Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

A beam of sunlight blazed through the window, illuminating the computer screen on the desk, its light reflecting off the screen.

Han Fei opened his eyes and tried to figure out where he was.

He was lying on the office floor, dressed but disheveled, his skin sticky from evaporated sweat. He felt a lightness in his heart, yet also a pressure. His head felt even worse.

He slowly got up and sat up.

He could only see the ceiling and walls spinning. There were no pictures on the walls, no chandeliers on the ceiling, and his gaze couldn't find a fixed point. Spinning around him were bookshelves, a desk piled high with manuscripts, and a toppled chair.

But at least he escaped a series of nightmares.

In his dream, he stood in the warehouse of Bluebird Publishing House, with mountains of unsold magazines piled up beneath his feet, turning into quicksand that relentlessly swallowed him. He tried to close his eyes, to avoid looking at his father on the hospital bed in the distance, but to no avail; he could only watch helplessly as his father drifted into the distance, turning into a white dot.

Then, the magazine covers distorted and transformed into a series of failed projects he had managed and payment reminders. Finally, all the images collapsed into a single point—the thickness of the stack of banknotes he had received when he sold his house in Shanghai in his past life. A silent, inescapable crushing pressure.

Han Fei remained seated, gazing through the gap in the curtains at the sun casting a faint glow above the street. The only sounds breaking the silence were the passing cars and the shouts of vendors from the breakfast stalls downstairs.

His eyes were fixed on the sun, unblinking, until it burned into a vibrant, golden-red halo on his aching retinas. When he was little, his mother had told him that if a child looked directly at the sun, their eyes would be burned, and their mind would be filled with sunlight all day long, for the rest of their life.

Something was vibrating in his pocket. It turned out that what had woken him was this vibration, like a trapped moth desperately flapping its wings. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Hey, Uncle Zhang."

"Han Fei," Zhang Qiming said, a joyful laugh still ringing in his ears, "is Rui Yi still with you?"

"Ruiyi?" Han Fei couldn't help but panic.

He stood up, one leg weak and numb, almost losing his balance. He quickly looked around and saw Zhang Ruiyi curled up asleep in an armchair, then breathed a sigh of relief.

Han Fei limped to the clothes rack, took a coat from it, and went to Zhang Ruiyi's side. He was surprised to find that she was sleeping soundly.

"She's asleep," Han Fei said in a low voice, gently draping his coat over Zhang Ruiyi. Realizing that this might cause a misunderstanding, he quickly added, "Uh... she's in the chair in my office. The three of us worked until the early hours of the morning, she must be exhausted."

"Thank you for your hard work!" Zhang Qiming laughed heartily. "But in the end, hard work pays off. I called specifically to congratulate you!"

"Congratulations to me?"

"What? You're still not satisfied with this data?"

data!

Han Fei spun around in place, as if he were drunk, and then rushed to the computer.

The sunlight reflecting off the computer screen dazzled him.

Wen Jie was sitting in the chair in front of the computer, limbs outstretched, head tilted back, mouth half open, emitting soft snoring, with dried saliva remaining at the corners of his mouth.

Han Fei's pupils contracted as he saw in the blinding light that the computer had automatically entered its screen saver interface.

He took a breath, mentally prepared himself, and extended a trembling finger to lightly tap the keyboard.

The screen flickered.

Han Fei's eyes had adjusted to the light, and he stared at the numbers on the real-time data display dial on the screen.

"Han Fei? Are you listening?" Zhang Qiming's voice rang out again, tinged with laughter. "I've seen the detailed data report, and you've really made a name for yourself! User willingness to pay and activity levels far exceed the initial performance of conventional SP businesses. Your model has succeeded!"

Han Fei hesitated for a moment before deciding to continue breathing.

It stood firm.

These three words resonated deeply in Han Fei's mind.

This was neither a dream nor a figment of the imagination. Those manuscripts polished through the night, the meticulously designed copy, the anxious wait, and the concepts thrown into the market thirteen years ahead of schedule... they were truly accepted and validated, bearing their first heavy fruit on this summer morning of 2004.

"Thank you, Uncle Zhang," Han Fei said, his voice heavy with breath.

"Han Fei, you made the right move! The mobile network will continue to monitor the situation and provide necessary support. Your father would be very happy if he knew. Don't push yourself too hard, take care of your health, and get some rest. I won't bother you any longer."

Han Fei hung up the phone and stood still, unable to adjust to the sudden silence.

A minute passed. He reached out and patted Wenjie on the head.

Wen Jie suddenly opened his eyes, his body trembled, causing the chair to creak and begin to fall backward. Wen Jie immediately came to his senses, reaching out his hands frantically to grab at the air, trying to maintain his balance, but it was too late; he and the chair crashed to the ground with a thud.

Wen Jie groaned and slowly got up: "What's wrong?"

"Are you awake?"

"I'm fine," Wen Jie said, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "I was just dreaming."

"What did you dream about?"

"I dreamt about our Qingniao Reading website. Overnight, user data exploded. Thousands upon thousands of subscription notifications kept ringing incessantly, and the screen was filled with payment success messages, like firecrackers going off during Chinese New Year—it just wouldn't stop. Then, the data curve suddenly burst through the ceiling, piercing the entire chart! I was frantic and wanted to fix it, but when I looked up, I realized we were standing in a very high place, overlooking the entire night view of Shanghai. The light shining from the windows of every building had turned into the titles of the novels on our website, flashing on and off..."

Han Fei blinked, wondering if all people in the tech industry have such vivid imaginations.

"And then?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Then I saw a really tall building standing across the street, like a giant. It also had light, but it was different from the light on our side... ugh, colder, more orderly, and it seemed like they were trying to draw our light away. I got a little anxious, wanting our light to be brighter, but then I stepped into thin air... Turns out you woke me up."

Han Fei nodded, put a hand on Wen Jie's shoulder, and stared at him with a smile.

Wen Jie looked at Han Fei with a puzzled expression: "What happened?"

Han Fei raised his chin and gestured towards the computer, hoping to see a shocked expression on Wen Jie's face.

Wen Jie turned to look at the screen, his eyes widened, he took a deep breath, and then began to shout.

Holy crap!!!