After rebirth, I became a great master

Chapter 482 The Open Source Counterattack
Christmas has passed.

The news then spread.

Microsoft acquired the email product Hotmail for $4.6 million.

Jiang Minsi saw this news on Yahoo News while surfing the internet.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Haoran couldn't help but scoff, "They're still rich!"

Jiang Minsi said, "This is too expensive!"

"This is Ballmer's decision; he's playing the capital game."

Zhou Haoran had just gotten up early in the morning and yawned.

Jiang Minsi asked, puzzled, "What kind of capital game?"

"Look at Microsoft's stock price; it should have surged."

"Huh? It really is!"

"How much has it increased?"

"3.2%, market capitalization increased by $88 billion!"

Jiang Minsi was taken aback.

It seems that I've finally grasped the essence of capitalist society; I never knew it could be done this way!
I thought spending $4.6 million to acquire Hotmail was a huge rip-off, but it turns out that what they were really interested in wasn't the transaction fee at all, but the positive feedback from the capital market.

Zhou Haoran praised without reservation, saying, "Either Bill Gates handed over the CEO position to Ballmer, because his vision is far superior. I estimate that... this year, Ballmer will lead Microsoft to surpass General Electric and ExxonMobil to become the world's most valuable company."

"so smart!"

Jiang Minsi felt like she was out of reach.

Zhou Haoran laughed and said, "No problem, I'll teach him a lesson later. Minmin, I'm going to take a shower, do you want to come?"

"Okay!"

Jiang Minsi readily accepted.

While showering in the bathroom, Jiang Minsi couldn't hide her joy and said, "Yesterday, we went to buy a house."

Zhou Haoran said "hmm".

Jiang Minsi's eyes sparkled. "Four houses were sold yesterday, and they're all registered in my name."

"Just a few houses," Zhou Haoran said dismissively. "I remember you said your brother-in-law was a transporter for other tea merchants?"

Jiang Minsi nodded slightly, "Yes, we mainly grow tea. My brother-in-law drives them cars and is away from home most of the year."

“Now that the Red Mansion Teahouse is up and running, let your sister, brother-in-law, brother, sister-in-law and so on get involved. Your brother and brother-in-law are responsible for collecting famous and good teas from all over the country and transporting them to the teahouse.”

Zhou Haoran is going to provide the highest quality tea to the Red Mansion Teahouse.

Then we must find a solution from the source.

The international tea market is dominated by India and Sri Lanka mainly because their domestic tea products have many unspoken problems. Pesticides and fertilizers are relatively minor issues; more serious problems include carcinogenic mold and carcinogenic additives used to enhance flavor.

Mr. Wei was diagnosed with stomach cancer.

I don't know what's going on.

He has a habit of never drinking water, only tea, and he even rinses his mouth with tea.

In the Red Mansion Teahouse, the best, healthiest, and highest quality tea must be provided.

Jiang Minsi's beautiful eyes sparkled as she drawled, "Master, then our family is about to prosper in this area..."

Zhou Haoran laughed and said, "Didn't I say before that it would be best to set up an organic tea plantation at your place, specifically to supply tea to the Red Mansion Tea House?"

"Can a teahouse really use that many?"

Jiang Minsi's joy was palpable.

"With so many customers at Honglou Teahouse, it's impossible for anyone to come to the teahouse every day. This kind of specially supplied organic tea is hard to find even if you want to buy it. There are also so many other high-end teahouses. As long as it's good tea, there's no fear of not having a market."

Zhou Haoran's fear was not having too much stock, but rather not having too little.

Truly good tea makes one look good when welcoming or seeing off guests.

……

Since Microsoft acquired Hotmail, its stock price has risen for three consecutive days, with an increase of more than 5.2%, and its market value has increased by more than $130 billion.

This is an excellent deal!
However, on the fourth day, Microsoft's stock price experienced a significant drop, reaching 4.1%.

Because a very unfavorable piece of news emerged in the market.

Zhou Haoren, a well-known computer scientist in the IT industry, has finally open-sourced his first application-level product—an email service—after open-sourcing all of his personal papers!
It caused a sensation in the industry.

It's worth noting that open-source products aren't unprecedented.

For example, the Linux system is the most famous open-source product.

However, previous open-source products all shared a common theme: they were out of touch with the times and had no commercial future.

They can't make money, and they can't afford to support their families.

Therefore, it is open source.

Zhou Haoren's open-source product is different. Email is one of the hottest areas in the internet industry today, and many IT companies are investing heavily in its development.

Even a company as deep and wealthy as Microsoft, unable to develop a satisfactory email service itself, spent $4.6 million to acquire one from the market!
Email can be considered one of the most commercially promising internet products of our time!

It's open source!

Could it be because it's too bad?
Fortunately, the United States has no shortage of passionate enthusiasts.

This morning, the open-source email service was announced.

By noon, many test results were available.

Research teams from universities such as Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Princeton University, and Duke University have all provided detailed test reports and given positive feedback!
In particular, the team led by Professor Cornwell at Princeton University provided the most detailed analysis.

