'Wait, behave yourself!'

Hearing this, Taobao felt his head wasn't working properly. He scratched his head, his eyes wandering, not knowing what he was thinking.

Then, Lufei walked towards the cashier counter. The owner of the shop greeted Lufei with a smile, as they often had to deal with people like him.

"Hey, boss, how's it going?" Lufei sat in front of the cashier counter with a smile.

The owner, known as Hu Jiangguo, hurriedly took out a cigarette and handed one to Lufei. Then, he gave one to Li Wentao next to him, saying, "It's Sunday, all the machines are occupied. Just wait a bit longer, a few machines will be available soon. I'll arrange it for you guys."

"No rush, no rush!" Lufei waved his hand with a smile. He didn't have the money to go online, let alone for meals.

Lufei took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Boss, business seems to be good."

Hu Jiangguo, a man in his forties with a little mustache, had only opened this internet cafe a little over a year ago. It was his first venture.

"Well, just making ends meet." Hu Jiangguo chuckled and replied modestly.

"Really?" Lufei exclaimed, "With around forty to fifty machines like yours, the turnover should be around one or two thousand a day!"

Hu Jiangguo waved his hand and said, "It's not that much. On Saturdays and Sundays, we can make around a thousand. During weekdays, when students are at school, there aren't as many customers. We can't even fill a third of the machines. There's no business during the day, only in the evenings."

"I see," nodded Lufei.

The costs of running an internet cafe include machines, rent, decoration, electricity and internet fees. Additionally, hiring a network administrator is necessary. Luckily, Hu Jiangguo knew a little bit about computers and could handle it himself.

A proper computer system with a monitor can't be too cheap, as they are used to play online games. A decent system costs around 2,000 yuan each, and with fifty machines, it adds up to 100,000 yuan. The rent is 20,000 yuan per year, electricity costs a few thousand every month, and internet fees are around 2,000 yuan per year. The simple decoration of this internet cafe costs less than 20,000 yuan, and it's a one-time expense.

Following Hu Jiangguo's explanation, they earn around 1,000 yuan on weekends, and on weekdays, they make around two to three hundred yuan on average. That adds up to almost 3,000 yuan in one week, 12,000 yuan per month after deducting electricity and internet fees.

After deducting the rent, Hu Jiangguo can save around 100,000 yuan in a year. Assuming the computers need to be replaced every five years with an expense of 2,000 yuan each, he can earn 400,000 yuan in five years, which is 80,000 yuan per year.

Earning 80,000 yuan a year is already quite good in this day and age. However, Lufei immediately saw that Hu Jiangguo wasn't very business-savvy. Even with fifty machines, he considered it a failure if they weren't running 24/7.

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If Lufei were to set up an internet cafe, with fifty machines, he would aim to double the profits from a starting point of at least 100,000 yuan.

After thinking for a while, Lufei suddenly smiled and said, "Boss, do you want to earn more?"

"More?" Hu Jiangguo looked confused, "I do want to earn more, but the internet cafe industry is like this. Most of the customers are students, and there's not much we can do."

Lufei suddenly said, "I have a way to double your weekly turnover. It depends on whether you believe me or not."

"How much?" Hu Jiangguo was taken aback, "Double the turnover?"

"You don't believe me?" Lufei said with a smile.

Boss Hu was on the verge of laughing out loud when he heard this, but he dared not really laugh at Lu Fei because in his eyes, Lu Fei was a nobody. Shaking his head, he said, "I don't believe it!"

"Believe it or not, it's up to you," Lu Fei replied sarcastically.

The truth was, it was common for internet cafes to have slow business from Monday to Friday, and the customer flow was far from abundant. At this time, about ninety percent of the students in Fucheng were still playing video games, so the internet cafe was not yet bustling.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Fei said, "How about this, I'll stay here for a week and take charge of the business. If I can double the revenue during this week, we'll split the extra profit fifty-fifty. If I can't, then you can consider my words as nonsense. Deal?"

Hearing this, Hu Boss's eyes rolled, unable to understand what Lu Fei was up to. How could a nobody like him understand business? Playing tricks to deceive ghosts, perhaps.

Seeing Hu Boss hesitate, Lu Fei hurriedly said, "Anyway, you won't lose out. So why hesitate?"

Hu Boss nodded and smiled, "I won't deceive you either. My weekly revenue is 3000, give or take."

Seeing Hu Boss take the bait, Lu Fei chuckled inwardly. After all, who doesn't like to gain more? Once he obtained the one-week management rights, he planned to open his own internet cafe during this time and quickly replicate it to welcome the upcoming "Legend" game to be released in July.

Lu Fei remembered very clearly how popular "Legend" was. When it was launched, out of 100 computers in an internet cafe, 80 of them were used to play "Legend." It was during that time that the peak period of game arcades gradually declined.

Now it was March, with four months left, which was enough for him to take control.

"I'll tell you what, Hu Boss. If you let me manage for one week, I'll give you 4500. If I fail, I'll compensate you out of my own pocket," Lu Fei added, patting his chest.

"If you agree, I'll draft a contract. Let's do everything properly, with rules and regulations. If I go back on my word, you can use the contract to sue me. I guarantee it. If after a week, Hu Boss thinks I've managed well, you can continue to let me handle it. Of course, you can reclaim the management rights at any time. This way, you won't lose out, right?"

Hu Boss pondered for a while. Lu Fei's proposal indeed intrigued him. Originally, it was 3000 for a week, but now it would be 4500. Anyone would consider it.

Hu Boss did consider the possibility that Lu Fei might take the week's revenue and run away. But then Lu Fei mentioned writing a contract, which made him believe it.

With a contract, Lu Fei couldn't escape even if he wanted to. After all, it was a society ruled by law.

"Alright... let's do it!" Hu Boss nodded and said, "You can give it a try. I happen to have some matters to attend to in my hometown next week. But mark my words, nothing can go missing from my establishment during this week. If anything is missing, you will compensate. Also, note that after a week, I can reclaim the management rights anytime."

Lu Fei laughed and said, "Of course, let's write it all down clearly. We're sworn brothers, so we keep everything transparent, right?"

"Absolutely, that's what I mean," Hu Boss agreed.

Saying so, Hu Boss began to write a printed contract in front of his computer. The contract was drafted by Hu Boss himself, seemingly favorable to him in every aspect.

Hu Boss had also thought it through. In one week, Lu Fei would do the job for him and he would make a profit. If it didn't work out, he would still profit. If it succeeded, even better. Once he understood Lu Fei's approach, he could do it himself and wouldn't need Lu Fei anymore.

Thinking about this, Hu Boss laughed, a happy and contented laugh. Lu Fei also laughed, even more joyfully.

When two people laugh simultaneously, one of them must be laughing foolishly. But who was the fool? Only the fool knows!