Chapter 140: Chapter 124 Cousin Jumps Off the Building

Chen Pingsheng finished his class quite early, so he went to pick up his wife from work.

It was the beginning of August, and Water Cloud Space Academy had already filled its recruitment quota.

The enrollment had finished half a month earlier than expected, and the online registration portal had been shut down.

His wife currently owned two Ferraris, one F12 and one LaFerrari.

Song Yanxi would occasionally switch between driving them, mainly using the F12 because it’s more of a grand tourer with a higher chassis.

The LaFerrari, on the other hand, is a pure top-tier supercar. If there were no speed limits on the domestic highways, it could reach over 350 kilometers per hour.

Faster than a high-speed train.

Of course, with speed limits, it’s just like a Corolla.

Once you step on its accelerator, it surges forward incredibly quickly.

However, even the fastest cars in Capital City can only reach speeds of up to sixty kilometers per hour.

If you want to go faster, you’d have to have someone clear the road in advance.

Chen Pingsheng was helplessly stuck in the middle of traffic, accelerating and braking like a crawling turtle.

By the time he arrived at Water Cloud Space Academy, it was already five-thirty.

Song Yanxi had just finished her class, and a large group of newly-trained beauticians were also coming out.

In the evening, they would wander around too, after all, they were young and their incomes weren’t low.

They naturally liked to spend money, but not on anything too expensive.

“Husband, you came at just the right time,” she said.

“What happened?” he asked.

Song Yanxi looked troubled, thinking Chen Pingsheng was already aware of the issue. Seeing him like this, it became apparent that he had no clue.

“My aunt is threatening to jump off a building.”

“What’s the situation?” Chen Pingsheng was surprised.

“It’s all because of my cousin, Han Fei.”

Song Yanxi didn’t drive her own F12 but left it parked at the school gate. After getting into Chen Pingsheng’s Black King Kong, she turned and said:

“Previously, my aunt came with him to ask you for a job, and perhaps he was a bit shocked by the rejection. He went home and said he wanted to start a business, and his dad agreed to give him a maximum of three hundred thousand.”

“Who knew that Han Fei would make a big fuss and somehow convinced my aunt to help him steal the family’s property deeds. After selling two apartments and borrowing over five million from relatives and friends…”

“Those relatives didn’t know he had secretly sold the apartments and were naturally willing to lend him the money. Now, his dad is so furious that he’s been hospitalized.”

“The situation now is that the money is gone, the houses are gone, and a whole bunch of relatives are chasing them down for debts.”

“My aunt couldn’t stand the shock and is threatening to jump.”

All the relatives from Old Liu’s family were already there, and her mom had called her too.

No matter what, that’s Liu Fen’s older sister.

With such a thing happening, who wouldn’t be anxious?

It’s all because of that guy Han Fei, a man with no real skills and just a big mouth. Three hundred thousand wasn’t enough for a startup for him; he had to sell two apartments to match what he thought his status deserved.

The family was in good shape, but now they’re back to being poor because of his actions.

Entrepreneurship can truly sink a generation, as the old saying goes.

Han Fei’s family is now full of complaints. He used to boast about surpassing Old Ma in five years, but he’s still not satisfied.

He’s still shouting that with just another thirty million he could definitely make a bike-sharing business work.

Honestly, Chen Pingsheng didn’t doubt that there was a problem with the project; he’d heard about the share economy from Tong Zelan.

It’s very popular.

A person with Tong Zelan’s discernment was planning to invest an anticipated five hundred million in this sector.

“Investing in a track” means betting on an entire industry.

All the competitors running on that track – whoever looks like they might break into the lead, she’d invest in them.

It wouldn’t be just one. Track investments typically involve betting on two or three promising potential contenders.

If even one of them makes it to the end, that investment will result in huge profits.

If none of them make it, the invested money is basically a total loss.

In the investment industry, there’s a saying: “Nine out of ten investments fail, but if one succeeds, you reap great benefits.”

The nature of Internet entrepreneurship is different from traditional industries, as the latter can have many success stories simultaneously.

The Internet has no territorial barriers, so in any field,

ultimately, only one or two will remain.

This inevitability makes it extremely brutal.

To describe internet entrepreneurship with the phrase “one man’s success is built on the bones of tens of thousands” could not be more apt.

Without a doubt, Han Fei was one of those buried on the shared bicycle track.

Chen Pingsheng had no idea what Han Fei had actually learned abroad.

Yet he dared to set his first entrepreneurial venture in the fiercest and most ruthless arena of the internet.

You must know, any player who could break out on any niche track of the internet,

in their initial angel round, would have top-tier capital magnates shielding the way.

Or they would be extensively connected and resourceful individuals.

Only such people had a chance of breaking through in the final brutal capital cull.

Han Fei thought he could play this big game with his family’s few properties, Chen Pingsheng could only say he was truly audacious.

At least until now, he himself did not dare to step into the internet circle.

Of course, if Water Cloud Space had obtained ten billion in funding from Tong Zelan right from the start, then the project would have had a huge chance of success.

After all, once Tong Zelan had invested ten billion, if a similar project emerged later, she would definitely use her connections and capital to help Water Cloud Space swiftly eliminate the imitators.

This is what’s commonly referred to in the internet circle as a money-burning war.

Burning money is not scary, what’s scary is burning less than others.

As long as you can keep burning till the end, it’s winner takes all, the losers jump off buildings.

Someone like Han Fei who used their own money for internet entrepreneurship from the start was destined to lose everything.

“I’m begging you all, lend me another thirty million, just thirty million and I can definitely make this project work.”

Aunt Liu Xiu’ai was on the brink of jumping off a building, and yet Han Fei was still out there borrowing money.

Relatives now were so annoyed by him, they wished they could spit on him.

How could they possibly lend him more money?

“You better go comfort your mother.”

Lending money was out of the question; it was like throwing good money after bad, and Song Yanxi also sided with those relatives.

Anyone could see that Han Fei was all talk and no substance, a mere facade.

Whoever lent him money again would be a complete fool.

Cousin Song Shuiqing also arrived and joined the crowd in their discussions.

Just as they managed to persuade Aunt Liu Xiu’ai to come down, the unexpected happened that evening.

The aunt didn’t jump; her son, Han Fei, did.

He couldn’t withstand the blow.

It was as if, in a single day, he had gone from a privileged young master to a despised being.

His classmates said he had no brains, and relatives were pressing him to repay the money.

Even his mother, Liu Xiu’ai, who used to dote on him and pamper him, no longer supported him.

His first venture in life also became his last.

In the middle of the night, everyone was shocked awake again.

Because Han Fei was dead.

His death was sudden and unexpected.

Aunt Liu Xiu’ai blamed Liu Fen’s family and also blamed Song Yanxi.

“You forced him to his death, if not for you all, why would he get involved with that damn shared bicycle project, or end up jumping off a building.”

Liu Xiu’ai cursed them like a madwoman.

Even Liu Fen, her own sister, couldn’t hold her back.

How fraught the entrepreneurial journey is.

Recalling his own wedding day, who would dare to start a business?

One becomes cautious in middle age.

A failure could mean losing not just the painstakingly saved money, but possibly also one’s home.

Chen Pingsheng wore a pair of black sunglasses, his mood a bit somber.

Of course, he didn’t think he was wrong; it was, after all, a life that had vanished.

He was simply reflecting on the fragility of life.

It made him all the more convinced that one must be cautious, then cautious again, in the journey of entrepreneurship.

For a crisis could come charging from an unpredictable direction at any time.