Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

"Brother Fei, this is too shabby!" Wen Jie said, looking at the two workstations with a suspicious expression.

Han Fei sat down in the swivel chair, facing Wen Jie. The chair screeched in protest.

Wen Jie was wearing a loose-fitting short-sleeved shirt and shorts. When Han Fei went to pick him up from his house in the morning, he thought Wen Jie was going to the basketball court.

"The preparations were rushed," Han Fei said with a smile. "The publishing house is always bustling with people, and the whole place smells of ink. And those editors, they're all so quiet and reserved. Would you like to work there?"

Wen Jie shook his head.

"So, I'm doing this to create a good working environment for you. Look here, there's sunshine and greenery, and you can find restaurants and supermarkets without leaving the building, isn't that great! Try it out for a while, and if you like it, we'll buy this whole place for you once our model is working."

Wen Jie couldn't help but laugh: "No need for that. You can't spend money like that even if you have it."

Han Fei stood up, reached out and pushed Wen Jie down into a chair.

"You can stay here and focus on building the website. I've rented two workstations, and I'll come over to keep you company whenever I have time."

"Go ahead and do what you need to do," Wen Jie said, taking out his laptop from his bag and plugging it in. "Anyway, you can't help much with what I'm doing here."

Han Fei nodded: "How long will it take to make?"

"Well..." Wen Jie touched his fingertips together, leaned back in his chair, "It needs user registration and login, novel display, a paid reading interface, and a verification backend for connecting with SP businesses... This is a small to medium-sized content payment system. From requirements analysis, prototype design, front-end page development, back-end logic writing, to database construction, SP interface integration testing, security testing, and deployment... If I were to do it all by myself, it would conservatively take a month and a half to two months."

"Is there any way to speed it up even more? For example, could we simplify some of the minor details, get the model up and running first, and then gradually improve it?" Han Fei asked.

"Okay, then let's start by making an MVP."

"What?"

"Minimum Viable Product," Wen Jie explained. "Initially, we don't aim for something large and comprehensive; we focus on the core functions that will get the business running. For example, for the user interface, we can modify existing templates instead of designing from scratch. We'll start with the simplest payment process and keep the backend management interface extremely simplified, just enough to upload novels and view order data."

"First, build a bare-bones house that people can live in."

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean." Wen Jie smiled. "Let's validate the business model first. If this approach works, then we can iterate and upgrade it. If the validation fails, then the development costs will be minimized. In that case, it should be done in about two weeks."

"Okay," Han Fei patted Wen Jie on the shoulder with satisfaction, "we'll do it your way."

......

Zhang Ruiyi sat on the bay window sill in her bedroom, her feet propped against the wall, gazing at the cloudless sky outside. A stray dog ​​wandered into her yard, sniffing the ground with its nose in the air and its tail held high.

A friend called in the morning, asking why she hadn't come to the party, and she could only make up an excuse that she wasn't feeling well. She glanced at the garage; Zhang Qiming's Mercedes wasn't there.

There was a knock at the door. Zhang Ruiyi didn't answer, but the door opened anyway.

The person who came in was her mother, Li Ting.

"Dinner's ready, Ruiyi," Li Ting said softly.

"Zhang Qiming is gone?" Zhang Ruiyi asked knowingly, still gazing out the window.

Li Ting smiled and sat down by the window.

"Are you still angry with your dad?"

Zhang Ruiyi pouted: "I wouldn't dare to be angry with him."

"Did you sleep well last night?"

"Oh no, I had a nightmare."

"Oh? What were you dreaming about?"

"I dreamt that I turned into a white swan, locked in a cage, and couldn't fly out no matter how hard I tried." Zhang Ruiyi twitched the corners of her mouth, stuck out her tongue, and made a face.

Li Ting laughed heartily: "I heard from your dad that you're planning to go to a party with your friends?"

"Hmph, he must have been badmouthing me to you again," Zhang Ruiyi said, more like talking to herself than to Li Ting.

Are there any boys among your friends?

The dog that had been sniffing around in the yard returned along the same path, drawing Zhang Ruiyi's attention. The dog stopped in the middle of the yard, its nose pressed against the ground, hesitant and unsure. After standing there for a while, it turned left and disappeared from Zhang Ruiyi's sight.

"Yes, it's my friend's boyfriend," Zhang Ruiyi said absentmindedly.

"Look, all your friends have boyfriends, why don't you get one too?"

"Get a boyfriend?" Zhang Ruiyi turned her head, her mouth agape in surprise, as if she had eaten something disgusting. "Mom, you have no idea how troublesome it is to have a boyfriend! All my friends have to report to their boyfriends every time they go out shopping with me, and they have to rack their brains to prepare gifts for every holiday."

"But these things are reciprocal."

"Anyway, I don't want to date them," Zhang Ruiyi said. "Those guys can't do anything right, they're even worse than me at driving and drinking. Once I went out with my friend, and her boyfriend insisted on driving. And what happened? When we got on the elevated highway, the traffic got a little tight, and he panicked, even changing lanes was a struggle. In the end, I had to direct him to drive back. When he got out of the car, his face was pale, but he still insisted that he hadn't slept well the night before."

Li Ting remained silent, only letting out a helpless sigh.

"And another time. Mom, do you remember? That guy, my dad... uh... the son of one of Zhang Qiming's business partners, came back from overseas and came to our house for dinner. I heard he can really drink. He was winking at me and immediately challenged me to a drinking contest with imported liquor, saying something like, 'Ruiyi, you can drink as you like, I'll drink it all.' But after three shots of that 'deep-water bomb,' he crawled under the table, clinging to the table leg and calling for his mom. In the end, it took two people to carry him to the car."

Zhang Ruiyi wanted to continue, but when she saw Li Ting close her eyes and wearily wipe her face with her hand, she swallowed her words back.

She straightened up, rested her head against the window frame, and wondered if she had gone too far. Her mother never liked to argue with people, and she must be very anxious as she kept talking nonstop.

"We can't generalize and condemn all people," Li Ting finally said. "You'll still meet the right boy for you."

"Hmm, maybe." Zhang Ruiyi nodded, looking directly at Li Ting. "Anyway, I haven't met her yet. Let's wait until we do."

Li Ting smiled, and Zhang Ruiyi returned the smile.

"Alright, let's go downstairs for dinner." Li Ting stood up and squeezed Zhang Ruiyi's arm. "I made you your favorite yam and mutton soup."