Monday, September 28th.
Lin Feng sat at the study desk, Zhang Wei typing away at his laptop next to him.
Lin Feng glanced over. Zhang Wei seemed extremely focused, his fingers moving across the keyboard in rapid bursts.
He turned his attention to his system.
[Infinite Money System]
[Total System Balance: ¥1,540.00]
[Available System Balance: ¥1,540.00]
[Personal Balance: ¥8,455.00]
The balance was the same as yesterday. The only difference was that he now had the available balance ready to collect. He didn't bother transferring it since today was a weekday - his system balance would increase tonight anyway.
He closed the system, and his gaze drifted back to Zhang Wei.
He observed the laptop Zhang Wei was typing on.
I almost forgot something.
Back then, he and Zhang Wei could have been considered good friends. And now, they were still friends, but...
"Say," Lin Feng spoke up, "how did you say you made money again?"
Zhang Wei's fingers paused briefly. Then he resumed typing, though much slower this time.
"It's mostly through freelance gigs," he said, eyes still on the screen. "And donations to some open-source projects I maintain."
Lin Feng observed him carefully.
"Must be hard," he said.
Zhang Wei nodded slightly.
"Now with you focusing so much on the delivery thing," Lin Feng continued, "do you get time to do your gigs?"
Zhang Wei's typing slowed even further.
"Well... I find ways to make it work," he said.
Lin Feng watched him in silence.
Both he and Zhang Wei were scholarship students. And if he remembered correctly, Zhang Wei's family wasn't well off at all - even worse than his own, to be honest. Most of the money Zhang Wei spent, he earned himself.
That was why Lin Feng had suggested he contribute his labor instead of money when they started the business.
But that didn't mean making him a slave.
To be honest, Lin Feng believed Zhang Wei had contributed the most to this delivery thing. But since they weren't making any real profit yet, he wasn't getting paid for any of it. Yet the work took up all his time, leaving him unable to earn money elsewhere.
He said he found ways.
But Lin Feng could tell he was lying.
"Say," Lin Feng said casually, "how do you feel about us hanging out after class?"
Zhang Wei's typing stopped.
"Just the two of us," Lin Feng added.
Zhang Wei turned to look at him for the first time, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Lin Feng quickly waved his hands.
"Don't misunderstand," he said. "I just thought I should get a laptop too after seeing yours. Since you have experience with this stuff, I figured I could use your help picking one out."
Zhang Wei looked at him for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"Sure," he said.
"Great," Lin Feng said in excitement.
At that moment, the door swung open.
Chen Ming and Li Jun walked in, each carrying bags filled with items.
"Alright," Lin Feng spoke, turning to face the newcomers. "Let's start the meeting."
…
"What's the report?" Lin Feng asked. "Zhang Wei..."
Zhang Wei leaned back slightly from his laptop.
"Same as before," he said. "Nothing much has changed. I've implemented most of what we can do with the given framework. Now it's mostly just regular maintenance."
He paused.
"I've also been stress testing the program and experimenting with a few things. But that's mostly just for fun."
Lin Feng nodded. "Good. Chen Ming?"
Chen Ming could barely contain his excitement.
"Our popularity is at an all-time high!" he said, practically bouncing in his seat. "Thanks to Saturday's peak, we should be able to steadily gain customers for the foreseeable future. And during Golden Week..."
Lin Feng smiled.
What Chen Ming said was indeed true. That being said, he was being overly enthusiastic. There could still be other unforeseen factors.
"Remain vigilant," Lin Feng said. "Don't let your guard down."
Chen Ming's expression sobered slightly. "Right. Got it."
Lin Feng then turned to Li Jun. "And you?"
Li Jun pulled out his phone.
"Here's yesterday's data," he said. "Total orders: 29. Items sold: 54. Revenue: 459 yuan. Cost of goods sold: 275 yuan."
He swiped to another screen.
"Cash on hand: 3,758 yuan. Remaining inventory valued at 743 yuan."
He looked up.
"It's a slight dip from Saturday's peak, but we should recover." He paused. "We should also restock again this evening."
Lin Feng nodded. "Agreed."
Li Jun continued scrolling.
"Now for the weekly report." He cleared his throat. "Total orders: 158. Total revenue: 2,500 yuan. Total cost of goods sold: 1,499 yuan. Gross profit: 1,001 yuan."
He set down his phone.
"Cash on hand remains at 3,758 yuan. Inventory remaining: 743 yuan at cost."
Silence fell over the room.
Everyone nodded slowly, doing the calculations in their heads.
Lin Feng did the same.
A thousand yuan a week wasn't bad. And technically, it had only been half a week since they started on Wednesday. Still, he could average it out to be around that amount going forward.
This wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.
They were currently on track to make around 4,000 yuan a month. That meant they were still in the safe zone - no urgent need to register as an official business just yet.
Lin Feng looked at each of them, his expression turning serious.
"As we get more popular," he said, "we're bound to attract copycats."
The room grew quiet.
"It's time for us to decide," he continued. "Are we really going to do this thing?"
Everyone's expression grew serious.
Chen Ming was the first to speak up.
"I'm all in," he said firmly.
Zhang Wei shrugged.
"I've put too much work into this," he said. "There's no way I'm backing down now."
Li Jun nodded.
"I feel the same way."
Lin Feng looked at each of them in turn.
"Alright," he said.
He straightened up.
"After the Golden Week holiday, we're going to officially register as a business." He paused. "In the meantime, I'll do some research on the registration process as well as our official roles. I'll inform you all so we can get used to them."
The others nodded.
He rose from his seat, "The meeting is dismissed."
He grabbed his bag and headed out to fulfill his morning orders.