1994: Starting with unpaid leave

Chapter 173 You be Rel Gates, I'll be the man behind you.

In Kingsoft's small shop, after listening to Dong Jianguo's remarks about "low-cost trial and error," Lei Jun felt as if his Ren and Du meridians had been opened, and he excitedly paced back and forth in the cramped shop.

His fellow programmers were also bewildered by this sudden turn of events, exchanging bewildered glances, wondering what kind of spell this unexpected Northeastern guy had cast on their boss.

"Brother Jianguo, your brain—it's absolutely brilliant!"

Lei Jun suddenly stopped and turned to look at Dong Jianguo, his eyes filled with admiration as well as a hint of undisguised confusion.

He sat down opposite Dong Jianguo, picked up the glass of cold water on the table, took a sip, and moistened his throat, which was dry from excitement.

"Brother Jianguo, I, Lei Jun, have seen many talented people and heard many grand principles. But what you said has truly been refreshing."

Lei Jun put down his water glass, leaned forward slightly, and stared intently into Dong Jianguo's eyes. "However, there's still one question I can't figure out."

"Go ahead," Dong Jianguo said calmly, picking up the half-eaten spicy snack and chewing slowly. The sweet and spicy flavor exploded on his tongue, finally calming his mind, which had been in turmoil all day.

"Why are you helping me?" Lei Jun asked, voicing his long-standing question. "You're in the food industry, and I'm in software. We're completely unrelated. Logically speaking, Kingsoft Software is now..."

"What a mess! Pangu components aren't selling, and the company is about to go hungry. What are you trying to do, giving me advice now?"

He paused, his eyes sharpening. "Don't give me that 'fate' or 'heroes cherish heroes' nonsense. I don't believe in that. In this industry, there's no love or hate without a reason. What are you after?"

Lei Jun's direct question made the air in the store freeze for a moment.

Several programmers also stopped what they were doing and pricked up their ears to eavesdrop.

They also wanted to know what this boss, who looked like a nouveau riche, was really up to.

Looking into Lei Jun's clear yet wary eyes, Dong Jianguo nodded to himself.

now it's right.

This is the kind of vigilance a future internet mogul should have.

If someone were to be so grateful and bow down in gratitude after I just say a few nice words, then that would be a real fake Lei Jun.

Dong Jianguo did not answer immediately, but instead took out a pack of Hongtashan cigarettes from his pocket, shook one out, and lit it.

His eyes appeared somewhat profound amidst the swirling smoke.

"Lei Jun, how much do you think this software you made will be worth in the future?" Dong Jianguo asked in return.

Lei Jun was taken aback, clearly not expecting him to ask that question.

He pondered for a moment, then held up five fingers: "If it could be done, conservatively speaking, it could generate several million in revenue a year. But piracy is rampant right now—"

"If you hang yourselves on this one tree, you'll be well on your way to death —"

"this----"

Lei Jun was taken aback, not understanding what Dong Jianguo meant.

Dong Jianguo leaned closer to Lei Jun, lowered his voice, and said with a seductive charm, "Do the math again. Do you think the food industry is profitable?"

"Of course we'll make money; food is the most important thing for people," Lei Jun replied instinctively.

"That's right, it's profitable." Dong Jianguo nodded. "My 'Hezhiwei' brand is selling quite well in Northeast China now. Whether it's chicken feet or spicy strips, business looks pretty good, right?"

"That's right, Brother Jianguo, you're a promising young entrepreneur too," Lei Jun chimed in.

"But have you ever thought about where the ceiling is in the food industry?"

Dong Jianguo's tone shifted abruptly, his eyes sharpening. "My factory produces a million packs of spicy strips a day, making two cents profit per pack."

"Two hundred thousand a day. That's only seventy-three million a year. That's the limit. Because a person's stomach is only so big. How many spicy snacks can a person eat in a day? A hundred packs? A thousand packs? Impossible!"

Dong Jianguo tapped the table with his fingers, making a "thump-thump" sound. Every word seemed to strike Lei Jun's heart: "But the software industry is different! You write a line of code, copy it to a floppy disk, and sell it to someone. The cost is almost zero! One person uses it, two people use it, a million people use it, a hundred million people use it! Your marginal cost is almost zero, but your profits are unlimited!"

"Just imagine, if in the future all the computers in China have your software installed, and each person pays you one yuan, that's over a billion yuan! If each person pays you ten yuan, that's over ten billion yuan!"

