Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Pushing open the door to VIP room 201, the smell of smoke inside was much stronger than in the corridor, and there was a distinct blue cloud of smoke floating in the room.

Five people sat around a large round table, each with a different expression.

When they saw Zhao Jianjun leading people in, all five pairs of eyes were fixed on Bai Yuhang. Their eyes held scrutiny, curiosity, and, more than anything, a mocking look at a "child wearing adult shoes."

Zhao Jianjun, beaming, gesturing for Bai Yuhang to sit next to the head of the table, said in a loud voice, "Everyone, this is the Bai Yuhang I've mentioned before, the top student from the university, Brother Bai."

Bai Yuhang wore a perfectly timed smile, exuding both the scholarly air of a college student and a sense of confidence.

He glanced around and quickly matched the details Zhao Jianjun had just revealed outside the door with the people in front of him.

The fat guy on the left, whose chair creaks loudly, has a face full of fat and his eyes are just slits when he smiles, just like the third guy in the dormitory. This is Liu Qing, known as "Fatty Liu" in Daoli District. He runs two large shops and is said to have started out as a pig butcher.

The man next to him, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and looking like a middle school dean of students, is Qian Jiangnan, known as "Master Qian." He appears civilized, but in reality, he is the most shrewd and ruthless, a seasoned veteran.

Further on was a bald man with a thick gold chain around his neck, big enough to tether a dog. You could see the tattoos on his neck. His name was Zhang Qi, a former thug with a short temper.

The last two people sitting on the outside looked familiar at first glance. They were the two men in leather jackets who had been watching him work at the New Century Internet Cafe that night. The one with a light scar on his face was called Liu Bing, and the shorter, stockier one was called Zhang Haoyong.

The two men had a gloomy air about them, a result of their long-term exposure to the various social circles of Harbin's old city.

It turned out that they were also Zhao Jianjun's colleagues from Daowai. Zhao Jianjun didn't know them at first and didn't want to talk to them. But after they approached him two or three times, Zhao Jianjun reluctantly agreed to bring them along.

Neither of them are easy to deal with; that was Bai Yuhang's first assessment.

In 2000, anyone who could open a sizable internet cafe had to have some connection to both the legitimate and criminal worlds.

"Greetings, bosses. I'd like to offer you all a toast." Bai Yuhang didn't rush to sit down. He first filled his glass with beer, drank it all in one gulp, and adopted a very humble posture.

"Brother Bai," Zhang Qi, the bald man, couldn't hold back his words. He slammed his cigarette case on the table. "Old Zhao raved about your system like it was some kind of magic, saying it could prevent poisoning and even do its own accounting? Is it really that amazing?"

"It's not exactly supernatural." Bai Yuhang pulled out a chair and sat down, his tone calm. "It's just a tool. We run internet cafes to make money. What are we most afraid of? The internet cafe manager might not be honest, and the machines might break down and disrupt business. My system is like an obedient accountant who doesn't eat grass. It can also save time when reinstalling computers and make things easier for everyone."

"Not eating grass?" Qian Jiangnan, who had been silent until now, pushed up his glasses, a glint in his eyes behind the lenses. "Brother Bai, that's what you mean. I'm annoyed by constantly having to do the accounting, the numbers never matching up, and we've gone through three different network administrators, all of them rats. But..." He changed the subject, "Good things have a price. How do you plan to sell this software? A one-time buyout, or annual rent?"

Upon hearing this, the previously noisy private room instantly fell silent.

Fatty Liu stopped shaking his leg, and Zhang Qi stopped playing with the gold coin. Everyone perked up their ears; what these old hands cared about most was how much money they would take out of their pockets.

Zhao Jianjun didn't respond, but held his wine glass and looked at Bai Yuhang with a smile, clearly wanting to test his younger brother's abilities.

Bai Yuhang picked up his teacup, took a sip to moisten his throat, calmly surveyed the surroundings, stretched out a large hand and waved it in the air, softly uttering two words.

"free."

"What the hell?" Fatty Liu sat up abruptly, craning his neck forward, thinking he'd misheard. "You said it's free?"

Even Liu Bing and Zhang Haoyong, who had been wearing gloomy faces, were stunned. They looked at each other, their faces full of disbelief.

"Brother Bai," Fatty Liu leaned forward, his fleshy face trembling as he spoke, "we're all businessmen. There's usually a catch when something seems too good to be true. What are you after? Surely not just because we're handsome, are you?"

A burst of laughter erupted in the private room, which lightened the atmosphere considerably.

