I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

"Offline counterattack against online?"

Shen Kang was intrigued to hear those words come from Jiang Yateng's mouth.

"Could you elaborate?"

Jiang Yateng had now completely sorted out his thoughts, and immediately told Shen Kang all of them.

"Old Shen, isn't your Beiming Community and Yangbei Forum in competition? I've been to both forums, so let me share my thoughts on them."

"I think that your two forums are essentially the same; they are just places where people chat, brag, gossip, and talk about campus events."

"Yangbei Forum's advantage lies in its early start, large user base, and high profile. Beiming Community's advantage lies in its superior content, which is more engaging and diverse than Yangbei Forum's."

"In my personal opinion, if the same person were to try out both forums, there's an 80% or higher chance that he would prefer Beiming Community and stay there."

At this point, Jiang Yateng slapped his thigh, making a crisp sound.

"But it's no use. Outside of Yangko University of Science and Technology, how many people still know about Beiming Community? Everyone still knows about the old Yangbei Forum."

"Ultimately, Lao Shen, you're missing a leg; you're disabled..."

Jiang Yateng is used to speaking like this all the time; it just comes out naturally.

As soon as he spoke, he realized he had used the wrong words and quickly said, "Old Shen, I wasn't insulting you, I was just using a metaphor, a metaphor."

Shen Kang didn't mind at all; on the contrary, he was quite amused. "That's a good analogy. You're right, I'm missing a leg, I'm missing the thigh of chivalrous spirit and tender heart!"

Although Jiang Yateng didn't know what Shen Kang meant by using that word, he was relieved to see that Shen Kang wasn't angry.

Seeing that Shen Kang seemed quite cheerful, he quickly picked up the thread and continued, "Old Shen, your legs are my legs, your legs are my life."

"Today, I'm here to help you connect with this chivalrous, courageous, and tender-hearted spirit of the martial world!"

"The specific method for receiving them is what I just mentioned: setting up a stall."

"Old Shen, think about it. Yangbei Forum has a lot of users at the university. No matter how good your Beiming Community's content is, they haven't heard of it. How can you compete with it online? If you post GG threads on their forum, they'll delete them. If you try to compete elsewhere, you can't accurately target the students in our Beilu University Town. No matter how hard you try online, you can't hit them."

"But the entrance to the cafeteria is different."

"You put up a sign there, display a few books, and students will flock past you at lunchtime. Some will inevitably stop and browse. If they like a couple of pages and ask how to buy them, you tell them to go back and search for Beiming Community on their computer, register an account, and that they can buy not only books but also all sorts of fun things. Once they go back, search for it, browse around, and find that it's indeed better than Yangbei Forum, they won't leave."

"Old Shen, this is the very thing that allows our Beiming community to step out into the world—a place of chivalry, courage, and tenderness!"

As Jiang Yateng spoke, he became somewhat excited, clearly thinking that his idea was really good.

"Besides, didn't I just say what I thought? Our Beiming Community, like the Yangbei Forum, is just for chatting and gossiping, purely for entertainment, nothing special..."

Jiang Yateng hesitated for a moment, pondering what word to use.

Shen Kang timely offered a term: "differentiation?"

Jiang Yateng pondered for a moment, then slapped his thigh again, "That's right, differentiation, that's differentiation!" Then he asked, "Old Shen, do you remember what you just told me?"

Shen Kang asked, "Which matter?"

Jiang Yateng said, "It's about the textbook version. Didn't I tell you to have my classmate go to the academic affairs office to ask, take a picture, and send it over? Actually, this is quite a hassle for ordinary students."

He leaned back on the sofa, as if about to tell a story, his tone gradually softening from his earlier excitement to a touch of melancholy.

"When I started school, I wanted to save some money and buy some used textbooks. So I asked around to find out exactly which books I would need this semester. I first asked my advisor, who told me that the specific textbooks depended on the instructor, as each instructor had different habits, and some instructors didn't even decide until the first week of school. I asked if there was a list of textbooks from previous years that I could refer to. My advisor said to check the academic affairs office website, but it might not be available."

