Steal the enemy's base at the start and build a technological empire.

Chapter 252 The Origin of the Name "Donkey Brother"

"By the way," Zhao Weiguo's eyes darted to Ling Yun and An Shiyu, "You were only talking about me, what about you two? When are you getting things done?"

An Shiyu was picking up food when her chopsticks paused for a moment.

Ling Yun remained expressionless: "Next year."

"When next year?" Zhao Weiguo pressed, "Give me a definite answer so I can prepare a red envelope."

"I'll tell you the date once I've calculated it." Ling Yun placed a piece of sea cucumber in An Shiyu's bowl. "Anyway, it'll be earlier than yours."

"Earlier than me?" Zhao Weiguo perked up. "That's not necessarily true. Lingling and I have discussed it; we'll get married after we buy a house. But if..." His eyes darted around, "If you, President Ling, were to give us one, I'd go get our marriage certificate tomorrow!"

The table fell silent again.

Sun Peng and Li Mo both looked at Ling Yun.

Chen Lingling tugged at Zhao Weiguo's sleeve: "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Ling Yun put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and looked at Zhao Weiguo: "Approximately how much of your share of the internet cafe's profits will you get this year?"

Zhao Weiguo was taken aback: "Huh? Profit sharing? We haven't even calculated it yet... Last year, the internet cafe's profit was over 40 million yuan, and I own 5% of the shares. With performance bonuses... I estimate it should be two or three million yuan, right?"

"Okay." Ling Yun nodded. "When your dividends are paid out this year, you can use them to buy a house. Buy whichever one you like. If you don't have enough money, come to me. Consider it my wedding gift to you."

Zhao Weiguo opened his mouth wide, unable to close it for a long time.

Sun Peng nearly spat out his tea: "Holy crap! They're really giving it away?"

"I really will give it to you," Ling Yun said, "but on one condition."

"What are the conditions?" Zhao Weiguo came to his senses.

"The house has to be in both your names." Ling Yun looked at Chen Lingling. "Chen Lingling, if he ever bullies you, hold onto the property deed and make him sleep on the streets."

Chen Lingling chuckled.

Zhao Weiguo scratched his head: "Brother Donkey, are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious." Ling Yun picked up his teacup. "You've worked here for two years, rising from a junior internet cafe manager to general manager. That's not easy. You deserve an apartment."

Zhao Weiguo grabbed the bottle, poured himself another glass, and stood up: "Brother Donkey, enough talk, I'll drink this!"

He downed it in one gulp.

After sitting down, he wiped his face and said, "That's not right. If you're going to give a gift, give it to yourself. Why would you give yourself a gift with my own dividends? Besides, with two or three million in dividends, what kind of house can't you buy? It's not even enough to pay you. You're just pretending to be a good person. The richer you are, the stingier you are."

Everyone burst into laughter.

"Otherwise what?" Ling Yun raised an eyebrow. "You expect me to pay out of my own pocket? I'm not your father!"

"Is it not enough to just think about it?" Zhao Weiguo chuckled.

The atmosphere completely relaxed.

Sun Peng sighed, "You guys are so lucky. One gave me a house, and the other took it. My dad said that if I get married, I'll earn my own money to buy a house; he won't contribute a single penny."

"Your dad is training you," Li Mo said.

"Forget it, he's just stingy." Sun Peng scoffed. "Never mind that. Come on, let's drink!"

After a few more rounds of drinks, they started talking non-stop.

"Hey, remember back in college?" Zhao Weiguo's face turned even redder, and his tongue slurred a little. "Lingyun, Donkey Bro, how did you get that nickname? Tell Teacher An about it!"

An Shiyu looked at Ling Yun: "Brother Donkey?"

Ling Yun sighed helplessly, "Let's not talk about things from the past."

"No way, this is so interesting!" Zhao Weiguo exclaimed excitedly. "Teacher An, let me tell you, during military training in the second semester of freshman year, it was so hot that one of the guys got heatstroke and fainted. The instructor asked two people to carry him to the infirmary, but those two guys were too weak to lift him. Ling Yun saw this, and without saying a word, he went over, picked the guy up, and ran towards the infirmary. He ran so fast that we couldn't catch up with him."

