Chapter 73: Pretending to Be Cool? I Never Take the Initiative
“Zijie Tiaodong, Douyin.
“Didi Chuxing, Zhihu.
Under the cold, moonlit night, Jiang Zhou sat at his desk, muttering and jotting things down. His expression was serious, and he kept scratching his head in thought.
“No, that won’t do. Bilibili was registered in June 2009. The trademark probably can’t be grabbed.
“Oh right, there’s also Honor of Kings, Peace Elite, and Genshin. Those haven’t been trademarked yet.
“Faloo’s probably out too. That janky website was registered back in ’05.
“Douyu and iQiyi seem to be up for grabs…”
He held his paper up to the light.
Though it only had a few words written on it, the value was already in the millions.
Tomorrow, he’d take his money and head straight to the business bureau to scoop up what others missed.
Register all the unclaimed trademarks and wait to sell them.
Money. Damn, it’s too easy to make.
Just then, Han Rou quietly opened the door and came in.
She wore a simple white camisole nightdress and crept up behind Jiang Zhou.
The light shone on her pale skin, glowing like fine jade.
Suddenly, she reached from behind and covered his eyes.
Jiang Zhou put down the paper. “Judging by the scent, Su Nan?”
Han Rou pouted. “Wrong! Su Nan wouldn’t be here.”
“Then it must be Huang Qi. Feeling lonely at midnight, secretly took a cab to see me.”
“Ugh, you’re so lame!”
She let go and plopped down on his bed with a playful pout.
She picked up a manga from the bedside table, glanced at it, and immediately blushed.
Jiang Zhou turned to her. “Why aren’t you asleep yet? What are you here for?”
“Just wanted to hang out. What’s with all those names — Douyin, WeChat?”
“I think they’ve got great potential. I’ve got a bit of spare cash, so I’m going to the business bureau to register them.”
“Then if someone wants to use them in the future, they’ll have to buy the trademark rights from me.”
Han Rou blinked, confused. “I was just talking to Mom.”
Jiang Zhou took a sip of water. “She talking smack about me again?”
“No, she gave me a red envelope with eight thousand yuan in it. I didn’t dare take it.”
Jiang Zhou gritted his teeth. “Yuan Youqin, that beautiful woman, is so biased! My New Year’s red envelope was only fifty yuan!”
Han Rou bit her lip. “She said girls should be raised with wealth. But I’m not even really her daughter…”
“Do you really think that matters?”
Jiang Zhou sighed and turned to her. “Why do you have to constantly remind yourself that you’re not family?”
Han Rou still looked uneasy. “Because I’m not real. I’m fake.”
“If you say that again, I’ll get angry.”
“If you won’t accept the red envelope, then it means you don’t want to be my sister, or their daughter.”
She panicked. “No! That’s not what I meant. To me, this is all a dream come true!”
Jiang Zhou lit a cigarette and took a few drags. “The important thing is that they really do treat you that way. I bet my mom’s wiping her tears right now.”
“But I really don’t think I should take the money.”
“Sis, they’ll get old one day, and you’re about to graduate, right?”
Jiang Zhou patted her head. “Once you start working, you can give the money back.”
“If they get sick someday, just don’t resent them.”
“Then what’s the burden? Go take the red envelope.”
Han Rou’s eyes lit up and she rushed out of his room.
Not long after, she returned, holding the thick red envelope, grinning.
“Bro, I got it. Eight thousand!”
Jiang Zhou smiled. “Alright, split it with me.”
Han Rou stepped back. “Dream on! But I’ll treat you to a meal tomorrow.”
“Nice. I know a place. It’s 4000 per person.”
Jiang Zhou rubbed his sore neck. “Sis, let me tell you something.”
Han Rou tilted her head. “What?”
“I know you’ve suffered a lot growing up. But what you lost will come back to you one day… in a different form. And when it does, don’t be afraid. It just means you deserved it.”
Han Rou’s eyes grew misty. “Thank you, brother.”
“Why not sleep here tonight? I’ll give you the childhood love you missed.”
“Heh. Dream on, perv!”
Blushing, she ran back to her room.
The warm sunlight no longer had the harshness of summer.
Jiang Zhou got up early and went straight to the business bureau.
After a busy half-day: Zijie Tiaodong, Douyin, Weibo, WeChat, Didi Chuxing, Zhihu, Xiaomi, Pinduoduo…
He tried to register all the trademark names that were once huge in his past life.
Only Weibo had been registered a month prior, so that one was out.
The others? No problem.
Each trademark cost 270 yuan. After the tenth one, each additional one added 30 yuan.
Xiaomi was founded in April 2010.
Zhihu in January 2010.
WeChat in October 2011.
Which meant… He was just in time to cash in.
Unless the companies changed names, those trademarks would be gold.
Cross-temporal trademark snatching, slick as hell.
In his past life, Jiang Zhou was an avid gamer.
He got milked by that damn penguin (Tencent) more than a few times.
Well, this time, he was ready to milk them.
Just then, Guo Wei messaged him on QQ: “Class reunion venue changed! Come to Vienna KTV!”
“Got it, just left the bureau. On my way.”
“Hurry! They’re pretending so hard, it’s embarrassing. Come and stun them!”
Jiang Zhou sighed and drove to Vienna.
He hadn’t planned on going to the reunion.
Talking to a bunch of immature kids wasn’t appealing.
But yesterday afternoon, he lost a bet to Guo Wei.
There was a new bar on Hongwei Road.
He’d heard it was packed and had half-price deals, so he and Guo Wei had gone to check it out.
After drinking for a while, the two started admiring the ladies.
Guo Wei swore the ponytail waitress must be “cool” underneath.
Jiang Zhou disagreed. This was a proper establishment.
Heh. That really opened his eyes.
And so, he lost the bet and had to show up today.