Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

The ashtrays in the conference room were piled up like a small mountain.

Zhang Jian hung up the long-distance call to Shenzhen, threw the receiver onto the landline, returned to the conference room, grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the table, and gulped it down.

"Sixth Brother, everything's settled." Zhang Jian wiped his mouth, his eyes were as dark as a panda's, but he was full of energy. "These past two days I've been communicating with everyone on the Shenzhen team. Pony just gave me the definite answer. Except for the finance and a few administrative girls who don't want to leave their hometowns, the rest of the technical backbone, a total of forty-two people, are all packing their bags. They'll be taking the train north in batches these next few days."

"Forty-two?" Jiao Liwei, listening from the side, gasped in astonishment. "Good heavens, this isn't recruitment, it's wiping out the entire Shenzhen market. What do you call this? A massive technology migration?"

"This is called a blood transfusion." Bai Yuhang twirled a lighter in his hand, his expression calm. "Our current technical foundation is too weak. Relying on just me, Lao San, and Lao Si, plus Allen who just joined, we can't handle the upcoming millions or tens of millions of traffic even if we work ourselves to death. These forty-two people are the foundation that Pony Ma has built up over two or three years. They are all elites who can fight tough battles."

Mentioning Pony Ma, Zhang Jian's excitement faded slightly. He leaned closer to Bai Yuhang and lowered his voice, "But Lao Liu, there's something difficult to handle. Pony himself... is quite down. The handover and cooperation are fine, but he's made it clear that while he's grateful we took over the entire Shenzhen team, he wants to completely withdraw once the data migration is complete and the architecture is well-integrated. He's quitting as a consultant, and he's not coming to Beijing. I feel like he wants to find a place where nobody knows him to heal his wounds."

Bai Yuhang paused for a moment, turned to look at the busy street outside the Hailong Building, and remained silent for a few seconds.

"Let him be." Bai Yuhang lit a cigarette. "After all, it's like raising a child with your own hands and he's taken someone else's surname. Anyone would feel upset in that situation. Forcing him to come to Beijing now would be too cruel. We can't rub salt into his wounds. Let him rest. Even heroes have their downfalls. As long as he's still in this circle, we'll have to meet again sooner or later. I'll reserve a seat for this big shot in the future."

"Okay, I'll keep these new guys calm first." Zhang Jian nodded.

"Now that we have siblings, we need to rebuild the family structure and rules." Bai Yuhang got up, walked to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and drew a pyramid structure.

He wrote two names at the top of the tower: Zhang Xiaolong and Zhang Jian.

"From now on, the technology department will operate on a 'dual-core' system." Bai Yuhang pointed to the whiteboard. "Allen will serve as the Chief Technology Officer, at the level of Vice President. He won't be responsible for specific management performance; he'll only be responsible for researching product philosophy, restructuring the underlying architecture, and incubating future new products. In short, he'll be our 'technical brain.'"

He then pointed to Zhang Jian's name: "Third brother, you're the CTO, Chief Technology Officer. You're responsible for execution, operations, and leading the team. Whether it's the few from Harbin or the veterans from Shenzhen, they're all under your command. You need to quickly transform them into usable productivity. You're the 'hands and feet,' you have to ensure that the ideas in your head can be implemented."

After listening, Zhang Jian chuckled and turned to look at Zhang Xiaolong, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, saying nothing: "I have no objection, as long as the master is willing to guide me."

Zhang Xiaolong didn't reply, but simply turned his laptop around so the screen was facing Zhang Jian: "While I was listening to your conversation, I glanced at the current OICQ code. Third brother, come and take a look at these three places."

Zhang Jian leaned closer, glanced at it, and his playful smile instantly froze.

On the screen was OICQ's core message distribution module. Zhang Xiaolong's slender fingers swept across the screen: "Here, here, and here. The current logic is linear polling. I see you've widened the design, but it's not thorough. It's fine when there are few users. Once the number of online users exceeds two million, these three places become a dead end. The server CPU will lock up instantly, and no matter how much hardware you add, it won't help. This is a fatal flaw at the architectural level; it needs to be rewritten."

