Chapter 62: I Didn

The next morning, Chen Yansen was fast asleep when his phone rang and woke him up.

“Hello? Who is it?”

Still half-asleep, Chen Yansen tapped the answer button without checking the caller ID, mumbling the question.

“Chen Yansen, this is Guo Dongchen, your academic advisor.”

Over the past two months, Guo Dongchen had seen Chen Yansen in class only a handful of times; perhaps worried Chen Yansen had forgotten him, he emphasized it.

“Old Guo, it’s not even light out—why are you calling me? Trying to get me to go jogging?”

Chen Yansen was still half-asleep, speaking incoherently.

Guo Dongchen was speechless; he checked the time—it was already 7:30.

He let out a long breath and explained patiently: “President Tang heard you got ten million in funding from Ma Wenteng, and he’s insisting on inspecting the startup park this morning. Last time, you made the president wait half an hour—you’ve got to be properly prepared this time.”

“I didn’t ask for it. Ma Zong forced it on me.”

Chen Yansen flatly denied it—the distinction mattered greatly.

Ma Wenteng shoved the money at him, and he accepted it—that meant he was giving Ma Zong face. But if it were said he asked Ma Wenteng for ten million, it would sound like he was begging.

“...”

Guo Dongchen wanted to hang up, but remembering the dean’s instructions, he continued: “Make sure you’re ready to receive him. Don’t forget—I still hold your attendance records.”

With a beep, he hung up without giving Chen Yansen any chance to respond.

That old bastard!

May you fail your PhD entrance exam!

Chen Yansen rubbed his eyes, threw off the covers, and trudged reluctantly into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.

As for Guo Dongchen’s threat, he didn’t take it seriously—he knew President Tang needed his golden reputation badly; even if he skipped class or failed a course, he’d still be eligible for honors.

When you’re strong enough, everyone else is your little brother!

After washing up and dressing neatly, Chen Yansen glanced quickly in the mirror. After several stat boosts, his height was now 186 cm—he wore a solid black shirt and black-patterned casual pants, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, long legs, abundant qi, and boundless energy.

This lifetime, I’m never taking blue pills again!

Chen Yansen opened his door and headed toward the startup park.

On the way, he thought: I need to hire more people—fill out HR, admin, legal, and operations roles, and pick reliable leads for operations and customer service. It can’t keep falling on Song Yuncheng.

It wasn’t that he disliked her—just that human energy was limited, and with too many tasks, oversights were inevitable.

Unconsciously, Chen Yansen reached the second floor of the startup park.

Passing Cao Dahua’s office, he glanced inside and saw the man leisurely sipping morning tea.

“Teacher Cao, enjoying your tea!”

Chen Yansen nudged open the glass door with his toe and walked in smiling.

“Oh! It’s Chen Yansen! Come sit! Try this year’s new tea from my hometown—I don’t share it with just anyone.”

Seeing it was Chen Yansen, Cao Dahua sat up straight, smiling warmly, and poured him a cup.

"Then I’m lucky—thanks, Teacher Cao." Chen Yansen blew on the tea, took a small sip, and got straight to the point: "Teacher Cao, could you please help me again by finding the keys to rooms 202 and 210?"

“Hiring again?”

Cao Dahua was startled, asking reflexively.

“We’re short-staffed, especially in development—I can’t keep making them work late every night.”

Chen Yansen shrugged, smiling wryly.

“That’s true—your rooms 206, 208, and 204 use more electricity in a month than the other twenty-odd startup rooms downstairs.” Cao Dahua chuckled.

He’d once ventured into business himself in his youth, so he understood the hardships—and Chen Yansen, for all his projects, made them seem as easy as eating and drinking. In just two months, he’d turned things around spectacularly.

“Keys aren’t urgent—I’ll bring them to you later, and I’ll get a few students to help move the desks up. But the water dispenser is gone—you can buy one yourself, or wait for the university to allocate funds.”

After the joke, Cao Dahua said seriously.

“Thanks again, Teacher Cao.” Chen Yansen bowed his thanks, drank two more cups of tea, then strolled out leisurely.

“Good morning, Sen-ge!”

“Good morning, Boss!”

Several backend team members waved and greeted him.

Chen Yansen nodded, sat down, and immediately assigned tasks to Song Yuncheng: “At ten-thirty, President Tang will come for an inspection. You’ll be responsible for introducing the current status of FoxTao. Oh—can you cry for sympathy?”

“Cry for sympathy?”

Song Yuncheng, holding a vegetable bun, froze, her face full of confusion.

“If the president asks what difficulties we’re facing, play the victim—say we’re short on funds, lack computer equipment, don’t have enough office supplies, and it’s affecting your studies.”

Chen Yansen casually listed a bunch of excuses.

Affecting studies?

Could you really say that to the president? Song Yuncheng looked skeptical.

Besides, everyone knows you got ten million from Tencent—the topic’s still trending!

Will the president believe you?

“Why are you staring at me? This is for your own good—what if you’re stuck in the startup park and graduate with insufficient credits?”

Chen Yansen rolled his eyes, annoyed.

