The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 821 The Great Internet Era Has Arrived!!!
At the same time, the popularity of "Happy Farm" has also given rise to a series of unexpected social phenomena.

At a psychological counseling center in Chaoyang District, Beijing, the number of appointments suddenly surged today. Many visitors mentioned that they had recently developed "vegetable stealing anxiety"—they were worried about their own vegetables being stolen, but they couldn't help wanting to steal other people's vegetables.

Psychological counselor Li Wen said, "This is like a modern version of the Prometheus dilemma. These people crave the thrill of stealing vegetables, but are also tormented by moral anxiety."

Offline farm experience tours have also become popular.

Taking advantage of the situation, a farm in Liujiazhuang launched a "real-life Happy Farm" project, where tourists can adopt plots of land to grow vegetables.

Surprisingly, the most popular activity wasn't the planting part, but rather the "vegetable stealing contest" held every Saturday.

Participant Ms. Wang said with a smile, "This kind of permitted 'stealing' actually makes people experience the simple joy of childhood pranks."

Capital with a keen sense of smell quickly followed suit.

A venture capital firm has established a special "rural social networking" track and has invested in more than ten projects, including balcony planting boxes and community farms.

Industry insider Zhang Yi made grand promises to the organization, saying, "We want to transform the virtual value of 'Happy Farm' into a growth point for the real economy."

This trend has even changed the urban landscape.

In the office buildings of Yanjing CBD, many "rooftop farms" have suddenly sprung up.

The sight of office workers wearing straw hats and pollinating tomatoes during their lunch break has become a new urban scene.

The creative director of an advertising company joked, "Now, to judge whether a company is trendy, just look at whether they have a vegetable garden on their rooftop."

The education sector has also noticed this phenomenon.

Many primary and secondary schools have incorporated "Happy Farm" into their labor classes, allowing children to rediscover the meaning of "every grain is hard-earned" through a farming experience that combines virtual and real elements.

Director Ma of the canteen at Liujiazhuang Experimental Third Primary School observed that "after the children participated in planting, the amount of leftover food in the school canteen decreased significantly."

In this nationwide green revolution, the most intriguing aspect is the generational difference.

With the booming development of the domestic Internet in recent years, young people have become addicted to the Internet and unable to extricate themselves.

Currently, the most attractive thing on the internet is online games. Compared to those online games, although Happy Farm has a large number of players, it is still a small "Karami" compared to the number of online game players.

After the turn of the millennium, playing online games suddenly became one of the hottest topics on the internet.

In the new century, with the advancement of technology, video games have evolved from console games to online games.

The year 2000 is widely recognized as the first year of online games at Dongda University.

That year, Huacai Company released its first massively multiplayer online game at Southeast University, which was also the first 3D online game independently developed by Southeast University students. It was called "King of Kings", which opened the door to a market worth hundreds of billions of yuan for Southeast University's online games.

What makes this game special is its brand-new system settings. Depending on the player's chosen class, weapon, and equipment, the combat is full of unpredictability.

During the battle, monsters hit by different skills and weapons will suffer varying degrees of damage, and some special skills can even attack multiple monsters.

In addition, there were PK systems, punishment systems, and job change systems, which brought a brand new experience to the players of Dongda at that time.

Although the internet was not very developed at that time, and personal computers were not yet widespread in China.

However, "King of Kings" reached 10,000 concurrent online users in just one month, thus cultivating the first batch of online game players for Dongda University.

This game successfully entered the Korean market, becoming the first Dongda online game to do so.

Thus began the epic battle of online games at Dongda University.

The popularity of "King of Kings" has inspired many other online game companies to follow suit.

The game "Stone Age", distributed by Yanjing Huayi Company, was officially launched in January of the following year and instantly became a sensation, drawing huge crowds.

Subsequently, games such as "Millennium," "Dragon Raja," and "Red Moon" entered the market at Dongda University, and all sorts of other games followed one after another.

Online games have developed rapidly in the past two years.

This was the year that "Legend of Mir" was released, a game that can be called a legend and is regarded as a classic by countless players.

"At least eight out of ten people in the internet cafe are playing Legend of Mir, and the other two are browsing websites."

Stepping into an internet cafe reveals a scene of intense online battles, proving that this statement is no exaggeration.

In every internet cafe, at least 80% of the people are playing Legend of Mir, casually shouting, "Anyone want to run a dungeon?"

Someone immediately responded: "Which instance? Where is it located?"

Whether we know each other or not, no matter where we come from, as long as you play Legend, we're brothers.

Two people who have no connection in real life become inseparable friends in the legend.

On the battlefield, brothers fought one after another for honor. The screen was filled with walls of fire, and the ground was littered with loot. The shocking scene was unforgettable.

By July of last year, the number of concurrent online users of "Legend" exceeded 500,000, making it the world's largest online game in terms of scale.

