Transformers Begin

"It's almost nine o'clock. Why hasn't Sun come yet?"

Yang Fei yawned and glanced outside the door, then turned to the person next to him and complained with a sour expression, "Sun sent a group message yesterday afternoon telling everyone to arrive early today. A few of us were here before 8 o'clock, but he hasn't shown up yet."

"You're just too impatient!"

Luo Nan, who was sitting next to him, didn't even lift his head. He played with his phone while replying irritably, "Given our current situation, even a blind person can understand it. Unless something unexpected happens, they will announce the dissolution soon. Is there any difference between coming early or late?"

Yang Fei's face darkened, indicating that he had the same idea. It took him a while before he shook his head and said, "It's just a pity for everyone to have worked hard for three months..."

This remark only received silence from Luo Nan. He became annoyed and placed his phone on the table in front of him, then rested his head on the table without making a sound.

...

Standing at the staircase of an old office building in the old campus, Sun Cheng hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and walking towards an office a few steps away.

As soon as he arrived at the door of the office, he felt several pairs of eyes staring at him simultaneously, causing his face to turn red.

"Sun, you're here!"

He saw a young man with a chubby face immediately stood up and greeted him. His eyes revealed anticipation, which made Sun Cheng's heart ache.

This young man's name was Yang Fei, who was a computer major student one year below him. Like Sun Cheng, he was also a student at the South Industrial University, and probably the person here who had the best relationship with him.

Sun Cheng knew exactly what Yang Fei was looking forward to, but just thinking about it made his heart hurt.

"How did it come to this?"

He couldn't help but ask himself, glancing at the five people in the office. His nose suddenly felt sour.

Three months ago, Sun Cheng was so ambitious that he didn't hide his confidence. He even boasted to more than one person around him, "This is a miraculous era, where success favors those who are prepared. We may have nothing today, but tomorrow we may still be poor. However, we have dreams and actions, and the future will reward us a hundredfold, a thousandfold for our efforts today!"

He had said this more than once, to himself, to others, and even to teachers.

Now, perhaps in the eyes of those people, he, who had both feet in the door of failure, was just a fool with a touch of late adolescence.

However, he just couldn't accept it!

Sun Cheng took a deep breath, holding back the increasingly sour feeling in his nose, and walked into the office under the expectant gaze of several people.

"Sorry for being late because of something, and for taking up some of your time! I won't beat around the bush, you probably guessed why I asked everyone to come here today, right?"

He sighed, it was time to face it, dragging it out would not only hurt himself, but also be irresponsible to everyone here.

So, after quickly calming himself down, Sun Cheng looked calmly at Yang Fei, Zuo Nan, Lu Yu, and the young people whose names he knew in the office, and said, "This year is my graduation season, and like everyone here, I am a young person full of vigor, ideals, and aspirations. We planned and prepared, so three months ago, I collaborated with two roommates and another senior brother of yours to develop a startup project and applied for entrepreneurship support from the school, hoping to make a name for ourselves as young people!"

He paused here, smiling at the silent few.

"Although I don't want to admit it, the result was very bitter. I failed and lost miserably, so much so that today, I have to say 'sorry' to everyone here who once had hope in me."

Sun Cheng had a dream he wanted to achieve no matter what, but he also knew better than anyone else how difficult it was to achieve it. So, for a long time, he had been planning how to get closer to success.

So, three months ago, he led two classmates and another roommate to create a startup plan and applied for entrepreneurship support from the school.

Perhaps their business plan was done well enough, but after a short review by the school, they approved Sun Cheng's application. They not only provided a temporary office in the old teaching building on the old campus, but also five desktop computers and 30,000 yuan in support funding.

At the beginning of their entrepreneurship, everyone was working hard.

Sun Cheng had the weakest technical skills among the original four team members, so he was not responsible for development. However, he was good at talking and was the initiator of the startup, so he was in charge of personnel recruitment, daily management, and fundraising.

Looking back now, although that period was a bit tough and tiring, it was filled with a bittersweet happiness.

Unfortunately...

"I'm sorry!"

Bowing and lowering his head, Sun Cheng solemnly apologized to Yang Fei, Zuo Nan, and the other five people one by one.

