I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

"Really? Shen Kang is at the opening ceremony?"

"I think I saw it too. It really looks like Shen Kang, sitting in the audience. But the camera panned over too quickly."

"Didn't Wan Zihao say the tickets were 30 each? How did Shen Kang's company make that much money in a month?"...

Wan Zihao pinched his philtrum hard to calm himself down, and then three words flashed through his mind—Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

Even if Shen Kangzhen only runs a small roadside shop, in terms of assets and social connections, he is nowhere near as good as his father. If even his father can't buy a ticket, how could he possibly get one?

It's an optical illusion; that classmate must be seeing things!

Wan Zihao quickly typed: "Are you seeing things? Opening ceremony tickets are so hard to buy, how could Shen Kang possibly get any? His shop is probably not even worth a single ticket."

He was really anxious, and he stopped offering any rational analysis or explanations.

Following Wan Zihao's speech, several other students also raised questions.

Just then, some clueless person posted a picture in the group chat with the caption: "This was sent to me by a friend from No. 2 Middle School. It's a photo that He Qiuzhu just uploaded to her QQ space with the title 'Stinky Little Brother'."

The image has low resolution, probably taken with a mobile phone, but it's still easy to see that it shows a boy's face, Shen Kang, staring intently ahead with deep eyes.

As for the background, it was clearly the scene from the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony on television...

"I'm not seeing things, he really is at the opening ceremony!"

"Damn it, he went with that ice queen from No. 2 Middle School! That kid deserves to die!"

"His shop makes so much money? How can he afford such expensive tickets?"

"Didn't you hear what Wan Zihao said? This isn't something that can be solved with just money."...

Wan Zihao slumped in his chair, his eyes filled with despair, unable to shed a tear.

He just talked for ages about how hard it was to get tickets for the opening ceremony and how amazing the people who could attend were. Now it seems like he's just wasting his time on Shen Kang!

Dude, is it really necessary to keep chasing me down? And this husband and wife teamed up to beat me up!

Mom, I want to go back to Yangcheng...

On the other side, the Bird's Nest

In the front section of area A, sat many prominent figures who had made their names in the news, as well as many more mysterious individuals who had never appeared in the media.

Old Zhou sat in one of the seats, silently pondering his thoughts.

He knew that his troublesome daughter and his messy family were sitting somewhere in the back right now.

This was his arrangement.

According to the information from the mole, although these four guys lived together, they usually lived their own lives, just like roommates, which gave the old man a big headache.

The old man didn't have many years left to live, and he didn't want his little girl to live out her days alone, because that would make him restless even in his final moments.

So, taking advantage of the Beijing Olympics, he gave that girl another "mission": to bring the whole family of four to Beijing to watch the Olympics and travel, hoping to strengthen their relationship.

Whether it will be useful or not is unknown, but as a father, he can't just do nothing; he has to take action whenever he has the chance...

In the back seats of Section A

Shen Kang hung up the phone and put it away.

The call was from Yin Mingyang, asking if he had gone to Yanjing to watch the opening ceremony, and also saying that He Qiuzhu had uploaded his photos to her social media.

"What photos of me did you upload to your social media?" Shen Kang leaned close to He Qiuzhu's ear and asked—there were too many people there, more than 90,000, it was noisy even if they didn't make a fuss, so he had to get close to her to say it.

The warm breath inside her ear made He Qiuzhu's eyelashes flutter and her cheeks flush slightly, but she still said in a serious tone: "Your handsome photo."

A handsome photo? You've got good taste, kid.

Shen Kang ignored it, sat up straight, and continued watching the opening ceremony.

Xiao Bonian and Zhou Man also came and sat down next to them.

The four members of their family were all suddenly asked by Zhou Man to come to Beijing to watch the Olympic opening ceremony. As for the reason, it was the same as when they were asked to stay together last time: it was a "mission" that Zhou Man suddenly received.

So everyone came together, and Zhou Man provided the tickets.

The location was pretty good, right in the best-angled section A. Tickets here were already being resold for over 30 yuan, which made Shen Kang envious. He wanted to sell his ticket, but he could only hold back when he thought that it would ruin Zhou Man's "mission".

