I told you long ago, you agreed to Yu Tu too early. Being Mu Ye's roommate is so great, I can't even imagine how great it would be to be his girlfriend!"

Xia Qing blushed and spat angrily, "Get out of here!"

Cheng Feng immediately explained that he was just joking.

After that, he looked at Xu Hongdou and the other two very seriously: "As far as I know, Mu Ye is still single. You guys better hurry up and make your move."

These words immediately aroused public outrage, and Xia Qing even cursed him, saying that he couldn't say anything nice.

Distracted by Cheng Feng, Xia Qing didn't have a chance to speak again for quite a while.

"So why are you helping your roommate so much?"

As soon as he said this, everyone's eyes turned to Yang Muye.

This includes Shi Xiaomeng, Cheng Feng, and Wu Di.

They had actually wanted to ask this question for a long time, but they couldn't bring themselves to do so because of their status and position.

Yang Muye shrugged and said casually, "Didn't Xu Hongdou just say the answer?"

Xu Hongdou immediately protested: "Hey, don't drag me into everything. I don't know you at all."

Yang Muye acted as if he hadn't heard her and continued, "She's right that I'm capital; in essence, I am an investor."

It's just that the investment target has changed from a certain event or project to a specific person.

Xia Qing nodded, but the doubt in her eyes did not completely disappear.

If Yang Muyi's investment in Shi Xiaomeng was a preparation for dealing with the government in the future.

So what was Cheng Feng's motive for investing in him?
Is he a rich second-generation who has no ambition and can't spend all his money?
Just as he was considering how to start the conversation, Yang Muye's voice rang out first.

"I've always felt it's a pity about the Back Dorm Boys. If they hadn't signed with a management company and continued down the path of becoming internet celebrities, their current situation might be—"

"Even better?" Xia Qing asked first.

Surprisingly, Yang Muye shook his head.

"On the contrary, I think if they continued to be internet celebrities, they might not be doing as well as they are now. Of course, I'm talking about income, but their popularity and reputation should be able to continue."

Xia Qing immediately retorted, "The problem is that popularity and fame can't put food on the table, can they? Besides, their videos are all parodies and imitations; without original content, they definitely won't last long."

Yang Muye nodded.

"You're absolutely right. The biggest problem facing internet celebrities right now is the lack of ways to make money from popularity and fame. In internet terms, it's about monetizing traffic. They can't make money, and they'll be slandered or even cyberbullied by people who don't understand them."

Yang Muyi remembers seeing an interview with the Back Dorm Boys online in his previous life. One of the members mentioned that many people online defined them as clowns, and even the school and classmates looked at them with prejudice.

While they were lip-syncing to the camera, their more successful classmates were making copies of original works at the Louvre.

The difference is enormous.

If this were in later generations, it would be the students who were copying the originals at the Louvre who would be envious and jealous of the big internet celebrities like the Back Dorm Boys.

Ultimately, it all comes down to money.

Hearing this, Xia Qing already understood a little.

"Are you trying to make Cheng Feng and Wu Di into internet celebrities like the Back Dorm Boys?"

"Don't you think they're a perfect match?" Yang Muye countered.

Both of them are currently students and will be studying for another four years in university, so they are not in a hurry to make money.

In addition, Cheng Feng is a second-generation rich kid, and his own economic foundation is enough to wait for the arrival of the era of internet celebrity traffic monetization.

Actually, it's not far off.

Next year, when the one-eyed dragon's Weibo goes online, the era of self-media will officially begin. Those early big V's who caught this wave of benefits will either eat their fill or eat their fill.

There are only two possible outcomes.

Yang Muye certainly hoped that Cheng Feng and Wu Di would be the former.

As for those rumors and gossip, they wouldn't have any effect on Cheng Feng's roguish personality.

The more people online say he's not doing his job properly, the happier he is.

That's how you make his dad angry.

"So this is the real reason you encouraged us to go up and dance to a girl group song?"

Xu Hongdou's words revealed the truth.

Yang Muye did not deny it, and even asked Xu Hongdou and the other girls if they had any ideas about forming a girl group.

After all, even Cheng Feng and Wu Di were willing to invest and support him. If Xu Hongdou and the other girls had any plans to develop in this direction, Yang Muye wouldn't mind being accused of prioritizing women over friends.

As expected, Xu Hongdou and the other girls all refused.

Yang Zixi was slightly tempted, but it wasn't appropriate to show it in this situation.

