The Nerd Who Conquered The World

chapter 17: The Empire's Blueprint

Lin Chen finally stopped typing, his fingers hurt and he was tired already. He closed the laptop and moved to his bedroom, the exhaustion from the celebration hit him the moment he stepped through the door, as he switched his phone off without even reading the flood of messages waiting there, congratulations from people he knew, and from plenty he didn't. Tomorrow, the real work will begin. And the plan for his empire will start.

He slept off as soon as he hit the bed dozing when he heard sounds that woke him up.

Thud!!

He woke up to the sound of knocking. Groggy, he stumbled to the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Fatty Hao."

He opened it to find Liang Hao standing there in a suit, a suit that had clearly declared war on his stomach. It looked too tight for his chubby stomach, only the middle button could close, and even that looked like it was losing as it was about to burst.

Liang Hao sucked in his gut, held the pose, and announced with a straight face, "Comrade Liang Hao, reporting for duty."

Lin Chen just stared at him giving him a blank look "It's not even nine. Why are you here already?"

"You messaged me last night saying the plan starts today. So I'm ready for anything, who are we fighting against, what company are we taking over, or are we starting afresh. Then let's start in a garage like Steve jobs, then I know a place we can use."

Lin y watched as comrade Liang Hao continued talking as he went to take a short rest on the chair.

When Liang Hao finally noticed Lin Chen was half asleep amid his glorious speech. He tapped him angrily.

“Comrade Lin Chen what are you doing, the country is waiting for your glorious industrial revolution.”

"Yeah, yeah, Give me a minute to get freshen up" Lin Chen said as he grumbled on his way back inside

He changed into jeans and a polo. By the time he came back out, Liang Hao had already flipped the lights on and set out soybean milk and tofu, like he'd raided the kitchen the second Lin Chen's back was turned. Lin Chen sat, took a sip, picked up a piece of tofu. "Good."

"Of course it's good," Liang Hao said, puffing up like he'd made it himself instead of buying it downstairs.

"So where do we start?"

"Start what? The plan. Don't tell me you forgot already."

"I didn't forget." Lin Chen pulled on a shirt of his own, tugging at the collar. It didn't fit the moment the way he wanted it to; it just felt like fabric. "We need to register a company and we need office space."

"Leave that to me." Liang Hao waved a hand like he was brushing away a fly. "Just follow my lead."

"You actually know how to do this?"

"Of course. My dad used to talk business at the dinner table for hours. I never listened. All I wanted was to be a salted fish, live off the family money, do nothing." He shrugged. "Turns out some of it stuck anyway."

Lin Chen almost laughed. There was something reassuring about that Liang Hao playing useless for years and then turning out to be exactly the person he needed. "Fine. Let's go."

"Get in. I'll drive."

They drove to the commercial building that handled business registrations downtown. Lin Chen watched the city slide past the window the same streets he'd walked a hundred times as a nobody, though nothing about them looked different today. He wondered, distantly, if they should.

At the reception desk, a young woman sat typing, not bothering to look up until Lin Chen cleared his throat. She adjusted her glasses and finally met his eyes. "Hello, welcome. How can I help you?"

"I'm Lin Chen. This is Liang Hao, my partner. We'd like to register a company."

"Okay." She pointed to a sign with an account number. "Registration f*e is five thousand yuan. I'll get it started once that's through."

He transferred the money, as she confirmed payment first then stamped the paperwork and slid the receipt across as they filled out the form. On the line for the company's name, Lin Chen paused only a second before writing it down.

Athena Technologies.

Liang Hao read it upside down and nodded slowly. "Athena Technologies. Not bad. You've got my naming sense."

"If I'd left it to you," Lin Chen said dryly, "we'd be called Dominator Technologies."

"I did think of that." Liang Hao looked genuinely wounded that it hadn't been used. "I still think it had more aura and screams of glory."

"No."

"Just saying." He sulked for exactly three seconds before losing interest.

The receptionist asked, without looking up from her screen, "How much is your registered startup capital again?"

"Ten million yuan."

That got her attention. She looked up properly this time, taking him in the jeans-and-polo build which cost less than 500 yuan in total and a face that still had college graduate written all over it. "Ten million? You're sure that's not a typo?"

He slid the proof of funds across the counter without a word.

Her expression shifted, just slightly surprised, folding into something more careful, more respectful as she put on a graceful smile "Guess you should never judge a book by its cover." She smiled and got to work on the paperwork properly.

Outside, with the license in hand, Liang Hao clapped his palms together. "Next to the office space."

"Should I call my dad?" he offered.

"No." Lin Chen shook his head. He didn't want to lean on Uncle Liang for this not yet, maybe not ever, if he could help it. "I know someone, who can help"

He scrolled to Su Xin's contact and called.

"Hello, Su Xin. You said I could call if I needed anything."

"You're Lin Chen, right?" Az the voice paused for a moment and then replied with warmth. "I've been expecting this call. Just didn't think it'd come so soon."

"Are you free right now?"

"For you? Sure. What's up?"

"Can we meet?"

"No problem."

They found her waiting in a coffee shop near the registration office, already seated, already dressed sharply in a business suit that made her look like she belonged to the skyline outside the window rather than the plastic chairs inside. She stood as they approached.

"Lin Chen. Wow, you're popular these days. Aren't you the developer behind ClearShield?"

"That's me."

Liang Hao stepped in before Lin Chen could say anything else, straightening an invisible tie. "Ah, beautiful lady, I'm Liang Hao, partner of Lin Chen. I practically raised him through college and taught him everything he knows, if we're being honest."

Lin Chen shoved him half a step sideways. "This is my friend, Liang Hao."

Su Xin shook Liang Hao's hand anyway, polite and unbothered. Liang Hao held on a beat too long, grinning. "Wow. Soft hands."

Lin Chen leaned in close enough that only Liang Hao could hear. "Turn it off, don't creep her out."

To Su Xin, he said, "We're looking for office space. I remembered you mentioned you might know of something."

"Oh actually, yes. There's a place not far from here,within walking distance from here."

They followed her a few blocks to a modest five-story building, up to the third floor, where she unlocked a door onto an empty unit. The late morning light came in through the windows and spilled across bare concrete, and past the glass, the city stretched out in a haze of rooftops and cranes. Not the view he'd pictured for the beginning of an empire, no glittering downtown skyline, nothing dramatic but it was real, and it was his to fill. A place to make into a headquarters, whatever came out of nothing.

"This is good." He turned slowly, taking deep breaths as he took in the space. "How much is it?"

"A hundred twenty thousand a year."

"I'll take it."

Su xin beamed a smile a she heard that. "I'll draw up the contract. Why don't you ook around while I sort the paperwork."

She stepped out after as Lin Chen wandered the empty rooms, footsteps echoing off bare walls, while Liang Hao trailed behind with his hands clasped behind his back like a general inspecting new territory.

"Not bad," Liang Hao said as he nodded.

"Good enough for a startup."

"Bit bare, though."

"We'll fill it. One thing at a time."

Su Xin returned with the signed contract, and they made it official on the spot. Before she left, she told them to message her if they needed anything else and then she was gone, heels clicking off down the hallway.

Lin Chen stood alone in the empty space for a moment, the quiet settling over him. For now it was empty with no furniture. No employees. No product finished yet. Just four bare walls and a piece of paper with his name on it.

He smiled for a moment as he felt a feeling well up in his chest.

"Good," he said quietly, to no one. "The empire is starting."