Since Su Wanying was willing to take the initiative and help Li Hu resolve his grudge, Xu Honglei focused on making money.
Money gives a man courage. Without money, nothing is easy.
In this life, it was impossible for Xu Honglei to become a migrant worker. He would never work for anyone else again.
He would use the advantages of his rebirth memories to make money and achieve Financial Freedom. Then he would Lie Flat and enjoy life. He would not let himself live as tiredly as he had in his previous life. He wanted to live freely and carefree for the rest of his days. That was what he most wanted in this life.
Xu Honglei would not attend university in this life either.
He was not refusing to attend University because he believed it was useless, nor was money the issue. His academic performance was too poor for him to pass the entrance examination.
Xu Honglei’s grades were quite good in elementary school. After he entered Junior high school and reached Adolescence, however, he encountered all kinds of problems. Bullying in particular caused his grades to deteriorate gradually.
After barely getting into the worst High school, he still ranked at the bottom of his class.
Although he entered the humanities stream in High school, he had never passed English. His mathematics was a complete mess, and his grades in the other subjects were average at best.
Perhaps he had read too many martial arts and romance novels during class, but he was also interested in literature. Chinese was the only subject in which he did somewhat better.
But what use was being somewhat better at Chinese? It was not as if he was exceptionally good at it.
What University could he attend with a National College Entrance Examination score of just over three hundred?
In this era, Institutions of Higher Education had begun expanding enrollment. But at a relatively poor High school like his, fewer than five students in the class could enter a First-Tier University, and fewer than ten could pass the second-tier cutoff.
With grades that placed him at the bottom of his class, repeating a school year would be pointless.
In Web Novels, everyone was a University student and a social elite, while University students seemed to be everywhere on the Internet. In reality, however, they were a minority.
Even if everyone had the chance to experience Rebirth and there were enough universities, most people still would not pass the entrance examination.
This was not to say that attending school was useless. People had to survive. Even without attending University, they still had to live—and live well, in greater comfort.
Especially in an era filled with opportunities, it was possible to Make Money without attending University.
Of course, money was not easy to make either. Earning money was harder than eating shit; that was the consensus of most people.
After living an entire lifetime in his previous life, Xu Honglei’s most important realization was that he was an Ordinary Person. He had accepted his own mediocrity.
Even after living another life with considerable foresight, he was no superhuman. He was still no match for truly capable people.
If he created a food-delivery website, would he be a match for Boss Wang?
If he manufactured cell phones, would he be a match for Lei Jun?
If he manufactured new-energy vehicles, would he be a match for boss Sun?
Even if he built a brand himself, there was a high probability that it would end in bankruptcy.
Many things were easy to talk about but difficult to do. Watching someone else do something was easy; doing it yourself was hard.
Therefore, to live well in this life, he had to seize the opportunities of the era, do what lay within his capabilities, earn money, and keep it firmly in his own hands. Then he could enjoy life.
After thinking it over, Xu Honglei felt that his abilities and experience as a laborer in his previous life limited what he could do in this era. There were not many options—Real-estate speculation and Stock speculation were about the only things anyone could undertake.
Real-estate speculation and Stock speculation required capital, but he had none.
Although he could use his Old, Run-Down Apartment as collateral for a Loan, he had to declare the purpose of the Loan Funds in advance. He could not put them into the Stock Market. The state had enacted relevant regulations on this matter as early as 1996.
Some people secretly used Loan Funds for Stock speculation, but they needed cooperation from bank insiders willing to turn a blind eye.
That might not matter if it happened to someone else. But if it happened to Xu Honglei, it would be disastrous.
Without a powerful background and connections, he was better off following the rules. Most of the time, rules favored the weak.
After thinking it over, Xu Honglei decided there was one more thing he could do: Open an Internet Café.
Opening an Internet Café was old-fashioned and clichéd, but everyone had to admit that it was a rare opportunity in this era.
Everything else was false; only money was real.
As long as it was not illegal, one should do whatever could make money. That was the true meaning of life.
For the next few years, anyone with some money to spare could probably earn money by Opening an Internet Café. A few years later, the business would be far less profitable, and obtaining a license might become impossible.
That was one reason he chose to start Making Money immediately.
The opportunities of the era mattered more than ability. Once this opportunity passed, there would be no second chance. If he spent time Repeating a School Year and then Attending University, the Daylilies would have withered completely.
Although Xu Honglei had no money, he owned an Old, Run-Down Apartment and could obtain a Bank Loan. He could not use the Loan Funds for Stock speculation, but he could use them to Open an Internet Café.
In fact, by the second day after the National College Entrance Examination, when he had crossed into this world, Xu Honglei had already thought everything through.
Having lived through an entire lifetime, Xu Honglei understood the importance of money far better than people in this era did.
Using his Old, Run-Down Apartment as collateral, he applied for a Loan at the bank and also applied for a Gold card while he was there.
Credit Cards came in ordinary, Gold card, platinum, and diamond varieties. Ordinary cards had limits below ten thousand, Gold cards had limits of ten to fifty thousand, and platinum cards had limits above fifty thousand.
As for diamond cards, the annual fee alone was several thousand, and banks would not waive it. Ordinary People should not even consider them. They could not obtain one, and even if they could, it would not be worthwhile.
Xu Honglei had just graduated from High school. He had no salary income or bank Gross Revenue, only an Old, Run-Down Apartment. A Gold card was the only card he could obtain.
Credit Cards had only recently become popular, so applying for one was relatively easy.
Xu Honglei had already inspected potential locations for the Internet Café. Opening one near his home would be a good choice.
His family lived in a Shantytown District. The surrounding houses were old, and the Rent was comparatively cheap. Many Migrant Workers chose to rent homes nearby, making them the best Internet café customer base.
Opening an Internet Café near a school would bring in more customers, but competition there would also be fiercer.
To attract customers, Internet Cafés often entered price wars. Price cuts greatly reduced profits, so the business might not be more profitable there than in his neighborhood.
Because Xu Honglei already had a reliable plan, he dared to spend freely in this era and begin enjoying life ahead of time.
Although Xu Honglei applied for a Bank Loan and a Credit Card immediately after the National College Entrance Examination, approval would take nearly a month. He still had to wait.
While he waited, Xu Honglei had nothing else to do. He Won Over Su Wanying and subdued Li Hu, which gave him some closure for his stifling previous life.
Xu Honglei was an eighteen-year-old young man, at the age when he was Full of Vigor and overflowing with Hormones.
While waiting for the Bank Loan and Credit Card, Xu Honglei found life pleasant and satisfying with Su Wanying by his side.