Can following the rules be called rebirth?

Chapter 149, Section 147: A Galaxy of Stars in Their Youth

On the day of the report, the auditorium curtains were drawn tightly, and the huge LED screen shone with a soft light, reflecting rows of upright figures.

Unlike previous award ceremonies or performances, this was a roadshow presentation of the entire "Nanhu University Entrepreneurship Support Program," which was listed by the university as one of the most important review activities of the year.

Therefore, this report was given great importance and was presented on a very large scale.

Not only was the school auditorium specially used, but a red carpet was also specially laid out under the stage to create a completely different and enthusiastic atmosphere.

After all, these days, politics always comes first.

The moment the slogan "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" is proclaimed, the whole country must get moving.

From President Zhang Jinlin and Vice President Han Zetao, who is in charge of innovation and entrepreneurship, to deans of various colleges, representatives from the Academic Affairs Office, Student Affairs Office, Youth League Committee, Media Center, and even relevant leaders from the city who are in charge of university student entrepreneurship projects, representatives were also invited to attend.

The auditorium was filled with an indescribable atmosphere of elitism, and the entrepreneurs in the waiting area were dressed impeccably and looked quite respectable.

Campus media reporters occasionally quietly adjusted their equipment, while faculty and staff representatives discreetly flipped through project brochures.

Don't underestimate this presentation of college student entrepreneurship projects. Those who have made it to this stage are all top talents who have stood out after layers of selection by the departments.

Each business plan presentation should be limited to 15 minutes, including a 3-minute Q&A session.

After discussion by school leaders, the entrepreneurial project with the highest overall score will receive innovation and entrepreneurship policy support from Jiangcheng City.

In a corner of the audience area on the left side of the auditorium, the Publicity Department of the Student Union had reserved a row of seats.

Several students wearing matching blue and white vests were busy adjusting handheld devices and campus media cameras.

They are the media team covering today's startup showcase.

The tasks included on-site filming, interviewing contestants, and compiling the event's promotional materials and the first draft of the report for the campus's official WeChat account the following day.

One of the girls was also wearing a blue and white vest, with a faint smile on her lips, and nudged the girl with a ponytail next to her with her elbow.

She is a new member of the publicity department and also a good friend of Zhong Yujun from the student union. Her name is Mi Youyou.

"Junjun, this startup presentation was much more comfortable than the last welcome party."

"Last time I stood there holding the stabilizer for three hours! It was killing me."

While adjusting the lens focus, Mi Youyou teased Zhong Yujun, who was sitting next to her.

Logically speaking, Zhong Yujun was neither a member of the school media nor wearing a publicity department badge, but after Mi Youyou's repeated invitations, she sat in the back row of the reporters' section.

Everyone in the student council recognized this pretty face, and no one stopped her at all.

When she returned to the auditorium, she was dressed more casually and relaxedly than before.

Wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, with her hair loosely tied in a bun, she looked like a student who had just passed by, completely out of place among the well-dressed entrepreneurs inside.

In fact, she hadn't planned to come at all at first.

Just two days ago, Mi Youyou received news that [Jiayuan Media] and [Jieyou Media] were among the participating projects, so she immediately rushed to the School of Management dormitory building in her slippers.

Upon hearing the news that Zhou Mingyuan and Deng Yuan were going to have a face-to-face competition, she became the first to gossip.

"Junjun, don't you want to watch?! You'll be the one watching the whole thing, sitting in the center, from the official angle, without losing face!"

Not wanting to disturb Xiaomi's work, she initially declined politely.

But when I was browsing my WeChat Moments at noon today, I happened to see that Du Jianuo had updated her status.

——【Good luck with your roadshow! See you at the top!】

The accompanying image is the large logo of Jieyou Media.

Two hours later, she still came as if possessed.

"Junjun, sit still. I'm going to take a close-up picture of you and the venue later."

Mi Youyou held up her camera and whispered something in her ear.

"No, no, no! Go take pictures of the athletes, why are you taking pictures of me!"

Zhong Yujun quickly waved her hand to avoid the camera.

"Because you're pretty~"

Mi Youyou chuckled, spread her hands, and said calmly, "Good audiences also bring traffic."

"Stop talking nonsense. I didn't wash my hair today, so no filming."

She pursed her lips, but her gaze was already fixed on the stage.

The presentation will now begin.

The host walked onto the stage and announced in a clear and loud voice: "Now, please welcome the first group of project representatives—[Xiaole Learning] Nanhu Campus Tutoring Platform."

