Restart life

Chapter 579 0567 [A New Stage]

The "flaunting wealth contest" is getting more and more popular, and it hasn't stopped even after a week.

Inspired by this, ByteDance's Weibo division began planning other competitions and named this series of competitions "Project Abstraction".

Firstly, to make fun of their own chairman.

Secondly, it's also a precise summary of the series of events. Because the various competitions they're launching are becoming increasingly abstract!

Take, for example, their "Long Legs Contest" that they are planning.

The first step is to invite handsome men and beautiful women to take photos and show off their long legs.

After hyping this up, the second step is to create examples and encourage netizens to play with abstract concepts. For example, photoshopping legs to make them look obviously fake, replacing Yao Ming's upper body with their own, wearing stilts and pants to pretend to have long legs, or a burly man showing off his hairy legs, etc.

It's obvious that ByteDance's planning staff are heavily influenced by their boss, Chen Kaige. They've all developed a severe case of abstract thinking.

Their "abstract project" has filled the rest of the year with something different every month.

As August began, "Uncle Hat" kept coming to our door or contacting ByteDance online to obtain relevant evidence!
Faced with a deluge of online rumors, the authorities finally took action, launching a nationwide crackdown on such rumors.

The first person to be arrested was "Qin Huohuo," a habitual rumor-monger.

Many rumors circulated during the high-speed train accident, and this guy's rumors had a huge impact. He claimed that every foreign passenger who died in the accident received 3000 million euros in compensation, a differential treatment compared to Chinese victims.

They also spread rumors that, influenced by Guo Meimei, donations to the Red Cross had drastically decreased, and that employees of companies and organizations across the country were required to donate to the Red Cross based on their length of service. The rumor stated that a donation of 100 yuan was required for each year of service, and that those who did not donate would have the amount deducted directly from their wages.

Qin Huohuo fabricated countless similar rumors.

After his real account was banned, he used a new account to continue spreading rumors, registering more than a dozen Weibo accounts in total.

He was convicted of multiple crimes and sentenced to three years in prison.

The reason for the heavy sentence is that he also spread rumors and defamed many celebrities. Furthermore, he illegally profited from spreading rumors and participated in the formation of an online propaganda team for deliberate planning.

What's even more absurd is that after Qin Huohuo was arrested, many online influencers were still defending him and calling him innocent, with countless misled netizens jumping around and cursing "Uncle Hat".

"The higher-ups finally made their move; all that evidence we've been saving for so long wasn't for nothing." Xie Yang lay on the restaurant sofa.

Yesterday, Chen Guiliang got his marriage certificate, and today he held a small banquet at his cousin's restaurant, inviting only company executives and some friends.

Qin Shanshan was invited; she was a classmate of Chen Guiliang and Bian Guanyue.

Chen Guiliang sighed, "Alas, Weibo is turning into a cesspool; I'm embarrassed to even call it my own product."

Ao Yanchen said, "We can't manage it all, what can we do? Just like Qin Huohuo, he bans one account and then just changes to another. He also has his own QQ and WeChat fan groups, and he can become popular again very quickly after changing to a new account."

Lu Zhihui joked, "It would be great if the boss's wife was pregnant with a daughter. My son just turned 100 days old, so he can work hard from a young age. Who knows, he might marry into a wealthy family."

Dong Qianqiu laughed and said, "Childhood sweethearts can't compete with someone who falls from the sky, so stop daydreaming."

"Who wants to play mahjong?" Qin Shanshan called out while chatting with Bian Guanyue.

Xie Yang said, "Count me in. If we're going to play, let's play Sichuan mahjong. I haven't played Sichuan mahjong in years."

"I don't know how to make Sichuan hemp."

"I do not know either."

“Ao Yanchen, you come and join us for a table. You're from Shancheng, you'll definitely be able to.”

"..."

