Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Back in dormitory 206, as soon as the door closed, Bai Yuhang looked back and saw that all eight people were inside.

Jiang Shuo, the eighth brother, was also there, and he seemed to be studying.

Bai Yuhang threw his backpack onto the bed and pointed at Zhang Jian, who was climbing onto the bed to pack his things.

"Third brother, come here, stand up straight."

Zhang Jian was startled. He was still holding a sock in one hand when he was yelled at. "What's wrong, Lao Liu? Are we supposed to stand at attention or at ease? I brought two pairs of clean socks. Get them ready right away."

"Don't rush, let's announce the official appointment first." Bai Yuhang pulled up a chair and sat down, tapping the corner of the table with his fingers. Seeing that the others were also looking at him, he continued, "From today onwards, you are the first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Qihang Technology."

"C...what's O?" Zhang Jian looked completely bewildered. Back then, that foreign term wasn't so common yet. He struggled to pull up his backpack. "I've heard of CEO, but what's this T? A tractor?"

"Chief Technology Officer." Bai Yuhang's smile faded, his expression turning serious. "From now on, I'll provide the technical ideas, but you decide how to proceed. You'll be in charge of assigning tasks to Lao Si and Lao Qi. Your only task now is to go into seclusion. Whether you use web crawlers or manually execute code, I want you to use the same approach you used for the stock trading module to extract all the downloadable MP3 links from the entire internet—they have to be live, usable, and efficient."

The fifth brother, Liu Jing, laughed so hard he slapped his thigh: "Oh my god, Mr. Zhang! Does this mean I'll have to carry your bags from now on?"

Zhang Jian, thick-skinned and shameless, readily accepted the situation, straightening his wrinkled collar: "Of course. Sixth Brother, does this director get a salary?"

"No salary, but plenty of work." As Bai Yuhang spoke, he pulled out a sheet of paper filled with architecture diagrams from his notebook and patted it on his chest.

Zhang Jian glanced down at the paper, the playfulness in his eyes gone, replaced by the fervor of someone seeing top-tier equipment. He wiped the sweat from his brow: "This job... is a bit tough. Some websites have pretty clever anti-leeching measures; I'll have to write a multi-threaded sniffer."

"How could you be the CTO if you weren't strong enough?" Bai Yuhang pointed to the core logic on the diagram. "Our server currently has 500 GB of hard drives, but the utilization rate is less than 2%. There's a lot of idle space, and we need to make use of it."

Zhang Jian frowned: "There is some unused space, but we can't store many songs in that space. These days, an MP3 is four or five megabytes."

"Idiot." Bai Yuhang tapped his head with his finger. "Don't you understand the Pareto principle? 80% of people only listen to 20% of the popular songs. We'll use a dual-track system of 'caching + fetching.' Popular songs like Richie Jen, Nicholas Tse, and Yu Quan will be cached directly on our servers, guaranteed to open instantly, giving users a great experience. As for the rest of the obscure old songs, operas, and the like, we'll use sniffing links, so it'll be slower."

Bai Yuhang paused, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes: "That's not the worst part. The worst part is that we'll teach the users what to listen to."

He wrote several large characters on the paper: "Start the Music Chart".

"Download sites these days have playlists that are a complete mess, like a chaotic market. Let's set some rules. We'll create regional charts based on regions like Europe and America, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and Mainland China, analyzed by the number of clicks from user IP addresses. We'll also create genre-specific charts like Pop, Rock, Jazz, and Country, with the main metric being user clicks. Who's number one, who's number two, it's not up to the record companies, it's up to our clicks. We want to make these charts a trendsetter for online music. We want to establish the rules in this industry first."

The fourth brother, Wan Lianghao, stared wide-eyed: "Wow, if this works out, singers will be begging us to get their new songs on the charts!"

"That's a story for later," Bai Yuhang continued. "With this 'caching + fetching' dual-track system, as we discussed, we need to avoid copyright issues. Another point to note is that even if the source website goes down, we can still retrieve the songs via a backup link. Also, we can provide users with a form to submit their song search information; if a song isn't available, we'll find it."

