Chapter 492: The Internet Cafe Opens, Netizens Go Wild

Chapter 492: The Internet Cafe Opens, Netizens Go Wild

At noon.

Deng Shirong was on the phone with his granddaughter.

After exchanging greetings, Deng Shirong asked with concern, "Dear granddaughter, are you used to the food at school?"

Xiaodong replied honestly, "Grandpa, I really can't get used to it. The food at school is much worse than at home!"

Deng Shirong said, "Since you're not used to it, then don't eat at school. I will have someone deliver your meals from now on."

Xiaodong said, "Grandpa, won't that be too much trouble?"

Deng Shirong smiled, "It's no trouble. Your task now is to study well. The rest isn't a problem."

Xiaodong knew that her family wasn't short of money and happily accepted her Grandpa's arrangement.

After that, the grandfather and granddaughter chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up.

Deng Shirong, who doted his only granddaughter, immediately instructed the manager and security team of La Meizi Hotpot to take care of this matter. If he wasn't in Nanning, the chef of La Meizi Hotpot would be responsible for delivering the meals. The security team's task was to deliver the meals to her school on time and help buy breakfast, which neither Deng Shirong nor the chef could do so early.

After settling this matter, Deng Shirong began to think about what to cook for his granddaughter for dinner.

...

In the afternoon.

Nanning No.3 Middle School.

As the class dismissal bell rang, students rushed in groups to the school cafeteria, just as in any era, students were always serious about their meals.

Tang Yun said hurriedly, "Class monitor, let's hurry back to the dorm to get our lunch boxes and go to the cafeteria!"

Xiaodong shook her head, "You go, I won't go!"

Tang Yun was taken aback, "Then I'll get your lunch for you, class monitor. What dishes do you want?"

Xiaodong didn't expect her to say that, feeling that her deskmate's character was not bad. Considering her Grandpa's personality, if he sent someone to deliver meals, it would definitely be more than she could finish alone.

Thinking this, Xaodong said, "Tang Yun, go back to the dorm and get the lunch box, then wait for me at the dorm's entrance."

Tang Yun, without thinking much, assumed the class monitor wanted to go to the cafeteria with her, responded and hurriedly walked toward the dorm.

Xiaodong, on the other hand, walked toward the school gate.

Soon, at the school gate, Xaodong saw a security personnel holding a lunch box waiting there.

Seeing Xiaodong approach, the security personnel greeted immediately, "Young Miss."

Xiaodong took the lunch box, politely saying, "Uncle Wu, thank you for the trouble!"

Uncle Wu smiled, "Not at all, Young Miss. Eat slowly, and just return the lunch box to me after you're done."

Xiaodong responded and, under the surprised gaze of the school security, carried the lunch box toward her dorm.

The dorm was still a bit of a distance from the school gate. When Xaodong returned to the dorm with the lunch box, Tang Yun had already been waiting there for about three minutes.

Seeing Xiaodong carrying a lunch box, Tang Yun asked, "Class monitor, is this?"

Xiaodong, while unlocking the door, smiled and replied, "This is the dinner my family sent for me. Let's eat together!"

Tang Yun's face showed surprise, then said enviously, "Class monitor, your family is really good to you."

Xiaodong closed the door, placed the lunch box on the table, and while turning on the air conditioner, said, "My family is indeed very good to me."

Tang Yun, holding the lunch box, said awkwardly, "Class monitor, this is your family's dinner for you. You should eat it yourself. I'll go to the cafeteria to get my own."

"There's plenty of food. I can't finish it alone. If you don't eat, it will be wasted."

While speaking, Xaodong opened the lunch box and took out several sealed, still warm aluminum Lunch Boxes.

There were four aluminum lunch boxes, and one Porcelain lunch box. Seeing so many lunch boxes, Tang Yun understood that the Class Monitor wasn't being polite but that her family had indeed prepared a lot of Food for her.

Then, under Tang Yun's gaze, Xaodong opened each lunch box one by one.

In the Porcelain lunch box was a full box of Corn Ribs Soup.

In the four aluminum lunch boxes, one was filled with rice, and the other three were filled with stir-fried Pig Stomach Slices, Spicy Fish, and stir-fried Squash. All were dishes that Xiaodong liked.

The dishes looked very appetizing.

Xiaodong picked up the box of rice and, smiling, said to her Deskmate with a decent character, "Tang Yun, don't daydream. Open your lunch box, I'll give you half of the rice."

