After rebirth, I became a great master

Chapter 306 The Power Tiger Blocking the Way
"I don't know, but we purchased 1 cards and several POS machines that can read cards."

Ning Yuanjia said he didn't care, but his expression betrayed his true feelings.

This piece of junk cost 120 million in procurement fees, that's fucking expensive!
Zhou Haoran realized the huge potential profit in this and asked in a low voice, "About how much would the cost be?"

Ning Yuanjia said, "We're in development, so I wasn't involved in the specific procurement process and don't know how they negotiated. But... Jiaotong University is also working on this library card project recently."

"Jiaotong University of Shanghai Harbour?"

"Yes, I know someone who does it."

"How much do they charge?"

“We’re still negotiating, but…” Ning Yuanjia drew out the last word, “but the total budget seems to be only 30 yuan. Jiaotong University’s scale is about the same as Fudan University’s, so I don’t think the overall procurement scale will be much different.”

Zhou Haoran narrowed his eyes, "One deal can bring in hundreds of thousands!"

Ning Yuanjia clearly disapproved of this, and said in a deep voice, "This is just the beginning. My supervisor told me that the school intends to promote meal cards, bath cards, attendance cards, and so on. That's another big order."

"Ah!"

Zhou Haoran sneered.

Ning Yuanjia said, "Traditional magnetic stripe cards require a different card for each scenario. If we were to purchase smart cards, the price would definitely be high, but one card can be used for multiple purposes and can be applied to multiple scenarios simultaneously. When spread out, the cost wouldn't be much higher. The key is convenience; one card is all you need to explore the campus."

"This is like biting into someone else's cake!"

Zhou Haoran then suddenly realized that the games played at school were even more intense than those played on television.

At work, after sales performance improves.

At most, the director was provided with a car.

After Director Meng was officially appointed and given a permanent position, he was also promoted to deputy director and was recently assigned a car.

Moreover, the money was all processed in accordance with the proper procedures.

Schools are different; a single library card program can embezzle nearly 100 million yuan!
Throughout the 1990s, people in all industries acted very wildly.

It's not just about business.

Ning Yuanjia said, "This is just the procurement cost. Magnetic stripe cards are easily damaged or lost, and students need to replace them frequently. This kind of maintenance cost will amount to hundreds of thousands of yuan every year."

"A big deal!"

Zhou Haoran's tone was mocking.

Ning Yuanjia sighed, "This is just the library card. Meal cards are used more frequently, and the magnetic stripe cards are more likely to be damaged or demagnetized. If we let them push forward the meal card project as well, it will be very troublesome."

"Okay, I see."

Zhou Haoran is assessing the feasibility of this matter.

Ning Yuanjia tentatively asked, "What do you want to do? Do we still need to make the campus card system?"

Do you want to do it?

Zhou Haoran asked back.

Ning Yuanjia said firmly, "I want to do it. Smart cards are the real technology. Magnetic stripe cards use magnetic tape technology from ten or twenty years ago, which has been obsolete in foreign countries for many years. A prestigious university like ours should set its sights on the world."

Zhou Haoran said in a deep voice, "Then let's do it!"

"What about Zhang Xuezhen? He's the vice principal, in charge of logistics, administration, the Youth League Committee, the Student Affairs Office, and so on. If we want to make this project a success, we can't get around him no matter what."

Ning Yuanjia is now facing a very difficult situation.

"Dr. Ning, we can't stop here. We need to find people and build up the team."

Zhou Haoran will not give up easily.

Ning Yuanjia breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "That's good. Oh, by the way, what language should we use to program this campus card system?"

"C programming language".

Zhou Haoran answered without hesitation.

Ning Yuanjia was delighted. "I was really worried you'd be using Java."

Zhou Haoran laughed and said, "Java is a new language with too many problems. It's okay for simple projects with low concurrency, but campus cards are used too frequently. Let's go back to the traditional one."

“Hmm…” Ning Yuanjia glanced at him, “Zhang Xuezhen is the vice principal. Even my advisor and Dean Cheng probably can’t do anything about him. How are you going to fight him?”

Zhou Haoran said, "I'll think about it."

"You're not going to report it, are you?"

Ning Yuanjia felt that this path was impractical.

Zhou Haoran shook his head and sighed, "Everyone knows that there's a lot of money to be made in procurement. I reckon the school leaders know what's going on, but they just prefer to avoid getting involved. Anyway, it's all public money, so they don't care how much others embezzle."

The main problem is that nobody likes reporting things.

An anonymous report was ignored.

The real-name whistleblowing did have an effect, but it also ruined my reputation.

If you can report Vice Principal Zhang Xuezhen today, you can report other school leaders tomorrow. Who would dare to associate with you? Especially those with shady dealings; they'd all stay far away from you, afraid that getting too close would lead to you discovering their misdeeds.

Over time, this can lead to isolation.

"I have some important information that you can consider."

Although Ning Yuanjia had some unpleasant experiences with him, he was very serious about his technical skills.

"Oh?" Zhou Haoran sensed his sincerity. "What intelligence?" Ning Yuanjia said in a low voice, "When I was working on the library system, there was a technical detail that the logistics department asked me to modify."

"You're stretching your arms that far?"

