Restart life

Chapter 132-0129 [Recording a TV show should involve some verbal sparring]

The first TV program Chen Guiliang participated in was quite prestigious; it was CCTV's "Dialogue."

This show has a long lifespan; Chen Guiliang was still alive before his rebirth.

Invited guests included foreign political figures such as Hillary Clinton, business tycoons such as Jack Ma, Barack Obama, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates, as well as celebrities from the arts and sports world such as Jin Yong, Liu Cixin, Zhang Yimou, Andy Lau, and Yao Ming.

These big names are limited in number, and it's impossible to invite them every time. Most of the time, the guests aren't that high-profile.

For example, four years ago, Han Han was invited to record "Dialogue," where she was besieged by other guests and the audience. The host was from Hunan TV, and the second half of the program was a disaster, with the situation spiraling out of the host's control.

"Hello, Chen Guiliang." Host Ms. Shen came backstage at the studio.

Chen Guiliang smiled and shook hands: "Hello, Ms. Shen."

Chen Guiliang had long admired this Miss Shen, mainly remembering two news stories about her later on.

One story belongs to sports news: Ms. Shen served as an Olympic torchbearer.

This is a news story about legal matters; Ms. Shen was imprisoned some time ago.

However, it cannot be denied that Ms. Shen's hosting skills far surpass those of Ms. Wang in Han Han's episode.

"Today's main topic is whether college students can balance entrepreneurship and academic studies," Ms. Shen told Chen Guiliang in advance to prepare. "We have invited two doctoral supervisors and a senior executive from a listed company as special guests. They may ask some pointed questions, and the audience may also be challenging."

Chen Guiliang nodded: "Understood."

As they were talking, another person entered; it was Wang Xiaochuan, the project manager of Sogou.

He won first prize in the National Mathematics League at age 15 and was admitted to high school without taking the entrance exam. At age 16, he completed all the proofs of elementary geometry propositions using a personal computer. At age 18, he won a gold medal in a subject competition and was admitted to the Computer Science Department of Tsinghua University without taking the entrance exam. At age 25, he obtained his master's degree from Tsinghua University.

"Hello."

"Hello."

The two shook hands and greeted each other before sitting down to wait for the show to start recording.

Wang Xiaochuan said, "I'm from Chengdu."

“Fellow townsman,” Chen Guiliang said with a smile, “my girlfriend is also from Chengdu.”

Wang Xiaochuan said, "Your campus network is quite good. I used to be a part-time employee of the alumni directory, and I developed many of its features."

“Then you are the senior,” Chen Guiliang said.

Wang Xiaochuan had extremely mixed feelings when facing the owner of Xiaonei.com.

The alumni directory was a part-time project he completed during his undergraduate studies. Sohu disbanded the founding team of the alumni directory, but then put him in charge of the Sogou search engine project. Moreover, they entrusted him with important responsibilities, promoting him step by step from senior technical manager to senior technical director.

The next step is to be promoted to vice president of Sohu!
He also suggested to the boss several times that the alumni directory be reformed, but Mr. Zhang brushed him off each time.

Before long, two more people arrived.

One of them was an old acquaintance, Professor Shang from the Institute of Social Sciences, who wrote the preface to "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty".

The other is Professor Yang from the Chinese Department of Beijing Normal University.

Everyone was getting along well.

Professor Yang also told Chen Guiliang, "I might be a bit sharp-tongued, so please don't mind."

Chen Guiliang said, "Professor Yang, please speak freely. I will humbly accept your criticism."

The episode with Han Han caused quite a stir, and the show was very entertaining, but the host also went back to a local station from CCTV. His hosting skills were terrible!
The program has officially started recording.

The host and three special guests went to the studio for an opening discussion, while Chen Guiliang continued to wait backstage.

Dozens of audience members were already seated.

Host Ms. Shen said, "There's a student who has repeatedly stirred up public opinion this year. He qualified for Peking University's special admission program through the New Concept Writing Competition, which then embroiled him in a controversy over the fairness of the admissions process. Then, in the college entrance examination, he achieved a score exceeding Peking University's admission cutoff. He even publicly set a goal for himself in front of dozens of media reporters to earn 100 million yuan during his university years. He also publicly questioned the accuracy of high school Chinese textbooks..."

"Recently, he also launched a campus belle contest on Renren.com and published the long historical work 'Those Things About the Ming Dynasty'..."

"Today we have invited..."

"Professor Shang, what is your impression of Chen Guiliang?"

Professor Shang smiled and said, "He's a very good student. I hope he can pursue a career in history. I wrote the preface for 'Those Things About the Ming Dynasty' to popularize knowledge about the history of the Ming Dynasty among the general public."

"Where is Professor Yang?" Miss Shen asked.

Professor Yang said, "I particularly admire his poem 'Journey to the Seas,' and I think he could develop a career in Chinese literature."

