I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Zhong Weiting listened quietly the whole time, holding his latte in his hand. He didn't drink much, as if he was using the coffee as a vehicle for some kind of thinking.

When Shen Kang mentioned things like "thresholds," he hesitated for a moment—he had something to say, but it was his first time meeting Shen Kang, and he didn't know Shen Kang's temperament, so he hesitated.

When Cai Jiaying interrupted with a question, Shen Kang didn't object but instead discussed and explained. Only then did Zhong Weiting finally speak up and try to say something.

"Mr. Shen, I understand your logic—creating a sense of scarcity, identity recognition, and making customers feel chosen. But I've been holding back one example in my mind, and I just have to get it off my chest. Mr. Shen, are you familiar with Sam's Club?"

Shen Kang nodded. "I understand."

Seeing that the others seemed a bit confused and hadn't heard of it, Shen Kang added, "This is a warehouse-style membership supermarket under the Walmart brand. Customers need to pay 160 yuan to become a member before they can shop in the supermarket, and this payment is required every year."

Li Haoping and his friends, who had never heard of Sam's Club before, were shocked—there were supermarkets where you had to pay before you could shop? Were the goods in this supermarket made of gold or silver?

But then they realized—wasn't this Sam exactly the same as the "raising the bar" they were talking about now?

Cai Jiaying asked impatiently, "So how's Sam doing now?"

This is also the common sentiment and question shared by everyone.

Since Sam's approach is exactly the same as their current "raising the bar," we should be able to glean some insights into the future of "raising the bar" from Sam's development.

Zhong Weiting answered the question: "They've been operating in China for several years now, but it's always been... lukewarm."

?

Everyone was stunned.

They had just listened to Shen Kang's eloquent explanation, his talk of scarcity and identity, and they felt that "raising the bar" would definitely be effective. But unexpectedly, another store with similarly high barriers to entry was only moderately successful.

After Zhong Weiting finished speaking, he glanced at Shen Kang.

By bringing up this example at this juncture, he's essentially contradicting others, and it's unclear whether Shen Kang will be angry.

Shen Kang laughed, quite enthusiastically: "To say they're lukewarm is an understatement. To me, they're barely surviving. They've been here for almost ten years, and they've only opened five stores so far, averaging one every two years. This year is the worst; one even closed down, leaving only four stores."

Sam became very popular in later generations, but at this point in time, he is indeed in a terrible situation with no hope in sight.

Everyone was stunned once again.

They never imagined that Zhong Weiting's description of "lukewarm business" would be so bleak. Opening one store every two years was bad enough, but this year one of them even went bankrupt? It was truly barely surviving.

Immediately, everyone became worried—Sam, who also had a high entry barrier, ended up in such a miserable state. If they stubbornly insist on doing the same high entry barrier, wouldn't they also suffer a terrible fate?

Cai Jiaying then added, "How about we just do a community-based approach and not set such high barriers to entry?"

She already had reservations about Shen Kang's "raising the bar," and now Sam's example proves that her concerns were justified.

However, she only questioned the "raising the bar." As for the "chessboard theory" of brand community building, she was convinced by Shen Kang and felt it was very promising and necessary.

Most other people thought the same way.

Zhong Weiting chimed in, "Yes, Mr. Shen, the entry requirements for your brand community are essentially the same as Sam's Club's membership system—you have to prove you're qualified before you're allowed in. Even a company as large as Sam's Club, backed by the substantial capital of Walmart, hasn't been able to make this work. Why should we?"

Even Wall's mom couldn't get it working, so why should we? That statement carries considerable weight.

There was a two-second silence in the private room.

Shen Kang didn't rush to speak. Instead, he looked around, taking in everyone's expressions, before turning to Zhong Weiting with interest and asking, "Have you ever wondered why Sam can't get things done in China?"

Zhong Weiting thought for a moment and gave his answer: "I feel that people in China are not used to the concept of 'membership systems.' I've heard that Sam's Club is a long-established brand, and consumers in the US have probably been educated about this membership model for decades. It's very likely that their parents were paying membership fees, and they've known since childhood that you have to buy a ticket to enter such a store; it's a common understanding."

"But what about in China? Membership-based supermarkets are still a novelty, and consumers don't have the basic understanding of them. Sam's Club is pushing membership systems right from the start, essentially using unfamiliar tickets to keep out a group of people who don't even know what your store sells. If they don't even understand what your store sells, why should they pay to come in and buy anything?"

