Chapter 207: Chapter 206: A False Alarm (Part 2)
Shi Yang made a point to arrive at the school gate over ten minutes early, but he was still late. In front of him was a sea of private cars, all waiting to pick up children, so he had no choice but to park the car far away by the roadside.
Shi Yang sent a text message to Zhao Meimei, telling her about the parking location. Once he was sure the message was delivered, he leisurely pulled out a pack of cigarettes, took one out, and started smoking with the window half-open.
Shi Yang, with a cigarette in his mouth, turned on the car’s interior light to view the store renovation catalog sent by Mu Guangping. These were styles he borrowed from other southern brands, featuring unique flair and striking cabinet designs.
Shi Yang skimmed through it, put it away carefully, and began to contemplate how to raise funds.
The franchise fee had been negotiated. As the CEO, Mu Guangping promised that if goods were unsold, they could be returned and replaced with new models. Since it was Shi Yang’s first year of running the business, Mu Guangping further offered concessions on the original price of all items, significantly lowering the cost. He also offered free renovation design, staff training, and the transfer of specific marketing strategies, plus a month of in-store sales after opening.
Having considered thoroughly all potential future events or even unlikely ones, Shi Yang finalized negotiations with Mu Guangping before returning to start raising funds formally.
He had previously invested all his money into the Naughty Castle and then used the profits from it to buy a house and repay his father. The cash he had on hand now came from recent earnings from installation fees and profits from the Naughty Castle.
The meager profit was barely enough to cover a small portion of the franchise fee.
Without the needed funds, the franchise deal was just a dream. It was now mid-May. Considering both location selection and renovation, it would probably take until August or September to open officially. At this pace, he could at least capture the autumn new product launch and the National Day Golden Week, two sales peak seasons.
Mu Guangping required the payment by the end of the month, leaving him less than two weeks to raise funds—a truly tight timeframe. Even pooling together all the company’s earnings wouldn’t reach the target amount.
Shi Yang racked his brains, pondering solutions. Mortgaging the house for a loan still left a significant gap. The Naughty Castle, being a lease project, couldn’t be used for a loan.
It’s truly worrying.
Shi Yang was lost in his thoughts, biting the cigarette filter into a mess between tidily aligned teeth. Just when he was about to casually stub it out and throw it away, he heard a commotion ahead, not knowing what was happening, as many parents crowded around to watch the spectacle.
Shi Yang stuck his head out of the car window, but he was parked quite far away and couldn’t see anything, so he retracted his head, picked up his phone, and sent Zhao Meimei another message: "Class isn’t over yet?"
He glanced at the time—more than ten minutes had passed. He figured the teacher was holding them late again and didn’t worry about it.
Another ten minutes passed before Zhao Meimei came running over, her gait a mix of running and skipping. From afar, she was already shouting at the top of her lungs, "Bro!"
Shi Yang watched Zhao Meimei’s smiling figure approaching, feeling like he had a pot of old broth simmering over a low flame in his heart. It took a while for the aroma to waft up, and it wasn’t until he saw Zhao Meimei’s smiling face that the fragrance hit him fully, overflowing.
Zhao Meimei flung open the passenger side door and jumped in. She hadn’t even settled into her seat before lunging forward to give Shi Yang a big hug.
Shi Yang was pinned against the car door by Zhao Meimei as he hugged her back. When they separated, he habitually held Zhao Meimei’s hand and smiled, saying, "Why so late today? Did your teacher hold class...?"
The last two words trailed off as he caught a faint scent of blood. In his palm, Zhao Meimei’s fingers seemed to have something sticky on them. He lifted his hand to take a look and his eyes widened abruptly: "Where’s this blood from? Are you hurt? What happened?"
On Zhao Meimei’s finger hung bits of tissues stained with blood, a glaring sight.
Seeing Shi Yang panic, Zhao Meimei quickly explained, "It’s not my blood, it’s Zhang Zhao’s. I was just helping him press a tissue to his wound."
"Zhang Zhao?" Shi Yang paused, then remembered he was Zhang Xin’s brother.
Zhao Meimei quickly recounted the events like she was pouring beans.
The last class was a self-study period, with no teacher present. The students were busy studying at their desks.
It was Zhang Zhao’s desk mate who first noticed something was amiss. Zhang Zhao had been fiddling with a small craft knife, uniquely designed with a few shiny inlaid bits on it.
After playing with the knife for a while, Zhang Zhao began using it to cut into his left arm. By the time his desk mate discovered this, he had already carved out seven or eight blood lines of varying lengths and depths.
Blood beads streamed out from the wounds like threaded pearls, with Zhang Zhao staring at them, the corners of his mouth lifting, as if thinking of something exceedingly amusing. After a while of watching, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
It was the laugh that caught his desk mate’s attention, who, upon glancing over, saw Zhang Zhao’s arm covered in blood, which was pooling on the table. Yet Zhang Zhao continued to cut with the knife.
His desk mate was so shocked that they screamed, "Ah! Blood!"
Zhang Zhao turned his head upon hearing this, his expression bizarre and unlike someone in pain. Instead, he seemed quite pleased.
His near-manic demeanor utterly terrified his desk mate, as if they had just watched a horror film, screaming hysterically.
The entire class was startled, and they all turned their eyes toward him. A few timid girls, upon seeing so much blood, turned red-eyed with fear.
Zhao Meimei was the first to rush over, snatching tissues from a nearby desk to press against Zhang Zhao’s wound. As she pressed, she asked, "What happened? How did you get hurt?"
Zhang Zhao didn’t speak and, feeling pain from Zhao Meimei’s pressure, instinctively tried to break free, only to hear her shout, "Stop crying! What exactly is going on?"
Zhang Zhao’s desk mate was so scared they choked, sobbing and hiccuping.
Zhang Zhao calmly said, "I was just cutting for fun. The wounds are shallow; they’ll be fine soon."
He showed Zhao Meimei the craft knife, and Zhao Meimei’s mouth twitched. It took her a while to muster, "Zhang Zhao, are you seriously crazy?"
Later, Robber Hao was called over. Seeing Zhang Zhao’s condition, he was also frightened, oscillating between shouting for Zhang Zhao’s parents and quickly escorting him to the hospital personally.
Shi Yang, what he saw earlier from the crowd, involved Robber Hao and Zhang Zhao. Mainly, it was Zhang Zhao’s bloodied school uniform that looked so shocking, drawing many parents’ attention as they followed Robber Hao and Zhang Zhao outside to hail a taxi.
Shi Yang, hearing this, was quite moved and advised Zhao Meimei, "Keep your distance from him in the future, alright? What’s so good about this? Rushing in heedlessly like a deer—are you trying to scare me to death?"