The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics...

Shen Kang stared blankly at the performance in front of him, lost in thought.

In his past life, he had only seen this performance on television; he never imagined that in this life, he would be able to see it live.

A thousand people beat drums and sang, a little girl sang about the motherland, an electronic ink painting scroll... As the opening ceremony progressed, scene after scene came into view, overlapping with the images in Shen Kang's memory, and time and space became dreamlike and hazy at this moment.

The most exciting and memorable moment for Shen Kang was undoubtedly the final lighting of the Olympic flame.

On the large electronic screen, an aerial view of Beijing was shown first, with footprint-shaped fireworks rising into the sky and exploding one after another, as if a giant was running towards the Bird's Nest in the sky above the city.

Upon arriving at the Bird's Nest, Olympic champions took turns passing the torch.

When Li Ning, the final runner, held the torch and soared into the sky, jogging gracefully in mid-air, while an electronic scroll unfolded beneath his feet with each step, the entire stadium erupted in cheers.

Whether they were locals or guests from other countries, everyone was stunned by the incredibly romantic scene before them.

Shen Kang was also very excited.

This scene is undoubtedly a perfect combination of technology and culture, a unique and classic moment in Olympic history, and a way for this country to send its voice to the world.

Zhou Man, who was standing next to him, remarked with admiration, "President Li is really working hard; I feel exhausted just watching him."

Shen Kang suppressed a laugh and said, "I reckon President Li is really enjoying it."

Zhou Man smiled and said, "Of course we'll be happy. After tonight, Li Ning's stock price will definitely rise."

At this moment, Li Ning had finally lit the Olympic flame in the air, and the huge torch burned brightly in the night sky.

Many spectators around started asking each other to take photos as souvenirs, and many of them were families.

Shen Kang noticed that He Qiuzhu was silently watching those people, holding the digital camera she had brought, gently tugging at it.

"President Zhou, Professor Xiao, shall we take a picture together? We're already here," Shen Kang suddenly said.

Zhou Man and Xiao Bonian exchanged a glance before looking away.

"That's true... since we're already here..."

So the four of them sat down and asked the person next to them to help them capture the moment with a camera. But just as they were about to press the shutter, Shen Kang suddenly couldn't resist taking the picture.

So, in the photo, Shen Kang has a wicked grin on his face, pinching He Qiuzhu's chin with one hand and making her mouth into an "O" shape. Zhou Man, standing next to him, raises her eyebrows and pretends to hit Shen Kang. Xiao Bonian looks at them with a helpless expression.

Above, the Olympic flame blazes brightly, piercing the night sky.

……

After the opening ceremony, the family of four returned to the nearby Hilton Hotel in Yanjing. Zhou Man had booked the rooms, one for each person.

In a suite two floors above the one where the family of four lived, Old Zhou was standing at the window, silently gazing at the night sky.

I wonder if my efforts this time will be effective...

Secretary Zhang came over. "Chairman Zhou, they're back."

After saying that, Secretary Zhang smiled and said, "I hid and took a look from afar. Sister Zhou and her family were chatting and laughing. I think it was quite effective in getting the whole family of four to come to the Olympics and creating opportunities to strengthen their relationship. Indeed, experience counts!"

The old man breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately straightened his face. "What do you mean, 'create opportunities to improve relationships'? Do you think I have that kind of free time? I sent them here because I have important business to attend to!"

Secretary Zhang was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "What important matter?"

This Zhang usually seems quite clever, so why is he acting so foolish now? The old man cursed inwardly, but at the same time, he kept a straight face and his mind was racing. Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him, and the more he thought about it, the better it seemed.

"Ahem," the old man coughed and said, "That waste-to-energy project, wasn't it approved? I'd like to have Shen Kang as a strategic advisor. After all, he seems to have some insights into this area. More input will increase the chances of success."

"I couldn't very well go see him myself, could I? So I had him come to see me. I brought all four of them over because I didn't want that girl to know about this."

