Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

The door to the department head's office was tightly closed, and the noise coming from inside startled passing students, making them shrink back.

"Nonsense! This is utterly lawless!"

Director Wang slammed his enamel mug on the table, splashing jasmine tea all over it. Pointing at the eight young men standing in a row before him, his fingers trembled with rage: "This is Harbin Institute of Technology! Not a vegetable market! You can't just come and go as you please! Dropping out to start a business? Are your brains filled with mush? Especially you, Bai Yuhang, you're the top student this year, leading the whole dorm in this crazy behavior? Is this your so-called leadership?"

Bai Yuhang didn't argue, but just gave Jiang Shuo a wink.

Jiang Shuo was no longer the timid miser he once was. He pushed up his glasses, took out a neatly folded bank receipt from the inner pocket of his coat, flattened it with both hands, and placed it respectfully on the tea-stained desk. In his hand was also a copy of the investment agreement from China Entrepreneurship Network, which he was going to hand to Director Wang.

"Director, please calm down and take a look at this," Bai Yuhang said calmly.

Director Wang glanced at it suspiciously, still muttering under his breath, "What are you looking at? Even if you pull out a State Council document... huh?"

The old man's gaze lingered on the final investment amount and valuation figures, and his voice abruptly ceased.

He grabbed the investment agreement abruptly; those few flimsy sheets of paper, he scanned them several times. He pulled his reading glasses down over his nose, head bowed, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands…

The office was so quiet that only the ticking of the wall clock could be heard.

A full minute passed before Director Wang slowly put down the paper in his hand. He looked as if he couldn't understand something at all, and was almost deflated as he leaned back in his chair.

A minute later, he looked up and scanned the students in front of him, who were still wearing cotton-padded jackets, pilling sweaters, and military overcoats, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Eight million three hundred and sixty thousand, in cash.

This amount of money is far more than the department's research funding for several years.

He took the stack of leave of absence applications from Bai Yuhang, his movements froze in mid-air. He hesitated, picked it up, glanced at the young face in front of him again, and then gently put it down on the table in front of him.

"You guys...you're going to fly to the moon." Director Wang sighed, as if he had made up his mind.

He took a fountain pen out of the drawer, and you could see that his hand was still a little stiff as he unscrewed the cap.

Finally, he sighed again and signed each of the eight leave-of-absence applications in one go, the "swish swish" sound of the pen tip cutting through the paper particularly pleasing to the ear.

After signing the last application, he threw it into Bai Yuhang's arms, his eyes slightly red. He turned away and waved his hand, saying, "Get out! All of you, get out! When you get to Beijing, don't embarrass the university. If you don't make something of yourself, don't call yourself a student of the university!"

The eight people bowed in unison, then turned and left.

Only before Bai Yuhang turned around to close the door did he see a stubborn old man taking off his glasses and secretly wiping the corner of his eye with the back of his hand.

Taking advantage of the fact that the city's e-sports competition was still ongoing and the internal selection process in internet cafes hadn't yet ended, and the elimination rounds hadn't even started, Bai Yuhang decided to take all the shareholders to Beijing to meet with the investors.

That night, the sound of train whistles from Harbin Station pierced the night sky.

Inside the green carriages of the K-series train, the smell was a mixture of braised beef noodles, sweat, and cheap tobacco.

The eight people in dormitory 206 squeezed into two long hard-seat seats facing each other. They had only managed to buy six hard-seat tickets and two standing tickets, so they simply squeezed in with their friends.

"Sixth Brother, this car is so slow, it's giving me a headache," Zhang Jian muttered, looking out at the pitch-black wilderness. "This is a team worth millions, why do we have to suffer like this?"

"Stop being so vain." Bai Yuhang leaned his head against the cold car window, looking at his young face reflected in the glass. Outside the window, the snowy plains of the north were rushing past, and ahead lay the soon-to-be-boiling capital city.

In his previous life in 2000, he was merely a spectator on this train of time; this time, he has already vaguely grasped the steering wheel.

