Restart life

Chapter 176 0173 [The First Generation Weibo is Coming Soon] (For Alliance Leader Book Friend 16011508074543)

Tao Xue cried for several minutes before finally stopping and sobbing.

The gatekeeper thought something had happened, so he stopped a few steps from the gatehouse and stood there watching the commotion while smoking a cigarette.

He recognized Chen Guiliang.

Only when Tao Xue started wiping away tears did the gatekeeper come over and offer her a cigarette: "Mr. Chen, coming back to visit your alma mater?"

"Yes, I came back to take a look." Chen Guiliang nodded.

The security guard said, "The principal isn't here. He's probably in the city. We'll try to get classes back during the summer break."

Chen Guiliang said, "Thank you for the reminder."

The two stood there chatting aimlessly. Tao Xue felt both sad and embarrassed, and turned her back to the gatekeeper, afraid that he would remember her face.

A few minutes later, Tao Xue secretly tugged at Chen Guiliang's clothes.

Chen Guiliang then said goodbye to the security guard and escorted Tao Xue back to the girls' dormitory.

Halfway there, she said she wanted to see the sunset, so she found a teaching building with a rooftop.

"It's so beautiful." Tao Xue stood behind the rooftop railing.

As the sun was about to set, it grew large and red, and the horizon was filled with magnificent, fiery clouds.

The sunlight seemed to turn red, making Tao Xue's face even more radiant.

Chen Guiliang said, "Yes, it's beautiful."

The two stopped talking and silently watched the sunset side by side.

Tao Xue felt pretty good at the moment; at least she wasn't so sad anymore.

As dusk fell, Chen Guiliang accompanied Tao Xue on a walk around the campus, eventually escorting her to the girls' dormitory building.

Tao Xue walked towards the stairwell, then turned back and looked back, finding Chen Guiliang still standing there. She smiled again, waved, and called out, "Goodbye, senior!"

"Goodbye," Chen Guiliang said, waving goodbye.

Tao Xue pretended to be very lively, skipping and hopping upstairs, but once she entered the stairwell, she deflated and squatted down in the corridor, lost in thought.

After a long pause, Tao Xue got up and went back to her dormitory.

The chubby girl had already packed her bags, apparently planning to go home tomorrow: "You guys have been playing until now?"

"Ah."

Tao Xue said proudly, "My senior even watched the sunset with me, and we took a walk together on campus before coming back."

"Sigh, I can only fantasize about it by reading novels." The chubby girl was extremely envious.

Tao Xue lay on the bed with a smile, then rolled over to face the wall. Her smile faded and her eyes welled up with tears. She didn't know why she couldn't stop crying; she had rarely cried throughout her life.

Taking out her phone, Tao Xue texted Chen Guiliang: "Senior, I'm still going to study in Beijing next year."

After a long wait, Chen Guiliang finally replied: "Okay. Go to sleep early."

Tao Xue picked up a book from beside her pillow; it was "Dream of the Red Chamber," which Chen Guiliang had sold her. She opened it but didn't read the main text; instead, she looked for Chen Guiliang's reading notes written inside.

"Your handwriting is really ugly," Tao Xue muttered.

……

Chen Guiliang slept in a hotel in the county town that night and went to take the driving test the next day.

There were only six people at the exam site.

Two of them were invigilators.

The four candidates received their exam papers, pencils, and machine-readable answer sheets.

One person filled in the answers incredibly quickly, occasionally glancing down at their palm. With just a glance, they could write the answers to several questions.

Such blatant cheating went unnoticed by the invigilators.

Chen Guiliang answered the questions quickly, demonstrating his familiarity with basic traffic rules as an experienced driver.

After everyone finished the exam and handed in their papers, they all waited there.

The invigilators took the machine-readable cards and put them through the machine on the spot, and all four candidates passed.

Because Chen Guiliang spent money to save time, the test results of all four of them were sent directly to the county vehicle management office.

One of the proctors called Chen Guiliang aside and said, "Wait for your coach's call this afternoon."

"Thank you." Chen Guiliang handed over a pack of cigarettes.

The man was even more delighted and asked curiously, "Are you the one from the news who owns a company?"