Shen Kang continued to look at him with interest, asking, "If you were the general manager of Sam's Club China, and you were in charge of the operation, what would you do?"

Following his previous line of thought, Zhong Weiting considered for a moment and said, "I will lower the barrier to entry indirectly. For example, one membership card can be used by more than one person; members can bring their relatives and friends to shop. The goal is to first let more people know about Sam's Club, what they sell, and at what prices, to cultivate a customer base..."

Inside the private room, everyone fell silent except for Shen Kang and Zhong Weiting, who were talking.

Shen Kang listened quietly, and after Zhong Weiting finished speaking, he asked, "Have you studied Sam?"

Zhong Weiting shook his head, "No. I've only heard about it when I was in eastern Guangdong, but I've never been inside. I'm reluctant to pay the membership fee."

Shen Kang said, "So you really think the same way as the CEO of Sam's Club China. In fact, he did just that, and even more than you think. For example, they also issued temporary cards so that more people could go in and experience the store without having to buy a membership. Also, under the instructions of their superiors, the store staff are not strict about checking membership cards; they often turn a blind eye."

After listening, Zhong Weiting asked, "Did President Shen also research Sam's Club?"

Shen Kang nodded. "I understand."

Zhong Weiting then asked, "So Sam has already done that?"

Shen Kang chuckled, "We've been doing that for a while now."

They've been doing this for a long time... Zhong Weiting felt both pleased and disheartened that he could think the same way as the head of Sam's China region—Sam had already proven that this approach wouldn't work.

Hearing this for a while, Li Su finally spoke up: "Brother, even Sam can't get through, so no matter what we do, it's useless. I think we should just stop trying to get in, otherwise, I'm afraid we'll become the next Sam."

Shen Kang looked around and could tell from everyone's expressions that everyone thought the same thing.

Actually, his simplest approach right now is to use his position as the big boss to forcefully push and implement it. However, this might cause some problems in execution, so it's worth mentioning.

Sam's failure has become a shadow in everyone's mind, so we must first criticize Sam to make everyone believe that Sam's current failure will not happen to the Anjia brand community.

So Shen Kang spoke up.

His very first sentence overturned everyone's expectations.

"Actually, it's a mistake for people to compare Sam's Club's entry requirements with the entry requirements of our Anjia brand community. The two are completely different—at least for now, they are completely different things."

Everyone was stunned.

Incorrect? Are they completely different?

All supermarkets offer free entry, except for Sam's Club, which requires payment for entry, creating a high barrier to entry. Similarly, the Anjia brand community that Shen Kang is developing is not open to everyone, not even to all Anjia customers, again presenting a high barrier to entry—what's the difference between these two? Aren't they exactly the same?

Shen Kang could see the same confusion in everyone's expressions.

However, he did not answer the question; instead, he asked a question first.

"Sam's hometown is in the US. Does anyone know what kind of business model Sam uses in the US?"

Everyone was bewildered and shook their heads; no one knew.

Including Zhong Weiting.

Zhong Weiting had only heard about Sam's Club when he was in eastern Guangdong. He had never even applied for a membership card himself, let alone knew how Sam's Club operated in its hometown of Meizhou.

Seeing this, Shen Kang answered the question himself: "At Sam's Club, the essence is actually saving money—they save members real money through bulk purchasing. Sam's Club membership card is essentially a 'money-saving privilege card.' The logic is this: you pay a small amount of money to buy a membership card first, and then you can save more money in subsequent large purchases, thus recouping the cost of the membership card. The main customer group at Sam's Club is low- and middle-income families and small business owners."

"You could even think of Sam's Club in Old Mei as a cheap wholesale market where you need to buy a membership card first."

"After they entered our country, they also used this tactic, which is a case of path dependence..."

Only then did everyone realize that Sam was actually like this back in his hometown in the United States, and they listened with great interest, as if they were listening to gossip.

Only Zhong Weiting was startled, his eyes suddenly lighting up as if he had thought of something, and he became somewhat excited.

Shen Kang noticed this and, seeing this, stopped talking and looked at Zhong Weiting, "Zhong Weiting... never mind, I'll just call you Weiting. Weiting, you seem to have something to say?"

He also encouraged him, saying, "Speak your mind freely."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Weiting spoke up: "President Shen, I feel like I've found the reason why Sam failed in our country."

Zhong Weiting was genuinely a little excited.

