After being reborn, my sister insisted on marrying me.

Siheyuan.

As she reached the door, Su Lai turned back and glanced at Wei Yi.

I guessed he was nervous because his expression looked a bit strange.

"Don't worry, my grandpa is very easygoing. When I was little, he used to play marbles with me."

"Marbles?"

"Yes. He's incredibly skilled; he always wins all my money."

Wei Yi smiled and temporarily suppressed those chaotic thoughts.

There's no point in dwelling on it now that things have come to this.

Looking at it from another perspective, this might not be a bad opportunity.

Even after retirement, the position of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi still maintained a vast network of connections and influence.

If he could get in touch with this... he suddenly felt that his previous plan to "scam money and run away" seemed a bit too small.

The two crossed the threshold.

Facing you is a screen wall made of blue bricks, with a pine tree carved in relief in the middle, its branches strong and vigorous.

Turning past the screen wall, you enter a spacious courtyard. Osmanthus and crabapple trees are planted in the flower beds, and an old ginkgo tree stands in the corner, its canopy shading half of the courtyard.

A layer of golden leaves had fallen on the stone brick floor and hadn't been swept away yet.

An old man sat at a stone table in the backyard, wearing a dark gray Zhongshan suit. His hair was gray, but he was in good spirits.

He was holding an enamel mug and reading the newspaper when he heard footsteps. He looked up and his gaze fell on Wei Yi through his glasses.

"Grandpa," Sulei walked over, her tone softer than usual, "I've brought him. This is Wei Yi, the man I mentioned to you, my partner at the school."

The old man took off his glasses and placed them on the stone table, then stood up.

Despite his age, he was almost as tall as Wei Yi, with a straight back, clear eyes, and a posture and demeanor that clearly indicated he had been in the body for many years.

Wei Yi stepped forward, bowed, and extended his hand: "Hello, Elder Su, I am Wei Yi."

Old Su grasped his hand, with a firm but not too strong grip, shook it slightly, and lingered on his face for a moment.

"Okay, sit down."

Wei Yi sat down on the stone bench next to him.

Sulei then brought over a stool and sat between the two of them.

The young man in the white shirt brought over a pot of tea and poured a cup for everyone.

Old Su didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "Xiao Wei, Lai Lai has told me about that shared bike thing you're working on several times. She said you could put the bikes on the university campus, let students scan a code to ride, no deposit required, and the price would be cheap. How far do you think this model can go in the future?"

Wei Yi picked up his teacup, took a sip, and sorted out his thoughts.

He remembered that before Sulei's grandfather retired, he was in charge of the economy, especially the internet.

Old Su asked this as his first question, clearly to see if he had any real skills.

"Mr. Su, I believe that bike-sharing is just the entry point for the sharing economy. Once bike-sharing has proven successful, it can be extended to shared power banks, shared umbrellas, shared parking spaces, and even shared office spaces and shared cars. The core logic is to reallocate idle resources through the internet, lower the barriers to use, and improve circulation efficiency."

He put down his teacup, his tone neither humble nor arrogant:

"This sector may seem like a small-scale operation on campus right now, but in three to five years, it will cover cities across the country. Transportation is just the first application scenario; what follows is the entire ecosystem of the sharing economy."

Old Su held his enamel teacup without saying a word, but simply nodded, signaling him to continue.

"The essence of the sharing economy is to use technology to solve the problem of resource allocation efficiency. In the past, a bicycle was only ridden once a day by one person. Now, a bicycle is ridden five or six times a day, and the same resource is used to generate five or six times more value. This logic can be applied to cars, office space, and energy storage. The country is now carrying out supply-side reforms, and the sharing economy is the optimization of supply on the consumer side."

Sulei whispered from the side, "He didn't say that at school. He told his classmates it was to make it easier for everyone to get around, it was a public service."

Old Su chuckled and placed his enamel mug on the stone table. "With classmates, you can talk about public welfare; with me, you can tell the truth. Xiao Wei, what do you think the higher-ups' attitude is towards this direction?"

After thinking for a moment, Wei Yi decided to rely on his work experience from his previous life to make a judgment.

He remembers clearly that when bike-sharing exploded in 2015 and 2016, the Ministry of Transport did indeed issue guidelines to encourage the development of shared transportation.

Although regulations were later strengthened due to issues such as illegal parking, the general policy direction was supportive.

"Mr. Su, my personal assessment is that the policy will primarily focus on encouragement, with regulation playing a secondary role. Shared transportation can supplement the shortcomings of public transportation and solve the last-mile problem, which is a basic need. As long as the operators don't do anything reckless, such as misappropriating deposits, haphazardly placing vehicles, or damaging the city's appearance, the government has no reason to impose a blanket ban. Moreover..."

He paused, recalling what actually happened in his previous life, and added, "Moreover, I suspect that the higher-ups may already be paying attention to this sector. They might even be drafting relevant guidelines."

Old Su's eyebrows twitched.

He picked up the enamel mug and put it down again, then turned to look at Su Lai: "Lai Lai, your partner is quite interesting. What he said is similar to the views of some experts at the internal seminar held by the National Development and Reform Commission last month."

Sulei blinked, clearly not expecting this assessment.