“Why don’t you say it yourself? Why do I have to play the victim?” Song Yuncheng paused, then asked again.

“I’m the boss—I’ve got an image to maintain.” Chen Yansen brushed it off.

“Pfft—” Song Yuncheng scoffed, about to pout in protest, when she saw Chen Yansen pull out a stack of cash.

“Thank you, Boss! May you become rich soon!” Song Yuncheng instantly switched expressions, happily accepting her salary, her mouth sweet as honey.

“I just don’t get you—are you into money or not?”

Chen Yansen sighed, uninterested.

Song Yuncheng, seeing the faint disappointment in his eyes, felt a sharp pang in her chest—painful, yet sour. She was about to muster courage to explain, when Xu Xingxing sidled up: “Class monitor, I brought you some glutinous rice cakes—try them?”

“Sweet or salty?” Chen Yansen didn’t take it, smiling.

“Salty—with crispy crust and duck egg yolk,” Xu Xingxing replied cheerfully, holding out the cake.

“I can’t eat that—I like sweet.” Chen Yansen shook his head.

“Actually, I bought sweet ones too,” Xu Xingxing said calmly, as if expecting this, pulling out another cake.

“Fine—being a person means trying new things. I’ll eat the salty one.”

Chen Yansen snatched the salty cake, grinning mischievously.

“They’re both crazy,” Song Yuncheng thought silently, glancing between them.

Soon after, most of FoxTao’s members arrived.

Just then, Cao Dahua was directing several students to carry desks and chairs upstairs.

“Wenbo, get a few people to help out,” Chen Yansen called to Zhang Wenbo.

“Got it, Sen-ge!” Zhang Wenbo gathered a few frontend classmates, made several trips to the storage room, and filled rooms 202 and 210 to the brim.

Xu Xingxing took several drinks from the fridge, thanked the students, and handed them out.

At 10:20, Tang Qingshan arrived with several deans, walking up slowly.

“Good morning, President Tang!” ×23!

The synchronized greeting pleased Tang Qingshan; he waved, signaling everyone back to their desks—he was just here for a casual look, and wouldn’t disrupt their work.

“President Tang, last time we were in a rush and I didn’t get to introduce you—this is Song Yuncheng, FoxTao’s first employee. For any questions about the funding, ask her—she knows everything.”

Chen Yansen pushed Song Yuncheng forward. He understood Tang Qingshan’s intent: he wanted to see if FoxTao could serve as a model student startup case to showcase within the provincial university alliance.

He didn’t want to repeat the data again—Song Yuncheng had ample experience; she’d confidently presented the project’s progress to Ma Wenteng, so handling Tang Qingshan was no problem.

Beside them, Cao Dahua stood with his belly out, accompanying them the whole time.

An hour later, Tang Qingshan and the others left. Cao Dahua came over, frowning: “You’ve messed things up again—I have to rewrite my research report.”

“Just tweak a few numbers—your skills are good enough, no need to worry,” Chen Yansen said lightly.

“True! When I was young, I roamed the Shenzhen Electronics Market—what storms haven’t I seen?” Cao Dahua smiled, lost in nostalgia.

"Oh? Teacher Cao, did you run a business before? What product did you make?" Chen Yansen asked at the right moment.

“Forget it—old history. You were still in elementary school back then,” Cao Dahua’s smile froze, then he chuckled awkwardly and changed the subject.

He turned and slipped back into his office to fix his report.

Tang Qingshan’s visit wasn’t wasted: the school planned to grant FoxTao 100,000 yuan as a startup prize—but with one condition: Chen Yansen must enter next year’s university startup competition.

They’d also provide twenty business office computers, one printer, several desks, water dispensers, and refrigerators.

These items seemed trivial, but together they were worth hundreds of thousands—better than nothing.

Chen Yansen smiled faintly, moved his mouse, opened each team’s hiring plan, skimmed through them, skipped the reasonable ones, tweaked the unreasonable ones, confirmed everything, then resent the plan to Xu Xingxing to post the job ads.

As soon as the posting went up on the bulletin board, someone shared it on the campus forum and Tieba.

This time, it attracted even more applicants—graduates who’d been preparing for autumn recruitment quickly revised their resumes, ready to interview at the startup park tomorrow.

In just two months, going from zero to a million users and securing Tencent’s ten-million funding—this project was no small feat for students at Xucheng College. Combined with salaries slightly above market rate, Xu Xingxing’s inbox was already full before the workday ended.

She printed out each resume and handed them to team leads for preliminary screening before inviting candidates for interviews.

Even so, over two hundred candidates made it to the second round. Chen Yansen considered it, then told Xu Xingxing to extend the interview period to three days.

The next morning, Chen Yansen walked into room 202 with a stack of resumes. Outside, Xu Xingxing managed the interview order.

“Interviewer, hello. My name is Xu Kun, I’m a senior this year...”

The first candidate smiled and began his self-introduction slowly.

After he finished, Chen Yansen asked curiously: “Your surname is Cai?”

"Huh!? No, my surname is Xu." Xu Kun first blinked in surprise, then corrected him seriously.

(End of Chapter)