Those are Wall's mom and Sam, and I think I've finally figured out why they made a strategic mistake.

It's like you're just a third-rate swordsman who's only just entered the martial arts world, but while watching the world's greatest swordsman duel, you find a flaw in his technique. And this flaw seems to be something that even the world's greatest swordsman himself hasn't noticed.

This sense of accomplishment is like drinking fine wine.

Zhong Weiting continued, "Sam thought that if they simply copied their successful experience from their home country of the United States and applied it to our country, they would achieve the same success. This is a mistake."

"Their success in the US was due to cheap wholesale, but here we have a formidable opponent—the wholesale market!"

"If we're really talking about cheap wholesale, the wholesale market is even more ruthless and cheaper, and the wholesale market doesn't even have membership fees."

"If we follow Sam's Club's approach and focus on cheap wholesale, why would people choose Sam's Club instead of other wholesale markets that have no membership fees and are even cheaper? It doesn't make logical sense."

At this point, Zhong Weiting stated firmly, "If Sam continues down this path, he will inevitably fail again and again here!"

Shen Kang looked at Zhong Weiting with great interest and asked on the spur of the moment, "Oh? So what do you think they should do?"

How to do it... Zhong Weiting suddenly thought of the "high threshold", "scarcity" and "identity recognition" that Shen Kang had just mentioned, and his inspiration came like a burst of urine. He couldn't wait to start talking.

"We must be realistic, adapt to local conditions, and change our strategy. We must abandon the low-cost wholesale model and instead pursue a high-end approach. The first step is to increase membership fees."

"160 a year is too little, it must be doubled to 320 a year!"

Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

Everyone else was stunned: No, business was already bad, and now you want to raise the bar and drive customers away?

Only Shen Kang looked at Zhong Weiting with even greater interest.

"Continue," Shen Kang said.

Zhong Weiting then continued.

"The second step is to stop issuing temporary cards and tighten in-store verification. The situation where one person with a card can bring relatives and friends into the store must be eliminated. We must strictly enforce the rule of one card per person. Store employees must also be trained to ensure that we can no longer turn a blind eye and let people in casually. No one can enter without a card."

"The third step is to change the store's product selection. Instead of focusing on cheap and large quantities, we need to focus on high quality. We can still offer cheap products, but the bottom line is always high quality, and we need to offer some items that are not available in other mainstream supermarkets..."

Zhong Weiting was truly inspired, speaking eloquently and pontificating.

Shen Kang listened quietly, his gaze towards Zhong Weiting full of interest: Kang Zhengyang's decision was correct; this Zhong Weiting was indeed outstanding among the An family's members. He estimated that Zhong Weiting was also a talent on 58.com, and it was truly remarkable that he had managed to switch jobs to An family.

After a lengthy speech, Zhong Weiting gave a concluding speech.

"Ultimately, it's about creating scarcity, a sense of superiority, and a sense of identity—something to flaunt. If this strategy succeeds, I believe Sam will survive, instead of being in this half-dead state he is now."

Li Haoping scratched his head, still a little confused: "Manager Zhong, doubling the membership fee will make Sam's Club live? What kind of logic is that? I don't quite understand."

Instead of answering, Zhong Weiting asked, "Old Li, your life is better now than before, better than the people around you, isn't it?"

Li Haoping grinned, a little embarrassed, but still nodded, "Yes."

Since joining Anjia, Li Haoping started as a cleaner, and the salary was quite high back then. Later, he transferred to the maintenance department, where the salary decreased slightly, but it was still high, and more importantly, it was easier than cleaning. Now, he has been promoted to maintenance supervisor, and his salary is even higher.

Overall, life is getting better and better.

Zhong Weiting then asked, "Don't your neighbors earn as much as you?"

Li Haoping nodded again, "Yes."

Good times fly by. In less than six months, his rental contract hadn't expired yet, and his family was still renting in the same area as before.

Li Haoping rented the place because the rent was cheap, and the neighbors were all from lower-income families.

Zhong Weiting then asked, "Let's say you invite your neighbors over for dinner. You cook some dishes and invite them to eat... for example, tomahawk steak. The neighbors are very friendly and ask you where you bought it, saying they've never seen it in other supermarkets. At that point, you can say that you bought it from Sam's Club."

