Chapter 292 - 291: I Heard Your Startup Failed, Mr. Zhao?

Chapter 292: Chapter 291: I Heard Your Startup Failed, Mr. Zhao?

Lin Feng held the chipped teacup, his expression unchanging as he blew on the steam and took a sip.

The tea’s aroma was rich.

It was indeed a fine Pu’er tea.

"This tea isn’t bad."

Lin Feng’s leisurely and content demeanor took Zhao Zhengye by surprise.

When they first met, Zhao Zhengye could tell that Lin Feng wasn’t old—probably just eighteen or nineteen.

Initially, Zhao Zhengye hadn’t exposed Lin Feng’s lie to the old woman, partly because he thought the young man might just be pulling a prank.

’What kind of investment firm would send someone so young to discuss business?’

But then, he inadvertently noticed the watch on Lin Feng’s wrist.

After all, he had spent a few years making his way in the big city.

He recognized the watch: a Patek Philippe, starting at a million yuan.

So, Zhao Zhengye subconsciously concluded that Lin Feng was the son of a wealthy family.

’He probably heard some news from somewhere and came running to talk to me about an investment.’

But now, this young man was sitting so composedly in such a humble room, silently sipping his hot tea.

This, in turn, gave Zhao Zhengye a strange feeling.

He subconsciously felt that there was more to this young man than met the eye.

Lin Feng set down his teacup, looked at Zhao Zhengye with a smile, and said, "I hear your startup failed, Mr. Zhao?"

Although Lin Feng posed it as a question, his tone was firm and absolute.

This slightly provocative question immediately stirred the anger in Zhao Zhengye’s heart.

"Who says my startup failed?"

"Not every venture shows immediate results. I’m just a bit slower than others."

Lin Feng maintained a faint smile on his lips.

"It’s true that not every venture shows immediate results. It’s just that, Mr. Zhao, you’re not accepting investments right now."

As he spoke, Lin Feng’s gaze deliberately swept over the empty room.

"And do you have any spare cash to pour into it right now?"

"Without financial backing, can your startup hold on until the day it succeeds?"

Lin Feng’s voice wasn’t loud, but each word landed on Zhao Zhengye with the weight of a thousand pounds.

Zhao Zhengye was a proud man.

But this entrepreneurial attempt had undoubtedly dealt a massive blow to his confidence.

That was why he had flown into a rage over a single, casual remark from Lin Feng.

Lin Feng saw this clearly, which was why he decided to apply some harsh medicine.

Every sentence hit one of Zhao Zhengye’s sore spots.

If Zhao Zhengye had previously surrounded himself with a shell of pride, then Lin Feng had just shattered that shell with his sharp words.

His shell broken, Zhao Zhengye sat silently in his chair.

He wanted to find some evidence to refute him, but he found that Lin Feng’s words were so incisive there was no room for argument.

Seeing Zhao Zhengye’s dejected state, Lin Feng smiled knowingly.

"So, may I ask, Mr. Zhao, what is this venture of yours? What gives you the confidence to be so stubborn?"

"Surely you didn’t just act recklessly, jumping in without even properly researching the market prospects?"

Lin Feng said this deliberately.

It was a clear attempt to provoke him.

Zhao Zhengye had calmed down by now.

Lin Feng’s words were like a basin of cold water, chilling Zhao Zhengye to the bone and making him realize he truly lacked the ability to carry on with the project.

’What could stubbornness alone possibly do for my venture?’

But even though Zhao Zhengye no longer had the heart to argue, he still disagreed with Lin Feng’s claim that he hadn’t done any research.

Zhao Zhengye lifted his head, his gaze firm as he looked at Lin Feng and said, word by word:

"Sir, although my startup has hit a bottleneck, I did conduct market research at the very beginning."

Lin Feng tilted his head slightly, just watching Zhao Zhengye.

For some reason, Zhao Zhengye saw a hint of encouragement in the eyes of the man who had been tearing him down just moments before.

It was as if he was being urged to continue.

But from the time he’d started his business until now, he hadn’t really told anyone about his entrepreneurial journey, aside from the partner who had taken the money and run.

Zhao Zhengye sat across from Lin Feng.

He began to slowly recount the story of his venture.

"I did a lot of research, even before I quit my job."

"My background is in operations, and I studied computer programming in school. I discovered that the industry lacks a good platform for two-way communication; most are controlled by one side."

"I wanted to create a platform for balanced, equal communication, and my research showed that many users in the market are hoping for such software to appear."

As Zhao Zhengye spoke about this, his entire demeanor was different from the proud man he’d been moments ago.

Lin Feng could see that Zhao Zhengye was genuinely passionate about his ideal.

"So I invested all my savings into this software platform. And actually, the initial development phase was very successful."

"The reason things are the way they are now... it’s almost laughable, really."

At this, a bitter smile appeared on Zhao Zhengye’s face.

He looked at Lin Feng and gave a wry twist of his lips. "We were about to move on to the next phase of work. The brother who’d told me he’d risk everything, even go broke, to get this software made..."

"...he took the project, and all the money, and ran."

"I had just sold my house in the city and put the money into the project, and the next thing I knew, he had taken it all."

At this point, Zhao Zhengye was gritting his teeth in hatred.

"Tell me, why couldn’t he just hold on a little longer? We were already in the middle phase!"

Hearing this, Lin Feng smiled, shook his head, and pointed out the incisive truth:

"It’s simple. Because he couldn’t see a specific end date for this project..."

"Faith alone doesn’t put food on the table. The blueprint you painted for him could only hold his interest for so long."

Zhao Zhengye had been filled with resentment that he wanted to vent.

However, after hearing Lin Feng’s words, he fell silent.

After a long moment, he forced a bitter smile. "You’re right. This was my own startup project. What right did I have to demand that someone else sell everything they own to support it with me?"

Lin Feng couldn’t be bothered to listen to Zhao Zhengye’s tales of drama and betrayal.

Lin Feng had only sought him out because a system notification had indicated that Zhao Zhengye was the talented individual he currently needed.

Lin Feng had also gathered from between the lines that Zhao Zhengye was a skilled operator.

It was just a pity that this talented operator had plunged headfirst into entrepreneurship and was now single-mindedly focused on this software project.

At first, Lin Feng had just thought the man was hopelessly stubborn.

But after hearing Zhao Zhengye describe his project, Lin Feng gradually became a little interested in it himself.

"Your software is positioned as an interactive platform. What’s its future focus?"

Lin Feng asked, looking at Zhao Zhengye.

Zhao Zhengye retrieved a USB flash drive from inside the room and plugged it into his computer.

"Initially, I just wanted this interactive platform to be for pure sharing and communication across all industries."

"Later, I realized that approach was too broad, and other software had already covered that comprehensively."

"The path to survival for my software is to create a refined niche and continue developing within a specific field."

Lin Feng glanced briefly at the contents of the software open on the computer.

’No wonder the system told me to secure this Zhao Zhengye guy.’

He was creating an interactive platform for tourism.

A platform purely for travel-related communication.

It was more like software for sharing and finding travel guides.

Coincidentally, this tied in perfectly with what Lin Feng was planning for Cyan Mountain Town.