Secretary Zhang immediately understood and felt that the old man's reason was very reasonable. Mr. Zhou's quick wit and undiminished talent were no wonder he had built such a large empire.

He almost actually thought it was something important.

"Then I'll go find him and bring him up. Mr. Zhou, would you like to talk to him personally?" Secretary Zhang said seriously.

The old man replied in a serious tone, "Yes, go and call them."

After Secretary Zhang left, the old man racked his brains to refine the details, and the more he thought about it, the better he felt the idea was.

Training that kid in advance, whether it's so he can help the girl in the future or there's another possibility, is a good thing...

At the same time, Shen Kang was in his room downstairs, handling matters related to Anjia on his laptop.

It's been almost a month since Anjia opened.

Under Shen Kang's generous spending policy, the number of users has increased rapidly. Currently, more than 900 users have tried the Anjia service, including more than 200 foreigners who have settled in Yangcheng.

Initially, a white man came to inquire, and Shen Kang keenly sensed a business opportunity. He decisively and immediately hired a dispatcher with good English to handle business with foreigners. His main job was to liaise with customers before and after the sale and solve communication problems.

It's often said that Chinese students studying abroad tend to stick together and don't interact with locals. But the same is true for foreigners who have settled in China; many have lived there for years without speaking Chinese. The foreigners in Yangcheng are no exception; they have their own close-knit groups.

Shen Kang's move to recruit English-speaking order takers, coupled with Anjia's excellent service and incentives for attracting new customers, has led to a rapid expansion of Anjia's business in the foreign community. In less than a month, more than 200 foreigners residing in Yangcheng have purchased Anjia's services.

Moreover, these foreigners are truly willing to spend money on services, with a repurchase rate of an astonishing 93%! They also purchase home cleaning services almost every week.

In comparison, the repurchase rate of local customers in Yangcheng is currently around 71%, which is quite good compared to the 60% repurchase rate of those excellent large companies in later generations. However, the frequency is slightly lower than that of those foreigners who are willing to spend money. The number of families that buy once a week is roughly equal to that of families that buy once every two weeks.

Due to repeat purchases, these 900+ customers have already generated over 2000 orders.

The number of cleaners signed by Anjia has increased from 8 at the beginning to 25, and the number of inspectors has increased from 2 to 10. They are still recruiting and training people.

If we include "first-order discounts", "customer referral rewards", "rent and electric vehicle assets", Shen Kang has already incurred a net loss of more than 17 yuan.

However, if we exclude the "first-order discount", "customer referral bonus", and "rent and electric vehicle assets", Anjia has actually started to make a profit at this point, which means that the model has been successfully implemented and the next step is to enter the payback period.

Based on just one high-tech zone, we estimate it will take a little over three months to break even. However, since the model is already working, we definitely can't wait until we break even before expanding; that would be too slow…

Just as Shen Kang was dealing with official business, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Who?

Shen Kang temporarily put aside what he was doing, went to open the door, and saw a man in a suit and tie standing outside, in his thirties, with a smile on his face.

"Hello, Mr. Shen," the other party greeted.

Shen Kang frowned: He felt like he had seen this person somewhere before...

Shen Kang suddenly widened his pupils and remembered where he had seen this person before—an old man had once visited the Yangcheng Third Welfare Home to check out the environment and wanted to settle down, and he had even chatted with that old man quite happily.

The man in the suit and tie in front of you is the old man's "son"!

At the time, however, this person was dressed in a disheveled, commoner's outfit.

"Someone wants to see you. Would you like to come with me to see them? They're upstairs," the man asked.

A flurry of thoughts raced through Shen Kang's mind, and he formed a certain guess: "What's his last name?"

The man smiled and said, "My surname is Zhou."

"...Okay, let's go."

Shen Kang put on his shoes, took his room key, and followed the man out the door. After going up one floor, they arrived at a suite.

The man stepped forward and rang the doorbell; someone quickly came to open the door.

"Please come in, Mr. Shen."

Shen Kang followed him inside. It was a small reception room, and an old man was sitting on the sofa.

It was the old man I had seen at the orphanage.