Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

In his office at the Sohu Building, Chen Yizhou was beaming.

The ten million US dollars spent on promotion yielded immediate results.

On Sohu's main website and various sub-channels, as soon as users open a webpage, a huge pop-up window from 5Q Campus Network is slapped directly in their face.

Overnight, banners with red backgrounds and white lettering appeared overnight at the entrances of cafeterias and dormitory buildings at universities across the country: "5Q Campus Network, a truly pure and clean haven for college students!"

Sohu's internal and temporary sales staff, wearing vests emblazoned with the Sohu and 5Q Campus Network logos, handed out flyers to everyone they met. "Hey student, register now and get a free Sohu fox plush toy and a five-yuan cash bonus!"

Five yuan was enough for a lunch with meat in the cafeteria on a university campus in 2000. University students lined up to fill out registration forms, received red envelopes, and even got plush toys.

Sohu's top-floor office.

Chen Yizhou respectfully handed a report that he had worked on overnight to Zhang Chaoyang.

"Mr. Zhang, a resounding victory in the first battle." Chen Yizhou pulled out a chair and sat down, unable to hide the smugness on his face. "In forty-eight hours, 5Q Campus Network's real registered users exceeded 1.2 million. This speed is more than three times faster than when HaiNei.com first launched."

Zhang Chaoyang opened the report and looked at the steep growth curve displayed hourly. His face, which had been tense for several days, finally showed a slight smile.

"Yizhou, well done. Our Wall Street IPO roadshow team needs this kind of stimulating data." Zhang Chaoyang closed the report. "But how much did it cost for these million-plus registrations?"

Chen Yizhou paused for a moment, "The promotional materials, cash bonuses, staff salaries, plus the conversion of our internal Sohu resources, it probably burned through... four million RMB."

Wu Tao, who was standing to the side, twitched his eyelids and shrugged his shoulders.

"Mr. Chen, this is quite a large sum of money," Wu Tao said with a forced smile. "Burning two million a day, at this rate, the ten million US dollars in special funds will only last for a month or two. Sohu's money doesn't come from thin air."

Chen Yizhou glanced at Wu Tao.

"Mr. Wu, in the early stages of building a social media platform, it's all about acquiring market share. Qihang Technology's success was built on offline promotions through internet cafe competitions, as well as user acquisition through navigation and music websites. I'm now paving the way for them as quickly as possible," Chen Yizhou said confidently. "Once we build up our user base, we can easily recoup our losses by adding a value-added service later on."

Wu Tao pursed his lips and didn't respond. In his heart, however, he was cursing: "Taking company money to put on a show, treating Sohu like an ATM!"

Zhang Chaoyang raised his hand, interrupting the two men's silent rivalry.

"Just spend the money wisely. With the IPO imminent, data is paramount." Zhang Chaoyang looked at Chen Yizhou, his tone grave. "But registration numbers alone aren't enough; we need retention. Happy Farm on Qihang has completely captivated netizens; I registered and's been playing it myself these past few days. How can our 5Q Campus Network retain these 1.2 million users?"

Chen Yizhou was clearly confident.

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhang, I've already arranged for the tech team to work overtime overnight." Chen Yizhou leaned forward. "I've looked at Qihang's vegetable-growing game; it doesn't have much technical complexity. I've already had someone analyze their underlying logic and changed the UI. We'll call it Crazy Vegetable Garden. It should be online in two days."

Wu Tao frowned. "Just copy it verbatim? If this gets out, what will become of Sohu's reputation?"

"It's all for retention, to give users something to do on the website. Can you call that plagiarism? It's called learning from others, it's called micro-innovation," Chen Yizhou sneered. "Mr. Wu, the rules of the internet are that whoever has the most traffic is the legitimate one. Once our Crazy Vegetable Garden is up and running, leveraging Sohu's traffic pool, I guarantee we'll bring all the users from across the country over. Then, let Bai Yuhang and his bunch of greenhorns cry while clutching their scrap metal servers."

Zhang Chaoyang nodded noncommittally. He didn't care about copying or not; he only cared about whether the Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony could be a grand affair.

