Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 352 Everyone Who Steps Out Is a God

On July 4th, the weather in northern Beijing was getting increasingly hot, approaching 30 degrees Celsius. Coupled with the dryness compared to Harbin, the feeling of summer was even more pronounced.

It felt like it was stuck to my face, and I couldn't peel it off.

Zhai Da traveled light; for him, going to northern Beijing wasn't considered a long trip, and a backpack was enough.

With the start of summer vacation, Lu Siwen was no longer in Beijing, but this time she was here on business and was picked up and dropped off by someone.

Sure enough, as soon as I stepped out of the exit, I saw a woman dressed in a white Chanel-style dress and stockings, waving and smiling sweetly.

Li Tiantian, Marketing Director of Xinglang Weibo Business Unit.

With the rapid development of the Weibo platform, this 26-year-old woman's career continues to flourish.

Young and promising, Li Tiantian's experience is still quite remarkable, especially considering the rapid development of internet companies and the emergence of various giants in 09.

An individual's fate often reaches its peak through constant provocation from others. In Li Tiantian's mind, Zhai Da was the lucky star and the one who provoked her, while the other was the big boss of Xinglang.

This time, Zhai Da took the initiative to contact her, and she put aside many other matters to bring people to pick her up.

The two shook hands, and Li Tiantian said gracefully, "Teacher Zhai, you must have had a long journey."

"It's not hard, I'm used to it."

Accompanying Li Tiantian were several people who appeared to be assistants. They tried to take Zhai Da's backpack, but he refused. The group then headed towards the parking lot and boarded the huge Mercedes-Benz van.

It seems that Li Tiantian arranged things according to the standards for receiving celebrities, but it doesn't really matter.

In the car, Zhai Da and Li Tiantian sat side by side and caught up.

"I was just wondering what you've been busy with lately, and it turns out you've started a research institute and are now starting a business."

Although Zhai Da's label has always included the element of "high IQ academic genius," from Li Tiantian's personal perspective, "public figure" takes precedence more.

Even if they're not entertainers, they're still celebrities.

You might hear of celebrities starting out as directors, selling tea, or opening hot pot restaurants, but when you say you've opened a "research institute," something just doesn't feel right.

There's nothing that can be done about it. Public figures who start businesses can gain greater exposure in the market and have a higher starting point than others, but they will naturally face some skepticism in the business world.

People are multifaceted. When Zhai Da is in Harbin, at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or in front of his teachers, his identity as a writer is his least noticeable label. But when he is on the internet and in front of the public, this is his primary label.

At least for now.

Zhai Da had initially considered leaving the press conference to Cheng Mo, becoming a behind-the-scenes boss and keeping the publicity out of his hands.

But in the end, they rejected the idea.

He will give Cheng Mo a sufficient stage, but his control over the entire project and future projects of the research institute cannot be weakened.

Will the future motor project, battery project, and many other things remain behind the scenes if they stay out of the loop now?

Should he change his name to "Zhai Behind the Scenes"?
Most importantly, he is an academic high-achiever and a writer, not a movie star, so there will be less skepticism in this regard.

After a brief discussion, the journey back to the city passed quickly. During the trip, Zhai Da did not unilaterally answer any questions but also inquired about the status of Weibo.

As a social media platform that was born earlier than the original timeline, Weibo's development has undoubtedly been smooth sailing, as can be seen from Li Tiantian's mental state.

Currently, the total number of users is around 7000 million, with more than 2000 million daily active users, surpassing the old platform "Blog" in various dimensions.

From a 09 perspective, it was already the largest and most active internet platform on the market. However, in Zhai Da's view, it was still far from a complete explosion because it lacked a crucial catalyst: smartphones.

Currently, besides the traditional PC login, the main way to log in to Weibo is through a web browser on a mobile phone. A small number of these are Symbian and Java applications, but due to platform limitations, the applications are quite rudimentary.

Hmm. There's also an even more primitive method: SMS login!
Send a text message to the designated number to update your Weibo account directly!
MMS messages can also upload pictures!

When Zhai Da heard about this model, he had a feeling of primitive people using computers to crack walnuts.

People used to live such hard lives.

They're treating netizens like Japanese people.

