Reborn in 08, Public Enemy of Competitors

"Why did you pay the money?"

Seeing Shen Mo pay the bill before her, Du Manqing was surprised and a little annoyed.

Shen Mo took the change from the proprietress, stuffed it into his pocket, and blinked his right eye.

"You've become my creditor, how can I let you pay me?"

"Other people who owe money are treated like royalty, but you're different."

Du Manqing followed him and left the fly restaurant.

The afternoon sun shone on the two of them, casting their shadows one in front of the other.

"Of course it's different. Those people are shameless. They think that if they borrowed it through their own abilities, why should they pay it back?"

Shen Mo walked at a leisurely pace. "I'm a shy person, but since you, my creditor, insist on making me act like a boss, I'm not unwilling to cooperate."

"Are you shy?"

Du Manqing couldn't help but laugh, "Mine isn't thick either."

He took out some money from his wallet, both small and large bills, and handed it over, saying, "We agreed I'd treat you, how can I let you pay?"

"I won't take it."

Shen Mo put his hands behind his back, dodging left and right like a crab walking sideways.

"Take it."

Du Manqing's voice unconsciously dragged out, like a kitten stretching, without her even realizing it.

"I won't take it! I won't take it!"

Shen Mo's lips curled into a crooked smile. "Speaking of which, if we're all acting like this in public, what if people misunderstand and think we're a young couple flirting in the street? My reputation would be ruined. I don't even have a boyfriend yet. How am I supposed to find someone after this gets out?"

"How could there be a misunderstanding?"

Du Manqing spat inwardly, "We're innocent and have a clear conscience!"

"Look over there."

Shen Mo gestured with his lip towards the two girls who were passing by.

Du Manqing followed his gaze and saw two girls holding milk tea, whispering to each other.

In an instant, as if burned by a gaze, she quickly withdrew her hand.

"This is a real headache... It's all your fault."

Don't worry about it. At worst, I'll treat you next time.

Shen Mo put his hands in his pockets.

"And you said you were thin-skinned!"

"This is the first time I've ever seen someone so brazenly accept being treated to a meal!"

Du Manqing put the money back into her wallet, but couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.

After walking along Xuelin Street for about ten minutes, I turned onto Wenyuan Road, where there was an ICBC branch.

The two of them slipped into an ATM booth, where a faint fragrance filled the air.

Shen Mo inserted the card. "Uh, what's the PIN?"

"323655".

Du Manqing added seemingly unintentionally, "Multiply the first two digits and the last two digits, and that's my birthday."

"June 25th, is that right?"

"Um!"

"Who are the two people in the middle?"

"Well... it's related to a wish I made on my birthday. If I tell you, it won't come true, so I can't tell you."

A sly glint flashed in Du Manqing's eyes.

"It's still a secret that can't be told."

Shen Mo muttered something.

"Yes, a secret that can't be told."

Du Manqing smiled gently.

Shen Mo pressed the "Balance Inquiry" button, and the ATM screen displayed "102247.3".

Unexpectedly, the small change in the young heiress's bank account was more than her previous net worth.

"You gave me the card, what are you going to do now? Why don't you withdraw all of that two thousand?"

"No need, I have money in my other cards."

Du Manqing met Shen Mo's gaze, took out the IOU, which had his signature and his fingerprint on it, indicating that he had borrowed the restaurant's red stamp.

"Besides, I have this. If I run out of money for food, I'll bring this receipt to you."

"Okay, come find me then, I'll make sure you're well-fed."

Shen Mo laughed from the bottom of his heart.

"It has to taste good!"

Du Manqing slightly raised her chin.

"Okay, whatever you want to eat, I'll treat you to it."

Shen Mo withdrew the card. "Don't worry, I won't touch the two thousand or so in the card. I'll only use the portion you lent me."

"Shen Mo, are you going to commit everything to Handshake.net?"

Du Manqing turned around and pushed open the glass door of the ATM booth.

Shen Mo smiled and said, "The Handshake Network is already running smoothly and doesn't require any additional investment. There are better places for this money."

"Where to?"

Du Manqing couldn't help but be curious.

"The secret that cannot be told."

Shen Mo revealed a playful smile.

"What's so secret about that?"

Du Manqing wrinkled her nose.

"You have secrets, but I can't have secrets?"

Shen Mo turned his head to look at her, a mischievous smile in his eyes, like children bickering.

The sunlight cast his long shadow, which eventually overlapped with Du Manqing's shadow.

………………

Back in their dorm room, the three of them, who used to be busy with DNF, WOW, and watching dramas, were now all glued to the Woshou.com website.

"Brother Mo, it's exploded!"

Yuan Hua was thrilled, "As soon as the new user acquisition campaign was launched, the mobile app's revenue surged to 2768."

What about the merchant side?

Shen Mo stroked his chin; the number had increased by more than 1200 in half a day, which was in line with expectations.

Lu Wenbin grinned and said, "It's increased by more than 700. There are now 1933 companies in total. It won't be long before it breaks 2000."

"Brother Mo, shouldn't we have a proper celebration?"

Yuan Hua rubbed his hands together, his eyes full of anticipation.

"It's time to celebrate."

Shen Mo smiled. At this rate of growth, even without launching a new user acquisition campaign on the merchant side, the number of registered users could exceed 1 in a few weeks.

