Chapter 187: I've Seen Plenty of Big Brothers, But They All Call Me Big

The three-day holiday vanished in the blink of an eye.

Chen Yansen had been living quite comfortably, but the moment he walked into his office, he suddenly received a call from Tang Qingshan.

"Principal Tang, what are your instructions?" Chen Yansen walked over to a chair, dropped into it, and asked with a smile.

"What Principal Tang? Didn't I tell you to call me Teacher Tang?" Tang Qingshan replied, displeased.

Ever since the Virtual Academy produced a Chen Yansen, his reputation both inside and outside the province had grown louder and louder. Especially upon learning that Sister Chengzi's tech company would be recruiting at Huazhong University of Science and Technology after the New Year, Tang Qingshan was secretly delighted.

"Yes, yes, Teacher Tang." Chen Yansen went along with it easily, replying with a light laugh.

Generally speaking, the most powerful person a person comes into contact with in their lifetime is most often their own university president, or some hidden expert professor or lecturer.

The class that college students desperately try to skip would cost at least three to five thousand yuan per session to attend out in society.

Tang Qingshan looked after Chen Yansen quite a bit, and Chen Yansen also gave this big shot plenty of face. Since the other party wanted to establish a teacher-student relationship, he wouldn't refuse.

"Before the holiday, the Hangcheng Young Entrepreneurs Association sent over an invitation. The mail room didn't notice, so it got delayed. The organizers are specially inviting you to attend — the date is set for January 5th."

After the small talk, Tang Qingshan got straight to the point.

January 5th?

Isn't that tomorrow?

The Hangcheng Young Entrepreneurs Association?

Chen Yansen mulled it over silently, then heard Tang Qingshan say that the invited young entrepreneurs were mainly post-80s and post-90s from Lighthouse, Goryeo, Neon, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the mainland.

Among them were no shortage of outstanding graduates from Ivy League schools, Tsinghua, Peking, the University of Hong Kong, and Seoul National University.

To put it bluntly, Tang Qingshan wanted to use this opportunity to have Chen Yansen show the Virtual Academy's face at this kind of young entrepreneurs' conference and earn him some prestige.

"Teacher Tang, I'll go pick up the invitation later then."

Chen Yansen didn't think it over too much and agreed to Tang Qingshan directly.

The reason Sister Chengzi's tech and Pinbei Tech could thrive in Shencheng without even a single freeloader showing up at the door was that in the early stages they relied on Tang Qingshan's patronage, and later on their own formidable strength.

Going out for a look around wasn't bad either — to see if there were any promising projects.

"No need, I'll have someone bring it to you."

After hearing Chen Yansen agree, Tang Qingshan replied with a light chuckle.

An hour later, the newly appointed entrepreneurship park instructor Su Hao personally brought the invitation to Chen Yansen's office.

"Teacher Su, what tea would you like?" Chen Yansen stood up to greet him.

"Chen Chen, you're too kind. There's still unfinished work at the entrepreneurship park, so I won't have tea — I need to head back."

Su Hao replied, choosing every word carefully; the words "President Chen" just wouldn't come out of his mouth.

While speaking, he kept observing Chen Yansen, thinking to himself: pretty much like the rumors — tall and handsome, more like a celebrity than an entrepreneur.

He was actually quite envious of Cao Dahua, who had left his post for a temporary assignment and now held considerable prestige in Shencheng's electronics circle. On top of that, serving as the head of Sister Chengzi's phone factory, he had a guaranteed monthly income of sixty to seventy thousand yuan.

In his view, Cao Dahua was nothing but an old freeloader fishing in troubled waters — what ability could he possibly have?

At best, he got lucky and latched onto Chen Yansen's big tree.

Something going on at the entrepreneurship park?

Chen Yansen sneered inwardly. After Fox Tao moved out, the entrepreneurship park had returned to its original state.

Although a wave of entrepreneurship had swept through the Virtual Academy under his influence, within just three short months, one after another they had quietly given up.

Now, apart from Song Yang's courier station, the entrepreneurship park still only had a print shop, a digital goods store, a milk tea shop, and a fruit shop.

Su Hao going back was just slacking off too.

Chen Yansen smiled without exposing him, took the invitation Su Hao handed over, saw him to the door, and then returned to his office.

'2012 Young Entrepreneurs Development Forum: Innovation, Diversity, Mutual Benefit — Strengthening Regional Cooperation, Serving Economic Development.'

Chen Yansen glanced at it casually. In his previous life, he had attended this kind of industry networking event countless times.

Simply put, it was a gathering place for men and women on the make.

The men all wanted to fish for resources, connections, and funding; the women all wanted to land a rich boyfriend.

If Tang Qingshan hadn't spoken up, even if this invitation had been delivered, Chen Yansen would have thrown it straight into the trash.

