Chapter 136: The Point-Grinding Plan

Melody, while not the largest KTV in Jiangcheng, ranks in the upper-middle tier. Although Zhou Quan is not a particularly kind-hearted person, he does not cross any lines in business. For the average customer, the pricing and service here are quite satisfactory, which is why business thrives during peak seasons.

Zhang Wenhao and his classmates finished the takeout delivered to their private room. After testing their walkie-talkies, they began their actual work. The tasks Zhang Wenhao assigned were not difficult; they simply required attentiveness and responsibility. Zhou Quan dared not act out openly, so they had to guard against any underhanded tricks he might pull.

Because someone was always keeping watch, Zhou Quan truly dared not stir up any trouble. The KTV staff also behaved themselves. Whenever a customer placed an order, a server would take the money to the market to purchase the items. Li Nan would then record the specific quantity and price of each order in a notebook, while others monitored various locations across the two floors to ensure that every bottle of liquor entering the private rooms was supplied by Zhang Wenhao.

In this KTV, each server is responsible for at least five to ten rooms, with additional floating staff available to help anywhere. After seven in the evening, all rooms were fully booked, and the demand for drinks was constant. Li Nan’s hand barely stopped as he continuously recorded every order.

Seeing that this method of bookkeeping was exhausting and prone to errors, Zhang Wenhao said to Li Nan, "Tomorrow, I’ll take you to the electronics mall to buy a laptop. You can use Excel to create a spreadsheet, listing the names and prices of various drinks and writing out the calculation formulas. Finally, you can use a summation formula to automatically calculate the total price of all drinks in the table. That will make things much easier for you."

Li Nan waved his hand and said, "No need, using a pen and notebook is fine. Buying a laptop is an extra expense; it’s not worth it."

Zhang Wenhao smiled and said, "Tomorrow, just pick whatever you like. You won't just use the computer for work here; you can take the laptop with you when you start university."

Li Nan was stunned, and his excitement became apparent. Few high school students had families buy them laptops; most would save up two or three thousand yuan for a desktop computer at home, which was more practical and served as a piece of furniture for a study, offering better value for money. Zhang Wenhao, Li Nan, and their other classmates all had desktop computers at home. Hearing that he could take the laptop to university, Li Nan could not resist the temptation and said, "How about this, Wenhao? Deduct the cost of the machine from my salary."

Zhang Wenhao waved his hand and said, "Consider this on me. Don't worry about it."

"That doesn't seem right," Li Nan hurriedly replied. "Earning five or six hundred a day is already plenty. I’m not exerting much effort or using much brainpower. I bet many people would fight for this job even at one hundred a day."

Zhang Wenhao knew that Li Nan did not realize the scale of the profits, so he patted him on the shoulder and said, "We are brothers; you don't need to be so formal. The profit margin here is quite substantial. I have a good idea of it, so don't worry."

Seeing Zhang Wenhao’s persistence, Li Nan could only nod, feeling deeply moved. To him, whether it was his previous studies or this summer job, Zhang Wenhao had always been the one helping him, while he was always the one benefiting. Li Nan felt a bit guilty, but Zhang Wenhao’s words, "We are brothers," made him understand the situation. He thought to himself that Zhang Wenhao was much smarter and more resourceful than he was, and would surely be very successful in the future. Working hard for him would be a good thing.

Zhang Wenhao stayed with Li Nan and the other six at Melody until they finished their shift at one in the morning. Zhou Quan greeted Zhang Wenhao politely before leaving with a heavy heart. The other servers, under the arrangement of a manager, busied themselves cleaning rooms and clearing trash. Seeing that the venue was closed and most guests had left, Zhang Wenhao called the six of them into a private room.

Once inside, Zhang Wenhao asked, "How does everyone feel today? Do you think you can handle this job?"

A classmate laughed and said, "Wenhao, this job is too simple. As long as you are careful, it's easy. We will definitely do a good job in the future."

Li Nan also nodded and said, "It really isn't difficult. As long as we don't slack off and cooperate well, we can certainly ensure that no one else cuts corners."

Zhang Wenhao nodded with satisfaction. He took thirty-six hundred yuan from his bag, gave each person six hundred, and said, "This is everyone's salary for today. From now on, we will settle the pay daily."

For these six, the six hundred yuan they earned that night was the first money they had earned on their own, and the reward was quite generous. Everyone felt the same as Li Nan—that such a high reward was more than they deserved for the small amount of effort they had put in. However, since Zhang Wenhao insisted, everyone accepted the money, though their gratitude increased even further.

After leaving Melody, everyone took taxis home. Zhang Wenhao called Li Nan aside, and after they saw the other four off, Zhang Wenhao said to him, "Come on, I'll take you home."