Soon, a mahjong table was set up, followed by a table of Dou Dizhu (a card game) and a table of Texas Hold'em. A few people who had other things to do said goodbye and left.

Bian Guanyue, her pregnant belly now quite noticeable, sat down and chatted with Ao Yanchen and the others while playing cards.

While playing cards, Zhou Guangping said, "The engineering prototypes of Yaoguang Pro and Plus have been released. The body is thinner than last year, but it is still not as thin as the iPhone 5. If we want to make it thinner, we must use a motherboard designed in-house."

"Our self-developed mobile phone motherboard should be usable this year, right?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Zhou Guangping said, "I dare not use it directly on flagship phones. I will test its effects on mid-range and low-end models first. The current HarmonyOS flagship phone is the Seven Stars series. I plan to create a mid-range series and a low-end series as well. I wonder what the iPhone 5 will look like this year."

"The chip in the iPhone 5 is amazing. I heard it from a foreign friend. The information seems pretty reliable," Chen Guiliang said, making things up.

Ye Peng laughed and said, "You don't need your foreign friend to tell us. Apple's chips have doubled in performance every year for the past few years. That's amazing! We also need to increase our investment in scientific research."

Zhou Guangping said, "We can't increase it any further. The current R&D expenditure of HarmonyOS is too high. In addition to developing our own motherboards and power chips, we have also upgraded fingerprint and voice recognition this year. We have also set up nearly ten joint laboratories in other areas."

Guo Feng advised, "Talk less about work and focus on the game. Should we call or not?"

"All in." Chen Guiliang pushed all his chips out.

My cousin's restaurant doesn't use professional chips; they use chopsticks instead.

"Damn, what kind of hand do you have? You're already frying fish?" Shi Qian hesitated, holding a half-sized pair in his hand.

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "Yes, A. Do you believe it?"

"No more."

"I don't want it either."

Guo Feng turned his hand over: "I'm the one with the Ace. Let's open it, just one round."

Chen Guiliang turned his cards over: "I have a pair and I'm going for a winning hand."

Guo Feng's girlfriend said, "Based on the three community cards, my crazy guy's winning probability is about 60%."

"Playing cards like this is no fun. We're all amateurs, why bother calculating win rates?" Chen Guiliang complained. The waitress, who was acting as a part-time dealer, dealt two cards in a row.

Chen Guiliang didn't hear the flower, and instead sent him a three of a kind. He won all of Guo Feng's chopstick chips.

Guo Feng pursed his lips.

Qu Guohao said, "More and more people are playing card and board games on their phones now, and Youke platform still can't compete with QQ platform. QQ is too good at attracting traffic, especially for casual and card and board games."

"Take your time, there's no rush," Chen Guiliang said.

Qu Guohao added, "Lianzhong has also returned. The management bought back shares, abandoned other businesses, and focused on card and board games and casual games. The data has soared in the past two years. I feel that some of Lianzhong's games have already involved gambling."

Chen Guiliang said, "It's hard to define between gambling and gaming. But if they keep going like this, they'll eventually end up working as sewing machines."

The executives at Lianzhong are indeed getting more and more outrageous.

Later, they even allowed cash betting, with the platform taking a 5% cut—they practically disregarded Uncle Hat. A total of 36 mid-to-high-level executives of Lianzhong were arrested!
Everyone played all afternoon, and after dinner, they went their separate ways.

As darkness fell, we encountered a traffic jam.

Stuck on Qianmen Street, Chen Guiliang looked at the congested traffic and the distant lights, his drunkenness rising, and he couldn't help but sigh, "Do you remember the first time we came to Beijing?"

Bian Guanyue leaned on his shoulder and laughed, "I remember, you took a taxi to take me to school to register. That was my first time traveling far from home, and I had many dreams about the world and the future."

Chen Guiliang asked, "And now?"

“I’m feeling a bit lost right now,” Bian Guanyue said. “I’ll graduate with my bachelor’s degree and then my master’s degree in the blink of an eye. The reason I’m pursuing a doctorate is that I don’t know what I should do.”

