FIMA Ch14: Life Off

This Sunday, Xie Qingxiao went home for a trip as usual, originally thinking he would be met with a storm of fury from Mr. Xie Chengfeng.

But unexpectedly, he had worried for nothing. He heard that Xie Chengfeng had met some supplier in Beijing, had already run off to Inner Mongolia, and might be heading to Tibet next. He wouldn’t be back for at least a month.

Xie Chengfeng dealt in antiques and art, so he often traveled all over the country. However, this was the first time his departure had made Xie Qingxiao so happy.

Who wanted to fight and scheme every day when they could live a peaceful life?

Thus, under the supervision of his desk-mate, the Academic God Gu, Xie Qingxiao threw himself back into the boundless sea of studying and endless test papers.

Amidst this fleeting time and peaceful studying.

As high school seniors, they couldn’t have imagined that at this very same time, the calm internet market was brewing a massive storm, one that was about to change their future ways of life and entertainment.

Not long ago, with Gu Siyuan’s coordination, Jiang Hefeng’s work group had completely finished all their outsourced programming projects.

Through this, that group of college students gained a full and profound understanding of Gu Siyuan’s abilities.

Naturally, it made perfect sense that they reorganized into an even closer and stronger team.

Following that, Gu Siyuan researched the current status of the major tech companies they had partnered with. He decided that they should actively develop programs and build a website themselves, and then negotiate a partnership with the other parties.

At first, everyone scoffed at his idea.

After all, he was just a high school senior; he just loved to daydream wildly.

But subsequently, after Gu Siyuan sent a rough design blueprint and concept to their group chat, everyone suddenly decided: It seems we really can do this…

Actually, the purely technical skills of the people at those major tech giants weren’t necessarily that much stronger than theirs; at most, they had richer experience and a better grasp of the market. But upon seeing Gu Siyuan’s business plan, they felt it was far more complete and innovative than the projects they had previously received from those big companies.

Since that was the case, they might as well get started.

In the internet age, there is absolutely no lack of opportunities for overnight fame and sudden wealth.

There were precedents to follow both domestically and abroad. They were all top-tier students from a top-tier university. If others could do it, why couldn’t they?

Under these circumstances, a startup company named Yuanxing Technology was born.

The legal representative of the company was Jiang Hefeng, but upon careful analysis, one would discover that the largest investor and ultimate decision-maker was merely a teenager whose ID card showed he had just turned eighteen.

After the initial versions of the program and website were developed, they first hired an agent to register the copyrights. Then, Jiang Hefeng and the others began promoting its use among their surrounding college student circles.

Of course, the most important step was sending investment intention invitations to the major companies they had previously cooperated with.

The current website and program were only the most basic versions. They needed more traffic, more efficient servers, and greater promotional power. However, these were all things their current financial power and influence as students couldn’t achieve. Therefore, giving up a share of the equity was necessary.

These were all fruits of Gu Siyuan’s labor from his past life.

Even though they were brought forward by several years now, the effect was just as good, and there were just as many people with a keen eye for talent.

Soon, aside from one major company that perhaps didn’t attach enough importance to it, the other tech giants quickly provided feedback and requested to meet them for detailed discussions.

However, aside from the final signing which required Gu Siyuan’s presence, everything else was handed over to lawyers and professional managers to conduct the protracted, tug-of-war negotiations.

Gu Siyuan opened his phone to check the stock market. Fortunately, it was still rising.

Although websites and apps were stable future assets, they currently weren’t generating any profit and had even drained a significant amount of his money.

For now, short-term capital accumulation still had to rely on stocks.

When Xie Qingxiao looked up, he accidentally caught a glimpse of Gu Siyuan’s phone screen. Remembering the worry that had been circling in his heart for a long time, he couldn’t help but stealthily ask, “Do… do you still have any money right now?”

Seeing his cute little expression, Gu Siyuan couldn’t help but casually tease, “It’s all gone. I’m about to go beg on the streets.”

Given that Academic God Gu usually maintained a calm and shrewd demeanor, he looked entirely solemn even when spouting absolute nonsense, to the point where Xie Qingxiao frequently couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth or lying.

Twenty seconds later.

Gu Siyuan looked at the sudden WeChat red envelope transfer notification that popped up.

Five thousand yuan. If an ordinary student was frugal, it could last them an entire semester.

He clicked ‘receive’, then turned his head to look at Xie Qingxiao, saying solemnly, “Thank you, my angel investor. You will definitely be well rewarded.”

Xie Qingxiao nodded, equally solemn: “Thank you for your blessings as well.”

“No wonder you aren’t desperately chasing after Shen Ting anymore. Turns out you’re keeping a toy boy.” Right at this moment, a mood-killing voice came from behind.

The smile on Xie Qingxiao’s face faded slightly.

