I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

At the Innovation and Creativity Competition venue, a man in his thirties wearing a suit saw the direction of the gesture made by cleaning lady Zhou Man, who was indicating "action canceled".

Then, Zhou Man made a new gesture.

According to the impromptu training session arranged this morning, this new gesture means that we have moved from the previous "Level 1 Alert" state to the "Level 2 Alert" state.

"It's like a fucking spy movie."

The man muttered a curse to himself, but still returned a "received" gesture to the cleaning lady.

Then, the man waved to a hotel staff member who was standing nearby.

"You keep an eye on things, I'll go patrol."

As he spoke, the man handed a cell phone to a staff member and quietly slipped out through a small side door of the venue.

After leaving the venue, the man walked along the corridor toward the nearby power distribution room.

He encountered an employee on the street and greeted the man, "Manager Liang."

The man nodded to him and continued walking towards the power distribution room.

This "Manager Liang" is actually named Liang Yu, and he is the sales manager of Haobo Hotel Tianchang Branch.

The sponsorship of this innovation and entrepreneurship competition was mainly handled jointly by the sales department and the banquet department under the catering department.

Upon arriving at the door of the power distribution room, Liang Yu knocked and went inside.

In the not-so-spacious power distribution room, there are two people: Huang Jianxing, the manager of the engineering department, and Zhang Xiaobo, the manager of the catering department.

Liang Yu walked in, closed the door, and said to the two of them, "Level 2 alert."

Zhang Xiaobo is also under forty years old.

Hearing this, he nodded and then said, "As we agreed this morning, you could have just told me over the phone. Why did you come all the way here yourself?"

In order to transmit information in real time, they did not choose walkie-talkies, but instead kept their mobile phones connected since the beginning of the conversation so that any messages could be transmitted immediately.

Both of their phones are still in use, but Liang Yu's phone is still with the staff member at the venue.

"Aren't you just standing there, getting bored?"

Liang Yuqian smiled and said, "Anyway, we're already on level two alert. As long as there are other people keeping an eye on us, we can just come out for a walk and stretch our legs."

After saying that, he feigned emotion and swore, "It's like something out of a spy movie, with hand signals, level one alert, level two alert—whoever came up with this is a genius, hahaha… What's even more outrageous is that they actually have the three of us keep an eye on them. Hey, Lao Zhang, Lao Huang, do you guys even know what's going on?"

Liang Yu looked puzzled.

Huang Jianxing shrugged, indicating that he didn't know.

Zhang Xiaobo remained calm, seemingly knowing something, which drew the attention of both of them.

Seeing that Zhang Xiaobo didn't speak, Liang Yu smiled and said, "Old Zhang, if you know anything, just say it. It's just me and Old Huang here, we're not outsiders."

Huang Jianxing chimed in, "Yeah, Lao Zhang, what else do you worry about with the two of us?"

Zhang Xiaobo glanced at the two of them, smiled, and said, "It's not that I'm worried, it's just that I don't know if this news is true or not. If I say something wrong, I'm afraid you'll blame me."

Liang Yu quickly replied, "No complaints, absolutely no complaints! Just tell us, we'll judge for ourselves whether it's true or false, and we'll take responsibility for it ourselves."

Huang Jianxing quickly echoed, "Yes, yes."

You wouldn't believe it, gossip is the driving force behind human progress! Both managers now had expressions of eager anticipation, clearly quite interested.

Hearing what the two said, Zhang Xiaobo replied, "Alright, I'll tell you then. Actually, I heard this news from one of our catering staff members; they said a very important person is coming."

"Who's the important person?"

"I suspect it's President Zhou Man."

Upon hearing the name, Liang Yu and Huang Jianxing were both shocked. "Really?!"

Zhang Xiaobo said, "I heard some things from the people in the catering department, and I also tested Sun Yu. Judging from his reaction, it should be true."

Huang Jianxing pondered for a moment: "The fact that the managers of our three departments got together to do this kind of ridiculous thing... it actually seems quite possible."

But then Huang Jianxing was puzzled: "Why is President Zhou doing something so strange?"

Liang Yu was equally puzzled.

Zhang Xiaobo shook his head. "I don't know exactly what they're going to do, but I've heard some things. Among the college students participating in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, there's one who seems to be President Zhou's son. President Zhou came here specifically for him."

Upon hearing this, Liang Yu and Huang Jianxing were even more astonished. "President Zhou's son? Really?" "We hadn't heard that President Zhou was married before!"

Zhang Xiaobo shook his head again, "I already said, I don't know if it's true or not."

Liang Yu suddenly paused, as if he had thought of something. Fragments of images flashed through his mind and gradually came together.

A conjecture slowly formed in his mind.

Immediately afterward, Liang Yu slapped his forehead, "Hey, I left something there. Alright, you two keep watch, I'll go get something."

Both hands simultaneously pressed down on his left and right shoulders, pinning him down.

When Liang Yu turned around, he saw two faces with forced smiles.

