Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Chapter 136 Mr. Zhang Visits the Set

Wednesday morning, 16th floor of Hailong Building.

When Zhang Lei pushed open the door to Kaihang Technology's CEO office, Bai Yuhang was leaning back in his boss's chair, leisurely fiddling with a set of purple clay teapots.

"I was wondering where my unopened Yixing tea set went. Turns out you not only stole my old Wuyi rock tea, but you even took the pot!" Zhang Lei strode in, sat down on the sofa, and crossed his legs with a playful grin. "I heard Chen Yizhou got a real dressing down on the top floor of Sohu yesterday. His 'Buddha's Light Dog' with white edges is now the biggest joke in Zhongguancun. I came here specifically to see how your operation went."

Bai Yuhang got up, took the teapot and two teacups, and sat down on the sofa opposite Zhang Lei. He bowed, poured a cup of tea, and pushed it across the coffee table. "Mr. Zhang is quite well-informed. Try it; the tea brewed in this fine pot really does taste different."

Just then, Jiang Shuo, sporting dark circles under his eyes, pushed open the door and entered, holding several freshly printed A4 sheets of paper in his hand.

He greeted Zhang Lei respectfully and handed the paper to Bai Yuhang.

"Mr. Bai, Mr. Zhang, the final data calculation for yesterday is in." Jiang Shuo's voice was a little unsteady, and his thoughts were slightly halted. "The telecommunications bureau added five lines overnight, but they're still all busy. This is the final transaction statement and settlement data sent by the voice information service."

Zhang Lei picked up his teacup and casually asked, "What, another million? Congratulations! That's quite a feat in the Chinese internet world."

Bai Yuhang didn't look at the report. He handed it back to Jiang Shuo, blew on his teacup to cool it, and said with a smile, "President Jiang, why don't you read it to President Zhang?"

Jiang Shuo agreed, swallowed hard, and pointed to a string of zeros on the paper: "President Zhang, President Bai, as of midnight last night, the daily recharge volume yesterday was 3.12 million."

The teacup that Zhang Lei had just brought to his lips stopped in mid-air.

He turned his head and stared at Jiang Shuo: "How much?"

"Three million one hundred and twenty thousand RMB." Jiang Shuo pushed up his glasses and added, "The net profit makes up the vast majority of it, not including what we earned in the early hours of this morning."

Zhang Lei put down his teacup and snatched the report from Jiang Shuo's hand. His gaze swept over the long string of numbers three times.

This business tycoon, who usually signs multi-million dollar contracts without batting an eye at the negotiating table, now held a thin A4 sheet of paper, his hand trembling slightly, a rare occurrence.

"You brat—" Zhang Lei turned to look at Bai Yuhang as if he were a monster, "Three million in profit a day? Are you selling code or heroin?"

"Mr. Zhang, you're joking. We're all law-abiding citizens." Bai Yuhang leaned back in his chair casually, his tone indifferent. "The main thing is that we have a large user base, which will soon reach 19 million. Netizens spend money for novelty, happiness, and a sense of face. I'm providing some emotional value; it's a fair trade."

Zhang Lei placed the report on the coffee table and remained silent for a long time.

He came today with the intention of taking advantage of the fact that Sohu would definitely launch a major offensive and that Qihang Technology might need to prepare funds, so he had prepared a plan for subsequent financing.

Now it seems there's no need to even present this plan.

With a daily cash flow of three million, if things stay stable, that's tens of millions a month.

In 2000, when portal websites were still scrambling for millions of gigabytes in fees, this was no startup; it was a money-printing machine running at full capacity.

"I take back what I said earlier." Zhang Lei sat back on the sofa and laughed self-deprecatingly. "I thought you were fighting a positional war against Sohu, but it turns out you're launching a cross-generational attack on them, like the Gulf War. At the rate you're making money, you not only don't need venture capital, you could even use your cash flow to fight the giants head-on."

"So, as of today, Mr. Zhang, Qihang Technology has completed our performance-based agreement." Bai Yuhang stood up, smiled broadly, and walked to Zhang Lei's side, extending his hand to shake his tightly.

Zhang Lei stood up, grasped Bai Yuhang's hand, and looked the young man who had dropped out of college in his first year up and down. He couldn't utter a word for a long time.

