A perfect life begins with changing the timeline.

Chapter 163 HAO123, Takeoff

What is the circulation of the Southern Metropolis Daily?

This is a question that people outside the industry may never care about in their entire lives.

The answer is: 113 million.

Although it does not cover the entire country, it has a daily circulation of 1.13 million copies in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions.

These are statistics from 2000.

It hasn't been released yet this year.

In other words, aside from the newsstands that sell the newspapers, its newspapers are on the tables of at least hundreds of thousands of people every day.

As for the information in the newspaper, no matter who has a headache or fever, or the everyday gossip in which neighborhood, as long as it becomes news and is printed, it guarantees that hundreds of thousands of people will know about it.

This is also the main reason why the media industry and the film and television industry have always been intertwined.

This is a top-tier publicity channel.

Even a small news item in a newspaper with hundreds of thousands of readers can cause a stir.

Moreover, Li Mu's press release was a full 1,300 words long.

Two more photos were added.

At least half a page.

At the same time, thanks to his meticulous revisions, the article, free of typos and grammatical errors, reads exceptionally smoothly.

Lin Naichen read it in one breath without pausing.

Even though he was holding a red pen in his hand.

"Um……"

After reading it, he made a small noise.

But then he fell silent.

He just squinted, recalling his impressions of the news article.

After a moment, he looked up and asked:

"According to your interview, this HAO123 website is actually a collection of all websites?"

"right!"

Li Mu nodded:

"They've categorized all the websites together, so you don't need to type in the URL; you can just click to go to where you want... But, editor-in-chief, the important thing isn't this website, although I admit it's novel. Don't you think the story of the entrepreneur, Li Xingping, is more interesting? He dropped out of school at a young age, worked odd jobs, and started this kind of website based on practical needs. It fits the theme of the current entrepreneurial boom perfectly, and with our ever-increasing number of internet users, this kind of website truly starts from the practical direction of solving needs..."

"……Um."

Lin Naichen nodded again, continued to look at Li Mu's article, and said:

"It's really good. It has some newsworthy moments, and it can also provide valuable lessons for entrepreneurs, helping them understand that everything should start from the needs of the people... The article is excellent."

Hearing him say that, Li Mu felt reassured.

"Should I submit it for review?"

"Yes, that's fine. We're actually short on news these days."

Li Mu's expression brightened with joy.

Lack of news? Doesn't that mean there'll be a good space for it?

This is a golden opportunity.

So he took the manuscript and went straight to the editor's office.

After submitting it, it was almost time to leave work.

As he was packing up to leave work, Fatty Sui, whom he hadn't seen all day, returned looking travel-worn.

"Why did you come back after everyone's off work?"

Seeing Li Mu's puzzled look, Sui Kuan shook his head slightly and took out a camera from his cabinet:

"I'm going on a business trip with Brother Bin tomorrow, so I'm leaving now!"

"Uh... okay."

Watching Fatty Sui's hurried footsteps, Li Mu nodded and watched him leave. Without thinking much about it, he clocked out and left work.

He didn't ask what he was going to do, nor was there any need to ask.

Although Sui Kuan initially followed Brother Bie, now Brother Bin is teaching him step by step.

The difference is now clear.

……

Li Mu's report was published on December 16th.

Early on the morning of the 16th, he saw the report "HAO123" in the newspaper.

So he immediately dialed Li Xingping's number.

After Li Xingping answered the call in a daze, Li Mu didn't waste any words and said directly:

"Ping-ge, my article has been published in the newspaper. Remember to buy a copy and read it after you wake up."

"Uh... um!?... Okay, Mr. Li, I'll go buy it right now."

"Ha, no need to rush. You've already read the manuscript, right? I reckon the website traffic will increase these next few days. Are you ready?"

"Don't worry, everything is prepared, I guarantee there won't be any problems!"

Li Mu firmly believes in the publicity effect that the Southern Metropolis Daily, with its one million copies published, can bring.

And as it turns out, the Southern Metropolis Daily did not disappoint him.

In the afternoon, Li Mu received a text message from Li Xingping:

"Mr. Li! The website just crashed for a moment, but it was back up in three minutes! I just checked the backend, and the IP visitor count has already reached 9,700. Breaking 10,000 today is definitely not a problem!"

One IP address corresponds to one computer or one internet cafe.

In other words, less than half a day after the newspaper was published, a huge amount of traffic was redirected to HAO123.

"Tsk."

Sitting at his workstation, he felt a strange sense of regret.

Unfortunately, this is just a newspaper, not a magazine... Although newspapers have a large circulation, they are updated too quickly.

If HAO123 had a week to spare... what would it be like?

Regardless of how you look at it, he kept his promise and used the advantages of his platform to promote HAO123.

As for what effect this website will achieve after the promotion... let's wait and see.

……

Time flies, and it's the weekend.

Li Mu stayed home obediently for two days.

There was nothing I could do; my girlfriend went to Shanghai to shoot a magazine cover.

Rayli magazine asked her to shoot their New Year issue. Although they didn't pay her much, publications in well-known domestic fashion magazines, especially during major holidays, are a significant indicator of a celebrity's status.