This online gaming boom has even spawned entirely new industry chains.

Near Zhongguancun in Yanjing, more than 20 "game boosting studios" sprang up overnight, with neon signs on their glass doors advertising "professional equipment boosting" and "24-hour leveling".

College student Zhang Wei works part-time as a game booster. While operating six accounts, he exclaimed, "Now, helping someone play a game of Zuma Master all night can earn me more than my dad's monthly salary."

Internet cafe owners are enjoying a golden age. Wang Jianjun, the owner of "Extreme Speed ​​Internet Cafe" in Chaoyang District, transformed the second floor into "Legend-themed private rooms," with the walls covered with maps of Shabak City, and even offered free instant noodles.

"At the most intense time, some people chartered planes for up to 72 hours straight. We were worried about our guests, so we tied pillows to their computer chairs to let them rest as much as possible," he recalled, wiping the yellowed keyboard.

Game points cards have become a form of hard currency.

Aunt Li, who runs a small shop at a school, discovered that chocolates that were previously slow to sell would be snapped up as soon as they were labeled "Legendary Gift Pack".

At the subway entrance, you can always see students in school uniforms trading game cards with scalpers using their saved breakfast money, haggling over prices like they're at a stock exchange.

This fervor has also sparked social controversy.

A middle school homeroom teacher confiscated a student's diary which read: "Today I couldn't resist and topped up my account with 50 yuan again, even though we agreed to buy reference books."

Psychologists point out that this "virtual honor hunger" is eroding the values ​​of teenagers.

Meanwhile, the offline player meet-up organized by the official Legend of Mir team brought together countless "comrades-in-arms" who had never met before, and they embraced and wept in real life.

Legend first attracted widespread attention at the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover, Germany in 1999.

After the original Legendary version was released at the end of 1999, it underwent a period of testing and improvement before being officially launched in South Korea in 2000.

At Tokyo University, the legendary game was introduced by Shengda Network Company last year, beginning its legendary journey in the Tokyo University market.

The first version of the legendary game after it entered the University of Tokyo was version 1.01, the Legend of the Three Heroes.

Although it contains many classic elements, there are still many gameplay elements that have not been fully explored.

So, where does the name "Legend of the Three Heroes" come from? It actually embodies the profound heritage of the three major professions in the game.

In this version, the path to leveling up is long and arduous, with many players spending nearly a month to finally reach level 30.

This challenging upgrade process undoubtedly brings players a unique gaming experience.

Next, the legendary game received a major update: the "Wealthy Beyond Measure" version. In this version, the game successfully introduced gambling gameplay and added a new map specifically designed for gambling.

Players can participate in the game by rolling dice, and the final winner will have the opportunity to receive precious blessing oil and three gold bars as a reward.

However, due to the discovery of a major vulnerability in subsequent use, the official team had to regretfully remove it.

The "Demon King Returns Version" released this year is the 1.70 version that players are talking about.

This version greatly enriches the game map, adds numerous bosses and monsters, and brings players a richer gaming experience.

The addition of numerous new maps, bosses, and monsters has greatly enhanced player engagement.

It was the success of this version that allowed the legendary game to stand out in the industry and usher in an unprecedented peak period.

The game boasted a record-breaking number of millions of concurrent online players.

The total number of internet users in China is currently less than 8000 million, yet Legend has already gathered such a huge player base, demonstrating its immense popularity.

This wasn't even the peak of Legend's popularity. At its most powerful, Legend occupied nearly two-thirds of the national online game market.

Given the widespread availability of computers at the time, it was possible to have millions of colleagues online and tens of millions of registered users.

With the popularity of "Legend of Mir," gaming culture has begun to permeate every corner of society.

At newsstands on every street corner, the "Legendary Strategy Guide" was always the first to sell out; music stores played the game's theme song, "Legend of Mir," on a loop; even barbershop windows were plastered with advertisements for "Exclusive Hairstyles for the Lord of Shabak."

The game's economic system even influenced real-world finance.

At a pawnshop in downtown Shanghai, the owner, Mr. Zhou, accepted game equipment as collateral for the first time.

“Last month, a young man used the Judgment Staff as collateral to borrow 3000 yuan to pay his rent.”

This craze has also given rise to a unique "internet cafe culture".

In the internet cafe late at night, shouts of "heal!" and "luring monsters!" echoed one after another.

The legendary success made Shengda Company incredibly wealthy, and its chairman, Chen Tianjiao, became one of the top 20 richest people in China according to Forbes in just a few years.

Chen Tianjiao quickly became a legendary figure.

Speaking of Chen Tianjiao, she grew up in a strict family in Shanghai. Her father was an engineer and her mother was an English teacher.

Chen Tianjiao graduated from a prestigious university in Shanghai. During her time at the university, she served as a student union officer and was a prominent figure on campus.