"However, you're half right." Old Su turned back to Wei Yi. "The top think tank has indeed been paying attention to the sharing economy and has issued several internal reports. The conclusions of the reports are quite similar to what you just said, and are even more inclusive in terms of enthusiasm and openness. So your project is on the right track."

Wei Yi's heart skipped a beat.

really.

In its previous life, ofo was able to secure so many rounds of financing; without the tacit approval and support of policymakers, it wouldn't have been able to grow so rapidly.

Old Su continued:

"However, what you just said, 'the operators themselves don't court disaster,' hits the nail on the head. What the higher-ups are most worried about isn't the model failing, but that once the model succeeds, capital will rush in, only to end up in a mess. Capital, they've always been short-sighted and profit-driven."

"This is a common problem with capital, and I'm well aware of it."

Wei Yi continued, "So, Tage's operations will first be tested on campus, and only after it's proven successful will it expand outwards. We'd rather expand slowly and take each step steadily. We have financing plans, but we don't intend to burn money for scale."

Old Su nodded and remained silent for a moment.

When he spoke again, there was something else in his tone.

"Xiao Wei, what you said is all correct. But having a direction isn't enough; you need a means to implement it. For the sharing economy to take off, a key issue is trust. Why should strangers trust each other when sharing resources? If the trust issue can't be resolved, the scale won't be able to grow."

Wei Yi was stunned.

He had certainly thought about this question.

One of ofo's biggest problems in its past was the uneven quality of its users. The bikes were damaged, privately occupied, and abandoned everywhere, resulting in a shockingly high loss rate.

His initial solution was to use technological means to restrict access, such as smart locks, GPS positioning, and blacklist systems.

But the "trust" that Su Lao mentioned is clearly not just a technical matter.

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

Alipay's Sesame Credit.

In my previous life, Sesame Credit Score was launched in 2015, which means next year, it seems like it's only a few months away.

It happened almost simultaneously with the explosion of bike-sharing.

Users with high Sesame Credit scores can ride ofo bikes without a deposit. This mechanism is a win-win situation, lowering the barrier to entry while also regulating user behavior.

But Sesame Credit is an Ant Financial product and has nothing to do with him.

But... what if he creates his own credit score system?

He had never thought of that before.

That's because he knew he couldn't do it.

Insufficient strength.

But now...

I have mistakenly entered the Heavenly Palace; I am advised to put down the sand in my hand...

The imperial family is right in front of us!

My own abilities are insufficient.

Sulei has it!

Try it, it won't hurt you!

"Mr. Su," he put down his teacup, his tone becoming serious, "You mentioned the issue of trust, and I have an idea. We at TAGE have accumulated a large amount of riding data—users' riding habits, return locations, damage records—all of which can be converted into credit ratings. If we could separate this rating system and not just use it within one company, but open it up to the entire sharing economy industry, and even extend it to the consumer sector…"

Old Su picked up his enamel mug, took a sip, and looked up at him.

"That's a very interesting idea."

"Yes, in terms of approach, I think it can be summarized as creating a civilian credit score system outside of the banking credit system."

Wei Yi nodded, a hint of excitement in his voice. "Bank credit scoring only covers lending behavior, but people's credit in daily life goes far beyond just borrowing and repaying money. Whether you park your bike in a designated area after riding, whether you pay your rent on time, whether you return your power bank on time—all of this behavioral data can be included in credit evaluation. Once this system is running smoothly, it can become the infrastructure of the entire sharing economy."

He felt the time was about right.

Since the policy environment supports it and Professor Su is interested in this direction, why not take it a step further?

"Old Su, to be honest, before I came here, I only had one idea about this credit score. Because I know my own capabilities, I never even dreamed of creating one."

He relaxed his stiff demeanor a bit, revealing a sincere smile. "Tage has secured funding, and covering all universities in the city by the end of the year shouldn't be a problem. But expanding into cities involves municipal management, transportation planning, and the allocation of public resources, which are not things a startup can handle. We'll definitely have to deal with government departments then."

He paused, looking into Old Su's eyes: "Having met you today, I feel more at ease."

Old Su put down his enamel teacup, his eyes behind his glasses swept over, and the lines at the corners of his mouth twitched slightly upwards.

"Are you trying to use my influence to your advantage, hoping I'll become your backer?"

Wei Yi quickly stood up, picked up the teacup with both hands, bowed slightly, and said with a smile:

"Mr. Su, you flatter me. I wouldn't dare to raise any high banners or use any powerful figures. I just want to be able to consult someone knowledgeable when I occasionally encounter policy documents that I don't understand. Just think of me as a junior who's come to ask for tea."

Old Su laughed out loud, pointed at him and said to Su Lai, "This kid has the third thickest skin I've ever seen. If we're talking about age, then he's the most shameless person I've ever met under thirty."

"Thank you for your praise, Professor Su. I still need to keep up the good work!"

Old Su waved his hand with a smile: "Alright, alright, stop joking. Stay for lunch."

He stood up, folded the newspaper, placed it on the stone table, took two steps, and then turned back.

"Let's talk about your credit score idea later. Also, Lai Lai mentioned your tea drink project to me, saying the brand is called Heytea. I'll bring a couple of cups over next time so I can try them."

Wei Yi was overjoyed; this meant they had agreed.

"Definitely, definitely. What kind of flavor do you prefer, Mr. Su?"

"As long as it's not too sweet. I'm getting older, my blood sugar is high."