I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Shen Kang wasn't just talking about taking on the task of finding a new housekeeper; he contacted Zhou Man early the next morning and got the address of the housekeeping company that had introduced Aunt Liang.

He was standing at the entrance of this housekeeping company at that moment.

Despite being called a "housekeeping company," it's actually just a small shop of about 50 square meters with a sign that reads "Kangping Housekeeping" hanging above the entrance. Inside, there are six or seven desks.

It's clear that money was spent on the renovation; it looks quite professional at first glance, which inspires trust.

As soon as Shen Kang pushed open the door, he heard several employees inside making phone calls, seemingly contacting clients.

An employee who was free saw someone enter and instinctively stood up. Seeing it was a teenager, he hesitated for a moment, but still approached. "Excuse me, are you looking for a nanny?"

"Yes. A few days ago, my family hired a nanny from your company, but after only two days, we found out she was making excuses to skip work, so we're planning to find someone else."

It really was a customer. The employee immediately pulled up a chair and said, "Please sit down. What kind of nanny are you looking for?"

After chatting for a while, the two basically narrowed down the candidates for the new nanny. However, when they talked about the fees, Shen Kang frowned.

"No, we have to pay the agency fee again? It's clearly the nanny you introduced who had ethical issues; shouldn't you be responsible for cleaning up the mess?"

The employee smiled and said, "Young man, it's not like you just said you found a nanny here a few days ago."

"You can look for the contract. We signed one back then, and you should have a copy."

Seeing Shen Kang's insistence, the employees had no choice but to ask Shen Kang for the address and then ask their colleagues. After a while, they found the original contract.

The employee then offered a new explanation: "Your family did indeed hire Aunt Liang through our company. However, you conducted an interview first, and only after confirming that there were no problems did you sign the contract. Now that your family has dismissed that nanny, that's a dispute between you two, but our transaction has already been completed..."

In short, the attitude remains the same: if you want to find a new nanny, you definitely have to pay an agency fee, but it can be reduced appropriately.

"...Little brother, I'm not trying to fool you because you're young. You'll find the same thing if you ask around the whole of Yangcheng."

Shen Kang was too lazy to waste any more words with him and was planning to use some underhanded tactics to resolve the matter, but upon hearing this, a thought suddenly struck him.

"Is the whole of Yangcheng like this?"

Upon seeing this, the employee's spirits lifted, and he declared decisively, "It's not just the whole of Yangcheng, it's the same all over the country!"

Shen Kang nodded thoughtfully, then changed the subject: "I've been thinking about it again, maybe we should change the type of nanny. I'm really worried about long-term contracts. Do you have any short-term rental options? For example, if my house needs cleaning today, can you recommend someone?"

The employee frowned. "Yes, we do, but let me make this clear first: for these short-term rentals, we have to pay an agency fee every time we hire someone. It's impossible for us to pay an agency fee once and then introduce you to services for free every time you need one. That's not feasible. Actually, in the long run, I still recommend long-term contracts; they're much cheaper overall..."

Shen Kang stayed at Kangping Household Services for half a day, but in the end, he didn't even hire a nanny. He just packed his bags and left, which made the employees lose face. They cursed him for a long time after he left.

After leaving Kangping Household Services, Shen Kang found a nearby internet cafe and looked up information about household service companies in Yangcheng City.

These days, Gaode Maps isn't working, so Shen Kang could only use Baidu and 58.com to search as much as possible. After collecting the address information of several housekeeping companies, he wrote them down and started visiting them one by one.

He continued running around until after 4 p.m., finalizing the arrangements for a new housekeeper and gaining a general understanding of the domestic service industry in Yangcheng.

During this time, he also staked out the three stores, secretly chatting with customers coming out of the stores and learning some information from their clients.

Overall, the domestic service industry in 2008 was quite chaotic.

Taking Yangcheng as an example, the vast majority of businesses are small family-run shops. As long as they have some contact information for housekeepers and some customer resources, they can open a shop directly. They can easily set up a 20-square-meter storefront, put in two desks, and without even a computer, and they're a housekeeping company. The start-up cost is quite low.

Kangping Household Services is the most reputable of all the shops Shen Kang has seen.

In terms of service, there was no concept of aftercare.

These days, Jin Dong Multimedia has just changed its name to Jin Dong Mall, and it hasn't yet made after-sales service a standard feature and expanded it to other areas. In many offline stores, there are even signs that say "No returns once you leave the store," which Shen Kang finds outrageous.

In this environment, the prevailing view among consumers is "once you've made your purchase, don't buy it." Therefore, none of the three housekeeping clients that Shen Kang asked felt there was anything wrong with this.

There's no after-sales service, and naturally, no standardized or procedural service. Information is also opaque; customers can only choose from a limited number of caregivers recommended by the domestic service agency.

All of this has led to a scarcity of good nannies. One of Shen Kang's clients today told him about an amusing incident in his neighborhood where two residents got into a fight over a good nanny.

"This is no longer just ordinary industry chaos; we must take strong measures!"

Based on this information, Shen Kang felt that starting an O2O housekeeping company and focusing on the housekeeping industry in eastern Shanxi seemed like a promising venture.