"Alright, you win the bet." Zhang Lei released his grip, sat back down on the sofa, picked up the old rock tea Bai Yuhang pushed over, and took a big gulp. "I've been in the investment circle for several years, and I've seen my fair share of Silicon Valley monsters, but today you've really taught me a lesson. Three million in net profit a day, at this rate, I'm really afraid the police will burst in and raid us all one day."

Jiang Shuo, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but laugh. He pushed up his glasses and said, "Mr. Zhang, we are a legitimate company that pays taxes legally."

"Alright, Jiang Shuo, tell Zhang Jian to keep a close eye on the server, let the guys take turns resting, and then call the telecom bureau to urge them to add more lines and seats. After that, you need to rest too, don't overwork yourself." Bai Yuhang waved his hand, sending Jiang Shuo away.

The office door closed, Zhang Lei put down his teacup, leaned forward, and put away his earlier joking thoughts.

"Yu Hang, seriously. With such a huge cash flow in your hands now, Sohu is probably being beaten to a pulp. Chen Yizhou is probably writing a self-criticism right now. What are you planning to do next?" Zhang Lei stared at him. "Don't tell me you're planning to live off selling these few virtual clothes for the rest of your life."

Bai Yuhang smiled and picked up the purple clay teapot to refill Zhang Lei's tea.

"Mr. Zhang, the current business is just the beginning." Bai Yuhang put down the teapot, his eyes resolute. "I plan to enrich the film and music copyright line as soon as possible, and expand a few more product lines. We are still in the thinking stage."

Zhang Lei, who had just picked up his teacup, stopped abruptly, his brow furrowing slightly. "Audio-visual copyrights? Are you burning money? Go downstairs and take a walk around the entrance of Hailong Building. Pirated DVDs for three for five yuan are everywhere. The international market is also flooded with them, and they've only just started cracking down on them. You're spending real money to buy copyrights now; it's just throwing money down the drain. You won't even hear a sound."

"There's piracy everywhere now, but I don't think it will be like this in the future," Bai Yuhang said calmly. "Our country is going to join the WTO and align with international standards, so protecting intellectual property rights is inevitable. Right now, these film and music copyrights are dirt cheap. If we don't buy them now, once the market becomes more regulated, we'll have to go through one or even several intermediaries, and good copyrights could fetch astronomical prices. We need to lay a solid foundation and develop steadily."

Zhang Lei stroked his chin, lost in thought. He was a pure businessman with an extremely keen sense for policy.

Although Bai Yuhang's words sound ahead of their time, they are logically sound.

"Do you want to build a content moat?" Zhang Lei asked.

"Yes, a closed-loop ecosystem." Bai Yuhang nodded. "But this can be done gradually. Right now, there's a more pressing matter that I need Mr. Zhang's help with."

"Wow, there aren't many things that make you, Mr. Bai, have to ask for help." Zhang Lei chuckled, leaning back on the sofa armrest. "Tell me, which company have you got your eye on? I'll go talk to them for you."

"It's not a company, it's a distribution channel." Bai Yuhang pointed to where Jiang Shuo had just been standing. "You heard it too, our current recharge channels all rely on voice information services. The telecommunications bureaus in several provinces have given us fifty or sixty lines, but they're still busy all the time. Users have to queue up if they want to recharge, and sometimes they get so fed up with the queue that they hang up and the money doesn't come in. Moreover, the voice information service takes a pretty high cut."

Zhang Lei nodded: "That's true, the passage fee is ridiculously high. What do you want to do about it?"

"I'd like to meet with some bigwigs in the domestic telecommunications system," Bai Yuhang said, looking at Zhang Lei. "For example, the newly established China Mobile. If we can connect directly with them and streamline the recharge channels, and then, while maintaining the existing voice information service model, we can also link our services with SMS messaging, this whole operation will be much more successful. Mr. Zhang has a wide network of connections; I'll need your help to make the connection."

Zhang Lei pursed his lips and thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"You've got quite the appetite, kid. Not content with fleecing users with voice information services, now you're eyeing the national team." Zhang Lei stood up, straightened his suit, and said, "The mobile company hasn't been established for long. The current general manager is Zhang Ligui. I've met him a few times. He's a pragmatist, quick-witted, and broad-minded. Okay, leave this to me. I'll arrange a meeting in the next couple of days for you to meet this General Manager Zhang."

"Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Zhang." Bai Yuhang stood up.

"Don't thank me. Just remember to restock my cabinet next time you come to my office." Zhang Lei smiled, pointed to the purple clay teapot in Bai Yuhang's hand, turned around, and walked out the door.

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