She didn't dare to do anything reckless.

So Li Mu didn't disturb them and stayed home to read and recharge. He also arranged to interview Brother Zhou Jian about the "Four Little Actresses".

This older brother ranked Meiting and the nursery in the top two... Li Muxin said that the views of public institutions and private enterprises are different.

They are completely different.

Furthermore, Li Mu had another piece of good news: since the newspaper was published on the 16th, the number of IP visits that day exceeded 10,000. The highest record was set at 8:23 PM, when HAO123's IP access address surpassed 30,000.

For a small website that has just begun to operate formally, this is like a windfall.

And that's not even the most remarkable thing. The most remarkable thing is... ever since it broke 30,000, HAO123's daily IP access has remained consistently at 35,000+.

This website retains its visitors by leveraging the advantages of its comprehensive index, resulting in high user engagement.

The first step of the plan, in which I, as the major shareholder, joined, can be said to have exceeded expectations!

Seeing that his plan was working, Li Mu immediately came up with the second step of the plan.

Sunday evening.

HAO123 [Headquarters].

Although it's called the headquarters, which sounds impressive, it's actually just a small office space of less than 50 square meters.

On the small table, there was half a roast goose, two bowls of porridge, a vegetable dish, and a package of stir-fried beef noodles, which was packed up to be Li Xingping's late-night snack.

Looking at Li Xingping sitting across from him, gnawing on a roast goose leg, Li Mu said directly:

"Brother Ping, I have an idea. Do you know anyone who installs computers and operating systems for internet cafes?"

"?"

Li Xingping was taken aback. He nodded first, then asked:

"I know him, so what?"

Have you considered collaborating with them?

"...Cooperate on what?"

"It's like... the kind of system restore software that's installed in internet cafes, embedding our website inside it."

"The kind that restores spirits?"

"Yes, these should be a must-have for internet cafes, right?"

"Of course, if someone messes with it and breaks the system, you can use a system restore tool to restore it directly... Oh, I understand what you mean."

Look at that, he's a smart person after all.

Li Mu only mentioned it briefly, but Li Xingping already understood his meaning:

"You mean, you want to create a small program, like a system restore utility, and embed it into something like a system restore utility, so that the initial system browser homepage becomes our website?"

"That's right."

Seeing that he understood, Li Mu stopped talking and asked:

"How about it? Can you do it?"

"this……"

Li Xingping thought for a moment and said:

"Shouldn't we pay them? Is this considered a lost cause?"

"Let's talk. Or... could you look for software specifically for installing operating systems? When I installed the system on my laptop, I saw people use a USB drive, plug it into the computer, and then an interface appeared to start the installation... Are there people making that kind of thing?"

"Those are all pirated XP systems... You're planning to embed this one too?"

"Brother Ping, piracy and legitimate software have nothing to do with us. What we want to do is ensure that no matter whether people are using a legitimate or pirated system, once the computer is installed, our system will be their homepage. Do you have any connections?"

"this……"

Li Xingping fell into deep thought.

Although he is not as well-educated as Li Mu, it doesn't mean he is stupid.

Having worked as a network administrator for so long, he naturally understands things like computer installation.

So, following Li Mu's line of thought and pondering it...

Honestly, is this procedure difficult?

It's not difficult at all. It's just a matter of writing a small program in the system installation to change the system's default Microsoft website to HAO123.

These computer systems all have a master program. Once the master program is created, it is copied infinitely onto USB drives and sold nationwide to computer shops that can install computers and systems for others.

In other words... all I need to do is get the companies that developed these parent programs sorted out!

Instantly, his eyes lit up.

However, he seemed to have thought of something immediately, and his eyes became hesitant again.

Seeing this, Li Mu asked:

"What's wrong?"

"Uh... Mr. Li... for this, I definitely need to pay. But... I don't want to dilute my shares."

Upon hearing this, Li Mu was taken aback.

He immediately understood what he meant.

Coincidentally, he did not intend to further dilute Li Xingping's shares.

We are partners, and although we are in business, we will rely on him for the future.

However... judging from this statement, 30% should already be his bottom line.

Then he laughed and said:

"No, I don't think this kind of thing should cost much money."

"But the company's money... is running low. I've spent a lot of money upgrading the servers these past few days. And I'm planning to hire a few more people next month; two people aren't enough..."

"I can lend it to the company first."

Li Mu stopped him from speaking:

"We're partners, and this is for the company's development; I understand that. So, if you think this underhanded tactic is acceptable, let's get started. As for how much they want, consider it a company debt. Once we're profitable, we can deduct that to pay me back. How about it?"

Hearing this, Li Xingping finally felt relieved.

He patted his chest and said there was no problem, and then began to make preparations. He also asked Zhao Fengrui to find these companies for him, as he had a lot of such resources as an intermediary.

The very next day, right after the two reached an agreement.

On Monday afternoon, Li Xingping brought good news:

"Mr. Li! Someone asked about GG! I just finalized a deal for a domain name, five thousand a month, and the other party agreed!"

HAO123's first GG earnings... have arrived.