After chatting for a while, Ms. Shen brought up the topic: "Many college students start their own businesses, but they often drop out halfway through. Moreover, Chen Guiliang started his business right at the beginning of his freshman year. Was he too eager to do business? Can he balance entrepreneurship and studies?"

Wang Xiaochuan shook his head: "It's hard to balance. I joined ChinaRen as a part-time student in my junior year, and I continued to work part-time when I transferred to Sohu. Let alone starting a business, even working full-time would affect my studies. From my junior year to my master's degree, I worked part-time for four years, and I only started working full-time after I got my master's degree."

Professor Yang said, "Starting a business in the first year of university is too early, before you've even finished your basic courses. I think even if you want to start a business, you should wait until your third year."

“It’s hard to balance both,” Professor Shang laughed. “Let’s make a bet that Chen Guiliang will drop out at most in his third year. He’s in the Yuanpei Class, which has a very heavy workload, and he’ll probably fail several courses this semester.”

After another round of chatter, Ms. Shen stood up and said, "Please welcome our guests for tonight..."

Chen Guiliang smiled and waved as he walked out, and the audience applauded enthusiastically.

He shook hands with the host and the three guests, then returned to his seat.

"Did you hear everything just now? Did you have anything to say in your defense?" Miss Shen asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "The three seniors are all right. I don't recommend that first-year students start their own businesses. It will definitely interfere with their studies. If the business fails, then both their career and studies will be ruined."

“But you still chose to start your own business,” Ms. Shen said.

Chen Guiliang said, "I'm different."

Miss Shen asked, "Why are they different?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Because I believe I can succeed."

The host, guests, and audience members all laughed, with some mocking Chen Guiliang for being too arrogant.

These are all real audience members, not shills hired by the production team.

Moreover, there are quite a few people who hold bizarre viewpoints.

In Han Han's episode, there was even this kind of dialogue—

Female audience member: "What chat tool do you use online? OICQ or ICQ?"

HanHan: "I use a chat room."

Female audience member: "If you want to grow up, use OICQ and ICQ. That's the adult world."

Han Han: "Haha, thank you."

Ms. Shen asked, "Professor Yang, are there many students starting their own businesses at your school?"

Professor Yang said, “There are quite a few, but most of them fail. Not only at our school, but throughout China and the world, most student entrepreneurs fail; only a very small minority succeed. We can't say that just because Bill Gates succeeded, we will definitely succeed too. I think college students need to be very cautious about starting a business. Especially first- and second-year students; if they haven't mastered their foundational courses and then fail in their business venture, their entire future will be ruined.” Ms. Shen then asked Chen Guiliang, “Why are you so sure you'll succeed?”

"Because my project is good," Chen Guiliang said. "In the field of campus social networking, there is no one in China that can compete."

Wang Xiaochuan said, "It's very difficult to monetize a campus online community."

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "You're saying that Sohu Alumni Directory is doing terribly, right? Sohu is doing poorly because the top management at Sohu has problems with their brains and vision."

As soon as this statement came out, the whole place was in an uproar.

Back then, Sohu was still one of the three major portal websites. Everyone thought Sohu was awesome, and it hadn't yet become an object of ridicule.

Chen Guiliang's statement is like saying that the Ma brothers at their peak lacked business acumen!

Chen Guiliang continued, "Sohu's abandonment of its alumni directory was a serious strategic mistake. I can understand Sohu's foray into MMS, after all, it could make a lot of quick money. But its other businesses are spread too thin, jumping from one thing to another. It seems like a well-planned strategy, but it actually lacks focus. Now we're in the Web 2.0 era, but Sohu's senior management's thinking is still stuck in the past two or three years."

Wang Xiaochuan said, "We have a focus: Sogou Search and Sohu Mall."

Chen Guiliang said, "If I were General Manager Zhang, I would definitely fire the person in charge of Sohu Mall. They've done a terrible job!"

Miss Shen thought to herself: This guy is so arrogant, but the ratings are definitely going to be high.

Ms. Shen smiled and prompted, "How about you give your evaluations of Sina, NetEase, and Baidu?"

Chen Guiliang then unleashed his trump card: "With the arrival of the Web 2.0 era, portal websites are bound to decline."

"NetEase transformed early, and I estimate that it will focus on games in the future. But the comment section of NetEase News is a cesspool; I feel disgusted just looking at it."

"Sina News is in a similar situation. If it doesn't quickly find a core business, Sina is not far from its demise."

"Baidu's search business can last a few more years, but it will decline within ten years. Tieba is a good product. However, with Baidu's current advertising model, Tieba will eventually be destroyed by Baidu."

"They're all outdated; the internet industry needs young people!"

Wang Xiaochuan was both amused and exasperated; he knew Chen Guiliang wanted to create a stir.

Professor Yang said, "Young people should not be too arrogant; they should humbly learn and improve themselves."

"If you're not wild, are you even a young person?" Chen Guiliang retorted.

Miss Shen asked, "Have you made any money yet?"

