Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Just then, Zhang Qingheng, who was in charge of overseas business liaison, suddenly stood up, took off his headset, and shouted, "Sixth Brother! There's news!"

Bai Yuhang pushed open the door and came out: "What do you mean?"

"We got qh.com, registered with Wanwang, it only cost 100 yuan." Zhang Qingheng's face was a little grim. "But QQ.com is a bit troublesome. Robert, the American we talked about last time, replied to our email. He knows we want it, and he's asking for a whopping 30,000 yuan."

"Thirty thousand RMB?" Jiang Shuo's ears perked up, just about to say that this was too expensive.

"US dollars," Zhang Qingheng added.

"Pfft—!" Liu Jing, who was drinking water, spat it out. "How much? More than 200,000 RMB? For a two-letter domain name? This American must be crazy!"

Jiang Shuo slammed the calculator on the table with a "thud." This time, he was truly enraged. He rushed over and shouted, "I won't buy it! I'd rather die than buy it! Sixth Brother, you can't persuade me this time! Over two hundred thousand yuan! That's enough for our entire company to eat boxed lunches for two years! Can't we just call it OICQ? Why do we have to change it to QQ?"

Bai Yuhang ignored Jiang Shuo's roar, walked behind Zhang Qingheng, and glanced at the email content.

"Tell him we're serious about buying, but we're not suckers." Bai Yuhang's tone was calm, but ruthless. "Reply to the email saying our budget is only $20,000. If he insists on that price, we'll register 'qq.net' or simply use 'oicq.com'. And tell him we have millions of users in China, and if he doesn't sell, we'll let all Chinese users know that QQ.com is a maliciously registered domain, and then his domain will be worthless."

"Will this... work?" Zhang Qingheng was a little hesitant.

"The business world is like a battlefield; this is a psychological game." Bai Yuhang patted him on the shoulder. "Go for it. Give him a couple of days to cool off, and he'll loosen his tongue. We have to get this domain name; it's our future flagship. The $30,000 it is now will be priceless later."

Looking at Bai Yuhang's confident expression, Jiang Shuo opened his mouth, but in the end, he swallowed his words and silently picked up the calculator, pondering how to save this money through legal tax avoidance.

Having settled the domain name issue, Bai Yuhang gathered everyone in the meeting area. One of the empty offices had been converted into a meeting room, but the 200-square-meter office space also had an open meeting area with a long table and a whiteboard.

He drew two circles on the whiteboard, writing "Xiaonei.com" on the left and "QQ" on the right. Then he drew a large double-headed arrow between the two circles.

"This is our core strategy going forward—a closed-loop social network." Bai Yuhang emphasized the pen in his hand. "Xiaonei.com has real identities, schools, and classes, which are strong relationships. We already have nearly one million users, with over 150,000 online at any given time and a weekly active user ratio of over 70%. QQ has instant messaging and instant feedback, which are weak relationships. We have over three million users, with over 400,000 online at any given time and a weekly active user ratio of over 20%. What we need to do is connect these two."

"Third brother, you coordinate with Pony's technical team, acquire all the data as soon as possible, assess their technical team situation, and make arrangements with Pony. If possible, try to bring them to Beijing to bolster the team." Bai Yuhang looked at Zhang Jian. "I want to see the new version of Qihang QQ launched on the day of the 'Blue Speed ​​Cup' finals, with banners announcing it simultaneously on Renren.com and QQ. Users can log in to QQ directly with their Renren.com accounts, and their QQ friend activity will be synchronized to Renren.com. I want users to be able to see beautiful girls and handsome guys on Renren.com and chat and flirt on QQ, making them inseparable."

Zhang Jian's eyes lit up; the technological challenge made him excited: "Holy crap, if this works, we'll be invincible! Okay, I'll take this job! I'm connecting with Shenzhen tonight, no sleep!"

"Don't get too excited, time is tight and the task is heavy." Bai Yuhang began to assign tasks. "I'll be going to Guangzhou in the next few days, so let me explain the division of labor."

"Second brother, fifth brother, seventh brother." Bai Yuhang looked at Yang Bo, Liu Jing, and Zhang Qingheng, "You three have worked hard on this trip. Get ready to buy tickets back to Harbin. The knockout stage of the 'Blue Speed ​​Cup' is about to begin, and the finals are just around the corner. We can't leave the venue unattended. Second brother and fifth brother will be the referees for the knockout stage. Seventh brother, you're in charge of monitoring the game's server. If there are any problems, just ask the third brother."

The three of them agreed in unison.

"Third brother, you also need to go back to Harbin before the finals. We can't do without you for technical support, so I'll go back too." Bai Yuhang continued to make arrangements. "As for Beijing, Mu Qing and the eldest brother will stay at headquarters and be responsible for handling the business registration of the company in Beijing, recruitment of new employees, and the onboarding of employees from Shenzhen that the third brother contacted. We don't have enough people right now. If they come, they'll be leaving their families behind, so we'll give them housing subsidies as a benefit. Fourth brother, you and the eighth brother will stay in Beijing and keep an eye on the renewal and expansion of the OICQ and Renren servers, especially the OICQ data migration. We absolutely cannot let anything go wrong."

There is a clear division of labor, and everyone performs their duties.

The team, which was initially somewhat chaotic and unable to get anything done, instantly started operating like a precise machine.

"Alright, let's get moving." Bai Yuhang threw down his pen. "Whether we can make a name for ourselves in this battle depends on this one."

On the way to the airport, Su Muqing drove her Santana, with Xu Wei's "That Year" playing in the car.

At the security checkpoint, people were coming and going.

Bai Yuhang was carrying only a simple briefcase as he looked at Su Muqing in front of him.

"Alright, we must part ways eventually. Let's go back." Bai Yuhang smiled.

Su Muqing didn't move. She stepped forward, reached out, and carefully straightened his slightly crooked shirt collar.

Her fingertips brushed lightly across his neck, leaving a slightly cool sensation.

"Boss Bai, don't just focus on fooling people when you get to Guangzhou." Su Muqing's voice was very soft, only the two of them could hear it, "Remember to eat on time, and... you must come back for the finals. Everyone is waiting for you to take charge."

Looking at Su Muqing's beautiful face so close to his, Bai Yuhang's eyes, which were usually shrewd, were now filled with tenderness.

He reached out as if possessed and grasped her hand, which was still busy at her collar.

Su Muqing's hand trembled slightly, but she didn't pull it back, and a blush rose on her cheeks.

"Don't worry." Bai Yuhang squeezed her hand, the warmth of his palm transferring to her. "I'll definitely come back. When I do, I'll bring you a 'big gift'."

Su Muqing looked up and glared at him reproachfully, but couldn't help but smile: "Who cares about your gift? Just bring the person back. Hurry up and go, don't miss your flight."

Watching Bai Yuhang's figure disappear through the security checkpoint, Su Muqing stood there for a while before turning and leaving.

As the plane soared into the sky, Bai Yuhang watched the city of Beijing gradually shrink outside the window, silently making plans in his mind.

The trip to Guangzhou was not only for Zhang Xiaolong, but also to equip the great ship of Qihang with the most powerful nuclear engine.

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away in Harbin, a storm about e-sports, youth, and the future of the internet is brewing.