Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

With Zhang Lei having put things this way, Bai Yuhang stopped hiding anything. He put down his teacup and leaned forward slightly.

"Mr. Zhang, since we're going to build an impregnable fortress, I think we need to expand the foundation a bit further outwards."

Zhang Lei raised an eyebrow: "Ten million users aren't enough for you to mess around with? You really have a big appetite."

"It's not that I have a big appetite, it's that my clothes are too small." Bai Yuhang shrugged. "It's time to change the name of our school's intranet."

Zhang Lei was stunned. Renren.com was now the number one brand on the Chinese internet; how could they just change its name like that?

Bai Yuhang saw his doubts: "Ten million users is a hurdle. You can see it clearly from the backend data. Now, it's not just college students using our platform anymore. Young people in internet cafes and white-collar workers in office buildings are all using it. The term 'Xiaonei' has become a barrier to social circles; it can't contain the entire population's social networking needs."

Zhang Lei pondered this and said, "That makes sense. What are you planning to call it?"

"The internet is everywhere." Bai Yuhang uttered three words. "A bosom friend afar brings a distant land near. What I want is for everyone in this sea to be our people as long as we're connected to the internet."

Zhang Lei muttered "Hainan" twice to himself, then suddenly slapped his thigh: "Amazing! This has really expanded the scope! I fully support this, and I'll have the PR team work with you to create momentum."

He smiled at Bai Yuhang and tapped the ash from his cigar against the ashtray.

"Changing the name is like an air force bombardment, creating momentum. But to truly understand these tens of millions of users, or even the next tens of millions, you can't just rely on a windfall." Zhang Lei pointed to the coffee table. "You know the structure of internet users in China better than I do. The real growth isn't in Zhongguancun in Beijing, nor in office buildings in Shanghai, but in those smoky internet cafes all over the country. The lower-tier market is where the real money is."

Bai Yuhang picked up his teacup and blew on the tea leaves: "Does President Zhang mean to establish a ground promotion team?"

"We have to get it done, and quickly." Zhang Lei pounded the table. "While the major portals haven't reacted yet, you need to send people to second- and third-tier cities, knocking on every internet cafe, pinning shortcuts to HaiNei.com and QQ to their desktops. This is hard work, and it'll cost a fortune. If you're under financial pressure, I can look into it further..."

"No need," Bai Yuhang interrupted him, putting down his teacup. "I've already had people handling this, and it didn't cost the company a single penny."

Zhang Lei was stunned: "No money? You sent college students to hand out flyers?"

"I sent Liu Jing from the dorm back to Northeast China." Bai Yuhang leaned back on the sofa, his tone relaxed. "He's taking the manager of the New Century Internet Cafe in Harbin and organizing an internet cafe alliance in the three northeastern provinces. Under the guise of previous e-sports competitions, they're going door-to-door collecting franchise fees."

Zhang Lei frowned as he listened: "Charge franchise fees? How much money can you possibly make from that? Don't ruin the brand."

"Five thousand per household." Bai Yuhang held up five fingers. "In just a few days, they've already secured over a hundred internet cafes in Northeast China, and 800,000 yuan in cash is already sitting in the branch company's account. Moreover, they've installed our internet cafe management system in all the franchised internet cafes. This system can prevent customers from skipping out on their bills, and the owners love it. In exchange, all the internet cafes' browser homepages have been locked and turned into our navigation site, and naturally, the campus network, music sites, and chat software are also bundled with it."

Zhang Lei's hand, holding a cigar, froze in mid-air, his eyes wide open.

"Physically locking the entrance, and on the side, collecting protection money... no, franchise fees?" Zhang Lei gasped, looking at Bai Yuhang as if he were a monster. "Are your bunch of young buddies going to start a business, or to become mountain bandits?"

"They're all legitimate businessmen; the contracts and legal department have all been vetted." Bai Yuhang picked up the teapot and refilled Zhang Lei's teacup. "The Northeast is the testing ground. Now that the model is working, we'll immediately replicate it in North and South China. This ground sales team not only won't need your budget approval, but they might even give the head office a bonus at the end of the year."