“You’re not suited for the workforce; it’s good for you to stay in academia. You can stay at the university after you graduate with your doctorate,” Chen Guiliang suggested.

Bian Guanyue said, "We'll see then. Do you remember the first time we met?"

Chen Guiliang said, "I remember. A is a bit bigger now."

"So you thought I was too young!"

Bian Guanyue was so angry that she pinched Chen Guiliang's waist, causing Old Master Chen to gasp in pain.

After venting for a while, Bian Guanyue said, "I didn't even notice you at the time, but Li Jun and Guan Zhiqiang left a deep impression on me. Those two are obviously crazy, haha."

Chen Guiliang said, "You really misjudged him. Guan Zhiqiang is a very clever man; he's been playing dumb all along to outsmart everyone."

"Really?" Bian Guanyue didn't believe it.

Chen Guiliang said, "Guan Zhiqiang is already a cadre in the school's logistics department, and I estimate that he will become a junior leader in a few years."

“I really didn’t realize that,” Bian Guanyue sighed. “Speaking of these old classmates, I actually miss my college roommates quite a bit. After I give birth and finish my postpartum confinement, I’ll go and catch up with them.”

“I’ll go with you,” Chen Guiliang said.

Bian Guanyue smiled and said, "Of those girls, only one stayed in the capital. Do you remember Lin Ruonan?"

“I remember, she always wanted my phone number,” Chen Guiliang said.

Bian Guanyue said, "She chatted with me on QQ last month."

Chen Guiliang asked, "What are you talking about?"

Bian Guanyue said, "Her current situation: Her family is in business, and she got married not long after graduating. They were a good match. Her husband is a returnee from overseas and has a lot of fun. Now they each have their own affairs and don't get a divorce. She also suspects that her husband is bisexual, saying that she saw him touching a handsome guy's butt."

"Awesome," Chen Guiliang exclaimed.

The car moved forward inching forward, its speed as slow as a tortoise crawling.

Bian Guanyue began to talk about the current situation of her college roommates.

One of his roommates was an employee of ByteDance. When that roommate was looking for a job after graduation, Bian Guanyue helped him get in through connections, but Chen Guiliang had already forgotten about it.

As they chatted, Bian Guanyue said, "Have you noticed that Xie Yang and Qin Shanshan seem to have something going on?"

"The two of them?" Chen Guiliang said.

Bian Guanyue said, "Qin Shanshan admires strength a bit, and doesn't care that much about looks. Xie Yang, on the other hand, likes to look at girls' faces. The two of them were playing cards this afternoon, laughing and joking very intimately. This intimacy has gone beyond the boundaries of old classmates, and it's a bit like flirting. But they're probably too familiar with each other to say anything, and they're still in the testing phase."

Chen Guiliang said, "Don't meddle in their private affairs. Anyway, one is at ByteDance and the other is at HarmonyOS, and the two companies are operating independently now."

Qin Shanshan is now working for Ye Peng and has just been promoted to assistant vice president of HarmonyOS Technology.

Bian Guanyue took out her phone and sent a message to her undergraduate roommates' group chat: "Is anyone there?"

"The landlady has shown up!"

"Rich woman seeking sugar daddy/sugar baby, please don't mind gender."

"Sigh, working overtime, still rushing to finish materials."

"Sisters, let's get together in Guangzhou sometime. My treat!"

"..."

Bian Guanyue looked at the lively group chat with her roommates and a faint smile appeared on her face. The arguments from their university days were no longer important; only fond memories remained.

These past two days, she's been reminiscing about the past and feeling melancholic, partly because she's pregnant and tends to overthink, and partly because she's just gotten her marriage certificate and started real married life.

What will the future hold?
-

(I made a blunder in the previous chapter, thinking the Total War series was a Paradox Interactive game.)
(End of this chapter)