Xu Cheng's eyes lit up.
"Thank you."
He cleared his throat and straightened in his seat.
"So, I've been looking into the second-hand electronics market. Specifically laptops - the modern ones with soldered components. Most people think they're unrepairable, but that's not true."
His tone shifted, becoming more rehearsed.
"I have skills in fixing them. Unsoldering components, putting in new ones. I was thinking of starting a repair shop where we could repair these gadgets and give them new life. We could also buy old hardware, refurbish it, and sell it - or harvest it for parts."
He took a breath.
"It's also really good for the environment because…"
"I'll have to stop you right there."
Xu Cheng froze.
He looked at Lin Feng, his heart sinking.
Does he also think my idea is stupid?
Maybe it's because I sounded so robotic.
I shouldn't have crammed my pitch like that.
"You said you can do logic board surgery?"
Lin Feng leaned forward, his eyes practically glowing.
Xu Cheng blinked.
Surgery?
He hadn't expected this kind of enthusiasm.
Lin Feng coughed.
"Ahem. I meant board-level repair."
"Yes," Xu Cheng said slowly. "I can."
"How good are your skills?"
"Pretty good."
"Can I see some proof?"
Xu Cheng's expression faltered.
"I don't think I can right now..."
He scratched his cheek, embarrassment coloring his face.
"Our warehouse got locked because we weren't able to pay rent. Our equipment is inside too."
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow.
"Our?"
"Yeah. There are four of us."
"Four?" Lin Feng's interest sharpened. "Do they all know board-level repair?"
Xu Cheng nodded.
"We're all quite good."
He pulled out his phone and extended it toward Lin Feng.
"Anyway, although I can't use the warehouse at the moment, I have this video I recorded of a repair we did."
Lin Feng took the phone and watched the video carefully.
Xu Cheng observed him, trying to read his expression.
The video ended.
"What do you think?" Xu Cheng asked.
Lin Feng returned the phone.
"It's quite good."
Xu Cheng let out a breath, visibly relieved.
"How much did you earn from that repair?"
"Well..."
Xu Cheng scratched his cheek again.
Just as I thought.
Lin Feng's suspicions were confirmed. The board-level repair market wasn't all that sustainable. Unless you were an established company, it was hard to make it work. People always opted for buying new devices instead. And those who didn't were usually low on finances - they wouldn't pay much for repairs anyway.
A business like that would earn pennies.
But that was just for now.
His expression turned serious.
After the AI boom in 2023, this industry had risen overnight. With the GPU scarcity caused by data centers hoarding everything they could get their hands on, people who could restore old GPUs became extremely valuable.
At some point, it had even reached a level where technicians made custom PCBs and used them to upgrade the memory capacity of GPUs. Memory was extremely valuable for training and inference.
He remembered reading that buying two flagship consumer GPUs and using a custom PCB to transfer the memory onto one was actually better than buying those enterprise-grade cards - and for less than half the price.
At the moment, there was still a GPU shortage crisis. But that didn't mean there weren't any GPUs out there.
There were tons of them on the second-hand market. And even more that had burned out from crypto mining farms.
With these guys, he could buy those up and salvage them. Upgrade them too.
Alongside buying new ones if available, of course.
With this, he should be able to enter the AI market smoothly.
Lin Feng looked at Xu Cheng.
A smile spread across his face.
Xu Cheng shifted uncomfortably.
Something about that smile made him uneasy.
"Would you like to work for me?"
…
Xu Cheng pushed open the door and stepped aside.
"Welcome," he said. "This is our temporary workplace."
Lin Feng walked in and looked around.
It was a cramped apartment. Tools and circuit boards were scattered across a small table. A few laptops in various states of disassembly sat on the floor. The couch had been pushed against the wall to make room.
"We're trying to see if we can get some of our equipment released from the warehouse," Xu Cheng explained. "If we can, we'll use it to do some gigs and earn enough money to pay rent."
Lin Feng stared at him.
Then he facepalmed.
These guys aren't all that smart.
If they couldn't pay three months of back rent, how were they going to pay for the release of their equipment? And even if they could, doing small gigs one at a time would take forever to dig them out of debt.
They were just digging themselves deeper.
Xu Cheng noticed his expression and scratched his head awkwardly.
"Anyway, let me introduce you to the others."
He turned toward the back of the apartment.
"Hey! Come out here!"
A moment later, three figures emerged from what looked like a small bedroom.
Xu Cheng gestured to each of them in turn.
"This is Wang Hao."
A stocky guy with short-cropped hair nodded. He had the look of someone who spent more time with machines than people.
"Liu Yang."
A thinner guy with a calm demeanor. He gave a slight wave.
"And Chen Lei."
The last one was the youngest-looking of the group. He seemed nervous, fidgeting with his sleeves.
Xu Cheng then turned to face the three of them.
"Everyone, this is Lin Feng."
He paused.
"He wishes to buy our company. And also be our boss."
Silence.
The three of them stared at Lin Feng with wide eyes.
Wang Hao was the first to react. He straightened up immediately.
"Nice to meet you!"
Liu Yang followed, bowing his head slightly.
"Please take care of us."
Chen Lei fumbled over his words.
"W-We'll work hard!"
Lin Feng waved his hand.
"Don't be so respectful. You're all my seniors, after all."
They blinked.
Xu Cheng tilted his head.
"Seniors?"
"I'm a freshman," Lin Feng said simply. "You're all older than me, right?"
The four of them exchanged glances.
A freshman wants to buy our company?
Lin Feng didn't give them time to dwell on it.
"How much do you want for the company?"