20: Chapter 20 A New Beginning: Embarking on the Entrepreneurial Journey
When his phone vibrated on the greasy tabletop of the hotpot restaurant, Zhang Fan was gnawing on his third piece of lamb spine.
"Unknown Number" flashed on the screen. He wiped his hands and answered. A cold, female voice with a metallic quality came through the receiver: "Is this Mr. Zhang? I am Zhang Chenxi, CEO Tang's secretary. We are signing the investment agreement at 2:00 PM in the conference room on the 19th floor of the Gu Group. Is it convenient for you to come over?"
He looked up sharply; the wall clock pointed to 1:30.
"I'll be there right away!" Zhang Fan grabbed his jacket and rushed out, not even caring about the grease spatters from the lamb spine on his shirt. "Brother Cannon, put it on my tab. I'll treat you to a good meal later!"
"Hey, slow down! Call me if you need help!" Brother Cannon shouted from behind. Watching his figure bolt into the cold wind, he smiled and shook his head.
The Gu Group building stood in the heart of the CBD, its 26-story glass curtain wall reflecting the sunlight so brightly it was blinding.
Zhang Fan stood downstairs, looking up for a long time—the ownership of this building actually belonged to the Gu Corporation. It was said that Father Gu started out in real estate, and this was the first property he had established.
Floors 19 to 26 were for the group's own use, while the lower floors were all rented out to other companies; the rent alone was a significant income.
After the receptionist verified his identity, she led him to the elevator. As the car ascended, Zhang Fan straightened his clothes; a light sweat had already broken out on his forehead.
In the conference room, Zhang Chenxi was already waiting. She had changed into a gray suit skirt. Her eyes, behind gold-rimmed glasses, swept over and paused on him for two seconds—probably because she smelled the faint scent of alcohol on him.
"Mr. Zhang." She stood up to shake his hand, her fingertips cool. "CEO Tang has an urgent multinational meeting, so she has entrusted Lawyer Wang from the Legal Department and me to sign the contract with you."
As Zhang Fan sat down, he vaguely heard her muttering: "This is it? Reeking of lamb spine and alcohol... What exactly does CEO Tang see in him? Don't tell me she's been fed some kind of love potion..."
He felt a bit awkward and subconsciously pulled his jacket tighter.
"Mr. Zhang, let's begin." The lawyer pushed a document over. "The Tang Group is investing one million in cash into your studio for a 40% stake. These are the articles of association and the details of equity distribution. Please check if there are any issues."
The lawyer was very professional, explaining the terms point by point, from the registration process to tax filing, and even considering subsequent employee social security. Zhang Fan listened intently, occasionally raising questions about "studio decision-making power," all of which were patiently answered.
"As for the office space, CEO Tang has pre-selected three locations." Zhang Chenxi finally spoke, handing over a document. "A CBD office building is 30,000 per month, including a full set of office equipment; a cultural and creative park loft is 15,000 per month, suitable for start-up teams; and a university town incubator is 8,000 per month, with property management fees waived for the first two years, plus you can enjoy subsidies for college student entrepreneurship."
Zhang Fan flipped to the incubator page, his eyes lighting up: "This one."
"Are you sure?" Zhang Chenxi raised an eyebrow. "It's a bit far from the city center."
"It's close to the school, so it's convenient for recruiting," Zhang Fan said with an honest smile. "And it saves money."
Zhang Chenxi didn't say anything more and checked "University Town Incubator" on the document.
Lawyer Wang, beside her, pushed up his glasses and handed over a printed agreement: "Mr. Zhang, if there are no issues, please sign here."
Zhang Fan took a deep breath and signed his name in the signature field. The rustling sound of the pen tip across the paper felt like drawing a brand-new line in his life.
After Zhang Fan finished signing, the lawyer collected the agreement: "We will help you complete the registration as soon as possible. We need your ID card for our records. Once it's done, we'll have Secretary Zhang send it to you."
"Thank you."
"Happy cooperation."
"Happy cooperation." Zhang Fan shook Zhang Chenxi's hand. When their fingertips touched, he felt her pull away quickly.
Walking out of the Gu Group, his phone "dinged"—a bank notification: 1,000,000 yuan received.
Zhang Fan looked at the balance on his phone; he suddenly wanted to laugh out loud, yet also wanted to find a place to cry—three days ago he was still worrying about making a living, and now he held a million in funds. The reversal of life was more dramatic than a script.