Bai Yuhang laughed along, "Brother Liu, you're joking. I'm just trying to build a friendship and ensure long-term cooperation. I'll install the software for free, and I'll also cover the subsequent maintenance. If your machine gets a virus or crashes with a blue screen, just give me a call and I'll send someone to fix it. Version upgrades won't cost you a penny."

"So what do you want?" Bald Zhang Qi leaned closer, his face saying, "Are you stupid, kid?"

"There's only one condition." Bai Yuhang's smile faded, and he tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice. "The browser homepage of every machine in this internet cafe must be locked to my navigation site—Qihang Navigation. Even if you reinstall the system later, it cannot be changed. Anyone who changes it will have this free maintenance and service immediately stopped."

"That's it?" Zhang Qi's eyes widened. "Just borrowing the storefront to put up a picture?"

"Yes, we'll just borrow a storefront." Bai Yuhang nodded. "The bosses make money from internet and water fees, and I make money from data traffic. We'll keep to ourselves and help each other out."

The business owners looked at each other in bewilderment.

In 2000, most business transactions were still based on "cash on delivery." This kind of "the wool comes from the pig" internet mentality was a complete game-changer for them.

We give you great stuff for free and even pay you to maintain it, just to change your homepage?

No matter how you look at it, the internet cafe is the one who benefits from this deal!

Seeing that the time was right, Bai Yuhang decided to add fuel to the fire: "Moreover, to show our sincerity, not only will it be free, but once the navigation site is up and running and generates GG revenue, I can also share the profits with everyone."

"Profit sharing?" Zhao Jianjun, who had been playing the straight man, chimed in at the opportune moment, his tone exaggerated, "Brother, you can't just say things like that, are you serious?"

"Really? We can sign a 'traffic cooperation agreement'." Bai Yuhang slammed his teacup on the table, his voice soft but firm. "As long as the homepage is locked to Qihang Navigation, I will allocate 10% of the revenue generated by the navigation site in each internet cafe every quarter as a channel fee, which will be returned to you based on the number of machines."

This combination of "free services + profit sharing" completely stunned the bosses.

Fatty Liu even pinched his thigh to make sure he wasn't hallucinating from drinking too much tea. This was practically a living saint descended to earth!

Regardless of how much we get in the future, just the free system and maintenance alone can save us several thousand dollars a year in network management technical fees. Anyone can do that.

"Damn it, let's get this done!" Bald Zhang Qi slapped his thigh, making the plates bounce. "Old Zhao used it and said it was great, what am I hesitating for! Brother Bai, my two shops have 270 machines, send someone to get them tomorrow!"

Not to be outdone, Fatty Liu chimed in, afraid of missing out: "I have two hundred new machines and I'm really worried about finding someone knowledgeable to maintain them. Brother Bai, you've taken care of everything, that's a huge help! I'll sign up too!"

Liu Bing and Zhang Haoyong exchanged a glance. Liu Bing cleared his throat, and the gloom on his face lessened considerably: "Brother Bai, we were too clumsy to bother Brother Zhao at his New Century Internet Cafe before. We really admire your skills. We have three shops in Daowai, one in Daoli, and one in Xiangfang, a total of over three hundred machines, and we've entrusted them all to you."

"Let me say something fair." Zhao Jianjun looked everyone over and found that everyone in the room was looking at him, waiting to hear what he had to say, which pleased him.

He nodded, pointed at Bai Yuhang, and continued, "This young Bai is a righteous man, and we older brothers can't be sloppy. You college students have worked so hard to install it, we should at least give you some compensation for your hard work. You can't come empty-handed and leave empty-handed, right? What do you all say?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Finally, Qian Jiangnan, the bespectacled man, gave Bai Yuhang a deep look, raised his glass, and said, "You're a promising young man. Although I don't quite understand how traffic is converted into money, I trust Lao Zhao's judgment. I'm handing my shop over to you. But Brother Bai, you've played a very big game."

Bai Yuhang stood up, raised his glass, and lightly clinked it against Qian Jiangnan's. The crisp sound echoed in the private room. He turned to the internet cafe owners at the table and gestured to them. Everyone stood up and clinked glasses with him one by one.

"Brother Qian, you flatter me. Thank you all for your support. Let's all get rich together."

Amidst the clinking of glasses, control of a thousand machines on the table changed hands silently over a meal and a few words.

Zhao Jianjun watched from the side, secretly amazed.

This kid doesn't look like a college freshman at all; he's clearly a little fox who has cultivated himself into a spirit.

He raised his glass, concealing the smile on his lips; he had made the right bet this time.