Golden autumn brought refreshing coolness.
In September 2006, the weather in Yongcheng was unexpectedly pleasant.
The temperature was neither high nor low, and rainfall wasn't frequent, but there would be a shower from time to time, making the air feel more humid.
On the campus of the Foreign Language Institute of Yongcheng University, four female students, carrying textbooks, walked towards the dormitory, chatting and laughing.
They had just finished class and were preparing to take their textbooks back to the dorm before heading to the cafeteria for dinner together.
As the four were chatting and joking, a slightly magnetic voice came from behind them:
"Student Gu, would you like to have dinner together?"
Hearing this, Li Manli turned around, intending to see which impolite fellow was so presumptuous.
"Boss Tan, why is it you?"
Tan Jincheng replied with a smile:
"Now you should call me Student Tan; I'm your classmate now."
Ni Jie kept his word; Tan Jincheng had already been arranged for the new session of the business school's enterprise class.
Additionally, Ni Jie introduced Tan Jincheng to the leaders of several departments, so it would be no problem for Tan Jincheng to audit courses if he wished.
In this way, it would be no problem for Tan Jincheng to get a somewhat unofficial university diploma.
Old Ni is a good person!
"Student Tan? What does that mean?"
Xu Manli, the most outgoing of them, continued to ask.
"Literally, let's go eat together."
"We'll take our books back to the dorm first,"
Gu Qingqing replied.
The company's development had entered a stable phase.
Apart from the undecided construction site for the third factory, Flash Tech currently had no specific areas requiring Tan Jincheng's special attention.
The same was true for Kaixin.com; viral marketing became even more powerful with the substantial increase in user base.
Additionally, the link-sharing method proposed by Tan Jincheng had also been implemented on Kaixin.com.
The method of sharing web links was very popular among QQ users and in QQ groups, leading Kaixin.com users to enter a state of geometric growth.
Starting from August, Kaixin.com's Baidu search entries rose linearly, and its global website ranking continuously climbed, attracting the attention of several venture capital firms, five of which directly inquired about pricing.
However, Tan Jincheng ignored all of these; Kaixin.com had no desire for financing until its official registered users reached ten million.
Like Flash Tech, Kaixin.com also developed step-by-step.
The team led by Cheng Hao and Gu Yanning focused on new project development in addition to daily maintenance.
Once the foundation was laid, Tan Jincheng no longer intervened excessively.
Although Orange Tech employees often boasted that Boss Tan was an excellent product manager, Tan Jincheng knew that he was merely well-informed; he genuinely understood nothing about basic development.
However, according to Cheng Hao, basic programming isn't actually difficult.
Many high school graduates can get started after three months of training, and many entry-level programmers in large companies, including "Pig Factory," started this way in the early days.
Cheng Hao's original intention was to let the boss learn some basics in his spare time.
In Cheng Hao's view, although the boss had no technical foundation, his ideas were boundless, and the concepts he proposed were not only brilliant but also practical.
Such a person is naturally suited to be an internet product manager, not to dabble in physical businesses.
Orange Tech's development cannot do without the boss!
The news that Flash Group was about to acquire the Financial Building was spreading like wildfire in Beicang, especially among the companies renting offices there; each had received a notice.
For a period of time in the future, tenants in the office building would be vacated.
From then on, the Financial Building would be exclusively owned by Flash Group.
The shops on the first floor could be rented to some merchants, but it was clear that other companies would no longer be able to operate offices there.
No company has ever been heard of renting out its headquarters building to other companies.
Of course, Orange Tech was an exception; Orange Tech didn't need to move, unless one day Orange Tech had the capability to build its own building.
This matter greatly stimulated Cheng Hao.
The current momentum and popularity of Kaixin.com were not enough to make the boss shift his focus, yet he still spent a huge sum to acquire the Financial Building.
In Cheng Hao's view, this was unimaginable; how easy it was to make money on the internet.
For today's Kaixin.com, the boss only needed to wave his hand, and a large number of people would automatically come knocking, waving cash.
Isn't that simpler than dealing with physical businesses?
If Cheng Hao knew that Orange Tech was just a tool for Tan Jincheng to make money and incubate data, what would he think?
For university students, the internet was clearly more interesting than electric vehicles.
If it weren't for Gu Qingqing, the three dorm mates wouldn't even know who Flash Tech was, let alone care who the boss was.
Electric vehicles could be ridden on university campuses, and many might buy Flash electric vehicles, but certainly not many would care about Flash Tech.
Therefore, Tan Jincheng's foundation among university students was relatively weak.
However, ever since Kaixin.com became a hit across the entire network, and the news broke that the actual investor behind its parent company, Orange Tech, was the 20-year-old young tycoon from Flash Group...
This shortcoming was quickly addressed, especially at Yongcheng University.
The leaders of the Foreign Language Institute, who hadn't taken things too seriously before, found that everything had changed after returning from summer break.
The university student entrepreneurship project applied for by their own students had actually become a hit across the entire network in just a few months!
What's this about entrepreneurial ideas sparked by auditing classes at the engineering institute? Go to hell with that; this is what our Foreign Language Institute cultivated.
"Boss Tan, how did you come up with the idea for Kaixin.com?"
At the dinner table, Zhao Wenjia, who usually didn't talk much, asked curiously.
