Reborn not to be a beast of burden, I set the rules.

When I arrived at the school gate, the school bus was waiting.

He went upstairs and found a seat by the window.

The 11 o'clock bus takes about 40 minutes to get to Sipailou.

The car started moving, and the camphor trees outside the window receded one after another. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes for a while.

He mentally went over what he was going to say to Wang Deming later.

I checked the evidence again—photos, recordings—and everything was there.

The key to dealing with these scammers is to strike at their vital point!

When the school bus arrived at Sipailou, it was almost 11:50.

He got off the car, walked out of the Sipailou campus, and headed towards Zhujiang Road.

At the same time, Wang Chao was already standing downstairs at No. 187 Zhujiang Road. He got off the bus a quarter of an hour earlier than Ye Ming.

Zhujiang Road is at its busiest time of day, with promotional loudspeakers blaring and crowds thronging the streets.

He clutched his phone, his palms sweating, and followed the address. Across from the New World Department Store stood a gray-white office building. He took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

The hallway was dark. A sign stood near the elevator; he found "Huasheng Network Technology," located on the fourth floor. The elevator hummed as it went up.

When they reached the fourth floor, the corridor was quiet. Several promotional posters hung on the walls: "NASDAQ Listed," "The American Groupon Model," "A Hundred Billion Market," their bright colors making Wang Chao's heart pound.

The receptionist warmly led him to Wang Deming's office.

Wang Deming looked up and saw him, immediately put on a smile, hung up the phone and came over to greet him: "Xiao Wang, right? Have a seat, have a seat."

Wang Chao sat down on the sofa, his back ramrod straight. Wang Deming poured him a glass of water, his tone almost cloyingly warm: "The fact that you came shows you have good taste. The venue for tomorrow's briefing has already been booked; I'm letting you get a feel for it today."

He picked up a few documents from the table and spread them out on the coffee table. Wang Chao looked down and saw that they were the "Founding Members" agreement.

Wang Deming pointed to one of the rows: "You're lucky, you caught the last batch of spots. Yesterday there were more than a dozen people vying for them, and if you were late, they would have been gone."

Wang Chao looked up: "Aren't we always recruiting? I saw in the group chat that there seem to be quite a few openings."

Wang Deming smiled even wider: "The spots in the group are for regular members, but the one I'm giving you is a founding member spot. There are only five per city, and in Nanjing, you're the fourth."

Wang Chao stared at the line "American Groupon model" on the agreement, recalling the English description he had looked up in the Oxford Dictionary yesterday, and felt reassured.

He asked, "Groupon does group buying in the US, does ours also do group buying?"

Wang Deming's eyes lit up: "You know Groupon? That's even better. We're the Chinese version of Groupon, headquartered in the US, with an exclusive domestic distributor. We'll go public next year, and each founding member will receive at least this much..." He held up three fingers, "Three hundred thousand. US dollars."

He patted Wang Chao on the shoulder and lowered his voice: "More than two million RMB. Many people can't earn that much in their entire lives."

Wang Chao recalled what he had said to Zhao Kai in the dormitory, "Only 50 cents a piece, how much can you earn?"

He counted over two million in his mind again and again.

Once he makes money, everyone will respect him, and who will remember the 50-cent coin?

Ye Ming just created a game and tricked a few pretty girls into following him.

If he can earn that much, he'll be the most dazzling entrepreneurial star among the freshmen of the School of Humanities.

He then asked, "Where is the company registered? I see the agreement says Nanjing, but isn't the headquarters in Shanghai?"

Wang Deming remained calm and pulled out another document: "Shanghai is the headquarters, and Nanjing is the operations center. It's a legitimate company, with all the necessary paperwork."

He laughed. "You've done your research quite thoroughly. That's how people who do big things operate. Paying a deposit today means getting extra shares tomorrow—that's called information asymmetry."

Wang Chao asked, "How much is the deposit?"

"Not much, just five hundred. I'll make up the four thousand five tomorrow."

Wang Chao pulled out five hundred-yuan bills and handed them over. Wang Deming took them and stuffed them into the drawer, then picked up an agreement and handed it to him: "Take this back and take a look, bring it over tomorrow. Bring a few friends, this is a rare opportunity."

Wang Chao took it, folded it, put it in his pocket, and stood up. Wang Deming patted him on the shoulder: "Tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock, definitely on the third floor of the hotel, see you there."

Wang Chao nodded, pushed open the door, and went out.

The corridor was quiet. He walked towards the stairwell, his steps quicker than when he came.

His mind was still racing with those two million figures, making his palms sweat.

He told himself that this was what entrepreneurship was all about, this was strategic vision, and that group buying was the future that had already been proven in the United States.

Stepping outside, the sunlight was so bright he squinted. He glanced down and sent a message to his "mentor": "I've been there, and I've paid the deposit."

The other party replied instantly: "See you tomorrow."

Almost simultaneously, Shen Zhiyi, carrying a bag of newly purchased parts, came out of the Lion Electronics City and headed towards the bus stop.

She was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt today, with the cuffs rolled up twice. Her hair was tied up, with a few stray strands falling down from behind her ears and touching her chin.

The sunlight shone on her profile, making her pale skin almost transparent.

Lithium battery, charging module, speaker, buttons, and several rolls of solder wire.

She looked down and counted the parts, her brows furrowing slightly without her noticing.

The 256MB RAM chip she wanted was out of stock; she had to order it, and it would take a week.

The touch screen film needs to be custom-made; it will take three days.

If the screen cable doesn't match, you'll need to find an adapter board.

These are the few things I can take back today.

Standing by the roadside, she folded the list and stuffed it into her pocket.

Under the blazing sun, the sounds of horns, footsteps, and haggling mingled together on Zhujiang Road.

A vendor selling roasted sweet potatoes pushed his cart along the roadside, calling out his wares, and the aroma filled the air.

As she walked towards the bus stop, she glanced up at the old gray-white building next to the New World Department Store.

On the fourth floor, the windows were closed and the curtains were drawn.

There's a sign downstairs with the names of several companies listed on it.

A few days ago, when I came to buy some parts and get some things printed, the owner of the printing shop downstairs told me that there was a scam company in this building that specifically targets college students, called "Huasheng Something Technology".

Just then, a person walked out of the building entrance.

He was short, kept his head down, walked quickly, and the soles of his shoes clattered on the ground.

Shen Zhiyi recognized the face; it was the person who had stopped her from speaking ill of Ye Ming on campus before.

She frowned, stepped aside, and watched him walk towards the bus stop.

I hadn't walked more than a few steps when another person turned around the street corner.

He was very tall, with a straight posture, and walked at a leisurely pace.

It's Ye Ming.

The two people walked past each other. Wang Chao had his head down and didn't see him.

Ye Ming glanced at Wang Chao, paused for a moment, but didn't call out to him. He looked away and pushed open the door to enter the building.

Shen Zhiyi stood by the roadside, watching the two of them, her fingers clenching the plastic bag tightly.

She hesitated for a moment and did not follow.

She didn't look away until the door closed, but something in her heart was left hanging.