Three third-year students lined up in a row. The one in the lead was Liu Zhichao, a male student from the mathematics department. He had dark skin, was wearing a gray knitted sweater, and looked slightly nervous.

"Hello teachers, leaders, and students, we are the [Xiao Le Learning] team. Our project is to build an offline tutoring platform based on student real-name authentication."

Their PPT was concise and clear, but the use of templates was obvious.

"What we want to solve is the information asymmetry between the idle time of college students and the demand for tutoring from local primary and secondary school parents."

"By implementing real-name registration, subject authentication, and a parent rating system, we are building a safe and trustworthy tutoring platform."

After the PPT presentation ended, Vice Principal Han Zetao pressed the microphone to begin the interactive Q&A session.

"What is the fundamental difference between your model and traditional part-time job groups or tutoring agencies?"

Vice Principal Han Zetao is the main judge responsible for today's comments.

He was formerly the dean of the School of Finance and is now the vice president in charge of finance. He has been immersed in the relevant field for many years and has extremely rich experience.

Liu Zhichao paused for a moment: "We focus on the internal resources of Nanhu University, have a more rigorous certification mechanism, and have added a post-class feedback function."

Han Zetao rested his chin on his hand and nodded: "How long has the operation cycle been?"

"We've only been online for four weeks, and we've already signed 58 orders, most of which are being fulfilled."

Liu Zhichao replied.

"Okay, next."

Sparse applause came from the audience.

Online tutoring startups are a familiar topic with a touch of innovation.

Although simple, it never lacks practical needs.

The host returned to the stage and announced loudly, "Now, please welcome the second project representative—Campus Convenience Store [Juzi Shop]!"

The next group is a couple.

The girls, dressed fashionably, were in charge of the presentation, while the boys stood next to the screen with remote controls, manipulating the PowerPoint presentation.

"Hello, leaders. We are the [Juzipu] convenience service project."

"The starting point is to combine self-service vending machines with unmanned delivery in dormitories to solve the problem of students being too lazy to go out to buy water, snacks, and tissues. Currently, one shelf has been set up in each of the three dormitory buildings."

The girl spoke quickly and enthusiastically: "Our core innovation is..."

The PPT displayed an analytical chart showing that "hot beverage sales increased by 33% on rainy days," demonstrating basic business acumen.

During the interactive session, Han Zetao asked, "What is your profit model?"

"The gross profit margin is about 20%, and the current monthly turnover is 4000 yuan."

The academic affairs office leader turned his head and couldn't help but whisper to his colleague, "This is more like a part-time job."

However, some school leaders expressed their approval.

This can also be considered one of the ways to start a small but excellent business.

Next up on stage was a senior female student majoring in visual communication, whose project was titled "Tales Between Fingers".

She wore a long linen dress, exuding an artistic and literary air, with photos of her own handmade fabric works displayed on a showcase behind her.

"Hello, leaders. My name is Cen Cuizhu." "I started doing handmade fabric crafts in my freshman year of college. I make handmade sachets, modify canvas bags, and also opened a Taobao store."

"【Fingertips】is not just a small shop to me, but also a window to spread the aesthetics of Eastern life."

A few soft murmurs of admiration rose from the audience.

The teachers, especially those from the art academy, were immediately impressed and nodded repeatedly.

She showcased dozens of handicrafts, paired with her own photographs and captions, which truly captured the essence of traditional Chinese aesthetics.

Before the PPT was finished, Han Zetao pressed the microphone and began asking questions.

"Are you doing this all by yourself now?"

"Yes, Principal Han, I independently completed the design, production, photography, customer service, and logistics."

Cen Cuizhu nodded.

"They are very capable, but if they handle the entire process themselves, isn't it easy for them to develop a path dependency?"

Han Zetao hit the nail on the head.

Cen Cuizhu paused for a moment and said in a low voice.

"If there are funds and people willing to cooperate, of course I would."

"The artistic level is very high, but scaling up is a problem."

Han Zetao concluded.

Zhong Yujun, sitting quietly in the audience on the left, remained seated throughout.

As the first few projects were presented, her gaze remained largely unmoved.

When it was Jiayuan Media's turn to give their presentation, a rather familiar face walked onto the stage.

Mi Youyou couldn't help but click her tongue, shaking her hand that was gripping the camera: "Senior Deng Yuan looks much more professional."

"Look at his suit!"

Zhong Yujun smiled and pursed her lips.

Anyone who has met Deng Yuan would not deny one fact.

Deng Yuan, who comes from an extremely privileged background, does indeed possess a certain personal charisma.

Her voice is steady, her words are precise, and her demeanor is relaxed; she almost never gets stage fright in public situations where she needs to express herself.