"Old Liang, we've been colleagues for so many years, do you think we don't know what you're up to when you stick your butt out?"

"Yeah, Lao Liang, do you have any information to share? I've already shared everything, it would be really unreasonable for you not to."

Liang Yu glanced at the two men, knowing he couldn't hide it from them any longer, and could only chuckle dryly, saying, "I'm just guessing. Like Old Zhang, I don't know if it's true or not."

Then, quite bluntly, he said, "But if everyone wants to hear it, then I'm certainly willing to say it. I suspect that the person cleaning the venue was actually President Zhou in disguise."

In the morning, Sun Hongjun convened a small meeting with a group of people to arrange the afternoon's activities. Among them was a cleaning lady, who was responsible for relaying the first signal within the meeting room.

Since there were also a few ordinary hotel staff members attending the meeting (such as the staff member who took over Liang Yu's task in the meeting room), Zhang Xiaobo and his team didn't think much of it.

But now, after hearing Liang Yu say this, Zhang Xiaobo and Huang Jianxing couldn't help but think about it.

Liang Yu continued, "If she really is President Zhou, then I think I've actually found the 'President Zhou's son' that Lao Zhang mentioned. 'President Zhou's son' seems to have a very good relationship with a girl who is speaking on stage at the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. It was when this girl came on stage that this operation started."

At this point, Liang Yu pushed up glasses that weren't actually on his nose, adopting an air of "there's only one truth."

"Therefore, I suspect that this girl might be the girlfriend of 'President Zhou's son,' or 'President Zhou's daughter-in-law.' For some reason, President Zhou went to such lengths and did all this inexplicable things for this daughter-in-law."

After listening to Liang Yu's analysis, Zhang Xiaobo and Huang Jianxing, although they didn't know who "President Zhou's son" and "President Zhou's daughter-in-law" were, found Liang Yu's words to be convincing and logically sound, making these inexplicable things seem reasonable and reliable.

The three of them remained quiet for a while.

After a moment, Zhang Xiaobo spoke, breaking the silence: "It sounds reasonable... but there's still one thing. If it's for his son, Mr. Zhou's actions are quite reasonable, but isn't it a bit unreasonable for his 'daughter-in-law'? According to what you said, Lao Liang, they're both college students. College students usually just date for fun. Why would Mr. Zhou be so certain about this daughter-in-law and go to such lengths?"

Mentioning this, Liang Yu became very confident, "That's because you two didn't see that girl. Wow, I've never seen such a beautiful girl in my life! And she has such a great presence. If I were President Zhou, and my son dated someone like her, I would definitely be a sure thing."

Zhang Xiaobo and Huang Jianxing glanced at Liang Yu's expression and then exchanged a look: knowing Liang Yu as they did, his astonished expression was genuine. This made them both understand just how beautiful the girl was that she could make Liang Yu, who had met several female celebrities, so amazed.

However, the prettier the girl, the higher the likelihood that President Zhou would choose her as his daughter-in-law. Therefore, Liang Yu's deduction becomes increasingly plausible…

After chatting with the two managers about gossip, Liang Yu hurriedly returned to the venue of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

He slipped in through the side door, snatched his phone back from the employee who had been summoned to take over his shift, and shooed the employee away. Then, he stood there alone, looking sharp and alert, appearing perfectly dutiful.

On stage, He Qiuzhu, the main speaker, had already finished presenting her team's PowerPoint slides.

Many people present were still reluctant to leave—although their attention was entirely focused on the other person's face, and they didn't pay attention to what the other person was saying, they just knew that the other person's project was very exciting.

This PowerPoint presentation is so engaging, I really want to listen to it a little longer.

A small number of people actually listened to the content. The vast majority of them came from other cities and were hearing about this project for the first time. They were all amazed by the content of the project and felt that it was really good, not just in the sense of being good, but in the sense of being very feasible and full of imagination.

Now, it's time for the judges to give their comments and ask questions.

A judge from Qianmin University spoke first, his expression very serious.

"First of all, I want to say that this is not a second-hand project at all."

Everyone present was taken aback by these words.

Students who actually listened to the PPT presentation couldn't help but start to doubt themselves—could it be that this project really had such a big flaw that the judge rejected it so directly?

It's worth noting that the judges were quite lenient with today's projects, no matter how bad they were. No project has ever been rejected so fundamentally from the very beginning.

But I clearly think this project is great. Is it because my skills aren't up to par? (t yun t natv?)

Even Zhou Man looked in the direction of that judge.

Amidst everyone's initial surprise, the judge from Qianmin University, whose expression had been serious, suddenly smiled, appearing very gentle and kind.

"This is not a secondhand project at all; it's a 'new life' plan full of warmth!"