"This is exponential growth!"

"But my spicy snack business grows linearly. I make money from each pack I sell, and from each truckload I sell. I work myself to the bone, but that's about it."

Lei Jun was stunned.

Although he was a computer genius, at this moment, his thinking was still limited to specific issues such as "how to sell the software" and "how to prevent piracy." He had never thought about the industry he was in from this macro, business model perspective.

Dong Jianguo's words were like a bolt of lightning, instantly cleaving through the fog before his eyes.

"But you just said that if you continued doing soft work, you would hang yourself on a tree—"

"That's right, this software doesn't work, but that doesn't mean other software won't work—"

"I have a very positive outlook on this industry and would like to make some friends in this field."

He looked at Lei Jun's slightly stunned face and extended his hand: "Moreover, if one day you decide to do something on your own, I, Dong Jianguo, am absolutely willing to be your first angel investor."

"I believe in your future."

"boom!"

Lei Jun felt as if a bomb had exploded in his head.

Angel investor?

Going solo?

These words were both unfamiliar and alluring to him.

He looked at Dong Jianguo's outstretched hand, a broad and strong hand with calluses on his knuckles from years of holding pens and operating machines.

A spicy snack vendor wants to invest in a software company that doesn't even exist yet?

This sounds like a fantasy.

But looking into Dong Jianguo's sincere and determined eyes, Lei Jun's doubts only deepened.

"Brother Jianguo, aren't you afraid I'll make you lose everything?" Lei Jun gave a bitter laugh. "I'm having a tough time right now, I can barely pay salaries. Investing your money in me now is like throwing it into the water!"

Dong Jianguo smiled and shook his head, withdrew his hand, took out a small notebook from his pocket, wrote down a string of numbers, tore it off, and handed it to Lei Jun.

"This is my pager number. Believe it or not, it's up to you." Dong Jianguo stood up, patted Lei Jun on the shoulder, and said, "Of course, you can also think I'm just daydreaming. But whenever you come to your senses, or if you can't stay at Kingsoft anymore, feel free to contact me."

After saying that, Dong Jianguo turned to leave.

"Brother Jianguo! Wait a minute!" Lei Jun hurriedly called out to him.

He watched Dong Jianguo's retreating figure, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions. There was doubt, curiosity, and a touch of gratitude for being valued so highly by a stranger.

Dong Jianguo turned around, smiled, and waved his hand without answering: "Life is mostly about surprises, there's no such thing as a plan. Don't overthink it, I have something to do, I'll be going now."

Watching Dong Jianguo's figure disappear into the night, Lei Jun clutched the slip of paper with the pager number written on it, remaining lost in thought for a long time.

"Boss, who is this guy?" a programmer leaned over and asked in a low voice.

Lei Jun took a deep breath, carefully folded the note, and stuffed it into his inner pocket.

"A truly remarkable person."

He turned around, his gaze regaining its firmness and sharpness: "Alright, stop handing out questionnaires! Everyone get back to work! Let's try a different approach and see if we can create a basic computer tutorial for the average person!"

"Huh? You've changed your approach again?!"

The programmers in the room let out a series of groans—

After leaving Kingsoft's small shop, Dong Jianguo did not immediately return to the guesthouse.

He declined Lei Jun's offer to send him a ride and walked alone on the streets of Zhongguancun.

The evening breeze, cool on his face, made his mind exceptionally clear.

He didn't just say those things on a whim.

Although he didn't have a good life in his previous life, he knew about Lei Jun's later achievements.

More importantly, he knew that Lei Jun was a resilient and visionary person.

In this era, finding a reliable partner is harder than finding a reliable project.

Since we've encountered this situation, why not give it a try?

Although he's just a spicy snack vendor now, once he gets on this train to the future, anything is possible.

As Dong Jianguo walked, he looked around at his surroundings.

At that time, Zhongguancun did not yet have the bustling scene of towering buildings and heavy traffic that it would later become.

This place is more like a wildly growing tropical rainforest, brimming with untamed vitality.

The utility poles along the roadside were covered with small stickers advertising "high-price computer buyback" and "professionally assembled PCs".

The storefronts along the roadside were piled high with all sorts of electronic components that I couldn't understand.

This is the legendary "Electronics Street".

In the eyes of many old Beijingers, this place is nothing more than a gathering place for "scalpers" who deal in foreign waste and assemble machines.

But in Dong Jianguo's eyes, this place is the cradle of China's future internet.