"I went to the academic affairs office website and found it. There was a PDF file titled 'Summary Table of Textbook Orders for the First Semester of the 2008-2009 Academic Year,' which was in a subdirectory that took me almost twenty minutes to find. I was so excited that I quickly downloaded it, but when I opened it, I was dumbfounded."

As Jiang Yateng spoke, he spread his hands, his expression mirroring the helplessness he felt at the time.

"That form is for colleges to submit their applications; the format isn't meant for students at all. The course names are written using internal codes from the academic affairs system, like '102-3' or 'm208-1.' As a freshman, how am I supposed to know which course '102' corresponds to?"

"I did write down the textbook titles, but textbooks with the same title from different publishers and editions are impossible to distinguish just by looking at the names. I gritted my teeth and made a book list for myself by looking at the table and guessing, and then excitedly ran to the used bookstore near the school to hunt for books."

"I bought five books, but I was proven wrong in the first week of school."

Jiang Yateng stretched out his fingers and broke them off one by one.

"The first one is the wrong edition. I bought the Tongji University sixth edition of Advanced Mathematics, but the teacher uses the Tongji University seventh edition. The chapter order is different between the two editions, so I can never turn to the right page in class. When the teacher is talking about the third chapter, the third chapter in my book is a completely different story."

"The second book was simply the wrong one. Our major uses 'New Horizons in College English,' not 'Comprehensive College English Course.' The texts, vocabulary lists, and exercises in the two textbooks are completely different systems. When I opened the book, I found that the texts didn't match up at all, and the first lesson was like listening to gibberish."

"The third book was correct, but it belonged to a senior student and was filled with highlighted points. I was quite happy at first, thinking it would save me trouble. But when I took the exam, I found that the highlights the senior student had highlighted were completely different from what the teacher was testing. The teacher had changed his question-setting approach this year, and I was still reviewing the old highlights, so I almost failed the midterm."

"The fourth book was also correct, and there were no highlights, it was all clean and simple. But in the fourth week, the teacher said that time was tight this semester, and the book wouldn't be finished, only the first eight chapters. I bought it at the full book price, so the money for the last eight chapters was wasted."

"Of the five books, only one was fully utilized. The other four were either the wrong editions, completely unnecessary, or contained a bunch of outdated notes that ended up costing me money. I did the math and realized that I was trying to save money, but because of the incorrect information, I not only wasted a lot of money, but I also almost ruined my midterm exam."

Zhao Debiao had already shifted his attention away from the television without anyone noticing.

Hearing this, he interjected, "I bought the wrong book too. One of my elective courses is called 'History of Ancient Chinese Architecture,' and I bought a book titled 'History of Ancient Chinese Architecture,' but the teacher used 'History of Chinese Architecture,' omitting the word 'ancient.' The two books are completely different; one talks about dougong brackets and flying eaves, while the other covers everything from the Republic of China era to the Reform and Opening Up. I was completely bewildered when I opened the book in the first class, and the whole thing felt like a completely different course."

Jiang Yateng nodded to Zhao Debiao, then turned to Shen Kang with a "see for yourself" expression.

Shen Kang, being a good person, asked Zhao Debiao, "Old Zhao, why did you choose the history of ancient Chinese architecture? You're interested in architecture."

Zhao Debiao shook his head. "Its name seems like it's easy to get points."

reasonable.

Shen Kang stopped asking questions. After Zhao Debiao interjected, he ignored them and went back to watching TV.

Seeing that Shen Kang and Zhao Debiao had finished speaking, Jiang Yateng continued, his tone regaining some of its excitement.

"So, Lao Shen, I suddenly remembered this in the middle of what I was saying. You asked me to have a classmate take a picture of the textbook list from the academic affairs office. This method can solve part of the problem—at least we'll know which books the corresponding schools are using, so we won't order the wrong ones. But have you considered that taking a picture of the textbook list is actually a necessity for many students?"

Jiang Yateng leaned forward, and his speech quickened again.