In 1993, while a junior in college, he became the only "Outstanding Student Cadre Model" in Shanghai. He also completed his credits and graduated early, and started working for a state-owned enterprise in Shanghai.

Chen Tianjiao continued to thrive at this company.

In just four years, he rose from deputy general manager of a subsidiary to secretary to the group's general manager.

Because his boss's office had 24-hour internet access, he was able to access the internet and developed a liking for playing computer games.

From that point on, things spiraled out of control, and fate began to take shape.

Later, because playing games in the office wasn't enough, Chen Tianjiao simply spent a lot of money to buy a high-end computer for his home, and would invite friends over to play games whenever he had time.

The power she wielded in the virtual world gradually captivated Chen Tianjiao.

One year, Chen Tianjiao made a decision that surprised everyone.

At that time, the head of their group company was to be transferred to a new district in Shanghai to serve as the deputy leader in charge of the economy.

The leader invited Chen Tianjiao to accompany him and promised that Chen Tianjiao could become the youngest and most promising secretary in Shanghai, with a bright future.

Chen Tianjiao actually refused.

"Thank you, but that's not my ideal."

Chen Tianjiao was only 25 years old that year, and the Shanghai entertainment industry lost a young talent.

He turned and embarked on his journey to climb the wealth rankings.

After leaving the group company, Chen Tianjiao joined the Shanghai branch of "Jingxi Securities".

In the second year after joining "Jingxi Securities", favorable news about the development of the capital market was released in China, and the Dongda stock market began a spectacular bull market.

Chen Tianjiao also made her first fortune from the stock market boom of "5.19" that year.

The 50 yuan that Chen Tianjiao later used to establish Shengda Network came from this.

At the end of 1999, Chen Tianjiao resigned from "Jingxi Securities" and rented a three-bedroom apartment. Together with his wife and younger brother, a total of six employees, they founded Shengda Network and started creating cartoon websites.

Although Chen Tianjiao resigned from "Jingxi Securities", his abilities were recognized by the company's leaders.

"Jingxi Securities" is no nobody in the capital market. It is a securities company under "Jingxi Capital", a domestic financial giant, and has a huge influence in the domestic securities industry.

Ren Xuewen, then general manager of the Shanghai-based "Jingxi Securities" branch, had high hopes for Chen Tianjiao and wanted to groom him to be his successor, but Chen Tianjiao had other ambitions.

Although Chen Tianjiao resigned from "Jingxi Securities", the lingering connection he left behind remains.

In January 2000, Ren Xuewen, general manager of the Shanghai branch of Jingxi Securities, learned that Chen Tianjiao needed funds to start her business and offered him a helping hand.

Shengda received $500 million in venture capital from Jingxi Securities, laying the foundation for Chen Tianjiao's dream of creating an "online Disney".

With the financial support of Jingxi Securities, Chen Tianjiao used all her savings to buy the Dongda agency rights for "Legend," a second-tier game from South Korea, and subsequently operated several other large-scale online games, including "Legend," "New Hero Gate," and "Crazy Tank."

Under Chen Tianjiao's leadership, Shengda became the world's largest online game operator with the most concurrent users in just a few years.

Today, Shengda Network has nearly 8,000 registered users and more than one million concurrent users, achieving an average monthly sales volume of over 100 million yuan. It holds a market share of over 65% in Southeast University, making it a leader in the university's interactive entertainment industry.

Shengda Networks' revenue reached 8 million yuan last year, with a net profit of 1.5 million yuan.

For a long time, Shengda earned more than two million yuan a day.

Shanda's rapid expansion in the domestic internet market has attracted strong attention from overseas capital.

For the first time, renowned Japanese investment bank SoftBank has extended an olive branch to Shengda.

In a conference room at the Jin Mao Tower in Lujiazui, the SoftBank executive said in fluent Chinese, "Mr. Chen, your company has shown us the infinite possibilities of Dongda Internet." Following this meeting, Shengda secured $100 million in Series A funding.

The injection of capital has given Shengda a significant boost.

Chen Tianjiao immediately set about assembling a 200-person technical team and established what was then Asia's most advanced game server cluster in Zhangjiang High-Tech Park.

On every version update day, the technical department works around the clock, and the Red Bull cans in the office are always piled up like a small mountain.

A year later, Tang Jun, the former president of Microsoft East China University, joined Shengda as president, while Chen Tianjiao continued to serve as chairman and CEO of Shengda. Shengda was listed on NASDAQ.

A week later, the stock price surged from $20 to a high of $47, Shanda Interactive's market value reached $45 billion, and the market value of Shanda Interactive shares held by Chen Tianjiao was also as high as several billion US dollars.

Shengda has become the second-largest internet company in Dongda in terms of market capitalization.

Chen Tianjiao, in her early thirties, became one of the top ten richest people on the Forbes list at Southeast University with a net worth of nearly 20 billion yuan.

(End of this chapter)