Seeing the amount of food was indeed sufficient, Tang Yun no longer hesitated, opened the lunch box and passed it over, "Class monitor, I won't be polite with you then!"

"It's just one meal. What's there to be polite about?"

Xiaodong divided the rice in half and said somewhat regretfully, "If I had known, I would have asked the principal for an extra chair."

Tang Yun hurriedly said, "Class monitor, you sit down. I'll stand, it's fine."

"That won't do. Let's move this table over. I'll sit on the bed, and you can sit in the chair."

"Alright!"

So, the two of them moved the table to the front of the bed and sat down.

Xiaodong called out, "Alright, let's eat quickly. These dishes were all made by my grandpa. Try them and see how they taste!"

Tang Yun smiled and said, "These dishes look delicious. Your grandpa must be a great chef."

Xiaodong didn't modestly decline but nodded directly, "My grandpa is indeed a great chef. You'll know once you try them."

Tang Yun, hearing this, no longer hesitated and picked up a pair of chopsticks to try the stir-fried pig stomach slices.

The crispy and perfect taste immediately conquered her.

"Delicious, really too delicious. I have never had such delicious pig stomach slices in my life."

"Wow, this spicy fish is also amazing, just a bit too spicy."

"Even the stir-fried squash is so delicious. Class monitor, your grandpa's skills are truly incredible!"

"..."

Tang Yun praised while eating, and this meal truly amazed her! Xiaodong's face was filled with continuous smiles, and the praise from her deskmate made her feel very pleased.

Soon, the two of them finished all the rice and dishes, and then they shared the soup.

Tang Yun put down the lunch box, rubbed her stomach, and said with satisfaction, "This meal was so delicious. I haven't had such a satisfying meal in years."

Xiaodong felt that having someone to eat with improved her appetite a lot. She then invited, "Starting from this meal, my family will send me three meals a day. Eating alone is no fun. If you don't mind, come and eat with me!"

Tang Yun's eyes widened again. Her family conditions were not bad, and she was quite favored at home because of her good looks and academic performance. Occasionally, her family might send her a meal, but having them send meals every day was just a dream, something impossible.

However, the class monitor's family had made it happen, and she could clearly feel how much the class monitor's family cared for her.

Now, hearing the class monitor's invitation, Tang Yun was naturally very excited. She had tried the school cafeteria's breakfast and lunch, and those meals could only fill her stomach, with the taste being average at best. They couldn't even compare to her mother's cooking, let alone the class monitor's grandpa's skills.

Following the class monitor to eat and drink was a heavenly enjoyment.

However, occasionally joining for a meal was one thing, but coming every day would be embarrassing. She couldn't help but shake her head and say, "Class monitor, I appreciate your kindness, but these are the meals your family sends for you. If I come to eat and drink every day, it would be too much."

Xiaodong smiled and said, "It's fine. You saw it yourself; the meals my family sends are very ample. We barely finished this meal together, and if I ate alone, I probably couldn't finish half of it. Having you here to eat with me improves my appetite a lot. Just think of it as coming to eat with me."

"This..."

"Don't hesitate. Help me clean up. I need to take the lunch box back to my family."

"Okay!" Tang Yun quickly helped clean up the lunch box and put it back in the box.

Xiaodong said, "Stay here and enjoy the air conditioning. I'll take the lunch box to the school gate and come back."

"Alright."

Tang Yun responded. After the class monitor left with the lunch box, she quietly calculated how much New Year's money she had left. When the holidays came, she would buy a gift for the class monitor to thank her for her care.

...

Wuyue Plaza, the most famous commercial plaza in Nanning, period.

At Wuyue Plaza, there was the Yongjia Supermarket, the first large supermarket in the city, La Meizi Hotpot, the first hotpot restaurant in the city, the largest Ahua Electrical City, and the mysterious private residence on the fifth floor.

Moreover, Wuyue Plaza's location in the city center made it very famous.

Over the years, the fourth floor of Wuyue Plaza had remained empty, not doing any business, which many people found a waste.

After all, with such a high foot traffic in a commercial plaza, any business on the fourth floor could make a lot of money. Yet, the owner had left it empty, which was too wasteful.

Now, after so many years, the long-empty fourth floor of Wuyue Plaza finally showed some activity. The renovation attracted the attention of many customers, all curious to know what business would be set up there.

It turned out that those curious customers learned that the fourth floor was going to be used to open an internet cafe.

