Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

"You're such a smooth talker." Su Muqing chuckled on the other end of the phone, her voice tinged with expected smugness. "But I admire your composure. If eight million in cash were right in front of you, anyone else would have signed the contract and gone to buy a car and a house long ago."

"Of course we'll have a garage and a house in the future. You've seen how fast Qihang's business is progressing; it's only a matter of time. But killing the goose that lays the golden eggs and making soup is something a spendthrift would do." Bai Yuhang breathed on his hands, which were red from the cold.

"Of course, I'm aware that I repeatedly calculate and compile the data from the emails you send me every day, preparing them into forms to give to potential investors." Su Muqing's tone shifted, regaining its business-like efficiency. "Alright, since you weren't swayed by the coal boss's cash, let's talk about the real players. The partner at IDG sent an investment manager to see me three times, and they called me again this afternoon, agreeing to invest. The term sheet they provided is a pre-investment valuation of 15 million RMB, and they want to invest 3 million, taking a 16.7% stake, which is 20% post-investment."

Su Muqing paused, seemingly waiting for Bai Yuhang's exclamation, but she didn't hear it: "Yuhang, that's three million, a valuation of over ten million RMB. You know, right now, tech stocks on NASDAQ are lining up to jump off buildings. This valuation, even in Zhongguancun, would make a bunch of veteran entrepreneurs green with envy. How about it, are you satisfied now?"

Bai Yuhang threw his cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it out with his toe: "Haha, I knew you had a backup plan. Three million, 20% after investment? They're taking advantage of the market downturn to try and buy at the bottom. Too low."

"This is low?" Su Muqing's voice rose several octaves. "Wake up! This is a capital winter, not two years ago. Do you think it's like Alibaba and China.com raising funds, where you can just register a '.com' website, tell a startup story and a company vision, and get millions of dollars in cash? That doesn't happen often. This is only because Qihang's user growth curve is so phenomenal and its growth potential is so great. If it were any other website, they'd have to beg for an eight million valuation."

"That's because they didn't understand what we were doing." Bai Yuhang switched hands to hold the receiver, his cold fingers twitching a few times in his pocket. "Mu Qing, you know, Qihang's navigation and music sites are just channels to build traffic. The 'Blue Speed ​​Cup' in Harbin is just a fuse. On the day of the finals, if tens of thousands of people are watching online at the same time, that kind of hype will spread rapidly across universities nationwide via the internet. At that time, Qihang's campus network will no longer be just a contact list for finding classmates; it will be a super platform for young people in China that combines e-sports, social networking, and portal. This traffic comes with social and consumer attributes. Such a platform website has a stickiness a hundred times stronger than a simple social networking or portal."

"I understand the strategy, but as your financial advisor and shareholder, I also have an obligation to remind you," came the sound of papers turning on Su Muqing's end. "All investors are looking at exit mechanisms and returns. If the angel round valuation is too high, the threshold for the next round of financing will be sky-high. You can't just aim for a valuation of hundreds of millions in the Series A round, can you? Taking too big a step can easily backfire..."

"You're kidding me, aren't you?" Bai Yuhang finished her sentence for her, and smiled. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. My target price is three million RMB in funding, giving up 10% of the shares, no more than 12%. For the angel round pre-investment valuation, I hope to reach between twenty-five million and thirty million."

"Three million in cash..." Su Muqing was obviously calculating quickly. "Why do we have to stick to this number? Our current server costs aren't high, and we still have 40,000 in the account. Even if we expand, one million should be enough to last us for a year or two."

"Because I need to be fast, to quickly seize the market, and now is truly the best time." Bai Yuhang looked at the dim streetlights, his eyes sharp. "This three million isn't for living expenses; it's for spending, for burning through. Once this wave of user dividends is exhausted, I'm going to immediately launch the Series A funding round, directly raising the competitive barrier to the sky, so that anyone trying to imitate me won't even see my taillights. Believe me, Mu Qing, at my pace, by the time this three million is spent, Qihang's valuation will have at least increased fivefold."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, with only the crackling of the static remaining.

"Alright, since you're confident, I'll go all out with you." Su Muqing's voice sounded somewhat helpless, yet subtly excited. "So, should I keep these VCs hanging on for now?"

"Keep them hanging. Tell them they have to wait in line to invest in Qihang, and that the current valuation is market value; it'll go up in a couple of days," Bai Yuhang said confidently. "As for the current funding gap, I'll figure it out. Even if I have to sell my underwear, I'll burn through the data to a point where they have no choice but to open their wallets."

"Who cares about your underwear?" Su Muqing spat, her tone suddenly softening, like a feather gently brushing against her eardrum. "Then... when are you coming to the capital?"

Bai Yuhang looked up at the dim streetlight overhead: "Once this wave of 'Blue Speed ​​Cup' traffic subsides and we've established a firm foothold in Harbin, I'll go. I'll bring you the best data then, and also visit those money-grubbing tycoons."

"Light strip data?"

"Bring your 'dowry' to the capital, is that alright?"

"Who cares?" Su Muqing chuckled and hung up the phone.

The receiver emitted a busy tone.

Bai Yuhang pulled out the IC card, his hands red from the cold, his knuckles stiff. He put the card in his pocket, looked up at the brilliant starry sky of Harbin's winter night, and exhaled a long puff of white breath.

In that one phone call, he turned down money that many people couldn't earn in several lifetimes.

Fortunately, he was perfectly clear-headed and knew exactly what he was doing.

Wrapped his coat tighter, Bai Yuhang jogged back to his dormitory.

As soon as he pushed open the door to 206, a wave of heat mixed with the aroma of braised beef noodles hit him. Before he could even see what was inside, Zhang Jian's raspy voice boomed out.

"Sixth Brother! You're finally back! Something terrible has happened!"

Zhang Jian was sweating profusely, still clutching half a sausage in his hand, which was trembling. "The telecom company just called, saying our traffic is abnormal. Not only is the bandwidth full, but the server hard drive is almost full! They said if we don't add more machines to expand capacity, the service will crash! But the expansion fee... we don't have enough money in our account for more than two months!"

Bai Yuhang's heart skipped a beat. "How many people are online right now?"

"Zhang Tian, ​​the customer service representative from China Telecom, said the concurrent users are at 48,000! And it's still rising!" Zhang Jian was so anxious that he kept scratching his head.

Looking at Zhang Jian's flustered face, and then thinking about the 15 million he had just rejected on the phone, Bai Yuhang couldn't help but twitch his lips. The arrogance he had felt in the cloud just now was instantly pulled back to the cruel reality.

This is reality. One second you're on the phone discussing a multi-million dollar deal with someone in Beijing, and the next you're back in your dorm and can't even afford to upgrade your server.

Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst; this fire is spreading faster than expected.

This is probably what entrepreneurship is all about—painful yet joyful.