Zhang Lei stared at the swirling tea leaves in his cup, speechless for a long time. He had seen countless entrepreneurs who, after securing funding, would frantically burn through cash to buy traffic, but he had never seen anything like Bai Yuhang's bandit-like tactics—grabbing territory and making money on the side.

"Alright." Zhang Lei tossed his cigar into the ashtray, completely convinced. "We have HaiNei.com for air combat, and you guys, my bandit brothers, for ground combat. I won't say anything more. Go ahead and do it. I'll cover your financial support."

He picked up the purple clay teapot and refilled Bai Yuhang's teacup: "You've finalized the domestic market. Back when that girl Su Muqing was running around Beijing with the proposal, she painted a huge picture of the overseas market. Any progress yet?"

Bai Yuhang picked up his teacup and blew on it to cool it down. "The pieces have already been placed. Do you remember Shi Hongchao, the owner of Lansu Internet Cafe in Harbin?"

"That returnee who sponsored you?"

"Yes. I had him register a local company in Delaware, USA."

Zhang Lei became interested: "What's your name?"

Facebook.

Zhang Lei paused for a moment, then chuckled: "Facebook? Your naming skills are so inconsistent. 'Hainei.net' sounds like something for cultured people, but 'Facebook' sounds like a police suspect roster."

"The more down-to-earth, the easier it is to remember. Foreigners love that straightforward approach." Bai Yuhang didn't mind his teasing. "Shi Hongchao has some basic connections on campus. I've asked him to start by doing ground promotion at Ivy League universities in Europe and America, replicating the same methods we used to build our business in China. Domestically, I've already had Zhang Qingheng from the company take the lead and set up an overseas business department, specifically responsible for providing underlying technical support."

Zhang Lei nodded repeatedly, "That's a brilliant move to use someone else's resources to your advantage. China Entrepreneurship Network has also invested in the overseas expansion, so you don't need to worry about funding."

"Mr. Zhang, you're very helpful." Bai Yuhang raised his teacup, but then suddenly changed the subject, "However, I don't intend to just do a half-hearted job with a localized version when it comes to going to sea."

Zhang Lei paused, then asked, "What do you mean?"

"The environment in America is different from ours," Bai Yuhang said coldly. "We're outsiders there. American laws and regulations, antitrust investigations, and that tax system that drives people crazy are all potential pitfalls. If we don't build a fully localized technology and sales team, once we've fattened up our business, those Wall Street financial giants can easily find a compliant excuse to slaughter us like pigs."

Zhang Lei leaned back on the sofa, and the way he looked at Bai Yuhang completely changed.

This is no ordinary freshman who has just dropped out of college; he's clearly a seasoned shrew who's spent half his life navigating the business world, and he's completely resistant to Wall Street's exploitative tactics.

"Good lad." Zhang Lei pointed at Bai Yuhang and said with a laugh, "If you had that brain of yours, you'd probably be on the Forbes list by now."

He dropped his jokes, his expression turning serious and shrewd: "Since you see things so clearly, let me give you some advice. If you want to plant trees in America, relying solely on someone like Shi Hongchao, who does odd jobs on the periphery, isn't enough."

Bai Yuhang looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"You need a local who understands the rules of Silicon Valley and, even more importantly, the ways of Wall Street. Ideally, a white elite with an impressive resume to take on the role of CEO of Facebook North America," Zhang Lei said, emphasizing each word.

Bai Yuhang immediately grasped the key: "White gloves."

"Yes, a front man." Zhang Lei nodded. "With him in front to deal with those politicians and capitalists, you can sit back and relax. I'll use my connections on Wall Street to find the right person for you."

Bai Yuhang smiled. Chatting with smart people is so effortless.

"Then let's wish each other well in advance." Bai Yuhang picked up his teacup and clinked it with Zhang Lei's. "Even on the other side of the ocean, we can flip their table."