Chapter 0253: Asking an Exorbitant Price

Thousands of years ago, our ancestors, to express respect for a person, liked to add the character 'zi' after the name of a great sage, showing reverence for that individual. For example, Confucius (Kongzi), Mencius (Mengzi), and so on.

As times changed, in modern times, to express our affection for certain 'international friends' with special feelings, we also gave them names, such as Japanese devils, Korean bastards, Indonesian monkeys.

Of course, these terms are certainly not official, because they come from the love of the people, from the love of the simple Chinese nation for those nations that have left a deep impression on us.

And since the rise of the internet age, the emergence of trolls is undoubtedly an epoch-making progress.

At the very least, it has let us know that there is a group of people who appear wherever the internet exists. They are either born saints or great strategists, military experts, economists—in short, there is nothing they don't know.

Recently, Zhao Fusheng also knew that Wang Zhen was actually somewhat exhausted, because on many forums, some comments attacking MyHome had appeared, simply saying that MyHome's design was crude, inferior to some emerging community, or that this virtual community was simply a scam, and so on.

Being young, after all, having never experienced the baptism of trolls, Zhao Fusheng understood that Wang Zhen was now somewhat disheartened and really intended to sell the website.

To use the words he had said to himself before, now that it had been proven that the website had potential, it was better to find a suitable buyer to take over.

At the very least, compared to them, whose funds were increasingly stretched, the new buyer should be able to develop the website better.

But that didn't mean Zhao Fusheng would be willing to sell the website at a low price. What a joke, he wasn't running a charity.

"Mr. Chen, I won't speak falsely in front of a real person. My friend and I started this website, and we didn't expect it to develop so quickly," Zhao Fusheng said calmly. "But since you've noticed it in Shanghai, I think I don't need to elaborate on the commercial value of this website, do I?"

"Heh, of course," Mr. Chen chuckled and said to Zhao Fusheng, "Since you're so straightforward, I won't beat around the bush. One price, five hundred thousand. How about that? Is that enough sincerity?"

Five hundred thousand?

Zhao Fusheng sneered inwardly. If it were an ordinary college student, they might be shocked by this offer, but unfortunately, the person on the other end of the phone now was him.

"Mr. Chen, I'll be waiting for you at Ninghai Normal University. Come whenever you have time, and we'll talk again," Zhao Fusheng said calmly. "Also, let me remind you, as of yesterday, our website's registered users have exceeded three hundred thousand."

Actually, exceeding three hundred thousand would take a few more days, but in business, one naturally exaggerates. Zhao Fusheng felt no embarrassment at all.

After saying this, Zhao Fusheng hung up the phone directly, not even giving Mr. Chen a chance to speak.

No matter what big shot he might become in the future, for now, in Zhao Fusheng's view, the initiative was in his hands, and there was no need to give anyone face.

In this era, there was never regression, only progress.

And Zhao Fusheng was undoubtedly the person standing at the forefront of the era.

Putting down the phone, Zhao Fusheng walked toward the studio. Pushing open the door, Wang Zhen saw him and quickly came over: "How did it go? Did the talk go well?"

Zhao Fusheng laughed: "How could it be that easy? If it could be settled with just one phone call, would it still be a big deal?"

"So what's the situation? Does the other party want to buy?"

Wang Zhen continued to ask.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "They did make an offer, but it was too low. I rejected it."

"How much?" Tan Kaixuan asked from the side.

"Five hundred thousand," Zhao Fusheng said calmly. "I told him I'd be waiting for him at Ninghai Normal University. The price of five hundred thousand is too low; I can't accept it."

"Holy shit!"

"Five hundred thousand!"

Tan Kaixuan and Wang Zhen almost went crazy at the same time. What did five hundred thousand mean? That was a full five hundred thousand, enough to buy several houses in Ninghai.

And this guy Zhao Fusheng had actually rejected it?

"Are you crazy?" Tan Kaixuan grabbed Zhao Fusheng and asked. Even though his family was well-off, Tan Kaixuan knew very well that including his parents' investments in the stock market, their total assets were at most around two million. Yet someone had opened with an offer of five hundred thousand for the website Zhao Fusheng and Wang Zhen had built. Was money not money anymore?

Wang Zhen also frowned: "Yeah, we can hold on for at most another month. Where are we going to get that much money to keep going?"

The internet industry, to put it bluntly, was about burning money—burning money. Whether it was adding servers or other things, in just two months, the two hundred thousand Zhao Fusheng had invested was almost gone. If he hadn't seen the money being spent with his own eyes, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't have believed it was true.

"It's okay. He doesn't know we're out of money," Zhao Fusheng said with a light laugh, looking relaxed about it.

Not to mention that he was sure this person would come to talk to him, but even regarding the funding issue, Zhao Fusheng had never worried. At worst, he could say a word to Zheng Yao and temporarily borrow some money from the advertising company.

"So how much do you plan to sell it for?" Tan Kaixuan asked curiously.

From start to finish, he had witnessed what Zhao Fusheng and Wang Zhen had created. The investment was only two hundred thousand, and now someone was offering five hundred thousand, yet Zhao Fusheng still didn't want to sell. He really wanted to know what Zhao Fusheng was thinking.

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment, held up one finger, and said: "One million."

He paused, then shook his head: "Still a bit low. If our user count could reach five hundred thousand, I estimate we could sell it for five hundred thousand US dollars."

"Hiss!"

Tan Kaixuan and Wang Zhen gasped. Fortunately, the hired staff weren't around today, or they might have thought Zhao Fusheng had gone mad.

"Old Zhao, are you joking?" After exchanging glances, neither Tan Kaixuan nor Wang Zhen could believe it was true. Clearly, they couldn't understand Zhao Fusheng's thinking at all. Was this guy obsessed with money?

Zhao Fusheng shrugged and looked at his two roommates: "Do I look like I'm joking?"

The two looked at each other, speechless. Clearly, in their eyes, Zhao Fusheng now seemed no different from being crazy.