He has never liked managing his Weibo account himself, partly because it is too cumbersome.

He had two objectives for coming to Sina: one was to discuss the online live streaming of the press conference and pre-event publicity, and the other was to take the opportunity to get Sina connected to Hongtu OS and develop a microblogging application.

Even if it's primitive, he's still the top dog right now, worth winning over, and it's a matter of course. The airport pickup time was already 4 pm, so the first stop arranged by the group was dinner. The car headed towards a high-end restaurant to welcome Zhai Da.

In fact, he came to Beijing very frequently, but he still didn't refuse. He just mentioned in advance that he would invite two friends to dinner. Li Tiantian naturally had no objection to this. In Beijing, it's common to invite people to a table for a gathering.

She had expected a classmate, a friend, or even a celebrity to walk in with a smile, but instead, a seemingly ordinary middle-aged man walked in.

She instinctively stood up and shook hands: "Hello."

Then he looked at Zhai Da and waited for an introduction.

Zhai Da smiled and said, "This is Mr. Yang Jie, the head of the mobile terminal at the telecommunications group."

Li Tiantian immediately squatted down a little.

The handshake was too hasty just now, let's do it again!
"Mr. Yang! Hello, hello!"

What level is this? It's only considered respectable if their headquarters' Boss Cao personally accompanies them.

The head of the mobile terminal at China Telecom isn't just someone from the Beijing branch or any other branch; his responsibilities encompass mobile phones, mobile communications, and some value-added telecommunications services. He doesn't seem too old either; he might just enter politics in a few years.

Zhai Da called General Manager Yang here for a simple purpose: to indirectly prove that "Hongtu OS" was not a joke, but had indeed received the support of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and that they were going to develop it on a large scale.

This is more convincing than him saying 100 sentences himself.

Previously, it seemed to be making a big splash, but in reality, its influence hadn't even reached the ears of internet companies like Xinglang. You could say they weren't in the same circle, or that they weren't qualified.

Soon, another person who organized the gathering arrived: Liu Jun, the head of China Mobile. The two of them came in and left together.

The two major telecom operators appear to be competitors, but in reality, they are closely connected, and the two were even colleagues a few years ago.

Calling just one person wouldn't be good, as it would make the cooperation with "Hongtu OS" seem biased. So Zhai Da simply called them all, as he had already said beforehand that he wanted their endorsement.

The two are quite suitable for the roles.

That's the lowest card.

When following Lu Qinjian, just stroll around taking pictures with your hands hanging down, and then go out that door.
They should be called immortals.

Li Tiantian felt a little flustered. She couldn't handle this level of influence. It was completely different from meeting one or two celebrities before.

Teacher Zhai! You should have let me know in advance if you invited the big shot to come!

Trying to convince me that there's no need to use such a long knife!

However, in the midst of the tension, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration. She vaguely heard that the company was negotiating with the telecom operator about targeted data traffic, but the deal had been stalled at the level below Yang Jie and Liu Jun.

So, while he was in the restroom, he sent a message to his boss, Cao.

"Boss! Come quick!"

Because it wasn't far from Xinglang's headquarters, it was only half an hour away. Cao Guowei, who was in a meeting, rushed over and greeted him with familiar faces as soon as he entered: "President Yang, President Liu, I'm sorry for being late because of a bit of traffic."

It was as if he was part of the whole meal.

Yang and Liu exchanged a glance with Zhai Da, knowing what was going on but saying nothing: "President Cao, we meet again thanks to President Zhai!"

Zhai Da shook hands with Cao Guowei: "Hello, Mr. Cao, nice to meet you for the first time."

Cao Guowei secretly sized up this young man, whom he had previously only thought was a celebrity writer, and wondered to himself how deep his background must be.
Little did they know that Yang Jie and Liu Jun were not Zhai Da's backers.

It's the background panel.

"Hello, Mr. Zhai. We've always had a very pleasant working relationship. We even met backstage at the award ceremony the other day."

Zhai Da smiled and said, "It will be even more enjoyable afterward, right?"

Cao Guowei was taken aback for a moment, then laughed heartily: "Of course, it will be even more enjoyable!"

Judging from the other person's expression.

This matter should be resolved without major issues.

(End of this chapter)