Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

When Jiao Liwei and Yang Bo pushed open the door, they were covered in sweat, especially Jiao Liwei, whose shirt collar was soaked. He was clutching several floor plans in his hand, looking like he had just captured a defense map from the battlefield.

"Got it!" Jiao Liwei gulped down half a bottle of mineral water before wiping his mouth. "Kechun Residential Area, Building 53, ready-to-move-in apartments. Seventh and eighth floors, two floors facing each other, four units in total. Two bedrooms and one living room, two units per floor, kindergarten and elementary school playground right outside the door, amazing natural light."

Yang Bo slowly unbuttoned his cufflinks, pushed up his glasses, and added, "Coincidentally, the sales manager is also from Hebi, Henan. My boss spent ages trying to convince him we were from the same hometown, and by the end, my voice was hoarse from talking, but we managed to haggle the opening price down from 3,600 to 3,300. The total cost was less than 1.2 million yuan, paid in full."

"How many?!"

Jiang Shuo, who was playing with his new phone, almost dropped his Nokia. He suddenly rushed over, snatched the draft agreement from Yang Bo's hand, his eyes wide like saucers, and his other hand was typing away on the calculator at lightning speed, faster than Zhang Jian typing code.

"One million two hundred thousand...one million two hundred thousand!" Jiang Shuo's voice trembled, as if someone had cut off a piece of his flesh. "Sixth Brother, that's enough to buy a building in Harbin! Are the bricks in Beijing made of gold? Or is the cement mixed with bird's nest? Once this money is spent, our accounts will be completely empty!"

"Old Eight, think long-term." Bai Yuhang leaned back in his boss's chair, twirling his pen. "This isn't consumption, it's asset allocation. We're going to settle down in Zhongguancun in the future, we can't live in hotels every day, can we? This house is our own home. Besides, believe it or not, two years from now you'll be kneeling on the ground thanking yourself for signing this today."

Jiang Shuo looked at the string of zeros on the agreement with a bitter expression, his heart aching as he clicked his tongue: "I'm just afraid that two years from now I'll be kneeling on the ground crying, what if I fall down..."

"It won't fall unless Tiananmen Square moves." Bai Yuhang didn't waste any more words with him and made a direct decision. "Boss, you go and handle the formalities. Eighth Brother, go and get the money."

With the matter settled, Bai Yuhang picked up the landline on the table and dialed Zhang Lei's number. After all, it was a large expenditure of over a million yuan. Although he was the major shareholder, this was a fixed asset investment, and he still needed to consult with the investors.

The phone rang twice before being answered. Zhang Lei could hear some background noise from the wind on the other end of the line, like he was on a golf course.

"Mr. Zhang, I have something to report to you. To ensure team stability, we bought four apartments across from the company to serve as dormitories, which cost approximately 1.2 million yuan."

Bai Yuhang thought Zhang Lei would ask a few questions or talk about cash flow control, but to his surprise, the phone rang with a crisp sound of a ball being struck, followed by Zhang Lei's hearty laughter.

"Buying a house? That's great. A stable home is essential for a stable career." Zhang Lei spoke casually, as if he were talking about buying a few kilograms of cabbage. "Yuhang, I've said before, since I'm entrusting you with this million dollars, I only care about the results, not the process. This is a small matter of a million dollars; you can make your own decisions. No need to consult me. As long as you don't ruin the company, even if you use the money to buy a sports car, as long as you can generate ten million users for me, I'll accept it."

This is the vision of top investors.

Don't use the suspect, but don't use it.

"Thank you for your trust, Mr. Zhang."

"Oh, right, there's something else." Zhang Lei changed the subject, his tone becoming somewhat mysterious. "The person you mentioned looking for at the dinner the other day, I've got a few friends in the south contacting him. He's in Guangzhou right now, just sold Foxmail to Boda, got the money, and is probably feeling a bit empty inside. I've sent his number to your phone. Whether you can get this big shot out of retirement depends on your skills."

Just as Bai Yuhang hung up the phone, his Nokia vibrated.

A short message lay quietly on the green screen: Guangzhou, Zhang Xiaolong, 139...

Looking at the three-character name, Bai Yuhang's fingers tightened slightly as he gripped his phone, somewhat dazed.

If Ma Huateng is the foundation of the social media empire, then Zhang Xiaolong is the god of social media in the future mobile internet era.

Zhang Xiaolong is probably going through the most confusing period of his life right now – Foxmail, which he built from scratch, has millions of users, but it couldn’t monetize due to its free strategy, and he eventually had to sell it to Boda for 1500 million RMB.

Although they achieved financial freedom, for an exceptional product manager, the sense of loss of watching their "child" be sold off is something that money cannot fill.

This is the perfect time to launch and enter the market.

"Sixth Brother, what are you daydreaming about? Come on, let's go look at a house!"

Jiao Liwei's loud voice pulled Bai Yuhang back to reality. Everyone in the room had been itching to get started, even the stingiest Jiang Shuo had his account book tucked into his pocket, looking like he was saying, "I'm going to see what the gold brick house looks like."

The group marched in a grand procession towards the Kechun residential area across the street.

Although it's a newly opened residential complex and the greenery hasn't fully grown yet, it's a legitimate commercial housing development, a world apart from the old-fashioned dormitories on the Harbin Institute of Technology campus.

The elevator went straight up to the eighth floor. Yang Bo took out his key and turned the switch to open the security door.

The afternoon sun streamed in unobstructed, casting a warm glow on the newly laid hardwood floors. The beautifully furnished apartment, though unfurnished, with its spacious living room, bright floor-to-ceiling windows, and separate bathroom, instantly won over these impoverished students.

"Holy crap..."

Zhang Jian didn't even take off his shoes. He yelled, took two running steps, and slammed himself hard onto the Simmons mattress in the middle of the master bedroom, where the plastic wrap hadn't been removed yet.

He bounced twice on the bed, lay in a "T" shape, staring at the snow-white ceiling, his eyes even a little red.

"This is what life is all about..." Zhang Jian rolled over, burying his face in the mattress and rubbing it against the wall. His voice was muffled. "Sixth Brother, I'll do whatever you ask me to do for the rest of my life, even hack into the U.S. Department of Defense's website! I'd do it even if it meant dying!"

Liu Jing excitedly spun around in the living room, touching the walls and tapping the radiator: "This location, this lighting, if I bring a girl home in the future... hehe."

"Dream on, this is the men's dormitory." Jiao Liwei slapped him on the back of the head, but couldn't help but walk onto the balcony himself, looking at the blue glass curtain wall of the Hailong Building not far away, and took a deep breath of the air of Beijing.

Jiang Shuo squatted in the corner, picking at the baseboard with his fingers, then went to the kitchen to turn on the faucet. After confirming that everything was high-quality, he sighed with heartache, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face: "One million two hundred thousand... It's expensive, but these floor tiles are definitely smoother than the cement floor in our dormitory..."

Bai Yuhang stood at the door, watching his brothers frolic in the empty house.

This was the first stronghold he established for his brothers in the capital. With this, they felt at ease.

"Alright, stop lamenting about life." Bai Yuhang clapped his hands, leaned against the door frame, and laughed. "Before tonight, everyone go buy a set of bedding, form pairs, and tidy up your rooms. We'll start camping here tomorrow. Whether we can stay here for a long time depends on whether we can do a good job at the Hailong Building."

"Let's do it! We have to!" Zhang Jian sprang out of bed, his eyes gleaming with greed. "With this bed, I'm going to optimize the OICQ code again tonight. Anyone who tries to stop me will have to face me!"