He remembered the name, but he wasn't sure if he was sure.

"They share the same name," Chen Guiliang said.

As Chen Guiliang walked out of the driving test room, Bian Guanyue had been waiting there for a long time.

Back in Beijing, Chen Guiliang had promised Bian Guanyue that he would come back to visit her maternal grandparents during the summer vacation.

"How did the exam go?" Bian Guanyue asked with a smile.

"Passed," Chen Guiliang said.

Bian Guanyue said, "I'll also enroll in driving school during winter break."

"Don't get your driver's license but be afraid to drive."

"I'm not that cowardly."

"That's not certain."

The two bought some gifts and then took a taxi straight to the home of Bian Guanyue's maternal grandfather.

Chen Guiliang remained calm and composed, while Bian Guanyue was somewhat uneasy.

Bian Guanyue took out his keys and opened the door. The moment he opened the door, the four people in the living room stood up, leaving only the little kid lying on the sofa watching TV.

“These are my maternal grandparents,” Bian Guanyue introduced.

"Hello, father-in-law. Hello, mother-in-law," Chen Guiliang greeted.

In this local dialect, "公公婆婆" actually means "old man" and "old woman".

Bian Guanyue then said, "These are my uncle and aunt. That's my cousin over there."

Chen Guiliang quickly offered his greetings.

"Hello, hello, please have a seat."

Bian Guanyue's uncle, Guan Zhiwei, is a civil servant in the city, having worked his way up to the rank of deputy section chief through seniority. Her aunt is a doctor at the city hospital, but she doesn't treat patients; she only dispenses medicine at the pharmacy.

The couple usually live in the city, but this time they made a special trip back to the county.

As for my younger cousin, he's still in junior high school. He doesn't greet guests when they come; he just lies on the sofa watching TV.

"Come here and call for help!" Guan Zhiwei scolded his son.

My younger cousin stood up lazily: "Hello, brother."

"Hello." Chen Guiliang nodded. His maternal grandparents and aunt all rushed to the kitchen to busy themselves, serving dishes, setting out bowls and chopsticks, and keeping an eye on the fish in the pot that wasn't fully cooked.

The uncle was responsible for chatting with Chen Guiliang.

Bian Guanyue picked up the calico cat and said, "Look, it's grown so big. When we bought it, it was just a tiny little thing."

Chen Guiliang chatted with her uncle while playing with the cat.

Since the two men had just met, it wasn't appropriate to ask too many personal questions, so they started talking about domestic and international politics.

"Xiao Chen, are you aware of the series of terrorist attacks in London?"

"I've heard about it, but I'm not sure."

"London won the right to host the 2012 Olympics just one day ago, and the next day it was attacked by terrorism. A total of 52 people died! It must have been premeditated, specifically to sabotage the Olympics."

"It's possible, Uncle is very accurate."

"These kinds of things are easy to understand. We also need to be careful about the Olympics in our country."

"That's right, someone must be sabotaging us. There are many criminals online right now..."

After talking about foreign countries, they started talking about domestic issues.

My aunt set out the bowls and chopsticks, and called out with a smile, "Come and eat!"

Everyone went to wash their hands and sat down around the table.

Guan Zhiwei took out a bottle of Wuliangye liquor: "I'll have a couple of drinks with Xiao Chen."

"No, I have my driving test (Part 2) this afternoon," Chen Guiliang said.

“That’s definitely not safe to drink.” Guan Zhiwei shoved the bottle back into the corner.

Grandma busied herself serving Chen Guiliang soup and picking out food for him with clean chopsticks, her enthusiasm making Bian Guanyue feel a little embarrassed.

The grandfather praised Chen Guiliang for his excellent poetry.

While they were talking, his driving instructor called to inform him of the specific time and location of the exam. He also asked if he wanted to practice a few times before the exam.

Chen Guiliang hung up the phone and continued chatting with Bian Guanyue's uncle.

"The Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Leaders' Meeting is being held in Caiyun Province. Are you aware of this?"

"Yes, the southwest region, especially Yunnan Province, needs to accelerate its development."

