Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

At 9:30 a.m. the next morning, Bai Yuhang was already standing at the main entrance of the university.

The snow stopped, and the temperature dropped even lower as the snow melted. He was wearing a worn-out down jacket and a dark blue scarf knitted by his mother, with fine stitches.

I lost this scarf in my past life, but now I'm wearing it again around my neck. The feeling of the wool rubbing against my skin is both strange and familiar.

He arrived half an hour early, not to show sincerity, but because he needed time to think.

Why did Su Muqing come to Harbin? In their previous life, at this time, they should have only exchanged letters.

During her first semester of freshman year, she wrote him two letters, talking about university life in Beijing and her uncertainty about the future.

Bai Yuhang's reply was brief, mainly mentioning the cold weather in Harbin and the heavy workload of the computer science department.

Later, communication gradually decreased.

Later, I heard that she received a full scholarship to study for a master's degree in the United States, and after graduation she joined Goldman Sachs, a top investment bank.

At a class reunion in 2015, someone mentioned her, saying that she was doing very well on Wall Street, but was still single.

"Maybe their standards are too high," someone said at the time.

Bai Yuhang had been divorced for three years and had a five-year-old daughter. He raised his glass but said nothing.

Now, if time could be reversed, she would take the initiative to find him.

At exactly 10 o'clock, a figure walked from the direction of the bus stop.

Bai Yuhang recognized her at a glance. Su Muqing was wearing a white down jacket, a red scarf, her hair was tied in a ponytail, and she was carrying a small travel bag.

She was much younger than he remembered, her face still carrying the naivety of a student, but her eyes were clear and sharp, with a maturity beyond her years—she resembled the woman he later saw in financial news videos.

"Bai Yuhang." Su Muqing walked up to Bai Yuhang, her breath dispersing between them. "Long time no see."

"Long time no see." Bai Yuhang smiled as he looked at the incredibly youthful Su Muqing. "Why did you suddenly come to Harbin? You didn't even tell me beforehand."

"The school has a research project about the transformation of the old industrial base in Northeast China, and I volunteered to participate." As she spoke, her eyes remained fixed on Bai Yuhang, as if she were observing something. "I also came to see you."

"How many days will the research take?"

"Five days, staying at the Heilongjiang University guesthouse." She paused. "You... seem a little different?"

Bai Yuhang's heart tightened: "What's changed?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it." Su Muqing shook her head. "Your demeanor? Your eyes? In the letter, you seemed like a typical engineering student, but now..."

She smiled and said, "Like someone who has a lot on their mind."

Bai Yuhang didn't reply, but turned around and led her towards the campus: "Have you eaten? The cafeteria still serves breakfast at this time."

"I've already eaten." Su Muqing followed in his footsteps. "Your school is really big."

"It can't compare to your foreign trade."

"But you have snow." She looked up at the snow-covered pine trees on both sides of the road. "It hasn't snowed in the capital this winter."

The two walked in silence for a while. Bai Yuhang quickly went through the possible directions of conversation in his mind before asking directly, "What brings you here?"

It's too abrupt, but continuing the small talk would seem forced.

Finally, Su Muqing spoke first: "Actually, besides catching up, there's something else I wanted to discuss with you."

"you say."

"After reading your letter, I learned that I'm currently working on a research project about the future of China's internet economy."

She slowed down. "I've done a lot of research and talked to some people in the industry. Everyone says that it's the winter of the internet. Nasdaq has crashed, and a lot of websites, both domestic and international, have gone out of business. But I think you're right... this is actually an opportunity."

Bai Yuhang stopped and turned to look at her.

Su Muqing's eyes were serious: "The harsh winter will eliminate speculators and leave behind those who really want to do things. Moreover, the situation in China is different from that in the United States. Our number of netizens is still growing rapidly. Although there are only 10 to 20 million now, it may exceed 100 million in the next five years."

"Go on," Bai Yuhang said calmly, but his heart skipped a beat.

"I've noticed something." Su Muqing switched the bag to Bai Yuhang, who took it directly. Su Muqing continued, "People who go online now, especially those who are new to the internet, have no idea where to go. They open their browsers, face blank pages, and either type in a random website address or give up. It's like... giving someone a world map but not telling them how to use it."

"That's why we need navigation," Bai Yuhang said calmly.

"Yes!" Su Muqing's eyes lit up. "I've studied foreign navigation websites, like Yahoo! Directory, but those are for people with some internet experience. China needs something simpler and more direct, listing the most frequently used websites so that you can access them with a single click."

She smiled at Bai Yuhang: "I was thinking about whether I could create a website like this, but I studied finance and don't understand technology, so..."

"So you thought of me," Bai Yuhang replied.

"Yes." Su Muqing nodded. "I remember you were very good at computer science in high school, and even won a provincial award. Now you're studying computer software at the university, so..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but her meaning was clear.

Bai Yuhang looked at the eighteen-year-old girl in front of him—no, the woman. The light in her eyes, the logic in her speech, and her judgment of trends were completely unlike those of a college freshman.