Even with only 20% active users, the daily order volume is still seven or eight thousand.

"When are we going to the foot massage parlor?"

Upon hearing Yuan Hua's words, Lu Wenbin and Qin Feng also became excited.

Shen Mo rolled his eyes in annoyance. Is this all there is to modern college students? All they think about is washing their hair or their feet all day long!

"Go! Go tonight! I'll wash your skin raw!"

"You said it yourself, Brother Mo!"

Yuan Hua was afraid the young lady would think his feet smelled bad, so he said, "I'll go wash my feet first."

"I want to wash too!"

Qin Feng stood up, picked up the bucket, and ran into the bathroom.

"Look at how pathetic you all are!"

Shen Mo couldn't help but chuckle, then turned his attention back to the computer and began writing the job posting for Lingyun Technology.

These days, most projects are still "hybrid" and have not yet been separated.

Front-end developers weren't yet ridiculed as "image cutters," "web designers," or "page developers," and back-end developers weren't reduced to "back-end dogs."

However, Shenmo still separated the front-end and back-end in advance, not only for clear division of labor and responsibilities, but also to prepare for the mobile version.

Front-end developers (2 people): Responsible for page layout, user interaction implementation (HTML/CSS/JavaScript), and compatibility with major browsers such as IE; Salary: 2000-4000 RMB...

Backend Developers (2 people): Develop core functionalities using PHP or Java, including user registration and login, order processing, merchant management interfaces, and interaction with the database… Salary: 2000-4000 RMB…

I originally wanted to add "HTML5", but then I realized that HTML5 hasn't become mainstream yet, and probably very few people in the whole school know how to use it.

"Brother Mo, are you hiring?"

Lu Wenbin leaned over and immediately exclaimed in surprise.

"Shh, keep it down, keep it down."

Shen Mo made a shushing gesture.

Yuan Hua and Qin Feng didn't even have time to wipe their feet before putting on slippers and coming over.

"Brother Mo, are you recruiting so many people?"

"If we're going to do something big, how can we afford to be without capable subordinates?"

Shen Mo patted them on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get a share too, but you have to follow the rules. You'll be on trial first, then officially hired. I'll pay you 1500 a month initially, and 2000 after you're officially hired. How about that? I'm not treating you unfairly, am I?"

"2000?!"

Yuan Hua's mouth dropped open. Nowadays, college students only earn 800 to 1000 yuan a month for summer internships.

Even computer science graduates only earn a starting salary of two or three thousand, while these sophomores can earn that much through part-time work?

"Brother Mo, isn't this... too much?"

Qin Feng scratched his head. "Actually, we didn't do anything."

"Don't say that, you have no idea how much energy you have inside you!"

"If spending a little money can unlock your infinite potential, that would be my honor."

Shen Mo's eyes were open and honest, and his tone was sincere.

It's true that college students from rural areas are better off; they don't even feel like they're being exploited when you try to take advantage of them, and they even feel embarrassed about it.

"Brother Mo, once a godfather, always a godfather. From now on, you'll be the elder, and I'll be the younger..."

Yuan Hua was so excited that his voice cracked.

"Very good, children."

Shen Mo laughed and said, "We'll be busy from now on. Work hard, and once we've grown big and strong, you can wash your feet every day without any problem."

Lu Wenbin hummed, "This bow, oh, loyalty and righteousness, vowing to stand together through thick and thin, never to be separated..."

"Stop praying, hurry up and wipe your feet. I'll take you to get your feet washed tonight, and we'll start working tomorrow."

Shen Mo waved his hand. Perhaps their current abilities are not worth 2000 yuan, but with "Loyal Orange" on the side!

…………

As night falls, the lights are on.

After finishing their barbecue, the group skipped the karaoke bar and headed straight to a foot massage parlor.

"Names like 'The Emperor's Heart Sutra' and 'Happy Sex' are enough to make you have all sorts of wild thoughts just by looking at them."

"Don't choose that! It's all a waste of money!"

On the way, Shen Mo carefully explained the rules and various industry slang to them to avoid embarrassing themselves once inside.

Yuan Hua blushed upon hearing this, his gaze darting around, and in the end, he refused to go in no matter what.

"Weren't you all supposed to be very enthusiastic?"

"No, Brother Mo, isn't a foot massage parlor a place for washing feet?"

"Why don't you wash it? Wash the third one! What did you expect?"

"I...I thought it was just a foot-washing area!"

"so what?"

"I'm not going!"

"Coward, you're not going to amount to anything."

Shen Mo looked at him with a disappointed expression.

Yuan Hua looked aggrieved and glanced down at his feet.

He genuinely thought this was a foot massage parlor, the only difference from washing his feet on his own being that there were young ladies serving him.

But who knew that the foot massage parlor wasn't actually washing feet!

"Where are you two?"

He looked left and right in silence.

Lu Wenbin and Qin Feng exchanged a glance, then Lu Wenbin said hesitantly, "Brother Mo... since Yuan Hua isn't going, why don't we go back?"

"Yeah, Brother Mo," Qin Feng chimed in, feeling uneasy. "How about we go somewhere else? Do you have a proper foot massage place?"

"You said it yourselves!"

These words were exactly what Shen Mo wanted to hear. He patted Yuan Hua and the others on the back and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to a proper foot massage parlor."