Chapter 354

Chapter 354: I Also Need to Collect Once

After Mei Fang and Xia Yuan, Lin You Xi had some fun in the car, they finally got the chance to go to their dormitory. When Mei Fang went there in the afternoon, his dorm was filled with boys playing “San Guo Sha” (a popular card game).

It couldn’t be denied that this game had become almost a must-have social tool among boys in recent years. By the time Mei Fang arrived, no one even noticed him; everyone’s attention was focused on the intense game of “San Guo Sha.”

Then Mei Fang found a familiar face in the game.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, pulling Zhang Ming out from the group chat with his roommates. Zhang Ming also seemed surprised when he saw Mei Fang, “You live in the dorm too?”

“Oh my god, isn’t he the station manager?” someone behind Mei Fang patted his shoulder. It was Li Guidong, who had queued up earlier that morning. Everyone’s attention was then drawn to them.

Unlike girls who tend to chatter, most boys become somewhat awkward when encountering real big shots. Li Guidong, having spent time with Mei Fang in the morning, was quite outgoing and warmly hugged Mei Fang’s shoulders, saying:

“How coincidental, we registered together and ended up as roommates. I’m right across from you…”

“That’s really coincidental. Even more coincidental, your roommate is also my buddy.”

“The station manager’s buddy?”

Everyone turned their attention to Zhang Ming, who had been dominating the “San Guo Sha” game. He was usually very low-key and felt uncomfortable under everyone’s gaze. Only after locking eyes with Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi behind Mei Fang did he greet properly.

“Long time no see, Zhang Ming!”

“Hello.”

Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi also greeted Zhang Ming, which made everyone truly believe that Zhang Ming knew the three big shots of C-Station. Their gazes towards Zhang Ming became a bit strange.

The three big shots of C-Station had always helped each other and shared resources. Now it was time for Lin You Xi and Xia Yuan to help out, while Mei Fang just sat around chatting with Zhang Ming and others.

“Don’t be so tense, just chat. It makes me feel a bit nervous too.”

“Hahaha…”

“You can ask anything. I don’t often come to the dorms.”

Mei Fang was clearly not nervous at all. At only 19 years old, he already had 14 years of programming experience. He had performed on stage in front of thousands of people and had conversations with many influential figures. His life experiences were far more exciting than many people’s entire lives, surpassing his previous self who was once very reserved.

Under Mei Fang’s relaxed atmosphere, the boys started to relax. A bold boy asked:

“Manager, do your parents—”

“Hmm?”

The sudden burst of tension from Mei Fang startled the boy, who quickly said, “Don’t you have your parents bring you here? Do you handle everything yourself? That’s impressive.”

“It’s not exactly alone. We’ve always helped each other.”

“You could just get an assistant to arrange these things…”

“I currently don’t have a personal assistant.”

“Wow, seriously? As a boss, don’t you even have a secretary?”

“Afang doesn’t need a secretary.”

After helping to make the bed, Lin You Xi climbed down and put her arm around Mei Fang, smiling, “Whatever a secretary can do, I and Yuan can do too. Why waste money on that?”

“Indeed, indeed.”

Xia Yuan was surprised that Lin You Xi had included her in the fun. She said with her hands behind her back, “Since kindergarten, we’ve always supported each other. Of course, it’s the same when we start a company.”

“Amazing… Amazing…”

“Envious of such childhood sweethearts.”

“I had childhood sweethearts too, but how did I lose them…”

“Don’t pretend. It’s probably because your childhood sweetheart wasn’t good-looking.”

“How do you know? Ugh!”

“Hahaha!”

Everyone chatted happily in a harmonious atmosphere, but the conversation mostly revolved around C-Station. They eventually shifted to discussing user feedback for the C-Station manager.

Mei Fang didn’t stay long, promising to have dinner with everyone later before bidding farewell and leaving.

“Feels like becoming famous makes it hard to be friends with classmates normally.”

“Is that true? I thought you were getting along well with them…” Lin You Xi tilted her head in confusion.

Xia Yuan waved her hand, “It just looks harmonious. I told them to call me Xia Yuan directly, but they still call me ‘Yuanbao.’ I don’t like being in the center of attention.”

“Since you’re famous now, it can’t be helped…”

As Mei Fang drove, he thought about it.

It was difficult for Mei Fang to integrate into university life given his current status and position. The thick wall of separation might not affect Zhang Ming, who has known him since middle school, but it was harder for others. Therefore, whenever Mei Fang participated in activities, everyone’s attention was on Mei Youyuan trio, preventing them from showing their true selves.

This was unfair to them as university classmates. Some might enjoy getting close to this internet tycoon, but not everyone felt the same way. They might even blame Mei Fang and his group for ruining their college experience.

And if any of them showed unseemly behavior, it could become scandalous material, especially for idols like Xia Yuan, who relied heavily on fan perception. This made Mei Fang feel guilty toward Xia Yuan.

Though he had helped Xia Yuan achieve success, it wasn’t her original dream. It was undoubtedly shaped by Mei Fang’s influence.

“If you ever get tired of this life, tell me…”

“Oh, I was just venting. I’m not unhappy!”

Xia Yuan patted Mei Fang’s shoulder, “Being watched by so many people feels like walking on thin ice, but I understand it’s the price of fame.”

“Besides, I’ve always loved singing and writing songs. I love it when people sing my songs, and I love how my achievements can help Afang…”

“If you could go back and choose again, would you still pursue your original dream?”

“Original dream?”

Mei Fang nodded, “Didn’t you want to be a teacher when you were little?”