"Go get some sleep," Bai Yuhang patted Zhang Jian on the shoulder. "Once we get to Beijing, we probably won't be able to sleep at all. We need to be alert when we arrive."

The train arrived at Beijing Station on time the following morning.

The platform was teeming with people speaking in all sorts of accents, gathered in this enormous heart of the motherland.

At this time, early spring had passed in the capital city. It was mid-April, at least three solar terms earlier than in the Northeast, and the willow branches had already sprouted buds.

The group of eight, number 206, were still wearing slightly bulky cotton-padded coats, their clothes exposed from the heat, their hair disheveled, some carrying backpacks and others carrying woven bags, looking just like a group of migrant workers who had just arrived in the city.

"There are so many people..." Liu Jinggang exclaimed, then his gaze suddenly widened. "Holy crap, look! Isn't that the stunning Su?"

Outside the crowd at the station exit, a figure wearing a beige trench coat stood quietly.

Su Muqing wore light makeup, her long hair casually tied back. Among a group of hurried travelers, her temperament was as aloof as a white lotus.

She clearly saw the group of disheveled boys as well, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

That smile seemed to completely melt away the early spring in the capital.

She walked quickly over, her gaze sweeping over the crowd and landing directly on Bai Yuhang.

"You're here?"

"They're here."

Without any further pleasantries, Su Muqing opened her arms wide in a generous manner.

Bai Yuhang paused for a moment, then threw down the woven bag in his hand and stepped forward.

The embrace was light, and the moment it touched was over.

The faint scent of perfume on Su Muqing's body and in her hair diluted the smell of train cigarettes that Bai Yuhang was smelling.

For a moment, both of their faces felt hot.

"Cough cough! Oh dear, it's so bright this early in the morning!" Liu Jing exaggeratedly covered his eyes, peeking through his fingers.

"Hello, sister-in-law!" Zhang Jian and Wan Lianghao joined in the commotion, their shouts ringing out in perfect unison.

Su Muqing's cheeks flushed red, but she didn't refute them. She just smiled and glared at them, saying, "Alright, stop joking. The car's outside. Let's go have breakfast first. President Zhang is waiting at the company. Don't let people laugh at us."

At this moment, the final piece of Qihang Technology's puzzle, "the remote shareholder of Beijing," has been returned to its rightful place.

No. 26, Haidian South Road, headquarters of China Entrepreneurship Network.

When the staff of Qihang Technology walked into this spacious and bright office, they were all stunned.

There's no smell of cigarette smoke like in internet cafes, only a constant-temperature central air conditioning system; no sunflower seed shells scattered on the floor, only a gleaming marble floor.

In the office lobby, all the employees' desks were equipped with LCD monitors, and even the chairs looked a hundred times more comfortable than their dormitory beds.

Jiang Shuo followed behind, his eyes fixed on the company's ergonomic chair, muttering to himself, "Wow, how much does this chair cost? Enough for us to eat in the cafeteria for a month!"

"Don't look like you've never seen the world before." Jiao Liwei pulled him, patted his back, and forced him to straighten his chest.

At the end of the corridor, the door to the CEO's office opened.

Zhang Lei, dressed in a well-tailored shirt and a blue striped tie, greeted them with a smile. He showed no disdain for the group of young people's shabby appearance; on the contrary, his eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Good heavens, is this the legendary 'HIT Wolf Pack'?" Zhang Lei strode forward, patted Bai Yuhang's shoulder forcefully, and glanced at the group of young people who, though exhausted, had bright eyes. "They dared to take their entire dorm out of school, gambling their lives on tomorrow with me. Bai Yuhang, you guys are even more 'wolf-like' than I imagined. This kind of ruthlessness has been missing from Zhongguancun for years."

Bai Yuhang smiled, neither humble nor arrogant: "Mr. Zhang, you flatter me. Since we're at the table, we should bring enough chips. I've brought everyone. You can decide how we play from here."

Zhang Lei laughed heartily and stepped aside to make way: "Come in and let's talk. Coffee or tea? But I guess what you need most right now is an ideal place to stay."