"You can also mention what's different about Sam's Club. For example, they have many items that other supermarkets don't carry. They also have a strange rule: to get in, you have to pay 320 yuan for a year's membership. Your neighbors will probably be amazed, just like you were earlier, saying, 'What kind of supermarket requires payment to enter? I've never heard of that.' They'll also say sourly, 'Old Li, you've really seen something new today.' They might even say after they get home, 'Old Li is such a sucker, spending over 300 yuan just to get into the supermarket. He's really wasting his money.' At that point, they'll mostly be both envious and jealous."

"In this situation, Mr. Li, would you be willing to spend 320 to become a Sam's Club member?"

Zhong Weiting's example was very vivid, and Li Haoping understood it instantly!

Actually, he had already done this before.

When he was promoted to the maintenance supervisor in Yangcheng, he had already treated his neighbors to a meal. He said it was to thank everyone for taking care of his family all this time, but in reality, he was just showing off. He said, "I, Lao Li, am no longer a bicycle repairman with a stall on the street. I am now the maintenance supervisor of Anjia, and I am in charge of Anjia's maintenance department in the whole of Yangcheng!"

He felt great at the time, feeling that he had finally made it after so many years.

Therefore, Li Haoping was well aware that what Zhong Weiting said was true. If there really was a Sam's Club in Yangcheng, and if Sam's Club was really as Zhong Weiting described, then he would genuinely be willing to spend 320 yuan to buy a Sam's Club membership just to show off.

He might not have been able to when he didn't have money, but he really is now.

After all, the banquet he hosted for his neighbors cost more than that.

"I can."

Li Haoping readily admitted, "I understand what you're saying, Manager Zhong."

Not only Li Haoping, but also Cai Jiaying and the others, understood at this moment.

Seeing that everyone understood, Zhong Weiting looked at Shen Kang again and said, "President Shen, we all understand. You're right, Sam's Club's high entry barriers are indeed completely different from the high entry barriers our Anjia brand communities aim to achieve. Sam's Club's current failure has nothing to do with whether our high entry barriers will fail. On the contrary, I agree with your view—raising the entry barriers could very well lead to success!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Page 378

Seeing that everyone was no longer traumatized by Sam's failure, Shen Kang was quite satisfied. He even joked with Zhong Weiting, "Weiting, I feel like you could be the head of Sam's China region. You might do a better job than the one you're doing now."

Zhong Weiting was genuinely tempted, but after a moment's thought, he smiled and shook his head: "I can't compare to them."

His personal experience at 58.com taught him that large companies are very complex, and you can't just put an idea into action.

Just like how he wanted to open a home service business with a "home-sharing" model on 58.com, but couldn't do it for various reasons.

Who knows, there might be some talented people in Sam's China region who have thought of changing their strategy to suit local conditions? Perhaps even the CEO of Sam's China region has thought of it himself? It's just that, like him at 58.com, he can't put it into action for various reasons.

All of these are possible.

Moreover, Zhong Weiting understood that his idea to reform Sam was entirely due to Shen Kang: Shen Kang provided comprehensive information and first proposed a "high-threshold model." It was under these conditions that he came up with this method to reform Sam.

"Let's get back to our home."

Zhong Weiting steered the conversation back on track, "President Shen, what other requirements do you have for Anjia's branded community?"

Shen Kang glanced at Zhong Weiting again.

His reaction to his own joke made him understand Anjia's Yangcheng manager a little better.

After that, he stopped caring about the joke.

Now that the shadow of Sam's failure has faded, we can formally discuss the details of building the Anjia brand community.

Just as Shen Kang was about to speak, someone knocked on the door, and then a voice came from outside, "Boss."

It's Ma Liang who has arrived.

After Shen Kang called out "Come in," Ma Liang pushed open the door and walked in.

He glanced around at everyone present, seemingly unsure where he should sit.

Shen Kang casually pointed, "You can sit next to Li Su. Pull over a chair."

Ma Liang pulled up a chair and sat down between Li Su and Li Haoping.

Shen Kang gave them a brief introduction, and then continued talking about the Anjia brand community.

"We were just talking about Sam's Club. Weiting, one of your ideas for renovating Sam's Club is quite interesting. It's about putting some things in Sam's Club that you can't buy in other supermarkets."

"I feel this concept can also be applied to our Anjia brand community. Becoming a member of the brand community will grant access to features that ordinary Anjia users don't have, features that are exclusive to brand community members—differentiated services. This will further enhance the sense of scarcity."

Shen Kang, in high spirits, shared what he had just thought of.

"For example, an annual comprehensive health check-up for the entire house."

