Ji Datong originally planned to take half a day off today because he drove until midnight last night and also worked all morning today.
He was thinking of resting in the afternoon, but Yao Yun came to his house again, and with two women there, he didn't dare to stay long. So he had to go out and drive.
He spent the whole afternoon wandering around and was preparing to pick up his daughter from school to give her a surprise.
Then he saw his daughter being pulled behind a tree by that punk, and his heart, as a father, pounded instantly!
He didn't dare to imagine what was happening, and the most important thing seemed to be that his daughter was the one who had taken the initiative to hold the other party's hand.
Although he had already seen this during the last meal, it was still a bit depressing to see his usually obedient daughter, who had said she wouldn't fall in love, being led away.
Feeling somewhat annoyed, he honked the horn, but immediately regretted it.
As the two of them walked towards him, he became quite nervous.
"Dad, didn't you say you were going to rest all afternoon?"
Xu Lin was too nervous to speak, but Ji Yun calmed down first and spoke to her father.
"I had nothing to do, so I came for a run. You just got out of school, right? Get in the car."
"Xu Lin, you sit in the front."
"Huh?" Xu Lin looked at Ji Yun in disbelief. Dear class monitor, are you trying to get me killed!?
But there was no other choice. He had to listen to his wife, so he opened the door and sat in the front passenger seat.
"Good afternoon, Uncle. Would you like some water? I have some here; please have a drink."
He said this, but his father-in-law completely ignored him, looking like he was in a sulk. Xu Lin also put down the bottle of mineral water in his hand.
"Dad, did Aunt Yao come today?"
"Yes, she did. She went shopping with your mom."
"That's good. I hope they can really become friends."
"You don't understand your mom. Besides being pretty like your mom, you take after me in other ways."
"Haha, yes, yes, I take after you."
"Hopefully, you'll find someone honest in the future. Don't be with like me; I didn't keep my heart steady when I was young. Don't you agree, Xiao Xu?"
"Yes, Uncle."
Xu Lin quickly nodded and then sneaked a glance at Ji Yun behind him. Ji Yun gave him a sideways look.
Listening to her father talk like this, she felt a mix of emotions.
As for Xu Lin, it's not about keeping his heart steady. The pressure on me is greater than on mom and Aunt Yao!
"Aiyoh, my girl, you know this job of mine is getting harder and harder. Recently, there have been a lot of three-wheelers around, they're cheap and run all over the place, we really..."
"Uncle, but those things don't follow traffic rules and running around like that is quite dangerous. Honestly, they're not that cheap either."
Xu Lin thought back to Linshui in 2020 before he time-traveled here. By that time, the three-wheelers had already been rectified, and even ordinary tricycles needed to be licensed.
"If you take a tricycle, it costs 5 yuan to get from home to school. A taxi also costs 5 yuan, so it's actually a preconceived notion people have."
"They think the three-wheeler must be cheap, but it's not really cheaper, and taxis aren't that expensive. If you want to talk about expensive, taxis were actually expensive ten years ago."
"Yeah, but this doesn't solve anything. Well, as long as we can earn a bit, we should be content." Ji Datong also took a deep breath.
But Ji Yun seemed to feel a flash of inspiration pass through her mind and patted Xu Lin's chair.
"Ji Yun, what's up?"
"Well, have you seen that news?"
Ji Yun sounded somewhat excited, piquing Xu Lin's curiosity.
"News?"
"I saw a foreign economic news a while ago, about things like online car rental and ride-hailing."
"I think it's promising. Though I don't fully understand it, I believe it's the future trend."
Ji Yun didn't really understand this area either, but after hearing her father's comment, she thought of it and felt it could be worth a try.
"Ah! Ji Yun... you've discovered a business opportunity."
Xu Lin, upon hearing Ji Yun's words, suddenly realized that this thing could be done, and not just done well, but exceptionally so.
You know, that should be the largest carpooling platform in China, and it only started planning in 2014, with carpooling services launching in 2015.
But within a few years, it expanded nationwide. It might be too late to replace Orange Blue Takeout now, but this business could actually be entirely controlled.
Perhaps in the future, there could be collaborative businesses like bike-sharing, even partnerships with food delivery, hotels, and transportation services.
"This might be the startup idea you need."
"What startup idea?" Ji Datong was also puzzled. Did his daughter really want to start a business?
"You might think so, but I think the initial investment would be quite high, right?"
Although initially excited by the sudden inspiration, upon calming down, it became apparent that this endeavor wouldn't be as simple as opening a store like Xu Lin.
"We could start with a trial in the province or a few nearby cities to reduce costs, but it would still require at least several billion."
"Several billion... let's forget about it." Hearing this staggering number, Ji Yun thought it would be better to focus on studying at home.
Upon hearing this, Ji Datong almost lost control of the steering wheel. What did that mean? As soon as several billion was mentioned, it felt like watching a movie.
"You can ask your sister for investment. Don't think you can do it all on your own. Even a successful entrepreneur needs help from patrons in the early stages."
Ji Yun also nodded slightly. This idea indeed requires a lot of money, but she felt it was worth a try. Who knows, it might succeed.
But what if it fails? That's not a small sum. Even if Sister Chu Fengyi says it doesn't matter, she couldn't accept it.
She might never be able to repay it in her lifetime, and this was just a sudden idea she had...
"Ji Yun, don't invest recklessly. Focus on your studies for now! Whatever you need, your dad will try to fulfill it. Don't borrow money to start a business!"
Ji Datong quickly interrupted Ji Yun's thoughts. He was an ordinary person; even if someone gave him a million, he would feel anxious, let alone borrowing billions.
"Uncle, just calm down. Have you met that blonde girl? She's the CEO of an investment company with assets worth tens of billions. We could present our idea to her."
Xu Lin knew this venture had potential, and it was something Ji Yun wanted to pursue.
He felt he could discuss it with Chu Fengyi; she had her own risk assessment and wouldn't lend money lightly.
"Just having a sudden inspiration, how could it possibly succeed? Don't daydream; focus on your studies!"
"Okay," Xu Lin nodded helplessly when he saw his father-in-law's attitude.
"Alright," Ji Yun muttered quietly, but she glanced at him, and Xu Lin felt she hadn't given up yet.
With that, the three fell silent. Two minutes later, they arrived at the entrance of the residential area, but Xu Lin's father-in-law didn't drive in.
"You two go home; I still need to take a stroll and then pick up your mom and Aunt Yao."
"Okay, Dad."
"Okay, uncle…."
"Ji Yun, just go back to our place; let Xu Lin rest for a while. You can resume tutoring tomorrow."
Xu Lin's father-in-law added, and both Xu Lin and Ji Yun understood his concern, fearing they might get up to no good.
"Okay, let's go." Xu Lin waved his hand and started walking inside, but then he was stopped by his father-in-law.
"You, young man, haven't paid yet?"
"Uncle, do we really need to pay here? We're family."
"My daughter and I are family, you're a guest."
"...How much?"
"Just give me something."
"I only have five yuan." Xu Lin was annoyed by his father-in-law's persistence and took out the last five yuan from his pocket.
"Fair enough, thanks for your patronage." His father-in-law took the money and drove away.
"Your dad's quite something. So, are we really going home?"
"No, we're going to your place." Xu Lin felt Miss Ji Yun suddenly becoming rebellious, but he liked it.