"The concept of the C2B2C model is truly an amazing and innovative invention that makes people suddenly realize and understand! At the same time, it is also very precise in solving the long-standing 'misalignment' problem in the circulation of second-hand teaching materials, thus making the project truly feasible. It not only solves the pain point of 'textbooks being useless after use' for C-end students, but also gives knowledge a 'second life' through B-end quality inspection. This is why I call it a 'new life' plan full of warmth."

"I paid special attention to your 'textbook rating' process, where even the wear and tear on the books was quantified to a precision of 1 millimeter. This dedication to detail gives me a glimpse of a future unicorn!"

"..."

Zhou Man was having a hard time maintaining her composure.

She thought He Qiuzhu's PPT was perfect and was very proud of Qiuzhu (she knew that the PPT was actually made by that brat Shen Kang, but she chose to ignore this fact for the time being because it was not important).

Therefore, when the judge spoke up in disapproval, Zhou Man's eyebrows shot up, after all, she sometimes had a bad temper.

But unexpectedly, the judge made such a 180-degree turn.

It's a bit difficult to handle her.

Huang Anyong, sitting on the judging panel, was also a little flustered, inwardly thinking: Yes, he had indeed been entrusted to be "gentle" to this speaker and to give him as much affirmation as possible, and he believed that Lao Sui had also been entrusted with the same task. But Lao Sui, did you have to be so obsequious?

"Future unicorns" have emerged!

Old Sui, where is your professional ethics and dignity as a university professor? Bah! Disgusting!

Huang Anyong inwardly grumbled for a moment, then cleared his throat, brought the microphone closer, and said, "Student He, I'd like to ask a specific question about the operation of your project."

"If, during the process of collecting old textbooks, you encounter situations where students have drawn 'little people' or filled the pages with 'love diaries,' how would your quality control team handle it?"

On stage, He Qiuzhu quickly tried to recall if Shen Kang had mentioned any details about this issue yesterday. After thinking it over, she realized that he hadn't.

But that's okay, she can think about this issue on the spot.

Almost instantly, she knew how to answer.

at the same time

Zhou Man watched from one side of the venue, her heart involuntarily rising.

When Huang Anyong saw that He Qiuzhu on stage hadn't said anything yet, his heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself, "Oh no."

He then immediately looked down at the materials in his hand, nodded, and looked up again. "Oh right, I saw the 'emotional memory retention mechanism' mentioned in your proposal."

Huang Anyong exclaimed in admiration, his face full of appreciation: "Allowing non-information doodles to be retained as 'extra for former readers'? This design is brilliant! It protects privacy while adding fun. This kind of care for 'people' is more appealing to me than a cold business model."

"...?"

He Qiuzhu had already figured out the answer, but before she could reply, the judge himself answered first. She looked on with a puzzled expression in her big eyes.

She memorized Shen Kang's PPT very well, but there was no "emotional memory retention mechanism" in it at all.

After Huang Anyong, another judge gave his evaluation, which was also positive.

Finally, one of the judges gave a concluding summary and comments.

"After listening to the speech, I suddenly remembered the days twenty years ago when I was collecting old books in front of the school dormitory building."

The judge was a female teacher, who looked to be in her forties, and she wore glasses.

As she said this, she took off her glasses, wiped them with a cleaning cloth, and put them back on, her eyes filled with reminiscence.

"Everyone was poor back then, including me. I had to stretch my monthly allowance to its limits. To save money for new textbooks, since there was no internet or dedicated secondhand markets back then, I could only wait in front of the dormitory building and ask anyone I saw. In the end, I finally managed to buy all the secondhand textbooks I needed. It was with those textbooks that I was able to master all my major courses."

After the commemoration, the female teacher looked at the stage, her eyes slightly red. "Standing here today, looking at the platform you designed, I suddenly realized that what's hidden in those old books isn't the remnants of knowledge, but the devotion of generations of students to knowledge. What you've done isn't just a platform for buying and selling secondhand goods, but building a bridge that allows knowledge to flow with warmth and environmental protection to take the lead!"

"..."

Several judges, including Huang Anyong, were visibly embarrassed.

They were just saying it, but this guy actually got a little red in his eyes.

Alright, alright, the champion has been decided, you win.

He Qiuzhu, standing on the stage, stared blankly. She had originally come for Shen Kang, but as the judges spoke one by one, especially this female judge who spoke with such deep emotion and profound meaning, she couldn't help but feel a strange stirring within her. She felt that her mission wasn't just to complete a task, but that something truly meaningful was at play…

The students present were all a little numb.

When they first heard the first judge make a 180-degree turn and praise He Qiuzhu, they were actually happy for He Qiuzhu.

As a result, the judges praised him one after another, even going so far as to say that the value of the work was so high...

With the value already at this level, who can compete with you? Just announce that the champion has been crowned.

The cleaning lady, Zhou Man, stood on one side of the venue, watching with a smile.

In her normal state, she might have noticed something unusual, but at this moment, she only felt that Qiu Zhu was amazing and had won over everyone.

Qiu Zhu is already very outstanding, so it's normal for her to win over everyone. Why would there be anything unusual about her?