"Then I'll bring along Old Gao, Zihao, and Song Yuncheng."

Chen Yansen made the decision on the spot.

Although this kind of occasion wasn't of much use to him, if by chance they ran into a promising project, having Gao Weilin and Song Yuncheng present would make it convenient to follow up on the next steps.

As for Wang Zihao, he was just an extra.

This kid simply knew too little about the tricks of gold-diggers, which was why he'd been taken for such a ride in his previous life. Taking him along to broaden his horizons wasn't a bad idea.

Otherwise, even if he had the ability to make money but couldn't hold onto it, he'd still be useless.

That afternoon at four o'clock.

The four of them gathered at the east gate of the Virtual Academy — two cars in total.

Song Yuncheng sat in the driver's seat, with Chen Yansen in the passenger seat, driving his Bentley Mulsanne.

Wang Zihao drove the BMW 750, with Gao Weilin in the passenger seat.

Speeding all the way, by the time the four of them arrived in Hangcheng, the sky outside had long since turned pitch-black, with a few stars twinkling, dotted across the night curtain.

"If you two are bored, you can go take a stroll by Xihu."

After parking on the first floor and finishing check-in, Chen Yansen said to Wang Zihao and Gao Weilin.

The two exchanged a glance and couldn't help but shiver. Two grown men touring Xihu in the middle of the night?

Better forget it.

Wang Zihao shook his head.

Gao Weilin hurriedly said he needed to go back to his room and call his wife to report in.

Seeing this, Chen Yansen gave an "mm," and the three of them headed toward their rooms together.

It wasn't until late at night, eleven o'clock, that Chen Yansen finally slipped into Song Yuncheng's room, carrying a bag of clothes.

"Director Song, I've prepared some little gifts for you."

Chen Yansen said with a smile the moment he stepped inside.

Song Yuncheng's cheeks flushed red, and she instantly understood that Chen Yansen's "little gifts" were definitely nothing proper.

When Chen Yansen opened the bag, sure enough, it was full of strange and unusual clothes and props.

"Boss, could I not wear these?" Song Yuncheng blinked and pleaded in a soft, gentle voice.

"Not wearing them is fine too." Chen Yansen paused, then replied.

Song Yuncheng burst out laughing despite herself, her eyes glistening.

The next morning.

The four of them, neatly dressed, drove to the Hangcheng International Conference Center.

On the surface, this exchange meeting was hosted by the Hangcheng Young Entrepreneurs Association, but Chen Yansen knew perfectly well that the Hangcheng authorities had definitely pulled a lot of strings—otherwise how could the venue have been set at the International Conference Center, and so many young entrepreneurs from home and abroad invited?

After getting out of the car, Chen Yansen walked toward the sign-in area.

Gao Weilin, Song Yuncheng, and Wang Zihao followed closely behind.

"Good morning, sir. Please show your invitation." The staff member at the sign-in desk greeted them politely.

Wang Zihao, who was behind him, handed over the invitation.

"Chairman of Senlian Capital, Chen Yansen…" Upon seeing this, the staff member's smile widened. She quickly said a few words to a colleague nearby, set aside her work, and led the four of them toward the conference hall.

Clearly, someone had given specific instructions.

"Mr. Chen, your company's seats are in the first row. Let me take you there." The staff member said as they walked.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly and followed the other person inside.

After passing through a corridor several dozen meters long, they arrived at a conference hall of over a thousand square meters, already filled with quite a few people.

"This is?"

"Holy crap! It's Chen Yansen from Sister Chengzi Tech!"

"The organizers invited him too?"

"This guy is a real big shot!"

The few who had been flattering Cheng Ou immediately shifted their attention, fixing their gazes on Chen Yansen.

After all, Cheng Ou's Juemei Youpin was only valued at 200 million US dollars at this point—not even worth comparing to a single leg hair of Chen Yansen's.

Cheng Ou was also sizing up Chen Yansen. The other man was wearing a light blue suit, the cut fitting his physique perfectly—clearly custom-tailored.

His tall, one-meter-eighty-six frame stood out like a crane among chickens among the crowd of young entrepreneurs, and in terms of looks, Cheng Ou couldn't help but feel inferior.

In the crowd, a short, slim man pushed up his glasses, a hint of admiration in his expression.

Twenty-eight-year-old Zhang Yiming had just resigned as CEO of 99fang and was planning his fifth venture, but he hadn't yet figured out exactly what to do.

He had come to this exchange meeting first to find funding, and second to find a project.

He hadn't expected to actually run into Chen Yansen here.

Although he was nine years older than Chen Yansen, in the eyes of post-80s and post-90s entrepreneurs, Chen Yansen was nothing short of a leading figure among young entrepreneurs.

At just twenty years old, he had already amassed a fortune of ten billion, with two companies valued at over ten billion each in his hands.