"Next, please welcome Deng Yuan to introduce the [Jiayuan Media] MCN project."

The audience fell silent instantly.

Deng Yuan was known for his organizational skills during his time in the student council, and now that he is participating in the competition as an MCN project, he has naturally attracted a lot of attention.

He walked onto the stage with a brisk pace, wearing a silver-gray tailored suit and a highly persuasive smile.

"Respected judges and fellow students, I am Deng Yuan, and today I will be presenting our MCN startup project: Jiayuan Media."

He pressed the remote control, and the PPT cover displayed dazzling animation effects and the platform logo.

A pink, round icon reads "Jiayuan".

"We focus on emotions, entertainment, and lifestyle, with [this as our main focus]..."

Deng Yuan continued, "Currently, our platform has signed 27 content creators and produced many hit videos, with the highest single-episode viewership reaching 47."

"What is your profit model? Could you please show us?"

Han Zetao is a knowledgeable person.

Halfway through the presentation, he realized that Deng Yuan was all show and no substance, both in his PowerPoint presentation and his appearance.

They made exaggerated claims, saying things like "investment of over 300,000 yuan" and "number of views."
What about profitability?
To put it bluntly, coming to this place to do a roadshow is like an entrepreneur looking for venture capital, all for the sake of getting real financial support from the school.

How can you get a high score if you can't see the profit potential?
"Currently in the content incubation stage, it is expected that seven influencers will officially sign contracts with live streaming platforms this month, at which time more detailed monetization methods will be available."

Deng Yuan cleared his throat, smiled, and revealed eight white teeth.

But the applause wasn't enthusiastic.

In the auditorium, on the left side of the row, in the representative section belonging to the school's Youth League Committee, Shen Yunrong sat on the side closest to the aisle.

She wore a dark blue shirt, her hair was simply tied up, and she had almost no makeup on, yet she exuded a dignified and capable aura.

Among all the attendees at this presentation, she was surprisingly the youngest mentor for entrepreneurial projects.

Therefore, Shen Yunrong, who was sitting in her seat, was very serious.

Beside me was a printed list of conference projects and a notebook filled with a page of cursive writing.

The first half of the page is used to mark important information, while the second half is used to record questions or ideas.

From the very beginning, she paid close attention to the pace and atmosphere of each student project.

The "Xiao Le Learning" project made her nod.

Although rudimentary, it is logically sound and addresses a real need.

The name "Orange Shop" brought a smile to her face. She remembered when she first started working there a few years ago, she had also helped students with a pilot project for vending machines.

【Tales Between Fingers】inspired her to write in her notebook: “Artistic creators can collaborate with Jieyou Media.”

But when Jiayuan Media took the stage, she frowned almost imperceptibly.

Deng Yuan's suit, smooth-talking words, and exaggerated PPT all gave her a feeling of being out of touch with reality.

She doesn't like this kind of over-packaging.

The deliberately staged videos in the PPT, and the fake couple games played in pursuit of traffic, all made her feel very uncomfortable.

Especially when one of the lines appeared, "A three-minute infatuation in love is actually an optimal screening strategy," her eyes noticeably turned colder.

"What values ​​are being promoted?"

Shen Yunrong's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but take a deep breath.

Another young lecturer sitting next to her said softly, "These days, when students create content to attract traffic, it seems they all tend to go down the path of exaggeration and gimmicks."

"But dating isn't a scripted variety show."

Shen Yunrong replied casually, her pen gripping tightly as she circled keywords in her notebook.

After the first few groups finished their presentations, the atmosphere became somewhat tiring.

After a slight adjustment of the stage lighting, the host gracefully returned to the stage.

"Next project, please have Zhou Mingyuan from the Law School report on the operation of [Jieyou Media]."

The air in the auditorium seemed to be sucked out for a moment.

Sitting in the last row, Deng Yuan's gaze darkened slightly as he slowly leaned back in his chair, staring intently at the figure about to walk onto the stage.

He knew that, compared to other startups, the real competition was between the two MCN companies.

A spotlight was fixed on the entrance to the auditorium passageway.

Zhou Mingyuan wore a dark gray suit with a neat cut, paired with a navy blue striped tie. His face was calm and his steps were steady.

He walked slowly, with a very steady stride, as if he were born with the demeanor of a workplace elite.

"Good morning, leaders. I am Zhou Mingyuan, the founder of Jieyou Media."

The man paused, straightened his posture, and pressed the control button in his hand.

The PowerPoint presentation on the screen opened immediately.

(End of this chapter)