Chapter 147 – I’m Investing in This Project

Chen Mo paused mid-bite as he listened to Xu Zhengming’s words.

A money-losing project?

Wasn’t that exactly what he was looking for?

A pet park…
It really didn’t sound that reliable.

And all those investment firms had already rejected the project—clearly, that just confirmed it wasn’t profitable.

After all, those firms had professionals to evaluate these projects.

Good grief.

He’d been racking his brain for a money-losing venture, and now, all it took was a little charity to stumble upon such a “promising” opportunity.

This must be the reward for doing good deeds.

He looked at the slightly tipsy Pang Tao and suddenly found him much more pleasing to the eye.

“Brother Pang, do you have any plans for this project?”

“Of course!”

Pang Tao perked up the moment Chen Mo asked.

“I’ve got five mu of land on the outskirts, around 3,000 square meters. I plan to start by building a small-scale pet park there, and then gradually expand outward from it.”

“My goal is to develop the pet park to be as big as Disneyland. By then, no matter how many stray cats and dogs there are, we’ll be able to take them all in.”

“President Chen, would you be interested in investing?”

As big as Disneyland?

Pang Tao’s ambition was impressive. If he really wanted to build it up step by step into something like Disneyland…

Then it would be a long-term, money-burning project.

Chen Mo did some quick calculations in his head. Not even counting the cost of construction, just the daily meals for all the stray animals would be a huge expense. And since it would be a proper pet park, the animals would have to be cleaned up and kept safe, which meant vaccinations and other preventive measures were a must.

And once the park was up and running, it wouldn’t be a rescue center anymore—it’d be a company.

That meant no relying on volunteers anymore—they’d need proper staff.

Medical expenses, animal care, employee salaries—

Each of these would be a massive financial burden.

“President Chen, don’t listen to Pang Tao rambling. That project of his is completely unrealistic.”

“He’s had a bit too much to drink—don’t take him seriously!” Xu Zhengming hurried to clarify.

“No, I think Brother Pang’s project has real potential. Pet culture is booming these days. Building a pet park could be a very promising venture.”

Chen Mo ignored Xu Zhengming, fixed his gaze on Pang Tao, tapped the table with his palm, and said firmly:

“Brother Pang, I’m investing in your project.”

As soon as the words landed, the room fell into stunned silence.

No one at the table had taken the pet park idea seriously—just some dinner table banter.

No one expected President Chen to actually say he was going to invest.

Even the slightly drunk Pang Tao stared at Chen Mo in disbelief.

“P-President Chen, you’re seriously going to invest in this project?”

He’d only asked on a whim. He never expected President Chen to actually take him up on it.

“Of course. I think your project has great potential. Bring your project plan to my office on Monday and we’ll discuss the investment.”

As Chen Mo spoke, he took out a business card and slid it over to Pang Tao.

As for why Monday—well, the next two days were the weekend. They’d have to wait till Monday.

“President Chen, that project’s been rejected by several investment firms. All of them said it’s unprofitable,” Xu Zhengming said urgently.

President Chen had just donated a ton of dog food—he couldn’t just sit by and watch the man pour money into a black hole.

“It’s fine. I think the project is viable,” Chen Mo said with unwavering determination.

Stop him from losing money? Not a chance.

Seeing how firm President Chen was, Xu Zhengming sighed and didn’t try to argue further.

He could only try persuading Pang Tao instead.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch President Chen jump into a pit!

Dinner ended shortly after.

Chen Mo and the two women, Tang Qiu and Song Xia, took a stroll around the backyard where the rescued stray animals were kept.

The cats and dogs there all looked healthy and energetic—nothing like their former selves as strays.

“So many cats!”

Song Xia held some food in her hand and was immediately swarmed by a whole crowd of cats—there must’ve been over thirty of them.

“Brother Xu, with so many strays here, hasn’t anyone tried adopting them?” Chen Mo asked, glancing around the yard.

He spotted several breeds—Border Collies, Huskies, Golden Retrievers…

Dogs like that should’ve been adopted already.

Xu Zhengming sighed.

“We did organize adoption events before. Quite a few people did come and adopt the animals.”

“But after following up with those adopters, we stopped organizing them.”

“If someone truly wants to adopt now, we review their situation first before deciding whether to allow it.”

“Why’s that?” Chen Mo asked, puzzled.

“Because many of the people who adopted animals didn’t actually love them,” Xu said bitterly.

“Our follow-up investigations found that a lot of the pets were abandoned again—turned back into strays.”

“And the reasons were all over the place—broke up with a boyfriend, so didn’t want the dog anymore. The pet pooped in the house. Or they just stopped thinking it looked cute… all kinds of excuses.”

Xu paused and gave a helpless smile.

“Isn’t it ridiculous? They claim to love cats and dogs, but do the cruelest things.”

“They don’t actually love the animals—they just want a pet to play with. Once they’re bored or annoyed, they throw it away.”

Chen Mo fell silent, his gaze drifting to the cats and dogs in the yard. A good number of them had likely suffered that same fate.

His chest felt tight. He could donate money to help these strays, but he couldn’t change people’s hearts.

People like that would always exist.

Exhaling deeply, Chen Mo pushed the stuffiness in his chest away.

“Brother Xu, would it be possible for me to adopt five dogs?”

“President Chen, why so many?”

“I run a factory. I could use a few dogs there to help keep an eye on the place. Don’t worry—if I adopt them, I won’t abandon them.”

He couldn’t change others, but he could hold himself to a higher standard.

And once he brought the dogs back to his factory, the cafeteria’s leftover food could go straight to them.

That way, he could also shut down Li Shen’s lunchbox business completely, cutting off one of his income streams.

It was a win-win-win situation.