Most customers, hearing the word "internet cafe," didn't understand what it was. The workers in charge of the renovation couldn't explain it clearly either, only saying that once the internet cafe opened, they would see for themselves.

Thus, these customers continued to pay attention to the fourth floor of Wuyue Plaza, eager to see what this internet cafe was all about.

Of course, among so many customers, there were those who understood the industry. Hearing that the fourth floor was to be used for an internet cafe, they were both shocked and excited. They were all internet-savvy people, and having such a place to go online would greatly benefit these "netizens."

Soon, the Pioneer Internet Cafe at Wuyue Plaza opened amidst the attention of the masses.

...

Cheng Mingwei, after having breakfast, eagerly rode his motorcycle to Wuyue Plaza.

Ever since Wuyue Plaza hung the banner ten days ago announcing the opening countdown of the Pioneer Internet Cafe, Cheng Mingwei had been keeping a close eye on it.

Today was the grand opening of the Pioneer Internet Cafe, and Cheng Mingwei, who had long been hooked on the internet, naturally wouldn't miss it. He wanted to be the first to come and go online.

Cheng Mingwei had developed a connection with the internet when he worked in Hong Kong two years ago. However, he didn't use the internet for work; instead, he became obsessed with playing bridge online.

In the late 1990s to the early 2000s, many people got addicted to the internet because of games, which was a very common phenomenon. Cheng Mingwei was neither the first nor the last to experience this.

After returning from Hong Kong last year, Cheng Mingwei felt somewhat uncomfortable. Last year, the mainland had not yet connected to the internet. If Cheng Mingwei wanted to go online, he had to make international calls to Hong Kong.

Although Cheng Mingwei's family was well-off, even local calls were not cheap in this era, and domestic long-distance calls were even more expensive. International calls to Hong Kong were exorbitantly priced.

Not to mention, there were also internet fees.

Therefore, even though Cheng Mingwei's family was well-off, he had to control the frequency of his online activities, only occasionally going online to play, and not continuously.

In this era, games were text-based, and there were rudimentary chat rooms where people could chat while playing.

Cheng Mingwei's English was poor, and the phone charges were terrifyingly high, burning money every second. He had no mood to chat with foreigners!

Thus, every time he went online, Cheng Mingwei would type: "I'm Chinese, my English is poor," and others would no longer bother with this poor Chinese person, allowing him to focus on playing bridge.

In this way, over the past year, Cheng Mingwei had spent several tens of thousands of yuan playing this bridge game. If this were an ordinary family, they would have given up long ago.

Although Cheng Mingwei could afford it, spending several thousand yuan a month still made him somewhat heartbroken, as he couldn't play to his heart's content.

Now, it was good. In this remote place, Nanning, someone had invested in opening an internet cafe, which both surprised and excited Cheng Mingwei.

Although he was not yet clear about how the internet cafe would charge, he was sure that it would be much cheaper than making international calls to Hong Kong.

Soon, Cheng Mingwei arrived at Wuyue Plaza.

At the main entrance of Wuyue Plaza, long rows of flower baskets were already set up, and banners celebrating the opening of the Pioneer Internet Cafe hung from the top of the building, making the scene look very festive.

After parking his motorcycle, Cheng Mingwei eagerly took the elevator to the fourth floor.

Inside the internet cafe, there were already many people there for the opening. Cheng Mingwei briefly looked around and found that the cafe was not only spacious but also decorated in a very fashionable and beautiful manner. The most eye-catching feature was the rows of computers at the front.

"Exactly what does going online mean?"

"It must be about playing on the computer. Look, there are so many computers over there."

"These computers are very valuable. I heard they cost more than 10,000 yuan each. I didn't expect to see dozens of them here. That must cost several hundred thousand yuan!"

"Going online costs 15 yuan per hour. Does that mean if you pay 15 yuan, you can choose any computer and play for an hour?"

"That's right. Someone has already paid and started playing. If I knew how to use a computer, I would also pay to try this new thing. Unfortunately, I don't know anything. Even if I had a computer, I wouldn't know how to use it!"

"..."

Hearing the discussions of the crowd, Cheng Mingwei was not surprised at all. In this era, there were not many people in China who knew how to use computers.

What made him happiest was that the internet price was only 15 yuan per hour, which was much lower than his expectations. From now on, he wouldn't have to rush through his games or control his internet addiction.

This price, while not allowing him to play without restraint, still meant that he could play for three to five hours a day without much pressure.

Thus, Cheng Mingwei couldn't resist any longer. He immediately went to the counter to handle the internet procedures and then went to the internet area to play his favorite bridge game.

