Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Chapter 146 Chicken Leg for Registration

Beijing, at the entrance of the Renmin University canteen.

The midday sun was scorching, and the cicadas chirping in the trees were incredibly annoying.

Two long lines formed in the open space in front of the cafeteria.

Several large red banners were unfurled high: 5Q Campus Flower Contest Registration! Register with your real name and receive a free fried chicken leg!

Old Zhao, personally wearing a sweat-soaked Sohu culture T-shirt, went around to various campus registration points to organize promotions. Holding a megaphone, his voice was hoarse from shouting: "Students, please register on your laptop, fill in your name and student ID! You can get a chicken leg, fresh out of the oven! You can also get one if you register in your dorm and print out the registration receipt! Remember to vote for the most beautiful girl in the Foreign Languages ​​Department on our 5Q forum!"

In the line, several boys were wiping their sweat and peering ahead.

"Hey, isn't 5Q Campus Network just the website that created that 'Buddha Light Dog' thing a couple of days ago?" a bespectacled boy muttered.

"Who cares what kind of dog it is? If there's free chicken leg, why not take it?" The fat guy next to him swallowed hard. "I heard that some pretty girls from the art school have also uploaded their photos. I need to register an account and check it out."

"What are you looking at? My roommate saw it at the internet cafe. The webpage was lagging terribly, so he just right-clicked and saved the photo and sent it to our QQ group. They're discussing the beauty pageant with the photo right now."

"Alright, that's great. I'll go back to the dorm after getting the chicken leg and eat it while chatting in the group."

As the line moved forward, Old Zhao had a whole basket full of registrations and a bunch of registration receipts. The fried chicken stall owner next to him was sweating profusely, the oil sizzling in the pan, and the whole small square was filled with the cheap aroma of fried food.

Room 805, Building 13, Huaqing Jiayuan.

Wang Huiwen stared at the computer screen, clicked the mouse a few times casually, then turned around and shouted.

"Brother, wake up!" Sohu is handing out chicken legs at the south gate of Tsinghua University.

Wang Xing rubbed his eyes, climbed out of bed in the inner room, and went to the computer.

"Giving out chicken drumsticks? Has Chen Yizhou gone mad?"

"Just register a 5Q account, fill in your student ID and name, print out the registration receipt, and you can claim it." Wang Huiwen pushed up his glasses, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "This verification logic is ridiculously weak. There's not even an image verification code. You can just make up any student ID that fits the rules; the backend doesn't even check the academic affairs system."

Wang Huiwen laughed and patted Wang Xing on the shoulder.

"What are we waiting for? Let's quickly register a few, and then we'll have lunch sorted out."

"How many?" Wang Xing's lips curled into a smile. "This is a treat from Sohu. I wrote a batch script before, it's on my computer, and it just happens to work. Open your D drive, there's a folder for scripts, yes, that's it. Change the parameters and attach it, it can register ten per second."

As soon as he finished speaking, the printer on the table started creaking and spitting out A4 sheets of paper, each sheet densely covered with a dozen or so barcodes and receipts.

Wang Huiwen swallowed hard as he looked at the ever-growing stack of A4 papers.

"Brother, are you going to buy more goods?"

"In the QQ group, call all the brothers from the next dormitory to meet at the small square. Wang Xing stuffed a big stack of papers into Wang Huiwen's hand and said, 'Grab a sack. Today at noon, our Class of '97 Electronic Engineering Department is having a big feast.'"

The small square at the south gate of Tsinghua University.

Old Zhao is here too, under the blazing sun, shouting through a megaphone until his throat is hoarse.

The owner of the fried chicken stall next door was sweating profusely, and the oil in the pan was sizzling.

"Wang Xing led seven or eight boys, each holding a handful of receipts, and they quickly surrounded the stall."

"Students, line up, line up. One receipt per person." Old Zhao wiped his sweat, picked up his goji berry cup, and took a sip.

Wang Xing handed a stack of papers to Lao Zhao.

"Uncle, we're in the same department, and the class monitor asked me to collect them on your behalf. Here are 120 receipts, please count them."

Old Zhao's eyes nearly popped out as he flipped through a large stack of receipts. The names on them were all things like Zhang Sanfeng, Li Xunhuan, and Wang Chongyang, and the student ID numbers were consecutive.

"Why does this name sound so mysterious?" Old Zhao was a little confused.

"Everyone in the martial arts club likes to have a nickname." Wang Xing said without changing his expression. "Hurry up and pack the chicken legs. We're in a hurry to get back to class. We have a big class this afternoon, so it's good that they're all handed out."

The fried chicken stall owner's hands trembled as he looked at the thick stack of orders.

"Boss Zhao, I only have fifty left in this pot. The next batch will be another twenty minutes away."

"It's okay, we'll wait." Wang Xing told his brothers to find a shady spot to squat down. "Uncle, how many days does this event last? There are still two hundred people from our department who want to register tomorrow."

Old Zhao's hand trembled as he held the goji berry cup, almost spilling the water.

The temporary office area for 5Q Campus Network is located on the second floor of the Sohu Network Building.

Chen Yizhou sat in front of the computer, his tie unusually neat, and stared intently at the backend data panel on the screen.

The curve has changed.

Instead of a despairing 90-degree freefall, a bullish candlestick pattern emerged, showing a gradual upward trend.

The number of registered users, which had been stagnant, started to jump by several thousand per hour, and the daily active user data also increased accordingly.

Chen Yizhou leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.

The heavy weight that had been pressing on my chest for the past few days has finally been lifted a little.

The office door was pushed open, and Lao Zhao walked in carrying a briefcase, bringing with him a strong smell of cooking oil.

"Mr. Chen, it's a hit!" Old Zhao excitedly pushed open the door and came back, pushing a small cart full of registration receipts from a registration point at Renmin University. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, "The promotional points at Renmin University, Beihang University, and China Agricultural University are all packed! Students are lining up all the way to the curb just to get a chicken leg!"

Chen Yizhou rarely smiled, and pointed to the screen: "I saw it, the data doesn't lie. Lao Zhao, you did a great job."

"Mr. Chen, your move is brilliant." Old Zhao picked up the goji berry cup on the table and took a big gulp of water. "College students, they're all a bit underfed. Hormones plus real fat, who can resist that? It's just—"

Old Zhao hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice.

"What is it?"

"In this sweltering heat, the fried chicken shops we've contracted with are frying their chickens until the oil is practically black and shiny, all in the rush to meet deadlines. I just overheard some students complaining outside the China University of Geosciences' cafeteria that their chicken legs tasted a bit sour. I hope they don't get sick from eating them."

"These are minor matters." Chen Yizhou waved his hand, not taking it to heart at all. "As long as they register the account using their names, our mission is complete. With this data, I can report back to President Zhang, and our roadshow on Wall Street will be impressive. As for our nationwide ground promotion, you can immediately arrange for it to begin."

He stood up, walked to the window, looked down at the bustling traffic of Zhongguancun, and his ambition rekindled in his eyes.

"So what if Bai Yuhang knows technology? So what if he knows how to make money? The internet is ultimately a people business." Chen Yizhou muttered to himself, as if encouraging himself. "As long as I hold the real relationship chain of these millions of college students in my hands, 5Q Campus Network can come back to life."