"Hey bro, wanna build a PC? Pentium CPU, 16MB RAM, comes with a floppy disk drive, only 18,000!"

A young man squatting by the roadside smoking saw Dong Jianguo looking at him and greeted him warmly.

"Pentium?" Dong Jianguo chuckled, walked over, and squatted down. "Young man, your setup will be outdated next year. Computers are being updated very quickly these days."

The young man was stunned: "Brother, you're an expert too? Pentium is a brand new product from Intel, how can it be outdated?"

"Don't believe me if you don't want to." Dong Jianguo waved his hand, stood up, and continued walking forward.

He knew that the performance of future computers would explode exponentially.

A phone that costs 10,000 yuan now might not even be able to turn on in a few years.

Just as he was passing by a street-facing shop with a sign that read "Science and Technology Electronics City", a familiar voice came from behind him.

"Brother Jianguo! Wait for me!"

Dong Jianguo turned around and saw Lei Jun chasing after him, panting, with a coat in his hand.

"Why are you out again?" Dong Jianguo asked, somewhat surprised.

"I've figured it out!" Lei Jun ran up to Dong Jianguo and shoved his coat into his hands. "It's windy tonight, you're wearing so little, don't catch a cold. Wear this coat for now."

Looking at the coat in his hand, still warm from Lei Jun's body heat, Dong Jianguo felt a warmth in his heart.

Dong Jianguo smiled and draped his coat over his shoulders.

"Hey, Jianguo, I just wanted to have a chat with you." Lei Jun rubbed his hands together, scratching his head a little embarrassedly. "What you said earlier makes more and more sense to me. But I still don't quite understand why, if you're so optimistic about the software industry, you don't just invest your money in Kingsoft, or find a team to develop software yourself, instead of waiting for me to go solo?"

Looking into Lei Jun's eager eyes, Dong Jianguo smiled and said, "Come on, walk with me around here. I'll tell you the story of Zhongguancun, and you'll understand."

The two walked side by side on the streets of Zhongguancun, their shadows stretched long by the streetlights.

"Lei Jun, do you know what Zhongguancun used to be?" Dong Jianguo asked.

Lei Jun shook his head: "Isn't it just an electronics market?"

"Not entirely," Dong Jianguo pointed to the surrounding high-rise buildings. "This place used to be called 'Zhongguancun Electronics Street.' It existed as early as the early 1980s. Back then, a large number of scientific and technological personnel like you gathered here. They came from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and universities, bringing their technology, wanting to commercialize their scientific and technological achievements here."

"Back then, this was the testing ground for China's high-tech industry. However, as you know, the environment at that time was rife with negative connotations; 'speculation' and 'going into business' were both derogatory terms. Therefore, Zhongguancun was fraught with controversy and risk."

Dong Jianguo paused, looking at a shop on the roadside that was unloading goods. Several workers were carrying heavy monitors off a truck.

"Look, it's 1995 now. The internet wave is about to arrive. Zhongguancun is at a crossroads of old and new," Dong Jianguo said, pointing to the shops. "Right now, although there are still many 'scalpers' here, dealing in all sorts of grey market goods and accessories, there are also a group of people who genuinely want to do something, like you, who want to make something of themselves here."

"So why should I wait for you to go solo?" Dong Jianguo turned to Lei Jun. "Because Kingsoft has its historical baggage and its shareholder structure. If I join now, I can only be an ordinary shareholder and I'll have to be at the mercy of others."

However, if you go it alone, that's your own kingdom. I can be your first investor, and together we can build our own internet empire from scratch!

"Lei Jun, do you believe that in the future, this place will become China's 'Silicon Valley'? And you might just be China's 'Rel Gates'!"

Lei Jun was deeply moved by Dong Jianguo's grand vision.

Looking at Dong Jianguo's face, which shone brightly in the night, the last bit of doubt in his heart vanished.

He stopped wondering why Dong Jianguo, a spicy snack vendor, would know so much or see through the future. He only knew that this man had given him an unprecedented sense of confidence and strength.

"Brother Jian Guo, I believe you!" Lei Jun nodded emphatically, his eyes resolute. "If that day ever comes, I, Lei Jun, will be the first to invite you to be my chairman!"

"Haha, I'm not going to be the chairman," Dong Jianguo laughed and waved his hand. "I'll just be a hands-off manager. I'll invest the money and wait for my share of the profits. You'll have to do the actual work. I'll just be there to cheer you on from behind the scenes."