Even twenty-year-old Ma Wenteng and Ma Liyun would find it hard not to feel inferior before Chen Yansen.

"President Chen, hello, welcome to Hangcheng. I'm Cheng Weixing, Executive Director of the Hangcheng College Student Entrepreneurship Alliance."

While others were still in a daze, a young man in black-framed glasses and a sharp suit stepped forward to greet him proactively.

Cheng Weixing?

Executive Director of the College Student Entrepreneurship Alliance?

Never heard of it!

Probably some minor player.

Still, one doesn't strike a smiling face. Chen Yansen responded with a smile, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then, guided by the staff member, took his seat.

Cheng Weixing gazed at Chen Yansen with burning eyes. He was both a staff member at this exchange meeting and an invited guest.

As CEO of Fancheng Tech, he actually really wanted to chat with Chen Yansen about entrepreneurship. Although he had made his first pot of gold with Magic Academy, the subsequent releases—Dream City, Doomsday Legend, and Water Margin Heroes—all failed to meet profit expectations.

Squeezed between Penguin, NetEase, Shanda, Perfect World, and Giant, Fancheng Tech's days were not easy.

Cheng Weixing increasingly felt that the gaming industry was tough. After seeing Chen Yansen's success, he had even considered entering the e-commerce shopping guide industry, and had actually put it into practice, investing 2 million in Mushroom Street.

But under the suppression of New Fox Tao, Mushroom Street still showed no signs of life. It had some growth, but was completely incomparable to the original Fox Tao.

The conference hadn't started yet. Chen Yansen had just sat down when someone beside him proactively made friendly overtures: "President Chen, hello! I'm Wang Shubin from Shangtongda."

Gee, yet another young entrepreneur he hadn't heard of.

Chen Yansen smiled, brushed him off with a couple of perfunctory replies, and immediately felt that this exchange meeting was just as pointless as he had imagined.

Looking around, apart from one Cheng Ou, he had no impression of anyone else.

Huh?

That person looks a bit familiar.

Chen Yansen stared at Zhang Yiming, and a wave of familiarity washed over him.

Founder of ByteDance?

A future billionaire?

But what was with that look of admiration in his eyes?

After realizing what was going on, Chen Yansen couldn't help but smile faintly.

"President Chen, do you know me?"

After confirming that Chen Yansen was indeed looking at him, Zhang Yiming stepped forward and greeted him.

He had just left Jiujiufang, with only a little over five million in cash on hand; if his new project could get Chen Yansen's support, venture capital would inevitably look at him more favorably.

"No, I just thought you looked familiar. What should I call you?"

Chen Yansen stretched out his hand and casually fabricated an excuse off the top of his head.

"Zhang Yiming, former CEO of Jiujiufang." Zhang Yiming gave a brief self-introduction.

Former CEO?

Then Zhang Yiming should currently be in a state of having left his job, most likely preparing a new project.

After four consecutive failed entrepreneurial attempts, even though Zhang Yiming considered himself exceptionally capable, he had begun to entertain some doubts about life.

His fellow townsman and former boss Wang Xin had invited him to join Meituan, but Zhang Yiming refused.

He didn't want to be constrained by others; he wanted to try making his own product.

Leaving Jiujiufang was also because his equity stake was too small — the CEO title sounded nice, but in reality he was just a wage-slave.

Chen Yansen nodded in acknowledgment, but said nothing more, only mentioning that they could chat sometime if he was free.

He didn't think that casually pulling out a few tens of millions would make the other man fall in line and pledge allegiance.

Zhang Yiming understood technology, had connections, and could put up several million; his father ran an electronics factory, so the family was well-off.

From his repeated refusals of Wang Xin's overtures, one could tell that privately this man was absolutely not the uncompetitive, unassertive engineering type he appeared to be on the surface — his ambition had to be strong enough.

The head of a company, if he has no goals and no ambition, absolutely cannot grow big or go far.

Just as Chen Yansen was thinking, many of the young entrepreneurs at the meeting mostly cast envious glances toward Zhang Yiming — among these people was also the earlier Cheng Weixing.

They might each be big shots within their own projects, companies, and fields, but the looks they gave Chen Yansen clearly carried a shade of reverence.

Among everyone present, in terms of family wealth and achievements, there was almost no one who could compare with Chen Yansen.

Even though there were a few outstanding graduates from Ivy League and Tsinghua-Peking, all holding titles like general manager or president of some company, when all was said and done, they were really just high-level wage-slaves.

Although Chen Yansen's educational background was probably the worst, the elite graduates of these Ivy League schools were thinking in their hearts: how to curry favor with him, get investment from his hands, or become mid-to-senior management at Senlian Capital or Sister Chengzi Tech.

(End of this chapter)