"Our previous service model was passive; customers would proactively contact us, saying something was dirty or broken, and then purchase our services. But can we be more proactive?"

"Every year, we can send a specialist to each household in these branded communities to conduct a free in-depth health check, a service exclusively for branded community users. This check will comprehensively inspect and record every key facility in the house, such as air conditioners, range hoods, water heaters, washing machines, etc., and issue a report to inform customers that their air conditioner filter has not been changed for three years and recommends replacement; their range hood ducts are heavily stained and recommend deep cleaning, etc."

Li Haoping's eyes lit up immediately: "Great idea, Mr. Shen! This way, we can also take the opportunity to get customers to purchase more of our repair department's services!"

Shen Kang shook his head. "Whether they want to do it or not is entirely up to the client. If they don't want to, it doesn't matter. If they want to, they can find Anjia, or they can find someone to do it themselves. The key is to issue a report that tells Shen Kang the details of their family's situation."

After finishing, Shen Kang emphasized again: "We only provide services and information; all choices are left to the customers. Customer satisfaction is our top priority, profit is secondary. We would rather not make money than compromise on serving our customers well; this has always been our goal at Anjia."

Zhong Weiting nodded silently.

In any other company, he would have thought it was just empty rhetoric. But at Anjia Home Services, he genuinely believed it, because under President Shen's business model, Anjia Home Services' biggest task wasn't making money.

……

This meeting lasted for more than two hours.

Shen Kang discussed all aspects of the Anjia brand community with everyone, and basically finalized the Anjia brand community project.

After that, we naturally discussed the purpose of everyone's visit, the connection between Anjia Housekeeping and Huanhuan.com, and finalized all the details.

"Alright, that concludes today's meeting."

Shen Kang stood up. "It's lunchtime. Everyone's come all this way, so let's go out and have a nice meal."

Everyone stood up as well.

Upon hearing that they were going out to eat, Li Haoping hesitated for a moment before saying, "President Shen, don't waste your money. How about we just eat at the school cafeteria?" Then he chuckled, "I've never eaten at a university before."

Eating out at restaurants is nothing new to him, but eating at a university is something Old Li has never tried before, and he's quite tempted to try it.

Cai Jiaying shared the same thought and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Shen Kang glanced at Zhong Weiting.

Zhong Weiting smiled as well, "I haven't been back to school in a long time either. Although this isn't my alma mater, I still miss my university days."

Li Su and Ma Liang wanted to go out to eat and have something nice, but seeing that everyone else wanted to eat at school, they kept quiet.

Shen Kang, however, sighed to the two of them, "They're both good employees, they know how to save me money."

"..." Ma Liang thought to himself, if it weren't for the fact that there were so many of them and they all wanted to eat at school, I would have really ripped them off.

Shen Kang, yielding to public opinion, waved his hand and said, "Alright, let's eat in the cafeteria then!"

With that, he set off, leading a group of people out of the coffee shop and towards the second canteen.

Li Haoping and Cai Jiaying walked together, whispering to each other.

"President Shen is really different from us. Look at him, he just talked to the dog for a while and he came up with so many things. I can't even think as fast as him when I'm using notes."

"Indeed. I couldn't come up with these ideas even if I talked to a tiger, let alone a dog."

"College students are really impressive. My kid doesn't like studying, so when he gets home I'll hang him from the roof beam and whip him until he gets into college!"

"I also regret not studying harder back then, otherwise I might be as smart as President Shen. Or even as smart as Manager Zhong."...

Zhong Weiting walked ahead of the two and heard their conversation. He couldn't help but laugh and cry: What do you mean, "Even if you're not good enough, it's still good if you're as smart as me"?

Then, he silently thought to himself, it's not that college students are amazing, it's that this Mr. Shen is a bit special.

Zhong Weiting was actually a little skeptical that President Shen had come up with the idea of ​​a "brand community" and so many details from his conversation with that little female dog.

He felt that President Shen must have thought this through long ago and just found an excuse to bring it up today.

Even so, it is still quite astonishing.

Zhong Weiting is now truly convinced and feels he made the right choice in following his boss.

As for talking to dogs... well, that's just a mystery.

As Zhong Weiting thought this, the group continued walking.

They left Xiaodong Street and came to a main road on campus, lined with trees on both sides. People were coming and going, mostly college students carrying books, walking in twos and threes.

Cai Jiaying and Li Haoping shifted their conversation from Shen Kang to universities and college students.

