Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Chapter 140 Strategic Cooperation

2 PM, China Mobile headquarters conference room.

Zhang Ligui sat in the main seat, with the two heads of the data department and the marketing department to his left, and Bai Yuhang and Zhang Lei to his right.

The marketing manager, his brow furrowed, flipped through the reports Bai Yuhang had brought: "Mr. Bai, your daily revenue of three million is indeed impressive. But how do we handle bad debts from SMS payment processing? What if prepaid users send SMS messages but don't have money in their accounts? How do we balance those accounts?"

Bai Yuhang leaned back in his chair, his tone calm: "The real-time deduction interface will issue a failure receipt directly if the balance is insufficient, without generating a transaction. As for the extremely small amount of delayed bad debt that may theoretically occur, Qihang will cover it all. I think you're overthinking it; you should be looking at the increase in communication fees. Twenty million young users can send more than a dozen inquiry and subscription messages a day just to display a red diamond icon in a group chat. China Mobile is making a net profit from this one-cent-per-message communication fee."

The marketing manager was taken aback, then looked down at the report again, calculating this huge, risk-free deal.

The general manager of the data department tapped on the table, shifting the topic to technology: "The business calculations are easy, but the technical aspects need further discussion. Mr. Bai, millions of people simultaneously sending SMS messages requesting payment is a typical case of instantaneous high concurrency. Our SMS gateway is for everyday communication, not for you to use as a game server. If we go at this rate, our existing gateways will be overwhelmed and paralyzed in just a few seconds."

Bai Yuhang smiled and said, "Yes, the phone lines of the voice information service were just overwhelmed by our users this morning. I can't possibly come back this afternoon and mess up the mobile gateway, can I? Mr. Zhang would kick me out."

Zhang Ligui chuckled from the head seat and pointed at Bai Yuhang: "You've got some self-awareness, kid. Tell me your plan."

Bai Yuhang sat up straight: "We have a ready-made load balancing solution for high concurrency. Qihang's current server matrix handles tens of millions of real-time group chats and ultra-large attachment transfers every day without a single downtime. We can directly move the interface of this asynchronous processing and traffic distribution algorithm to the periphery of the mobile billing gateway. We can build a buffer pool so that no matter how many requests there are, they have to queue up and the gateway can only handle as many requests as it can handle."

The general manager of the data department was stunned, somewhat incredulous: "You have a traffic splitting algorithm of this level?"

"Yes, Qihang Technology is one of the few domestic technology companies that has achieved significant results in operation and maintenance when facing high-concurrency technical problems. I think we can sign a strategic cooperation agreement, and this technology can be provided to China Mobile for free. After all, China Mobile also protects our recharge business, so it is only right that we provide some technical support." Bai Yuhang said confidently, "We don't want to see users smashing their landlines and then their mobile phones because they can't recharge."

Zhang Lei picked up his teacup and chimed in at the opportune moment: "Mr. Zhang, a major portal website in Zhongguancun was developing a web game a couple of days ago, and its twenty-odd servers crashed after only ten minutes. You can rest assured about Qihang's technical foundation."

The general managers of the marketing and data departments exchanged a glance and remained silent. The technical and business obstacles had been smoothed over by this eighteen-year-old's few words.

Zhang Ligui placed his hands on the table and looked around: "Is everything alright?"

The Marketing Manager was still a bit hesitant: "Mr. Zhang, this model of providing SP value-added service providers to third parties is unprecedented in China. Should we first consider testing it out on a small scale in Beijing, or go through the approval process at the ministry level?"

"The rule of the internet is speed. By the time the approval process is complete, it's too late. Our China Mobile is newly established; we can't be like old fogies." Zhang Ligui, a decisive and pragmatic man, immediately made a decision: "Let's make Qihang Technology the first exclusive third-party SP value-added service pilot enterprise in China. The channel fee will be based on what General Manager Bai suggested, with China Mobile taking 15%. This afternoon, the data department and marketing department will directly coordinate the technical agreement with Qihang. I'll take responsibility if any problems arise. Only by paving the way can the China Mobile Dream Network brand truly establish itself in the market."

Bai Yu stood up at the airport and extended his hand: "Mr. Zhang, you're too kind. Let's build this highway together."