That was the day Mei Fang took Xia Yuan on her first adventure. He borrowed ten yuan from Xia Yuan to buy lottery tickets and treated her to cotton candy. They sat on a bench talking about their dreams for the future.

Perhaps due to their mature mindset, that sunset and evening wind remained etched in Mei Fang’s memory, though Xia Yuan might not remember it as vividly.

“That was such a long time ago, how could I remember…”

“I remember your dream.”

Lin You Xi nodded, “But that’s just part of your dream. You have many more.”

“Do you remember so much about me? Tell me about them.”

“You wanted to be a mother and give birth to Afang’s child; you dreamed of being Afang’s bride at age 10; at 15, you wanted to be his girlfriend; at 17, you wanted to date him—”

“Stop! According to you, my dreams seem to shrink and all become about Afang!”

Xia Yuan’s cheeks flushed.

“That’s just how it is… That’s normal,” Lin You Xi said, “People become more realistic as they grow up.”

“But Afang isn’t like that.”

“Afang’s dream was just to make money, and now he has achieved it.”

“You say you forgot, but aren’t you remembering this?”

At five years old, Mei Fang had just been reborn and said he only wanted to make money when asked about his dream.

“Back then, that dream was quite shocking…”

Xia Yuan patted her head and looked at Lin You Xi:

“So what about you, You Xi? What was your dream as a child?”

“I didn’t think about it much… So I didn’t have any big dreams.”

Lin You Xi rested her chin on her hand, thinking, “If I had to say, it was when Afang taught me to code.”

“Because I felt helping Afang was cool.”

“And maybe Yuan couldn’t do that…”

“Did you start thinking about competing with me for Afang back then?”

Lin You Xi’s playful attack had no effect on Xia Yuan, who retaliated, “What… You get to be close to Afang, but I can’t talk to him?”

Lin You Xi hugged Xia Yuan’s arm and whispered teasingly, “How come? You monopolized Afang for so long, I could only watch. Poor me.”

“Now crying over spilt milk! I’m the one who’s pitiful now!”

“You two are pitiful, but the most pitiful is me!”

Mei Fang complained while driving, “Serving you two every day, even if I’m healthy, I won’t last long.”

Lin You Xi smiled with half-closed eyes, “Afang says he can’t, but at night, he’s a different person.”

“Don’t just talk about Afang, you’re the same.”

Xia Yuan muttered, “Only I struggle to keep up with your pace…”

“That reminds me, you never ask for less than You Xi, yet you always demand fairness. You’re lazy, but at least You Xi cooperates, saving me effort. What do you do? Just make me serve you.”

“But but… I am a bit tired lately!”

Xia Yuan said sadly, “Look at my dark circles, I’m not feeling well…”

“Still, we should be more restrained recently. We have a product launch for Fang Dimension next month, we shouldn’t neglect it.”

“Alright…”

Lin You Xi nodded, “Every night is so intense, it’s hard to create a romantic atmosphere during the day. But I’ll help collect the harvest, as a routine. Is that okay?”

“Sure, collecting every three days?”

Xia Yuan chimed in, “Twice! I need to collect once too.”

Xia Yuan’s statement was quickly reprimanded by Lin You Xi and Mei Fang—

“You’re always like this, saying you’re tired. Whatever I say, you have to do the same? Really, acting like a little kid…”

“She’s always in a kid mindset, she wants what you have.”

Seeing Yuan Yuan’s pitiful look, Mei Fang sighed,

“Alright, alright, I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it. Twice, then.”

“Great!”

“You need to take the initiative this time. Afang works hard too, if you don’t try, I’ll do it for you.”

“I know! Don’t worry, I’m good at this.”

Mei Fang joked with his childhood sweethearts while feeling a hint of unease about their future.

In fact, Mei Fang’s business expansion wasn’t as smooth as he portrayed it to outsiders.

The entire development team had been busy promoting the Fang Dimension plan throughout August. The effectiveness of the millions invested in promotion in mid-September’s product launch was unknown to Mei Fang.

In the red sea of capital wars among internet giants, Mei Fang joined the game, burning both others’ and his own money.

But his past experiences were limited, and he vastly underestimated the brutality of the commercial war. His decade of cash reserves were nearly depleted in one year, and the company now owed nearly a hundred million in loans to the bank.

But this was the era of burning money. Such debts were normal for many industries in their early stages.

However, even as a darling of capital, Mei Fang needed to show his commercial prospects and monetization capabilities to current and future investors, essentially painting a picture. Only then could he attract new large-scale financing plans and help the company move forward.

Of course, besides that, Mei Fang had Bitcoin as his final trump card.

Bitcoin wasn’t the best time to cash out, as it was still several times below its historical high in 2017. Mei Fang didn’t want to reveal this last card too early, as he didn’t know how to play afterward.

In the conference room of the company, the three big shots were discussing the product launch process.

Including his cousin Mei Yue, the main core members from Jiangcheng arrived in Pengcheng a few days later. This was a huge gamble for Mei Fang’s entire group, and it was a success-or-failure situation.

Due to busy work schedules, Mei Yue and Mei Fang had no chance to catch up when she arrived in Pengcheng. They only had a chance to talk during a break in the meeting.

“Afang, you’ve lost a lot of weight recently. Remember to take care of yourself and don’t work too late.”

“Mm-hm, I know.”

Mei Fang nodded cheerfully, “Don’t let my weight fool you, I’m full of energy. The product launch will definitely go smoothly.”

“That’s good to hear…”

Mei Yue sighed inwardly.

Men truly shine when they are in love.

Honestly, it’s enviable…

Recommended friend’s work: “My Yesterday Love Song,” a story of three-way love.

There will be an additional update later tonight.