They already had a romanticized view of universities and college students, and after witnessing the incredible scene where President Shen could inspire a surge of creativity even while disciplining a female dog, their romanticized view deepened.

For a moment, I felt that this university was wonderful in every way.

As Li Haoping walked down the street, he took a deep breath. "Ah, university is so much better; even the air tastes sweet."

Cai Jiaying nodded in agreement, "Look at the trees on these two sides, they're all growing more vibrantly than those on the street outside. Culture nurtures people, and it nurtures trees too..."

The two of them did not lower their voices at this moment.

Shen Kang walked ahead and, upon hearing their conversation, his expression turned somewhat strange: Why did he feel like he had heard these words somewhere before? They sounded so familiar.

Behind him, Li Haoping and Cai Jiaying's conversation continued.

As Li Haoping walked, he looked around and sighed, "They're still university students. Look at these university students, they even carry books with them when they walk, unlike the kids back home, who are always playing cards and arguing in the afternoons."

Cai Jiaying nodded in agreement.

Just then, three boys carrying books passed by them, still complaining, "We told you not to play cards in class, and they confiscated them! You have to pay for them!" "Why should I pay? I didn't confiscate them!"...

Three boys walked by in a hurry.

"..."

Li Haoping and Cai Jiaying remained silent.

Shen Kang glanced back at the two of them, then turned back and laughed.

But before long, Li Haoping spoke up again.

They are now passing by a small basketball court.

There are several flower beds outside the basketball court.

A girl was sitting on the edge of one of the flower beds, holding a book in her hands, looking like she was reading it attentively.

"Look at that girl."

Li Haoping snapped out of his silence, as if grasping at a lifeline, and exclaimed, "Sitting there reading, so quiet and refined. Unlike the girls in the factory near my home, who watch TV as soon as they get off work, none of them read."

Cai Jiaying nodded repeatedly.

They both seemed to be trying to mend their idealized view of university life.

But when they took a few more steps forward and passed by the girl, they realized it was just a matter of perspective—the girl was pretending to read, but she wasn't actually looking at the book; her eyes were fixed on a shirtless boy playing basketball on the court.

That boy... her eyes followed him everywhere.

Noticing someone passing by, the girl quickly looked away, pretending to read a book while muttering to herself.

"abann, abannn..."

"..."

Li Haoping and Cai Jiaying fell silent again.

Shen Kang laughed even harder, his big teeth practically showing.

He even turned around to look again and saw Cai Jiaying looking down at her phone, as if she had received a text message; Li Haoping, on the other hand, was looking around as if he was admiring the scenery—when things get awkward, you just pretend to be looking at the scenery, right?

Shen Kang was enjoying himself when a voice rang out from the side.

"Shen Kang".

Turning my head, I realized it was Dai Qiu.

The vice dean of the computer science department was holding a book, looking as if he had just finished class and was on his way to the cafeteria for lunch.

Perhaps because it was winter and it was cold to go bald, Dai Qiu wore a thin black woolen hat, giving her a rather gentle and refined air.

"Dean Dai." "Dean Dai."

Shen Kang responded. Ma Liang saw Dai Qiu approaching and also greeted the dean.

Dai Qiu walked over and then noticed that Ma Liang was also in the crowd. "Ma Liang is here too."

Ma Liang was a bit lazy in his studies and his overall grades weren't particularly outstanding, but Dai Qiu knew Ma Liang and knew that this student had strong practical skills.

Of all the students in the Computer Science Department, Dai Qiu could only remember a few, and Ma Liang was one of them.

Dai Qiu had also considered giving Ma Liang a recommendation for postgraduate studies at Yang University of Science and Technology. She had privately mentioned this idea to Ma Liang, but Ma Liang refused.

Dai Qiu didn't force him: A student like Ma Liang either goes straight to work after graduation, or if he wants to pursue a master's degree, he'll go to a 985 or 211 university. Yang Ke University is indeed a bit too small for him, and he understands that.

"Dean Dai, did you just finish class?" Shen Kang asked as Dai Qiu approached.

"Hmm." Dai Qiu glanced at the strangers around Shen Kang.

Seeing this, Shen Kang introduced everyone to each other.

Although Li Haoping and Cai Jiaying had just been repeatedly surprised, their idealized view of university life hadn't been completely shattered. Upon learning that Dai Qiu was the vice dean of the School of Computer Science at Yangon University of Science and Technology, they were filled with profound respect—this was a true intellectual.

