Reborn: I'll Never Fail My Childhood Sweetheart Again

Chapter 554 - 209: Guiding the Class Belle (Part 2)

"Haha, Ah Xi, that’s a really good question."

Su Zelin gave her a thumbs up before answering, "I don’t think so, at least not at the moment, because our country’s urbanization process is still very low. More and more rural residents or workers will flock to the cities. For the increasing number of outsiders in the city, housing is a necessity, and in the face of inflation, it will be a pretty good investment!"

"So, does that mean we should buy a house as soon as we graduate?"

Popcorn quickly asked.

The youngest of the 501 is an innocent girl. Cai Wensheng is her first boyfriend, and she sees him as her future husband. Even while still in school, she’s considering post-marriage matters. What girl doesn’t hope for her own home? Housing is a must to be concerned about.

The others were also intrigued, ending their discussion and listening to Su Zelin’s insights.

"That’s right!"

Su Zelin nodded, "Let me tell you a real story. There’s a guy in Shenghai who bought a house in 1989 and took out a 30-year mortgage. At that time, his salary was only 80 bucks, and he had to spend 60 bucks a month on his mortgage. Many people thought he was crazy back then, but thirteen years later today, his salary is nearly two thousand, and he still only needs 60 bucks a month for his mortgage!"

"Wow, really? That does sound much less stressful!"

Popcorn’s eyes lit up.

Su Zelin laughed, "Haha, the story I told about the guy in Shenghai might be a microcosm of the future comparison between house prices and salaries over the next decade. Nowadays, many small city house prices are only a few hundred per square meter. You can buy a house for less than a hundred thousand, not expensive at all. Even though our salaries after graduation might be just one or two thousand, and it might seem like it takes a long time to pay that off if you don’t eat or drink, the truth is, with economic development and inflation, our salaries will also rise quickly. Maybe after ten years of paying off your house, your salary could be over ten thousand, but that house is still worth just a few tens of thousands. That’s a great deal!"

"So, those who have the means, it’s best to buy a house as soon as possible, whether it’s for living or investment!"

Taking advantage of the topic, the mixer casually pointed a path for these classmates. Whether they listened or not was their business.

"Apart from real estate, what about other industries?"

Luo Xi asked again.

"As for other industries, I recommend the internet industry, especially e-commerce!"

The first decade of the 21st century, besides the booming real estate, was also well-known for e-commerce.

In later generations, when people talked about e-commerce, even old grandpas and grandmas knew what it was.

Yet at present, it was still a fresh concept.

The major of electronic commerce was only added to colleges in Xia Country in 2001. Even Finance Management Class One didn’t have this course yet, and the term was unfamiliar to many.

"Boss, do you mean a type of B2C online shopping like Amazon in Beautiful Country?"

The class beauty was relatively knowledgeable and grasped something.

"You could say that in a narrow sense, but broadly it refers to commercial activities on an open internet environment based on client or server applications, where buyers and sellers conduct various trade activities without meeting face-to-face, achieving online transactions and electronic payments, financial activities, and related comprehensive services. Whether the transaction involves physical goods or virtual products, it can be considered e-commerce!"

Su Zelin briefly explained.

"The internet is developing rapidly, and the number of netizens in our country is growing fast, providing fertile ground and a huge market for e-commerce. Take Tencent for example, in 2000 it only had ten million registered users, but by March this year, it had surpassed one hundred million! With such a vast user base, can you imagine how much money Tencent makes from a single QQ Show?"

QQ Show was Tencent’s first goldmine, launched online in April this year. As the first paid service of Tencent, it was popular among young people who pursued individuality. Not having a few sets of QQ Shows made people embarrassed to go online, especially the girls, who made every effort to beautify themselves on QQ.

Among the 501 girls, many purchased QQ Shows. For example, Nanaz loved playing with QQ Shows.

As for the boys, Zeng Kaiping, this internet romance addict, had over a dozen outfits, treating QQ Show as an essential investment in dating.

"How much did they make?"

Luo Xi asked instinctively.

After all, she also contributed a few bucks to Tencent.

"Over twenty million!"

Su Zelin enunciated each word: "Since the launch of QQ Show, it has gained over four hundred thousand paying users, with an average spending of five bucks per person!"

"Twenty million!"

Everyone took a sharp breath.

Back in those days, twenty million was a staggering figure!

"That’s right, and you know, QQ Show is just a virtual product. Its cost is nothing more than the wages of programmers!"

Su Zelin said lightly.

Even Tencent didn’t expect QQ Show to be so profitable. Just over a year ago, Xiaoma even considered selling QQ for a million, but neither Lenovo nor NetEase wanted it, thinking there were no profit points. Guangdong Province Telecom showed some interest but only offered six hundred thousand, ultimately leading to a failed negotiation.

"There are many applications of e-commerce, like the online shopping Ah Xi mentioned. In the future, we might be able to buy something, pay phone bills, electricity, and gas, book hotels and restaurants, and purchase plane and train tickets, and even make hospital appointments all from home with just a few clicks. It will greatly impact our future lives!"

Su Zelin casually described future e-commerce application scenarios, painting a blueprint that made everyone yearn, after all, they were still living in a time where e-commerce was extremely underdeveloped.

"Currently, broad e-commerce applications such as online tax, remote diagnosis, and online education have already started with trials in our country. Zhejiang University has online education!"

Su Zelin paused for a moment, "And, e-commerce is far from reaching its peak because our country’s internet users will continue to increase, network construction will continue to improve, and internet speed will keep rising!"

"Of course, related industries will also flourish, such as the express delivery industry related to online shopping. In the future, it may also blossom!"

"..."

The mixer’s words also served as guidance for Luo Xi. He knew the rebellious girl had ambitions.

In the past life, the class beauty started her own business and became a boss, but by then, she was an old spinster. If she followed the right path, she wouldn’t have wasted so much of her youth.

Luo Xi nodded and fell into contemplation.

She had full faith in Su Zelin’s vision, especially since he explicitly stated the reasons why these industries might rise in the future, even giving examples as evidence.

Maybe, after graduation, I should venture into the industries the boss mentioned!

After a while, she came to her senses.

"Boss, one last question. If we were graduating today, what honest advice would you have for someone like me stepping into society?"

"I’d give you two sentences!"

"What are those two sentences?"

"Do what you love, and make connections with the right people!"

Luo Xi: "..."

Su Zelin coughed lightly, "The first sentence means not only should you enter a field with potential, but also pursue something you love. Passion will give you motivation and make you work even harder!"

"The second sentence is related to networking. You need to clearly identify who is worth associating with, who won’t harm you, and who can even help you. When you’ve accumulated a strong network, it becomes easier to succeed in whatever you do!"

Luo Xi was at a loss for words.

You might say the mixer class monitor’s words were serious nonsense, but they actually carried some truth.

You could say his words were sensible, yet seemed like he was just joking.

But Nanaz agreed wholeheartedly.

I want to connect with people like the class monitor.

Hugging his leg can’t go wrong...

...