July 10, 2018.
College students have started their summer vacation one after another.
William packed up his things and went home with Daniel Mason.
...
July 13th.
In the restaurant.
Daniel was eating while casually trying to make conversation with William.
Ever since Ellie left.
William has become increasingly quiet.
William looked at the two and said, "I'm planning to start my own business."
Daniel replied, "That sounds great, William. We can invest together. My mom always says I'm just loafing around, doing nothing. I'll work with William."
Mason also said, "I'll work with William too."
William was silent for a long time before saying, "Aren't you going to ask what it's about?"
Daniel said, "I trust William. Whatever William does, I will always follow him."
Mason said, "I trust William too."
Miller heard that William wanted to start his own business and without hesitation, took his own retirement money and gave it to Daniel to invest.
William is someone she can trust.
Pearl left him a bank card before she passed away, which had 500,000 yuan in it, plus the recent project he was busy with and the scholarships he received, he had a total of 550,000 yuan in hand.
Daniel took 100,000, and Mason also invested 100,000.
...
July 8th.
The company was officially registered and named: Star Technology Company.
The three of them rented a somewhat remote but spacious floor.
It took half a month to finally finish the renovation.
Daniel said, "It's finally starting to look like something."
Mason laughed beside him.
The three of them worked for half a month and fell asleep directly on the chairs.
...
"I got hung up on again." Daniel put down the phone and sighed.
"I got hung up on too," Mason said.
Daniel looked at William who was still making calls and gestured to Mason to be quiet. He whispered, "William might have a chance on his end."
William put down the phone and said, "He said let's have a meal first, then discuss cooperation."
A high-end restaurant in City A.
It was Daniel's first time wearing a suit, and he always felt a bit uncomfortable.
A man in a gray suit pushed open the door to the private room.
William pulled out a chair for him to sit down and said, "Mr. Ashcroft, please have a seat."
The man called Mr. Ashcroft sat down.
Daniel has been hesitant to speak, afraid of saying the wrong thing.
Near the end of the meal, Ashcroft said, "What do you want to cooperate with me on?"
William opened the contract and things he had prepared long ago and said, "We have a piece of software and want to cooperate with your company. This software..."
Before he could finish, Ashcroft interrupted him: "Young man, don't be so eager."
William didn't speak, waiting for his next words.
"After finishing these drinks, I will consider talking business with you."
This sounded like an insult to William, and Daniel was so angry he wanted to stand up.
William gave him a look, then raised his glass and said, "This one is for Mr. Ashcroft."
Ashcroft glanced at him and casually clinked glasses with him.
Daniel watched William drink glass after glass, his heart aching.
After finishing the last drink, William put the contract and product plan on the table and said, "Now can Mr. Ashcroft take a look at the contract?"
Ashcroft laughed and casually flipped through a few pages, then said, "You mean this software you made is called Shi Guang? It can watch videos and chat? Who would use this kind of software now? Hahaha, young man, are you joking with me?"
"The internet is developing rapidly, and the future of the short video industry is immeasurable."
Ashcroft stroked his chin a few times and said nonchalantly, "I will consider it."
"Mr. Ashcroft, please take your time."
Daniel was so angry he was gnashing his teeth; that Ashcroft was just playing with them.
That night, William was hospitalized for stomach bleeding because he drank too much alcohol.
...
Daniel was in charge of recruitment, William was in charge of technology, and Mason was in charge of management.
No one cared when they handed out flyers, and they were always rejected when they made calls. The few businesses they managed to talk about were just deliberately playing with them.
Daniel heard more than once, "Your company has just been established. What if you run away later? Who should I go to?"
Despite Daniel's repeated statements that it was a legal company, many people still hesitated, and it was difficult to recruit technical personnel.
The sun in midsummer was scorching.
Daniel took a sip of ice-cold mineral water and watched the man who came in.
The man was wearing slippers, a T-shirt and shorts, and his beard looked like it hadn't been shaved for a long time, looking a bit shabby.
Daniel looked at his resume.
He graduated from a famous university, majored in computer science before, and had worked in a Fortune 500 company.
He asked somewhat bewildered, "You have such good qualifications, why are you here?"
Mitchell said, "The previous boss exploited people, treating them like animals. The later boss went bankrupt, and all the money was lost, not even leaving enough to cover my underwear."
"Aren't you afraid of it happening again?"
Mitchell said, "What's there to be afraid of? I already have nothing, so I'll take a gamble and try."
Daniel stood up and told him the salary and specific work.
Mitchell nodded to show that he could accept it. He crossed his legs and said, "I just can't stand the style of those big companies, so I chose to join you."
Daniel said, "Welcome aboard."
The small company of three people became four. Daniel and Mason couldn't help with any technical issues, so one was responsible for recruiting talent, and the other was responsible for publicity.
The four of them drank so much that they ended up in the hospital with stomach bleeding more than once.
Later, they finally managed to cooperate with a small company.
The other party was a man around forty years old named Charles Rhodes.
He saw a different temperament and vision in William, and felt the tenacity in his bones, just like himself when he first started his career.
He said, "Seeing you four reminds me of the brothers who once started the business with me, but later we all went our separate ways."
The brothers who once stood by his side also gradually became strangers.
He invested 300,000 yuan, on the condition that no matter how big the company becomes in the future, he will have 5% of the shares.
William happily agreed.
Charles Rhodes brought relevant technical personnel to the three, helping to refine the details of the software.
...
The software was researched and developed for several months, with many big and small bugs fixed, and new features added.
Before the software was released, a lot of publicity was bought.
In November, the software was officially released and quickly attracted a group of users.
A month later, the four of them received the first dividend from the company.
The evening breeze was gentle, and the four of them gathered for a meal together.
Daniel laughed and said, "Hahaha, Miller, don't say I'm just loafing around anymore."
Mitchell said, "I'm very happy to know you all, let's have a drink, brothers."
Daniel's face was flushed from drinking, and he said, "Drink, drink, drink."
Mason said, "Drink less, or you won't be able to get up later."
William leaned back in his chair, holding the glass in his hand, always feeling that one person was missing.
Missing her.
That night, he drank a lot of alcohol, but his dark eyes were still overly clear.
Sometimes, he suddenly hated that he could drink so much.