"Think about it, how many students are there in the whole school? Each student takes at least four or five courses per semester, and each course has at least one textbook. The total number of textbooks used in the whole school per semester is conservatively estimated to be tens of thousands. Behind every textbook, there is a student who is just as confused as I was back then, asking around everywhere."

"He wanted to save money and buy used books, but he wasn't even sure which ones to buy. He asked his advisor, but the advisor might not be able to give him a clear answer. He checked the academic affairs office website, but what he found was a table where even the course names were represented by codes. He asked upperclassmen, but their memories were fragmented and not necessarily accurate. In the end, he had no choice but to obediently go to the textbook department and buy new books, spending twice the money."

"Why did the school handle this so carelessly? Because the people in the academic affairs office won't go to every used bookstore to find books for students. They have no incentive to organize the textbook information clearly and make it easy to look up. But we can do it."

Jiang Yateng's voice unconsciously rose a little.

"Didn't I just say I was going to recruit students from various schools to help? Those students who helped me take pictures of the textbook lists at different schools can not only take pictures, but they can also do more detailed work. What are the course names, which major and which class, who is the instructor, which textbook is used, which publisher, which edition, what is the BN number—collect all this information and summarize it here. We will organize, proofread, and publish it."

"Create a dedicated information section on the Beiming Community, and organize this information by school, major, and year, listing it clearly. For example, a first-year student in the second semester of the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Technology can click in and see what the textbooks for the five courses are, which ones are required and which ones are electives, and whether there are any old copies of these textbooks in stock on exchange websites, and how much they cost. It will all be clear at a glance."

He paused here, glanced at Shen Kang's reaction, and then uttered the most crucial sentence.

"A student needs to check which textbook they need to use at least once per semester; this is unavoidable."

"He didn't come to Beiming Community to post irrelevant content; he came to figure out which books he should buy—does Yangbei Forum even have such books? No."

"That's what differentiation is."

"He came, finished his research, and discovered that he could buy cheap used textbooks here, sell his old books, chat online, and read gossip. So he stayed."

"Moreover, this information window itself is sustainable. Every semester there are new students enrolling, every semester there are returning students taking new courses, and the textbook information is updated every semester. As long as we have one or two agents in each school, this can keep running."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Debiao suddenly remarked, "Isn't this just you doing the work of the Academic Affairs Office?"

"Yes!" Jiang Yateng patted the sofa armrest, "But the Academic Affairs Office is rough around the edges, while we are meticulous."

"The registrar's office uses codes even for course names. Ours not only clearly states the course name, but also includes feedback from previous students, whether the course is easy to fail, whether the teacher takes attendance, and any special points to note—can the registrar's office provide this information? No. But our agent can."

"Agents are students who have come from this major. They have taken this course, used this textbook, and taken this exam. They know which chapters are important, whether the textbook needs to be replaced, and whether the professor changes the textbook every year."

Shen Kang listened quietly without interrupting.

What Jiang Yateng told him touched another nerve.

Jiang Yateng's current talk of "textbook information compilation" brings a bigger pain point to the forefront—the information gap between students and schools.

This information gap exists not only in textbooks.

Course selection, exams, postgraduate entrance exams, employment, renting an apartment... every step presents similar problems of "not knowing where to look up information, and not being able to understand the information even after looking."

The academic affairs office has the information, but it has no incentive to organize it in a way that students can understand.

Students have needs, but they lack the channels to integrate information scattered across various places.

In the previous life, this information integration was later turned into "essential apps for college students" by various commercial companies—class schedule lookup, grade push notifications, campus errand services, and second-hand transactions, all of which grew out of the core need of "eliminating the information gap on campus".

The most successful case he has ever seen started from one university and expanded to cover thousands of universities across the country in three years, with a valuation of over 10 billion yuan.

But that's five or six years from now. Right now, no one is doing this systematically.

Jiang Yateng continued, extending his discussion beyond the concept of "information aggregation."