Moreover, Jin Dong did indeed establish Jin Dong Household Services in later generations, and its development momentum was very strong. In the year Shen Kang was reborn and returned, Jin Dong Household Services temporarily ranked second in the industry, second only to that swan worth 200 billion.

Shen Kang began to ponder the matter from one aspect to another:

In terms of the market, the fact that there are so many housekeeping companies in Yangcheng shows that there is a market for it.

In terms of future prospects, companies like Swan and Jindong Household Services in later generations have scales of tens of billions, indicating that there is potential for growth.

As for the entry barrier, it goes without saying that it's a family business; even a small family-run shop can do it, and the start-up costs are very low. However, if you want to build your own website, handle after-sales service, and maintain service quality, the investment will definitely be higher. With my 30 yuan and a monthly salary of 5 yuan, I should be able to afford it, right? ...

Shen Kang sat on the flower bed by the roadside, silently calculating in his mind.

As I was calculating, my phone rang—it was Yin Mingyang calling.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Old Shen, my dad gave me some money to celebrate your birthday today. It's public funds for a feast, so hurry up and come!"

Shen Kang often went to Yin Mingyang's house to play, and that's how he got to know Yin Mingyang's parents.

Yin Mingyang's parents treated him well because he was an orphan. Sometimes when they cooked something delicious, they would ask Yin Mingyang to invite him over to eat together.

"No, your parents didn't give you any money for my birthday before, did they? Was it your own money?"

"It really is money from my dad. I already said you don't celebrate birthdays, but my dad said that while other birthdays are fine, you still have to celebrate your 18th birthday. Just consider it a casual meal together, come on over, it's Zhang Laosi's restaurant, I didn't even eat lunch for this!"

"...Alright, I'll head over now."

After hanging up the phone, Shen Kang frowned: Was there such a thing in my past life? Upon careful recollection, it seemed that there really was.

He really wasn't interested in birthdays, and only remembered this after thinking carefully.

So I stopped thinking about the housekeeping project for now, took a bus to Zhang Laosi Restaurant—now that I had a clear business project, I had to start saving every penny.

Zhang Laosi Restaurant is located on a side street next to a residential area. It's a very ordinary home-style restaurant with no private rooms, only a main hall with six tables, where local residents eat. Because the food is good and inexpensive, it does quite well.

As soon as Shen Kang entered the restaurant, he saw Yin Mingyang already sitting at the innermost table, watching the television hanging from the ceiling.

As soon as Shen Kang sat down, Yin Mingyang took out a cake and chuckled, "Look, I've already bought the cake! Since none of us like cake, I bought a small one. We'll split the money we save to pay our internet bills!"

"..."

Looking at the tiny cake, barely the size of a palm, with a single candle struggling to stick out of it, Shen Kang couldn't help but give it a thumbs up. "Old Yin, you're a top-notch talent. You absolutely must study accounting in college, otherwise it'll be a waste..."

After laughing and joking for a while, the two brothers prepared to order food.

Shen Kang's text message ringtone sounded, and when he took it out, he saw that it was a text message from He Qiuzhu.

"You smeared cream on my face yesterday, and I haven't paid you back yet."

Shen Kang was taken aback; this was the first time He Qiuzhu had sent him a text message.

After a moment of stunned silence, he moved his finger, intending to send her "I really don't celebrate my birthday," but the words that appeared on the screen magically changed.

"No. 62 Dongtao North Road, Zhang Laosi Restaurant".

Shen Kang looked at the text message and thought, "Wow, that's amazing. It's like my fingers have their own consciousness."

"Who's he texting? It can't be some young girl..." Yin Mingyang chuckled, then suddenly frowned, as if remembering something. "That aunt who's keeping you as a mistress?"

"I already told you that it was funding my startup. Perfect timing, I've found a project, you'll see it in a few days."

Shen Kang put down his phone, looked up at Yin Mingyang, and said, "As for the one who sent the text message, it's the girl you saw at the hotel entrance last time, remember her?"

Yin Mingyang, of course, remembered that girl. He chuckled and said, "Alright, alright, so this whole 'bragging' is going to be a soap opera, huh? If she really comes, you go and get her, and I'll eat whatever she gives you! If she doesn't come, I'll get her, and you can eat her. You wanna bet?"

Shen Kang really didn't want Yin Mingyang to eat anymore—that kid wanted to eat last time.

"Let's order quickly."

"Hehe, you're scared now, aren't you?"

"I was worried you were eating too well."...

The two bickered as they ordered three meat dishes and two vegetable dishes.

Even after the food started being served, Yin Mingyang was still rambling on and on.

"Ordering two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes would be enough. You insisted on ordering an extra boiled fish. Wouldn't it be better to save the money and use it to top up your internet bill?"

But the voices gradually faded away, and a pair of eyes turned towards the restaurant entrance.

A taxi stopped at the entrance, and a young girl got out. She stood at the entrance and looked into the restaurant.

She wore a black dress adorned with many small embellishments, like twinkling stars. Her long, jet-black hair cascaded down her back, her face was as white as jade, and her features were frighteningly beautiful. Her eyes were cold and clear as she calmly and quickly scanned the restaurant, like a queen inspecting her territory.

"..."