Zhang Jian's eyes lit up when he heard this. He threw his schoolbag behind him and was about to leave. He couldn't wait to pounce on the keyboard right now.

"Wait! Don't get excited yet." Bai Yuhang stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone, his tone suddenly turning cold. "There's something else, and this is a red line. You're here to start a business with me, not to drop out of school. Starting a business is starting a business, but if anyone dares to fail a course or get a warning from the school because of this, don't blame me for turning my back on you. Especially you, Third Brother, don't think you can skip classes just because you're familiar with the computer lab. Last time you missed two days of class, the eldest brother had to go through all the trouble to clean up our mess. Don't let it happen again. This time, come back to class if you have class, otherwise go work at the internet cafe. We're here to go to university, not to be drifters. Whether I apply for a leave of absence in the future is my own decision. But if any of you don't get your diploma, your shares will be wiped out."

These words were so harsh that the playful atmosphere in the room instantly dissipated.

Although everyone likes to have fun and joke around, they all know what a Harbin Institute of Technology diploma means in this day and age.

Zhang Jian shrank his neck and chuckled, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. At worst, I'll just write the code in my head during class."

With the technical arrangements in place, Bai Yuhang turned to the fifth brother, Liu Jing, and the eldest brother, Jiao Liwei, who were eager to get started.

"Technically, we're outmatched, but this territory still needs to be defended. We can't let them get too arrogant." Bai Yuhang lit a cigarette, but didn't smoke it, just held it between his fingers. "That 'Speed ​​Navigation' guy wants to play, right? We'll play along. Fifth Brother, you and the Boss will have to make the trip."

Liu Jing's eyes widened, and he rolled up his sleeves, revealing a muscular arm: "Sixth Brother, just tell me, are we going to unplug their internet cable, throw feces in their dorm, or just go and fight them?"

"What the hell are you doing? We're civilized people, we play business games." Bai Yuhang flicked his cigarette ash. "Go and give a heads-up to the internet cafe owners we've already partnered with. Tell them that Qihang Company is about to be established and operating legally, and that Qihang's system is going to be upgraded with more powerful functions. As for that fake 'Speed ​​Navigation,' feel free to use it if you want, we won't stop you. But anyone who changes the 'Speed ​​Navigation' homepage without permission will have their free technical support immediately stopped, and they will have no say in future software upgrades or profit sharing. We won't force them to buy or sell; let them choose for themselves."

Jiao Liwei slapped his thigh: "That's brilliant! This is called killing someone by destroying their spirit. Those bosses are shrewder than anyone else. When it comes to interests, they know which side is more important and how to choose."

"What if there really is a kid with an iron head who insists on using the fastest speed?" Liu Jing asked.

"Then let him die." Bai Yuhang sneered. "Once our music website and alumni directory are online, those internet cafes that haven't installed Qihang will learn a lesson from the lack of customers. Want to install it again then? Fine, we'll charge you an installation fee, at least double it."

"Alright!" Liu Jing rubbed his hands excitedly. "I love seeing those bosses regretting it and slapping their thighs in disbelief."

"Alright, stop daydreaming." Bai Yuhang glanced at his watch. "Second brother, go collect this week's homework. Anyone who hasn't finished, hurry up and complete it. Also, we need to get the business registration done quickly; it's already Wednesday. Eldest brother, you and fifth brother be careful when you go out; don't rush things. Third brother, let's head to the internet cafe. Tonight, we'll set up the music website's architecture first. I need to continue researching the alumni directory's recommendation algorithm."

Jiang Shuo, the eighth brother, who hadn't spoken a word, sat in the corner flipping through an English dictionary. He listened to the group's boastful words, his lips twitching as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he held back, simply turning the pages of his book with a rustling sound.

Bai Yuhang glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, said nothing, put on his coat, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and followed his friends out the door.