Chapter 247: Forgotten Memories

January 1st, New Year's Day.

Unconsciously, 2005 had passed, and 2006 had arrived.

On the road back to Dongping, Li Dong looked at the document in his hand and said softly, "There is some truth to the saying that effort brings rewards."

Qi Yunna was tough on herself, so her rewards were naturally significant.

According to yesterday's performance statistics, Yao Hai Four Store led all five Level 5 stores by a wide margin.

"Yao Hai Four Store, sales: 110,000!"

In contrast, the second-ranking store's sales were only 76,000, a difference of over 30,000.

A 30,000 difference might not seem like much.

But when calculated as a percentage, it was a 50% increase, even reaching twice the sales of the lowest-ranking store.

The gap was clear when viewed this way.

Li Dong didn't think the hardware at Yao Hai Four Store was superior to the other stores, which showed that this performance was due to Qi Yunna's own hard work.

Although this achievement was only temporary, Li Dong felt that Qi Yunna should be able to sustain it. Despite being a woman, her resilience was strong enough.

Putting down the document, Li Dong glanced outside the car.

They were not far from Dongping. Although they would miss Wang Jie's opening, they should make it for lunch.

…

At eleven o'clock, Li Dong's car arrived at Yanghe Road.

The former Yanghe Internet Café had now been renamed to Jiejie Internet Café, a rather unoriginal name.

Li Dong noticed that whether it was himself or those around him, everyone preferred to use names for naming things—just a bunch of old-fashioned folks.

Not paying much attention, Li Dong got out of the car and went straight to the second floor.

The internet café was on the second floor. It was neither too large nor too small, and the décor was a bit outdated but still usable.

He was familiar with this place. When he was in high school, Li Dong often came here to use the internet, and his visits had decreased only after his rebirth.

With over fifty computers, Jiejie Internet Café was considered quite large for Dongping at that time.

Perhaps because it was New Year's Day or because of the cheap opening prices, the café was quite busy, with most of the machines occupied.

Li Dong went upstairs and immediately spotted Wang Jie chatting with someone at the counter.

Wang Jie saw him too, sent away the person he was talking to with a few words, and walked over with a smile, "You finally came. I thought you weren't coming."

Li Dong didn't respond immediately but asked curiously, "Didn't you say there was an opening ceremony? Why don't I see anyone else?"

"What opening ceremony? We had a little ceremony with the God of Wealth this morning. Isn't that enough?" Wang Jie shrugged and smiled.

Li Dong was speechless, knowing that this guy had probably been misleading him.

Ignoring Wang Jie, Li Dong glanced around the internet café and asked, "How much did you spend?"

"About 100,000. I had to use all my savings. My old man said if I didn't make money, he'd skin me alive."

Wang Jie sighed, "100,000 yuan—spent all the savings of my old folks."

"Twenty thousand for the transfer fee, forty thousand for fifty old computers, twenty thousand for a year's rent, and over ten thousand for various tips. Money really doesn't last."

"I was planning to get some new machines, but with no money, I had to give up."

Li Dong raised his eyebrows and said, "100,000 isn't too much."

Wang Jie immediately smiled and said, "That's true. With fifty machines, if half of them are occupied every day, I can make four to five hundred a day."

"If business is good, I should be able to break even in about a year."

Seeing Wang Jie's hopeful expression, Li Dong couldn't help but smile, "Don't get your hopes up too much. If it were that profitable, the previous owner wouldn't have sold it to you."

"Who knows? But I'm definitely making money. Just this morning, I've already made quite a bit."

Li Dong smiled and glanced out the window, then frowned in contemplation.

Wang Jie noticed and asked, "What's wrong?"

Li Dong felt like he had forgotten something. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Is that a new building across the street?"

"Yes, it was just built. I heard they're planning to turn it into a shopping mall. Why? Do you have any ideas?"

Li Dong didn't respond. He hurried downstairs, walked around the internet café, and then looked at the unfamiliar new building across the street.

After a while, Li Dong's expression changed. He realized that he had forgotten something. He hadn't visited this area much in this life, and some things had slipped his mind.

He hadn't remembered until he saw the familiar-looking shopping mall across the street. Suddenly, it all came back to him!

No wonder Wang Jie had managed to acquire the internet café for just 100,000 yuan!

Such a profitable business would not have been handed over unless something had gone wrong, especially to someone like Wang Jie, a young man with no power or influence.

Li Dong's expression turned grim. He had forgotten about this earlier and hadn't thought to warn Wang Jie.

If he remembered correctly, the area around Yanghe was set to be demolished either early next year or mid-year, with plans for a commercial street.

Now it seemed that the demolition was likely imminent, or the original internet café owner wouldn't have sold it.

If the demolition did occur, Wang Jie would be in serious trouble!

100,000 yuan wasn't a small amount. When the demolition happened, Wang Jie would get very little compensation.

And those old computers in the café would likely become useless after the move.

Adding the transfer fee and other expenses, Wang Jie might end up losing most of the 100,000 yuan, perhaps recovering only two to three thousand.

At this moment, Wang Jie also came down and, seeing Li Dong looking around, couldn't help but ask, "Dongzi, what's going on?"

Li Dong was silent for a moment before asking, "Why did you decide to take over this internet café? Didn't I help you pick a location before?"

Wang Jie frowned, realizing that Li Dong's words carried more weight. He thought for a moment and said, "I was originally planning to open the café at the location you chose, but then I calculated that I didn't have enough money. An old acquaintance knew I wanted to open a café and told me about the Yanghe internet café being available at a low price. I checked it out and ended up choosing this one."

"How close are you with that acquaintance?"

Wang Jie's frown deepened. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Not very close. He started as a small-time thug in the county after graduating high school. We don't keep in touch much."

"Dongzi, what's really going on?"

Li Dong patted his shoulder and said, "Find a way to transfer the café quickly. It's okay if you get a little less money. Don't drag it out. It would be best if you could transfer it by the end of the year."

Wang Jie's expression changed. The café had just opened today.

Transferring it right after opening, not to mention what he himself thought, but what others would think, and who would easily take over?

Wang Jie composed himself and sighed, "What's wrong with this place? If it's just superstitious nonsense, don't bother. Is there another issue?"

"If I'm not mistaken, this area will likely be demolished early next year."

"Demolition!"

Wang Jie was shocked and hurriedly asked, "How is that possible? I haven't heard anything about it!"

"That's because you didn't inquire properly. I think this shouldn't be a secret. The previous owner of the café probably knew about it; otherwise, it wouldn't be so coincidental."

Wang Jie was stunned and murmured, "How could this happen?"