"Moreover, having agents greatly reduces the difficulty of selling books across universities. When the books are brought to the university, there are people to receive them and provide temporary storage—they can be placed directly in the agent's dormitory. Some people post on the forum to attract traffic, and others help watch the stall at the entrance of the cafeteria. Students from our own university trust their classmates more. An agent from the university posting to sell books is much more effective than an account from Yangko University of Science and Technology promoting the books."

"It's easy to motivate agents. There's no fixed salary; they get commission based on sales. If they help me sell a book, I get a dollar. For every new user who registers through their referral code at the school they're responsible for, I get a few cents more. If a school sells two or three hundred books a semester, the commission alone can cover half a month's living expenses. Moreover, these agents are students themselves; they know their school best, which cafeteria has the highest foot traffic, and which time of day is the most effective for setting up a stall."

Shen Kang suddenly asked, "How do we recruit agents?"

"We'll select from the first batch of students who helped take pictures of the textbook list. People who are willing to run errands for you to go to the academic affairs office to take pictures of the list are the type with strong execution and willingness to participate. We'll start with them as a pilot, get the process working in one school, get the results, and then use the results to convince people in other schools. You can tell them that the agent from the university made 500 yuan last semester by selling used books, and you don't even have to look for him, he comes to you on his own initiative."

Shen Kang nodded.

"It's doable," he said. "You draft a plan outlining the specifics of implementation. This should include the recruitment criteria for agents, training content, commission rates, and a timeline for implementation at each school. Give it to me before the end of winter break."

Jiang Yateng was surprised that Shen Kang gave a positive answer so quickly. He was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed and nodded emphatically.

"Okay. I'll write it when I get back!"

But he pressed on, "Old Shen, you just said 'it can be done'—what's missing between 'can be done' and 'must be done'?"

Shen Kang smiled. Jiang Yateng, that kid, can be really meticulous when he wants to. He can tell the tact from people's words. No wonder he usually finds it so easy to flatter him.

"Two things are missing."

Shen Kang held up one finger.

"First, the selection and management of agents. The advantages of agents are low asset intensity, flexibility, and localization, but the disadvantages are inconsistent quality. If not managed well, the troubles outweigh the benefits. What if they take the money but don't deliver the goods? What if they have conflicts with buyers or use the Beiming Community's name to insult people? What if the textbook information they collect is incorrect, causing other students to buy the wrong books? Who is responsible? These issues need to be thought out in advance and written into the plan. It's not enough to just say 'commission based on sales volume' to solve all the problems."

Jiang Yateng's expression turned serious. He knew that what Shen Kang was saying was a real trap, not just deliberate harassment.

Shen Kang raised his second finger.

"Secondly, establish a closed loop first before expanding. Don't roll out to all schools right away. Start with a pilot program at the university, running through the entire process from beginning to end: 'textbook information collection – agent recruitment – ​​online posting – offline stalls – user registration – used book buyback.' While running, record the conversion data for each step – how many people pass by the cafeteria, how many stop to browse books, how many eventually register, how many are active within a week of registration, and how many sell their used books back to our platform. Once you have the data, then talk to agents at the second school. Having the case study and data from the university makes a huge difference in your persuasiveness."

"Understood." Jiang Yateng nodded seriously. "Then let's go to Tongji University first, get the data, and then go to the Normal University and the Polytechnic University."

"right."

Hearing this from the side, Zhao Debiao couldn't help but exclaim, "You haven't sold a single copy of this book yet, but it sounds like you're already planning to release it."

"This is called planning before acting," Jiang Yateng said seriously. "More calculation leads to victory, less calculation leads to defeat, let alone no calculation at all?"

Zhao Debiao stared at him blankly: "What did you say?"

"The Art of War," Jiang Yateng pointed to the television, "the line Li Yunlong just recited."

The TV was showing the end credits, and Li Yunlong had probably finished cursing and deploying tactics. The screen froze on a silhouette of the vast Taihang Mountains.

Zhao Debiao glanced back, gave a doubtful "oh," and didn't know whether he believed it or not.