Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Bai Yuhang swallowed the last bite of the roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), stood up, patted the crumbs off his hands, and pointed to the words "Qihang Campus Network" on his laptop.

"Next, we can't just have a website; we need to retain users. Our current traffic looks impressive, but it's mostly just transient traffic. We're only collecting a small fee from internet cafes. We need to be clear about our position and not get carried away. Remember, while Qihang Technology is still accumulating experience, we need to capture all possible traffic. Harbin is gradually warming up; now is the perfect time to organize some decent events. What else can people do in internet cafes besides surfing the internet? Play Counter-Strike."

"Playing CS?" Zhang Jian was unbeatable at playing CS online at New Century Internet Cafe. When he heard that a game competition was being organized, his eyes lit up instantly. He was no longer sleepy and jumped up from his chair. "I know this place like the back of my hand. Dust12, the warehouse, I can plant the bomb and rescue hostages with my eyes closed. Nobody stop me, I want to sign up."

"We're not sending you to compete as a player; who could beat you? We're sending you to be the chief referee." Bai Yuhang pressed Zhang Jian back into his chair. "We're going to start the 'Harbin City Esports League.' The first competition will be Counter-Strike. You're the technical director; if you go down there and stomp on noobs, what will people think of us?"

He turned to Jiao Liwei, Yang Bo, and Liu Jing: "We talked about this over dinner the day before yesterday. We need to get it off the ground as soon as possible. Eldest brother, second brother, fifth brother, you guys will have to work hard in the next few days. Go and visit the more than twenty internet cafes we've signed with, do some maintenance, and talk about this matter while you're at it. Not only these twenty-odd ones, but we also need to use them as bait to lure in all the internet cafes that are still observing."

Yang Bo frowned slightly, habitually adjusting his glasses. "The idea is good, but most internet cafe owners won't act until they see tangible results. Organizing a competition requires venue, prize money, and it also disrupts their business. Do you think they'd be happy about that?"

"They'll be scrambling to do it." Bai Yuhang pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed them out. "Our motto is 'training through competition.' Tell the owners that any internet cafe that signs up with the Qihang system will automatically be upgraded to a regional club. Once that's the title, won't those kids who hang out in shady internet cafes all day think this place is legitimate and prestigious?"

"And what about the money?" Liu Jing asked, getting to the heart of the matter. "Who's paying for it?"

"The internet cafe will provide the money, and we can split the cost to cover the prize money. We only need to cover the operating costs."

The people in the room were stunned.

"Sixth Brother, are we doing charity?" Wan Lianghao asked, puzzled. He had a cigarette dangling from his ear and was holding half a half-eaten steamed bun in his hand.

"Think long-term." Bai Yuhang lit a cigarette, took a drag, and said, "Our company is in its accumulation phase, focusing entirely on traffic. We have tens of thousands in reserve funds, which is enough for now. The event will have internet cafes provide the final prize money and promotional banners, binding users to internet cafes to form teams and participate. What will Qihang be responsible for? We'll be responsible for title sponsorship, online promotion, and making each region's 'headline news' on the navigation homepage. And the most crucial point—"

Bai Yuhang tapped the table, his voice low, revealing a shrewd calculation: "All participants must register through 'Qihang Campus Network.' University students can fill out the information simply, up to elementary school. Those who aren't university students should fill in their highest level of education—high school, middle school, or elementary school are all acceptable. Want to participate? First, register an account, filling in your real school, class, and name. All future competition results, qualifying lists, and exciting match reports will be live-streamed via text on Qihang Campus Network."

Jiao Liwei understood, and slapped his thigh: "This move... is brilliant. They're taking money from internet cafe owners to recruit users for our website!"

"It's not just about recruiting people, it's about aggressive conversion." Bai Yuhang's lips curled up slightly. "Once this competition becomes popular, our Renren.com will have at least a thousand, or even several thousand, real active users. At that time, what we'll have in our hands won't just be a list, but the entire address book of Harbin's university circles, including high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools."