Li Nan nodded and got into the car with Zhang Wenhao. Instead of starting the engine, Zhang Wenhao unzipped his bag, took out another thousand yuan, and handed it to Li Nan, saying, "It wasn't convenient to give this to you in front of the others. From now on, I will give you an extra thousand yuan every day."

Li Nan was completely shocked. An extra thousand? That would be sixteen hundred a day! Sixteen hundred a day? What kind of high-end elite talent could earn that kind of money? If anyone in Jiangcheng dared to claim they earned sixteen hundred a day, it would probably scare others to death. He had done such a simple, non-technical job, and Zhang Wenhao wanted to give him sixteen hundred a day? How could he accept this?

The thousand yuan made Li Nan feel fearful, and he waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "Wenhao, if you do this, I really won't dare to come again. Even if you don't care about the money, I would feel guilty."

Zhang Wenhao smiled and shoved the money into Li Nan's hands. Li Nan tried to refuse, but he didn't have as much strength as Zhang Wenhao. Then, Zhang Wenhao said, "Li Nan, listen to me. This money isn't for nothing. I can't come here every day, as I have my own matters to attend to—things that are very important to me. Besides that, I want to spend more time with Ruoran; she might be returning to Yanjing soon. So, I can't be here from afternoon until midnight every day."

Zhang Wenhao paused and continued seriously, "The profit margin at Melody is huge. As a brother, I won't lie to you—we earn a lot every day. The money we make is being squeezed from Zhou Quan's mouth, and he is a million times unhappy about it. Therefore, I must have a brother here to watch over things and prevent him from playing any tricks. From now on, you are in full charge. You must sit here in person every day and ensure that not a single bottle of beer enters any room unless it comes from us. You must accept this money. Take it, do a good job, and in the future, there will be plenty of opportunities for us brothers to get rich. You will soon realize that this money is nothing but a mosquito's leg."

Li Nan was stunned, his mind filled with shock and anticipation. Looking into Zhang Wenhao’s sincere eyes, he nodded heavily.

Immediately, Zhang Wenhao took out another ten thousand yuan and handed it to Li Nan, saying, "Keep this money for safekeeping. This includes the wages for the others for the next two days, as well as your own salary. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to buy a computer. Remember to bring your ID card. I'll go get you a bank card and deposit fifty thousand yuan into it. I won't be coming here much if everything is fine. If it's time to restock, give me a call."

Li Nan nodded and said, "Okay, you can rest assured. I will definitely get this done well."

Zhang Wenhao smiled with satisfaction and said, "Alright, I'll drive you home now. Go home and get some rest. I'll call you tomorrow morning; wait for me at home."

For Zhang Wenhao, making money was just a side job. His most urgent goal was to earn more points and learn more powerful skills. However, opportunities to earn points were currently scarce. That didn't matter, though; he could focus on his physical training and the practice of the Body Strengthening Technique, maintaining at least six hours of high-intensity training daily to further improve his physique.

There were still fifteen days until the college entrance examination results were announced. Zhang Wenhao was certain he would receive a reward of three thousand points; after all, for him, being the top scorer in the province was not difficult.

Zhang Wenhao couldn't help but fantasize: what if the college entrance examination wasn't divided by province but was truly national? If everyone used the same test and were ranked nationally, being the national top scorer wouldn't be a problem either. Nanjiang Province had a population of only fifty or sixty million, and becoming the top scorer there earned him three thousand points. With a national population of 1.4 billion—more than twenty times that of Nanjiang—the reward points would be staggering.

But this was just a daydream. For Zhang Wenhao, three thousand points was already an astronomical figure. It would be plenty for learning small skills, but Zhang Wenhao had already made up his mind: his next skill would be "High-Energy Wave Control." The price of six thousand points still made him gasp. Even after winning the provincial top scorer title, he would still be nearly two thousand points short. How could he find a good way to farm more points?

Zhang Wenhao was at a loss.

In the car, the midnight program of the Jiangcheng Traffic Radio was playing. After a piece of music, the announcer said in standard Mandarin, "In tonight’s 'Stories of the People' on Midnight Voice, we are telling the story of Xu Guanglin, an ordinary hero who walked from Jiangcheng into the mountains of the Southwest."

"The 63-year-old Xu Guanglin was once an old doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and has been retired for three years. Three years ago, Xu rejected high-paying job offers from several hospitals, took his medical kit, and went alone to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in the Southwest. The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is one of the least developed regions in our country. There, many farmers still live deep in the mountains, struggling with difficult transportation and shortages of food and clothing, and even when they fall ill, they find it hard to see a doctor. Carrying his medical kit, Xu Guanglin has traveled across almost all the impoverished areas of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in the past three years. The number of patients he has treated has reached over ten thousand—meaning that sixty-three-year-old Xu treated an average of over ten patients every day. Due to his superb medical skills and noble medical ethics, Xu Guanglin has earned a prestigious title in the Yunnan-Guizhou region: 'Doctor Xu, the Divine Healer'..."

