Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Because Zhang Lei only invited Bai Yuhang to this private dinner, everyone from Qihang Technology accompanied Bai Yuhang on a 15-minute car ride to the Jingcheng Zhichun Hotel in Xitucheng, a few stops away, where they checked into a room and caught up on some sleep.

In the lobby of the Zhichun Road Hotel, Bai Yuhang had just taken off his cotton-padded coat, which smelled of coal smoke from Harbin, when Su Muqing picked it up with two fingers and tossed it to Zhang Jian next to him with a look of disgust.

"If you wore this to a security guard, they'd arrest you as a vagrant." Su Muqing looked Bai Yuhang up and down, who was only wearing a sweater, and sighed. "Let's go, my big boss, I still need to give you a makeover."

Although we said we were going shopping, we actually headed straight for Shuang'an Shopping Mall.

Su Muqing has a keen eye for choosing items, so she didn't take Bai Yuhang to wander around the flashy casual area and went straight into the men's boutique section.

Without asking Bai Yuhang's opinion, she held up several dark suits to him, her expression focused as if she were making a data report.

"Raise your hand."

"Turn around."

"Tuck in your stomach."

Bai Yuhang was manipulated by her like a puppet. Ten minutes later, when he came out of the fitting room and stood in front of the full-length mirror, even the sales assistant's eyes lit up.

Su Muqing slowly walked forward, adjusted his collar, and tied his tie.

At this moment, the two were extremely close, so close that Bai Yuhang could smell the faint scent of shampoo on the ends of her hair, a delicate fragrance of jasmine.

Her slender fingers deftly tied a Windsor knot, her fingertips occasionally brushing against Bai Yuhang's Adam's apple, causing a slight tickle.

"Don't move," Su Muqing said softly, without looking up, focusing on tightening her tie. "Tonight's party is full of shrewd people, so your clothes have to look presentable. Even though you're a freshman, you can't let them really treat you like a student."

Bai Yuhang looked down at her long eyelashes, a smile playing on his lips: "What, afraid I'll embarrass you?"

"I was afraid you'd get stage fright." Su Muqing patted his shoulder, took a half step back, and examined her work with satisfaction. "Alright, it looks pretty presentable now. Put the cost of this suit on the company's tab; consider it a packaging fee."

In the taxi to the hotel, Su Muqing took a bottle of mineral water out of her bag and handed it to him, lowering her voice: "Wang Jingbo from IDG is getting anxious. I was checking in at the front desk when he called the hotel's main switchboard directly, asking which room we were staying in. The receptionist said he sounded pretty aggressive, like we owed him millions."

"Let him worry." Bai Yuhang unscrewed the bottle cap, took a sip, and looked out the window at the gradually brightening night view of Beijing. "Before, when we begged him, he would pretend not to understand us while holding his coffee. Now that we're at the table, he wants to get something for nothing. There's no such thing as a free lunch."

The car Zhang Lei sent to pick up Bai Yuhang turned into Hepingli Middle Street and stopped in front of an antique vermilion gate.

Club No. 16 is quite famous in Beijing's social circles. It is located next to Ditan Park, where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties offered sacrifices to the earth. Although the royal processions of the past are gone, the quiet and secluded atmosphere of this deep courtyard can indeed calm one's mind.

Once inside the courtyard, the corridors twist and turn, and ancient trees reach for the sky.

A beautiful waitress in a cheongsam led the way, her footsteps making no sound at all on the bluestone slabs.

"This is a good location." Bai Yuhang glanced around at the carved beams and painted rafters, the magnolias in full bloom, the golden carp playing in the water, the swans singing, the secluded and quiet courtyard, and every place and corner he passed through in the clubhouse was a place where he could appreciate the carefully designed scenery.

Pushing open the heavy, carved wooden door of the private room, a warm fragrance wafted out.

The room was dimly lit. Zhang Lei and Sun Yanjun had already arrived and were chatting casually at the head of the table. A young man was sitting on a sofa in the corner.

The man looked only a few years older than Bai Yuhang, thin, wearing thin-rimmed metal glasses and a slightly oversized light-colored shirt. He didn't participate in Zhang Lei's conversation, but instead stared intently at his Nokia phone, his brow furrowed, his fingers rapidly pressing the keys as if replying to some urgent message. He exuded anxiety and exhaustion.

It's Ma Huateng.

Or rather, he was Pony, an entrepreneur who had not yet become the head of the Penguin empire and was struggling with software server fees and lawsuits.

"Yu Hang is here!" Zhang Lei stood up with a smile as he saw the door open. "Come on, no need for introductions, you know Lao Sun. This is—"

Zhang Lei turned to the side and pointed to Ma Huateng, who had just put away his phone and stood up with a restrained expression: "Ma Huateng of Tencent in Shenzhen, Mr. Ma. He's the person we're going to talk about tonight."

Ma Huateng adjusted his glasses, his gaze falling on Bai Yuhang. Seeing the man's excessively youthful face, a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. He then turned and gave Zhang Lei a deep look, his gaze clearly saying: "The mysterious investor you told me about is just a student still in school?"

Although he concealed his disappointment quickly, it did not escape Bai Yuhang's notice.

"Mr. Ma, it's an honor to meet you." Bai Yuhang ignored the other party's hesitation, strode forward, and extended his hand.

Their hands were clasped together. Ma Huateng's palms were sweaty and cool.

"Hello, Bai." Ma Huateng's voice was a little hoarse, obviously from smoking too much lately. "President Zhang mentioned your Renren.com to me. The data is growing very fast. You're a promising young man."

The initial interaction between the two felt polite, distant, and even somewhat perfunctory.

The four of them sat down at the round table in the private room.

As soon as the waiter poured the tea, Ma Huateng seemed a little restless, as if he was still thinking about the message he hadn't finished replying to.

Bai Yuhang picked up his teacup, but didn't drink it; he just twirled it gently in his hand. He knew that when chatting with Ma Huateng now, he couldn't talk about sentimentality or the future; he had to talk about his pain points and rub salt into his wounds.

"Mr. Ma doesn't look too well lately," Bai Yuhang suddenly spoke up, his tone relaxed as if chatting casually. "Is it because you're out of money for server expansion, or because of that lawyer's letter from AOL?"

So direct?

The private room fell silent instantly, and even Zhang Lei paused for a moment while pouring tea.

Ma Huateng's hand, which had been twirling the teacup, suddenly froze, and his pupils contracted instantly. He abruptly looked up, staring intently at Bai Yuhang, his gaze like that of a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

AOL is suing Tencent's OICQ for infringing on its intellectual property rights, demanding the return of the domain name and compensation. This matter is currently a top secret within Tencent, and even many employees do not know about it. How did this guy find out?

"I'm afraid we won't be able to keep the name OICQ, will we?" Bai Yuhang put down his teacup, the porcelain bottom tapping on the table with a crisp "clink" that struck straight to the heart. "If you lose the lawsuit and the domain name is taken back, your millions of users will truly become kites with broken strings."