He gestured to indicate the name: "Later, when we got to the infirmary, the doctor took one look and said that we had to bring him in time, otherwise he would have been in danger. After that guy woke up, he insisted on thanking Ling Yun and asked what his name was. Someone nearby said that he ran like a donkey and was very strong, so let's call him Brother Donkey. That's how the name spread."

An Shiyu smiled and looked at Ling Yun.

Ling Yun shook his head: "I was young then."

"More than just powerful," Sun Peng chimed in. "In the sophomore basketball game, our department was playing against the Law School. We were down by two points with only five seconds left. The ball was passed to Ling Yun, who was outside the three-point line, surrounded by three opponents. And guess what? He single-handedly held off all three, jumped, leaned back, and the ball went in! A game-winning shot! I saw that shot clearly, it was just... his sheer willpower was unstoppable."

Li Mo rarely spoke up: "Another time, during an experiment, we couldn't get a circuit board working no matter what we tried, and we worked on it until midnight without any results. Ling Yun came over, looked at it for a while, took the chip off and resoldered it, and it was fixed. We asked him how he found it, and he said there was a cold solder joint on one of the chip's pins, and he could feel it by scratching it with his fingernail. That feel was just like a donkey's hoof digging in the ground, so accurate."

The people at the table laughed so hard they were doubled over.

An Shiyu smiled, her eyes crinkling: "So you have so many stories to tell."

"Dark history, all dark history." Ling Yun put food on her plate. "Eat more, don't listen to their nonsense."

"How can you say that's nonsense!" Zhao Weiguo protested. "It's all true! Teacher An, you'd better keep a close eye on him. He's so stubborn; once he gets angry, not even ten oxen could stop him."

"I'm much better now," Lingyun said.

"Stop talking about me," Ling Yun changed the subject. "Sun Peng, how's your construction company doing lately?"

"It's alright, I've taken on a few government projects, road construction and building building," Sun Peng said. "The only problem is the slow payment and the large amount of upfront investment. My dad's hair has turned gray from worry."

"If you need funds, you can come to me," Ling Yun said. "The interest rate is the same as the bank's."

"Really?" Sun Peng's eyes lit up. "Then I'll definitely come looking for you!"

"Um."

Li Mo suddenly asked, "Sun Peng, your family is in construction. Do you know anyone who does cleanroom renovations? Our chip center needs to build a cleanroom, and the standards are very high."

"A cleanroom? Let me ask." Sun Peng took out his phone. "I have an uncle who does this. I'll call you tomorrow."

"it is good."

The topic then shifted back to universities.

"Do you remember the fourth one?" Zhao Weiguo said, "The one who slept in the upper bunk above Lingyun. He dropped out of school to go into business."

"I remember him, the one who sold pirated DVDs." Sun Peng laughed. "I ran into him on the street last year. He was driving a van and still selling DVDs, but he'd switched to selling CDs and VCDs. He said he could earn several thousand a month, which was better than working a regular job."

"Everyone has their own ambitions," Li Mo said.

"By the way," Zhao Weiguo said, looking at An Shiyu, "Teacher An, when are you going to teach President Ling a lesson for his stubbornness? Tell him not to work so hard; there's no end to making money."

An Shiyu smiled: "I can't change him. Once he's made up his mind, no one can take it back."

"Look at that!" Zhao Weiguo slapped his thigh. "Teacher An really understands you!"

Ling Yun grasped An Shiyu's hand: "So I need to find someone who understands me."

An Shiyu blushed slightly but did not pull her hand away.

Chen Lingling said softly, "Sister An, President Ling is so good to you."

"He's good to everyone, but not to himself," An Shiyu said. "He often stays up late and eats irregularly."

"Then you need to do more to manage it," Chen Lingling said.

"I can't control it." An Shiyu shook her head. "I can only offer advice; whether he listens or not is up to him."

Ling Yun smiled: "I'll listen, I'll listen from now on."

"Yo yo yo!" Sun Peng exclaimed, "This display of affection is so cheesy!"