In just ten minutes, Zhang Xiaolong, like a surgeon with a scalpel, precisely dissected the lesions in the existing code.

No fluff, just pure, practical information.

A fine layer of sweat appeared on Zhang Jian's forehead as he stared at the screen, his throat dry.

He had spent two all-nighters optimizing these few lines of code, thinking he had done his best, but in other people's eyes, they were full of loopholes.

"I'm impressed." Zhang Jian plopped back into his chair, his eyes filled with awe and no longer joking. "I'm truly impressed. Is this the difference between a self-taught amateur and a professional? Allen, from now on, you tell me where to go and I'll follow. I'll start digging up and rewriting this code tonight."

Just then, the glass door to the office was pushed open.

Su Muqing walked in, wearing high heels, carrying a brand-new file folder, with a professional smile on her face.

"You seem to be having a lively conversation." Su Muqing walked to the long table, carefully took out the contents of the file bag, and placed it in the center.

Upon closer inspection, everyone realized it was a brand-new business license, its gold border gleaming in the sunlight—Qihang Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

"The formalities are complete, and the official seal and bank account are all set up." Su Muqing looked around at everyone. "From a legal perspective, we are officially operating in Beijing."

She produced an equity distribution agreement: "As previously agreed, in this new company structure, Bai Yuhang holds an absolute 70% controlling stake, China Venture Network holds 20% as an angel investor, and Zhang Xiaolong contributes 2% through technology. The remaining 8% will be split 1% between me and everyone else, which includes an option pool reserved for future senior executives. The Harbin company will be merged in as a wholly-owned subsidiary."

Jiang Shuo, who had been holding a calculator the whole time, darted around with his eyes, muttering to himself, "Based on the current valuation... and adding the future premium... wow, how much will that 1% be worth in the future?"

"Stop calculating, it'll give you a heart attack if you do." Bai Yuhang chuckled and tapped the table. "As long as the company goes public in the future, this 1% is enough for each of you to buy ten apartments in Beijing."

"Ten sets?!" Jiao Liwei and Wan Lianghao exchanged a glance, both seeing a golden future in each other's eyes.

"However, before that, we need to deal with the current trouble first." Bai Yuhang changed the subject and looked at Jiao Liwei. "Boss, forty-two men are coming soon. Our 300-square-meter space isn't enough to accommodate us even if we hung ourselves on the wall."

Jiao Liwei was worrying about this, scratching his head: "Yeah, I just went to Hailong Real Estate on the top floor and asked. The consumables company next door just went bankrupt and moved out. It was about 300 square meters. I was thinking maybe..."

"Rent it," Bai Yuhang decided immediately. "Not only rent it, but also knock it down. Have someone demolish the non-load-bearing wall in the middle. I want our office area to be connected."

"Renovation and rent..." Jiang Shuo was about to speak.

"You coordinate the money with the boss. We must spend what needs to be spent." Bai Yuhang didn't give him a chance to feel sorry for himself. "Also, these brothers from Shenzhen have come all the way here to rely on us. We can't let them feel disappointed. Boss, you should rent them a few decent dorm rooms nearby, or give them a housing subsidy. Set the standard high. We're eating meat, we can't let the brothers not even have soup to drink."

"Understood, I'll get on it right away." Jiao Liwei took the order and turned to leave. "Being a head housekeeper is more worrisome than being a nanny."

"Fourth brother," Bai Yuhang said, looking at Wan Lianghao, "you stay with Allen and the third brother. Don't do anything else these next few days but thoroughly understand the code. Once the new recruits arrive, you'll be in charge of leading a few groups, so don't let them stump you with their questions."

"Don't worry, Sixth Brother, I'll go study the code right away and make sure I don't embarrass Qihang." Wan Lianghao pushed up his glasses, grabbed his laptop, and went straight to Zhang Xiaolong's side.

Looking at the conference room that had suddenly become bustling with activity, Bai Yuhang leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

The game has begun, and the players are in place.

Now, let's see if this fire can cause a complete upheaval in Zhongguancun.