"I am solely responsible for all the mistakes, perhaps this entrepreneurial plan was wrong from the beginning!"

Thinking of the USB drive in his pocket and the still unconfirmed speculation, he felt even more pain in his heart. His teeth clenched together tightly and couldn't be separated.

Obviously, Sun Cheng's humble attitude made the young people present remember his past care for them.

As he bowed and apologized earnestly, taking all the blame on himself, Yang Fei, who had the best relationship with him, couldn't sit still and was the first to stand up for him.

"Sun bro, what are you talking about? Everyone knows the situation we're in now. If it weren't for that guy Huo Miao being so money-hungry, things wouldn't have turned out like this!"

"Huo Miao..."

Hearing the name "Huo Miao" from Yang Fei's mouth, Sun Cheng opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing, just shaking his head slightly.

Huo Miao was his classmate and one of the original four members of the start-up team. Sun Cheng had put in a lot of effort to recruit him as the team's skilled technician because he had programming skills that were no worse than those of a professional.

Half a month ago, as one of the four elders of the original team, Huo Miao sent in a resignation letter through someone and never came back. Later, it was heard that he had joined another start-up team, which made Sun Cheng hate him for a while.

But now, he also realized that the start-up plan formulated by the initial few people had problems from the beginning and was far beyond what their small team could achieve.

Huo Miao may have set a bad example and accelerated the collapse of the team, but after realizing everything, Sun Cheng felt that he should thank him instead.

If Huo Miao hadn't left decisively, he might still have hopes for this start-up project and be running around trying to raise money to invest in it.

If that were the case, he might have been even worse off than he is now.

Taking a deep breath, Sun Cheng remained silent for a while before finally speaking up what he had been holding in his throat, "I proposed the project. At first, I only saw the potential of cross-platform operation of mobile games and hoped to develop a more compatible and user-friendly emulator. Unfortunately, I only saw the prospect and neglected the development difficulty. Without an investment of over a million, half a year or even longer time, failure is inevitable!"

"Several key technical backbones have left, and the follow-up development funds have been cut off. We've come to this point, and I've thought about it for a few days before making a decision. Maybe it's time to say goodbye to everyone."

Speaking of this, he bowed to everyone again, "I'm sorry, everyone. I promised so much, but I didn't fulfill any of them. I can't even afford a farewell dinner now. I'm really sorry!"

During this bow, Sun Cheng bent down heavily and didn't straighten his waist for a long time.

There was silence in the office, and then the sound of sobbing was heard. It was the only young girl among them who was covering her mouth and crying quietly.

Afterwards, no one spoke. But footsteps began to appear, one after another, walking straight to the office door until they could no longer be heard.

Throughout the whole process, Sun Cheng remained bowed, never raising his head.

After a long time, he wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes. He thought everyone had left, but he unexpectedly found that someone had stayed behind in the office.

"Yang Fei?"

Sun Cheng sniffled and suppressed the urge to cry alone.

"Brother Sun..." Yang Fei sighed, "The team has disbanded, and you shouldn't be sad. Actually, we don't blame you at all. We all know that you suffered the most!"

Sun Cheng remained silent.

For three months of entrepreneurship, for the dream in his heart, he borrowed three to five thousand yuan from his roommates who had known him for three years, and even borrowed ten to twenty thousand yuan from some of them. In order to maintain the team's daily expenses, he not only borrowed ten thousand yuan in his own name from a campus loan platform, but also borrowed fifty thousand yuan in the name of the startup project. If you calculate it, the debt he is carrying now is almost a hundred thousand yuan.

Now that the entrepreneurial project has failed, he has lost his roommates and the bonds of friendship. Whether it's right or wrong, all the debts will fall on Sun Cheng, who is the most miserable.

Yang Fei obviously read his current mood from his dim eyes and pale complexion. He tried to comfort him, but couldn't find the words. After hesitating for a while, he sighed and said softly, "Brother Sun, I left the keys on your desk. You're a man who can do great things. One failure doesn't mean anything. If you need anything from me, just call me!"

Seeing him nodding slowly, Yang Fei reluctantly turned and took a few more glances at the office where they had spent several months before leaving.