Chapter 53: Internet Cafe (Part 2)

  "Dad, I want to open an internet cafe!" Su Jin said as he walked into the living room and spoke to Su Xingfeng.

  "Internet cafe?" Su Hang furrowed his brow and said lightly, "Recently the whole country has been cracking down on internet cafes, what's the point of opening one now?"

  "Heh heh, it's true that recently the whole country has been cracking down on internet cafes, but do you really think they can be suppressed?" Su Jin asked with a hint of triumph.

  "What does it mean?" Su Xingfeng's eyebrows furrowed even deeper.

  "Haha!" Su Jing smiled to herself, "It seems that although Dad is wise and experienced, the internet is after all a new thing, and his understanding and prediction of the prospects of internet cafes still have some reservations!"

  As Su Hangfeng's face began to turn stern, Su Jin hastily retracted his smile and said: "The contradiction between the country's backward production forces and the people's increasingly growing spiritual and cultural needs has led the masses to view the emergence of internet cafes with a kind of curiosity! Especially among young people, they have transferred their past infatuation with arcade games to internet cafes!"

  Where there is demand, there is market! In my opinion, internet cafes are doomed to be banned! The government's strong crackdown only drove the internet cafes from the ground to underground, just like those casinos! I believe the government will not ignore this aspect!

  Moreover, since the rise of the Internet, internet cafes have begun to emerge gradually! In the current situation where personal computers are not common, internet cafes play an irreplaceable role in inheriting network culture. From a macro perspective, the emergence of internet cafes has a powerful impact on social development.

  The government's crackdown on internet cafes is more of a pressure from public opinion! Now many experts, scholars and parents have reacted that the emergence of internet cafes has led to a decline in students' academic performance, with them indulging in the internet all day.

  Of course, there is also chaos in the management of Internet cafes, and some idle social personnel often mix among them, or some black households without ID cards will stay overnight, adding unstable factors to society!

  But these things can be achieved through management! So I think the country will soon introduce a document to change the previous approach of uniform suppression of internet cafes, and switch to a management model with business licenses issued by the government.

  In fact, as long as the internet cafe does two things, prohibits minors from entering and requires ID for online activities, and pays attention to some fire prevention and anti-theft issues, public opinion will be greatly reduced!

  Su Xingfeng looked at Su Jian, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, and smiled blandly: "I didn't expect you to have done some research on national policies, your level has improved recently!"

  "Haha, that's it! Every day with Dad, under his guidance, I should have made some progress, or else I'd be a disappointment to him!" Su Jin suddenly started grinning from ear to ear. It wasn't easy to hear praise from his dad, and although he was now a young man with some accomplishments, he still felt quite pleased with himself!

  "But what's the point of that? I think you're quite busy with your own affairs now, just a small internet cafe, is it worth your trouble?" Su Xingfeng asked somewhat puzzled.

  Su Jin's expression turned serious as he looked at Su Xingfeng and said, "Of course it's worth it. Actually, this is what I wanted to tell you! Dad, do you know how much a net cafe earns in a month?"

  "There's probably around four to five thousand!" Su Hangfeng said somewhat uncertainly. In this era, the monthly income of factory workers was only six or seven hundred, and government personnel earned less than a thousand yuan, so having an income of four to five thousand per month was already quite a lot!

  Let's take a typical internet cafe with thirty computers as an example. When the internet cafe first emerged, the internet fee was five yuan per hour. If all the computers were fully occupied and ran for twenty-four hours a day, the daily revenue would be 3600 yuan! Even if the number of customers halved at night, it would still be 2700 yuan! This means that in one month, the total revenue would be around 81000 yuan! The monthly fee for a single fiber optic cable to connect to the internet cafe is approximately 1000 yuan. Adding some network management fees, rent, utilities and other expenses, the minimum monthly profit would still be around 85000 yuan or so.

  Later, the internet cafe competition was fierce, and the internet fee dropped to 1 yuan per hour! One day is 24 hours, which is 720 yuan, half of which is 540 yuan, and one month is also 16200 yuan! After deducting various expenses, there is at least an income of 10000 yuan!" Su Jin looked at Su Xingfeng and said leisurely.

  "So many!" Su Xingfeng's face showed some surprise, but soon returned to calmness, only appearing a bit contemplative.

  Su Jian glanced at Su Xingfeng and continued: "But what kind of people can run an internet cafe? From my perspective, it almost doesn't require any professional skills for the operator!"

  Perhaps the only thing needed is a decent cover in society, after all, internet cafes are profitable because they come into contact with some idle social personnel, so it's hard to avoid some troublemakers coming to cause trouble.

  In some sense, internet cafes and bars are actually quite similar! They both have sky-high profits, lack technical expertise, and are filled with all sorts of shady characters.

  Why do bars always exist? Doesn't the government know that this is a chaotic place? Doesn't the government know that this is the best place for prostitution, drug trafficking and underground gambling?

  The root cause is that the bar uses its exorbitant profits to infiltrate all aspects of government departments! Every year, it pays astronomical taxes to the government! It's easy to shut down a single bar, but to thoroughly ban this industry is just a pipe dream!

  In my opinion, internet cafes are the same! Although the level of profiteering in internet cafes is not yet comparable to that of bars, it's not small either. Soon they will be on the same path as bars!"

  "What exactly do you mean?" Su Xingfeng furrowed his brow deeply, he had a faint feeling in his heart, but it wasn't clear, so he could only ask Su Jin.

  Su Jin smiled slyly and said, "Although this is the truth! But what's most interesting is that almost no one has realized this yet! At least not in the ancient city! And the recent big sweep just made all the internet cafe owners tremble with fear, now 99% of the internet cafes in the ancient city are dead!"

  So now the internet cafe industry has a brief vacuum period! I believe this is an extremely short-lived opportunity that will never appear again! The vacuum of internet cafes will lead to a rapid increase in internet fees, and its huge profits will soon attract countless people to take risks and invest in it despite the risk of breaking the law!

  The internet industry, after the last sweep, will realize that without government protection, they are like stones floating on the water's surface, and may sink at any time! Reality will prompt them to connect more closely with government personnel!

  In the future, it will be very difficult for the country to carry out nationwide crackdowns on internet cafes, because local resistance will render central government documents useless.

  "This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If someone can take advantage of this opportunity to unify the entire ancient city's internet industry, he will get an unimaginable return!"

  "Just as you said, without the support of government personnel, it's a fantasy to unify the internet industry!" Su Hangfeng said calmly.

  Su Jin smiled slightly and said faintly, "That's right, so before I came back, I went to see Fu Youliang! The newly established internet cafe, I gave him 5% of the shares!"

  Su Xingfeng sat silently on the sofa, his fingers tapping out a rhythm on the armrest.

  Su Jin glanced at Su Xingfeng and said, "Actually, I think that if Father can take this opportunity to take over the management of the internet cafe, it will be a phased improvement for our rights in Gu City!"

  Su Xingfeng's fingers on the armrest paused for a moment before starting to tap rhythmically again.

  "I know about this matter, is there anything else?" Su Xingfeng said calmly.

  "Heh heh! Also, I'm still short on capital this time around, so I don't plan on giving anyone shares again... " Su Jin said with a sheepish grin, rubbing his hands together.

  "I'll arrange for a loan of 10 million yuan at the bank and it will be credited to your account in a few days!" Su Xingfeng said calmly.

  "Ha, then there's no other problem! Don't worry, Dad, I will definitely occupy the entire ancient city market, and if there is a chance, I will go to impact the national market!" Seeing Su Xingfeng had approved his own plan, Su Jin suddenly became excited and confidently said.