I, Yan Jiefang, will live to 2025 in this courtyard house.

It's already July, the height of summer, in the blink of an eye.

This month, a significant event occurred that is of great importance to China.

北京时间7月13日22点10分，在莫斯科召开的国际奥委会第 112 次全会上，国际奥委会主席萨马兰奇宣布：

Beijing has won the right to host the 29th Summer Olympic Games in 2008!

When the live broadcast was simultaneously shown in China, many viewers waiting in front of their televisions cheered on the spot.

Even Yan Jiefang, who was sitting in his study chatting with his sons over tea, could hear the faint cheers coming from the staff building outside.

Many company employees even started their cars and honked their horns in celebration.

"What happened outside?"

Yan Xueqian and the others were somewhat puzzled.

Xueheng stood up, opened the window, and looked outside.

"Haha, we did it! We finally succeeded!"

"Beijing...Olympics..."

"In 08, together...on-site..."

...

Due to the distance, some nearby sounds were barely audible, while those further away were quite blurry.

But through these fragmented messages, the three children managed to piece together some basic information: Beijing had won the bid to host the Olympics.

However, to confirm, Yan Xueqian still turned on the computer in his study and went online to check.

Sure enough, the company's website had already displayed the headline of the successful bid for the Olympics, along with links to related videos.

"Great! That was so cool!"

"Great job! The successful bid for the Olympics is a real achievement for China!"

"Our whole family will go back to Beijing together to watch the Olympics!"

"Okay! Let's do it this way!"

Yan Xueheng suddenly asked a question:

"If the Olympics are held in the country, should the three of us brothers make a comeback?"

Yan Xueqian shook his head:

"Forget it, how old are you? Why bother arguing with young people? I'm not getting involved."

Yan Xueyuan looked around and nodded in agreement:

"I share the same thought as my older brother; let's leave the opportunities to the younger generation."

Yan Xueheng scratched his head:

"Since none of you are participating, then I won't participate either."

Yan Jiefang waved his hand:

"Alright, it's getting late, let's all go to sleep."

Unlike others, Yan Jiefang had already experienced the grand event of the 08 Olympics, so he was very calm.

"Remain unmoved by favor or disgrace, calmly watching the flowers bloom and fade in the courtyard; be indifferent to staying or leaving, idly watching the clouds drift and gather in the sky."

That's his current state.

...

Because of the successful bid for the Olympics, many people and businesses spontaneously held celebrations.

The enthusiasm for these activities reportedly lasted for almost a week.

Even though the fervor gradually subsided, the 08 Olympics provided many Chinese people with a long-term psychological focus and expectation.

This influence could even last until after the 2008 Olympics.

Not only are there frequent offline events, but there are also many online celebrations.

For example, Yan Xueheng's shopping website and domestic and international versions of ICQ have launched the "7-Day Olympic Fun" campaign.

The company will subsidize a 7-day cash bonus rain event.

The value of the red envelopes starts from thanking participants and can reach up to 2008 yuan.

In addition, there are 10000 red envelopes issued every day.

For this event, the total amount of red envelopes invested by several companies was 7 million yuan, which means 1 million yuan in cash every day.

At this time in 2001, this was no ordinary undertaking.

Faced with the allure of 2008, who could resist?

A large number of netizens flocked to the site.

The number of registered users on several mainstream websites under Yan Jiefang's control began to surge, with an average daily increase of over one million.

They're definitely going to capitalize on this wave of traffic!

In addition to the website, the two games already launched, "Legend of Mir" and "Zi Chuan", have also set up related events.

In the game, you can defeat monsters, and any monster may drop Olympic tickets of different colors.

If you're lucky enough to find this item, you can submit it to the temporary event envoy to receive a ticket voucher of the corresponding color.

The voucher can be redeemed for cash ranging from 100 to 1000 yuan on the game's official website.

As a result of this event, both games gained a large number of players.

All servers are constantly at full capacity.

The originally smooth game graphics became somewhat laggy.

In order to divert these new players, the game company had to open several new servers that had been prepared in advance.

...

In August, the world-class server center specially prepared for ICQ in the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate in Hong Kong was finally completed.

After years of silence, the overseas version of ICQ, an instant messaging software, is finally ready to be officially launched.

Unfortunately, too much time has passed, and various chat software from abroad, such as MSN Messenger, AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), and Yahoo! Messenger, have long since captured the market.

Aside from the existing user base in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, ICQ has remained largely unaffected globally, with very slow growth in registered users.

However, Yan Jiefang was not in a hurry, as the computing power of this server center could be expanded to a very large scale.

In the future, it will be very smooth to start a microblogging or short video company similar to Twitter, Meta Threads, Instagram Reels, and YouTube.

These were all plans that Yan Jiefang had made long ago.

After the server center was successfully set up, he took a look at it when he had some free time.

I'm fairly satisfied with the environment there.

He then visited various companies before returning to the mainland.

...

I had just returned to the mainland when I saw the news about the "7.17 major flooding accident in Nandan, Guangxi," which has sparked widespread discussion.

According to reports, a total of 81 miners died in the accident.

Such serious mining accidents have occurred in China before.

Most of those were gas explosions, and the relevant departments have been actively handling them after they occurred.

However, this time in Nandan, there was a very serious case of collusion to block information and embezzlement and bribery.

This is why the general public feels resentful.

Fortunately, a CCTV reporter risked his life to investigate, which brought the truth of the case to light.

The individuals involved in the case have also been detained for investigation.

...

On September 11, Yan Jiefang sat in front of his computer, wanting to see if international terrorist organizations would take any action that day.

The result, however, greatly disappointed him.

As of September 12, there was still no movement from the United States.

He tapped on the table:

"These guys are no good either! What a waste of such a prestigious reputation."

It's not that they don't want to take action, but after the terrible period last year, American Airlines' security checks have become much stricter.

They couldn't find an opportunity to make a move...

Besides, with the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the Statue of Liberty all smashed to pieces, it would be difficult for them to find a good target.

All I can say is that Yan Jiefang handled things too cleanly.