Zhou Haoran was very dissatisfied with this.

Ning Yuanjia said helplessly, "They have the power."

Zhou Haoran asked, "What details?"

"Encryption algorithm".

"Ok?"

“Initially, the encryption algorithm I designed was based on the 92 standard, which was relatively new and secure.” Ning Yuanjia shook his head repeatedly as he said this, “but it couldn’t be implemented and I was ordered to modify it.”

Zhou Haoran asked, "What was it changed to?"

Ning Yuanjia said, "It has been changed back to the old standard from 82."

"What?"

Zhou Haoran opened his eyes wide.

These cards record personal information, so encryption algorithms are needed to protect it. The simpler the encryption algorithm, the higher the likelihood of it being fraudulently used or illegally copied!

Ning Yuanjia said, "Because of the limitations of magnetic stripe cards, the batch of magnetic stripe cards we purchased had very outdated technology, which was more than ten years old. It was difficult to carry complex and advanced encryption algorithms, and could only carry the old standard algorithm from 82."

Zhou Haoran then suddenly realized, "That's why when I asked you before if the library system had a payment function, you said no. It wasn't because of design flaws; the fundamental reason was technological limitations!"

“Yes.” Ning Yuanjia was more familiar with him now, so he could tell the truth. “The library has a computer room, and sometimes you need to pay overtime fees, loss fees, etc. when borrowing books. The library card has a consumption function, so there is indeed a demand for it. I had already started developing it. But then the logistics department made a request, so I gave up the consumption function.”

"this is correct."

Zhou Haoran's impression of him immediately improved.

This person is quite principled!
The encryption algorithm of the library card is too insecure, which makes it easy for the data of the library card to be copied by the card reader and then used to make "card clones".

It's just like using a fake license plate on a car.

Using a combination of credit cards to make purchases will only result in spending the money from the original card!

The best solution is to go back to the 80s and not add payment functionality to the magnetic stripe cards, only recording some personal information. This way, even if the library card is copied, it won't cause any substantial financial loss.

Ning Yuanjia sighed and said, "I was originally quite ambitious, thinking I could promote the digitalization of Fudan University's campus. I visited Tsinghua University, Peking University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and found that their information technology infrastructure was very good."

Zhou Haoran nodded. "The capital city itself has a strong research atmosphere, which is far inferior to the seaport. Here, finance and trade are the main focus."

"The research atmosphere is indeed terrible; even at the university, there are such great constraints."

Ning Yuanjia felt very uncomfortable.

Zhou Haoran laughed and said, "So you came here as soon as you heard that I was going to do the 'campus card' project."

"Yes, you can publish papers in world-class journals. I thought you had a way to deal with a vice principal!"

Ning Yuanjia knew he couldn't make the campus card.

Then we can only pin our hopes on Zhou Haoran.

I never expected that he would be in trouble now.

Even getting a project approved is difficult!
Ning Yuanjia said in a heavy tone, "Zhou Haoran, if you have any way or connections, you must stop Zhang Xuezhen. The library card doesn't involve money yet, so it's not a big deal. But next, the school might start implementing meal cards."

"Ah."

"The magnetic stripe card manufacturing plant owned by Zhang Xuezhen's brother-in-law has outdated technology. It uses foreign technology from more than ten years ago and doesn't even have ISO certification. If we continue to purchase their magnetic stripe cards, we'll only be using encryption algorithms from 82, which will make the security of the meal cards too low. There will definitely be many cases of fraudulent transactions, and the interests of students will be seriously damaged."

“You’re right.” Zhou Haoran clenched his fist. “We have to stop it!”

……

With the conclusion of the Two Sessions, a series of personnel adjustments have been made at Hongxing TV.

The first to act was Deputy Director Yi Changping.

He went to the newly established entertainment channel as director, along with 16 other people from the lifestyle channel, including 5 from the sales department: Chang Lesheng, Tian Kai, Xie Heping, Liu Anyang, and Chen Taidong.

Meanwhile, Meng Xuemin, the sales director, was promoted to deputy director of the lifestyle channel, taking over the position left by Yi Changping.

This created several important vacancies in the sales department.

Zhou Haoran proposed that Liu Zebin, the leader of Sales Group 4, be appointed as the Sales Director!
Meng Xuemin agreed.

The matter was approved at the general meeting, and it was settled.

Liu Zebin was extremely grateful.

It was like a huge gift falling on my head.

Even though Zhong Jiantong, Tian Kai, and Chang Lesheng have all been transferred, there's still a top talent in the sales department, Zhou Haoran!
There's no way he'd be chosen for the sales manager position!

Now that Liu Zebin has taken up his post, he knows how he got this position – it was entirely given to him by Zhou Haoran on his own initiative!

I am truly grateful!

It's important to know that Liu Zebin was a protégé that Meng Xuemin had previously brought over from the Urban Channel. He had previously made a serious mistake; he snatched a 20 yuan order from the Urban Channel and almost got fired!
Later, Zhou Haoran stepped in and returned one of his 20 yuan orders to the Urban Channel, which resolved the crisis.

I feel unworthy of all this!

Therefore, after Liu Zebin took office as the sales director, his first priority was to nominate Zhou Haoran to serve as the deputy director!
(End of this chapter)