18: Chapter 18 The Great Pie-in-the-Sky Operation

"Don't get too excited yet. Even though our studio is just a small warehouse now, once we get the software up and running, we'll definitely have a company in the future!"

Shen Yan began painting pies.

After all, as someone who had been a boss before, he was a natural at painting pies like this.

Unfortunately, Wu Ya wasn't buying any of his pies.

"Then come find me after you've established your company. I'll be going now."

As she spoke, Wu Ya began packing her things.

Seeing that he couldn't stop her, Shen Yan stood to the side with lowered eyes, remaining silent.

Chen Guangke thought Shen Yan had given up. He leaned into Shen Yan's ear and said anxiously, "Say something! We can't just let the help we finally managed to recruit run away like this!"

Shen Yan nudged Chen Guangke with his elbow, signaling him to stay quiet for now.

Not understanding why, Chen Guangke stood there anxiously, stamping his feet.

When Wu Ya finished packing, she found the two of them standing by the wall, lost in thought.

"What are you two doing standing there?"

Shen Yan covered his face with his hand and replied, "Don't worry about us. You can go."

Now that he'd put it that way, how could Wu Ya possibly leave?

"It's not that... Without me, you can always find someone else."

Chen Guangke couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed a handful of his hair and replied, "The point is, besides you, no one else is willing to come to our studio!"

Wu Ya was speechless; it turned out she was the only sucker willing to come here.

Shen Yan cleared his throat and said again, "It's okay, really. You can go. Just stay for the sake of me saving your dog."

Wu Ya was rendered speechless.

Wasn't Shen Yan's point exactly that—asking her to stay because he saved her dog?!

After a long while, she sighed and put her things down.

"Forget it. If it weren't for you, Xiaobao wouldn't have been found. I'll stay."

Hearing this, Chen Guangke was overjoyed.

Seeing this, Wu Ya added, "Don't get happy too soon. If the studio's situation isn't as good as you say, I'll still leave in a few months."

Shen Yan replied firmly, "Don't worry, I'm a man of my word!"

Crisis successfully averted.

Both Shen Yan and Chen Guangke breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as they were about to start working, Wu Ya suddenly asked, "Is there a garbage dump nearby?"

Chen Guangke looked back at Shen Yan, looking completely bewildered. "No. Do you need to throw something away?"

Wu Ya covered her nose and replied, "No, for some reason, I keep smelling garbage."

As soon as she said that, Shen Yan immediately remembered he had just come back from the garbage dump.

"Sorry, the smell is on me. I'll go home and shower before coming back."

Chen Guangke's mouth dropped open in disbelief.

"You went scavenging for trash?!"

Shen Yan nodded, then shook his head.

"It's a long story. Anyway, I went to the dump because I had business there."

Chen Guangke's lips twitched as he asked in a low voice, "Could it be that the partnership fell through, and you're planning to support our little studio by scavenging?"

Shen Yan couldn't help but flick Chen Guangke's forehead.

"Shut your jinxing mouth!"

After showering at home, Shen Yan received a message from the Bank.

【Your account ending in 837 received a transfer of 300,000 yuan on May 12th. Available balance: 303,587.89 yuan...】

Seeing the message, the corners of Shen Yan's mouth curled up.

With the advance payment in, he could finally go all out.

This time, he would definitely take back everything he had lost!

Hengtian Company had only given them one month.

They didn't have much time left; they had to work overtime to develop the software first.

After assigning work at the studio, he began working day and night to develop the software there.

It wasn't until midnight that he realized how late it was and that he needed to go home.

...

"Why isn't Little Shen back yet? It's already midnight..."

"Yeah, I saw Grandma Liu leave already. Could it be he's not coming back today?"

As soon as Shen Yan arrived downstairs, he saw Brother Sun and Sister-in-law Sun chatting at his doorstep.

"Brother Sun, Sister-in-law Sun."

Seeing him, Brother Sun and Sister-in-law Sun quickly stood up from the stairwell.

"You're finally back. We've been waiting for you all evening."

Hearing this, Shen Yan was a bit surprised.

"You already know?"

Sister-in-law Sun turned to look at Brother Sun, somewhat confused. "Know what?"

Shen Yan replied, "About finding a partner..."

Brother Sun nodded and said, "That's right. We came to tell you that we've found a partner."

Shen Yan frowned. He walked to his door, opened it, put his things inside, and then came back out. "Brother Sun, Sister-in-law Sun, let's talk in your place."

Two minutes later.

The three of them sat in the room, looking at each other.

"Brother Sun, when did you find a partner?"

Brother Sun sighed and replied, "Actually, it's not a new partner. It's the same one who was driving our prices down before."

"He came to see me again today and said he could raise the price a bit."

Shen Yan asked thoughtfully, "What price did he offer you?"

Sister-in-law Sun glanced at Brother Sun and replied, "Thirty-five yuan per jin. We'll barely break even."

"No way!"

Shen Yan spoke up decisively, then asked, "Have you signed a contract with him yet?"

Brother Sun shook his head and started smoking again.

"Not yet. He just left and said he'd bring the contract tomorrow."

"We know the price is low, but if we don't sign, our capital chain will break. They say we won't make much money, but at least we won't lose any... it's okay, I guess!"

Shen Yan pursed his lips, took a nearby notebook and pen, and wrote a number: 60/jin.

Seeing this, Brother Sun frowned and asked, "Little Shen, what does this mean?"

Shen Yan put down the pen and replied, "I've also found a partner. He's willing to offer us sixty yuan per jin."

Before he could finish, Sister-in-law Sun shrieked, "How much? How much did you say?!"

Shen Yan repeated it.

Brother Sun's hand was shaking with nerves. He swallowed hard and asked repeatedly, "Really? They're willing to buy our tea for sixty a jin?!"

Shen Yan nodded affirmatively. "Really. I've already agreed with them on sixty a jin. They want all one hundred kilograms of stock we have."

"Not only that, they're also willing to cooperate with us long-term and continue buying from you at this price."

Sister-in-law Sun sprang up and paced back and forth in the room.

"Sixty a jin! We're rich! We're rich!"

Brother Sun couldn't hide his joy either. He slapped the table and said to Sister-in-law Sun, "It's not a done deal yet, don't get so excited!"