Chapter 0397: A Pillow Arrives Just When You're Drowsy

In the arcades of the millennium year, the vast majority were fighting games, from King of Fighters to Street Fighter, along with some side-scrolling games, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West.

Furthermore, there were also fruit machines and poker machines, or else Dou Dizhu.

Fan Jian had once been ruined by these gambling machines, nearly losing his family. If Zhao Fusheng hadn't been reborn, Fan Beibei and Li Yuan would probably be wandering somewhere unknown by now.

As for Fan Baobao, she wouldn't be studying at the Central Academy of Drama either.

Tan Kaixuan and Zhao Fusheng didn't play those gambling machines. Zhao Fusheng detested them, while Tan Kaixuan simply wasn't interested.

There was no helping it—though this guy loved the thrill of playing stocks, he didn't give a damn about the petty gains from gambling machines.

In Tan Kaixuan's words, "Fooling around for half a day to earn a few dozen yuan, at most a few hundred, isn't as fast as researching a stock."

After playing King of Fighters for a while and getting utterly crushed by Zhao Fusheng in three rounds, Tan Kaixuan decisively gave up and switched to playing Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Before they knew it, the two had spent over an hour in the arcade. If Wen Yu hadn't called them to eat, they'd definitely have kept playing.

Walking out of the arcade, Zhao Fusheng suddenly stopped and said, "Old Tan, what do you think about me opening an arcade?"

An arcade?

Tan Kaixuan looked at Zhao Fusheng blankly: "What's that?"

Zhao Fusheng laughed. "An arcade is like a large-scale game center. For example..."

As he spoke, he described the arcades he remembered from large supermarkets, and finally said with a smile, "What do you think?"

Tan Kaixuan frowned. "No gambling machines?"

Zhao Fusheng nodded. "Definitely not. Gambling harms people and will be cracked down on. There's no need for that."

In fact, he considered that if such an arcade could be built, machines like claw machines and dance machines alone would attract a large crowd, without needing gambling machines as a gimmick.

There was no doubt about it—almost every large shopping mall had such an arcade, and business was very good.

The only concern was that at this time, the streets of Ninghai were still quite chaotic. To run such an arcade, one needed connections with both the underworld and the authorities.

Zhao Fusheng didn't plan to manage it himself, since he had to do an internship. Moreover, in his view, violence was not the best way to solve problems. As a reincarnated person, it would be truly embarrassing to resort to fighting and killing to do business.

So this matter still needed careful planning. Moreover, opening an arcade in this era would require a large sum of money—at least several hundred thousand.

"Let's go back. I need to write a plan," Zhao Fusheng said to Tan Kaixuan after thinking.

He was accustomed to having a plan for everything. After all, no matter how well an idea was conceived in the mind, it would come to nothing if not implemented.

Tan Kaixuan nodded. "Let me know if you need any help."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and nodded.

Back at the dorm, they met up with Wen Yu, went out for a meal, and then Zhao Fusheng returned to the dorm.

Wang Zhen hadn't come back for a few days; it was said he had rented a place outside. Zhao Fusheng had never met his girlfriend, and Wang Zhen didn't plan to introduce her to his roommates. In his own words, there was no need.

Zhao Fusheng had no objection to this, and Wen Yu and Tan Kaixuan didn't think it was anything wrong either.

With Dong Chenxi as a precedent, the group already viewed Wang Zhen's new girlfriend with a jaundiced eye. It was better not to know her at all than to interact with her hypocritically.

After eating, Zhao Fusheng began to write the plan.

Since it was an arcade, it had to be at least large in scale and in a good location; otherwise, without customers, there would be no profit.

Not only that, but the machines inside the arcade also had to be attractive, because this wasn't just for teenagers.

In the eyes of parents, video game arcades were still places unsuitable for children. But if it were games that trained children, like basketball shooting machines, parents probably wouldn't object.

It was similar to a soft play area, except soft play areas were for five- or six-year-olds, while this arcade was for adolescents and young adults.

Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng estimated that including the cost of renting the venue, at least five hundred thousand in funds would be needed.

"What to do?"

Rubbing his chin, Zhao Fusheng sat in the dormitory, starting to worry.

The venue was easy; the renovation of Wanda Commercial Building was almost complete, and his father was preparing for a new round of leasing. He could take advantage of the situation.

The machines were not a problem either. Boss Ma's company was in Shenzhen, and as one of the company's shareholders, Zhao Fusheng could give him a call and he should be able to help.

For such a trivial matter, Boss Ma would surely not refuse.

The only things missing now were a manager and funds.

With these thoughts, Zhao Fusheng fell asleep in a daze. When he woke up the next morning, he received a call from Yu Feihong.

"You gave me too much money; I don't need that much." Yu Feihong said helplessly to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng was startled: "What do you mean?"

"Literally." Yu Feihong said, "The few of us discussed it. Each of us will put in two hundred thousand, plus your five hundred thousand, that's enough for this year's expenses. According to the standard, five hundred yuan per month per elderly person is sufficient."

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then remembered that his proposed annual subsidy of ten thousand yuan was based on future consumption levels. In other words, now, five hundred yuan a month was already a very good living.

After all, prices in the year 2000 were not as high as later; the purchasing power of the renminbi was still strong.

Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng nodded: "So what do you mean..."

"I'll transfer that one million back to you." Yu Feihong said, "I know you're very capable and can make money, but doing this, as you said before, can't be done overnight. If we need to go to court later, it will also require a large sum of money. You can't do it all alone."

Her meaning was simple: since they were going to set up a foundation, everyone should contribute; there was no need for Zhao Fusheng to bear everything himself.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said, "Alright, I'll listen to you, sis."

He gave Yu Feihong his bank account number, hung up the phone, and smiled.

It was really a case of someone bringing a pillow just when he was sleepy. Yesterday he was still worrying about lacking funds, and now he had one million.

That being the case, the remaining task was to find a manager.