10: Chapter 1 The Mischievous Kid

Seeing him relent, Grandma Liu was so happy she couldn't stop smiling.

"Good, good, good. I won't nag anymore. You're both good children; you must get along well!"

Since it was getting late and Grandma Liu saw that Shen Yan had already added her niece as a contact, she headed home.

The house, which had a bit of warmth just a moment ago, returned to silence after Grandma Liu left.

Shen Yan put down his finished lunch box, walked to Shen Ya's bedside, and softly recounted the day's events.

"Xiao Ya, I signed a partnership with a big company today for software development."

"An advance payment of three hundred thousand, a final payment of over a million, plus a share of the profits after launch. How's that? Not bad, right?"

"By the way, do you still remember Old Chen? You used to say he was just a fair-weather friend and always talked back to him. Every time he couldn't win an argument with you, he'd come running to me complaining about being mistreated."

As he spoke, Shen Yan couldn't help but chuckle softly.

Pulling himself away from the pleasant memories, he returned to the messy reality.

"Xiao Ya, I've made up my mind. I'm going to get back up from exactly where I fell."

Previously, he had mistakenly trusted Chen Ling, which led to him having to hand over the company he founded with his own hands to someone else.

He wouldn't make that mistake again.

If he could succeed once, he could succeed a second time!

After washing up, he went to sleep.

Shen Yan had a dreamless night until the next morning.

As soon as he woke up, he saw the ordinary wealth intelligence left by the system.

[ordinary wealth intelligence: There is a Border Collie worth fifty thousand in Seaview Park.]

A Border Collie worth fifty thousand?

Shen Yan scratched his head. With his ten-square-meter room, how could he possibly afford to keep a dog?

Could it be that he was supposed to sell the dog?

Or perhaps the dog had an owner, and the ordinary wealth intelligence meant for him to find the dog and return it to its owner?

Even as he left the house, he still hadn't figured out the meaning of the ordinary wealth intelligence.

Carrying his computer and equipment to the warehouse, he found Chen Guangke already waiting for him.

"Yo, you're much more diligent now than when you were in school."

Hearing the teasing, Chen Guangke curled his lip.

"Could back then be the same as now?"

"Back then, I hadn't experienced the harsh beatings of society. Hurry up, let's settle on the preliminary plan for the software development first, otherwise I can't get to work."

Shen Yan nodded and placed his computer on the table.

"Since it's just the two of us now, just speak your mind."

Chen Guangke's eyes widened, and he said to Shen Yan in disbelief:

"Old Shen! You're not telling me you haven't even decided on the direction of the software yet, are you?!"

Shen Yan gave a brilliant smile.

"You guessed right. Their only requirement for the software is that it must be innovative and attract users."

Chen Guangke's composure shattered.

"That concept is a bit too broad, isn't it? Without any direction, what if what we make doesn't meet their expectations?"

Shen Yan shrugged and said, "Then we'll just have to terminate the contract and return the advance payment."

Chen Guangke felt a lump in his throat and slumped onto the table, muttering:

"I knew this wouldn't be that simple!"

...

They stayed in the warehouse for most of the day.

The two of them still hadn't come to any conclusion.

"No, the two of us aren't enough. We need to find a few more people to help."

Hearing this, Chen Guangke asked weakly:

"With our current strength, capable people won't be willing to come at all."

Shen Yan opened his phone and scrolled through some recruitment listings.

"Hmm... not necessarily. Anyway, we just have to start looking."

Half an hour later.

The two of them appeared at Seaview Park.

"What are we doing here?"

While looking around, Shen Yan replied:

"I checked online. Many people look for jobs here. We'll come here first to get some pointers, then set up a stall to recruit people too."

Chen Guangke blinked, his face full of doubt.

"Are you sure we can actually recruit anyone here?"

Shen Yan didn't answer; he was busy looking for the Border Collie shown in the ordinary wealth intelligence.

Originally, he hadn't intended to look for the dog.

After all, he had other important business to attend to.

But he hadn't expected that Seaview Park would not only have the dog but also many job seekers.

Since he was already here, he certainly wouldn't miss out on the information from the ordinary wealth intelligence.

Regardless of what use the dog might have, he would find it first.

Seaview Park was huge.

He searched for half an hour but still hadn't found the Border Collie mentioned in the ordinary wealth intelligence.

Could it have run away?

He wondered to himself.

Just then, Chen Guangke ran over.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"I've been calling you over there for ages, and you didn't even respond once."

Shen Yan put his arm around Chen Guangke's shoulder and said:

"I'm looking for a dog."

Chen Guangke tilted his head, his tone odd. "Huh? You're getting a dog? In that pigeonhole of yours?"

Shen Yan raised his hand and gave him a flick on the forehead.

"Don't say I'm keeping a dog; I just said I'm looking for a dog here."

Chen Guangke cried out in pain, then clutched his forehead and said:

"Isn't that the same thing? You're looking for a dog here just so you can keep it?!"

Shen Yan didn't bother explaining. He let go and continued his search.

Seeing this, Chen Guangke turned his head and huffed.

"His temper is still as foul as it was in school!"

He searched for another half hour.

Shen Yan still had no luck.

Just as he was about to give up, the laughter of several children nearby reached his ears.

"Hahaha! Beat it to death! Beat it to death!"

"It looks like it can't get up anymore, hahahaha!"

Shen Yan followed the sound and found that the voices belonged to several very young-looking children.

In front of them was a large Border Collie covered in blood.

"What are you doing here?!"

Hearing the scolding, the children replied while swaying their heads:

"What are we doing here? What's it to you!"

"Yeah, who do you think you are! Get lost!"

Shen Yan hadn't expected children nowadays to be so ill-mannered.

They told people to get lost at every turn.

He frowned and stepped forward, shielding the Border Collie.

"Why are you beating this dog?"

The children looked at each other and then made faces at Shen Yan in unison.

"Nyah nyah nyah! We just want to beat it! So what? If you're so tough, come and hit us!"

"Hahahaha! Coward! Wimp!"

As they spoke, the children suddenly began jumping around in front of him, muttering foul language.

Although Shen Yan had always known that some children in the world had bad personalities, because his daughter Youyou was a little angel, he never had a concrete understanding of the term 'naughty brats.'

Now, he did.

These children looked to be around the same age.

The oldest was no more than ten years old.

Children so young were already abusing animals and speaking disrespectfully to adults.

It was easy to imagine that their parents couldn't be much better.