Although there weren't many people who knew how to go online, there were still some. Now that the Pioneer internet cafe had opened, these netizens all came at the wind, each paying to go online.

In this era, those who qualified as net citizens all had decent family conditions. Those with poor family conditions simply had no opportunity to become net citizens, as ordinary people didn't even have the chance to touch a computer, let alone become net citizens.

(End of chapter)

Soon, less than two hours after the Pioneer Internet Cafe opened, all 50 computers were occupied by more than 40 netizens.

Those who were unfamiliar with computers and had nothing to do stood curiously behind the netizens, watching how they played on the computers.

Behind Cheng Mingwei, several curious people stood, watching intently.

Bridge is a card game that originated in Europe, often referred to as one of the "three major intellectual sports" along with chess and Go, and is known as a "brain exercise."

This game is quite addictive, especially when played on a computer, making it even more novel.

As a result, the number of people watching Cheng Mingwei grew, surrounding him so tightly that there was no room to move.

People have a tendency to show off, and the experience of playing a game while being watched by a group is very different from playing alone.

Cheng Mingwei was now fully engrossed in the game, occasionally answering questions from the onlookers and even teaching them how to play bridge.

One of the spectators watched for over an hour and finally couldn't resist. He went to pay for a computer, asked the network administrator to set up a bridge game, and then played with great interest.

Deng Shirong, with nothing else to do, stayed in the internet cafe. Seeing so many people using the computers, he said to his fourth son, "Xiaohua, it seems that preparing 50 computers was a bit conservative. Quickly instruct the technicians to assemble another 50 computers."

Deng Yunhua was surprised, "Dad, are you sure you want to add another 50 computers?"

Deng Shirong nodded, "Yes, with so many people coming on the first day, it will only get busier. People who enjoy the internet, unless they are short of money, find it hard to go a day without it. It's different from other businesses."

Deng Yunhua naturally trusted his father's judgment and nodded, "Okay, I'll pass on the instructions shortly."

At that moment, the Fan brothers, Fan Yuesheng and Fan Yueqiang, were also in the internet cafe. Since their sister mentioned that her husband was setting up an internet cafe and wanted them to learn, the brothers had been frequent visitors, witnessing the entire process of the cafe's establishment.

Now that the cafe had opened and they saw so many people using the computers, the Fan brothers were stunned.

After all, going online wasn't cheap, costing 15 yuan per hour!

If this many people came every day, and each computer was used for 10 hours, that would be 150 yuan per computer per day. With 40 computers, that would be 6,000 yuan per day, and 180,000 yuan per month. This income was truly staggering!

Of course, this was just the gross profit, and various costs would need to be deducted, so the net profit wouldn't be as high.

Even so, it was still a very profitable business.

If each computer was used for more than 10 hours, the profit would be even higher.

In short, the Fan brothers were very excited.

Their brother-in-law had already told them that after a while, when the cafe's computers needed to be upgraded, the old machines would be transferred to them. All they would need to do is find a suitable location and complete the necessary procedures to start making money.

Compared to their current billiard hall, the profitability of the internet cafe was clearly much better.

...

After the Pioneer Internet Cafe opened in Nanning, similar cafes began to quietly appear in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

These cafes were undoubtedly set up by Deng Yunhua, Deng Yunzhu, Deng Yunshou, and Deng Yunhua. Although their scale couldn't match the Wuyue Plaza, with Deng Shirong's guidance, these cafes were all large, capable of accommodating at least 300 computers, and some even up to 500.

Of course, while these cafes could accommodate 300 to 500 computers, they initially only set up 50 computers, with the rest to be added as needed.

Although the cafes in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen couldn't match the fame of the Wuyue Plaza in Nanning, these cities had their own advantages. They had more social elites, more wealthy people, and more netizens than Nanning.

Therefore, even though the initial fame of these cafes was not as high, the internet spread news quickly. The netizens themselves spread the word, and soon the cafes became well-known in the internet community.

As a result, the number of people using the computers in these cafes increased day by day.

By the end of the first week, the 50 computers were no longer enough.

At this point, the four siblings, Deng Yunhua, Deng Yunzhu, Deng Yunshou, and Deng Yunhua, truly admired their father's (Uncle Man) foresight and were eager to add more computers to their cafes.

50, 100, 150, 200...

As the number of computers increased, so did the income of the cafes. It felt like they were picking up money every day, making the Deng siblings incredibly excited.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end