through it. She wore short shorts that revealed her long legs, which looked as smooth and fair as jade in the first rays of sunlight. After drying her hair, she came out of the bathroom and saw Su Can...Chapter Twelve: Business Affairs

Su Cen said that his current life might not be too different from before. After all, Four is still a new internet company, and it's far away in China. Additionally, with the protection of Nanda University, this isolates him from the outside world, allowing Su Cen to enjoy some quiet time to focus on his studies and plan for the future.

When Su Cen received his membership notice at Nanjing University's Pique Club, it was Liu Menghui, who had initially tried to befriend Su Cen during a conference session, who personally handed over the member card. Room 602 is typical of a male dormitory; the balcony railing holds several washed-out hiking shoes, and clothes hangers support tightly folded socks, which dance joyfully in the breeze.

The floor inside the room is scattered with members' shoes, emitting an odor of foot sweat; particularly noticeable on Xiao Xue and Li Han's beds are certain sock-like items. This situation makes Liu Menghui, who is meticulously dressed and wearing spotless Nike sneakers, feel extremely uncomfortable.

Su Cen observed Liu Menghui’s expression and his impeccable appearance, guessing that he might have some obsessive-compulsive tendencies. He found it amusing, considering that having such traits in college isn't a positive thing for social relationships. Furthermore, Liu Menghui is an independent character who runs a company while also studying at the university. As long as he hasn’t dropped out or taken a leave of absence, he still has to comply with various school regulations and rules, making his relationship with ordinary students somewhat strained.

"Do you usually not live on campus" Su Cen asked.

Liu Menghui smiled. "I live off-campus," he replied. "But I attend classes every day as scheduled; my car is parked nearby in a teaching building, so campus life is just one part of it for me. The rest involves meetings and some recreational activities."

"Don't just sit there—eat something," Li Han pushed forward the fried dough twists from his pocket bag towards Liu Menghui.

Liu Menghui nodded in thanks but didn’t touch them, looking around to ensure no one was eavesdropping before speaking frankly: "Recently, I’ve discussed with a few friends the possibility of replicating Facebook's model for China. What are your thoughts I genuinely hope you join our team; you could be the CEO responsible for output management, operations, and technology. As for funding, we three would handle that. Consider it seriously—equity wise, you'd own 40%, while the remaining 60% would be split among us."

Liu Menghui stared intently at Su Cen, not missing a single expression on his face. As both a university student and a qualified entrepreneur, he clearly focused all of his attention on making Su Cen an object for negotiation.

However, Li Han and the others in their dormitory felt that all of this seemed distant from them. These events were rather abstract to ordinary university students like him, while they merely had a vague idea about Liu Menghui, who was already involved in some businesses around Jiangxi during his college years. In Liu Menghui's eyes, they could probably be considered as invisible people.

Su Cun smiled and said, "Why should I cooperate with you guys"

"Business is all about緣分 (fate/affinity). When two parties click, it’s a match made in heaven," Liu Menghui clearly understood the slight resistance towards him in Su Cun's tone. But he was smart and didn’t back down: "Since we share similar goals, we believe there are possibilities for cooperation between both sides. You only need to take charge of the new company's operations; no one will interfere."

Su Cun frowned and said, "Don't you think a 40-60 equity split is somewhat unfair"

"I believe it’s necessary for you to understand that we three parties are investing. Our investment injects the blood into the company's operations. Whether fair or not doesn’t matter. On an individual basis, each of us only has a 20% stake in the company. You personally hold 40%, which is already quite generous on our part. We can each put up two million yuan as initial capital, and if necessary, we can continue to invest."

Su Cun was speechless for a moment before he said, "Have you not heard the rumors that Facebook is currently valued at four billion dollars in America So, I’m not without money.

Liu Menghui confidently stated, "We understand some of America’s funding models and know how media hype up companies. Your source of funding is Washington Post Group, which was the pioneer in this field; they brought down a president with the Watergate scandal back then. Therefore, I believe that your current valuation contains substantial premium. Moreover, company value and profitability are entirely different concepts. I heard that your partner in America drives an old Ford Mustang and lives in Harvard’s simplest student dormitory without owning any property for himself. However, we see potential in your original idea, which is why we want to support you."

As Liu Menghui spoke, his tone became somewhat frivolous. He simply stated that Facebook's valuation was just media hype after the funding round. If they claimed to be rich, how could a company founder not even have an adequate vehicle and still live in student dormitories This is impossible. One who suddenly becomes wealthy would surely enjoy luxuries, yet Mark Zuckerberg lives frugally. It suggests that Facebook is burning through money quickly, and Su Cun isn't the most important leader; he’s struggling to manage things alone.

Looking at Liu Menghui, Su Cun shook his head and said, "Company value and profitability are indeed different concepts, but if you think I don’t even have that much money from your three parties' investments, aren't you underestimating me Your understanding of the situation in America is clearly lacking."

"Being overly confident isn't good. Whether an idea is interesting doesn't necessarily mean it will win.