Sitting in the row behind him was Huang Cheng, Shen Ting and Lu Jiayang’s die-hard buddy.

Once upon a time, ever since he and Shen Ting confirmed their relationship, this guy had always acted like he couldn’t stand him.

At first, Xie Qingxiao didn’t really know why. But now that he had become an outsider, many things slowly became clear.

However, it also made him even more puzzled. Truly, birds of a feather flock together; the thought processes of this pair of die-hard buddies, Shen Ting and Huang Cheng, regarding romantic feelings were extremely difficult for him to comprehend.

Huang Cheng liked Lu Jiayang.

But Lu Jiayang liked Shen Ting.

Moreover, Huang Cheng knew very well that he could never compare to Shen Ting no matter what. His looks weren’t as good as Shen Ting’s, his family background wasn’t as good, his brains weren’t as good, and he couldn’t even match him in his favorite sport, basketball.

So, he absolutely didn’t dare to speak up.

Fortunately, both Shen Ting and Lu Jiayang had awkward, contrary personalities and long delayed confirming their true feelings, so the three of them smoothly maintained their so-called “brotherhood.”

But after Xie Qingxiao appeared, everything changed.

Ever since Shen Ting got together with Xie Qingxiao, Lu Jiayang was very unhappy most of the time.

The whole world knows you two love each other, except yourselves.

In his heart, Huang Cheng actually knew that as long as he stepped in and clarified things between the two of them, all misunderstandings would vanish, and Shen Ting and Lu Jiayang could happily live together.

But he was unwilling, because if he did that, he would truly have absolutely zero chance left.

Yet seeing Lu Jiayang sad, his heart would be tortured by guilt and a sense of powerlessness. Therefore, he would simultaneously badmouth Xie Qingxiao, hoping Shen Ting would break up with him soon, while deliberately refusing to make things completely clear to Shen Ting.

Deep down, he only hoped that the three of them could remain single forever, keeping each other company as friends for the rest of their lives.

But now, Xie Qingxiao had dumped Shen Ting.

Huang Cheng was still unhappy, because he noticed that Shen Ting seemed to have become somewhat strange since then. His relationship with Lu Jiayang not only hadn’t improved, but had actually become increasingly tense…

Xie Qingxiao naturally didn’t know about these situations. After saying bye-bye to Shen Ting, people like Huang Cheng naturally faded out of his world. If it weren’t for Huang Cheng’s sudden outburst just now, he had almost forgotten this group of people still existed in the class.

Thinking of this, he glanced back at Huang Cheng and smiled very amiably: “It’s my money, I can do whatever I want with it. Classmate Gu is also openly and honestly earning his keep through his face and his brains. Even if you’re jealous… it’s useless. The genetic advantages are right here for all to see.”

Gu Siyuan very cooperatively chimed in, giving him face: “Thanks to my parents for giving me a good face and a good brain, and even more thanks to Classmate Xie Qingxiao for having such a keen eye for talent.”

“You, you two…”

Huang Cheng’s face flushed bright red.

He didn’t know why, but despite clearly growing up together with Shen Ting and Lu Jiayang, he was the only one who turned out odd-looking, falling far short of those two’s faces, and naturally falling even further short of Gu Siyuan’s.

Let alone comparing brains. If his grades were compared to Gu Siyuan’s, others would think Gu Siyuan had skipped taking a few exams.

However, Huang Cheng thought of something else and laughed out of extreme anger: “Hehe. It’s only high school right now that gives you the opportunity to sit in front of me. After graduation, we won’t even be people from the same world at all.”

Gu Siyuan naturally understood the meaning behind his words.

It was just that a remarkably average, even stupid, rich second-generation kid talking big in front of him was very laughable.

Gu Siyuan blinked and said with utmost sincerity, “That makes perfect sense. After all, if it weren’t for you, Classmate, suddenly butting in while the two of us were communicating, a gossipy Alpha like you would never appear in my world. I hope you won’t do this again in the future.”

Xie Qingxiao covered his mouth, wanting to laugh but unable to.

The timely ringing of the class bell alleviated this terrible scene.

Math teacher Wang Gang fully displayed the characteristics of his subject: calculating the exact second, he walked in right as the bell rang, carrying a stack of test papers in his hand.

He looked directly at Xie Qingxiao: “Come, hand out the test papers to everyone.”

“Okay!” Xie Qingxiao responded, leaving his seat to walk to the podium.

Before leaving, he didn’t forget to glance at Huang Cheng—whose eyes were full of fire, fists clenched, and ready to snap—and then at Gu Siyuan, whose expression was completely tranquil, and who could infuriate someone to the point of death without using a single dirty word as long as he opened his mouth.

For a moment, he actually couldn’t tell which of the two was the luckier one.

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