Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

"President, this 'Roots-Tracing' project is amazing!" Lu Hai exclaimed. "If we can really unearth authors like Wild Grass, then even Tencent will be dumbfounded!"

"Cousin, I'll go to Boss Zhou's place again tomorrow. I'll start thinking about how to train him in storytelling, and try to teach him in one go," Cheng Xu said.

"Okay," Han Fei said. "Like I just said, this is a long-term battle. We can't dig up all the weeds at once, but we can sow the seeds first and let the roots take hold. Let contact points like Boss Zhou become our tentacles reaching into the soil, and let the back cover of each issue of the magazine become a tree hole where they can submit their stories. This can't be rushed or done carelessly. It requires us to be patient, like the weeds taking notes, accumulating little by little, discussing one story after another. When these roots have connected underground to form a network, the people on the surface will suddenly realize that a forest of our own has grown in this land."

Applause erupted in the office, and Han Fei smiled with satisfaction.

"Next, we'll start by establishing a model field for our Roots-Seeking Project, which is Teacher Wild Grass." Han Fei looked at Sun Yue, "Sun Yue, what did you think of that notebook?"

Sun Yue looked up at Han Fei nervously: "Very impressive. Every sentence is the core of a story, weighing on people's hearts for decades."

"I'd like you to be in charge of liaising with Wild Grass from now on," Han Fei said. "Your personality is rather introverted, so you won't put pressure on him. What he needs isn't some high-and-mighty guidance, but someone who can sit down and listen to him, someone who can gradually unearth all the things he's kept bottled up inside for half his life. I've already revised his contract; you don't need to discuss the writing progress with him. He doesn't know how to turn those words in his notebook into a story. You just need to help him organize them: What does this person look like? What was the weather like that day? What was his expression at the time? As long as he can describe these details himself, he can write it down. Your task isn't to write for him, but to make him believe that he can write. Are you confident?"

"Yes," Sun Yue blurted out, then quickly covered her mouth warily. "I...I want to try."

Zhou Tao and Cheng Xu burst into laughter.

"Then it's up to you," Han Fei said with a smile. "The weeds are the beginning of the plan. Once you've planted them well, thousands upon thousands of weeds will sprout up afterward. Go now, and let me know if you need anything."

Sun Yue blushed. Lu Hai placed a hand on her shoulder like a father. "If the president is too busy, you can come to me."

After adjourning the meeting, Han Fei and Zhang Ruiyi drove to the Jiaotong University Affiliated Hospital. Han Baohua had completed her examinations, and the doctor finalized the upgraded treatment plan. Han Fei signed the consent form, paid the fees, and then had dinner with Han Baohua.

As Han Fei and Zhang Ruiyi left the hospital, the last rays of sunlight streamed through a gap in the clouds. The internal intercom Fang Jing had left for Han Fei rang. Han Fei answered, and Fang Jing congratulated him on achieving the 15.7% data point. She then explained the difficult decision-making pressure headquarters was facing and asked if Han Fei had any ideas on how to break the deadlock between the "two-province pilot program" and the "delayed Tencent Communications."

"President Fang, you're giving me too much credit. You expect a mere editor like me to make decisions on such a major strategic choice? If I said I had a perfect solution pop into my head right now, I'd be lying."

"Han Fei, isn't it a bit of a waste to use your stalling tactic on me?" Fang Jing said with a smile. "But you're right, it's really difficult for you to come up with a perfect solution on the spot for such a big strategic choice. I'm not here to force you to hand in a solution. President Liu's attitude is very clear: you will still control the progress, and headquarters will not put any extra pressure on you. But I think you are the one who understands this situation best and is the most likely to come up with a win-win solution. We trust your judgment of the pace."

"Okay, give me some time to think about it," Han Fei said. "Has headquarters noticed any movements from Tencent?"

"Well, what we know so far is that after Xu Cheng returned from your place, he held a three-hour meeting at the founding partner level that very evening. They established a special team called Qingmang to build a WAP site and SP interface similar to Qingniao. On the content side, they seem to be searching for authors who can write this type of novel through various channels, but they are investing very few resources. From this perspective, your strategy has successfully stalled them. Tencent hasn't yet made up its mind to fully commit to building its own platform to compete head-on with Qingniao. They are currently only making tentative arrangements in terms of technology and content reserves, and still have expectations for investment or in-depth cooperation."

"Mr. Fang, thank you for your trust. As for the pilot program in the two provinces... well, tomorrow is Saturday, and you're not working, so it'll give me some time to sort things out."

......

On Tuesday, the temperature in the shade of Shanghai rose to 29 degrees Celsius. By 6:30 p.m., office workers were already preparing to head to the Bund viewing platform. Sweating profusely, tourists flocked to the open-air tea houses along the Bund and the Old City God Temple, first taking photos with the international architecture on both sides of the Huangpu River to fulfill their sightseeing obligations, and then slowly moving towards the Nine-Turn Bridge and the Lakeside Pavilion, hoping that a gentle breeze would bring cool mist to their bodies.

The roads outside the tourist routes were eerily quiet, with only a few signs of life moving slowly. Road workers leaned against machines shirtless, while bricklayers on scaffolding around the Jiaotong University Affiliated Hospital looked down at the desolate streets. Taxi drivers parked their cars in the shade and gathered to discuss the novels they had read the night before, recommended by Qingniao Reading.

Only on Hankou Road were signs of increased activity visible. It was the off-season for news, and the tabloids specializing in business gossip were planning to capitalize on the recent "short-form fiction resurgence," coming up with increasingly sensational headlines like "Small Publishing House Earns Millions a Month, Giants Can't Sit Still" and "Tencent Meets with Qingniao, Acquisition Rumors Rage." Most of the newspaper's editors were on vacation, so they had to mobilize all available resources to dig for scoops, from journalism students working summer jobs to idle columnist economists—everyone was mobilized. Only the political reporters escaped unscathed.

The streets remained quieter than usual, perhaps because the *Shanghai Morning Post* had moved from its old location in the city center to a new office building. This building, less than two years old, features a glass curtain wall, and political reporter Yang Zheng and his colleagues jokingly call it the "Crystal Coffin" because while it looks beautiful, it's like a greenhouse in the summer. Even with the air conditioning on full blast, it's still not cool enough.