I Really Didn't Mean to Make Money

When Chen Mo heard Pang Tao’s words, he frowned slightly. Just a couple of days ago over dinner, the man had sounded so determined—how had he suddenly changed his mind today?

“Can you tell me the reason?”

“President Chen, here’s the thing—I’ve already pitched my pet park project to several investment companies. All of them rejected it. Apparently, this pet park idea just doesn’t have much appeal.”

“So, after giving it some serious thought, I realized making money isn’t easy for you either. Better not invest—it’s just too risky.”

Pang Tao spoke seriously. After sobering up, Xu Zhengming had explained many things to him.

He’d come to realize his own shortcomings. President Chen was a truly good person. He couldn’t let him take such a big risk by investing in his project.

Hearing Pang Tao’s reasoning, Chen Mo let out a small breath of relief.

He had worried someone else might’ve snatched the project up. But then again—who would compete over a money-losing venture like this?

Since that wasn’t the case, things would be much easier to handle. After a moment of thought, he looked up at Pang Tao.

“I’m glad you can think this way. But you should know—every project carries risk. You don’t need to worry that I’ll lose money investing in yours.”

“But, President Chen...”

Chen Mo raised his hand, cutting Pang Tao off.

“Let me ask you a few questions first. Then you can decide.”

“First, do you want to help more stray cats and dogs?”

“Yes!”

Pang Tao answered without hesitation.

“Then this pet park project—can it help more stray animals?”

“It can.”

Pang Tao nodded. His original intention behind the pet park was exactly that—to help more stray cats and dogs.

“Do you have confidence in your own project?”

“President Chen, I...”

Pang Tao hesitated.

Chen Mo sighed and rubbed his forehead. This guy really didn’t follow the script—wasn’t he supposed to say “yes”?

So after all that, he didn’t even believe in his own project?

But isn’t that better? The less confident he was, the more it proved this project was unreliable.

And the more unreliable, the more determined Chen Mo was to invest.

“No need to answer. I get your meaning. Whether you have confidence or not doesn’t matter—as long as you’re dedicated.”

“Let me ask you this—if I leave this project in your hands, will you give it your all?”

“President Chen, I will! I definitely will!”

Pang Tao raised his hand in a swearing gesture.

“Then that’s enough. If you’re dedicated, how could it not succeed?”

“Ever heard the saying, ‘Nothing in the world is difficult for the willing’?”

“Nope, never heard of it.”

Pang Tao shook his head.

Chen Mo froze for a second, then quickly corrected himself.

“Eh, doesn’t matter if you’ve heard it—the point is, you understand the meaning. As long as you put your heart into it, this project will definitely succeed.”

“So, bring your project proposal over. Let’s finalize the investment as soon as possible.”

Almost reflexively, Pang Tao handed over the proposal. Only then did he realize what he’d done.

“President Chen, I’m still worried this project might lose money, maybe we should—”

“I’m not worried—what are you worried about? I believe in you. Go for it boldly. Don’t you want your pet park to be bigger than Disneyland someday? So that every stray animal can have a home?”

Chen Mo suddenly felt a bit emotionally exhausted. All he wanted was to invest in a money-losing project—why was it so hard?

Pang Tao fell silent at Chen Mo’s question. That last sentence hit right at his soft spot.

If he could really make the pet park as big as Disneyland, then stray animals would never need to worry about finding a home again!

After thinking for a while, he finally made up his mind.

“President Chen, I’ll definitely put my heart into developing this project.”

For President Chen’s trust—and for those stray animals—he would do everything he could to make this project work.

Nothing in the world is difficult for the willing.

President Chen, I’ll remember those words.

“Now that’s more like it.”

Seeing Pang Tao finally agree, Chen Mo let out a genuine smile.

He’d finally managed to bluff this money-losing project into his hands.

A little while later—

Tang Qiu also arrived at the office.

With Tang Qiu the lawyer present, there was no need to worry about the procedural aspects of the investment.

The most important thing now was the investment amount.

Chen Mo looked at Pang Tao and asked, “How much capital do you think would be appropriate for the initial investment in the pet park?”

Pang Tao froze. He hadn’t considered this at all. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

After some thought—

He finally raised one hand and said slowly, “President Chen... How about 500,000?”

Chen Mo looked at the five fingers he held up. Five hundred thousand? That’s not even enough to fill the system’s tooth gap.

“Add a zero to that. I’ll invest 5 million up front. Of course, that’s just the initial investment. You go all out with the development. If you need more funding later, I’ll continue to invest.”

Pang Tao was momentarily speechless. He hadn’t expected President Chen to drop five million just like that.

In his whole life—

He’d never seen that much money at once before.

“Alright then, it’s settled. Lawyer Tang, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Chen Mo finalized everything and turned to Tang Qiu.

Tang Qiu gave a slight nod and brought out the prepared contract.

After a round of signing—

Chen Mo’s fourth business venture was officially born: Corner Pet Park.

Chen Mo liked the word “corner,” so he didn’t change it.

A corner meant a neglected, overlooked place.

Since it was a park, it would likely rely on ticket sales for profit. But if it was overlooked—then no one would come.

No one coming meant no ticket sales.

No ticket sales meant no profit.

What a beautiful message!

Of course, the Corner Pet Park hadn’t officially launched yet—it still needed the relevant paperwork from the authorities.

But that wasn’t something he had to worry about.

Now that he was the owner of four companies, if he had to handle everything personally, he’d never get anything done.

All he had to do was ensure these four businesses didn’t stray from their intended course.

And that course... was losing money.

“President Chen, then I’ll head back now.”

Pang Tao stood up, holding the freshly signed contract.

“Alright, go and work on it boldly—I believe in you.”

Chen Mo stood and patted him on the shoulder with a warm smile.

“President Chen, I’ll give it my all.”

Pang Tao nodded sincerely, then suddenly remembered something.

“Oh right, President Chen—the dogs you asked for, I brought it over today. Where should I put it?”

They’d been so focused on discussing the project that he nearly forgot about the dogs.

Chen Mo glanced at the time—it was already past 11.

Perfect timing for lunch—and now that the dogs was here, they could cancel the lunch box orders.