"Okay, I'll take the job. I'll go this afternoon." Liu Jing rolled up his sleeves. "I'll tell the internet cafe owner that if he wants to be in the news and become 'Harbin's No. 1 Internet Cafe E-sports Arena,' he has to follow our lead. I know these owners. For this kind of pride, they'd go to any lengths, not only splitting the bonus but even paying for a folk dance troupe."

"Third brother, there's something else." Bai Yuhang turned to Zhang Jian, who was practicing recoil control in the air. "You're the technical director. You need to cover for me in terms of the competition format design, anti-cheat plugins, and server setup. If the server lags, crashes, or someone cheats during the competition, we'll lose face big time."

"Don't worry, if anyone dares to cheat under my nose, I'll go down the network cable and smash their computer case," Zhang Jian assured, patting his chest.

As night deepened, the snoring from dormitory 206 rose and fell once again.

Only the desk lamp in front of Bai Yuhang was still on, its light enveloping him in a small, private space.

He stared at the dense lines of code on the computer screen, his fingers flying across the keyboard. He was writing the core recommendation algorithm for Renren.com.

This is not just a simple list of "people you may know". He is building a network, a social fishing net based on geographical location, teacher-student relationships, and shared interests.

He typed out the code line by line, tightening the logical loop little by little.

In an era before Facebook and Renren, he wanted to show these college students, who were still posting on early-stage BBS forums, what terrifying "social stickiness" was like for the first time.

When they discover that the prettiest girl in the next class is following them, or when they find that their high school sweetheart is also on the same website, the surprise and voyeuristic desire can be as addictive as a poison.

The screen light flickered on his face. Bai Yuhang stopped and rubbed his aching wrist. Once this thing was released, it would be a Pandora's box, but he had to open it himself.

Meanwhile, at the activity center of the first campus of the university, there is the Geek Alliance activity room.

The lights are still on.

Chen Yuan sat in front of the computer, staring intently at Qihang Music Station—of course, he was looking at it on a third-party monitoring website. The number of pages indexed was still climbing, like a thorn pricking his eyes painfully.

"Brother Yuan, I found out." A short boy pushed open the door, bringing in a gust of cold wind. "That Bai Yuhang is having Jiao Liwei and the others run around to internet cafes, saying he's going to organize something... a CS competition, and even start a city e-sports league."

"A competition?" Chen Yuan sneered, turning his swivel chair around. The bruises on his face looked somewhat ferocious under the light. "A bunch of freshmen, not paying attention in class, getting involved in this kind of messy stuff."

"I heard it's causing quite a stir. A lot of internet cafe owners are interested, even the two we usually go to are asking if we can sign up." The short guy was a little worried. "If they really succeed, our Speed ​​Navigation business, which involves charging money in internet cafes, will be even more hopeless..."

"Make it happen? They're dreaming."

Chen Yuan pulled a piece of paper from the drawer, removed the cap from his pen, and slammed the nib hard into the paper.

"They organize gaming competitions at school and collude with internet cafes outside of school to lure students to play games off-campus." A sinister glint flashed in Chen Yuan's eyes. "What is this called? This is called 'organizing gambling,' this is called 'inducing students to become addicted to the internet,' this is called 'damaging the academic atmosphere.'"

He quickly wrote the opening, then looked up at the short guy: "Tomorrow morning, send this letter to the Student Affairs Office, and then send a copy to the Security Office. Also, find a few of our people to go to the department and spread the word that those guys in 206 are trying to make money by taking all the students in our department to internet cafes to waste their time, and that they might even be involved in gambling and taking a cut."

The shorter man hesitated for a moment: "Brother Yuan, isn't this a bit too much? What if there's no evidence..."

"Investigate? If the school gets involved, their competition will be stopped, and their reputation will be ruined." Chen Yuan folded the letter and stuffed it into the envelope, his movements as gentle as if he were handling a work of art. "Isn't Bai Yuhang all high and mighty? I'll make him a rat crossing the street. He's too green to mess with me."