Many people have had extraordinary ideas before, but only a few succeeded in the end," Su Can smiled. "This is indeed my idea, but fortunately, I found an excellent partner in America. Even if I don't have the funds you mentioned, I believe it won’t be difficult to find investors and a team. Could you convince me why I should choose you"

Liu Menghui's eyes sparkled as he continued, "Don't forget that our relationship is one of cooperation. We're asking for your help as friends. If you wish, we can not only be brothers and friends but also business partners in the future, which would bring you significant benefits. However, this isn’t a plea because we, as investors, could form a team ourselves and replicate what's developing in America here. You should know that the Entrepreneurs' Club is never short of such talented individuals. Our team doesn't lack technology or management; I have a friend who’s currently pursuing a master's degree in computer science at Buffalo State University. Such people would be more qualified to join us. Regarding technology and management, we won’t be lacking strong figures either."

"Very well then, go ahead and do your best. May you succeed,"

Liu Menghui's eyes flickered in surprise at Su Can’s direct refusal. He paused for a moment before saying with some irritation, "We will definitely do better than you."

"A first-rate idea is of no use if it has only third-rate execution. I’d rather have six third-rate ideas executed brilliantly,"

“Are you implying our team’s執行力隻有三流？”劉夢輝眯起眼睛。

Su Can shook his head, "No, I don't know your team, but in my opinion, it's hard for you to have the execution power. Partnering with you is too risky; I don’t want to ruin my business."

Li Han couldn’t help but smile, which infuriated Liu Menghui even more. But he didn't show it on his face and instead immediately got up and left room 602, leaving a cold remark behind, "We’ll see how this plays out."

Su Can believed that Liu Menghui was just one of the many people trying to replicate Facebook’s model. There were still countless others studying Facebook and planning to bring its form to China, much like what Su Can had initially thought of doing when he started his venture. However, after weighing the benefits, he ultimately decided to seek success in America.

Now that initial results are promising, it's time to consider how to establish a social network domestically. But how to develop and dominate such an ambitious project as establishing a social network within China is something Su Can needs to carefully ponder upon; even in the future, social networks weren't particularly popular in China. Remember Chen Yizhou and Cheng Binghao who were among those pioneers emulating foreign websites back then and making their way in China. Of course, with today's advantages, establishing a Chinese social network might be timely now, but it may also not be the right moment.

Su Cen openly admitted that he couldn't predict the future, but if he felt it was worth a try, then he would do it. With this mindset, Su Cen called Lin Guangdong and asked for someone's contact information before writing an email to send out.

When Liu Menghui delivered Su Cen's membership card and left after his rejection of the proposal, there were rumors that Liu Menghui had made quite a stir. With his own strong backing and several tens of thousands of dollars, he specially hired some people in Yangpu University Town to distribute survey questionnaires at fixed locations on campus, asking about everyone's knowledge of social networking sites as well as their daily online chat methods. However, the results were reportedly not optimistic. Many college students thought that setting up a social network was too complicated and preferred either campus networks or external websites for their everyday communication needs, showing little interest in such social networks. Moreover, "social" had an inherent connotation in China associated with pornographic sites.

Therefore, the survey results presented to Liu Menghui and company did not look good on their faces.

Su Cen thought that these young masters were probably just interested for a while and, having some extra money at hand and hearing recent news about it, suddenly wanted to do something like this. But once they encountered setbacks, they would quickly disperse, so merely collaborating with them without considering the equity distribution that could satisfy him was too frivolous.

After all, people like Li Luo or Tao Zhuhong's cousin Tao Zhang were rare exceptions.

The wealthy and powerful in China constituted a large group, hence their children formed an equally substantial group with countless circles based on different levels. From the bottom to the top of the food chain, there were many people at each level, but when evaluated by quality, only a minority stood out. Some were wasteful heirs or mediocre individuals who failed to improve generation after generation, while others managed to climb up the social ladder and often did so in complex ways.

Because they possessed an advantageous environment of connections and factions from birth, these people were naturally superior players. While a true latecomer might surpass them individually, it was nearly impossible for them to win against such well-connected individuals who could mobilize substantial resources. Just like the Chinese political arena, which had never been dominated by just one or two people; there had always been an intricate network of relationships.

For a latecomer like Su Cen, his optimal growth period relied on the experience reborn from being an ordinary person, the perspective of an average life. The things he encountered through this normal lens were often creative and essential in their time or the next era. These experiences were treasures stored within him.

Su Cen had many trump cards but lacked the timing to play them against his formidable opponents.

The Nanjing University alumni membership card delivered by Liu Menghui immediately brought about significant changes to Su Cen's university life, as Li Han put it: "You've really made a name for yourself." Xiao Xiu jokingly suggested that perhaps Su Cen should take the civil service examination upon graduation. Who knew—ten years later he might be one of those influential figures in China's political scene who could command respect and control their own destiny. Zhang Xiaqiao, although indifferent to this possibility, found it hard to believe.es and industries, no one would know they are his, Su Cen's, creations.And those who know about this also have Wang Bo, who believes this young man is a genius, overseeing the situation. From Wang Bo'...