For the next few days, Zhang Fan was like a wound-up clock.
The system popped up windows on time every day, mostly about trivial matters: "Eggs at the supermarket are 5.2 per jin today," "Subway Line 3 is delayed by ten minutes."
The only reliable thing was a lucky draw notification. He went to the mall, took a spin, and actually won a white electric scooter, which was now obediently parked downstairs at the incubator.
This morning, just after he hung the "Singularity Technology" sign on the wall, the system popped up another line of text: [Tomorrow at 10:00 AM, at the Guanhouli North Riverbank, a Ragdoll cat named "Snowball" will fall into the water due to a broken branch. Rescuing it will trigger a hidden contact.]
He stared at the screen and frowned.
This system had been pushing nothing but trivial information lately, and now it was actually meddling in the affairs of a cat.
Zhang Fan scoffed. The Guanhouli North Riverbank was three miles long; who the hell knew which branch would break?
Running that far for a cat—he must have frozen his brain.
But by the evening, that line of text kept flashing before his eyes.
He remembered that the system had never failed—saving Tang Wanqing, winning the electric scooter, all of it...
"It wouldn't hurt to go and take a look."
He gritted his teeth and set his alarm.
The next morning at 9:30, Zhang Fan wrapped his down jacket tightly around himself and rode his little electric scooter toward the riverbank.
He walked half a mile along the riverbank and finally saw a white ball on a crooked willow tree. The Ragdoll cat was crouching on a thin branch, its blue eyes wide and round, its tail curled into a flower.
"Snowball?" he called out tentatively.
The cat let out a "meow," and just as its paw moved forward, there was a crisp "crack"—the branch broke! The white cat screamed and plunged into the river, the splashing water instantly freezing into ice shards.
"Damn it!" Zhang Fan didn't think twice; he ripped off his down jacket and jumped into the shallows. The icy water stung like thousands of needles piercing his bones. He gritted his teeth, lunged forward, and grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck; the little thing in his arms was trembling like a leaf in the wind.
"He's crazy! This young man is crazy!" The old men fishing all stood up. "It's not worth it for a cat! You'll freeze to death!"
Zhang Fan crawled toward the bank holding the cat, his lips purple from the cold. Just as he set the cat on the grass, he saw a middle-aged woman running over with a cat carrier, her high heels slipping on the ice.
"Snowball! My Snowball!" The woman rushed over and hugged the cat. Looking up, she saw him soaked to the bone, and tears instantly streamed down her face. "Why, why are you so stupid! It's freezing enough to kill someone today!"
Her name was Li Lu, over forty, with cat hair on her camel-colored coat, her eyes as red as a rabbit's. "My daughter bought this cat. She works as a police officer at the border and can't come home even once a year..."
Only then did Zhang Fan learn that Li Lu's husband was an anti-narcotics police officer who had sacrificed his life during an arrest ten years ago. Her daughter had inherited her father's career and gone to Yunnan, leaving only her and Snowball at home. "I usually work as a real estate agent; when I'm free, I take it out for a walk, but I didn't keep an eye on it today..."
"You're an agent?" Zhang Fan felt a stir in his heart. "I want to rent a place near the university town, close to the incubator."
Li Lu's eyes lit up: "What a coincidence! My old classmate has a place in Yujing Garden, a two-bedroom apartment with fine decoration, ten minutes by bike from the university town. He said he'd rather rent it cheaply to someone reliable than to just anyone."
Yujing Garden was a high-end residential complex, and Zhang Fan had originally held no hope. But when he pushed open the door, he was stunned—the south-facing balcony offered a view of the river, the solid wood sofa in the living room still had the scent of varnish, the bedspread in the bedroom was still in its packaging, and even the curtains were newly replaced in light gray.
"What do you think?" Li Lu opened the floor-to-ceiling window, and the river breeze, carrying sunlight, poured in. "Three thousand a month, including property management fees, and the furniture is yours to use."
On the day he signed the contract, Zhang Fan knocked on Li Lu's door carrying a bag of imported cat food. "This is for Snowball. Thank you for helping me find such a good apartment."
Li Lu took it with a smile. The cat poked its head out from her arms, its blue eyes looking at Zhang Fan, its tail gently brushing against the back of his hand. "Why be so polite with me? If you need anything in the future, just call me. I'll make you the braised pork my daughter loves most."
Closing the door, Zhang Fan leaned against it and smiled. So this was the "hidden contact" the system had hinted at.