After the contract negotiations were completed and they said goodbye to everyone from the mobile company, Bai Yuhang and Zhang Lei walked out of the mobile company building and got into Zhang Lei's black Mercedes-Benz.

As soon as the car door closed, shutting out the heat from outside, Zhang Lei let out a long breath and leaned back in the leather seat.

"You little brat—" Zhang Lei turned his head and looked at Bai Yuhang, who was sitting next to him with a calm expression. After a long while, he managed to say, "I was terrified when I heard what was happening in Zhang Ligui's office just now. And you, with just a few words, managed to cut the mobile network's channel fee down to 15%, and even got them to willingly set up a stage for you."

Bai Yuhang lowered the car window slightly to let in the breeze. "Mr. Zhang, that's not how it works. China Mobile just separated and is now independent, so they desperately need a blockbuster service that can drive nationwide consumption. If I send them 20 million active users, they'll pocket the 15% commission—it's free. They'll make a profit, and I'll open up a new recharge channel, which will allow me to compete with the telecom companies' channels and increase my profits. It's a win-win situation."

Zhang Lei took out a cigarette case from his pocket, handed one to Bai Yuhang, and lit it for himself.

"It's not a loss. But I'm completely convinced now." He exhaled a smoke ring, looking at Bai Yuhang with a complicated expression. "I've made a lot of investments in my life and signed all sorts of harsh terms. But looking back now, the betting agreement I signed with you was definitely the most successful, and also the luckiest, deal I've ever made."

Bai Yuhang took the cigarette but didn't light it, twirling it between his fingers. "Mr. Zhang, you flatter me. The funding from the China Venture Capital Fund truly helped Qihang through the most critical cold start period."

"Forget it." Zhang Lei waved his hand and laughed self-deprecatingly. "At the speed at which you make money, without my money, you'd only be a few months behind in taking off. I'm so glad I didn't ignore you back then just because you were a freshman. Otherwise, I'd probably be sitting in my office like Liu Xin and her gang, tearing my hair out, trying to figure out how to deal with this money-printing machine of yours."

Bai Yuhang smiled and tucked the cigarette behind his ear. "It's not so much about dealing with them, we're all feeling our way across the river."

"But I built the bridge beforehand."

"You call this 'building a bridge'?" Zhang Lei pointed to the mobile building outside the car window with a cigarette between his fingers. "You've essentially built a highway right to your own doorstep. Once the mobile internet interface is connected, your 'red diamond' and 'yellow diamond' memberships will sell like hotcakes!"

"Mobile Dream Network is indeed a payment infrastructure." Bai Yuhang's smile faded as he looked at the congested traffic ahead. "Today's internet users are used to the internet being free; they don't have the habit of paying for it. Voice information services are too cumbersome, and the fees are too high. What I want to do is simplify the payment process to the extreme. Sending a text message, a penny or two, will be deducted directly from the phone bill. This kind of painless consumption is the most terrifying thing."

Zhang Lei paused, his hand holding the cigarette still, and nodded to Bai Yuhang to continue.

"This is not just about generating revenue for Qihang." Bai Yuhang turned to look at Zhang Lei, "Once netizens across the country get used to paying for internet services with their mobile phones, the entire commercial monetization logic of the domestic internet will be completely reshaped."

In the end, whoever controls the content, products, and ecosystem will control the pricing power.

The car fell silent.

Zhang Lei hurriedly brushed off the cigarette ash that had accidentally fallen onto his trouser leg and stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette in the car ashtray.

"Yu Hang." Zhang Lei swallowed hard, his tone more serious than ever before. "From now on, when you come to my office, don't just take the tea leaves and teapots. Take whatever you like, you can even carry my boss's chair. As long as you have any new projects, just bring your old brother here for a bowl of soup."

Bai Yuhang was amused. "Mr. Zhang, forget about your boss's chair, my office can't fit it. But, once the interface on the mobile side is debugged, I might really have to trouble you to make a few more trips."

"Sure, I'd be happy to run my legs off." Zhang Lei slapped his thigh and shouted to his assistant in the front seat, "Zhang Jing, drive! Back to Hailong Building! I have to personally take our CEO Bai back today. He's a real money god; I'll regret it to death if he gets hurt!"