Instead, it was Liu Qing who asked Yang Muye a question out of curiosity.

Aren't you afraid of your investment failing?

Because of her own upbringing, Liu Qing has witnessed too much of the ugliness of human nature.

Even the closest people can turn against each other, and the true colors of some so-called relatives are utterly disgusting.

For Liu Qing, the word "friend" is rarer than those endangered protected animals.

"To be honest, I was really wrong in this regard. I had too much faith in the good side of human nature until reality gave me a hard blow."

Yang Muye spoke these words in a very calm tone.

At the same time, Gao Yunyue's right hand, hidden under the table, quietly clenched.

She was well aware of the lesson Yang Muye had mentioned: she had kept her divorce from Yang Deyuan a secret from Yang Muye for five years.

Yang Muye's voice was unhurried and gentle as he recounted the story:
"Actually, I've never hesitated to assume the worst about others, and I'm well aware that human nature can't withstand the test. So business is business. Once you've invested money, don't invest too much emotion."

“I helped Xiao Meng just to make friends. It was just a favor. If one day he can reach a key position and speak up for me when I need him, that would be great. But if not, it doesn’t really matter.”

"My motivation for writing songs for Cheng Feng and Wu Di is even simpler. After all, I don't actually want to be a singer. But once a song is written, someone has to sing it. If it becomes popular, I, as the creator, will earn an income. Although I don't expect to get rich from this, it's a way of paying for my retirement in advance."

"Brilliant!" Cheng Feng led the applause: "I often tell people that if you can win a girl over with money, invest less emotion. If you break up with her in the end, it's just a waste of money, and you won't feel bad." Xia Qing snorted: "You're a scumbag, aren't you?"

Yang Muye looked at Cheng Feng.

To be honest, this guy is practically a born internet celebrity.

Other internet celebrities are afraid of their online personas collapsing, but Cheng Feng isn't, because he himself is a pile of ruins.

Of course, Liu Qing was the one who felt most deeply about Yang Muye's words.

Yang Muye is the one who understands the ruthless side of capital the most personally.

Moreover, Yang Muyi had one crucial point he hadn't mentioned.

As a reborn individual, he has more room for trial and error than anyone else, and can face life's various "unexpected events" more calmly.

Take his parents' divorce as an example. What Yang Muye found most unacceptable was not actually the relationship itself, but the sense of frustration he felt when he discovered that the "butterfly effect" brought about by his rebirth did not necessarily develop in a positive direction.

Actually, I'm just struggling with myself, always feeling like I'm letting down the reborn.

Having learned this lesson, Yang Muye will never again expect a good outcome when he intervenes in anyone or anything.

To put it simply, it means I've come to terms with it and made peace with myself.

All roads lead to Rome, but no matter how high one's starting point or how good one's conditions are, a normal person can only choose one or two paths to take.

Yang Muye could try all the roads he knew, and even if he encountered a few detours or forks in the road, it wouldn't affect his eventual arrival in Rome.

As for human nature, Yang Muye wasn't gambling on how good his judgment was. Human nature is indeed not easy to withstand tests, but betrayal requires that the stakes of loyalty are not high enough.

Yang Muye's past life experience taught him that as long as he is strong enough and has enough leverage, he will be surrounded by good people and smiling faces.

The most realistic example is Gao Yunyue's house purchase. If she hadn't been "stimulated" by Yang Muye winning three million yuan in the lottery, her compensation to Yang Muye would probably have been just an annual living allowance of 100,000 to 200,000 yuan and a house in Shenzhen for rent.

Honestly, for a blended family to have children and still go to this lengths for their children from their previous marriage is already more than enough.

After all, neither Gao Yunyue nor Yang Deyuan knew that their son was a reincarnated person, let alone that their decision to go to Shenzhen to make a living was half due to their son's deliberate encouragement.

Even though she had spent 650 million yuan to buy Yang Muye a house in Yanjing, Gao Yunyue felt even more indebted to him.

Because she could clearly sense that her son genuinely didn't care about the property, and naturally, he wouldn't be grateful for it.

It's a shame that Gao Yunyue previously boasted about how much she loved her son, and even kept her divorce a secret for many years under the guise of doing it for her son's good.

In the end, she discovered that she, as a mother, knew absolutely nothing about her son.

It's fortunate that we discovered it early and made a special trip before Yang Muyi started school.