Dai Qiu just happened to see Shen Kang over there, so he came over to exchange a few pleasantries. When he heard that these people were managers from Anjia Household Services, it reminded him of something.

"Shen Kang, do you have any new stores opening?" Dai Qiu asked.

Shen Kang glanced at him. "Yes. Anjia Housekeeping is about to open ten stores, but they're all in other cities. Is Dean Dai itching to open one?"

Dai Qiu nodded, not hiding anything, and sighed, "I only collaborated with you once at the beginning of the semester, and haven't opened a jar since. I'm a little itchy."

Shen Kang thought for a moment and made a suggestion: "My Beiming Community is also planning to open a few shops near Yangshi Normal University. Dean Dai, why don't you go there and open a forum to have some fun?"

Upon hearing that there was indeed a nearby option, Dai Qiu's eyes flickered, but after careful consideration, she still declined: "As for Yangshi Normal School, let's forget about it. Although it's just a hobby, it could still be used against me. If other schools see this, it won't look good."

Shen Kang then thought of another one, "I have a new website launching soon, and I need to add a C server. Although we're not allowed to access the C service provider's data center, according to our An family tradition, we'll still host the forum remotely. There won't be any outsiders present then. What does Dean Dai think?"

Dai Qiu's eyes lit up. "This is good..."

After chatting for a few more minutes, the two finalized the agreement. When Huanhuan.com officially launched, they invited Dai Qiu to perform a ritual.

Dai Qiu had originally planned to have dinner with Shen Kang since they happened to run into him. However, seeing that Shen Kang and his group seemed to be having a team-building activity, he didn't want to disturb them. After finishing his business, he made an excuse and left first.

After Dai Qiu left, Li Su, who had been listening for a while, finally spoke up: "Brother, the altar you were talking about earlier, could it be the same altar you set up and performed rituals for when you opened your Anjia business?"

Shen Kang corrected him, "Opening an altar is opening an altar, what does it have to do with shamanism? You guessed it, it's this opening altar."

Li Su became even more interested. "Your vice dean also does this kind of thing?"

"It's a personal hobby. When this laundry room at our school opened, I even collaborated with him on a ritual. But we're not from the same school; I'm from the Maoshan school, and he's from the Lushan school..."

"..."

Li Haoping and Cai Jiaying stood to the side, completely numb.

They also knew that Shen Kang had performed a ritual when Anjia Housekeeping opened.

Male students play cards in class; female students pretend to read but actually stare at shirtless male students; the vice dean of the computer science department is obsessed with shamanistic rituals, and he even has his own sect, the Lushan sect...

Oh, by the way, their CEO Shen is also a college graduate and belongs to a sect, the Maoshan Sect.

So this is what university is like?

Their idealized view of university life was shattered completely at this point.

So much so that when they arrived at the cafeteria, got their food from the fast food window, and sat down to eat, both of them were very listless.

Shen Kang then asked with concern, "What's wrong? Is the food not to your liking? Would you like to get something else?"

Li Haoping quickly stopped him, "No, no, no, the food was quite good, it's just, it's just..." He hesitated for a moment before finally saying it.

"I never imagined university would be like this..."

Li Haoping talked about some things he saw that were different from what he had imagined.

Shen Kang laughed heartily after hearing this.

"That's just how college students are, otherwise why would they be called 'idiot college students'?"...

After finishing the meal, Shen Kang saw them off and turned back to his work.

He first went to see Wen Chulan to inquire about the progress of Huanhuan.com's offline work at the school.

As for the School of Electronic Engineering, he didn't go—the first version of the testing procedure he commissioned them to design had already been completed, and Anjia Home Service's repair department had already started training them according to this procedure. This point was mentioned in their meeting just now.

After checking on Huanhuan.com's offline operations at the school, Shen Kang called Long Xingchen again.

After having just thought of the Anjia brand community, he came up with something else.

After making that phone call, Shen Kang went to see Liang Zhidao.

For the next few days, Shen Kang basically spent his time in this busy state, leaving early and returning late every day, working non-stop.

Li Su and Ma Liang were even busier, drawing on almost every available person to work on Anjia Tongcheng Hui. Fortunately, with the existing code from Beiming Community, they used it as a framework, greatly reducing their workload and speeding up the process.

Five days later, Anjia Tongcheng Hui 1.0 was launched quietly.