Zhang Wenhao did not listen to the rest; he slammed on the brakes and pulled the car to the side of the road. The expression on his face was one of ecstatic excitement.

Yes! Why hadn't he thought of it? Following Li Changyun to provide emergency care to farm points was not only a rare opportunity but also very difficult to manage. The medical system in the city had strict regulations, making it almost impossible for him to exploit loopholes long-term. However, remote areas were a different story.

Remote areas lacked medical resources; their healthcare systems were essentially non-existent. The impoverished people living there found it difficult to get treatment when they fell ill. Not only were there no good doctors, but their poverty also made it impossible for them to venture out of the mountains for medical care. Since that was the case, why shouldn't he take the opportunity during summer break to go there?

His medical skills were beyond doubt—far more advanced than traditional or Western medicine. Moreover, there was almost no supervision from health departments there, and he wouldn't need anyone's approval to practice medicine. Most importantly, there were a vast number of patients in need of treatment.

In the city, the medical system's hardware and software were relatively complete, and most urbanites had medical insurance, making it far easier to see a doctor than for people in remote areas. While there were countless patients in the city, they could receive decent treatment even without him. But those remote mountain areas were different. People there either endured minor illnesses or used folk remedies. Those who were lucky might survive, but those who weren't might lose their precious lives to even the smallest ailments if left unchecked.

Whether from the perspective of a healer's ethics or the urgent desire to farm points, that place was his first choice.

Zhang Wenhao was so excited he almost shouted aloud.

Go to Yunnan-Guizhou.

In a split second, Zhang Wenhao made his decision. Once the college entrance exam scores were released and Su Ruoran returned to Yanjing, he could prepare to go to Yunnan-Guizhou as a wandering doctor. Every day, apart from eating and sleeping, he would focus on treating the sick and saving lives. If he could treat ten patients a day and each patient earned him only one hundred points, that would be at least one thousand points a day.

My god! Thinking about it this way, the remote, impoverished areas of Yunnan-Guizhou were simply a paradise for farming points.

With this plan set, Zhang Wenhao was bursting with excitement. He rushed home, opened his computer, and began searching for impoverished counties, townships, villages, and mountain settlements in the Yunnan-Guizhou region. He recorded every location in a Word document and used Google Earth to find their coordinates.

In addition, Zhang Wenhao specifically looked up medical literature to understand typical local diseases in the Yunnan-Guizhou region, such as goiter, arsenic poisoning, fluorosis, schistosomiasis, dysentery, and arthritis. He immediately searched his mind for treatment plans and recorded the medical equipment and drugs he would need to prepare before his departure.

He couldn't go to Yunnan-Guizhou empty-handed, as the area was already short on medicine. If he arrived empty-handed, it would be difficult to find suitable drugs. Therefore, he had to purchase medicine and bring cash. Also, since the area was mostly mountainous, he would need a high-performance off-road vehicle.

Relying on his driving skills and his knowledge of vehicle performance, Zhang Wenhao had a few ideal models in mind. First was the Toyota Prado. Although it was a Japanese product that Zhang Wenhao had never particularly liked, its off-road performance and adaptability to various road surfaces were excellent. Furthermore, it was widely available in China, making maintenance, repairs, and sourcing spare parts very convenient.

Other good options included the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Land Rover Discovery 4.

However, these cars cost between five hundred thousand and one million yuan, which he could not afford. Zhang Wenhao couldn't help but set his sights on Chen Feng; borrowing one from him shouldn't be a problem.

The car issue was easy to solve, and medicine and medical equipment were not difficult to obtain as long as he had money. Even in Yunnan-Guizhou, he could replenish his supplies in larger cities. As long as he had enough cash on his card, whether for car repairs, fuel, or purchasing medicine, it wouldn't be a problem.

Money was the big issue. Zhang Wenhao realized this more and more. It seemed the old proverb needed a slight change: "With money, you can travel the world; without it, you can't take a single step." Therefore, before his departure, how to earn more money became a major priority for Zhang Wenhao.

Chen Feng wanted to test him; how could he use those ten big bosses to make some money? Thinking of this, Zhang Wenhao became even more anxious. The KTV had a net profit of about twenty thousand yuan a day, twenty percent of which went to Chen Feng. With the wages for Li Nan and the others plus living expenses, another five thousand yuan was spent daily. Combined, those costs took up half the profit. He could earn at most a little over ten thousand a day. If he saved for twenty days, he would only have around two hundred thousand yuan. For someone like Zhang Wenhao, who intended to dive into the impoverished mountains of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and provide treatment for free, two hundred thousand yuan seemed a bit insufficient.

Make money, make money—how could he make more money? He already had over four hundred thousand yuan on hand. Although most of it was payment for goods, he could temporarily use it. But using that money, combined with his connections to those bosses, how could he achieve the goal of "using borrowed chickens to lay eggs"?