"Get it online as soon as possible," Zhang Chaoyang set the tone.

At Tsinghua University in Beijing, during the lunch break, several large red tents have been squeezed into the most conspicuous spot near the cafeteria entrance. These tents are emblazoned with huge logos of Sohu and 5Q Campus Network, and a row of computers with internet access is set up underneath.

Several Sohu ground promotion managers, wearing red vests and covered in sweat, were directing dozens of newly recruited part-time college students from their university.

"Get your act together! Hand out flyers to everyone! Lead people to this line to register, and you'll get a dollar commission for every person you get to register with their real name!" The manager in charge shouted, waving a thick wad of cash. "The boss said the budget is unlimited. The school has nearly 60,000 students, and we have to distribute all 30,000 flyers today!"

Wang Xing, a college student working part-time, wanted to experience the on-the-ground promotion of 5Q Campus Network before starting his own business abroad. He was wearing an ill-fitting red vest and holding a stack of flyers, which he casually handed to passing students.

"Hey, check out 5Q Campus Network! Register and get cash and a Sohu fox plush toy."

A male student passing by took the flyer, glanced at it, and asked, "Are there many people? Is there a farm game? Can I steal vegetables?"

Wang Xingqian chuckled twice: "Currently, we mainly focus on pure social networking, with only an alumni directory and forum."

"What a load of crap." The male student casually folded the flyer twice and stuffed it into his pocket as he walked into the cafeteria. "It's pretty thick, perfect for eating with."

Wang Xing wasn't surprised or annoyed. He turned around and saw another part-time job guy, Wang Huiwen, grinning as he approached. He lowered his voice and asked Wang Xing, "Hey, Xing'er, did you set your alarm? The cabbages and bok choy in the class beauty's field will be ripe in half an hour. After we finish handing out this batch of flyers, let's hurry to the computer room. If we're late, there won't be any left."

Wang Huiwen patted his pocket and continued with a smug look, "I just used my 50 yuan daily part-time job fee from Sohu to buy 25 bags of high-grade fertilizer, so she won't talk to me anymore. Today I'm going to pluck her land bare."

Wang Xing shook his head, rolled his eyes, and looked down at the flyer in his hand; it was a joke.

Under the shade of a tree not far away, Jiao Liwei and Jiang Shuo were watching this scene with great interest.

Jiang Shuo pushed up his glasses, which had slipped down to the tip of his nose, and looked at the red-and-white flyers flying all over the ground. He clicked his tongue and said, "Double-sided color printing on coated paper, each one costs at least two or three cents to produce. That old bastard Chen Yizhou, he really doesn't know how to manage money. He's just throwing away ten million US dollars like that?"

Jiao Liwei, hands in his pockets, chuckled so hard his shoulders shook: "Why are you worried about this? Sohu is rich and powerful. I just chatted with a few part-time guys handing out flyers. They took Sohu's wages and then went to be our fertilizer and watchdogs. Chen Yizhou is indirectly giving Qihang a perk."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shuo's eyes lit up: "That's right! Brother Jiao, he pays people to play our game. That's called cash flow! Let's go, let's hurry back to the company. I need to check if the recharge volume from noon today has increased again."

Jiao Liwei grabbed him: "What's the rush? Boss Bai said to let things play out for a while. Our mission today is to collect actual on-the-ground sales data from our competitors. Look at the greenhouse by the wall, the fox plush toys they give away for registering are piled up like a mountain, but hardly anyone who's claimed their cash is actually going to collect them."

Jiang Shuo curled his lip: "What's the use of giving away a plush toy? Our HaiNei.com is about to become a VIP Diamond member. These days, who cares about a tattered rag doll? Having a red diamond on its head while talking in QQ groups, that's what you call status."

Jiao Liwei took out his notebook, scribbled a few notes, and closed the pen cap: "Let's go, it'll be about time to go back and report to Boss Bai. Chen Yizhou's ten million US dollars in ammunition couldn't even break through the security door of our HaiNei.com, it'll all become our fertilizer."