He listed 10 dimensions.

We compared and analyzed 27 email products on the market across 10 aspects and provided a comprehensive score.

Among them, Hotmail, which Microsoft just acquired, ranked sixth with a score of 88.4!
Yahoo Mail, the world's most popular email service, ranked second with a score of 94.3!
The number one email service, with a rating of 97.5%!

It was none other than the email service open-sourced by Dr. Zhou Haoren!

In addition, many well-known IT magazines, programmers, and Silicon Valley technology companies have also joined this major discussion.

The given answers are highly similar!

Dr. Zhou Haoren's open-source email product is not garbage, but an excellent product that is ahead of its time!

One Oracle product manager named Robert exaggeratedly on a Silicon Valley BBS forum: "If Hotmail is worth $4.6 million, then Dr. Zhou Haoren's open-source email is worth at least $10 billion!"

This statement has been quoted by many authoritative media outlets, including Yahoo News.

Then it quickly went viral.

Many social media outlets have also joined in, paying close attention to this major event in the tech world!
This is truly amazing.

A product worth $10 billion was shared with the whole world for free?
What kind of spirit is that?
This is humanism!

In no time, the name "Dr. Zhou Haoren" became a sensation in the entire technology community.

Then, some unscrupulous media outlets emerged that were stirring up trouble.

If Dr. Zhou Haoren is a positive role model, then who is the negative one?

The opposite of open source is monopoly.

Microsoft is undoubtedly the most monopolistic cancer in the tech industry!
In particular, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in conjunction with more than a dozen states, has launched an antitrust investigation against Microsoft. And that's not all; several years ago, Europe had already initiated an antitrust investigation against Microsoft.

There's no doubt about it!

Netscape, in particular, is truly pitiful.

Netscape could have become a more successful internet company than Yahoo, but Bill Gates went too far and directly took advantage of the Windows system in order to compete with Netscape.

Netscape's products are incompatible with Windows systems.

Ho!
How can Netscape survive?
Although Bill Gates showed remorse and resigned, handing over the CEO position to Ballmer, Microsoft's monopoly was already a fait accompli, and Netscape was dead.

Microsoft has already achieved a monopoly.

In a short time, the overwhelming negative news surrounding Microsoft, along with the anger and complaints from many industry professionals on various BBS forums, put Microsoft in an awkward situation where it was attacked from all sides.

Microsoft's acquisition of Hotmail initially caused its stock price to surge by 5.2%.

Unexpectedly, Microsoft's stock price plummeted by 16.3% after Dr. Zhou Haoren open-sourced the email service.

Its market value has shrunk by more than $300 billion.

A few days later, just as the hype died down, Wei Jie, who had been prepared all along, took action. He received a $10 fee and provided the media with an exclusive scoop.

It turns out that Dr. Zhou Haoren had indeed been in contact with Microsoft before he open-sourced his email product!
They're asking for $2000 million!
Microsoft has contacted Dr. Zhou Haoren several times, hoping to reach an agreement and complete the transaction.

However, Dr. Zhou Haoren remained resolute and refused on multiple occasions, unwilling to associate with monopolies.

In the end, Microsoft had no choice but to acquire Hotmail.

Zhou Haoren rejected Microsoft's exorbitant acquisition offer.

Instead, they open-sourced their email product.

This is the inside story.

Suddenly, troubles arose again.

So much so that while Zhou Haoran was at home having dinner with his parents and spending New Year's Day with Qiao Suiqing, Du Jiayun, the president of Microsoft China, traveled all the way to the port to offer his heartfelt apologies, hoping to put an end to it.

Microsoft is willing to sponsor three seminars with a sum of money.

The theme is open.

The seminar was convened by Dr. Zhou Haoren.

What he wants to discuss, which guests to invite, and where to hold the discussion... are all decided by Dr. Zhou Haoren.

Zhou Haoran readily accepted.

……

It was 1998.

There's a feeling of everything being renewed.

Qiao Hai called excitedly: "Haoran, I have great news for you!"

Zhou Haoran laughed and said, "Is it related to Microsoft? I've heard too much good news these past few days."

Qiao Hai laughed heartily, "Yes, it has an indirect connection with Microsoft!"

"what happened?"

"ICQ has contacted us proactively!"

"Oh?"

Zhou Haoran's plans were indeed realized step by step.

Qiao Hai said confidently, "Just now, their vice president, Gao Defen... the one who came to see us last time, called me, and we talked for over an hour!"

Zhou Haoran asked, "Five million US dollars, not a penny less."

Qiao Hai chuckled and said, "Microsoft is in such a bad situation, they're terrified. You wouldn't believe it, when he called me just now, sometimes I couldn't understand him, and he kept repeating himself, his attitude... so humble. I've seen plenty of foreigners, but this is the first time I've seen someone so subservient."

Zhou Haoran didn't care about these details. "Is the deal done?"

“Pretty much, Gao Defen said everything is negotiable!” Qiao Hai said eagerly. “How about a trip to America? I’ve never been before…”

"Row!"

(End of this chapter)