William Carter let out a sigh and didn’t argue: “I’m fine with washing the dishes and pots too. How about you give me three hundred yuan for all of it?”

John Carter looked up sharply after hearing this: “There’s such a good deal? Then I’ll do it too!”

“Go, go, go, three hundred is enough for me to buy a whole new set. I wash the dishes and pots every day and never got three hundred. Go wash your hands and eat!”

“Alas, this king’s entrepreneurial journey has collapsed before it even began.”

William Carter sighed, washed his hands, and returned to the dining table to have a meal with his parents.

Before going to bed, Yvonne Cooper came out of the bedroom and stuffed five hundred-yuan bills into his hand.

Actually, Ms. Cooper knew that graduating from high school was like a wild horse breaking free, and even hanging out and singing with classmates cost money. Previously, giving him five yuan for washing dishes was just her being tough on the outside but soft on the inside.

Looking at the five hundred in his hand, William Carter felt a slight ache in his heart.

What kind of big entrepreneur starts with only five hundred yuan? But five hundred is better than nothing.

“Ms. Cooper, from now on you’ll be the mother of the chairman!”

“If you can just be a general manager, I’ll be satisfied. Oh right, I asked your uncle at noon— in a few days, you’ll go to Zhengfang Driving School to learn to drive, okay?”

“I’ll talk about learning to drive later. I have something important to do these days.”

William Carter took the money and went back to his room, turned on the computer, found David Harris’s QQ number, and told him to meet at Central Street early the next morning.

David Harris asked what they were going to do. William Carter didn’t say directly, just told him he had five hundred yuan now, which made the guy howl with envy.

After agreeing on the plan for tomorrow, William Carter casually opened Baidu, planning to check the news online, trying to awaken memories about demolition and renovation, policy changes, stock market conditions, market premiums, and other key points, to prepare for making a fortune.

But before the webpage even loaded, his eyes stopped on the QQ friends list on his computer.

Sophie Clark’s chat window was pinned to the top?

William Carter moved the mouse over and unpinned it, then locked his own Qzone, and changed his non-mainstream profile picture while he was at it.

After doing all this, he checked his personal signature, and with just one glance, he felt embarrassed even in his three-bedroom apartment.

[“I love you, what’s it to you?”]

So awkward. William Carter slapped his forehead and quickly deleted it, replacing it with lyrics from “Yesterday’s Song.”

After changing his signature, William Carter noticed that Sophie Clark, whose profile picture had just been gray, suddenly came online, and her avatar was flashing—clearly, she had sent a message.

He clicked it open for a quick look, then closed it, uninterested.

She asked why he suddenly closed his Qzone and ordered him to open it again, saying she wanted to “step on” his space.

“Step on” his space? He hadn’t heard that old phrase in years. What’s next, running errands for her?

The next morning, the sky was clear, the sun was warm, and the breeze was gentle.

William Carter rode his bike out and arrived at the pedestrian street on Pingyang East Road.

This street was the busiest commercial pedestrian street in Jizhou City. Before the old market was renovated, it was a prime spot where all kinds of vendors fought for business. But because competition was so fierce, price wars broke out, making things here relatively cheap.

David Harris, thinking about the five hundred in William Carter’s pocket, pedaled furiously and arrived at the meeting spot drenched in sweat.

“Brother Carter, how are you planning to spend that five hundred yuan in your pocket? I’ve never been to a bar before—why don’t we go try it out?”

“Stop with the nonsense. See that uncle selling boxed lunches? Go ask how much they cost.”

David Harris looked in the direction William Carter pointed, and his face instantly turned pale: “We’re having boxed lunches for lunch?”

William Carter squinted but didn’t answer directly: “Just go ask. Don’t worry, I won’t shortchange you.”

“Oh.”

David Harris walked over gloomily and asked about the prices. In 2008, prices weren’t too high yet: boxed lunches with shredded potatoes were two yuan, with some minced meat three yuan, with a chicken leg and shredded potatoes five yuan, and with a chicken leg and fried egg six yuan.

William Carter checked the time, thought for a moment, threw two hundred yuan to the boss, and told him not to ask—just keep making them.

Then he found two cardboard boxes, packed up some of the finished boxed lunches, and took David Harris to the street full of internet cafes.

Pushing open the door of one internet cafe, William Carter first took out a pack of Yuxi cigarettes he’d bought on the way and handed it to the attendant, then started selling his boxed lunches. The all-night gamers were starving but didn’t want to go out to eat, so when they saw food delivered to their door, they couldn’t resist.

Boxed lunches weren’t anything special, but they were still better than instant noodles, right?

So, the two-yuan ones sold for four, the five-yuan ones for seven, the six-yuan ones for nine. In the end, only two boxes of chicken leg with fried egg were left; the rest sold out.

From seven in the morning to one in the afternoon, the two of them hustled back and forth three times, covering five internet cafes, and even raised prices twice in between.

David Harris was exhausted, panting with his tongue out, sweat dripping from his forehead.

William Carter’s back was soaked with sweat too. He squatted by the roadside, wiping his sweat while counting the money.