“No,” Chen Guiliang said. “I’ve invested all my royalties and bonuses into it, and I also took out a loan of 50 yuan from Peking University Science Park. I will also continue to invest the royalties from ‘Those Things of the Ming Dynasty’ into Renren.com. In at most another six months, I will be able to get my first investment.”

"What if no institutions invest?" Wang Xiaochuan asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "That shows that venture capitalists have no vision; they don't even know to pick up gold when they see it on the roadside."

"Can I say a few words?"

In the audience, an older woman couldn't hold back any longer.

Ms. Shen gestured to the staff to hand her the microphone.

The middle-aged woman said, "I bought a set of your 'Those Things About the Ming Dynasty' for my child. It's really well written. I heard you can also write classical poetry. You're a very outstanding young person. You finally got into Peking University, so why can't you just focus on your studies and earn fame and money by writing articles after class? Have you thought about your parents? They've worked so hard to support your education. What if you fail in your company?"

“But I won’t fail,” Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

The middle-aged woman said, "You just said it yourself, you still have a loan of 50 yuan, that's a lot of money!"

Chen Guiliang didn't explain further to the old woman, but instead asked Wang Xiaochuan, "How about we make a bet?"

"What kind of bet?" Wang Xiaochuan asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "Within a year, Xiaonei.com can be valued at $1000 million."

Wang Xiaochuan shook his head: "I don't gamble."

Miss Shen asked, "Why?"

Wang Xiaochuan smiled but remained silent.

Chen Guiliang said, "Let me explain. He doesn't want to bet because he might lose."

"Oh!"

The young people in the audience started to jeer.

The older woman picked up the microphone again: "Students should study hard and not waste their precious time. We didn't have that opportunity before, but you were born in a good era. Don't just think about making money."

Miss Shen asked, "Do you think this statement is correct?"

“This lady is right, but I’d like to add something,” Chen Guiliang said. “Learning is a lifelong process, not just confined to the school campus or books. Einstein once said something about education that I think is very true: ‘Education is what remains after the student has forgotten everything he was taught in school.’”

The older woman expressed her doubts: "Did Einstein really say something like that? What kind of education is it if we've forgotten all the knowledge?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Because the essence of education is not limited to imparting knowledge, but also to cultivating people's thinking, character and values. Compared with knowledge itself, the latter three are more important."

Ms. Shen said, "The topic has turned to education again. What are your thoughts, professors?"

Professor Shang said, "I support this view. Knowledge can be acquired at any time, but once a way of thinking, character, and values ​​are formed, they are very difficult to change."

“This is indeed the core of education,” Professor Yang said. “Most of the knowledge gained from high school to university will be gradually forgotten after entering society. But the basic qualities cultivated in students through the transmission of this knowledge will accompany them throughout their lives.”

Ms. Shen smiled and said, "There's a young audience member over there who keeps raising his hand. Let's hand him the microphone."

A high school student stood up: "Chen Guiliang, what you just said, does it mean you support holistic education?"

"What is quality education?" Chen Guiliang asked rhetorically.

A high school student said, "It's about respecting students' natural talents and strengths, and moving away from solely focusing on grades. Like in the US, students should be free to choose their preferred subjects to develop, and assessments of other interests and strengths should be added. Don't assign so much homework; give students more free time. This is how we can improve students' overall abilities."

Chen Guiliang asked, "Does the college entrance examination not only consider scores, but also take into account various special talents for admission?"

"Yes, that's how you develop in all aspects, instead of struggling with a subject you don't like. I think there are serious problems with China's education system and college entrance exam right now!" a high school student said.

Chen Guiliang asked, "What about the students in rural areas?"

"Huh?" The high school student didn't understand.

Chen Guiliang said, “I went to a village primary school. There were only two teachers in the whole school, and they only admitted students once every three years. One teacher had to teach all the courses. I went to the central primary school in the township for junior high. The English teacher could pronounce ‘duck’ as ‘K’, and the music teacher only taught a few nursery rhymes. According to your logic, how should I develop my special talents? Steal bird nests, swim in the river, or fight with thugs? Can I get extra points on the college entrance exam by killing more thugs?”

The high school student was stunned.

Chen Guiliang said, “Rural students are also recipients of Chinese education. What kind of quality education can they receive? You may find tutoring too much annoying and dislike private tutors. But there are countless rural students who can't even afford tutoring fees, let alone know what a private tutor is. They've never even heard of the term ‘tutoring class’!”

The recording of this program has now gone off-topic.

But Ms. Shen thought it was fine and didn't interfere: "Do you think the reform of quality education should be slowed down again?"

Chen Guiliang said, "What this junior just said is not quality education at all. Or rather, talking about quality education without considering basic education is just bullshitting. That's not quality education, it's elite education, which means abandoning the vast majority of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and only cultivating a small group of elites in the cities! The United States is a capitalist country, so they have a reason to do that, but we are a socialist country!"

(End of this chapter)