It was no accident that she was able to gain a foothold on Wall Street in her previous life.

Bai Yuhang chuckled and said, "What a coincidence, I've been thinking about this too lately."

Su Muqing was stunned: "Really?"

"Really." Bai Yuhang pointed to the cafeteria not far away. "Let's go inside and talk. It's cold outside. I'll explain it to you in detail."

There weren't many people on the second floor of the cafeteria. Bai Yuhang bought two cups of hot soy milk and found a seat by the window. Sunlight streamed through the glass, casting diamond-shaped spots of light on the table.

He took out his notebook from his cotton-padded coat pocket, turned to the page with the website sketches, and pushed it in front of Su Muqing.

"These are the drawings I've done over the past few days," Bai Yuhang said. "The tentative name is 'Sailing Navigation.' The page should be simple, and the categories should be clear. At the top is a search box that can call up Google's plugins—they've only been established for two years and are currently promoting a search service that indexes hundreds of millions of pages. They also provide several plugins that can be used directly. Below are the categories: news, email, chat, games, music... Under each category, I'll put the most popular websites."

Su Muqing carefully examined the sketch, her finger lightly tracing the surface of the paper: "The search box is placed in the most prominent position, very good. The category icons should be designed to be intuitive... What is this frequently used toolbar?"

"Please include some useful links, such as weather forecasts, train schedules, and calendars," Bai Yuhang patiently explained. "Many people go online not just for entertainment, but also to solve practical problems."

"Yes, that's very important." Su Muqing looked up, her eyes shining with excitement. "You've thought of everything very carefully. So... what about the profit model? How will the website make money?"

"Google," Bai Yuhang said, "but unlike traditional websites that plaster banners everywhere, we'll consider introducing Google after we've built up our traffic. In the future, we can make Google a featured ad slot, or even a paid ad placement."

Su Muqing quickly calculated in her mind: "If there are 100,000 visits per day, and each Google Play slot costs 5,000 per month, then 10 Google Play slots would cost 50,000, and 600,000 per year. But this requires traffic first."

"So the key is promotion." Bai Yuhang took a sip of soy milk. "I've been fixing computers at internet cafes lately and I've found an opportunity. Right now, the systems in internet cafes are all installed with pirated discs, and those discs are of varying quality and often have problems. I want to make a batch of user-friendly, customized pirated discs and bind the navigation site to the browser homepage of the new system."

"Yes, they'd definitely love to use it!" Su Muqing chimed in, "because it's convenient. And for people who go online, seeing a useful navigation site as soon as they open their browser will likely make them continue using it."

"Yes." Bai Yuhang nodded. "This is the first step. Once we have a basic user base, we can then leverage word-of-mouth marketing to launch new features and attract even more traffic."

Su Muqing stared at Bai Yuhang for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed: "Bai Yuhang, have you really changed? These thoughts... don't seem like something a freshman would come up with."

Bai Yuhang maintained his light smile: "Maybe it's because I meet more people in internet cafes, see more, and think more."

"Maybe." Su Muqing didn't delve into it further, instead asking, "So, where are you at now?"

"I haven't registered the domain name yet, I haven't rented the server, and I haven't even had time to build the website yet," Bai Yuhang said honestly. "What I lack most is money. Registering the domain name and renting the server will cost at least 300 yuan a year. I only have 400 yuan in my entire savings right now, and I still need to keep 300 yuan for living expenses."

Su Muqing remained silent for a moment, then took out three hundred-yuan bills from her wallet and placed them on the table.

"I didn't bring much money with me this time. Use this as seed money, not a loan, but an investment. I'll give you the rest later. Get started now."

Bai Yuhang looked at the money. Three hundred yuan in 2000 was almost his monthly living expenses, which was not a small amount for a freshman.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "It might all go down the drain."

"Yes, I trust your judgment, and..." She smiled, "I won't just take shares for nothing. As a shareholder, I'll also contribute. Teachers at schools in Beijing often come into contact with domestic and international investment institutions. I think our project has a promising future. Besides, even if we lose money, we can consider it supporting our old classmate's entrepreneurial endeavor."

Bai Yuhang accepted the money with a smile without any pretense: "That's great! You're the perfect future CFO for the company. Consider it a 10% share. Once the website is up and running and the company is established, we'll sign a formal agreement."

"Okay, of course." Su Muqing glanced at her watch. "I have a meeting at Heilongjiang University this afternoon. Are you free tomorrow? I can take you to meet someone."

"Who?"

"My cousin runs an internet cafe in Harbin. He was originally in Harbin on a school project, and I was going to visit him." Su Muqing stood up. "If he's willing to use your system disk, you'll have your first batch of users."

Bai Yuhang also stood up: "Thank you."

"Don't thank me too soon." Su Muqing picked up her bag. "If he doesn't think your stuff is good enough, there's nothing I can do."

"clear."