Zhao Wenjia, due to the significant difference in her family background compared to her three roommates, usually appeared somewhat self-conscious, but that didn't mean she was foolish.
People with low self-confidence are often inwardly sensitive and good observers.
She had noticed early on that Gu Qingqing often audited classes at the engineering institute and had also heard that Gu Qingqing was operating Tan Jincheng's website.
After some time, a company was founded, and an application for student entrepreneurship subsidies was submitted to the institute.
Then, after not seeing each other for a summer, Kaixin.com exploded in popularity.
Online, besides discussing Kaixin.com's popularity and the essence of the "Friends for Sale" mini-game, the most discussed topic was Kaixin.com's valuation.
Everyone knew the internet was a wealth-creation platform.
Because of her family's financial situation, Zhao Wenjia wanted to earn money, so she paid special attention to news about making money.
She had previously asked about the employee benefits at Orange Tech, and Gu Qingqing didn't hide anything from her.
It was then that Zhao Wenjia felt an urge to change careers, just like Gu Qingqing.
She naturally didn't dare to dream of Gu Qingqing's opportunities, but even being an ordinary programmer would offer much better pay than returning to her hometown to be a teacher.
With two years left, if she started learning programming now, she could work at Orange Tech later and earn a bit more money.
She had already inquired; entry-level programmers didn't require too much professional skill; many came from training courses.
"Because I was short on money, I thought I'd try making a website and then trick investors,"
Tan Jincheng chuckled.
"Flash sells so well, and you're still short on money?"
"For businesses, especially physical ones, there's rarely a time when they're not short on money."
Zhao Wenjia immediately followed up:
"Since Boss Tan uses the internet as a way to make money, and Kaixin.com has succeeded, does that mean the internet has regained its vitality after experiencing a winter?"
Xu Manli looked at Zhao Wenjia somewhat strangely.
She had been as quiet as a mute gourd at previous gatherings; why was she so active today?
In fact, it was also because she had become very familiar with Tan Jincheng; otherwise, Zhao Wenjia would still not dare to be so bold.
Tan Jincheng didn't answer directly, but instead asked back,
"Why do you ask?"
Zhao Wenjia was a bit shy and somewhat unaccustomed to Tan Jincheng's gaze, but she still plucked up the courage to say,
"I heard Qingqing say before that you once told her English couldn't be considered a major, only a tool, and that its job prospects were relatively narrow. So I wanted to hear Boss Tan's opinion: do I still have a chance if I switch to studying computer programming now?"
As soon as Zhao Wenjia finished speaking, the other three all looked at her, and the outspoken Xu Manli exclaimed,
"You want to change your major?"
Zhao Wenjia nodded.
Tan Jincheng glanced at Gu Qingqing.
Her roommates were quite interesting.
Xu Manli was cheerful and uninhibited.
Tan Jincheng, after all, was a billionaire, and all his company employees combined quickly exceeded 3000 people.
The tempering of two lifetimes in the business world had made nearly 3000 people across the company obedient.
Even if he acted friendly, his aura was still there.
Yet Xu Manli never showed any restraint.
Can you say that's not a skill?
Not to mention Chen Yanan, who knew how to seize an opportunity to bring business to her family's factory—very clever.
And now, it seemed that the somewhat self-conscious Zhao Wenjia also had quite a few ideas.
Picking up his cup, Tan Jincheng took a sip of water and asked lightly,
"Want to make money?"
"Yes, I want to make money."
Zhao Wenjia didn't expect Tan Jincheng to be so direct, but she still nodded solemnly.
"Yes, you can. Currently, there's a shortage of computer professionals. People can get jobs after a few months of training. If you have a formal bachelor's degree and then switch majors to study seriously for two years, you'll have a great advantage in future employment."
Tan Jincheng never disliked girls having ideas; on the contrary, he rather appreciated thoughtful girls, as long as they weren't "green tea" types that made people sick.
Similarly, he didn't dislike a desire for money.
Humans are social animals, and in a social environment, money is the simplest and most direct way to gain everyone's respect.
If he hadn't made money, Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng would now be those two disappointing guys in the eyes of their relatives.
Likewise, Tan Lihua and the couple Zhang Guolong would also be looked down upon, instead of being fawned over and praised as they are now.
Zhao Wenjia got the answer she wanted and couldn't help but feel a little happy:
"Really? Is it possible?"
"Yes, it is. Also, if you want to switch majors and encounter any trouble, you can ask my Qingqing to put in a good word for you. She has a bit of sway in your institute now."
Zhao Wenjia nodded happily.
More than just a "bit of sway"!
Recently, leaders from the institute had been coming to find Qingqing, and the counselor almost always sought her out for a chat whenever Qingqing was on campus.
No other reason than this: after Tan Jincheng's several rejections and the geometric growth in user numbers, Kaixin.com's valuation had soared from the previous 50 million to 80 million.
A valuation exceeding 100 million was just a matter of time.
The Foreign Language Institute's first student entrepreneurship project had reached a valuation of nearly 100 million in just a few months!
Furthermore, the institute knew more about Orange Tech than average university students, and even many institutions.
Orange Tech's investors were the student's boyfriend and her father.
In other words, according to the current valuation, Gu Qingqing's net worth had already exceeded 20 million yuan!
A millionaire who just entered her junior year!
(End of chapter)