Although the money spent was essentially the same as not spent at all, it at least gave Gao Yunyue a chance to get to know her son again.

Gao Yunyue felt happy, especially when she thought that her ex-husband Yang Deyuan was still in the dark.

The later Yang Deyuan discovered this, the more it proved that he was blind to the truth.

Even years after her divorce, Gao Yunyue is still at odds with her ex-husband.

At the dinner table, Xia Qing was also "unsatisfied," mainly because she couldn't stand Cheng Feng's arrogant and smug demeanor.

However, Cheng Feng was smarter this time. Before Xia Qing could start making things difficult, he took the initiative to express his gratitude to the seven girls who went on stage to dance with him.

They not only expressed their gratitude verbally, but also promised each person a "fee" of one thousand yuan.

The price was based on the price Hu Youyu had quoted over the phone, which was quite reasonable for the women.

Adding in the costs of renting rehearsal space, hiring choreographers, costumes, and so on, Cheng Feng has really "bleed out" this time.

Seeing this, Xia Qing had no choice but to give up her plan to find fault.

Meanwhile, while everyone was discussing the welcome party program, Gao Yunyue successfully obtained Xu Hongdou's phone number by claiming that Zixuan was very attached to Xu Hongdou.

In the future, not only can we get information about Yang Muye from Liu Qing, but Xu Hongdou will also be an important source of information.

The two had saved the number and were about to put their phones away when the familiar Nokia Tune ringtone suddenly sounded.

Apart from Yang Muyi and Wu Di, everyone else present was using Nokia phones, but most of them had changed their ringtones, except for Shi Xiaomeng who was still using the factory default ringtone.

Seeing that it was an unfamiliar number, Shi Xiaomeng hesitated whether to answer.

Cheng Feng leaned his head closer.

"Was that your girlfriend calling?"

"No, it's a local number from Yanjing."

"That shouldn't be the case. You just got this phone number. Logically, you shouldn't be getting those harassing calls from insurance companies and salespeople," Cheng Feng said, puzzled.

Wu Di, who was standing next to him, immediately said, "Maybe it was a mistake."

Shi Xiaomeng looked up at Yang Muye.

Yang Muyi understood and immediately asked, "Have you already put up the advertisement to recruit shop assistants?"

"Yes, that's my phone number."

Yanjingmao has a total of six bulletin boards. Three are next to the canteen, and the rest are all in places with frequent personnel traffic, such as the hot water room and the bathroom.

Shi Xiaomeng had posted advertisements in six different locations, so it wasn't surprising that he received a phone call at this point.

"Take it first."

Yang Muye spoke.

Shi Xiaomeng answered the phone and pressed the speakerphone button at the same time.

A girl's voice came from the other end of the phone.

Quite generous; you can tell from his voice that he's an e-person.

"Hello, I saw the number you left on the bulletin board. What are the requirements for hiring shop assistants?"

Shi Xiaomeng originally wanted to give a platitude like "hardworking and responsible," but then he thought that saying such things in front of so many people would be a waste of time, so he simply got straight to the point:
"Our shop is a campus entrepreneurship project. The work is simple, but it can be tiring. The initial salary won't be very high, and the level will be determined based on work performance. Can you accept that?"

"I don't mind a lower salary, as long as you don't require work experience, I can do it."

"Work experience isn't required, but there's one thing I need to tell you in advance: we hire students for other shop assistant positions who are working part-time while studying, so we need to hire someone who can work full-time. You need to be at least a senior in college and have enough time before we'll consider you."

"Does it have to be a senior student from this university?"

Shi Xiaomeng was stunned after hearing this.

"You're not from our school?"

"No, I just came to visit your school because I've heard so much about it. I happened to see the job posting on the bulletin board, so I called to give it a try."

The conversation grew quieter and quieter, clearly indicating that they were starting to feel uncertain.

"How old are you?"

"eighteen."

"Just graduated from high school?"

"Yes, I didn't get into university, so I came here to work. Don't worry, I have plenty of time, I can even stay at the hotel."

Upon hearing this, Shi Xiaomeng immediately guessed that the other person probably hadn't even found a fixed place to live yet, and being a girl, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"Um... our shop doesn't provide meals or accommodation, but we don't have any restrictions on school or educational background. If you're really interested in doing this, we can meet first. By the way, what's your name?"

"Xia Fenghua, you can also call me Da Hua Zi."

(End of this chapter)