Chapter 112

Before the group had even reached the entrance of the private room, they could already hear lively laughter coming from inside.

As the door opened, the people inside turned their heads one after another and then subconsciously stood up from their seats.

"Shen Ci bought each of us a new laptop!"

As soon as Ge Youcai entered the room, he couldn't wait to shout loudly.

Shen Ci followed closely behind the two into the private room, and upon entering, she saw the surprised and happy expressions on everyone's faces.

She took the initiative to greet them: "Hello, seniors, we finally meet!"

The team originally had eight people in total, with only one girl, and the remaining seven were all boys.

Some of these people had heard of Shen Ci's name, but basically, it was their first time seeing her in person.

Everyone had different expressions on their faces; some were reserved, some were curious, and some subconsciously showed looks of amazement.

"The junior sister is just as beautiful as the rumors say."

The one who spoke was Li Tianfang, a senior in his fourth year of computer science.

The sentence awakened everyone's awareness, and they all nodded in agreement.

Shen Ci smiled slightly; she could tell that everyone was still a little nervous, possibly due to her identity as an investor.

"Everyone, don't just stand there; sit down and order."

Shen Ci greeted everyone with a friendly attitude, scanned the QR code with her own phone, and then handed it to Luo Tianrui next to her: "Everyone take turns ordering, two dishes per person—one meat and one vegetable—don't be polite."

"Why don't you order? We're fine with anything." Luo Tianrui pushed the phone back to Shen Ci.

Shen Ci glared at him and said: "Senior Brother Luo, we are the most familiar with each other. If you are even being polite with me, then what about everyone else? You have to set a good example!"

Luo Tianrui laughed somewhat embarrassedly, and Shen Ci took the phone and turned to hand it to Ge Youcai: "Senior Brother Ge, you order."

Ge Youcai belonged to the carefree type; he grinned and took the phone: "Then I'll order; I won't be polite with you."

"Definitely don't be polite. Today we are just here to eat well, drink well, and chat well. From now on, team building will be our fixed project."

Shen Ci's words and actions were very casual, and in just a few words, she gave people the feeling that she was very easy to get along with, making everyone subconsciously relax quite a bit.

After Ge Youcai ordered "Glass-Skin Crispy Squab" and "Boiled Dried Tofu Strips," he passed the phone to the next person.

Once someone took the lead, the people behind didn't feel embarrassed anymore. After they all finished ordering, the phone finally returned to Shen Ci's hands.

She took a quick look; everyone had indeed followed what she said and ordered one meat and one vegetable, totaling sixteen dishes.

But even for the meat dishes, everyone still subconsciously ordered relatively cheaper ones. There was a column on the menu called "First-Class Exclusive," which mostly calculated prices per person and contained famous Chinese dishes with expensive ingredients and sophisticated preparation methods; these were also the most expensive.

But no one ordered them.

Shen Ci directly ordered "Clear-Boiled Lion's Head," "Supreme Buddha Jumps Over the Wall," "Top-Grade Abalone Rice," and "Three Ways of Australian Lobster" per person.

She then added a case of beer and two bottles of Moutai before placing the order.

"Has everyone read the draft of the contract?"

Shen Ci put down her phone and asked everyone with a casual tone.

Everyone nodded one after another, and Luo Tianrui said: "Everyone has no objections to the content of the contract, but there are a few clauses we don't quite understand."

Luo Tianrui took out the contract he had brought with him, found the clauses marked with a highlighter, and asked Shen Ci: "This clause, 'Party A will provide free accommodation for Party B,' what does that mean?"

Shen Ci blinked as she looked at the clause, looked at Luo Tianrui in confusion, and said: "Isn't this just the literal meaning?"

"You want to rent a house for us?"

Shen Ci nodded, her gaze sweeping over everyone's stunned faces: "Except for the two seniors from the mathematics department, aren't the rest of you in the stage of graduating and interning soon? Will you still be able to live in the dorms then?"

"We can rent a house ourselves."

The others also nodded one after another, and Li Tianfang looked at Shen Ci and said earnestly: "We are already very satisfied that you are willing to invest in our project. Now that we don't even know if this project will succeed, we feel bad about accepting your extra help. We can solve the living situation ourselves."

Ge Youcai said bluntly: "Besides, junior sister, you are a bit too kind. Who writes such clauses into a contract they draft themselves? You don't look like a capitalist at all."

"But I am one!"

Shen Ci gave a bitter smile and asked the group: "You say you can solve your own living problems, but how will you solve them? You have dorms to live in now, yet your daily lives are already stretched thin. Once you leave the dorms, you'll have to rent houses yourselves. Do you know how expensive it is to rent a house in Longcheng?"

"Don't even think about the city center. You might find a single room for two hundred yuan in the outskirts beyond the fifth or sixth ring road, but you might not even be able to rent in the same area. By then, eight people will be in eight different locations in Longcheng, and just meeting up will take two hours by subway. Look, we're going in circles and back to the time cost I mentioned."

Shen Ci tilted her head and asked Luo Tianrui: "Senior, after this project has my investment, how long until the first test can be conducted?"

"If it's fast, five months..." Luo Tianrui blurted out without extra thought; they had long estimated this time.

Shen Ci nodded and asked again: "Then if everyone lives together and has no worries about daily life, can this time be shortened?"

"That would definitely be possible," Luo Tianrui replied.

Hearing this, Shen Ci raised an eyebrow: "Isn't that it? I've said it before: the sooner the product is completed, the sooner we can enter the market and achieve profitability. Therefore, the initial investment is necessary. Don't always put your minds on the money. With me here, the thing you need to worry about least is money, and I won't let my team run around everywhere every day for money."

"Devoting yourselves wholeheartedly to the project and letting me see the results quickly is the greatest return for me."

Speaking of this, Shen Ci herself smiled helplessly: "Don't really think I'm doing this because I'm kind. I'm an investor; I won't do a losing business. Since I've invested money, I will do my best to facilitate the success of your project's product, so every decision is carefully considered by me."

At this point, Ye Peipei, the only girl on the team, spoke up: "Since Junior Sister Shen Ci has said so, let's not dwell on it. And I think she is very right. If we can shorten the project cycle, it is actually a reduction in costs to a large extent. If we can devote ourselves to the project without distractions, I think we can also improve the project's success rate to a certain extent."

Since even the only girl said so, the group of boys had nothing left to dwell on, and they nodded one after another.

Just then, the dishes were served, and Shen Ci changed the subject and hurriedly greeted everyone: "Everyone, eat something to pad your stomachs first, and we'll have a drink in a while. This is my first time at this restaurant, so I don't know if the taste is good."