"Look, Xiao Chen is a natural businessman. He can tell the national development strategy just by listening! The country is making a big move, and we won't see the results for another ten years."

"Uncle has a great perspective on both domestic and international affairs; most people wouldn't pay attention to that."

"Haha, I was just casually browsing the news."

"..."

Chen Guiliang, who often makes outrageous remarks in public, spent most of the meal playing the straight man, occasionally offering a casual compliment.

They really got Kwan Chi-wai thoroughly entertained!

After finishing his meal, Chen Guiliang sat for a while longer before saying goodbye to take his driving test.

Bian Guanyue followed and saw him downstairs.

Grandma also gave Chen Guiliang a packet of rather expensive tea to take back to his father.

After the two young people left, a family meeting immediately broke out in the living room.

Grandma said, "This young man is good; he's very polite."

The uncle commented, "Not only is he polite, but he's also very capable. No wonder his business is so successful; he has a deep understanding of the domestic and international situation."

My aunt complained, "Just because you can have a good conversation with someone doesn't mean they're sophisticated. If they worked in the same company as you, they could sell you out and you'd still be counting the money for them."

The uncle laughed and said, "I'm not stupid."

The aunt said, "I don't understand some of what you're talking about, but I can tell that Xiao Chen is just coaxing you like a child. He's been saying whatever you want to hear."

The uncle looked puzzled.

Grandpa said, "He's not simple-minded at all; he's very clever. Guan Guan will probably be completely fooled by him."

Grandma said, "I think it's great. He's talented, handsome, and has a bright future."

……

In the driving test room, Chen Guiliang was the only person present.

It was clearly a last-minute arrangement.

There was no electronic proctoring equipment, just a scorer with a small notebook.

For example, there are two bamboo poles stuck in the two front corners of the car when reversing into a parking space, so that trainees can easily observe whether they can reverse into the space.

As long as you slip a pack of cigarettes to the scorer beforehand, even if the wheel falls off while crossing a single-sided bridge, the scorer can pretend they didn't see anything.

Chen Guiliang hadn't driven a manual transmission car in a long time, so he practiced in his instructor's car before the exam.

Once you're familiar with it again, you'll naturally get it right the first time.

The coach felt very relieved, and the money was earned easily, like it was free.

Then, he recognized Chen Guiliang...

Master Chen is a local celebrity!
The next day, I passed the third part of the driving test on the first try, and got my driver's license that afternoon.

Chen Guiliang was looking through his driver's license when his secretary called to say:

"Mr. Chen, the agreement between Kaixin.com and China Mobile is almost finalized. Just like with Tencent's Mobile QQ, the revenue will be split 50/50. China Mobile will also launch a mini-blog package specifically for Kaixin.com."

"For users who post and receive microblogs, the monthly package fee is 15 yuan, which includes 2000 free posts. For each post exceeding the package limit, it costs 1 yuan. Forwarding also counts."

Damn it, China Mobile is really shady.

Those who post on Weibo have to pay, and those who receive Weibo posts also have to pay.

Fortunately, users can choose not to subscribe to the wireless value-added service, and their Weibo posts will only be visible on a computer. Even if they do subscribe, they can choose whether to send a specific Weibo post to their mobile phone.

This was the prototype of Weibo. Due to limitations in mobile phones and communication technology, it had to gradually transition in this way.

People without mobile phones can still access the internet via computer.

People with mobile phones can also use only computers.

Only people with mobile phones and spare money will subscribe to a monthly Weibo subscription and receive Weibo text messages via SMS.

Similar services won't appear in the US until next year, so Chen Guiliang is leading the world trend this time.

The most important thing is to strengthen information verification!

In another timeline, the first company in China to truly scale up Weibo was actually Fanfou, founded by Wang Sicong of Meituan. Its user base had already surpassed one million at that time.

Because Weibo posts can be sent directly to users' mobile phones, some individuals and forces used Fanfou to spread extremely sensitive information, which directly led to Fanfou being forcibly shut down for more than a year.

In the second month after Fanfou was shut down, Sina took the opportunity to launch Weibo.

By the time Fanfou relaunches, Sina Weibo will have grown into a major player!

(End of this chapter)